Baptism

Tonight was a big night. In all of the turmoil of this year, one very important thing was somewhat overlooked. At the beginning of this year, Chris made the decision to become a Christian. It was a very joyous moment for our family. Tonight he was baptized as a sign of that decision. I was one proud mama. My boy, I love him. And I pray that Chris will know of God's great love and faithfulness and that he will love others deeply because of the great love he has been shown by his Savior.



This may not be the baptism style that some of you grew up with, so welcome to baptism Elevation style - quick and loud and a true celebration!

Friday Favorites...

I thought I would let some recent pictures of Sicily help me with Friday Favorites this week. That girl is dangerously cute. And she knows it, which might be more dangerous!

Around here we judge our days by how many episodes of Curious George we watch. Every day is a one episode day. In fact it throws us off if we don't start the day with George. Two episode days usually mean that mama used George as a snooze button. Three George days mean that our afternoons are starting to unravel. But a four George day, well, those are the popcorn for dinner in front of the tv days. I love George because even my oldest will sit down and laugh at George's antics. That means that a moment of chaos can be stilled for a moment of peace. And I won't lie, I have been known to laugh out loud during an episode. We all love George. My curious little monkey is an especially big fan. She sleeps with a George toy, dresses up like George, and I read a lot of Curious George before bedtime.

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Another favorite around here that is Handipoints. Handipoints is a website where parents can build responsiblity charts for their kids. The kids build points by doing chores or having good behavior. As the parent you can set a certain point goal and when the kids reach the goal they get a treat. All of that is great and has really helped with chores around here. But the real bonus is Handiland. When you sign up each kid gets a cat. As they earn their points they also get bonus points that they can spend on their Handiland cat. Then they can go to Handiland and play games, dress up their cat, and meet other "cool cats". It's safe, fun, and adds a little extra incentive to chores. My kids are more excited about the bonus points than their real points. We love Handiland. Although, now that all three kids want on the computer I've had to assign computer time (including time for myself or I don't get to use the computer!). Sicily is a little computer savant. She quickly picked up using the mouse and getting around the internet. She's a smart one!

This picture doesn't have a favorite attached unless you count sleep as a favorite. (I do, by the way.) It was just too sweet not to share. The older two start school at 7:20. This puts us getting up at 6:30. Most days Sicily sleeps in, but occasionally she'll get woken up. This is one of those days and after a few minutes she was falling asleep in her cereal bowl! I put her back to bed and she slept for another hour. Sweet Sicily.

pretty cupcakes

So one of my awesome sisters (I have two awesome sisters, you know) sent me a little package the other day. Inside was a book about cupcakes, which I was eager to get into, and two bottles of blue nail polish, which just made me laugh out loud. Good sisters know when you need to laugh out loud. Well, that night I gave myself a much needed pedicure and read about cupcakes. There are so many cute ideas in this book, but I landed on a butterfly one to be my first challenge. Because you know a book about desserts wasn't going to sit in my kitchen unused for very long, I made them for a party this weekend. They were a big hit and tasted pretty yummy too! Good sisters know when you need to make something chocolaty and yummy. Good sisters also know when you need to talk and how to make you forget about things you don't want to think about. My other awesome sister spent two hours on the phone the other day doing just that. Maybe I can distract Steven from the phone bill with another batch of cupcakes.

Speed Racers

We all got up this morning at the crack of dawn to watch the boys run a race. Steven ran the Matthews Labor Day 5K and he did very well. He started the race with 270 racers and finished 20th at 20 min. 48 sec. He was pleased with his time but is now more determined than ever to get better and kill the next one. Chris ran the Mile Fun Run. He finished 3rd place in his age group and 4th over all at 6 min. 25 sec. He was racing against adults and teenagers. The boy is fast! I'm so very proud of my runners! They both did a great job.

Matthews Alive Festival

Every year our little Matthews town holds a festival called Matthews Alive. It's like a small scale fair. I love it! I love the music and screams of the rides. I love the smell of fried everything. Ice cream dripping from chins and sleepy kids clutching daddy won stuffed animals. I love the booths of free pencils, plastic cups, and balloons. And huge cups of lemonade. The carousel and the tea cups. I am a total fair junkie. There is even a parade thrown in complete with fire trucks and marching bands. Oh, you can get wonderfully lost in it all. We certainly did.

The girls and I love the carousel.

Corn dog and ice cream break

This ride is where Chris spent most of his time. He's moved on to the big kid rides. A girl riding before him actually threw up. Of course, he thought that made the ride even cooler.

parade watching

and the sleepy walk home

randomness...

I just had to share this. These are the names of the kids in Analiese's class this year:

Aireyuanna, Analiese, Anastasia, Andrew, Ariana, Brandon, Chase, Cile, Darrian, David, Finn, Gracyn, Isabella, Jai, Jessica, Luke, Olivia, Samuel, Sebine, Shelby, Torri

Poor teacher! My grandparents had such a hard time when we named the girls. Analiese Cosette and Sicily Nicolle were not easy for them to remember. Maybe they were right and we've all gotten a little out of control. Granted, some of those are easy, but I'm sure Ms. Craig would love to have a few more common names. Can you imagine trying to remember all of those names, much less spell them all correctly? I now feel badly for correcting the way she pronounced Analiese; she had enough on her plate!

Me Art

Quality supplies make a world of difference in art. This spring I was finally able to purchase a wonderful set of Prisma colored pencils. Ohhhh, they've been wonderful! They're so smooth and I've really enjoyed playing with them. These are the two pieces I like best from my "play time". (I think I need a vacation. Beach thoughts are starting to take over.)
And I know her cheeks look big. I was following a picture and I measured many times. She just has wonderfully fat little baby cheeks. I could have adjusted it, but I love those cheeks. They're perfect for kissing.