So the next morning, I was greeted with the same sign I’m greeted with every morning. “Eat, eat.” So we took ’em to one of my favorite places to eat as a kid.  And this is Phil… being Phil. “Dear God, thank You for this food.  I don’t know what it is yet, but I am sure I love them and so I am very thankful for them.  Amen.” These two in particular enjoyed the giant cinnamon rolls and gooey cream cheese frosting. Girls after my own heart. It was fun showing the kids my old stomping grounds on this trip.  After breakfast, we drove by the motel where I…

Just got back from a week-long vacation and wanted to post it sooner than later.  There were three separate legs of the trip and the first leg involved a two-night hotel stay in Pismo Beach for the family.  Since, as Phil put it, “the kids like a good hotel vacation, too.” Due to our previous good experience here, we decided to return to the Pismo Lighthouse Suites.  Only with the kids this time around. The key word here is SUITES.  Meaning the kids had their very own room and bathroom down a little hallway from our room.  I believe I’ve mentioned before that Phil knows how to pick a good…

We recently visited the Petersen Automotive Musuem which has a fun kids’ area on the third floor complete with pine derby cars and racetracks.  So naturally, as soon as we were leaving, the kids (mainly Mikey) asked if we could make wooden race cars at home. A quick stop at Lowe’s and we found a teeny, tiny display of wood toy car kits.  Not derby race cars, but close enough. “Hey Lauren, wanna do a project?” Arranging the pieces just so.  The bricks were there because it was kind of a windy day. Then Daddy came along and rearranged the pieces.  Who’s being all OCD now?  Twasn’t me! Out came…

With the grandparents in town for the kids’ piano recital as well as for their cousin J’s kindergarten graduation, Joanna suggested doing family portraits since it was one of those rare occasions when we were all together. It was an awesome idea. And then she went the extra mile(s) and went shopping to coordinate all of our outfits.  Easily the hardest part of family portraits and definitely my least favorite thing to do.  So, many eternal thanks to my sweet SIL for pulling all of us together and making this happen. The weather, though?  Definitely didn’t cooperate with only a gloomy gray sky to work with as our beachy backdrop. …

The weekend that followed the whirlwind last week of school was also jam-packed with its own events.  All fun stuff, but very tiring for those of us who prefer the sit-down-and-rest type of rides.  It all started with Mikey and Allie’s first ever piano recital.     This is our kids’ piano teacher.  I’ve mentioned him here before.  He starts every lesson by asking for their prayer requests and then praying with our kids.  He’s always reminding them that music is a gift from God for us to enjoy.  It’s readily apparent that he loves the Lord, loves music, and loves to pass both of those on to his students. …