Is he cute, or what?

The Picture People had a coupon for a FREE package (3 sheets), so I took Elijah for his 1 yr photo shoot- he was SO happy and did SO good! It was very relaxed and I REALLY like this place! They did not pressure me into more pictures at all and gave me my 3 free sheets and entered Elijah in a photo contest with weekly, monthly and studio winners! After that I went my way owing NO money and getting 3 very cute sheets of pictures! I think I'll go back for future photo shoots...

It's Raining, It's Pouring

We don't get much rain here in Denver, or I should say we did until this spring/summer. From what I have heard from locals, it has been one weird season of weather- a rain shower almost every day. I found these raincoats at Gymboree a few months ago and they were $1.99, so I grabbed 3 of them for my kiddos thinking that they probably wont get much of a chance to wear them. The weather proved me wrong- they have worn them quite a bit and I think they look adorable in them! Last night, I let them go out in the rain and stomp around (i think we need rainboots, Sophia said:)

I needed this today..

What a perfect passage of Scripture I read today when I woke up- I needed it SO badly! I have been worrying so much lately about money and bills and focusing on it instead of the fact that GOD will and HAS met every one of our needs and GOD will help us get thru! TRUST is such a hard thing to do, when I tend to want to have "all my ducks in a row". Such a good reminder this morning:

Matthew 6:19-21 A warning against materialism
"Do not lay up for yourself treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth or rust destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Matthew 6:24 "No man can serve two masters, for either he will love the on and hate the other or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money."

DO NOT WORRY!!! Matthew 6:25-33 talks about how God clothes and feeds nature and ends with, "are you not much better than they" Of course, God will take care of me- He died for ME for goodness sake, not nature- he LOVES me and wants to take care of me. Why do I worry?
I LOVE how this passage ends too- "For your heavenly Father knows that you need these things (clothes,food) But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrrow, for tommorrow will worry about its on things. " When my heart is enamored and consumed with God, than I will TRUST and not worry! God is good... all the time!

What we do in the summer...

So, when the summer comes, I need things to do with my children to make the hours go by faster and to provide FUN for my kiddos so they will remember the good times I provided for them. The fun things also have to be cheap! so, here are my summer suggestions that we have done so far...
1. Parks, parks and more parks (free)
2. Swimming at a creek (free)
3. Play dates at our home with the slip and slide (free)
4. Walking around malls on HOT days (free)
5. Children's Museum (sorta free- we got a yr membership and saved a bundle)
6. Museum/Zoo FREE days- if you dont mind a crowd,it's worth it!
7. Old kids movie- usually free or $1- we've seen "Charlottes Web", "Horton Hears a Whoo", "Space Chimps", "Tale of Despereaux"
8. Play, play and more play in the basement- dress up has been a favorite lately!
9. Sidewalk chalk on the sidewalks
10. Libraries- we LOVE the library- tons of good books, dvds that are free to rent and reading contests that offer TONS of free tickets for food and entertainment...

Here we are at the movies!

Celebrate Good Times...

Last week, we got all 5 babies who were born within 3 weeks of one another together and we clebrated thebig accomplishment of turning one!! Cake was on the menu and it was funny to see who was not bashful (Matthew) who was tentative ( Elijah) who was dainty (Jubilee) who was NOT into it (Clara) and who was on the move (Della)
Such different personalities in those little bodies!
What an experience and what a great memory!

More Summer Fun

Katie brought her crew of mostly boys:) over to play- Caedmon and Elijah chillin by the pool

We set up the pool and slip and slide- they had just cut the grass so the kids were COVERED in grass clippings!

It was good to catch up with Katie- it had been SO long since we've gotten together to talk!

Too close for Comfort

Arianna Grace Gomez- 5 yrs old

Sophia Hope Gomez- 5 yrs old

The twins have been wanting a veil for some time, so for their birthday, I made them a veil- it was very easy and cheap to make! Probably about $3 to make! And they LOVE to dress up but fight over who gets to wear the white dress (my old nightgown)
I need to get another white dress so I dont have an angry bride:)
I cant wait till they really do get married!
It will be neat to compare their wedding day pics with these!

Estes Park Family Fun

What a beautiful day spent with family in the mountains! The weather was gorgeous!

Elijah with his Aunt Emy

Grandpa teaching the twins to fish- they quickly got bored with it and spent most of the time at the playground asking everyone to come with them!

Fun Game!

Isn't Colorado beautiful?!

I caught a fish! I was so excited!
I haven't gone fishing since we lived on the lake in Saylorsburg-
it brought back good memories of my childhood!

Cowgirl Up

The twins both wanted a Cowgirl party- that made it easy:)

We had 14 kids and about 7 adults so it was a full house!
Happy 5th Birthday Girls!