He's #1!
Yesterday in the car Madeline and Timothy were making up their superhero theme songs. It was Madeline's turn, and conversation in the back seat sounded a bit like this:

Madeline (singing): She so fast! She's so smart! She's number one! She....
Timothy: Madeline! Wait!
Madeline: Um, what?
Timothy (very matter-of-factly): She just can't be number one. Jesus is number one!
Madeline: Oh, you're right. Can she be number two?

He is right. Love those kiddos! =)

A little performance for you...

She is improving with each practice and really enjoying it. What a blessing to watch her learn and grow!

More Summer Adventures...
Before we took off for our roadtrip this summer we had a few other adventures. One of which was a trip to Ohio to visit my family....specifically to see this good looking pair. My Uncle Dwight and Aunt Letty are missionaries who have been serving the Lord at Echo Ranch Bible Camp in Alaska. Before Alaska, Dwight was a missionary in Holland though, and it was there that he met my aunt.

They now have two handsome boys, and after a decade at Echo Ranch, they are moving back to Holland to work with American youth on a military base with MYCM, an organization that plants missionaries on military bases to establish a "Club Beyond" ministry for the youth. Such a perfect fit for their family!

We had such a busy weekend! We started by spending some time at my grandparents' house. Madeline and Timothy had so much fun playing with their cousins David and Ruben.

Here are Madeline and Ruben setting the table for a yummy brunch...

Mike and the kids playing with a fussball table outside grandma's clubhouse...

Grandma has the inside all decked out...the kids had a ton of fun...

They even talked grandpa into sawing off an old ladder so they could fit it inside the clubhouse and climb up to the "loft"...

Later that afternoon, we were able to go visit my great-grandma Lenola....that makes her Madeline and Timothy's great-GREAT-grandma. Timothy told her he was turning seven. You can imagine how impressed he was when she informed him that she is 97! The kids had fun doing a puzzle with her...one of the same puzzles I did when I was their age.

If they look proud it's because she went on and on about them the way she always did me and my sisters...."look at them! this is the fastest this puzzle has ever gone together! they don't need our help at all!" and just like it worked on me, Heather and Laura...those kiddos worked all the harder and faster...it was precious. I am so glad my kids have been so blessed to know so many of their grandparents.

The next day after church we had ourselves a cookout at Spring Lake.

In addition to good food, there was swimming and fishing. Here Madeline and David show off the first catch of the day...

It took awhile, but Timothy mustered the courage to go down the slide...

Here he is checking out a turtle one of the boys found for him. Right after I took this picture he leaned over to grandma and said, " Look Grandma Elaine! The turtle is reading the nutrition facts!" (I'm not kidding.)

Madeline had fun paddle boating....we fit a lot of activity into our weekend away!

After we got home, we discovered a very cool new place to play. It's called Bremen Bounce and it is a warehouse full inflatable toys that the kids can play on. They had a great time!

plus I got to catch up with this little peanut's mama!

I even got to hold her sweet little sister =)

We weren't home but a few days before we headed down south to see my family in TN. The kids had fun at a splashpad...

Then later we celebrated Timothy's birthday! Check out that cake. I mean he doesn't ask for much...just a cake that is "half white and half chocolate and has all the United States with the lines between them and a dark blue frame..." (Way to go Mimi!)

Upon arriving home (again) the kids were off to a week of day camp at IUSB. I stopped in to see them one of the days when they were visiting the library....

Madeline read so many books in that one week that she maxed out the library's summer reading award program and got prizes, coupons, and a free book of her choosing =)

I can't say enough how much I love this lady! Miss Jennifer has had both our kiddos in her class at IUSB Child Development Center. She is such an amazing teacher who really makes my kids feel loved. We're so glad God put her in our lives.

Since I was at IUSB...I stopped by and saw Mike. Doesn't he look thrilled to see me??? ;)

That weekend Timothy had his long awaited birthday party/sleepover. We started out at Chuck E. Cheese so the kids could play...

See, the kids?

Timothy was so excited that this buddy could come to his party....especially since he is a friend from his old school. They're a pretty sweet pair...

Again....see how much fun the kids are having...

We finally headed back home for cake and presents.

Timothy was tickled with the thoughtful gifts that his buddies picked out for him...

There was a lot less pressure on me to get the perfect cake, since he'd already had it....but we did get another to share at this party....

