Pink 'Puter Party Time!!

Today, just as the girls and I starting warming up leftover pizza for lunch, a FED EX truck pulled around the circle in front of our house. I let out a small shriek, "It's HERE!!!" I dropped the pizza box, and ran to the front door, signed the little hand machine, and ran inside with a large box.

The girls were as excited as I was, and jumped around as I tore into the many layers of wrapping.

And there it was.......

My Perfect Pink 'Puter.

I fell in love with it almost immediately!

Then, I opened it. Honestly, as cheesy as it sounds, I also fell in love with the sleek silver inside. So here it is, the computer I have been waiting on for almost a month, anticipating...

You know how sometimes when you eagerly await something, sometimes when it gets there, it just is not as great as what you envisioned? Well, in this case, the product was just as wonderful as what I hoped for. I just LOVE this computer! The keyboard is soooooo easy to use! And it is just so stinking adorable!

Booting up for the first time ever!

While I was checking out the computer, the girls were busy playing with the boxes and packing materials.

They were being aliens and using the packing as "Pew Pew" guns. (Videos at the bottom of the blog.)

Me and my Pink 'Puter!

Butterfly Wings

Today, the girls and I took a break from cleaning and laundry to go laze in the pool for about an hour or so. We had not planned to, but it just seemed a waste to use the last few days of freedom for nothing more than cleaning, so we donned our suits and towels, and ran to the pool.

While I was sitting on the steps, listening to the girls play make-believe (which I love to do, because they play mermaids, just as I used to) a pretty amazing thing happened to me. A butterfly, that had been circling around our heads for a few minutes, lit right beside where I was sitting. I have a somewhat child-like love for butterflies, and so I stopped paying attention to the girls and watched it for a bit.

As it sat there, I had this urge to see if I could get it to sit on my finger, and so i stretched out my hand to see what would happen.

And, it actually let me scoot my finger under it and pick it up!

And then, after allowing me into its life for a few fleeting moments, it fluttered away.

Things I Learned at Six Flags

Liv and Daddy on the Batman. (Boo was too short.)

They are the 3rd set of seats.

Note: I have only just returned from Six Flags and therefore am tired. OK, if I am honest I am exhausted. I have just sat down on the couch and do not plan to move from this spot until i go to bed, so forgive me if anything is jumbled. That being said, here I go....

1: I am amazed at how many people simply do not know how to dress for an amusement park. I saw people wearing long, black jeans. Don't they know it is July??????? And hot? And they are going to get wet???? I also saw people wearing suits. Yes, suits. See above note for my thoughts on the suits.

2: Women over a certain age simply ought not wear midrifts. There, I said it. And I stand by it.

3: It is amazing how "free" people feel when they are hot. By this I mean, they tend to pull off their clothes and show you parts of them that you might not truly wish to see.

4: No matter how cute your new tennis shoes are, do not wear them to Six Flags before you have broken them in. I learned this the hard way. After about 5 hours of walking, I had so many blisters that I was hobbling like an 80 year old.

5: Apparently I am too obsessed with clothing. Look at the first 4 things I learned.

6: I get grumpy when I am hungry and hot. I get rude to people who cut and teens who yell for their friends to "come here" in my ear, and then rub against me over and over even though there is plenty of room for them to stand all by themselves.

Just after the annoying kids, I took this pic as we waited for our turn on the Georgia Cyclone.

7: There is something about being on the Thunder River ride with 6 random strangers that always tends to make you feel like a family for those 5 minutes you are on the ride together. I always enjoy the camaraderie that spontaneously erupts whenever you get on that yellow raft. While on the raft, we met a little 6 year old girl that Lauryn-Elizabeth quickly befriended. When the little girl got soaked by a waterfall, she yelled. "M. O. G!" which despite the connotations of it, made me laugh reallly, reallly hard.

8: I stink after a day at Six Flags.

