We are not always serious!

Because my blog is usually about my getting to know God and lessons I learn on this journey, it tends to be pretty serious!  I really do have a fun side!  I realize as I read through my blog that doesn't come out too often!  So I thought I would share our "Welcome to Summer Party" John and I surprised the kids with on the last day of school! 

 Home schooling the two oldest meant they weren't surprised, but it was still fun!  And the biggest bummer was Paizley had to be at work so she didn't get to join in.  It was all ideas I got off Pinterest.  We had water balloon pinatas, water guns and as many water balloons as my fingers could tie!  I think I got the feeling back in my two fingers some time the next week!

Everyone stand back!  Madison has a bat!!!!!

Noah tackling the balloon didn't end up so well for him!  He ended up in the street, but we all got a good laugh, and as you can tell from his smile, he didn't mind either!

Toben didn't have much luck with the punching bag style of breaking the pinata!  I think he finally resorted to the bat like everyone else!

Success!  And the face says it all!

It was a ton of fun, and I am pretty sure this was our first annual party! 

Girls are so much fun!

Anyone will tell you that I love my boys! I LOVE the mother/son connection. There is nothing sweeter than one of my boys coming up out of the blue for a hug or kiss or crawling in my lap to watch tv or just to chat! For some reason that is just a unique feeling with my boys...love it when my girls do it too, but my love to see that tenderness in my boys!

But baby girls are just about the most fun I think I can have in life! I know, I probably need to get a life if that is true.....we will talk about that in about 19 years! LOL!

I have had so much fun with Baby Girl! Actually we all have! Callie and I have some tifts about who gets to dress her...well, usually if Callie is willing to get her ready, I'm game with whatever she puts her in unless I already had a specific outfit in mind. Callie is a HUGE help with Baby Girl! I realize more and more how much you have to work as a team the larger your family becomes!


So here are some fun pics of Baby Girl over the past couple of weeks. Pink, bows, watermelons, crowns, we do it all!

First Family Swim

Today was our first family swim! (that translates into: today was the first day the water was warm enough for John and I to get in! ) It was also Baby Girl's first swim! It was a great day! My brother and sister-in-law were here from Indiana. My brother and Dad helped John fix our van. We all had lunch together and the ladies and kids swam while the guys worked on the car. Then later in the evening John came and swam with us. This is why I love summer! We get to spend time outside as a family!

I think I will finish the day with a little time scrapbooking! That will be the perfect end to a perfect day!

P.S. And now I have proof from the photo of Noah that when I say my children are climbing the walls, I mean it! :)

A Summer Day

Cabin fever = put it all down and go outside before you lose your mind!

The Anticipation!

On your mark, get set, go!

Forget it all....

So what do you do when you just came home from four days away at a conference about the hurting children in the world, the bags need to be unpacked, the house needs to be put back in order after your fabolous in-laws did their best to keep it all in order while they loved your kids....well, you forget it all and have a swim and hot dog party in the backyard! And that is exactly what we did Sunday night and here are the pictures to prove it!

I won!

I never win anything! But my sweet friend Jodi says she "blemished" one of the bags she gets from Africa, so she did a give away on her blog...and I won it! I can't wait to see it in person! I will wear it proudly!

Two first for the P-trees!

This was a busy Sunday, but a blessed one too! We visited another church this morning. It felt more like home, but it is much like our last church and that makes me almost want to run the other direction. I am just really confused!

After church we took naps. Then we went to a carnival here that a Catholic church puts on to raise funds for the year. This was the first time in YEARS that our kids had gone to a carnival. We had promised them with a little of our earnings from our garage sale, we would do something we wouldn't ordinarily do because of our budget..so they picked the carnival! So here are some shots from that! We had a blast! I rode the Tornadoe with Callie and Noah, then I was done! They stopped right before I thought I was going to be really sick! Getting old is not fun! John rode the Superman with Noah. Then Toben and Ava drove motercycles and flew high in an airplane! I was so proud of them both...they were way brave!

Callie tried to win a goldfish. Since she didn't win and we didn't get to ride many rides (when did tickets go up to $1 a piece????!!!!!), we took the kids to Petsmart and bought each of them a goldfish, then to Wal-Mart for a cheap bowl and fish food! So here is Callie's fish, "Goldie". Ava's is "Bird"??? Toben's is "Orange", and Noah's is "Rocky Road" The whold fish adventure was less than a ride for all four kids at the carnival and I think they got just as big of a thrill out of it! Callie has been begging for a hamster, and Noah wants a snake. So the fish are a good test to see how "responsible" they can be! If we get to grumbling about feeding and cleaning the bowl, then we know we are not ready for pets of our own yet!

And these are just some pics from our visit with our friends! I didn't get as many as I wanted, but I tell you none of the kids were still long enough to have pictures made! It was a crazy day! And I LOVED it! I love it when the house is full of kids...especially several with little dark faces!