One of the gifts that Timothy got was a remote controlled car. Mike and the kids came up with this (extremely safe) game....the kids stood on the trampoline with the car and then Mike steered it around trying to tag them out...last one on the trampoline wins. They could have played it all day.

Here's the whole gang playing inside...

Mike and I decided that our little man had grown enough that it was time for a new bike!

The whole slumber party came out to see the maiden voyage...

Phone calls home to reassure mom....no homesickness here!

Finally asleep!

Here's another treat....we got to spend the afternoon with some good friends after church, and wouldn't you know it? They let me cuddle their sweet little boy. Don't I look happy with a baby?

Mike and Kevin and all the kids...I think they were watching "police chases gone wrong" on youtube or something...

We cut all the snapdragons from our garden and brought them into the house to enjoy before our big road trip. Aren't they beautiful?

Another quick visit before our big trip. I met up with a friend of mine who is starting med school in the fall...here's my oldest holding her youngest.

A visit to the park to run off some steam...

Even more fun when you meet up with friends!

So, as you can see, we've been as busy and blessed as usual. We had so much fun on our road trip too. I look forward to sharing our adventures from all over the U.S.!

-shannon

JUNE....Well, June before last weekend.
Can you believe that this little girl is going to be in the FOURTH GRADE??? The kiddos school had a blessing and sending ceremony before the school. The ceremony is mostly for the sixth graders who are graduating from upper elementary and moving into junior high, but after each of the sixth graders have a few minutes to share their reflections, they give a small bouquet of wild flowers to one of the third graders, since they will be graduating from lower elementary and entering upper el in the fall. Miss Madeline was so proud.

I snapped this sweet picture as we were leaving the sanctuary to go to a potluck. What a tremendous blessing it was having these two wonderful ladies to nurture and love on my Timothy for the school year!

Mike helped with the grilling...he's the best there is ;)

Madeline having fun with some of her friends during the potluck. These two young ladies happen to be moving to upper el with her next year.

Check out these last day of school smiles!

Riding his bike after the last day of school. He happens to be patching as well. He's doing such a great job. It isn't fun to use his weaker eye, but he has been patching for over an hour a day now for the past couple weeks. (Some days over two hours!)

We've been to the park a few times already since school let out for the kids. They love this park right by the zoo in town.

Madeline still loves climbing to the top of this every visit...

...even though it's a lot of work, and has already left her with several blisters!

We went to the drive-in and saw Up! Loved it! Before the show started we played some miniature golf.

Pretty sure they weren't supposed to be climbing on this "mountain," but there was no sign...so I snapped a picture before I made them get down. =)

I'm really enjoying this business of having no classes to attend! I hope I haven't ruined myself come fall, but for now, I'm just enjoying summer as Mom. I'm always Mom, but Mom sans medical school is a lot more fun! I have some great pictures of this past weekend when we went home to Ohio to visit our family, so those will be up soon too.

-shannon

The Cruise
I will start by saying that vacation pictures are way cuter when there are kids involved. So, unfortunately for the blog, Mike and I went on a "grown up vacation" while the kids were still in school. Grandma was so wonderful to come stay at our place and take Madeline and Timothy to school (she even got to go to farm!) while we were away. I missed the kids so terribly, but it helped a lot knowing they were with Mom Renfrow while we were gone.

This first shot was taken the night we flew into Orlando. We went with some friends of ours from Nebraska who celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary this summer! So, we took them out for some delicious seafood to treat them for their anniversary. We got them another gift too, but that's a very long story.

Here are Rick and Linda on the ship the next day. They were total newbies. They put their life vests on the very first time the cruise director made the announcement that there was going to be a safety drill. ;)
They got the hang of cruising pretty quick though, and we had lots of fun. Our first port was Nassau, Bahamas and we rented segueways and took a tour. We watched Paul Blart Mall Cop the day before to get ourselves ready.

It was a bit overcast, but we didn't get rained on except for a few sprinkles, so it was a pretty nice day. Mike was excited to be somewhere with palm trees. I was excited to be somewhere he couldn't use his cell phone or check his work e-mail!

The food was awesome that night on the ship. It was a formal dining night and they always serve their best meals that night so we all had lobster!

Rick and Linda...looking sharp!

They wouldn't let me take a picture of them without getting one of us too.

