4th Festivities

We had a great 4th of July weekend.  We started out celebrating on the 3rd.  Daniel had been hired for a private party to do balloons and also to do a magic show.  Jamie and LeeAnn Berry are huge fans of Daniel's and have seen him perform several times.  They wanted him for their annual 4th of July party and invited his family as well, so the kids and I and also Daniel's Mom and Dad who were in town, tagged along.  They had several bounce houses and games for the kids, hamburgers, hot dogs, and tons of food.  We really didn't know anyone there, but were welcomed and had a great time.  After Daniel's show, we headed over to a local elementary school for a private fireworks show.  This show was better than some town fireworks!  Just amazing.  However, Molly was not impressed.

She spent the whole time watching the display frowning.  She never cried, she didn't fuss.  She just frowned.  I think she was wondering why in the world we were keeping her up past her bed time to watch things blow up in the sky.   :)

The next morning, we headed to the Brownsburg 4th of July parade.

It rained on us a little, but did not ruin the fun.  The kids got tons of candy!!  And despite being up late the night before, Molly was in a pretty good mood.

Especially when she realized candy was involved.

After the parade, Don, RuthAnn, Heidi, Dusty, Rachel and Aaron headed back to our house for a cook out.  Grill master Daniel made some awesome burgers and we sat outside in the back yard and enjoyed the day.  That night, we stayed around home and watched the fireworks in our community and played with sparklers and bottle rockets.  The girls and I also enjoyed watching the Macy's New York City fireworks display on TV.  Good times and great memories made!!

Lazy Days....

spent...

in love...

Easter fun!

We had such a good weekend!  On Saturday the Easter bunny paid a visit.

The kids question whether or not this is Daddy.  Considering Daddy is never around when the Easter Bunny is, it kind of makes sense right?  But I think they are just not ready to come to that realization because they talk themselves out of it.  I myself think it's pretty hilarious.  Molly is not scared at all.  In fact, she just cuddles and pats and loves the near 8 foot tall rabbit.

On Sunday, Daniel had to work in the morning, so I had to get the kiddos ready for church on my own.  We didn't do too bad on time.  I was even able to snap a picture.

For the first time, Molly was able to have her own hair up in a top knot!  Love it!!  Molly is cutting some teeth and drooling like crazy, so not too many smiles from her.  Here is all of us in our Sunday best!

Daniel was home by one, so we got to spend the rest of the day together.  That evening, we went to Heidi's for Easter family dinner.  The kids got even MORE candy from Me-maw the Easter bunny.  We also had an Easter egg hunt.  On a side note, notice Madelyn's extra curly hair.  With all the rain and humidity, her hair was just full of curls!  I think it's just beautiful.

 

We had a truly great weekend with lots of family fun!   On our way home from Heidi's, Madelyn started to tell us the Easter story.  She began her account at the start of Holy Week with the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and finished with Peter entering the empty tomb to find it empty and the grave clothes folded.  She included so much accurate detail.  I am so thankful for each and every person who teaches Truth to my children.  Children learn by repetition and Daniel and I do our best to teach our children at home as the Bible instructs, but I am so thankful for a Godly church who speaks Truth.  I'm thankful for their Sunday School teachers, Children's worship leaders as well as a good Christian preschool.  May God reward them for the precious work they do each and every week.  They are making a difference in my children's lives.  Praising Him for so many things this Easter!!

Easter eggs and resurrection rolls

We spent our Good Friday night with some good family fun.  First up, dying Easter eggs.

Yes, we dye Easter eggs shirtless, because Mom doesn't want to try and get Easter egg dye out of our clothes.  And guess what?!  Good thing I do that too, because right now, Madelyn has a blue stain on her chest, and David has red stain on his shoulder of all places.  Then we made resurrection rolls. 

If you have never done this, I highly recommend it.  It was so much fun and the kids learned a lot too!  I got this idea and recipe from my friend and former neighbor Jen at 4tunate.net.
Check it out to get the recipe and instructions.  What a sweet treat and a sweeter reminder of Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection.
 

Hollywood!

After dinner one evening last week, Daniel took the kids on a little walk.  The older ones rode their bikes, and Molly cruised in her umbrella stroller.  Since it was sunny, we put Molly's sun glasses on.  She loved them and wore them for quite awhile before she learned she could take them off.

Madelyn had to have hers too!

While they were gone, I took the opportunity to go to the back yard to plant some more flowers.  They weren't gone but around the block and the last turn David made, he fell off his bike and it broke into 3 pieces.  I couldn't believe it!  The whole thing just fell apart.  Luckily Daniel was able to get it back together, but by then, they were all done with the walk.  I only got as far as getting the gardening supplies out of the shed.  Oh, well.  There's always next time.

Spring Break!

