Weekends

We've been enjoying some of the sun that FINALLY came out around here. Last weekend we had some great deck time and the kids had some "tattoo" time with daddy!

Daddy got in on the fun too;)

Here is the original just so you know:)

Pretty Bee:)

And this weekend we went to see Nani and Papa! First up was the fair:) The kids got in on the rodeo!

Roping some hay cows;)

Mina got 'em!

Max got a chance with a real cowboy:)

Pony rides too!

Max's horses' name was Ariel:)

Mina loved it!

She also rode a big horse:)

Magnus had fun too!

Even John got in on the rodeo!

Hee hee, couldn't resist

All the kids could talk about was getting their faces painted:)

Max picked a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle!

Mina got skeleton girl:)

Our kids are so creepy and cute:)

Magnus enjoyed the spray fans they had around.

And the kids got to choose a fair ride. Max wanted to ride the airplanes:)

and Mina the carosel

They had fun going to parks and John and I enjoyed ourselves at TWO of our favorite wineries:) We also got to see  Fright Night in 3D while Papa took the kids to see Spy Kids in 3D! Thanks for a great weekend, Nani and Papa. We all had a great time!  Now I have to buckle down on getting ready for school to start! Oh yeah, and I have a baby coming in like 2 months. Probably some stuff I need to do for that too:)

VBS!

This past week the kids and I have been in Nazareth! That was the theme of the VBS at our church this year, "Hometown Nazareth." The kids learned about where Jesus grew up and about his ministry. Everyday they separated into the 12 tribes of Israel and came to "The Marketplace" where different "shopkeepers" helped them do crafts and talked about Jesus and what they knew (or didn't know) about Jesus:) Mina was in the tribe of Dan.

 and Max was a Levite:)

  Magnus was in the nursery;)

I was the Rock Quarry shopkeeper, Rebecca:)

I didn't believe in Jesus and got to ask the kids what and why they believe. They also got to dig rocks out of the "quarry" (a kiddie pool filled with dirt;) and we strung them to make a necklace:) It was a fun time and I got to be outside in the glorious weather we've had this past week! There was also the "wool shop" where they took strands of wool and shrank them to make little balls.

The Bead Bazaar. This one was really popular:) They got to make their own beads out of clay, paint them, and string them on a necklace. There are some pretty creative kids out there:)

There was also the Food Market which was -of course- very popular!

Especially with my kids!

 at the Olive oil shop the kids would grind salt and herbs and put it in little canisters with olive oil:)

 It can get pretty crowded in the marketplace!

They also go to go out to the field and play outside games with, uh, these guys?

I'm not sure who (or what) they were supposed to be- I don't think they did either;)- but it looks like a good time right? They also got to visit Mary's house and hear stories about Jesus. Didn't get any pictures of that:(  I loved the theme of this VBS and how it was all about Jesus. Nothing fancy, over the top or trite, just Jesus and his ministry. They also had an "evidence of God's grace" tree where they wrote their own evidences on leaves to fill the tree:)

I was looking it over I noticed a really cute "evidences" and who wrote them:)

I didn't see any of Mina's but one of the things she said was that we got to keep Mija:)  Like I said it was a fun, busy week but we all had a great time! Thanks to everyone who volunteered and put it together, and all the crazy kids who made it fun!