Our server, Igusti, was awesome. Mike figured out how to work him so he could get the lobster and the steak, or the next night the veal and the shrimp....and so on. OK, if you must know I might have finagled myself the tiramisu and the "bitter and blanc" bread pudding for dessert one night. I just wanted a bite of both of them...how's a girl to decide?

Of course there was a towel animal on our bed each night when we got back from dinner. My favorite was the elephant.

After a day at sea, we made a stop at St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. We took a jeep tour when we got on shore. Here are Mike and me in the back seat enjoying the scenery while Rick chauffeurs us around the island. =)

It was beautiful!

Some people took extra measures to ensure that the experience was properly recorded for posterity. ;)

We got behind a school bus and got to see all the kids getting off in their uniforms. It was pretty cute.

Back on the ship for dinner that night.

Did I mention the food was yum-o? Prime rib and veal parmesan....mmmmm.

HA! This one cracks me up. Because this picture is from right after we got off the ship at St. Maarten, when we realized that we had ourselves a cash limitation. Everyone was trying to figure out whether or not we'll be able to afford a taxi back to the ship if we take one to the other side of the island to look around.

No worries....we had enough. We rode over to the French side of the island and went to the open market, which was very cool.

This day held probably the best weather we got during a port day. It was beautiful and sunny and hot hot hot....but not as hot as Texas.

Awww....I know. We're so sweet. I told you vacation pictures are better with kids. Are you sick of seeing us yet?

SO HAPPY to be in a taxi on the way back to the other side of the island.

They told us that the Dutch side of the island was a lot cheaper than the French side, but the prices seemed about the same. I think the taxi drivers turn a faster profit if they stay on the same side of the island...

Ok, so this was supposed to be all four of us with the ship in the background...complements of Rick's long arm. However, after so many tries we gave up on the ship and were happy to just get all four of us. =)

Look at that...back on the ship for dinner. We were so good looking every night Linda couldn't help but take our picture. ;)

Someone ask Mike what time it is.

Awww...the swans the last night.

Even cuter now.

We are so awful....our steward took the divider out between our balconies so we went over to our wonderful neighbor's cabin and altered their towel animal display. Mike looks cute and mischievous...I look like I'm about to have a cow because we're not running back to our room. I think it's obvious who is more accustomed to getting into trouble.

Fortunately our dear friends were still our friends even though we had ruined the romantic display. Here they are on the beach back in Orlando the next day before we headed to the airport.

The best part of this vacation for me? Getting home to see these little turkeys! They're donning the souvenirs we picked up for them in St. Maarten...made in India, of course.

So...that was the cruise. I'm doing pretty well with this blogging stuff. Don't get terribly used to it. You know how I can be. ;)

-shannon

May
Ah, May. The sun is shining, the flowers are peeking out, and we take the time to celebrate mothers. Incidentally, it is also the month that my husband leans over during Hallmark commercials to remind me that I am not his mother. This awesome shot of both my kiddos is the one that graced our Mother's Day cards this year. I used to think that as the kids got older that it would be easier to get a picture of them simultaneously looking at the camera and smiling. not so much the case. We managed to get this one though...so no complaining.

Because I was done with classes, I was finally able to drive/chaperon for the kids' trip to farm. Every week, the kids take an afternoon field trip to a farm. They have science lessons, learn about the workings of the farm, and get some hands on experience too.

I went on a Tuesday with Timothy's class. Check this picture out...that is in fact a MOUSE crawling on the arms of my little guy...and that is a SMILE on his face!

Here Timothy and some of his classmates are digging holes for tomato plants.
Here's my little beancounter with one of the gals in his class who has been a good friend to him. (They really are counting beans.)

Here he is climbing under a tree to retrieve pine cones with classmates.

Timothy is doing an observation exercise using the sense of touch here. They were blindfolded and then a partner led them to a tree and they felt it. They were then led back to the circle where the blindfold was removed and they had to try to find the tree again.

Because Timothy has a summer birthday we brought a treat in to share with his class to celebrate early. This picture is fuzzy because the lighting was low and I didn't configure my camera accordingly, but I wanted to snap a picture before they finished their song. It was so sweet. Timothy held a globe in his hands and walked around a candle in a holder that looked like the sun. They sang a song as he walked around the "sun" seven times, to represent his (almost) seven years of life.

