We like to make cookies and we may just lick the extra flour off the counter and get it all over our clothes.
We like to play dress up.
And we even read the occasional book. When all the playing tires us out we may just retire to our bed chambers or just wherever.
And Henry has graduated to a big boy bed! He sleeps with about 12 stuffed animals and usually we find several books hidden in the covers...pretty funny!
College Ministry is just about the best gig around. We love our students and sometimes we even get to go on vacation with them, like this weekend. Camp Greystone is a quaint little camp settled in the mountains of Tuxedo, North Carolina. There's beautiful scenery, beautiful people, yummy camp food; it's pretty fabulous. We love this annual get away and this year was no different. Avid blog readers perhaps you remember this pose (above) from the past few years.
But, maybe you forgot how stinkin' cute this kid is?
Family canoe ride, no one went overboard; and so we chalk it up as a success.
A little yahtzee...
A little jumping...
That beautiful scenery...
Stinkin' cute little girl.
Four Dirks in a cabin=awesome! Here are the little ones getting ready for a fun-filled campy kind of day.
Aww...we love each other.
Being in ministry at a culinary school definitely has its perks. For example, this weekend Tyler and I were able to take part in JWU's "chef's choice." Basically this is a culinary lab opened up to the public. It's not typically something that is free, but a friend of ours totally hooked us up. But, even if we had to pay for this fun morning out it would have been well worth the cost. We were in a group with about 14 other folks and went to a class called "Sushi and Blues." The chef that led our class was top notch. He used to be the head chef for the seniors PGA tour. I know this sort of thing doesn't impress most people, but for my dad and father in law I know that this is well worth mentioning. The same fellow that cooked Tiger his bacon and eggs and made sure that Phil had his daily dose of fiber is the same chef that taught us to roll sushi.
It was a great "date" for Tyler and myself. We love hands on type adventures and this was definitely hands on. After the chef showed us several different techniques and wowed us with his culinary expertise, we were then set loose at our own little station. We were given a knife and a tray like the one seen above. We sliced up all the veggies and meat, and then rolled sushi rolls like it was our job (while listening to the Blues...hence the title of the class).
I even improved upon my knife holding stance. Your hand is to be an extension of the knife...
And then we feasted on sushi... and the whole thing was kid free, thanks Katie and Cody! If you want more info. on Chef's choice let me know. I recommend everyone in Charlotte do this, it was so so much fun and the school puts these on quite frequently. So, go ahead and get in touch with your inner chef.
Today was Maggie's first day of pre-school. She has been so pumped up for this day. One wouldn't even known that she woke up with cold feet this morning. But, as you can see the cold feet only lasted for a few minutes before she remembered just how much fun school was going to be. And, indeed it was. When I picked her up this afternoon the first thing she said to me was "I love school Mommy." Here she is showing little brother around her new school.
She's already a big fan of her teacher Ms. Diana. Maggie picked this outfit out all by herself this morning (as she does most every morning), thankfully it actually matched today.
I arrived a few minutes early for pick up and was able to sneak a picture of the kids enjoying a book. Her class ratio is two teachers to seven kids, and it is half boys and half girls. I love this.
Henry and I kept busy with a trip to the Y and playing with cars. I think he loved all the one on one attention because he didn't ask me once where Maggie was...;)
Henry performed as one of the ring bearers, but played much better in his role as dance scene stealer/John Travolta at the reception.
Maggie was one of three flower girls and did a fabulous job throwing the petals, even though little brother tried to pick them up and put them back in her bucket, this was all before he was ushered out of the sanctuary prior to completing his trek down the aisle (I think we may have dodged a bullet on that one). He started losing it when he saw Daddy and Mommy at the front of the church (I was a bridesmaid and Tyler officiated) he came out of his petal picking stupor and sort of moaned "DahhhDdddeeeee."
Maggie and Henry showed some brotherly/sisterly love during the rehearsal.
Carb loading before the march down the aisle. You got to keep your energy up, or your children happy whichever comes first.
Pinning the grooms boutonnière on his lapel.
And the oh so important ring bearers as well.
The beautiful bride and her proud papa. I must admit I got a little choked up watching these two dance especially when I looked over at Maggie gazing at the two from the sidelines and realized that she would be doing the same thing one day. But, hopefully we can hold her off until she's forty.
My sweet mother in law and me enjoying the reception. This lady worked hard so that this day would be so special for her little girl, and I would say she did a fabulous job and mission accomplished.
Maggie took a few spins on the dance floor with her Dog and Daddy too. She loved spinning around in her long flowing dress.
The couple was married in Dodge City Kansas and so we did a bit of travelling back and forth to Garden City throughout the week. Titus was a faithful pooch as he watched us come and go, so Maggie showed him some love. Henry enjoyed showing Titus the love too, I'm not sure Titus appreciated his "love" nearly as much, especially when he tried to ride him like a horse.
When we left on Monday from the Wichita airport we ran into these two, Mrs. and Mr. Penner, they were on there way to Mexico! We were so glad to see them, but no one was more so than our two little ones that kept asking questions like "where did Aunt Melodee go," and "is Aunt Melodee Mrs. Penner now?" It really was a great week, thanks for everything Dog, Grams, and Mr. and Mrs. Penner.
So as soon as we got back home a few weeks ago the first thing Maggie did was (of course) dress up in her princess outfits. Whenever I asked her in Germany what she was looking forward to doing back in Charlotte she always replied with, "I am going to dress up and play with my toys." That is exactly what she did and has been doing ever since we arrived back in the good ole USA.
Tyler also took her to her first ever big screen movie. Here they are posing just before they left, note the back pack our innocent three year old is wearing so that she can sneak in some goldfish snacks....certainly this is allowed.
Toy Story 3, I still haven't seen it but I've heard it's pretty awesome.
We also have been doing a lot of visiting and catching up with family and friends. We even had an impromptu visit from my sister and her clan. Henry was super excited to hold "the baby," Evan. And, he just couldn't stop calling his cousin Brody, "Sam." (Which is certainly a compliment for both of his buddies.)
We stopped through Columbia and visited with Grandma Dot, and after she fed us a delicious dinner, the kids helped themselves to a few rides on Grandma D's orthopedic, remote controlled lazy boy.
Grandma Dot and the two crazy great grands.
After our short trip to Columbia/Chapin (and a fabulous reunion with the ever popular Grandma and Poppa and a first birthday party celebration with cousin Trooper) it was back to dress up in Charlotte with our little friend Zion.
