Our weekend...

I cannot believe it's July 1st.

We had such a busy weekend.

The girls were worn out.

Sydney slept until 9:00 and Amelia slept until 9:45 this morning.

Sydney started the weekend with a carpet burn on her forehead. 

Only Sydney.

Amelia woke up on Friday morning and drank her cup of milk in the little bit of sun 

shining through the window.  She said she was cold. 

Alex said he used to do this when he was little. 

I keep the house at 68* - some might say that's a bit chilly.

We pulled out the paints during Sydney's nap time on Friday.

I really thought this painting set she was given was going to be

super messy but it really isn't and she loves it.

She painted her own puzzle.

She painted a different color for each piece.

She would say, "this piece is for Uncle Jared, his favorite color is black."

It ended up being quite the colorful puzzle.

She skipped the yellow and green and went straight to the brown and black. 

We took the girls to the mall on Friday evening and Amelia had a celebrity sighting. 

She was tracking this cow down and getting a picture. 

I don't think Sydney trusted the cow at all.

We went to dinner at Cantina Laredo after leaving the mall.

And then I ended up in the ER. 

We're fairly certain it was a gallbladder attack. 

Every female in my family is without a gallbladder.

I'm certain I never want to experience that pain ever again in my life. 

Ever. 

I had another "episode" last night after dinner. 

I may never eat again.

It was a LONG NIGHT so we slept in on Saturday morning.

I promised Amelia popsicles. 

We made some before heading to the pool.

7 minutes for homemade popsicles?  

Can't beat that!

She picked a lemonade popsicle out of the recipe book. 

Made of fresh lemons and orange juice.

And they looked so pretty when we pulled them out of the popsicle maker!

We put a fresh lemon slice inside the popsicle. 

They had a little bit of vanilla in them - they were tasty.

This is the recipe we used.  

Sydney loves lemons...she'll eat them whole.  

She was a fan.

Saturday evening brought a pool party for our niece, Laila.

She's 5 years old!

Can't believe she's starting Kindergarten in the Fall.

Amelia with her Daddy.

Amelia would only jump off the diving board if Alex held her.  

Sydney was unsure about the water at first.

But then she went in with her Daddy and decided she loved it.

They had a great time swimming.  

I had to wake them both at 9:30 on Sunday morning. 

They were sleepy heads!  

Sydney had zero interest in having her picture taken.

Amelia Joy smiling at me.

Sydney Faith sticking her tongue out at me. 

We've been reading our Jesus Storybook Bible at bedtime 

and they watch the DVDs at some point during the day. 

This is Amelia's take on it so far...

Amelia talks about heaven quite a bit.

I'm not sure what makes her mind go to that topic some days but

this weekend, our friend lost his Dad to a heart attack.

Our hearts hurt so badly for him and his Mom.

It was sudden and they didn't get to say goodbye.

This I know...

Death is part of life.  

I don't want to shield her from that.

I want her to realize from a very early age, that as believers, 

there is no fear in death.

As of right now, she looks at it very simply. 

"Someone died?"

"Are they in heaven?" 

"Oh good, we'll get to see them when we go there!"

She hasn't experienced the heartache that comes with it

but I pray that she'll always look at death this way. 

Because it's true.  

We as believers do not grieve the way someone without hope grieves. 

I Thessalonians 4:13-14

"When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be!"

That's when life truly begins.

We went out to eat with our cousins after church.

It made me happy to see all of the girls huddled up, 

taking silly pics of themselves. 

They love each other and I love to see that.

We came home after lunch and took a nice nap.

And had a popsicle for teething.  

This has been a very emotional weekend.  

We have several friends going through some really hard things. 

Constant reminder that life is so fragile. 

I find comfort in the fact that even though I don't know what tomorrow might bring,

I know who will be right there beside me through it all.

Love to all,