The Fourth of July!

Here are my 3 little sweeties...all dressed and ready for some 4th of July fun! We spent the day at the Grove's house. BBQ, bags tournament, kiddie pool, water guns and water balloons, sparklers... so fun! Then we ended the night by catching the Naperville Ribfest fireworks. The kids had a blast.

Celebrating Daddy

Ryan turned 31 yrs old this week, and we celebrated with a special dinner with his parents. Ryan has no fear of aging. In fact, he loves being in his thirties. He thinks he receives more respect from co-workers and peers than when he was in his twenties. Plus, I think he becomes more and more attractive as he ages. That is not typically the case in women. Not fair. lol.

Here is Ryan and his younger sister Danielle. She is such a beauty! And I love how she and Ryan have so many inside jokes. She can catch undertone humor without batting an eye. It's hilarious! I'm so glad she was there to celebrate Ryan's birthday that night...and to give him crap the whole time too. lol.

Ryan got the cake and the singing. It just wouldn't be a complete night without it! Um...what's so funny Mark?? Haha...little cutie pie.

Reese and Marina loved celebrating Daddy's birthday too!

Summa'time!

Here are Daddy and Mark laying down some mulch around the house. Thank you boys!

This has been our home for 6 years. Both Reese and Marina were born in this house. We've built so many memories here. Can't imagine moving anytime soon.

Wow! I never realized a simple bucket of water could entertain kids like this! LOL. Here are Reese and Marina, cooking, stirring, pouring, and splashing in some water while Daddy and Mark work.

Finally done!

After powerwashing, staining, and rearranging our deck, it has finally become a beautiful extension of our home! We LOVE how it turned out! We've already spent a couple evenings out there with friends, sitting at our new table and enjoying the firepit. It only took about 6 hrs total, to refurbish the wood deck. Totally worth the effort! I know it's modest in comparison to many landscaped backyards in the Naperville area...but even still, we are so proud.

Staining the Deck...

That's how I'm spending today and tomorrow, while we have the sunny weather. We just purchased a brand new deck set (glass top table, chairs, and umbrella). And they are so pretty that now the wood deck looks crappy. It's been a few yrs since the last time we stained it, and it's looking very weathered. So, I have a brand new stain...a rich wood color. I'm excited to complete the project and have friends over for a BBQ on our freshly stained deck with our new table and chairs...and perhaps a few new potted plants to pretty it up. Till then....back to the brushes and rollers.......

KCU Snapshots!

This week has been extremely eventful! We participated in a week-long event for Kid's Connection, which is our church's children's ministry. The event is called KCU (Kid's Connection University). The children sign up for a specific class to attend throughout the week, depending on their talents and interests. And we, as "professors," spend the week cultivating those talents and interests while teaching them how to glorify God. Whether it's skateboarding, cooking, science experiments, scrapbooking, choir, music video production, etc...we believe they can use their abilities to not only bring God glory, but also to impact their world for Christ! This week, I've been teaching the photography class. What a blast! Each day my class of eight kids has completed a specific activity to teach them some of the aspects of photography.

Here is an example of one of the activities we completed. It's called 'Bird's Eye vs. Worm's Eye.' We went around the inside and outside of the building, looking for objects that they could photograph from way down low (worm's eye view) and way up high (bird's eye view). Then we studied how differently the object appears from those different perspectives.

This was my absolute favorite activity of the entire week. It's called "Blindfolded Photography." I literally blindfolded the kids one by one and they had to snap random photos without being able to see. Then, I took their snapshots home and used my software to alter the photos and ended up with masterpieces. This was to show the kids the power of technology. LOL. It also had a life-lesson...in life, we don't always see what's ahead. We have no idea how certain situations will turn out. And we often times don't have much confidence that something beautiful can come out of a situation that we have no control over. But then God steps in, if we allow Him, and He takes what seems confusing and turns it into a masterpiece. A design that only He could have foreseen. This is an example from our "Blindfolded Photography."

Each day, we had a theme that was discussed at large group time and at small group time. The topics were Compassion, Kindness, Humility, Gentleness and Patience. So, I had the kids brainstorm ideas to create motivational posters for those themes. Here's what they came up with:

So, needless to say, it's been a crazy, busy, and exciting week. Tonight is our showcase night, where the parents come to see all that the kids have been doing. The artwork will be displayed, gallery-style, and I know the kids are so proud to show their parents all the hard work they have accomplished this week.

One More Time...

My sweet hubby decided to throw me one more b-day celebration. We had family from the Brody side over last night, as well as a couple of my closest friends. So fun!

Sweet Kristi made me a cute cake with, of course, 29 candles on it! And Heather made these amazing chocolate treats on a platter that are absolutely killing my diet!

Here I am with my gooooorgeous sis-in-law, Danielley-belly, who just turned 16yrs old last week and drove herself to my party with her brand-new license...her brand-new car!

...And here I am with 2 of my very best gal-pals...Kristi and Heather. They are like sisters to me! I love them so!