Retainer

Sylvia got her retainer yesterday.  Dr. B. says she only needs to wear it at night.

There were many different color/design options for her to choose, and she picked green glitter!

She chose the same for her case.

She said it was a bit difficult for her to get to sleep, but she knows it will get easier.

A walk about the village

The kids and I went on a walk around our little village this morning.

The corn fields are growing, and the corn is about 3 feet high right now!  (So much for "knee high by the 4th of July!")

 Caeden rode his scooter, and was ahead of us girls most of the walk.

A rundown little shack that seemed like it should have its picture taken...

We walked past Caeden's friend Nate's house, and he was outside playing with another friend, Cameron.  Caeden mentioned that he wanted to go home and play with squirt guns, and Nate and Cameron said they had just been doing that.  Nate showed Caeden how his giant new squirt gun worked...

The kids will be attending VBS here next week, and are looking forward to it.

We love our quiet, simple little village.

Videos online

We love watching videos online.  We learned this week that soon Verizon will soon jack up their prices, and eventually we won't have unlimited Internet access to watch as many videos as we feel like--booooooooo!  But for now, we enjoy showing the kids YouTube clips of things from our childhood, and letting them watch videos we approve on other sites.  Here are a few examples of some of our recent favorites:

I love this new take on Mr. Rogers, and the wonderful memories the clips and images bring back.

Jelly Telly - Adventures In Odyssey - The kids have loved Jelly Telly since it first came about, and in the past couple weeks have really gotten into watching some of the episodes of Adventures in Odyssey on the site.  They also really love silly Michael's Movie Reviews and The Fabulous Bentley Brothers' songs about the Bible.

Sylvia's friend Isabella (the one who just moved to China) turned her on to this ridiculously silly song--AND all the ones after it.

Oh the silliness!

And some PhotoBooth Annah silliness...

Playing at the Park

We met Ashley's family at SF Park this evening!  We had planned to swim, but it wasn't even 80 degrees today!  So, we had some supper from the clubhouse first.

We drove to the other side of the park, and the boys played some basketball.  The kids and Carlene and I tried a little shuffleboard.  Then they moved to the playground.

After a while, we all played the mini-golf course.  

Since there were 9 of us, we decided to let the kids play the odd holes, and we played the evens--or we would have been there forever!

Even though we're not close neighbors anymore, we're still close friends!

We're so grateful to have an evening together just having fun!  We love these friends!!

Surprise!!!!!

Sylvia had an orthodontist appointment this afternoon.  Ashley was with us, and she and Annah stayed in the waiting room, while Caeden and I joined Sylvia.  She chose clear bands, and had her blue chain taken off.  Caeden watched up close.

Dr. B. came over to see Sylvia, and looked in her mouth.  Then he read his notes about her on the computer screen very thoroughly.  He asked, "Sylvia, do you like your braces?"  She shook her head, "No."  Then he picked up his pliers and plucked the brackets right off her teeth without telling her what he was doing!  I fumbled for my phone and missed the whole thing, as it took only 20 seconds!  I managed to mouth to Caeden, "He's taking them off!!!" As Caeden leaned in for a closer look, Dr. B. told him, "Don't spill the beans!" 

He had Sylvia sit up and told her to feel around with her tongue.  He asked her if anything felt different, and if she knew what he was doing.  She said she did, but I think she was in disbelief that he just popped them off her teeth like that without telling her!

Dr. B. said he had reach all of his goals for her mouth for this phase, so there was no sense keeping them on any longer!  He buffed the cement off her teeth, and said he'd see her in a couple days to get her retainer!

She was completely surprised and very happy!!

We went into another room, to get her impressions done for her retainer, and Caeden noticed this sign.  He wanted to know what was wrong with those teeth!?!  When I told him that's what happens if you don't brush your teeth regularly, he said he wanted me to take a picture of the sign to remind him why he should brush his teeth!  "Those teeth are disgusting!  I don't like those teeth!" he said!

Poor Sylvie had a rough time with her impressions, and gagged several times.  She made it through without throwing up though, thankfully.  I think the excitement of getting the braces off, and not knowing ahead of time that she'd have impressions today helped...There was no time for worry to build up about it, and it was over in one minute.  Then she got to pick out what style of plastic she wants for her retainer!

What a beautiful smile!!!  She only had the braces on for 6 months and 12 days!

Of course, the process isn't completely over, but it's been less than a year since her first consultation with Dr. Bowers!  We are really thankful it has gone so quickly!  Sylvia has been such a great sport about every part of the process!

Ashley will be getting braces next January, and really enjoyed getting to be part of Sylvia's celebration of having hers taken off today!

We're all happy for Sylvia!!!

Epic, Friends

Our sweet friend Ashley came for a sleepover last night!  The girls played a lot of Barbies, made sock bunnies, played Wii, enjoyed the gorgeous weather outside, and relaxed.

A couple months ago I bought the Wii game Epic Mickey on sale, and I have been playing it off and on since.  We've been playing it a lot during summer break.  When I get to the hard parts, Caeden helps me!!  And, Annah started her own game of it this week.

At first, we thought it looked a little scary for the kids, as it is dark and there are some scary creatures in it.  But, as we have played, we really like the fact that making kinder decisions to befriend the naughty creatures rather than destroy them has benefits.  And, the whole game is about Mickey trying to fix his mistake and restore things.  It has good life lessons and challenges, and we're really enjoying the game.

Baking Powder Sub

Caeden received a plastic baking powder submarine toy for Christmas.  The first time he tried it, he didn't get it to work.  But he came across it today, and asked me to help him try again.  We had success!

Twisty faces

I found these photos in our Photo Stream.  Looks like some children I know were having a little fun with Photo Booth on the iPad.  Heehee!

We had a wonderful service this evening.  Our current sermon series is Love Looks Like Something, and each of our pastors are taking turns preaching over the next few weeks.  Tonight was Pastor Jessica's turn, and she spoke beautifully about what love looks like to her.

Supper Club - Pasta Night

This evening we had our first PoC supper club, as another fundraiser for our church plant.  It will be a monthly thing, and tonight was Italian themed....pasta, mmm!

Lorrie did such a good job planning this in less than a week, and her decorations were very cute.  We all loved the macaroni table settings.  

I took a rigatoni dish and an alfredo dish with chicken and zucchini.  Annah had 4 helpings; alfredo is her favorite thing in the world.

Pasta!

We had several yummy desserts, including a dip that was dubbed "urban s'mores."

 After dinner, Tom gave a little devotional about the trinity and marriage, and told a bit of his and Lorrie's story about how much better his marriage became once God was included in it.  

To go along with the pasta night theme, the kids watched part of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. 

There were door prizes, and the adults played a round of Pictionary.

After a bit of sitting for the movie, the kids and Jeremy got restless and he took them outside to play.

What a fun Saturday night!  We love our church family!  God is growing us in so many ways!

90 years

This week State Farm is celebrating 90 years since G.J. Macherle started the company.  There are some really cool lights on the corporate headquarters building this week to celebrate.  Jeremy has worked for SF for over 14 years now, but just a few months ago started working in this very building.  We happened to meet him there tonight, and went back to get his car there while it was still dark.  We saw the awesome lights, though I didn't take these photos. 

We are really grateful for this company, and the fact that it has supported our family through Jeremy's work!