threesixfive, week 24

we were at a camp all week near huntsville, where allen was pastor to a group of about 250 students. we had a great time, and were even able to see some friends and family while we were there. we didnt have internet access at all, so i apologize for not getting to visit your blogs this past week.

sunday

this is the wig i'm wearing as part of my costume for a thing we're doing at VBS. i had a couple of wig options, and molly wanted to try one, too.

monday
we got to camp and colby of course wanted to start exploring immediately. we found these really cool mushrooms under some bushes. he's so good at spotting things.

tuesday
one of the rec teams invited colby to play ultimate frisbee with them. see him out there with all those middle school girls?

wednesday
we drove into huntsville at met our friend lauren. she was part of the staff at camp zephyr for a few summers, and one of the people we really connected with over the years. shes in huntsville at SHSU going to school.

thursday
we drove back into huntsville and met up with allens mom and stepdad. they live about an hour away from where we were. allen took us to see the statue of general sam houston; the second largest statue in the country (the first being the statue of liberty), standing at 77 feet.

after we saw the statue and took some pictures, papa bought ice cream for the kids.

friday
we came home friday and molly went to a little dance clinic at the church that some of the girls in the youth group hosted to raise money for the youth mission trip.

saturday
the kids wanted to give allen his fathers day present a day early (a pair of shoes hes been wanting) so he  can wear them to church tomorrow. they made cards for him as well.

stay tuned for a post on essential oils. The Bug suggested i do a post each week on what i'm learning, so i think i will! i have to decide what to share, though. i will tell you this.....i got hot pink nail polish out of my carpet with lemon oil last week. awesome!!!

link up if you have pictures to share.

threesixfive, week 23

hey all!!

i didnt get a picture every day this week, but i have multiple pictures on multiple days, so really it all balances out. :-)

sunday

i've prayed about and am starting the process of using essential oils for the overall health and wellness of my family. colby and i both have prescription dependent health issues, and im not saying that we'll be cured with the use of oils (although, im not denying that possibility either, because ive heard of it happening), but i would love to get away from using benadryl, tylenol, motrin, etc. and several of them can be used for calming effects, treating bug bites, burns, etc. pretty much everything. anyway, i got my book in the mail over the weekend, and signed on to be a distributor for Young Living Essential Oils. im really excited, though a bit overwhelmed.

monday
the kids asked if they could make an aquarium in the bathtub. heres what that means....

tuesday
one of our former youth graduated from college and is back home looking for odd jobs here and there until he figures out what he wants to do. he came and pulled out some bushes in our front yard on tuesday. colby loved getting out there and "helping".

wednesday
the public library had a kickoff the summer concert on wednesday morning. we saw many of our friends there.

 (also wednesday)....
one of the concert halls in austin hosts an event called austin sound and cinema in the summer. they show a movie preceded by a band that plays music from the movie or relating to the movie in some way. this week it was Labyrinth with a david bowie tribute band. it was a really cool event, but SOOO crowded. i'm glad we went, but we wont be doing that again. at least, not until theyre older.

no picture thursday. booooo.


friday
my mom came in town for a couple days to see the kids before our summer gets out of control busy. we took her on one of our texas nature challenges, this one to the lady bird johnson wildflower center. it was pretty fun; not as fun as the capitol grounds challenge we did last week, but still. i did get this ridiculously awesome picture of probably the prettiest dragonfly ive ever seen.

and this is a plant ive never seen or heard of. its called eve's necklace. the fruit pod looks like beads strung together. isnt that cool??

that night (look how light it is outside the window behind them; its almost 8:30!!) my mom told each of them their '3 things' story. she started this when they were really really little and asked her to tell them bedtime stories. she lets them pick three things, anything they want, and then she somehow works the things into her story. i love the look on mollys face; mom had just finished her story.

saturday
this is kristen, who i have mentioned on here numerous times. she and her brother shayne come at the beginning of every year and pray over colby and molly as fellow big brother/little sister. we've known them since they were in middle school and have had the pleasure of watching them grow up. shayne got married in january, and kristen is getting married in august. molly and colby get to be the flower girl and ring bearer. today molly and i went to kristens bridal shower.

allen is pastoring a youth camp this week, so we'll be heading out to spend the week with him there. we're taking lots of books and our bicycles!!

have a great week!!

link up if you have pictures to share.

