Camera Fun At the Airshow

We had SO much fun at the Air Show. The weather was perfect and friends of ours were going after church also, so we decided to just go together. We watched a lot of different planes and the kids enjoyed getting to go inside a few.

The only thing we didn't get to see this year was the Stealth Bomber. That bummed me out a bit because that was my favorite part last year. They are so cool that they almost don't seem like they can be real!

This plane was very cool though, mainly because it was so huge that it didn't seem like it should fly. I like the perspective of this picture because it shows how BIG this plane really looked while it was taking off.

This is the huge plane following a normal size plane. See? Huge!

Our favorite part this year was seeing the Blue Angels. I've heard of them, but never seen them. They were well worth the wait. The stuff they did was incredible and everyone was in awe while they were in the air.

I obviously had lots of fun with my zoom lens. ;)
This is all six planes. 4 usually flew together in different formations and 2 would do their own crazy stunts alone or sometimes together.

They flew so close together it made me a bit nervous...

...I mean, doesn't it look like they are touching? Insane!

I laughed at this picture, cuz it kinda looks like I just copied/pasted a bunch of the same airplane on top of each other. I promise you~ I did not. Plus they are numbered. That would be hard to fake.

Yeah...then they started flying upside down next to each other.

My favorite was definitely when they all flew straight towards the crowd and then split off from each other. I was truly in awe of these pilots and what they could do. It was fun to enjoy this with our kids and friends and I'm already looking forward to going back next year!

We had a blast at the airshow today

Amazing

This van took 22 years to complete.

Meeting Al The Alien

Crazy!

Brass Art Car

Mia loved this music car

The music art car

This parked in front of our building

Yum! Greek pastry!

Waiting for breakfast

At farmers market this morning.

My New Favorite Song

VH1 TV Shows | Music Videos | Celebrity Photos | News & Gossip

I just haven't been able to get any pictures taken these past few days. Not even with my phone. Does everyone know that when I post one picture with text underneath, that was an iphone picture? I try to do those whenever I can cuz I know at least my family loves to see pictures of the kiddos. Sometimes those random iphone pictures are all I have time for. Lately, trying to keep control of my home while entertaining two little kids and creating fliers for Artists For Hope and working on necklaces....while trying to maintain some sort of a social life~ gets a bit crazy at times. I mostly enjoy crazy, so it's fine, but there have a few days lately that I think "I would LOVE to be bored for a day." But then I would find something new to keep me busy because I was bored. LOL. Oh well.

I've been listening to this song over and over the past few days. I've always loved Matisyahu and his new album is great. Especially this song "One Day". Such a song of HOPE and I think that's why I like him so much~ always a positive message!
Hopefully some of you will like it too. ;0)

Watch out Spielberg...

...here comes Baz.

Sebastian has been messing with this piece of paper all morning. I finally asked him what he was doing. He told me he has been writing a movie. The conversation went as follows...

Baz: I'm writing a movie.
Mom: Wow, what is it about?
Baz: Cars...and sunshine and basketball.
Mom: Sunshine and basketball? Why?
Baz: It's a baby movie.
Mom: Oh, babies like sunshine and basketball?
Baz: Yes. And it's 3D, so the basketballs can go like THIS (imagine dramatic sweeping hand gesture toward Mom's head)

Makes perfect sense, right? Who am I to question a creative genius? I mean sunshine and basketball~mixed with Cars, sounds like number one at the box office to me! The 3D basketballs might freak out those babies that come to see it, but Baz seems confident with his vision.

I'll let you know when the trailer comes out. ;)

What a Difference Six Weeks Makes

Wow! Check out the difference that six weeks on Medika Mamba has made in the lives of these four little boys! It's a miracle! Truly a miracle.

It kinda hit me as I was looking at the new picture of these little cuties that there is a good chance I might get to actually meet these little guys. Our trip is only about 3 months away and the babies usually stay longer to make sure that they continue to grow and thrive. I can't WAIT to meet them in person!

I've had a lot of people talk to me about donating. Seems like most of the donations right now are shorts and school supplies. I'm so excited to be able to bring these much needed items to the clinic. Here's a little "reminder" of some of the other items that they really need right now, and a few more things we hope to bring for the kids....

* girls and boys underwear

* toys larger than the size of your hand without small parts (easy to pack toys would be best. I think like cute plastic baby toys, balls, etc. would be great. Things that can be disinfected easily and will be fun for the kids. I don't think they have many toys, so we would love to bring them some FUN things!)

* anti fungal cream (Do you have a pharmacy nearbye? I'm thinking about trying to contact a few and asking for donations?)

* sippy cups/small bowls/spoons
*Pipe Cleaners
*Beach Balls

Thanks again for getting excited about this adventure with me. Please start praying for our experience and for our hearts as I know we are going to experience some TOUGH things while we are there. I keep thinking "what if a child dies while we are there"? I know it's a huge possibility, sadly...but as a Mom, I'm not sure how to handle this. I always put myself in the position of what if that was MY baby. I can't even imagine. So obviously having the support of you guys praying while we are there will be HUGE! :)

THANK YOU!!!

Tubing

Much bigger than a Mia

Crazy Giant Ants

An artist created three of these crazy ant statues in an open field.
The are huge and quite impressive!

