Photo Shoot With Daddy? Why Not??

Johnny got ahold of the camera the other day....the girls were in a good mood....here's what went down...

.....and that's that :]

Camping With Mommy

Summer is in full swing, and if you read my last post, you know we have had our ups and downs with Joey and her 3 year old self....more ups than downs :]  Anywho, as a fun way to reward her good behavior, she has been coming to Eagle's Wings with me for some Summer Camp sessions!  She has a shirt and everything....she always asks "Mommy, is my camping shirt clean??".  At camp the kids get to do gymnastics rotations, play games, rock climb, do crafts, eat lunch and more!  Here's a few pics of Joey from this past week when she got to come "camping" at the gym.

It was fun to see Joey in action at camp.  She goes to school, but I don't get to see her interact with the other kids and instructors.....I snuck in a few times and checked her out.  The result???  She's very respectful of her teachers, and they love her as a result.  In this picture above, they are playing duck duck goose. Every time I looked out on the game, Joey was being picked :]  I love that people love her...a bit of momma's pride :]

Who couldn't love that crazy haired girl??

Joey, and all the kids for that matter, love to run on the rod floor....

her running is getting faster...look at those little legs go :]

it was water Wednesday and this is the pool where they put the sponges in for sponge wars and such....Joey jumped right in and made herself at home....

Logan was like "we can get in this thing??"

on water Wednesday's we have a giant inflatable water slide for the kids to play on....Joey wouldn't go by herself, so Amanda went with her :]

"Joey, was that fun???"..."Yes Mommy!!!!"..."Do you want to go again??"..."No Thanks!"

The Hardest Part...

I've decided that the hardest part about disciplining your child is having to miss out on things yourself :[  Let me explain...

There was one time at my In-Law's house where I looked at Joey and said "if you drop that one more time, we are going home."  She dropped whatever it was, and we packed up and left that instant.....it was a crazy night, and after I said what I had said, we had to leave once Joey dropped whatever it was....it was a little harsh, and I was a bit embarrassed for what had so easily rolled off my tongue, but follow through is really important to us, so we left.

The other night our sweet 3 year old that you all know as an angel was giving us a run for our money.  She wanted to go swimming so badly {and we did too, it's hot here :]}, but when asked to get her swimsuit on, she was stalling and wasting time.  She kept putting it off and eventually said "I just don't want to go swimming".  I knew after she said this that she would immediately change her mind and say she wanted to go swimming, which she did say.

{Joey is in the great habit of saying she doesn't want to do something, then immediately changing her mind....Johnny and I are done with this!!! } 

So back to the story....so she said she didn't want to go swimming....I immediately put her swimsuit away, and the trip to the pool was off.  The crying commenced and it was a fight to brush teeth, go potty, and get jammies on.  Because of the fit and it's severity, Joey lost both of her stories that night....we read from her Bible, prayed and went to sleep.  She eventually calmed down and apologized for what she had done.  She went to sleep and woke up refreshed and polite the next morning.

The sad part of this story is not that we taught Joey a lesson in speaking what you mean, but the fact that we didn't get to go to the pool :[  It was really annoying, but we had to stick to our guns.  My BIGGEST pet peeve is when parents threaten something and don't follow through.  Like I said, Johnny and I are sick of this "I want to do this, no I don't, yes I do" game, so this is how we are putting a stop to it.  State the consequence then follow through every time!!

So a day passed and we had time before bed.  We asked Joey if she wanted to go swimming.  Since we didn't get to go the day before, she jumped at the chance to go!  We got upstairs to change and she decided that she didn't want to get her swimsuit on.  Grrrrrr, not again!!!  Johnny had a great plan....he told her that she needed to get her swimsuit on, and we were going to the pool, the catch was that she had to sit out while the rest of the family got to swim.  She got her suit on and no fits were had....we got to the pool and Johnny, Sammy and I got in while Joey sat on the sidelines and watched us have fun without her.  She never asked how much longer to I have to sit here or anything like that.  After 5 very long minutes Joey was allowed to swim.  The rest of the evening went great.

So we may have found a way around the family punishment for Joey's actions....we still get to do whatever it was, she has to sit out and watch?!?  I'm not sure, we are still learning as we go here, but one thing is for sure, we will be consistent, we will follow through, and we will discipline or child for bad behavior.  Even though tough at times, and even though we may get "punished" in the process, it will be worth it in the long run!  Here goes.....

4th of July 2011

The 4th of July has come and gone, and each year just keeps getting better with our kiddos!  Last year Sammy was so only a month old and Joey had just turned 2.  Time sure does fly folks!

We went to our friend's Scott and Shawnda's house for some food, friends and fireworks :]

{Chad, Callie, Courtney and Matt}

{Louis}

{the girls are always playing something....ring around the rosie was the game of choice this night :]}

{kelli has deep conversations with the kids}

{Jestine loves to hold the babies!!!}

{all the kids and the craziness}

{sammy wanting to do what the big kids are doing}

{this was our best "group shot"}

{the girls loved to just run in the yard....look at those smiles :]}

{Carolynn, John and Isaiah}

{sidewalk chalk is a must}

{Hannah and Amanda...love this picture :]}

{Brewer, Brian and Kelli}

{Madison, Brandon, Ben, Amanda, and Hannah}

{Joey, me, Johnny and Sammy}

{this little video of the sparklers makes me nervous as you will hear, but it's cute none the less :]}

I hope you had a fabulous 4th, I know we did!

Worship Wednesday - Waiting Here For You

I came across this song the other day while listening to Pandora....I had to stop working {sorry akirb and bret} and praise the Lord...we are waiting here for him!

If faith can move the mountains
Let the mountains move
We come with expectation
Waiting here for you, I’m waiting here for you

You’re the Lord of all creation
And still you know my heart
The Author of Salvation
You’ve loved us from the start

CHORUS
Waiting here for You
With our hands lifted high in praise
And it's You we adore
Singing Alleluia

You are everything You’ve promised
Your faithfulness is true
And we're desperate for Your presence
All we need is You

CHORUS

Singing Alleluia
Alleluia, singing alleluia, alleluia

CHORUS

Waiting here for you
With our hands lifted high in praise
And it's You we adore
We're singing Alleluia

I'm singing Alleluia
Waiting here for you
With our hands lifted high in praise
And it's You we adore
Singing Alleluia
Singing Alleluia


I love the part where it says "you are everything you've promised, your faithfulness is true...and we are desperate for your presence...all we need is you!!!"


What are you singing today??

Swimming Lessons

So this is the year Joey is going to learn how to swim!  She's fearless when it comes to water and will announce "underwater" before slamming her face into the pool :]  Aunt Lisa gave Mily and Joey swimming lessons and the girls both did great!  Here's some pics and videos of their show off day today...

look at her go :]

Joey was telling us all week that her favorite thing to do was get the rings from the bottom of the pool.  I didn't realize she was being serious!  The water was deep for Joey and she went for it!!

"I got three"

get it fishy :]

go Mily go!!!

waiting to jump off the side.....

apparently we need to work on Joey getting out of the pool on her own....it was hard for her little muscles :]

she loves to jump in though :]

jump in!!!

kick board time...she's balancing so much better now!

let's give our back a try!

Dakotah {the splash on the left}, Brandon and Claudia came to swim while the girls did their show off!

Roll the video.....

Thanks for a great week of swimming lessons Aunt Lisa!  The girls had a blast and it was great to see how much they had learned!!