Quote for the day

You have not been THROWN into these circumstances, you have been CAREFULLY PLACED in them by me (God).

Not sure whether that is a Bible verse, but the lady that spoke at our Women's Retreat said it and in between feeding and bouncing J-man, I managed to write it down. Never believe that you can't get through something. If God brings you to it, God will get you through it. He never gives us more then we can handle.

John 16:33
33"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

James 4:14
14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.

Jeremiah 29:11
11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Life is just a vapor... we will have trials. They are just for a season. Jesus overcame the WORLD. We can overcome our trials. Thank you Jesus for your promise of hope and a future.

AND

James 1:2-3
2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

Romans 5:3-4
3Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope.

James 1:12
12Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

Praise the Lord for His AMAZING promises. EVEN in times of trials we will PRAISE HIM!!

Funnies

Vandenberg AFB has launched 2 rockets in the last week. We watched them both. Very cool learning experience for the girls. The night of the first launch, Mike says, "Kailee, look outside and see if it's a clear night... can you see stars?" Kailee opens the slider, looks out and says, "Umm... it's kinda smoky looking." Mike, "Honey... that's the canopy. Go out in the grass and look." Guess the blond hair gets to her sometimes.

On the night of the second launch, my mom was in town. Knowing what was going to happen, the girls were quite excited to teach Yia Yia about rockets. While we were watching the rocket ascend and "leave the snow globe" Addie says, "See Yia Yia... it's running outta space!" She meant Going to Outer Space. Hilarious.

First Night Out!

Mom and Dad had their first night away from the 3 Musketeers! A friend from college got married in Santa Margarita, just 15 min from our house. My college roomie came into town to go play and our nieces drove over from Fresno to babysit the herd. It was so nice to get dressed up (Don't think I've been out of gym clothes more than a handful of times in the last 4 months) and to be around adults for longer then a 45 min Spin class.

The wedding was gorgeous and we had an awesome time!

Instead of champagne in glasses, they had CANNED CHAMPAGNE! How cute are these???

They even came with the straw.... funny stuff.
Auntie Jillie brought the girlies hula gear straight from Hawaii. They were so thrilled and had to put them on immediately and started singing, "Hooka, Hooka, Hooka" and shaking their hips like hula dancers.

DADDY'S BIRTHDAY!!

Mike turned 32!!! August 27th. The girls and I made him a birthday cake and made him a yummy dinner. It was his first birthday as a father of 3!!

The girls used their earnings from the lemonade stand to buy Mike presents at the neigboring garage sales (I had no idea what they were up to, but when I saw their finds, I thought it was hilarious and adorable)

Addie got him a giant Bakugan, a dollar, some rocks, a plastic gold coin and a Tinkerbell sticker from the doctor. Kailee picked a purple wallet made by our neighbor with duct tape (the new rage for tweens, apparently. He has also made Kailee a camera case out of duct tape) She also tucked a dollar inside of his card.
Not sure who picked the shells, but I am sure he will treasure all his goodies forever.

1st Day of School!

We started the school year with a big 2nd grader and a Pre-K girl!

I cannot believe Kailee is in 2nd grade. Mike and I took a look back at her other 1st day of school pictures and were blown away by how much she has changed. She is becoming such a little young lady. I am so proud of her and cannot wait to see what this year brings!!!

Here is Kailee: 1st day of Kindergarten 1st day of 1st Grade
1st day of 2nd Grade!!!

Mrs. Brunschweiler (Brunch-for a while: that's how she taught the kids how to pronounce it) is her teacher this year. I really like her. She is just sweet as can be! And we are so excited that several of her good buddies are in the same class, especially our good friends son, William.

Kailee's first observation was that the desks are bigger then 1st grade desks... well duh! They are bigger kids =) Too cute.

And then it was Miss Addie Ray's first day of Pre-K. We started her at a different preschool this year, North County Christian. The school goes all the way through high school. It has a more academic based preschool then where she was. There are 5 kids in her class that have siblings in Kailee's 2nd grade class. Fun for them to know their big/little sis/bros are together! There were also several kids from her old preschool that transferred over. It was nice for her to have familiar faces!

Here is Addie 1st day of 3 year old preschool:

Annddd 1st day of Big Pre-k!

She has Miss Joy and Miss Nicole for teachers. Both are awesome! I am so excited to see how much she learns this year!

Old friends, Lillian and JoJo (Short for Joseph. Side story... when he found out Addie was going to a different school, he told his mom he needed to go to the same school as her so he could PROTECT her. The funniest part is he is a head shorter then Addie. She loves him just the same =))

Sale-in

In my back-to-school prep I pulled BAGS of clothes out of the girls' rooms plus the first round of baby stuff Joshua had outgrown. I decided to go the distance and clean out the rest of my house/garage and have a garage sale. I told everyone I knew (thanks Facebook) and ended up with 2 other neighbors participating in their driveways and 5 families in my own driveway. It was a great day and we all made a little cash for our time. Beth and Tyson hosted the Lemonade Stand for the kids (this is a downfall of mine - I have something against lemonade stands, not that I won't buy from one, I just don't want to deal with the prep for one) The kids made $30 bucks selling lemonade and cupcakes. I am very appreciative to the McDermotts for giving that experience to my kids... because otherwise... it would not have happened.

My cat thought all of these people had come to visit him. He hung out the entire time!! I had numerous people ask (seriously ask) if he was for sale.

And after 2 downloads, it won't go straight... but this is Joshua and his friend Marshall. They are 4 days apart =) Josh was actually due like 3 weeks after Marshall, but he came early and Marshall was late!

Backyard campout

Mike (superdad) set up the big tent for the kids to sleep in one night in August. They had been asking to for months and finally it was a warmish night, so off they went. Of course my kids (hostesses with the mostest) had to set up a "patio" area.
They stayed out there all night (with Mike, of course). They didn't even wake up as soon as the sun did! I'm sure it will become a summer tradition =) Yes, even the dog camped out!

Beach Day

Since Mike pretty much always works on weekends, the kids and I are often on our own for our adventures. A few weeks ago I recruited our good friend Rich and his little girl Isabella to come with on a Beach Day. We picnic'd, played Uno, looked at tide pools, and just relaxed on a beautiful Montana de Oro day.

The lump in the middle of the pic is the kids and Rich looking in a tide pool. My awesome zoom lense captured the moment right?

Bunches of Fun

A mishmash of what's been going on since July:

We got our carpets cleaned and had all the furniture on the wood floors. Of course the stacked chairs turned into the PERFECT fort for the girls. It provided hours (really... hours) of play time for them.

Mad face!!!

Self portrait of mom and son... cause otherwise... I just don't exist.

We only went to ONE concert in the park this year because it was so darn cold at night all summer! The girls got all jazzed up for it!

Joshua seemed to really like the music too.

Anybody else's dog sleep like this? He LOVES to sleep on his back. Hilarious.

Baby Chipper.

Hello cuteness.

Gotta love bloggers unbelievable ability to upload a picture flipped. Again. And again.

Kailee is the #1 babysitter around here. Her brother loves her to pieces!!