Now They are Newlyweds

But here they are on their wedding day. My brother-in-law, Joel and his beautiful bride, Brandi. Brandi has been "Aunt" to my children for a long time and I am thrilled to call her my sister-in-law...or just sister for short!

Here are a couple pictures.

This one happens to be one my personal favorites. It was a private moment before the wedding. Jeremy took the picture through a window at the back of the church.

Jeremy's family.

Joel and Aliza at the reception.

The dessert reception included cake and a sundae bar. Yum!

Mr. and Mrs.

Our 4th of July

We continued our tradition of watching the community parade. It is great to have neighbors who are friends. We had front row seats and no competition for the candy! Matt and Chrissy came over for lunch and then attended the parade with us.

Aliza was pretty much thrilled with the amount of candy in her bucket.

We ended the day with hamburgers and hotdogs at my parent house. In the full size picture you can see Anna's two teeth.

And back to watching the parade.

A Silly Sort of Day

This morning we had three babies in our house. Aliza and Josiah spent a long time cuddled up on our laps pretending to be babies. I think all of us were ready for a family day at home.

This baby was crying and soaking up the love.

This baby was happy and scooted all around without interruption.

And this baby hopped off my lap for a moment and got himself a baby toy to play with.

Then it was lunchtime and I made hotdogs. As I was ready to put them on the table I realized that we had no ketchup. A hotdog simply cannot be eaten without ketchup. My rule! Jeremy, Aliza and Josiah walked over to our neighbors to ask them if we could use some of their ketchup. They gave us a brand new container (which I bought the replacement at my planned grocery trip right after lunch) and insisted that Jeremy and the children sit and visit for a bit.

Later it was rest time and all 5 of us fell fast asleep. I was the first to see the clock at 4:20! Aliza woke up shortly after. Josiah woke up at 5:00 and Jeremy brought Anna down at 5:30. I guess we all needed it, but don't worry, we paid for that late nap tonight at bedtime!

I think we had the relaxing, restful, day that we needed.

Drama and Growth

As of tonight we have survived our week of Bible School. It is different to be away from home every evening. Our nights were late and our mornings were late. It just made for a very different week.

Aliza was in the kindergarten class this year. It was a big deal for her and she made sure that it was a big deal for Mommy too. Monday evening I took her and Josiah. Before VBS started we looked in her room. When I walked her to her class she started crying. At the door I turned her over to her teacher (whose computer Jeremy fixes) and walked away. I was told her stopped almost immediately. That night she told me the only reason she went into the classroom was because she was curious about the games.

Tuesday night Jeremy took the children. He said Aliza was teary eyed on the way to class. It didn't last long. At the end of the evening her teacher told here that she is a big girl and maybe tomorrow night she won't cry.

I didn't hear about it until Wednesday afternoon. Aliza informed me in no uncertain terms that she did not want to go back to Bible School. I asked her what made her feel that way and she told me that her teacher said that maybe she wouldn't cry tonight. But she was certain and very worried that she would cry. I told her it was ok to cry and we talked about it some more. I was not going to let her off the hook! As we were getting ready to leave Aliza said her neck hurt and she was sure she was going to throw up. In the car she declared her tummy hurt and was sure she was going to throw up. I walked her to class and she let go of my hand and walked right in. No tears.

Thursday I thought she might walk to class by herself. She wanted me to take her, but she didn't really need me.

Friday. Tonight. They had a closing program. Each class sings the song they have learned all week. Aliza told me all day that she didn't want to sing. I decided not to make a deal about it and said ok you can watch. Right before supper she was getting really loud about not wanting to sing and I said it would be nice if she sang because she was learning the song all week and she loves singing. She got loud and mouthy and told me how angry she was that I wanted her to sing. She said she only sings made up songs and didn't want to do those "crazy hand motions" in front of other people. (Ummmm....you should see the "crazy" hand motions and dances she does at home!!) It was very dramatic and I sent her to the car as it was time to go. When I got to the car it started again and I told her it was time to stop the drama. She quit right away. Jeremy walked her in and sat her with the teenager who befriended her this week. When it was time for her class to sing she walked right up, stood in the center of the stage and was the most expressive one in her class.

I am really proud of her for sticking with her class week even though she was unsure and nervous. After Anna was born Aliza had a period of time where she would not leave my side without getting very upset. It was so bad that she did not even want to stay with my Mom and would not talk to my Mom and people that she was very familiar with. Trying as those months were, I chalk it up to adjusting to a new sibling in the family. This week of Bible School would not have been successful even a few months ago.

The video of Aliza singing is on Facebook. Blogger couldn't handle the size of the video, I guess.

Homemade Microwave Popcorn

Maybe the rest of the world knows it is possible to make homemade microwave popcorn, but tonight was the first we tried it. Aliza's grocery store request was popcorn. It was written in letters that took up my entire whiteboard. I got the hint.

Microwave popcorn is just plain expensive so I bought a big bag of store brand popcorn kernels for $1.48! It will last forever. I had to invest in some butter salt tonight, but that will last a long time too.

Jeremy gets the credit for this....well...for following the recipe he found on his iphone.

1/4 cup of popcorn kernals
1 teaspoon of olive oil
some flavoring if you want

Put everything in a brown paper lunch bag. Staple it shut. (Staples didn't bother our microwave.) Cook for 3-5 minutes while the pops are 1-2 seconds apart.

Aliza loved her popcorn snack.

Preoccupied with Life

• I've been obsessed with getting Joel and Brandi's wedding album ordered. My first task was to narrow the 1,939 pictures down to 400. Then I laid out the album. Now the album is ordered and the pictures are on Jeremy's computer for him to work his magic on.
• Last Thursday Anna was starting to get congested and she was coughing a bit by evening. Friday morning she was very congested. Jeremy was holding her in the morning and pulled on her ear. She screamed. He did it a second time for good measure. I immediately walked over to the phone, called the doctor and had an appointment for an hour later. Yup, ear infection. She is a lot better now, but still congested and that makes it hard to eat.
• Aliza and Josiah are going to Vacation Bible School. Aliza was so nervous about going to the K-5 class all by herself. She had a few tears at the beginning, but one of the teenage helpers took her under her wing and Aliza had a great time. She had so much to talk about this evening. And she was so tired that she didn't even ask to read a book before bed.
• It seems like I have been so busy, but now that I sit here to write I can't thing of much to say! Actually we have had quite a few days of just being at home recently.
• I finished reading Mine Is the Night by Liz Curtis Higgs. Totally predictable, but I didn't want to put it down. Now I am back to reading parenting books.
  
• Every parent should read How to Love Your Kids by Milan and Kay Yerkovich and every couple should read How We Love by Milan and Kay Yerkovich. Both are relationship changing books. Now I'm reading Making Children Mind Without Losing Yours by Dr. Kevin Leman. It's an older book published in the mid 1980s.

That's all. Good night.

Anna--7 Months

Anna and her cousin, Renee, have developed a sweet little relationship. Renee sits close to Anna and talks all kinds of baby talk to her and Anna looks at her and smiles and talks back. Renee has just started to walk and Anna has just started to use the walker so Renee moved to the big girl job of pushing.

Anna cut her first tooth this week. True to her laid back form, no one would have guessed she was teething.

She really gets around. I put the gate up for the first time today so she would not get to the stairs. Anna eats squash, sweet potatoes and carrots well. I will introduce green vegetables next.

There are so many fun things to look forward to the next month of her life!