Emerald Isle 2007!

We are headed for the beach tomorrow morning bright and early! :) Can't wait to sit by the ocean with my toes in the water, relax, and chat with family! I love the beach because you can't help but think of life and God as you look out at the waves.

We've been going to the beach with the Varners for over 20 years and now 3 of the "kids" are married and 2 have babies of their own! It's so neat to see the next generation of kids at the beach! :)

I can't believe Mallory will be seeing the ocean for the first time on the "outside" this week...we didn't even know she was a girl this time last year! I'm excited for her to experience all that I love about the beach. I hope she grows up loving it too! I know each year will be more and more exciting for her!

I hope to have TONS of fun pictures when we return next Sunday to post! Have a WONDERFUL week everyone! :)

The Morin Motel

Cooling off with the cousins! (last weekend)
Brother Night x3! They enjoyed lots of gaming!
What ever will Mallory do without all the extra help for meals and bath times!??!!
Fort #1 of the numerous that were built this week in our great room...
Climbing trees...
Betty Crocker! Learning to make muffins! We made some for our new neighbors!
Watching Fraggle Rock from a fort...Does Abby look tuckered out!?!?!?

What a FUN week we have had with the other Morin Family! :) It was so nice to get so much bonding time in while they stayed at our house...aka "The Morin Motel"! We are so grateful that Matt's surgery went well and that he will soon be able to say, "Adios" to the crutches and the boot! We know he can't wait!

We roasted s'mores, went swimming, climbed trees, and even had a visit from the tooth fairy-- to name a few things! My mom even watched the kids for a day when all three adults had a work day for Summer School...Thanks MiMi! :)

Top 5 Highlights from the visit:
5. Fraggle Warfare
4. Dr. Chilhowie's secret surprise
3. Pasta anyone?!?!!?
2. Thomas' fantastic ninja moves
1. Abby saying, "It feels like we are walking to Galilee " when we were walking to the playground on a hot day.

Mal after a "Happy Nappy!"

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Back To School!

Mike's Art project! He got an A ++++++!!!
Busy at work in the classroom...
Yay!!! So exciting! :)
Sadness! Mike wanted an A...

So we have been "Back to School" this week with Kiley the girl we are sitting for. She is quite a tough teacher! It's been fun to do Art, Math, and English again! I can tell she had a great 1st grade teacher this past year! And it has given Mike and I the chance to be classmates...hilarious!!! Such insight into the students we once were! :) (Mike thinks I'm a brownie hound...) We have also pulled out tons of our kid games to play...which has been fun, because we don't have anyone old enough to play them yet. Kiley is such a gamer! Now it's off to play Bocce outside for "PE"...fun times!

Too Quick!

Mally Mal cut her first tooth today! It's on the bottom left...I've been looking for it for days and you can finally see it peeking through her gums. As much as I have been waiting to see it, I was sad to see it at the same time! She is growing up! She won't be a baby forever! Sadness! And here she is all smiles today after flipping to her belly from her back. She just started doing that this week over and over...she used to only be able to flip the other way...what a big girl! :)

1st Father's Day!

"Hey I have a secret....
...come close and listen....
....my Daddy's the best Daddy in the whole wide world! He makes me so happy! He makes me laugh and laugh when I am with him!!!!

What a wonderful day we have had celebrating Daddy Morin! :) We are so blessed by him in our family! He had to try so hard not to do any work today...I told him he wasn't allowed to do anything! Boy was it hard to make him just relax for the day. Especially when it was time for the cookout with the rest of the extended family. But that's something I love so much about him...He really has a servant's heart and genuinely enjoys helping others.

Mallory and I surprised him with breakfast in bed this morning. Then it was off to church. The sermon was good and challenged us to think about our Heavenly Father on Father's Day as well as our Earthly one. What do we think about when we think of God as our Father? It is such a challenge for us as parents...our children will most likely relate how they feel about the Lord with how they feel about us. We have an awesome responsibility to teach our children about the wonder of a powerful God who created everything and yet a God who allows us to call him Daddy (Abba) and go to Him with our deepest cares and who deals with us with compassion and unconditional love.

