Happy Independence Day!

Another 4th of July has come and gone.  This one though was exciting and busy for our family.  

Earlier in the week, the kids and I prepared by going over some of our previous memory work about the founding of America.  We talked about the Revolutionary War, the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and I even read it to them.  Hopefully one day soon, they will be able to fully understand and wrestle with it. 

The morning started with the family marching in the Lutz 100th Anniversary parade with American Heritage Girls.  We were not able to help make the float the weekend before, but didn't they do a great job?  Nicole and Hannah rode on the float and had fun throwing candy and squirting the crowd with water guns.  Nate walked alongside Jeremy and I.  He too enjoyed throwing candy at the crowd (and when he ran out, he would run around and collect candy on the street, and then throw THAT candy at the crowd ;)  He was also given a box of snap pops from the float behind us.  Nathan delighted in the screams and jumps that came from mommy as he threw the little exploding toy at my feet. 

The AHG float

Watch Out!

Uh-Oh!  Hannah's got a water gun!

This is the AHG oath 

To be honest, the parade ran much more smoothly than I expected.  Nate walked the whole the time, and no crying happened until we were walking back to our car and Nate fell while running to catch up with us;)

After a short afternoon nap, it was time to prepare for the party.

When we moved here, we knew no one.  Our move was made much easier though by the wonderful neighborhood we ended up in.  These people started off as just neighbors down the street....but have become sweet friends.  I loved the fact that we all gathered together for a fun evening of food and fireworks.  Each family brought their own meat to grill, and a side dish to share, as well as some fireworks to light.  We were also joined by two sweet families from the church.  It was perfect!

The kids put together a 4th of July bicycle parade.  Jeremy led them in the jeep, while the group of children rode down the street with their decorated bicycles.  To their delight, there were people outside who were cheering them on and clapping for them.  I think it was the highlight of the kids' night!

Preparing for the Parade

Turning the corner to cheers and applause from another house.

Hannah was waving and saying "Happy Independence Day!"

The little parade.  Maybe we can make this a tradition!

Of course, there were also sparklers....lots of sparklers, snap pops, snakes and fireworks!  Not so surprisingly, Jeremy was pretty much in charge of the fireworks (although a lot of kids got to help set them off as well).

One of my little firecrackers

Jeremy is lighting a smoke bomb for Nate

I'm pretty sure Hannah is holding a Roman Candle.  For the record, I think this is a bad idea, hahaha.

Everyone lining up for a light.

My other little firecracker!

It was a great night, a great celebration, with great friends.  I'm so thankful the Lord brought us here!

Happy Father's Day

Jeremy :)

You are an incredible husband.  You lift me up when I am down, you make me laugh, even when I feel like crying.  You are fun and resourceful.  You are hard working and a man of integrity.   You love me and your children in ways that encourage us.  You are the perfect man for me, and the best father for our children.    We miss you when you are working, but are thankful you work so hard to provide for us.  You take your children on adventures that can only be had with you:)  Without you, our family is not complete.  We long for your return each weekday and look forward to time we get to spend with you.  

I thought it would be fun to interview each of the kids about you.  Here is what they have to say...

Nicole- age 7 says...

How old is daddy?    30

What is daddy's favorite color?   Red

What is daddy's job?   I forget  ( she came back a little while later and said, he fixes TVs)

What kind of car does daddy drive?   Jeep

What is daddy's favorite song?   (That's a hard one!) Fuego

How do you know your daddy loves you?   Because I'm his child and He'll always love me, even when he's dead in heaven.

What is your favorite thing to do with daddy?   Wrestle

What is your best memory of daddy?  Whenever he ran away and hid himself under the bed until his dad found him (when he was a kid)

What is daddy's favorite food?  (That's a hard one!)  Anything mom bakes

Why do you love your daddy?  Because he always loves me.

Where is your favorite place to go with daddy?    To the golf course

If you could go on a date with daddy, what would you do and where would you go?   I would go to Chuck E. Cheese and play with him so much I can't believe it.

What is something that your daddy does that is funny?  Whatever he talks about, he always seems like he's cute and funny (and sometimes serious).

How does your daddy show mommy that he loves her?  He has always love her, and he'll always be with her, and they'll always be married together.

What is daddy's favorite story in the Bible?  Genesis 1.

What is something you want to tell daddy on Father's Day?  I love you....Mmmmm  Mmmmm.  Hug to you!

