Dress Up

Laura Anne dressed up as a ballerina for church this past Wednesday. I made the tutu. I got the instructions from HERE. It's so easy, you have to try it! Well, if you have a girl to make it for, that is.

I have so many pictures of this smile. I love it!

Caleb joined her for a few pictures. I have a horse costume that he's super adorable in, but it was too hot outside so it has to wait.

Now that I have officially turned into a puddle because of the cuteness, I will go now. Oh yeah, the last post was Laura Anne's doing. She sat at the computer and clicked away for a few minutes and somehow figured out how to post it. I couldn't make myself delete it. :)

And details of the super great stuff is still coming!

dhddfydydhhteywysu

God Is So Good!!

2 Chronicles 16:9 "The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to pursue Him."

Details on some great stuff coming soon!!

New Normal

We were so blessed to be able to take Caleb to a dermatologist last week. We had an appointment with a physician's assistant, but to our surprise, the doctor himself walked in! You would think after seeing so many doctors about Caleb's eczema that we would know how to control it, but that has not been the case. It's so stubborn!

We learned a few more things during this particular doctor visit. Caleb has extremely dry skin and to help keep him from itching we need to be moisturizing him 10 times a day. Yes, 10 times! I thought I was doing good with 5 times a day. Also, he can't take hot baths. We need to use Aveeno Calming Comfort bath solution. Then we have a prescription oil to use after bath time. He's also on an antibiotic because he did have a secondary infection. And at bedtime he takes an antihistamine to help control the itching.

Wow! What a schedule! I had to write it all down and put it up in Caleb's room just so I can keep track and make sure we're doing everything right. He goes back to the dermatologist in a couple weeks and I want to be able to show the doctor that we're doing everything the way he said to do it.
Right now, his skin looks awesome, but we believe that's because of the antibiotic. The true test will be after the antibiotic is done and out of his system. The doc said that if his eczema comes back, we're doing something wrong. We want to make sure that doesn't happen!!

And I don't know the exact cause of this, but Caleb has been sleeping much better at night for the past 3 nights. I hope that continues!!

Ecclesiastes 3:11

"He made everything beautiful..."

This is the verse Laura Anne memorized for church last week. We got started 2 weeks late for memory verses, and we are very proud of her for memorizing all three verses to catch up.
Last week's lesson was centered around Ecclesiastes 3:11. During class, the kids planted a seed for a pea plant. By the weekend, we could see the plant starting to grow. The following picture was taken this morning:

Laura Anne loves watching it get taller and taller. They are also talking about Creation during Wednesday nights Awana class. This week she's learning that on day four of creation God created "the great lights..." (Psalm 136:7) I love this. I love watching her learn about our God and how wonderful and mighty He is! She actually told me last week when we were talking about the things God created that "God has power." Yes, He does, my child.

Park And Party!

Thanks to our new friend, Sue, we discovered a really nice park within walking distance of our house! I can't believe it's so close and I didn't even know it was there! But one day recently, when the weather was just a tad bit cooler not as scorching hot, the kids and I walked (well, Caleb rode) to the park. We were the only ones there and it was great fun!

Then it was party time! Saturday, October 3rd we had two parties to go to. The first was for Desiree, Chris' best friend's daughter. She had a bouncy thing in her back yard that we all enjoyed for a little while.

Ha! I only posted this next picture because of Laura Anne's hair. And the floating ball. :)

Then we headed to my mom's party. She turned 35. ;o) I have this thing for sometimes forgetting to get a picture of the birthday person so, sorry Mom!! I'll do better next year! You know, when you turn 34!

Here are the cousins, minus Anna who isn't yet big enough to sit with the big kids! The kids are enjoying pizza! With the exception of poor Caleb and his carrot sticks and turkey. :( But he doesn't know what pizza tastes like so it's all good!

Laura Anne and Steven played with Legos together. So sweet!

And Uncle Chris (a.k.a. Daddy) was a sport and got attacked by the children.

It was a fun-filled and packed weekend, but we enjoyed it all!

Picture Of The Week

Snapped this picture yesterday at the park. I just had to post it because it's so cute! Haven't figured out if there's a way to get rid of the shadow on her face yet.

I know I said there are more birthday pictures to post. They are coming!! I promise!

My Heroes

This is why I love photography

The crispness:

The creativity:

The incredible bokeh: The beautiful colors: No, I didn't take any of these photos. I hope to one day be this good! I found these photos (and a whole bunch more like them) on The Pioneer Woman's website. Inspiring!

I did take the following two pictures. I'm coming to realize more and more that I am in love with outdoor pictures. I love taking pictures of the sky, flowers, my children, anything! The outdoors is filled with such wonderful natural light. I could stay out all day and snap pictures of the outdoor world.

I think I figured out what camera I want, too. I decided I don't need to save for the super duper incredibly expensive camera first. Instead I found this guy:It's a Canon Rebel xti. While it's still pretty expensive, it's not nearly as expensive as the others I was looking at. So for now, I will save my pennies and hope that one day, I can get a spiffy camera and snap awesome photos such as the ones above.

Party Animals

We've been to 3 parties in the past couple weeks. There are lots of birthdays between August and October in our families! I'll post pictures from the others soon, but for now, here are just a few pictures from Chris' dad's party.
All the young kids played ring around the rosy and duck duck goose.

This picture makes my insides melt into a puddle. :)