That was on a Thursday and it was that afternoon that I went with Madeline's class to the farm. Here she is with some of her classmates during circle...as well as some very colorful visitors.

One of the activities Madeline's class did was to find wildflowers and talk about the parts of a flower.

Then they pressed them. She loved this! She has been pressing flowers in books for quite awhile now. In fact, her teacher told her that she had noticed Madeline pressing flowers and it was her inspiration for this activity. My little gal felt like a million bucks! =)

Madeline got to dig holes for tomato plants too.

Then they went over to the pen to check on the baby goats. I believe they were about three weeks old at this time.

She was so excited when she came home from farm the day after they had been born. It has been neat for her to see how all the animals on the farm grow and change throughout the year.

The farmer also keeps bees. Here she is telling some of the children about the hives...

...and looking at and touching some real honeycomb.

In other news, May is the month that our little Timothy got his glasses! You've seen this picture already, but I thought I'd post it again. It was taken within an hour of picking up his new specs. He's been doing such a good job wearing them everyday, taking good care of them, and also patching. His myopia and astigmatism are so severe that he has a lazy eye. So, he wears a patch for (up to) a couple hours a day now.

So this was our May. Well, we went on a cruise too, but that's a whole new post. We'll see if that one makes it up tonight or not. ;)

-shannon

April!
My camera held pictures from the month of April too...lucky you! Of course I had to go visit that precious newborn baby girl and her super sweet big sister this month. Here's a picture of me with my BFF and her two sweetie pies.

Then, as if that wasn't awesome enough, another one of my dearest friends had a sweet baby boy! So, of course I had to go bother them too =)

April is when we celebrated my favorite holiday of the year. Easter! I love Easter! Not because of the hidden eggs, either. I love the fact that I serve a RISEN Savior. (There were hidden eggs though =))

Quite a few, obviously!

The kids got kites and had lots of fun figuring out how to fly them, with only minimal tree entanglement.

They got so many Easter goodies. Here they are with more Easter treats.

Grandma picked out some super cute Easter clothes for the kids. I know, they couldn't be any cuter. ;)

She looks so grown up!

April is when Madeline started her violin lessons. That's right! Violin! She's been asking for months and we finally decided to start her in lessons. Here she is heading off to school with her instrument in hand for the first time.

You know a mom can't run out to the car and snap a picture of one child without getting a shot of the other, right?

We have been part of a new small church (Sunday School class) and the class had a bowling outing in April. Here is Timothy with some of the boys...

and Madeline with some of the girls.

April was a super great month because it marked the beginning of the last summer of my life, or so they say. I finished up year one of med school...all the glory for that must go to God, who carried me through the weeks that were tougher than I ever could have prepared myself for. We are definitely looking forward to having a summer quite different than last year's!

-shannon

March...

March was awesome, because LOOK! My bestest friend had a gorgeous baby girl! =) Here's my grown up little lady holding her and one of my little man holding her too.

This is her big sister, who will now tell you, if you ask her, that the baby may be new, but she is no longer "brand new." This was back in March, after all.
We also went bowling with some friends. Here are the kiddos having fun at the bowling alley.
They later dressed up as superheroes to play video games. (I wonder if it helped their scores...)

This was also the month that held QUIZ FINALS! Madeline worked so very hard for weeks on end. She studied and drilled these questions from the book of Exodus, and the tournament was a lot of fun.

Family came from near and far...mostly far.

This was at lunch between matches. I snapped this picture after the sweetest exchange. Madeline asked Timothy if she could play with his Nintendo DS. Imagine my delight when, without hesitation, he replied, "sure, Sissy! I've been playing all morning and you haven't had a turn at all!" Moments later, as he was watching her play, he looked at her and said, "Madeline, I sure do love you, but you already know that." Melted my heart!

When all was said and done, Madeline found out that she had ranked in the top 15 quizzers in the district! She was mighty proud...and we may have been too. ;) Here she is with another one of NMC's ranked quizzers right after they received their plaques.

Here she is with her sweet teammates and the flowers my mom picked up for them, just so they could feel as special as they all are.

So, another good month. I was still taking classes, by the way...so the fact that I was there to record any of these events is really kind of a miracle. Never mind the fact that I didn't blog it until now.

-shannon

What you've been missing!
I know I haven't blogged since January. I thought it would be so nice of me to tell you what you've missed...or at least what you've missed that I took pictures of...

