hali AGAIN!

 last sunday was my 44th birthday.  there quinn, i said it! haha. i told the kids i was 24, 32 and what ever other number felt better. haha.  i took the kids up to hali for the week and when i arrived cry had a cake for me!  happy birthday to me!

 the purpose of the trip was to have nate and quinn be jr leaders at a small baptist church 10 mins from their house, the boys attended last yr and left such a great impression on them that they were asked to come back to help.  so i signed the girls up and took them up.  the kids had a BLAST.  i only had 2 chances to do some painting. on monday it was raining so i did these trees. i was trying to learn how to draw a tree!

 some leaves

 and voila

 wed morning my sis was working on the road, so i was able to sneak along with her. sooooo fun road tripping with her, i talked the WHOLE way there,  and back. hahaha it was SOOOO fun to have her all to myself!

 then we picked the kids up and took them to the beach

 shawn set nate up with some target practice! he LOVEd that

 joey watched from afar!

 ice cream in the back of shawns truck. hahaha

 my little zebra.

 fri was the best time ive had in a long time.  shawn took all the kids (THANK YOU!) drove me into hali to meet with cry where we shopped and had the BEST supper.  ellie made me this paper bead necklace to wear. and i did the whole night AND got 2 compliments on it!  we picked the boys up from Shiloh fest after, which was the 2nd reason why we went.  the boys had a youth conference to attend on the weekend

 sat i went garage sailing with my sis. i spent 10.00. ha  but joey found this baby doll that she hasnt stopped playing with, her baby's name is lily and i caught her putting her down for a nap. ha

 night lily!

 shawn put the boys to work painting the dog house

 i found my joey like this...and that was all the pics i took!  for some reason, i just didnt take many pics of the week.  we left sun after church.

 yesterday after lunch ellie went out with her friends, joey stayed with me, she was so sad about not being included. so i gave her an ice cream and we had a cute chat.  i cant get over how fast the last 5 yrs went

 shes wearing chris's old glasses!

 i attempted to paint daisies with the kids at the table

 nice orange splashes guys!

 so this guy showed up at the door to pick up a part chris made for his jeep with his lathe. the guys said chris didnt charge him but instead told him that i like this store....and i do!  then he said as he passed the card to me "and by the smell of your house i know you will like this" hahaha i was burning my new oils....THANK YOU chris for thinking of me!

 finished painting...with the kids help

 i ran out to get groceries and was behind this! the apple car. it was running, the top was turning and the 3 cylinder like objects were also turning. so neat to see!

 so chris and i are making deliberate attempts to spend time together, to connect. esp after this busy summer.  i picked up this bad boy and oh my WORD. SOOOOOO good

 after i put the kids to bed, i made this for chris and set up the table outside

 voila

 and nate took this pic, he was hiding. haha we sent him to bed and spent a good hr just talking and eating! 

i cant believe im heading into the last week of summer vacation. so sad!  i want more summer. i feel like i havent had summer. its been busy with travels and kids stuff.  im deliberately NOT working on school stuff. im thinking ill take it to the cabin net week and start the prep work there...it will be quiet and ill have a chance to get things done...i hope!

i found this quote this am

let today bring a new enthusiasm for the purpose you were created to fulfill and a fresh sense of knowing how important it is

i found that kinda fitting esp with putting of school starting. ha

but then again September brings back routine and structure, and with that a strange sense of comfort in the routine of life.

Posted by mel at 10:29 AM