Carousel Charlotte

She loved this and we rode it eight times at Arnold's Park.

The first catch

Bazzy caught the first fish tonight at lake Okoboji. He named him
Nemo. ;)

Our last picture together

Wow was saying goodbye hard. :(

Two states at once.

She loved this. ;)

The whole crew

In Nebraska and Iowa at the same time! :)

Last night with Marumi

Wow Is This Going to Be Hard

I can't believe we only have one day left with Marumi. Saturday morning she will fly to California to meet up with the other Japanese students that have been in America for the summer. They will be in San Francisco for 3 days and then they head home to Japan.

It hasn't always been easy having a teenager that we barely new in our home....but especially these last 2 weeks we have become VERY attached to Marumi. She just fits here now and I'm not ready to say good bye. :( She told us she wants to stay. I wish she could.

This has been a great experience for all of us and I'm pretty sure we will do this again next summer. I think it's great for our children to not only learn about other cultures, but to know that we are supposed to welcome people into our homes with open arms. Even if it's not always easy. Now this "stranger" has come to feel like family and I'm not ready to let go.

I hope this has been the experience that Marumi hoped it would be. I know Saturday morning is going to be hard for all of us. sniff sniff.

Pure Drama

A friend of mine told me about a Musical Theater class at her daughter's dance studio. We've been trying to think of something for miss Mia to be able to express her dramatic side....and this seemed perfect. Katryna thought it sounded fun too (and she has a bit of drama in her also!), so we took both of them. Plus it was free to try, so why not~ right?

They learned a dance to one of the songs from Annie. I love Annie, so I was pretty excited about that. They both loved every second of the class and did really good for their first time. I think we may have Musical Theater in our future.

The lady talked me into trying tumbling with Sebastian there on Thursday night. Plus a mom told me that a lot of little boys take Hip Hop at the studio. How adorable would that be??? Bazzy doing Hip Hop. Come ON!!! :)

Mmmmmmm- Sweetcorn

That's my girl! :)

Week 5 On Medika Mamba

Wow! Check out those bellies and cheeks! They are looking SO much healthier. Caroline at the Rescue Center actually said that it is getting difficult to take their pictures together because they are getting so active now that they are starting to feel better.
What a blessing!

I thought of a few more things that we could use for our trip, in case anyone is out and sees some good deals.

*Beach Balls
*Pipe Cleaners
*Bubbles
*Stickers

Thanks to everyone who has already talked to me about donating.
You guys are amazing!

Giggles, Cheese, and Peek-A-Boo

THAT is love

My sweet boy just gave one of his most prized possessions to his baby sister. Charlotte was trying to play with Baz's "big Nemo" all morning. He finally left the room and I figured he had just had enough. He came back a few seconds later with "medium Nemo" (who most of you probably know is the oldest of all his Nemo's. Well, besides his Nemo purse. Ha. ;) ) and said "here Charlotte~ you can have this Nemo."

Awwwwww. What a SWEET boy. That is true love.

Such a great big brother!

It's Archie

:0)

On our way...

... To Demi lavato and David archuleta!

Chowing on Karen food

BFFs

Playing by the volleyball tourament

Celebrating Karen martyr day

EASY Artsy/Crafty Ideas

Does anyone have some EASY/non-messy/not stressful Art or Craft ideas that we could do with the kids in Haiti? Probably not beads (too tiny- choking hazards), paint, or anything that would stain clothes. We won't have hot water (to make play-dough) and we don't want to pack TOO many supplies. SO~ who's up for the challenge? Anyone have some good ideas you can share?

This idea seems like a possibility, but I'm hoping for many more!

A Day At the Wildlife Park

We went to the Wildlife Safari last week to show Marumi some of our exciting native species...

I cracked up when the girls were more excited about this squirrel they saw than the deer or elk we had just passed.
We could have stayed in the yard!

We were ALL very excited that the bears were out! I don't how many years we went to the same place and never saw a bear. We were actually skeptical to if there even WAS a bear. The last two times we've gone though, there have been bears. Isn't he cute?

This one even struck a little pose for me. Awwww.

This one looked hungry...

...so we kept Charly-beans VERY close. ;o)

We also got to see the wolves close up while we were hiking. They also seemed to be "stalking" my children in hopes of a snack. This guy kept pacing back and forth while looking at the kids.

Kinda freaky!

The whole crew seemed to enjoy walking on this beautiful not-so-hot day. It was great to be outside with everybody.

Charlotte LOVES that she can walk on her own now. She was ALL about walking and usually had this serious little look on her face while she was mosey-ing along.

Katryna was "in charge" of her on our hike and that was a bit challenging at times, since Trini would much rather walk quickly then stop and look at every little tiny rock or stick that Charlotte found interesting. Probably a good lesson in patience for her.

This was the best I could get of all 6.
Getting everyone to look and smile at the same time is IMPOSSIBLE.

This is Bazzy's "fine~ I will give you this one last BIG smile and then you better lay off me with the camera woman" smile. Ha.

The day ended with Charlotte REALLY wanting to hug this "bir-ee". Sofia literally had to hold her back cuz apparently giant Raven's look cuddly and cute to a one year old.

Sorry Charlotte. There will be no hugging this. Seriously.