In desperate need of a mini-vacation, the kids and I took off Saturday and spent the majority of our spring break in Illinois at my parents house.  The weather turned cold and we were not able to enjoy the outside as much as we would like, but we had a good time anyway.  The first night there, we got to enjoy Dad's famous home-made pizza!  Mmmm!

Molly made herself at home quickly playing with the toys Momo and Papa have collected over the years.  Here's Dr. Molly.  By the way, she put this around her neck on her own.  We didn't do this for her.  :)

Day 2: Madelyn, PJ and I headed to the movie theater.  We saw Gnomeo and Juliet.  It was an OK movie.  It really wasn't as funny as I thought it would be.  I definitely will not buy it.  But the movie theater popcorn was good and the company was even better, so it was all worth it!  David did not join us for the movie as expected.  He wasn't feeling too well and had a runny nose and a cough.  Molly also was not feeling well, but finally got some rest with Papa.

Day 3: Dad and I along with the kids headed to Decatur to visit my Dad's brother Gary.  The kids loved chasing the 2 cats around.  David, my brave boy, started the steep climb up the stairs to the attic.  Madelyn reluctantly started to follow.  Uncle Gary teasingly told them to watch out for the boogie man.  They changed their minds and headed back down.  But after a little talking between the two of them and David assuring Madelyn she would be fine, they headed up again and opened the door to the attic.  Funny to me....my Uncle Gary lives in my Grandma's old house and I too remember as a kid the long scary climb up the stairs to the attic.  I joined them upstairs and reminisced what it was like to visit this same house when I was their age.  Such great memories!!  In the afternoon, Mom and I sneaked out to do a little shopping.  Always a must.  This day Molly also started with a runny nose and a fever.  Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep this night.  Good times!

Day 4: David felt much better so he and Papa went on a train hunt.  After burning up about $30 in gas, 2 hours of time that included a Happy Meal, a trip to the park and 2 bathroom breaks, they finally saw a train and chased it 5 miles to Blue Mound.  Success!!  Meanwhile, my sister came over to visit.  Mom, Lori, Madelyn and I visited while Molly took a nap.  Later that evening I went to Taylorville to get my hair done.  A girl I went to high school with now owns her own salon on the square.  It was good to see her and reminisce about old times.  Molly started to feel a little better and slept much better.

We headed home on day 5.  By this time, David was perfectly fine, Molly just had a runny nose and I was starting to feel a little run down.  Sure enough, when I got home I had caught the cold.  And the next day it was Mom's turn.  Luckily whatever this is doesn't last long.  The first day and a half are the worst.  So far, Madelyn and Dad have escaped it.  And Daniel....well, he left for Illinois the day after I got back and will not be back until tomorrow.  So maybe he's escaped it too. 

John 14:27 (NLT)  “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give."


#34-42 of my ONE THOUSAND GIFTS.....of endless grateful love......

Spring buds on the trees

connecting with Mom through Him at that table over coffee and newspapers

fresh sudokus

listening to stories of old - reminiscing by my Daddy

her sitting next to me in the van and then in the movie theater. 

my parents and my children - strengthening and loving

catching up - the way sisters do

HIM pulling me back to HIS love using his words of wisdom and leadership I've so longed to hear.

His Word breathing new life into my soul - truth, love, passion, joy

Life

We have had a fun week!  The warm weather has been a nice welcomed change.  I thought Molly looked so cute in her blue shirt and bow.  Just had to take a picture.  What you can't see here is her first pair of jean capris.  I love this time of year!!

The kids have really enjoyed the play set.  Madelyn can swing this year all by herself without help!

And finally to round out our week before spring break, Madelyn had mis-match day at school to celebrate March Madness.  2 different socks, non-matching clothes....

 

And even mis-matched hair.  She looked adorable!

 

Back to normal....

After 3 weeks of sickness roaming back and forth in our house, I am glad to say that everyone is feeling better!  Molly was the last to get sick.  With a double ear infection, she was oh, so fun!  She spent most of her days just crying.  She cried when I held her, she cried when I put her down, she cried in bed, she cried when she had toys, she cried when she did not have toys....you get the picture.  There were a few days she would follow me around the house just whining.  But today....today was a different story.  Today I found this!

She emptied at least 50 sandwich bags. 

She's so proud of herself.  On a side note, have you ever tried to put sandwich bags back in the box and get them to fit?  Not as easy as it sounds.

You've got a friend in me...

Can you believe my baby boy is turning 6 in eight days?  I can't either.  We celebrated a little early this year and had a fun party with his friends.  We had to kinda make up for last year.  Last year, he had to celebrate his birthday party in the hospital because a certain little sister who will remain nameless decided to make her entrance a few days early.  Anyway, today we celebrated with a Toy Story 3 theme.  We started out with some games.  Musical chairs was a lot of fun.

Then we played a claw game with the aliens.

And we had a friendly little race on which team could put together the Potato Head fastest.  This was my personal favorite.  Daniel even took pictures of the potato heads they were to build with the pieces available so they had a guide.  Lots of fun!  After present it was time for cake.

