Catching Up

We've had a busy week! We've celebrated three birthdays in the past 7 days (Happy Birthday Grandma, Mimi, and DADDY!!)

Anyway, last week we were busy with VBS. I have to be honest, I wasn't exactly thrilled. We've been out of town quite a bit already this summer and I was ready for a week at home to just do nothing. Getting up and out the door by 8 a.m. all week long didn't sound like a whole lot of fun. Nice attitude, huh?

It's funny to see God's plans unfold. Great things happen when you least expect them. I love that about Him.

First, both girls LOVED VBS. I wasn't sure about Lauryn because the last time we attended she whimpered and cried every morning for a little bit. (This was two years ago when she just turned four...we missed last year because all three of us were sick). This year she said she was a little nervous on the way there. Once it was time for her to join her group she gave me a hug and smile and said, "See you later, Mom!"

Heavenly.

Truly, it was so amazing how much more fun I had knowing both girls were at least happy on the first day (Allie also went into her classroom without hesitation). I was one of the leaders in charge of "Games". I saw every child in VBS every day, and it was fun getting to know kids from our church that we haven't really "met" yet because they are in different Sunday School classes than Lauryn and Allie.

I met some great adults who I sort of just "knew" from seeing them at church for the past three years. But working together in this way gave us an opportunity to "bond" and form new relationships. It wasn't something I was expecting or even thought I really cared about. But as the week went on, I was thankful for those new friendships.

Finally, the best part of the week was how Lauryn truly absorbed each Bible story and the lessons she was learning in "Storytime." She had a million questions for me at the end of each day (many of which I honestly didn't know the answer to!) She picked up her children's Bible off the bookshelf and began reading it cover to cover because she "wanted to know ALL the stories about Jesus." We've read through the stories before, but up until now, I think for her they really were just "stories". I truly believe God used this week to bring her closer to knowing Jesus, and opened her little 6-year-old heart to learning more of God's word.

Allie enjoyed herself this week, too. She was with the 3 year olds (although she'll be 4 in a few weeks), so I'm not sure how much depth they covered. I think for her it was more of storytime and crafts, which is fine. She also described each day's snack in great detail. A girl after my own heart.

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We were busy this morning starting our car shopping adventure (our ten year old Accord is fading fast). I'd honestly rather just walk everywhere because OH MY GOSH the salespeople. Seriously. One dealership we went to produced a motivated, young, mid-20s-ish guy who couldn't possibly try harder to sell the car. He even sat crunched in the backseat with the girls while we took it for a test drive, happily giving us detailed descriptions of all the features as we drove along.

At the next dealership we found ourselves in the opposite position and approached the salesman on our own, because he was clearly not going to move one inch from his shady post under the canopy. We asked him about the car we're looking at and he responded with about the same level of enthusiasm as a person going in for a root canal.

Car shopping = NOT fun.

Before we headed out, though, we had an impromptu session of "beauty shop". Allie loves to play this game. She told him this time she was going to give him some braids.

Is he not the best??! I think this went on for at least 20 minutes. He sat patiently in the barber's chair even though we were clearly anxious to get out and make it to the dealerships before 10 a.m. while it was still cool with temperatures in the upper 90s.

Finally, things are getting a little weird around here. I have to say, I think the prince is clearly having an identity crisis.

Unless turquoise capris paired with a ruffled tunic is the latest fashion trend in the royal kingdom.