VBS Kickoff

Had a great time at the VBS kick-off party today. Warning: lots of pics coming up. I would have put them in a slide show, but with this blog layout the photos would have been tiny. So here we go!

Sneak Peek - Mike

Thanks Mike!! You did a great job with all of those smiles. :)

Some party pics

Monday was Rachel's birthday. We grilled out - although in the rain and had a fun party.

She got this HUGE Barbie courtesy of Uncle Joel, Aunt Sarah, and Makenna. To be honest the thing creeps me out a bit. There's been several times that I've walked through the house and just caught it out of the corner of my eye and thought it was a kid! After everyone had left Monday I was exhausted so I took a little nap. When I woke up the TV was going full blast. No one else was in the house except for....you guessed it. The Barbie was sitting in front of the TV!

Happy Birthday Rachel!

Happy 4th Birthday Rachel. A couple weeks ago we ventured out to the Indianapolis Art Museum for this photo. There is a sculpture on the grounds of large numbers. The one we were looking for...4, of course!

Birthday Party

The 4th birthday party weekend begins! Today we had a party here at the house for Rachel and her little friends. It went off without a hitch.

I really didn't plan a whole lot in the way of structured games. I figured it was a nice day and we have a big backyard with a play fort.

There's swings

Slides

Sand...I mean what more do you really need.

Throw in some cupcakes on top of that and you have a party.

And a great time was had by all!

Tomorrow marks the arrival of all 4 grandparents. Monday is Rachel's birthday. We'll have the grill fired up and it will be party time again!

Hangin' with my friend

Today I volunteered at Aaron's school, so Rachel made the trek across the cul-de-sac to Chloie's house for the morning. I had things to get done before this weekend and Rachel's birthday party. Thankfully my neighbor Amy said that Rachel could hang out for a while. So after getting back from the school I started baking and cleaning. Nothing like an hour or two without the kiddos for some motivation to get things done. I looked out the front door and saw this.

Amy had them in matching swimsuits spraying them with the hose. Rachel was loving it. There was also the added benefit of the long nap Rachel took when she got back home. I'm thankful for good neighbors!

Happy 30th Birthday Daniel

Happy 30th Birthday to my brother Daniel. My sister-in-law Becky managed to pull off a great surprise party today. I'll let her blog all of the fun details, but here's a few snapshots of the day. The entire family was able to be here, so it was a lot of fun. Of course there was a family photo of the day.

Random Shots

A few random shots that I like from the past couple of weeks. This is what you get during a preschool graduation. :) Dorian was mostly interested in his tassel.

Chasity and Ambrose during the child dedication service at our church on Mother's Day

Clara during the Princess Banquet at the church. Why I like it - she never knew I took the photo. Completely natural and unposed photo.

Madelyn

Some of my favorites from Madelyn's 3-year photos.

Love

Today Rachel and I headed to the Indianapolis Art Museum grounds to take a special photo for her birthday. I'll post that one later, but here's another one for today. We spent over an hour just walking around looking at the gardens and sculptures. Quite relaxing and fun!

Out on the trails

Here's how my wonderful Mother's Day shaped up. After the morning at church we put on our grubby clothes and headed to McD's for a gourmet lunch. :) Before anyone starts accusing Dusty of being a cheapskate, that was my choice. Something fast....and cheap! Then we headed to Turkey Run for some hiking. Again, my choice. There's something to be said for a day with no agenda, deadlines, or schedule!

I love the scenery. Everything was so green and beautiful. The weather was perfect for a day out hiking. There had also been just enough rain to make the trail interesting. (muddy, slippery, wet)

Aaron found plenty of things to climb, and even a few to make his mom go, "Alright, get down, be careful, I don't want to have to fish you out of a ravine...."

Then there was this one who spent half of the time being toted around by her dad. Some of it was justified. Like the time Dusty grabbed her in one arm and used to other to climb down 2 steep wooden ladders into a ravine. (Sorry Mom, we really did keep close tabs on her. She was safe at all time...really!) But most of the time she was just using him for a free ride.

By halfway through she had slipped in some water and was soaked up one side which in turned got Dusty all wet and muddy because he was carrying her along.

Of course we chose the most rugged trails. That's not just an interesting rock formation that Aaron is standing in front of...that's the trail and we were about to go up it! But we persevered and had a great time doing it - Dusty while toting a 4-year old and me with a Canon Rebel and 85mm lens strapped to my back. Slipping and sliding over rocks and streams. It's enough to make a certain Mr. PEC shake his head and say, "What were you thinking!" But hey, that's how I roll....living on the edge! :)

Happy Mother's Day!

Rachel & Madelyn

They're a year apart almost to the day. They love to play together. Sometimes they argue together. Given the chance I'm sure they could get into a heap of trouble together. But hey, that's what a cousin is for!

Cousin time

Rachel and I made a quick trip over to Illinois to pick up a TV armoire that Joel and Sarah were kindly giving to us. Rachel was excited to see "Baby Makenna" although she's not too much of a baby anymore.

Things started out quiet enough. Then it turned into this. Rachel pushing Makenna down the sidewalk then giving her a shove to send her careening down the street. Well maybe not quite that dramatic, but they enjoyed it.

Let me just say however, spending 5 hours in a small truck with a small child and a portable DVD player that had a dead battery is not a good combo.

Sneak Peek - Ben

This is my friend Ben. He loves dinosaurs, is sporting a kickin' mohawk, and I found out, is quite the ladies man. After looking at his photos on the camera's LCD he took my hand and kissed it. Ben...you charmer! :)

Manicure anyone?

Yep, this daddy does nails too!