Another weekend!

I should be sitting with the kids while they eat, I know they will not behave and make a mess, but I have so much to do!!! I thought I'd better sit down and write this out today in case I don't get to it again this week! I need to post photos also but that may be something to tackle in January when life calms down a bit! :)

Over the Fourth we traveled to PA to visit the Kelloggs and celebrate Faith's second birthday. We had a wonderful time getting to be with friends and it was nice for Grace to have a little girl her age to play with. We went to a festival of sorts Friday night and rode a hayride which the kids loved. It made me happy to see them get excited over the simple (and free) things in life. :) We also had a very yummy cookout dinner with Brian and the Kelloggs. Saturday was the family party and it was very special to get to be there with them. Jackie's brother's family has 5 kids so Tyler was in heaven as you can imagine. We were outside, new-to-him toys, and more kids to play with. We came home that night and enjoyed church, a restful afternoon, and dinner at the Bush's Sunday.

I"m very thankful Gary knows how to post photos on here with his phone so you can at least follow a little of what we are doing. We finally bit the bullet and purchased Tyler a bike. He'd been riding my brother's old trike and it was time. Turns out it was God's timing for sure! Gary's parents helped us pay for it and we're still helmet shopping. We are having work done on our car, about half of what it needs, we also know we have some work the van will need done before baby/winter time. Last week we put some money into the Mansfield House as it had some plumbing problems, and we're still in the process of getting the kitchen ceiling fixed/painted which will cost a little. Over the weekend some more shingles blew off the house as well. This is not the first repair since the roof was put on 3 years ago so we're looking into seeing if this will keep happening and what the best course of action is. We may just replace the entire roof again, and pay the deductible and be done with it.

This past weekend we spent on a little min-vacation with my dad at his place. He has an apartment right on Lake Erie in Huron which is very nice. It's 2 bedrooms so we sleep in dad's bed, with Grace in the playpen with us, Tyler gets the second bedroom, and my dad who does not sleep much takes the couch. Gary only worked in the morning on Friday so we were to my dad's by mid-afternoon which meant we got a whole day out of it rather than just dinner, and bed. Saturday it rained all morning, the kids needed to nap and we had Joshua and Shannon's engagement/meet the family party to go to. When I was invited to go dress shopping with Shannon I decided it would be a great opportunity to get to know her better and the kids would not be missing any time with papa since they'd stay with him. It was a very fun day and I even got to go to the mall and found Grace an adorable swimsuit cover up from the Disney Store. The party was a wonderful time and it was neat to spend the day not only with Shannon, but also with her sisters and get to know them all better. It was also a treat to get to see my grandparents as they were all there. Sunday was beautiful so we got a full day in at the beach before we left to head to Mansfield to check out the roof and deal with that. Thankfully our gracious friends Ben and Amy were willing to allow us to drop by very last minute so we could meet their new baby! Tyler and I even got to hold her. She's such a blessing and her life will always serve as a reminder of God's meeting needs and answering prayer. I'm extra thankful today that I got to see her because I will have to miss the baby shower this weekend. :( I thought our camping trip was the last weekend of the month, but it's not, it's THIS COMING weekend!! ahhhh!!! So even though I just unpacked last night, and have laundry in the washer now, it'll be all back in suitcases soon! I also have to pack food and other camping essentials. I can't tell you how excited I am that we'll have a cabin with a bathroom and kitchen this year. I'm 100X less stressed just due to those things.... not that you'd be able to tell to look at me because i'm quite stressed still!!! I"m sad about missing the shower but don't feel like it would be wise of me to drive 6 hours in one day to make it... decisions decisions....

Life is good and we love summer but i'm getting tired!! We have a lot to fit in before this baby comes and we are home bound for the winter. Once we get through the winter though we have one last summer before Tyler starts school and we know it will be a wonderful summer with TWO weddings in the family!!