9. The characters at Six Flags are really great, and are so sweet to the kids. I cannot imagine how hot those costumes are (well, I can, as I have had to wear them before, but still) and yet they pose countless times and are so affectionate with the children. Kudos!

Porky and Petunia Pig were Boo's favorite. We actually saw them before they reached the "photo op spot" so Petunia grabbed Boo's hand and skipped across the park, which just made Lauryn-Elizabeth's day.

Okay, so maybe the characters aren't JUST there for the kids.....

10: It is really fun to go to Six Flags, and ride roller coasters and water rides, but it is equally fun to leave at the end of the day.

Liv fell sound asleep almost immediately, but Boo stayed awake the whole way home!

The girls waiting in line for Monster Plantation. They don;t really like this ride, but I make them go, because I love it. It has been updated this year. The name changed to Monster Mansion (but I will never call it that), all the monsters are new and everything is bright and clear and freshly painted. While I am glad they did all these things (minus the name change..lol), I will admit that it made me somewhat sad not to see the rip in the Kissing Booth monster's lips.

Of Special Note:

Lauryn-Elizabeth has big guts. She had the courage to be the first person to volunteer to sing karaoke on stage in front of other people. And she was GOOD! There are videos of her at the bottom of this blog.

Both girls enjoy dancing, but Liv is really good at it. I am not sure where she got that gene from, since neither Kevin nor I can claim that we have talent in that area. A random street dance to "Hoe Down Throw Down" erupted and the girls jumped right in!

They got to dance beside Mr. Six, which was kind of exciting!

Liv is a very sweet big sister. Towards the beginning of the day, the four of us got on the Batman roller coaster. As the staff was checking our belts, they noticed Lauryn-Elizabeth and asked her to step off the ride to check her height. Unfortunately, she was not tall enough, and she had to get off the ride. So, Liv and Kevin rode it and then I rode it a second time with Liv. Lauryn-Elizabeth was somewhat upset, but trying to be a big girl about it. This was when Liv's Big Sister gene kicked in. I watched her grab Lauryn-Elizabeth's hand, tell her the ride was not all that much fun, and offer Lauryn-Elizabeth the next pick of rides. She even took her sunglasses off her head (Boo had left hers in the car) and give them to Boo to cheer her up. It was absolutely precious to see the two of them hand in had, swinging arms and walking just ahead of us.

We got out of the heat for half an hour by going into the Crystal Pistol, which in all my years of Six Flags visiting, I had never gone in, believe it or not. The show was actually pretty good. Our favorite was Samantha, whom the girls got to meet after the show!


Videos of Lauryn-Elizabeth singing "Teardrops on my Guitar. The quality is not great, because they were taken on my cell phone. I was so proud she was not scared to be the VERY FIRST PERSON on stage!



Part 1




Part 2




Part 3




Part 4

And a Little Child Shall Lead Them......

Yesterday morning at church was amazing, for more reasons that one. The worship was amazing, the choir was on fire, and the Spirit in the sanctuary was tangible. But one thing stuck out to me. As I was on stage with the praise team, I looked up and saw a family in the balcony. A mother, father, and son. The son appeared to be, maybe 9 or 10, and he was singing praises with all the gusto that we all should have. His father, looked very much like he did not want to be there. He was sitting, while his son sang expressively, waving his hands, swaying back and forth. Honestly, he looked almost like he was at a concert, just plainly enjoying himself. I will admit, I got caught up watching him.

Then, I watched the boy grab his father by the arm, and urge him to stand. The father resisted for a moment, and then gave in, rose with obvious reluctance, and stood beside his son. Now I am not so naive to think that suddenly the father was suddenly worshipping with reverence, but it struck me, as I stood on the stage, attempting to lead people to worship, that the son had done a pretty amazing thing.

He did not let any amount of self consciousness stop him from worshipping. And even more than that, he did not let someone else's lack of worship dampen his spirit. And even more....he let his own attitude spill over to another person.

He was doing what I was supposed to be doing.....leading others to worship, but I have a sneaking suspicion that he was doing a better job than I was.