Hannah- age 5 says...

How old is daddy?  31

What is daddy's favorite color?    I'm thinking red.

What is daddy's job?    I don't know.

What kind of car does daddy drive?    Jeep

What is daddy's favorite song?  Fuego

How do you know your daddy loves you?  From him giving me a hug and kiss

What is your favorite thing to do with daddy?  Be pushed on the disc  (she raised her hand to tell me this one! hahaha)

What is your best memory of daddy?  His loving

What is daddy's favorite food?  Anything that mommy makes

Why do you love your daddy?  *whispers...that's a hard question*  His handsomeness

Where is your favorite place to go with daddy?  To a sports area  (because I loooooove sports)

If you could go on a date with daddy, what would you do and where would you go?  I would, um, go get some cake with him and I would also like to do.....what was the question again?  I would go to an icecream place, like we would have cake before it and then icecream.

What is something that your daddy does that is funny?  Jokes

How does your daddy show mommy that he loves her? By giving her lonely time.

What is daddy's favorite story in the Bible?  Exodus

What is something you want to tell daddy on Father's Day? That we love you.

Nathan- age 3 says....

How old is daddy?   3
What is daddy's favorite color?  Red and blue and green
What is daddy's job?   paint
What kind of car does daddy drive?  jeep and a truck
What is daddy's favorite song?  I not know
How do you know your daddy loves you?  so much!
What is your favorite thing to do with daddy?  To ride in his jeep
What is your best memory of daddy?  to play with my cars
What is your daddy's favorite food?  to eat a burger or a hot dog
Why do you love your daddy?   Because I like him, but I don't like girls
Where is your favorite place to go with daddy?  to softball with 'Cole and Hannah and mommy and daddy
If you could go on a date with daddy, what would you do and where would you go?  I would do this game (showed me a dart game)
What is something that your daddy does that is funny?  to tell me jokesy-jokes
How does your daddy show mommy that he loves her?  so much
What is daddy's favorite story in the Bible?  um, let's see....to play games!
What is something you want to tell daddy on Father's Day?  Um, to have a Christmas when it's dark and have a pretend bear.

We love you Jeremy!

Nathan's Prayer

Nathan's Prayer tonight:

Dear Lord,
I pray Hannah's belly not fall out (I think he meant tooth), and Jesus, I pray our house is small and not disappear.  And, Jesus, I pray that Yogi Bear is on TV.  And Jesus, Cars not be able to talk, and Yogi Bear talks,  Jesus...  Why, why Yogi Bear and Cars talk?  Jesus...Amen.

A few moments later he says, "I have just one more thing."

Jesus, I also pray for Baby Zoe.  Help her not be in the hospital.  I pray she sees her brother and sisters (she doesn't have any).  And, Jesus, I not know what mommy say today.  Help she teach me how to do it.  And Jesus, help the poop come out of my belly.  And, my toots too.  Jesus...Amen!

It just had to be recorded!

Stinky

Last night Jeremy got home really late from a long, hard day at work.  He was covered in cement dust....very dirty!  As he walked upstairs to take a shower, he noticed that Nate was still awake, so he went in to say hello.  Here is the conversation....

J: Nathan, daddy is really really dirty and stinky tonight.  I worked really hard today.
N: Daddy, you dirty?
J: Yep, and stinky too.
N: Daddy, you stinky?
J: (nodding his head) Yep.
N: Daddy, you poop in your undies?

Yep....he's three

Of course, Jeremy walked out laughing....what a funny little guy!

Nate is 100% boy.  I can't even write on here what he just did...actually, the two things he just did and showed me this morning.  Let's just say....there are a lot of unexpected, funny moments with a little boy around.  Anything is fair game!

Nicole's 7th Birthday!!!

Oh, what a day we had yesterday!

Nicole turned 7, and we planned a day of fun surprises for her.  She has been anticipating it for weeks!

Surprise #1- Trapped in her room ;)

Apparently Nicole crawled under the web...so I was able to make her go back in and bust it through!

Her room was filled with 30 balloons:)

My Beautiful 7 year old girl! (Notice the 7 she is holding up;)

 This was high on her list of things to do on her birthday.  Measure herself to see how much she's grown.

 Looks like she grew a bit from when she measured herself a few months ago at the age of 6.

Surprise #2- Dunkin Donuts!