Isn't he just the cutest??!

Oh, and David is too.  :)

We had a great time.  David was so happy that all of his friends were able to make it.  Lots of fun was had by all!

Happy early Birthday Buddy!  We love you!!

Look what I can do!

 

No stopping her now!!

Snow Much Fun!

After much begging, pleading and gnashing of teeth after the first real snowfall, the kiddos got to go outside and play.  They were only out there for about 30 minutes because of the frigid temperatures, but long enough to play well together and both come inside in tears.  Typical day really.

David decided to use the slide to his advantage and make a snow splash.

Madelyn was the first to try it out.  Not too shabby.  However, after just a few times, the snow just became an extension of the slide and provided for good zing out into the yard.  Good times!

It didn't take long however for this to lose it's appeal, so pushing each other face first into the snow became the new game of choice.  Madelyn was the first at the door with tears flowing and a face full of snow with David close behind with a big grin.  But with very little coaxing from Mommy, Madelyn got her revenge and tackled David to the ground.  Roles were reversed and then it was time to come inside.  Sorry, no pictures of the latter.  I was too busy cheering reprimanding from the sidelines.  :)

My hubby's handiwork

After our 4am Black Friday Target purchase, Daniel decided we need a new antenna to be able to receive HD channels on our new television.  So he made this.

So, a piece of wood, some coat hangers and some washers later, we have this bad boy mounted in the attic.  Ironically, this gives us more channel options than our cheap $13/month cable.  Way to go honey!

Playroom project!!

Awhile back, I was cruising the thrift shop and found this little beauty!

I know!  How did everyone else pass this up?! 
My husband however was less than thrilled I brought this home.  I mean his garage and now the shed are full to the brim of junk antique valuables.  How could we fit someone else's broken piece of furniture in among the treasures until I could find time to refurbish it?  None the less, I won he relented and there it sat until last week. 

I failed to take a true before picture.  The above picture shows that some of the seat pieces were broken off.  I took some dowel rods cut them to size and nailed them in to replace the broken pieces.  I then added a beautiful coat of espresso spray paint and found some fabric I just love.  I then made a pillow for the seat.  See, all it needed was a little love.

This will now go into the play room as a chair for the kids to sit and read books on.  Isn't it just adorable?  I absolutely love it and think it turned out just as I imagined it.  And the kids???  Well, they are excited for it too.

And as for Daniel....he has been forced promised not to say anything about my thrift store deals I bring home as yet again he has seen my flair for a good project as he did here. 

paint, paint and more paint

Taking advantage of the oddly warm November weather, Daniel decided to get some outside projects done before winter hit.  First on the agenda was to paint the shed.  Here's a before shot:

And the after:

I think it really looks nice.  He also took the same brown as the trim on the shed and painted the play fort. 

Now...that doesn't seem like too much work right?  Well, day 1 was power wash the play set, day 2 was paint the shed, day 2 and 3 and 4 was prime, paint and paint the play fort.  It needed 2 coats.  So, it took a few days and another afternoon, but it is all done and ready for next spring.  Thanks Daniel for all your hard work!!

2010 Lusk Pumpkins!!

This year David wanted a Spiderman pumpkin and Madelyn wanted Hello Kitty.  Daniel was able to find a pattern for Hello Kitty, but he did the Spiderman freehand.  I think they turned out pretty good.  Neither David nor Madelyn wanted to scoop out the seeds.  They hated putting their hands in the gooey mess.  They kinda take after their Mommy.  :)

Molly loved the gooey pumpkin guts.  She had it everywhere!  Including in her mouth.  Yuck!  In fact, we had to finally take it away from her and she made her disapproval known quite loudly.  Be glad this is not video. 

 

HAHA!!

Nostalgia

When I was in elementary school, every year sometime in October they would hand out pumpkins on Friday.  We were to decorate them and then return them for a contest on Monday.  This was always a special time for me.  I would take my pumpkin to Grandma's house and she would help me decorate.  (She was the crafty one of the family).  So, when David brought home an opportunity to enter a painted pumpkin contest, we jumped on board.  After much thought, we decided on a 'scary' spider.

 David did quite a bit of this project.  First he helped me spray paint the pumpkin black.  Then he painted the pumpkin with black glitter.  He stuck on the eyes and the fangs (I cut the fangs out of foam).  Finally, we stuck on the legs.  I did have to put a straight pin in the legs to secure them.  The glue dots wouldn't hold very well.  After some searching in the garage I found some spider webbing and a box.  And of course, David wanted to add some spider friends.  I personally think it turned out really cute.  David and I were able to sneak off to the store by ourselves and had a great time picking out all of our items.  He was proud of his project. 

This project was a lot of fun for me.  It brought back lots of memories and special times spent with Grandma.  Of course, things sure have changed.  We had to buy our pumpkin and pay $1 to enter the contest.  :)