Vacation Bible School

This week was VBS for our church. Our sunday school class was in charge of the synagogue. The kids learned what kind of church Jesus went to. So we were all in costume and actually had a mock service for the kids to participate in. Jeremy was in another skit so he's dressed as a Roman centurion guard. Last night I helped my friend Becky with the pre-k age. Wow, that was a lot of work! I'm definitely not a little kid person and it makes me so grateful for those who are. VBS is always a lot of fun and the kids love it.

Bailey's Room

You might be wondering why I would start a blog with a picture of Bailey's room. Well, Bailey is in a little phase where she doesn't like to sleep in her bed! Every night she tries to climb into bed with Riley or Jeremy and I. If that fails she'll make a pallet somewhere in the house. I can't imagine why she would rather sleep on the floor than in her bed?? I didn't get a picture of it, but she'll even make a pallet in her own room and then place all of her stuffed animals around her. At least it keeps her bed made!

Paintball

(Guest Blogger: Jeremy)
This morning Riley and I went to Fort Worth to play a little paintball. He's been wanting to take me since my birthday but we each had to save $50 for the entry fee and equipment rental. We also invited another father and son from our church but the father got sick so we just took his son Reese. We had a blast and came home with quite a few wounds. I enjoyed it so much that I'm considering selling my golf clubs to get a paintball gun. Once I get my own equipment it will only cost about $25 bucks each time I play. It's so much more fun than golf and it's a great workout.

Ringgz

My friend Becky gave Bailey a new game for her birthday. It was a perfect gift because she loves games and it's a fun way for us to spend time together. This game is really fun and kind of addicting so we've been playing it everyday! Today we've played it at least 5 times. It's a game of strategy so depending on who's playing and how many people you're playing with it can be really different. So Becky throw in some brownies and we'll bring the game:) Oh and make sure Greg makes some coffee!

Fun with the Stamps

Yesterday we went to Jerry and Debbie's to celebrate the Fourth of July . All of the kids decorated their bikes for a parade and as you can see the dads participated too! After the parade each family was given two cardboard boxes, markers and duct tape to make a boat that had to last long enough so that each child could cross the pool ~ Riley's and Bailey's didn't quite make it:) We always have a lot of fun hanging out with the Stamps and it was super sweet of them to invite us over.

Fireworks

I love the Fourth of July. I think partly because I grew up in D.C. and I remember going with my family. It was such a great show and I remember thinking they were going to fall on me. Anyway, Bailey has been afraid of loud noises ever since she was born, so going to a fireworks show has never really been an option before. So this year was our first year to go to an official show. We went to Addison because it's one of the top rated shows in the country, although I have no idea why they are on the 3rd of July instead of the 4th. We waited to go until the last minute to make sure we didn't drive 45 minitues then end up rained out. Jeremy's work is super close to the Addison airport so we parked at his work and then walked about 1 mile to find a place to sit. We ended up finding a great spot on top of a small hill as close as you could possibly get. Before the fireworks started they had some old airplane's fly by doing tricks. The actual show lasted 30 minutes and was amazing! We could actually see the trucks that they were shooting them from and when they did the finale it looked like the trucks were on fire! I had a great time and everyone else was happy I enjoyed myself, but honestly they are just as content with or without a show.

Bailey's 9th!!

Today is Bailey's birthday, but Jeremy has school so we let her decide if she wanted to celebrate on Sunday or late tonight. She chose to go for Sunday so that we weren't rushed and tired. She opened her presents, helped make homemade pizza, ate cake, and then we all watched a movie. She was a little upset yesterday morning though because no one wished her a "Happy Non-Birthday!" The only thing she really wanted to do today was go swimming, so we rushed to the Pointe the moment the sun came out and were able to swim for about and hour and half before the thunder started again.

Breakfast for Two

This morning Jeremy and Bailey woke up early to help the food ministry at our church. They sorted groceries and then helped load them into cars. When Riley woke up he realized there was no milk, so he called Jeremy to ask him to bring him breakfast but Jeremy and Bailey already had breakfast plans. He and I decided to spend a little one on one time together so we headed to the Snooty Pig (a small diner in Keller). We're on a new budget so we went dutch:-)

Date Night

Jeremy and I decided to go to the Melting Pot for our date night. I've never been to a fondue restaurant before, but I thought it would be a lot of fun and we had a $25 gift certificate. Our waitress was a bit eager and I felt really rushed into a decision so when she showed up with the cheese fondue I was a little surprised because it was not at all what I was expecting. I thought they would bring us cheese to dip into something which Jeremy thought that was quite amusing. Anyway we had a fun night and I enjoyed the experience, but I wasn't all that crazy about the food. We passed on the chocolate fondue which is apparently pretty uncommon but I really wanted a Nestle cookie! After a cup of Starbucks, a cookie and a little window shopping we headed home. Bailey told Riley she'd play two games of his choice if he'd play two games of her choice ~ smart girl! Riley quickly agreed and after playing his two games there was no turning back and this is how we found them. As you can tell from the picture Riley was a little less into her "games" than she was!