 Me and my little sweetie!

 Surprise #3- A day out with friend, Ella
Surprise #4- A mini mani/pedi at a salon just for little girls!  We paint fingernails all the time at home, so I thought it would be extra fun for them have a real manicure and pedicure

Picking out their colors and glitter

Ella, Nicole, and Hannah with their polish in hand

They brought the girls some fruit juice in some fancy cups!  I know you can't tell, but Nicole was loving every moment of this ;)

Beautiful!  She loved getting her hands rubbed down with lotion too.

Ta-da!  Manicure is done!

Oh, their first real pedicure!  

She LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this part!

Isn't this place cute?

Ella and Nicole, enjoying their time.

Hannah said, "This is SOooooo relaxing"  She was cracking me up!

Sweet Ella, enjoying her pedicure

Look how cute!

Letting their nails dry while watching Tangled.

Their all done!  I think the girls finally understood why I insisted on them wearing sandals!

I love this picture....sweet girls!

This was their "silly face" picture.  

 Surprise #5- Lunch at First Watch

Surprise #6- Dessert and Yogurt Mountain

Nicole insisted on helping to decorate her birthday cake.

 It has a heart on top that she wanted to say "LOVE"

 I seriously have the sweetest girl on the planet!  My cake decorating skills did not shine yesterday.  I made the frosting w.a.y. to thick...and then I couldn't write love very well.  I apologized and she said, "Mom, stop! You are the best cake decorator ever.  I love it!  It's perfect."

 Surprise #7- Rapping "Fuego" by Lecrea with daddy.
Nicole and Jeremy have been preparing for this for a few months.  She knew she wanted to perform it on her birthday.  So, they dressed up like wrapper.  Jeremy gave Nicole a microphone, and he used something too...and they rapped.  We tried to name them "J-chubby and Tricky Nicky"...but, she got upset.  She really hates for her name to be changed....not even for pretend.  But, that's ok...to us, she was ' Tricky Nicky' last night ;)

She had hand motions ready to go

J-Chubby & Tricky Nicky...in da house!!!

Oh yeah, she's bad!

Happy Birthday to you our big 7 year old!  We love you!

Click here to watch a short clip of the rap duo "J-Chubby & Tricky Nicky"

Happy 7th Birthday Nicole

My sweet Nicole....Happy 7th birthday!  You have been SO excited about this day as it has approached over the past few weeks.  You were excited to measure yourself in the morning to see how much you have grown.

You were excited to finally be seven years old.  One of the first things you exclaimed was "I feel more grown up!".  You certainly are my sweet girl.  You are a hard worker.  You look for ways to help around the house and do 'grown up' chores.  You love to decorate and make the house seem lovely and peaceful.  You love to create an environment and set a scene.  Often times, I will come down the stairs and you will have worked hard to set a beautiful (to you;) table or decorate the living room with blankets and pillows.  You take much pleasure in seeing other people happy.  You truly are a servant.

More than that though, you LOVE the Lord.  I think you love Jesus more than almost anyone else I know.  You have a sincere desire to know God, to read your Bible (you love to read Creation, The flood, and The Cross).  You actively pray and have been working lately on 'taking your thoughts captive'. 

A few weeks ago, there was a rather large bear on our street.  We later found out he was over 300lbs!  Daddy and I were pretty excited about it, but our excitement created fear in you and your brother and sister.  A few moments later you told me this..."mommy, I was really scared of that bear.  I was afraid it was going to bash the windows in the car and eat us up.  But, then I realized I wasn't trusting Jesus.  So, I started to pray and and ask God to help me trust Him.  I told Him that I know he created that bear, and he even knew that bear would be on our street tonight.  So, I told Him that I wanted to trust Him and not be afraid of that bear.".  Wow!  What a beautiful glimpse of your heart I received.  So, my sweet girl, I pray you will grow in your faith.  I pray you will love Jesus more and more each day.  Keep trusting in Him.  Keep following Him. He will not lead you astray.  

I can not believe you are already 7 years old!  You are a treasure and a joy.  But, it makes me sad how quickly this is going.  I only have 10 or 12 more years with you.  I want to take those years and make them memorable.  I hope you grow up knowing that your daddy and I love you.  I hope you grow up in the fear and admonition of the Lord.  You are my sweet girl, who I will always love!

Happy Birthday!

Who says you can only decorate cookies at Christmas time?