still

The still photograph is to moving pictures what poetry is to prose - less comprehensive perhaps, less literal even, yet somehow capable of expressing a deeper truth. 

- Anonymous

A frog, a butterfly and a duck

And a little bath time silliness

Wisconsin

We just got back from a fun trip to Wisconsin.   We got to spend time with some dear family members and just hang out without much of an agenda.  The kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves!  It's hard to pick a handful of pictures to share when there are so many special people and lots of pictures!

We had hoped to see our new precious nephew Emmett who was born on July 15 and is still in the NICU by it just didn't work out.  That was probably for the best since Emma ended up getting sick while we were there and we wouldn't have wanted to take any chances sharing germs with such a little one.  Thankfully, we did get to visit with Emmett's parents and we spent quite a bit of time with his big brother Owen!  

Lucas thinks Owen is going to be a GREAT big brother! 

 He really knows how to hold onto a baby!

Lucas also finally got to meet the Maher clan!

The kids had lots of fun playing with cousins!  Even Nathan who is the oldest by 4 years, enjoys hanging out with the younger ones and is always willing to help or entertain.

We spent some time with Great Grandma & Great Grandpa and got to visit with a few other relatives at their house as well.

 There was much playing, dressing up, running around, banging on drums, reading books, eating snacks, hugging necks, and generally enjoying being together!

Winnie the Pooh

Tonight we took Emma to see her first movie in a theater as a right of passage for turning 5 years old!  We've all liked Winnie-the-Pooh and were pleased to have such a mild story come to the big screen.  Unfortunately we were a little unprepared for Disney's adaptation which included an unnecessarily frightening description of the imaginary "Backson."  Otherwise, it was sweet and silly and lighthearted as dear Pooh himself...

Emma thoroughly enjoyed the popcorn, drinks, candy and watching a special movie in the dark on the "biggest TV she's ever seen!"  It was also a rare occasion for her to have Mom & Dad all to herself!  She may be five but thankfully she was not too big to sit on my lap during the last quarter of the movie.

Videos

 

 We love the way Samuel says DESSERT- he says it with this enthusiasm every time (in this clip, first he will say "Veggie Tales')

An Instant

A photograph can be an instant of life captured for eternity that will never cease looking back at you. 

Brigitte Bardot

Church Camp

This week Nathan attended his first ever sleep-away Church Camp!  He was a little hesitant about it when we first brought it up, but ended up quite excited about going and had a GREAT time!  He is already looking forward to going back next year!  

He went with two brothers that are friends of his.  They were all in the same "cabin."

Some silliness when we dropped them off

 Hauling his stuff up the stairs to his "cabin"

 Sam, Nathan & Nathan in their camp shirts, ready to stay for three nights with NO PARENTS!  Their cabin was called heartburn...

 

Their counselor, Evan was an 18 year old life guard who is studying to be a pilot-- talk about COOL!

   They were full of excitement and stories about all the fun they had! 

Happy Campers when we picked them up!

Lucas can't wait to be old enough to go away to camp too!

Photography

My fourth year for photography in our county fair:

 1st place in Posed Portrait (Black & White)

Champion in Amateur (Black & White)

Grand Champion over all

1st place in Holiday (Black & White)

1st place in Nature (Black & White)

2nd place in Candid Portrait (Black & White)

2nd place in Food

3rd place in Sports

Fair times

We braved the fair one night this week in the extreme heat.  Thankfully we weren't there very long since Nathan was at camp and our other kiddos aren't big on riding the rides. 
A few highlights:

Ready to ride the carousel- Emma likes the seats that don't go up and down

 Samuel fishing for sharks

 Yay for snow cones! =blue raspberry + grape lips

 Lucas liked the sites at his first fair!

4-H

Nathan was the proud recipient of two blue awards at the fair this year and one honorable mention ribbon.  He received one of the blues on the cool model car he built at our house.  It was a tougher model than he has done in the past- put together with glue rather than simply snapping the parts together.  Way to go Nathan!

FIRSTS!

In the last week we've had many FIRSTS among our kiddos.  In no particular order, Lucas had his first bites of solid food (sweet potatoes and he loved them!), Samuel had his first carnival ride all by himself at the fair (well, almost), and Nathan went away to his first church camp!

In addition, Lucas went to his first county fair and enjoyed his first tastes of shaved ice, Samuel had his hair in pigtails for the first (and likely last) time, and Emma had her first "tutu pictures" taken.

This (above) is the face Lucas made after "chewing" the ice chips.
Emma thought Samuel looked adorable with his hair up.
Samuel surprised us all by (1) Deciding to ride the Nemo ride all by himself, (2) Changing his mind and starting to cry right before the ride began (so we got him off of it), (3) REALLY wanting to ride something different once we'd made it back to the car to go home.

I couldn't understand what he was asking for so he said, "I show you!" and took off walking toward the rides.  Turns out, this is what he just had to ride:

If you look closely, you can see him and Brian walking up the stairs- and yes, Samuel insisted on going up all the stairs by himself.  He loved sliding down with Daddy!

More on Emma's pictures and Nathan's church camp experience at another time!

Mama Kisses

taken by my friend Shanna a few weeks ago

All About Emma

Emma has enchanted us since the moment we first laid eyes on her as a newborn...

 Now, at 5 years old, she is all about princesses, fairies, tea parties and invitations to the royal ball...  such a magical age full of fascination and wonder...

She takes us all along with her to various make-believe worlds full of familiar characters and others she creates.  Sometimes we may not even realize we are playing a part in one of her scenes until she scampers by whispering the secrets we've been waiting to hear...

She is detail oriented and has her own ideas about how things should be. Whether dressing a doll, painting a picture or playing, she will take her time making sure that everything is just right!  She is always going somewhere, doing some thing, or dreaming about what will come next, but she is never too busy to stop and smell the flowers:

I think Daddy is already planning ways to keep the boys at bay until she is at least 25!

Emma LOVES:

Babies (real and dolls)

Plush kittens (and other stuffed animals)

Outdoors (walks, bike rides, wagon rides, our yard, flowers, parks...)

Creating (arts, crafts, drawing, writing...)

Her "girly-ness" is not lost in this house full of boys.  She adds a little glitter to the rough and tumble here and can hold her own in shared activities, sometimes confidently, sometimes delicately...  She is very bright, always has something to say and it is not uncommon to hear her singing a song she learned at church or school.

 She looks forward to regular "girl time" with Mama and is a big help with her little brothers.

Emma Ruth, how you brighten our lives!