It's summertime . . .

. . . and that means swimming whenever possible!

We had a fun-filled day at the pool yesterday with the kids from Treasure Seekers -- as well as a cookout.

Can you find Lael and Jaden in this picture? What a fun time spent with friends!

And even more special is the fact that your sibling is your best friend!

Think on this!

I received this in an email today -- it's a good reminder:

Don't tell God how big the storm is;

tell the storm how big your God is!

I'm so thankful that we serve such a BIG God, aren't you?

Outer space, anyone?

Lael and Jaden are attending Vacation Bible School this week at a nearby church -- the theme is Operation Space from Answers in Genesis. Anyway, last night's craft was a robot (here's a picture of Jaden with one of his friends and their robot creations) . . . so today both kids have been playing robots ever since breakfast was over! And the best part? Their robots have been repeating the memory verse over and over again! Safe to say that 2 Timothy 3:16 is hidden in my children's hearts! ;)

Fun at the zoo!

We spent a wonderful afternoon at the Lehigh Valley Zoo with some friends -- the weather was perfect and the animals were lots of fun and rather friendly :)

Happy Father's Day . . .

. . . to the best daddy in the whole world!

Lael made a special acrostic poem -- sharing some of the things that make her daddy so special to her . . .
And Jaden made a cool card . . . (He enjoyed explaining the "joke" to everyone!)

The highlight of Father's Day this year was the gift of a special scrapbook made by Lael (with a little help from Mommy) filled with special Daddy-children memories. Daddy said it was the best gift he's ever received!

Happy Father's Day, honey! You are the best father our children could ever hope to have!

Lael's first dance recital!

Friday night was a special night for Lael -- it was the night of her first dance recital! There were 3 classes of little girls sharing ballet and tap dances. Fifteen family members and friends attended to support Lael, along with close to 200 other people.

Lael's class did two numbers -- one tap and one ballet. The song they danced to for ballet was Steven Curtis Chapman's song Cinderella. The song begins like this:

She spins and she sways

To whatever song plays

Without a care in the world

And I'm sitting here wearing

The weight of the world on my shoulders
It's been a long day

And there's still work to do

She's pulling at me saying, "Dad, I need you!

There's a ball at the castle

And I've been invited

And I need to practice my dancing.

Oh please, Daddy, please!"

So I will dance with Cinderella

While she is here in my arms'

Cause I know something

The prince never knew

Oh I will dance with Cinderella

I don't want to miss even one song

'Cause all too soon

The clock will strike midnight

And she'll be gone . . .

For those of you that know Lael, the song describes her well . . . there is always a song on her lips and she frequently dances around the room when music is playing.

Anyway, here are some snapshots from the dress rehearsal as well as the recital . . .

Lael really grew this year in dance -- she went from knowing nothing at all about ballet or tap to really being a leader in her class.

Our little girl is quickly becoming a graceful young lady!
All the girls from her class waiting backstage to perform their second song . . .

One of the special gifts of this dance class was a new special friend - Grace!

And Lael's beloved teacher - Miss Lea! You will always have a special place in our hearts because you introduced Lael to dance and shared your love of dancing with her . . . thank you!

Strawberries, anyone?

Don't they look absolutely delicious?!

Saturday morning we headed out to go strawberry picking at Schmidt's Berry Farm. We've gone there in past years to pick blueberries and peaches, but this was our first ever time to go strawberry picking. I hadn't even been strawberry picking in years - since I was a little girl!)

Lael really enjoyed picking strawberries -- Jaden enjoyed looking at all the different types of grasses that were growing out in the field with the strawberry plants (he was really just along for the eating, I think!) On our way back to the car, we decided to pick some sugar snap peas - or "sugars" as Jaden decided to call them. He was a great little "sugar" picker!
Here we are with our bounty - our friend "Miss Paula" joined us for the fun . . . . . . and then, since we had worked up such an appetite, it was off to Chick-fil-a

so we could get some lunch!

If you came to our house . . .

. . . this is what you'd often see! Jaden is completely smitten with all things cowboy. He has cowboy dress-up clothes, but sometimes those desperados on the Gospel Bill Show wear long coats. Okay, so the bad guys are usually dressed in black, not monkey-print, but you gotta work with what you have!

Giveaway at Passionate Homemaking!

Okay, here's something I've never heard of before . . . soap nuts! Now, before you think I've gone nuts (pun intended), apparently these are nuts that you place in a fabric bag and throw in with your laundry and they clean your clothes -- no chemicals or perfumes, 100% natural! How cool is that!

Passionate Homemaking is having a giveaway of sample sizes of soap nuts . . . you can find out more about that here if you are interested!

I'm definitely going to be checking this out!

Memorial Day fun!

We spent Memorial Day at the home of "Miss Doris" -- one of our church members. She graciously invited us to join her extended family and some friends for a cookout. (It was our first one of the summer season - yay!)

We had such a wonderful time -- eating, playing catch with the kids, even jumping on a pogo stick (well, Jaden jumped on the pogo stick with Daddy's help).
And the best part of the day for Lael? Meeting this beautiful puppy named Samson. She sat next to Miss Doris holding him for quite a while . . . and Sammy was content to simply lay on her lap!

We all had a wonderful day!

Monday meditation

We had a missionary couple as our guest speakers yesterday at church. As the wife was sharing, she read these words to us from the Message version -- it really spoke to my heart, and I pray it blesses you as well:

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion?

Come to Me. Get away with Me

and you'll recover your life.

I'll show you how to take a real rest.

Walk with Me and work with Me—

watch how I do it.

Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.

I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.

Keep company with Me and

you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

Matthew 11:28-30