Lacey found a sweet monarch caterpillar on our walk. A good experiment for homeschool to watch him/her develop.

Welcome back, Crazy-Busy-Fun-Awesome-Exhausting-Exhilarating Routine.

Yummy. Hooray for summer reading programs!

Until this month!

We were so thrilled to be able to use a cottage right on Lake Michigan, because of the generosity of a friend.

We arrived on a Sunday evening, as night was falling. We could see the beautiful view of lake, but soon it was dark and we could just hear the waves.

The cottage sleeps 12, and Caleb and Grace were especially thrilled with their sleeping arrangements! They slept up in a loft area that they could only get to by climbing a ladder.

Our first morning there, a storm rolled in from the lake. It rained all morning, so we decided to head to Lewis Farm Market and Petting Farm to kill some time and entertain the children. We browsed the market for about 30 seconds before hitting the free petting zoo, which was a pretty stinking cool petting zoo. Not just goats and chickens like at John Ball Zoo. Nope – they had bunnies, donkeys, goats, miniature horses, wallabies, a zebra, and our all-time favorite – a camel. We tried really hard to get a good picture of Luke and me with the camel, but it was a no-go.

Praise the Lord, the skies cleared that afternoon, and we were able to enjoy the view from the hammock…

I might have taken a nap there…

Our kids were able to enjoy some swim time after naps. And then our dear friends the Perrys joined us at the cottage. (Remember the cottage sleeps 12? Perfect for our two families of six!) We weren’t planning to let the kids swim that night, because we didn’t have enough time before bed. But we let them stick their feet in the water with the admonition, “Don’t get wet….”

“…or dirty.”

The next day was perfect beach weather. We spent a lot of time down by the water – swimming, playing in the sand, and kayaking.

Here are our two families (and a sunset), taken before the Perrys had to head back to “real life…”

On the Perrys’ way out of town, we all hit the ice cream shop at Country Dairy, where they have $.75 kids’ cones – and thus, I will be a loyal customer for the rest of my life (or, you know, whenever I happen to be in New Era, MI again).

On our final day at the cottage, it rained again, but cleared up enough for all of us to enjoy the beach again. Then, as the children napped, we packed and cleaned and were out of there by dinnertime. It was SUCH a relaxing, wonderful vacation. I LOVED being so close to the water. God’s creation is so beautiful!

And to top it all off, on the way home, we found out that Caleb can spell his name…and write it in completely mirrored letters. I love my life.

The kids like to pretend it’s winter in the basement. Can’t explain the glasses.

On to the pictures…

This is the “It’s a Girl!” banner I made for the party.

Grace let me use some of her beads to embellish the banner. Purty, huh?

I also made this little sign to reserve the rocking chair for Erin.

We were so sad that Betsey (sibling #4) couldn’t attend the shower, because she was in a wedding that day in Indiana. But she was so wonderful to help with games and food…and she made this beautiful diaper cake! Thanks, Buzz!

Emily (sibling #2) and Mom were in charge of food – and they did a great job! Isn’t this food beautiful? Emily made it. It’s goat cheese and basil stuffed tomatoes, with balsamic something-or-other on top. (See – I’m obviously not the chef.)

I’m a dessert girl. I love to eat them, which is probably why I also love to make them! So, I was in charge of the sweet treats for the shower. Erin’s a cheesecake kind of girl, so these are mini cheesecakes.

I also made chocolate-covered Oreos as party favors for the guests to take home with them…and definitely forgot to put them out. So, only the family who was there at the very end of the shower got any. Sorry to all the rest of you – they are delicious! I got the idea for these from my friend Laura’s blog.

We played a few games – the “My Water Broke” ice cube game (only we put the ice cube in their drinks), the Guess the Candy Bar in the Diaper game, and the Matching Baby Socks game. But Erin also brought her own game! She brought letter cards that we had to unscramble to learn the name of my sweet niece! You probably already figured it out from the title of this post – BRISTOL AUBREY. Adorable name for an adorable little girl!

The one you’ve been waiting to see – Erin with baby Bristol. In this picture, she’s about 22 weeks along.

And last, but of course not least, our party guests! Thanks, everyone, for making it a fun day! I know Erin and Tobin appreciated the celebration!

But for now, I just wanted to let you know we’re still alive. And we’re in the midst of one of the busiest (and favorite-est) weeks of our year. It’s BASE CAMP week! Woo-hoo!

For those of you who haven’t heard of Base Camp before, it’s our church’s 5-day summer ministry for children, of which I am a co-director.

It has been a joy and privilege to watch the body of Christ work together for a common purpose – to teach children about God’s Word. Although there are 3 of us co-directors, there are around 60 other volunteers from the church who help pull this off!

To be honest, my main job involves planning logistics/theme and writing the curriculum. That pretty much all happened by May. So, this week, I get to stand back and watch it all come together.

I’m happy to report that each person is using the talents that God has gifted him/her with, and it is running beautifully!

And if you visit the Base Camp blog, you can find a picture of Luke with a reverse mohawk.

I bet you’re curious what the heck that is.

It’s worth taking a peek. Definitely.

Meijer has some really great deals this week, especially if your store doubles coupons. The stores in the greater GR area do NOT double, but thankfully there’s a store about 40 minutes away that does!

So, my friend Kay and I went there today, while Miss Molly (her daughter) watched the kiddos. (THANKS, Molly!)

As the picture shows, I got 20 boxes of granola bars, 16 boxes of Gushers, and 4 boxes of Fruit Roll-ups. Sounds like we’re going to have a junk food fest around here soon, huh? Nah, we’ll spread that out over at least a few months. (I’m hoping it’ll last six months, but my hubby likes treats, too, so I’m not counting on it!)

So, visit Jolyn at Bargains to Bounty for all the details!

But that is not what this picture is about.

I’m showing you this picture because I want you to know that there’s an even more compelling reason to coupon. There is something so much MORE FUN than just getting good deals…And that is giving to others.

Our church sent out a family to the mission field of Togo, West Africa about five years ago. They are coming home on furlough this summer, and we’re preparing their rental home for their arrival. So, when our church family was called upon to donate items for their return…

I shopped my stockpile!

I can’t tell you how fun and rewarding it is to be able to walk down to my basement and pull items off the shelves that I know will bless others.

To be honest, I’m not sure how much these items cost all together over the months I’ve collected them. But my best guess at retail value is about $140. And the only items that I bought this past week were the Reynolds Wrap foil and the Old Orchard juice, which cost approximately $3.34 after coupons. Not bad when this stuff will fill a few cupboards for our special family!

I can vividly remember just a few years ago, when our budget was in the negative every month and the thought of donating $5 would make me sweat. I wanted to give but was afraid of going further in the red. (Obviously, this was before we found Dave Ramsey, or at least before his principles had helped drag us out of the mire of debt. This was also before I had learned to be a savvy shopper.)

I’m so thankful to be in a position now to be able to give!

God wasn’t joking when He said, “It’s more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35)!

It makes me smile.

It’s me with my college roommate, Chaeli, on our way to Midnight Madness. My best guess for a date is October 2002.

That girl and I had some side-splitting, hilarious, fall-down-laughing times in college.

Ah, who doesn’t love a quick stroll down memory lane?