threesixfive, week 22

i posted twice this week besides the weekly 365 post!!! what?!?!? one of them is just a video, so im not sure if that counts, but its still worth watching. 

we've got company pulling up any minute, so i'll get right to the pictures.

sunday

after a hot sweaty day at the park on saturday with my parents, colby was convinced that a hair cut would be in his best interest for summer. he cried a little but, bless his heart, but he got over it, and actually told me yesterday that he likes short hair better now.

monday
happy memorial day!! we ended up throwing together a last minute lunch with our friends the barners, and our neighbors the stroups. allens mom and stepdad drove in from houston that morning to bring us their grill they were getting rid of (we've been grill-less for about 2 years, so we were super excited!!), so they stayed and ate with us, too. it was a really fun afternoon full of screaming kids...the good kind.

tuesday
we went to the mennings house for dinner. they have triplets, 2 boys and a girl, that are colbys age, and when the three boys are together, they get mistaken for each other, especially from behind, because they have the same color of hair. their mom has tried to corral colby at church on more than one occasion, thinking he was one of hers.

wednesday
i think all the delicious junk we ate over the last couple of days got to molly, because she woke up wednesday morning by throwing up. she wasnt running any fever, and she wasnt really complaining about feeling bad, but we stayed home all day just to be safe. she helped me with school stuff to take us into the summer.

thursday
this was part of our Texas Nature Challenge adventure on thursday morning. you can read more about it in my previous post.

friday
we drove down to camp zephyr friday afternoon so we could be there for their summer dedication banquet. allen was asked to speak at it. the kids went to bed late, but still had a little reading time.

saturday
a little play time at the zephyr pool saturday morning before heading home. Price Hill (our youth worship band) led worship friday night, so they hung out with us, and molly got to play with her friend ramona.

and now, as i said, we're awaiting out of town company who will be staying with us tonight. its actually the director of camp zephyr and his family. they needed to get away for a couple of days before summer officially starts monday, so they're heading here. double date night and a sitter for all the kids. should be a lot of fun! :-)

hope youre having a great week, and enjoying some beautiful weather. we're soaking it up before it gets too hot!!!

link up if you have pictures to share.

challenge accepted

i happened upon the Texas Nature Challenge by accident wednesday night as i was looking for "bug related" activities for colby. it didn't take me long to register my family of 4 and select our first adventure.

From the website:

"The goal of Texas Nature Challenge is to get families and kids outdoors by visiting as many participating parks and nature areas in Texas as they can. At each site, participants complete activity challenges designed for family fun and nature exploration."

Challenge #1: State Capitol Grounds

thursday morning when we told the kids what we'd be doing that day, colby asked.....

colby: "will we be looking for bugs??"

me: "no. this is more of a tree hunt it looks like. and some monuments."

colby: "trees?!?! no bugs?"

me: "well, i'm sure there will be bugs, but thats not our focus today. we're going to go on a kind of treasure hunt around the state capitol."

.....and so it went; and he only slightly moped to the car.

we were pleasantly surprised at how much fun we had and how engaged our two kiddos were in the activities on the challenge printout.

daddy, colby, and molly in front of the bald cypress on the capitol grounds. colby: "hey, its bald like you are, daddy!" 

this beautiful and unconventional water fountain was a new discovery for us as we followed our challenge instructions.

the detailing in the fence that encloses the capitol grounds is beautiful in its detail. one of the steps to the challenge was to sketch a portion of the fence in a designated spot on the printout.

we were instructed to walk around the capitol building and point out any interesting features. we all of course love the capitols signature dome and the goddess of liberty. molly also noticed the green roof, and colby really liked the large number of windows.

it was a surprisingly fun day, and once we got there, the kids were really excited to learn some new things about the capitol that they hadnt heard or seen before in the other times we've been there. we're looking forward to our next opportunity to do a nature challenge.

pep talk

its time for a pep talk....

threesixfive, week 21

allen and i just got back from a great little getaway. we took the kids to six flags on thursday, after which my dad met us at our hotel and took the kids back to my parents house so we could have a couple days to sleep in and do just whatever we wanted. we didnt get out of bed before 10:30 on friday or saturday. rest. glorious rest.

heres the week...

sunday

our friends the mennings are involved in the texas baptist children's home ministry. my friend melinda helps direct the choir, and so her 3 kids (who colby and molly are friends with) are allowed to participate. their performance was sunday night, so we went to support them. it was called "sermon on the mound."

