Family Fun

Keith and I took the kids to see the Soap Box Derby competition. The kids got a kick out of watching the silly and creative cars going down the race course and various obstacles. They even got to climb in the cars after each one's competition.

Sweet Madison was SO tired that day. Keith and I were cracking up at her sleeping like this and it made her wake up just enough to take a tiny bite of banana with her eyes closed just before conking back out.

We oftentimes rotate taking the kids to various events and activities in an effort to not always have to buy five tickets everywhere we go, to help improve our experiences (less kids=less fighting) and, most importantly, to ensure we get one-on-one time with the kids. This time I took Payson to see the Cirque Du Soleil show called Kooza.

Several of his cousins were there too. Not surprisingly, he loved the show!

Rain! In Dallas! The kids wanted to know why it was so dark during the day and where the sun was! Poor things forgot about cloud cover after not having seen it for so long.

On the way home that evening we spotted this beautiful rainbow and, despite how very big it was, we could see its beginning and end - we just couldn't fit it all in our camera frame! Here is Madison admiring God's promise.

 On the flip side, Payson was taking his own pictures.

My sweet friend Melissa accompanied me to the Metro Cooking and Entertaining Show where Paula Deen was making an appearance and doing a cooking demo. She was a hoot!

After the show Melissa and I were ready to go home and try out Paula's chicken and dumplings recipe!

This week in chapel at school Hayden and Madison went up on stage to recite the bible verse of the week.

Madison and her friend Ryann received the Fruit of the Spirit chapel award for Love. Way to go girls!

Hello Preschool, Goodbye Summer!

First day of preschool!

Besties.

Daddy had the privilege of taking the kids to school on their first day!

The kids are going to school 3 days a week and every once in a while I get all 9 lunches prepared ahead of time!

Before we welcomed school, we finished off the summer with a bang. We bowled with friends...

...took a few ice skating lessons...

...shot some rockets...

...stayed inside and built tents to beat the heat...

 ...and we joined some friends at Chuck E Cheese's where Payson hit the jackpot!

This month the kids also made their very first stuffed animals at a Build-A-Bear birthday party. Hello Kitty is all the rage in this house these days!

And we finally got to meet Mr. James Marshall, the son of one of my best friends, Katie. Such. A. Cutie!

First Lemonade Stand

For Labor Day we decided to help the kids have their very first Lemonade Stand! The timing was perfect as we had just developed a family allowance system a few days prior. 

First up was squeezing out the juice from some fresh lemons to help supplement the lemonade.

Then the kids made their own homemade signs to help bring in customers. They really got into it, writing it all on their own and drawing lemons on their signs.

All set up and ready to go!

Now it was time to bring in the customers! It was such a great opportunity to teach the kids about sales, money and dealing with success and disappointment.

The kids were so excited each time somebody stopped. They would all run to get the lemonade or run to greet the customer and collect the money so it took some guidance from Keith and I to help the kids balance out their tasks.

Ahhh, with their hard work done, it was time to enjoy their own refreshing glass of lemonade. Cheers!