First Day of Preschool

Tuesday was a big day at the McDonald house. Alexa and Emma both started preschool. Alexa went last year but was very excited to go to her new preschool and meet her new friends. Emma has been grinning from ear to ear ever since she found out she got to go too. She is our social bug so preschool is right up her alley! Daddy took them to preschool their first day in his car which is always a treat. I guess the mini van has lost its excitement. Grammy picked them out and took them out for lunch after their big day! There is an observation room at their preschool where you can watch the classes and they can't see you so of course Mommy went to watch for awhile! I thought Shane would be a little lost with the girls gone but he seems to love having mommy all to himself. It will be fun to do some special things with him while the girls are at preschool.

Nice Matters Award

Lori, a new blogging friend passed this award along!! You'll have to check out her blog! She has 2 sweet boys and they are waiting for their daughter from China! Thanks Lori!

I am going to nomitante Becky for the Nice Matters award because she is super sweet, funny and a wonderful mom. She was the one who helped me set up my blog and get me addicted to the blogging world!

I also am going to nominate Joy. I love her heart for God and her heart for her children. I love her Cherish Your Children posts!

Big Day

It was a big day for the McDonald girls today. They

both got new hair cuts before preschool starts next week. Their hair was to the middle of their back so they got quite a bit cut off, especially Emma. She was so proud of her new little hair cut. It totally fits her personality!

Five Little Ladies And A Gentleman

This weekend we took pictures at the lake with papa, grammy and cousins. You never know how pictures are going to turn out with 6 little munchkins 5 and under. I have to say they are pretty cute ... I may be a little biased though! The kids love the lake and we are sad to see the season come to an end. What fun memories we made there this summer, fire and all!

Vacation Fun

We just spent four very fun days at Kalahari in the Wisconsin Dells. It is hotel with an outdoor water park and has the largest indoor water park in the United States. We went with Eric's family and the kids turned into fish over night. They had fun with cousins, aunts, uncles and grammy. They had fun in the wave pool, on BIG and little slides, sitting in the hot tub, riding on tubes and just splashing in the water. Even Shane loved the big slides. He would cry to go on the big slides if we even tried to head to the little kid areas. You'll see from some of the pictures that Eric and I had just as much fun. We even hit the slides while the kids had nap time. Eric tried out the surfing station too! It was a huge hit with everyone so I'm sure we'll be heading back again sometime. If you live within driving distance to the Dells this is a great vacation destination. If you go with a couple families check out the Village Suites. You get 3 regular hotel rooms that a-join to a full kitchen, dining and living area. If you book early enough you can get it for a steel when you figure in the free water park entertainment!

More Summer Cousin Fun

The girls had more fun with cousins at Wild Water West!! I have to say my favorite pictures are of Emma and Tyra with their goggles. I think I see some Olympic swimming potential in the two of them!

What We Think Of Mr.Toad ...

The initial reaction ......

Oh no he jumped .......

Emma's not so sure ......

Shane is loving it!!!!

Life Lessons At The Lake

We were at the cabin this past weekend with some friends and our kids learned a valuable life lesson. It was a dreary, rainy and cold weekend so we spent a lot of time inside. The girls spent a lot of time in the loft with their friends. On Saturday afternoon we started to smelling something, it smelled like burnt marshmallows. We searched the cabin with our noses trying to find out where the smell was coming from. Finally, we heard an "it's up here" from the loft. There was a lamp that was on the bed and covered by a blanket. The lamp had burned a whole through the blanket, bedspread, sheets and there was a hole in the mattress already. We feel very blessed that it wasn't worse and that God's hand of protection was over us. I think it would have been a matter of minutes and we would of had a full blown fire on our hands. We found out the kids had been playing doctor with the light and had layed it down. We had a very real teachable moment on our hands. So lesson #1 for the kids was don't put a lamp on a bed or blankets. It was a good eye opener for the moms and dads how quick something can happen with a hot light or bulb. So if you have lamps in your children's room talk to them about the danger of playing with them or putting blankets on them. It was quite traumatic for our little Emma since her blanket she's had since she was a baby was what burned. She did feel better when grammy said she'd get her a new one just like it. She still nightly talks about the fire so helpful there was a lesson learned through all of it. In the midst of it I totally missed getting some pictures. I guess when your in the midst of a crisis grabbing the camera is the last thing on your mind.

Here are some pictures of the kids enjoying the sand even though it was a little wet and chilly.

Life Lesson #2 .... if you are trying to help a turtle across the road so it doesn't get hit by a car be carful ..... it may be a snapping turtle!

Spray Park

This weekend we went to the spray park for a picnic and to get wet! The kids had fun getting wet and cooling off with daddy. I hung out on the sidelines trying to get some pictures. I'm sad these warm weekends will soon come to an end so we are trying to enjoy them as much as we can.

A Lesson in Hiccups

We had a little lesson in hiccups yesterday. We had to run to the kids pediatrician's office to pick up some paperwork. I had explained to the kids that we were just going to quick run in and pick something up so I needed to have good listeners and we needed to be quiet. There were a lot of questions like will we see the doctor, will we get shots, will we have to stand on that thing that measures us ....... after a bit it was clear that we were just quick picking something up at the front desk. I again reiterated that I needed quiet kids and good listeners. As we pull up to the office Emma begins to hiccup. The kids start to get out of the van and Emma looks at me with the most horrified look on her face. I asked her what was wrong and she said, "Mommy, I think they will come with me. I don't know how to leave them in the car." She knew that hiccups can get noisy and I had asked for quite kids. You have to love the heart. We had a lesson on hiccups and that sometimes we just can't help it when we make noises and if they are really loud we can just say excuse me. These little conversations and life lessons are one of the many things I love about being a mommy!

Wordless Wednesday

Little Boys Love Their Dirt

Cousin Fun At Wild Water West

The kids had a blast with Cousin Callie and Aunt Lori at Wild Water West! Here are some pics from the outing. We are heading to the Dells in August with cousin Callie so this was just a taste of the fun that is to come!

A Prayer From The Heart

Emma's prayer tonight was "Dear God, could you get me some sun and some friends too!" Emma knows that if it is sunny there is a good chance we get to go to Wild Water West. Today non of her friends were there so she was praying that some would join her tomorrow if she gets some sun. She's such a little social bug!