I am so grateful Mallory has Mike for a Dad. He will love her unconditionally, he will challenge her, he will correct her when she needs it, and he will definitely make her laugh throughout her life. I got myself a "Pa Ingalls" for my kids and I am so blessed. I grew up watching Little House and loving it. I thought Pa was such a good man and devoted father. He loved the Lord and his children with all his might. Mike will be that way with our kids too! I can just see all the deep discussions Mike will have with our little ones as they grow up! And you better bet our kids will be watching some Little House! We already have all 9 seasons on DVD! Excitement! :)

Par-TAYYYYY!!!!

Exciting times in Abbot's Mill! :)
I want to try it Daddy! Yummmmmmm!
Mallory loves grabbing her Dad's glasses off and chewing on them. She's a quick one!!!

So the morning started off with a fabulous "Mommy's Morning Out" with my friend Johanna! We had so much fun chatting and relaxing as we got our toes all decked out for summer! :)

Then it was time to "hurry up and wait" for the neighborhood party I had planned as the Social Chair. Mike is so good to me when I am anxious about planning these things...I love the "idea" of planning things, but the day of I'm always sooooo squirrel-y! It was good for me to chill out and listen to one of Steve's talks in the afternoon. (I added the link...check it out!) God is so good! He loves us in our craziness and our drama!!!

But now we are home and the party is over...We are grateful because the kids had a good time with the DJ, games, sno-kones, and moonwalk. They will probably all sleep well tonight. I know I will! :)!!!

Summer's Here!!! Yay!!!

Mal playing with Joshua's fun cube that lights up and plays music...she loved it!
So fun to watch them grow...Joshua was born on Mallory's due date (Christmas Day!) So they are doing a lot of the same things! It's nice for the Mommies to swap stories! :)
Thought I should post a pic of Mallory in action with all the talk of Nap Training! She loves her loveys! (Thanks Aunt Susan, Laura, and Ginny!...and thanks for the sleep sack Laura P!)

Mike is home and summer has begun! We are so EXCITED to have more family time for the 3 of us! I love having Mike home during the day (now I'll have someone to talk to who will talk back!!!)! I know Mallory will love it too! It's going to be neat having summers off all together as the kids grow up! A perk to teaching! (We think all adults should get a break from their professions too!!!! Wish they would make that happen!)

This morning Mallory and I went to Tara's and Joshua's for a playdate. It was so fun because when we got there Joshua and Mallory were all smiles when they saw each other. It was the first time they really tried to interact. Can't wait to see how they continue to have fun with each other over the years!

Water Baby and Poetry

Happiness! :)

Photo shoot after the Coffee House! (Thanks for the cute dress Becky and Bob! )
Mallory with some of Mike's Homeroom Class...

Loving the water! :)

Today it's going to be 95 degrees, but feel like 103! Whewwwwwwww! So Mallory and I beat the heat by going to Mike's "Coffee House with Poetry" this morning at his school. Mallory got to meet 104 poets (Mike's students)! They were so excited to finally meet her and I enjoyed reading their poetry books! Some might be quite famous one day!!! :) Now we are home and we are planning to hang out in the AC for the rest of the day!

Yesterday we spent a little time in the pool...I was so excited and ran out and bought this little pool for our yard. Mallory enjoyed it for the brief time she was in the water...I think the pool is more for me than the baby! Pretty soon she will be big enough to splash and play though! :)

Mr. and Mrs.!

Leah was kind enough to email me a picture they took of the happy couple! Now I have one! I was busy with Mally Mal when they made their grand entrance and couldn't take a picture.

Decade Rewind!

Two of the "The Freshman Family" Babies...Gavin couldn't make it! Sadness!
Freshman roomies!
Leah and I and our girls. :) Mal is quite sleepy at this point! They had a fun time meeting each other though. Anya is so cute! Hopefully there will be more playdates to come! :)

So Mallory and I (along with MiMi, PaPa, Becky and Bob) went to MD this weekend for Craig Mac's wedding. :) It was a fun car trip for all of us in the minivan! They were so sweet to escort me up since Michael was away for the weekend.

It was so good to see old friends from Freshman Year. Can't believe we have known each other for over a decade! So much has happened since that first week in Hoffman Hall and meeting them! It was fun to reminisce about old times. Sadly I didn't get a picture of the groom and his lovely bride...we had to scoot before I could capture them...they looked wonderful though and so happy. We wish them all the best! :)