So, starting with February, this is what we've been doing the past few months. This first picture is of Madeline and some of her friends from school at Barnes and Noble. They had a fund raiser and the kids all came dressed as one of their favorite characters from a book they've read. Madeline is dressed as Kirsten, the pioneer girl from the American Girls series.

Timothy found a book and settled in to read with his daddy-o. Yes, he's wearing a skeleton costume....he promised me that his absolute favorite book is The Human Body. (Cutest story...he found that book on his shelf a couple years ago and came out to me and said, "Mom! Please read me The Human Body! I LOVE The Human Body!" Except he pronounced it "The Hummin' Boe-dee" Still makes me smile to think about it.)

We roasted marshmallows in our fireplace at some point that month. (I know because there are pictures I had never downloaded from my camera and they are date stamped.) Please admire the wonderful contraption Madeline is making use of. It's a hanger from the dry cleaner, but it had plastic coating on it that would have melted into the marshmallow. SO...I tangled one of the beaters from my mixer all into the hanger and stuck the marshmallow on the end of the beater. Innovative, I know.

S'mores! We are such health nuts, I know.
Oh, it was during this month that our kids decided that Bob Evans is their favorite restaurant. Seriously, they have reasons. Well, at least Timothy does. 1) It's a great place for families. 2) They play nice music. 3) Their food never upsets his tummy. (He gets macaroni and cheese and applesauce every single time.)

OK, that's February. I was in medical school, you know, we couldn't do too much.

-shannon

How many differences can you find between these two pictures???

I know I haven't blogged forever, but I will soon! Mike and I are leaving for a cruise tomorrow, so when I get back I'll have plenty to write about. In the mean time, we wanted to share a couple pictures to remind you how precious my kiddos are and to show you Timothy's surprise!
Take care! shannon

P.S. They we coincidentally wearing the same clothes today (when we picked up Timothy's glasses) as they were when we took the first picture (right before Mother's Day)...how about that?

Fun at Quiz Fest 2009!
So, I am inserting a non-Christmas update blog in the mix here because we had such a big weekend! Madeline's quiz team from church had their annual quiz fest, which made for a very rewarding/exhausting weekend!

Here's our Madeline Rose with her two sweet teammates, ready for the first match of the day on Saturday.

Here's a clip that I took of the girls during a match. You'll have to turn the volume up pretty high to hear it, but I actually caught a streak where they all jumped and answered questions correctly!

The night before Madeline and one of her teammates got to quiz together in the 2 on 2 tournament. It was fast paced and fun to watch. They did great and had fun together. Here they are having some lunch together on Saturday.

Timothy had fun at quiz fest too. He watched a couple matches, but they had a game room, and he spent a lot of his day playing with other kiddos, informing me later that he wants an air hockey table for our house now.

The girls won second place in their tournament that afternoon!

Our NMC boys team brought home the first place trophy from their tournament!

Here are two of our NMC teams right after the awards ceremony with their trophies.
The girls were super excited. They all worked so hard, and each one of them contributed so much to the team. Their interactions are sweet to watch as they cheer each other on and strategize together with their coach.
They thought this placing the trophy on the head of their smallest team member was pretty cute...
until she ended up getting knocked on the noggin.....don't worry....no tears, just lots of laughing.
Here is the team with all the moms and dads. We were maybe a little proud of our girls!

This is Jim, who coordinates the quizzing at NMC and also for our whole region. He has done such an amazing job, and his fuel for doing it is his desire to see the kids hide scripture in their hearts. We are so grateful for his ministry. The battery on my camera was starting to go by the end of the day, so my pictures got progressively fuzzier, but here is one last picture of the kiddos on the way home. Do they look just a little bit excited? They slept well last night!

One other achievement worth noting I won't tell you, but show you...the kids and I have been working on this for the past two weeks during the drive to school. =)

Oh, and just because it was so precious, I have to share Timothy's prayer from dinner tonight. He said, " Dear God, thank you for my family and for our food, and thank you for everyone on this globe, even the USA, and even Alaska, and even Mrs. Garland's brother that lives in Hawaii. AMEN!" He's been learning about maps in school, and his prayers have since had more and more geography in them. I love our little turtle!

OK, that's all for now. Thanks for reading, and as always, thanks for your prayers for our family!

-shannon