Flooded Again

The kids have been waiting for this. Last week the park by our house flooded so bad that they had to close the road. The flood water destroyed wood fences as well as wrought iron fences and brick columns. Well, Jeremy told them the next time it flooded they'd get their bikes and explore. So sure enough tonight when we were coming home from Jesse's the road was closed again. So "the plan" was about to be put into action. I think the whole family was surprised that I was willing to tag along, especially since I was the only one who wasn't willing to swim earlier (I'm a baby when it comes to being cold). Some of the water was at least three feet deep. Bailey and I bailed a little sooner than the boys and went straight home to take a nice hot bubble bath!

Fabian's Home!

Fabian, my older sister's son, flew in today from New York. He'll be visiting all summer. To welcome him home we all met at Jesse's for a pool party. Sounds great so far...well it is still raining here almost everyday. That didn't stop the kids though and they were able to swim for a couple of hours before it started thundering. I put a picture of three of my siblings: from the left there's Natalie (the baby), Jesse (he's younger than me but the oldest boy) and Bille (who's the oldest). Then there's still Justin and Eric. So in order from oldest to youngest it's Billie, Jill, Jesse, Justin, Eric and Natalie! I think there's only one time that we've all been in the same location at once.

Happy Birthday Uncle Jesse

The month of June is super busy in our family. All three of my brothers and my father have June birthdays plus Father's Day, Jeremy's late May b-day and Bailey's in early July. So anyway last night we went out to eat with Jesse to celebrate his 31st! After dinner we all headed back to our house to eat cake and hang out. We've been seeing a lot more of him lately and the kids just love it.

Children's Camp

Last week we all went to Children's Camp. This is the only year that Riley and Bailey will be able to go to the same camp, so Jeremy and I decided to go also. Monday morning we were packed and ready to go. We headed to the church around 7:15 and after registering all the campers and checking for head lice (fun times) we were ready for Glen Rose. It was time to load the busses so naturally I grab the handle, turn and nothing! I locked us out of the bus. We had to call the mechanic to unjam it and just in case you're wondering never turn the round knob next to the door handle. That was a little embarassing. We had a really great week as you can tell from the pictures. Bailey made lots of new friends, learned new worship songs, did the blob, the zipline, hiking, diving and swimming contests, made smores by the campfire, and of course most importantly spent the majority of the week focusing on the Lord! Her only complaint was having to rush through the lunch line in front of her friends to secure a seat by me and Jeremy:) Every day after lunch each of the teams competed in various activities to earn points. The winning team got to leave early for lunch, which is a pretty big deal when you're camping with over 300 kids! Jeremy was chosen to compete in a pie eating contest. He didn't win, but he gave a great effort.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

We have these really great friends, Greg and Becky, who gave us their tickets to the Friday night Rangers game. Now this is really saying a lot about our friendship because I don't think I've ever met another die hard fan like Greg ~ well maybe his mom. We're not exactly huge baseball fans, but we enjoy going to at least one game a year. Anyway here we are at the game. Bailey had her heart set on getting some cracker jacks at the game so how could we refuse the low, low price of $5.00!! We had a really rowdy bunch sitting around us who provided quite a bit of entertainment for us. After 6 whole innings the Ranger were up 7-1! What could go wrong right? It was late and we'd already promised the kids some ice cream on the way home so we decided to pack it up and head home. Within 5 minutes Greg calls ~ oops!! Apparently the Brewer's scored 5 runs in the top of the 7th closing the lead to only one run. Maybe next time we'll stay. But not to worry the Rangers still pulled off a 9-6 win.

Swimming, Swimming and More Swimming

Because we live in Texas we swim just about all summer so on Wednesday we went to NRH2O, a local waterpark, with my friend Becky and her two kids Reese and Abby. She has all of the pictures on her blog so check it out at becstamps@blogspot.com. Then on Thursday Bailey and I met with my Mom's Group for more swimming. Riley was all toddlered out so he stayed home to read. I was really sunburned (apparently you have to put sunblock on all of your body for it to actually work) from being at NRH2O the day before so I sat in the shade with my feet in the water:-)

Babysitting for 6!!

I think it's a great idea for kids to work so they can learn the value and reward of tithing, hard work, saving and of course spending. So I was really excited when my friend, Anglea, asked if my kids would babysit during our Bible Study. She started a mom's group for a small group of women. While we meet in the study all the kids hang out with Riley and Bailey ~ today they had 6 kids. It was really cute to see them "in charge". At one point Charlie and Abby got into a little spat so I could hear them telling Riley what happened. He handled the situation all on his own. I wondered if the other kids would see them as bigger kids who they didn't really have to listen to, but that didn't seem to be the case at all.

Riley's First Job

Earlier this week Riley delivered the flyer's he'd printed to start mowing lawns. He has been practicing since last summer and now he feels comfortable doing it on his own. The same day he sent out the flyer's he actually got a call which was very exciting for him. So off he went to mow his first lawn, well his first paying customer anyway. Things didn't go exactly as planned and he had to come home and get the mower fixed. For some crazy reason the mower just wouldn't start. He's never had a problem with this before so naturally he was disappointed. After Jeremy looked at it later that evening he was ready to finish, but it was raining. The next morning around 8:30 he was up and ready to go, he headed out again. This time I had to call him home because severe weather was heading our direction and was scheduled to arrive in the next 5 minutes. It was raining a little as he pushed the mower back home and before he was even in the house it was pouring! The sun actually came out after the storm, so he was finally able to finish this lawn and get paid. It may not have gone exactly as planned, but I am super proud of him! And the lawn looked great when he was all through.