monday
a couple of my dads friends had to come down to austin for a business meeting monday and tuesday, so  my dad hitched a ride and had them drop him at our house so he could hang out with us for a couple of days. it was really cool to have time with him. thats never happened before; its always mom or the two of them together.

tuesday
dad and i and the kids went exploring on tuesday morning. we went to the botanical garden in austin, and to the nature and science center. both are free, which is definitely my kind of entertainment.

wednesday
mollys last day of gymnastics. she got a medal at the end of class, and i was able to take her picture on the podium. she was being shy, so i couldnt get a good smile out of her. :-/

thursday
the view from our hotel room. so pretty.

friday
i love checking out local restaurants. we found one called ellens southern kitchen, and it was good. everything was made fresh. allen had chicken fried chicken, and i had meatloaf. for an appetizer, we had build your own macaroni. there are about 7 or 8 different things you can put in it. we had bacon, mushrooms, and tomatoes. holy cow. i will eat there again before i die. if you're ever in dallas, near the west end (a section of downtown), go here!

after dinner we took a walk up a few blocks to where JFK was shot. theres a memorial there and some historical markers. this is the cenotaph (open tomb) built in his honor.

saturday
we've been taking our youth to the same camp in south texas for 8 years, and over that time we've developed some great relationships with the staff, both summer and permanent. this is anna, who was summer staff at zephyr for 3 years. shes on her way home after graduating from baylor last weekend, but stopped to hang out with us tonight and go to church with us tomorrow.

hope you're having a great week and wrapping up your school year for those of you who that applies to! :-)
link up below if you have pictures to share.
be blessed!!!

threesixfive, week 20

wow, i cant believe we're 20 weeks into the year already. creeping up on halfway...or is it barreling headfirst to halfway. however you look at it, it's a comin'. sorry i didnt get a chance to read your posts this week. between going out of town to my parents, celebrating my birthday, and spending pretty much all my spare time thinking through agonizing over curriculum for next year (hey, i like to be ahead of the game), i didnt do much else.
i didnt even take a picture on my birthday!! i had to 'cheat' and use one that allen took with his phone.
and speaking of allen, he will be taking a week and doing all my project 365 pictures in the not so distant future. how soon is still to be determined.


enough of that. lets see some pictures.....


sunday
my inlaws drove into town sunday morning for mothers day. we all went to lunch together after church, then they stayed to spend a couple of days with allen, and the kids and i went to my moms to spend mothers day with her, and also so i could celebrate my birthday (just a little bit early) with my family.
heres a picture of allen mom and the kids

monday
i went shopping with my mom, my memaw, and molly (colby, my dad, and my pawpaw did 'guy stuff') and got some birthday goodies. we had a nice lunch, and then that evening after dinner, my mom took me over to the home of a friend of hers who makes jewelry. i wont bore you with the details of my tragic experiences with earrings, but suffice it to say my ears wont pierce. so i designed 3 pairs of clip on earrings that seriously dont look like clip-ons when theyre on. love them. my earlobes need to toughen up a little, though.

tuesday
i came home to a spotlessly clean house, and did a happy dance like you wouldnt believe. allen, as a bonus mothers day/birthday gift had the house cleaned for me while i was gone. it looked fabulous.

wednesday
heres what the kids and i are reading through right now. i can only assumed i learned this at some point in my years of school, but it so much cooler when you're actually interested. i'm learning so much! :-)

thursday
taken with allens phone right before my sweet family delivered breakfast in bed to me for my birthday; scrambled eggs, a slice of toast, and a banana (also sliced, so the kids could help).

friday

some friends of ours got married friday evening, and had a mariachi band at the reception. colby said it reminded him of the 3 amigos (one of our favorite movies).

saturday
allens performing a wedding for a couple in august, and we sat down and met with them for the first time on tuesday night. shes the box office manager for an event center near here, and offered us tickets to disney on ice this weekend. uh, yes please!
our seats, as you can clearly see, were phenomenal. and i included a few shots of the toy story characters. such a great time!!

this week allen and i are taking a mini getaway. we're leaving the kids with my parents for a few days, and staying there in the dallas area, just to sleep in and relax. we may hit a museum or the zoo or something, but we literally have nothing planned. really really looking forward to some time away with my husband. we'll be back saturday afternoon, though, so i'll still get the post up as usual.

link up below to share pictures!
be blessed!!