Laughter at the Library

It was a quiet morning at the Library until Mili Berry arrived with great excitement and laughter. Mili loves books more than anything (we are hoping that will continue through her elementary, middle school, high school, and college years). Our problem right now is her love to eat them too. Everything that she "loves" goes into her mouth.

Mili and I sat in the floor, I read books and more books and more books and Mili laughed and waved her arms in the air (as I ducked them again and again). She doesn't know how to be a little bit excited (she does it with her whole body....don't know who she got that from). The library also had some wooden puzzles with big pegs for little hands. Mili loved the puzzles and we did the same one over and over again. We spent about an hour and a half playing at the library. Mili didn't want to leave the books and she cried when I took the puzzles away. We checked out four books and since we were across the street from the Mall, we walked over there for a bit.

When we arrived at the mall we went to the book store and played with all the books that make noise or "do" something. We bought a book ("A Life God Rewards" by Bruce Wilkinson, I think the same guy that wrote Jabez Prayer) and then went to the play yard. Mili loves to play with other kids. I have to really watch her because she thinks she can do what the big kids do. We tried to find some of those puzzles at KB Toys but they didn't have any (will have to look somewhere else). On our walk back home Mili fell asleep. While she was sleeping peacefully, Mommy hit a bump and poor Mili's head went bobbin'. She was a trooper though and stayed asleep through Mommy's very bad stroller driving (it doesn't help that we have a stubborn wheel).

We had a fantastic day out. We are looking forward to more walks to the library and mall. The temperature was perfect at about 70 degrees with a cool breeze (almost chilly for me) and cloud cover. On our way home probably about 75 degrees and still a cool breeze (more sun). It could be due to the fact that we have had so much rain (15 inches in 17 days....the amount we should have for the whole summer). Hopefully it's over for a while and we will dry up a bit. I would take today's temperatures again any day, it makes for a great walk outside.

Hope you all have a wonderful day, too. Love to all!!!

Free to be a Family!!

From Parks to Fireworks, it has been a full day of greatness. We have enjoyed today as a family so much. It was the perfect day (as you can tell from the pictures).

This morning we went to the park and walked on a trail around the water. It was quite hot but we found some shade for a while and there was a breeze. While seated under a tree and resting, Mili thought she needed to stick her tongue in my water bottle in order to cool off. As gross as it may seem, Mommy let her do whatever she wanted with the my water (including pour it on her). Mili loves being outdoors more than anything, however, she started getting sleepy so we left the park. She fell asleep in her car seat (which is finally in the car, instead of the floor, because it finally stopped raining enough to get it hooked in). So while Mili was sleeping so peacefully, we went for a drive out to the country. We drove about two towns over to a more country location just to see what was there.

After our drive we went home to eat lunch. We all took a nap later in the day. We then had some family play time with Mili. Mili loves to have both of us home and have all our attention. She has been a perfect angel today.

Finally we ended the day with going to Brian's work to see the fireworks. There were between 500 and 600 people that showed up there. While driving to the Brian's work parking lot, there were many people that had camped out on the side of the road. There were people every where (at park and ride parking lots, at the mall parking lot, on the lawn of the fire station, on the lawn of the hotels, on apartment lawns, outside the fence of Brian's work, and many other places). We picked a place on the lawn and set up camp (Mili in her stroller and Brian and I in our chairs). We were joined by a guy, and his family, that works with Brian. This family was also at the cook out a week or two ago. We enjoyed time with them. The fireworks scared Mili a little at first but she soon found her spot, in her Daddy's lap. She enjoyed the rest of the show right there. The fireworks lasted about 25 minutes and were wonderful. During the fireworks, I found myself thanking God for the freedoms we have and for the people who gave their life so I could live mine to the fullest. Wow....what a sacrafice for many husbands, wives, children, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and friends to loose their loved ones. It is quite a humbling thought.

We wanted to go to DC today but were very glad we didn't when we heard about the thunder storms that were so bad with many people having no place to go to get out of the rain (lightening and hail). Next year we may go to some of the reherseals the night before (they tend to be less crowded but you still get to see the stars that will be singing).

We had a fantastic day!!! I could not have asked for more. The best part was it was all free!

Restful Days

It has been two restful days. We have enjoyed time together as a family and got some much needed rest in the process. Yesterday we hung out at home during the morning and picked up a few groceries and such in the afternoon. Brian had some much needed quality time with Mili. He has been working til at least 7 or 7:30 each night and Mili goes to bed between 8 and 8:30 each night. By the time we ate, upon his arrival, he had no time with Mili. Mili needed this time too. She loves her some daddy time.

Today was a great day of worship and reflection time. Our youth pastor, Pastor Brian, gave the sermon today. He spoke about all the freedoms we have and why we have them. He went all the way back in history to the people coming over from Europe to the words of Martin Luther King (he read his speech). In different stages of history the word "freedom" meant different things. Pastor Brian reminded us that our freedom (still to this day) has always been at the expense of others. How many times do we live our lives "free" at the expense of others. Meaning that we sometimes do things because it is legal (or maybe some things that are not) to do what ever it is we desire to do and then don't think about how it could affect someone else's life forever (our children, our spouse, friend, family member, co-worker). We have freedom of speech but that doesn't mean that we should say things that will ruin peoples reputation. It is legal to drink over the age of 21 (I personally don't think alcohol should be legal at any age) but that doesn't give an individual the freedom to get into a vehicle and drive while intoxicated. We have lots of freedoms that we tend to take to the extreme because we "CAN".

The sermon was not about our freedoms as Americans, it was about our freedoms as Christians. When God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to die and take the sins of the world away, He was sending total freedom. We can be free from our sins (we have to pray and accept that freedom, but it is available to all people). I felt free when I asked Jesus to take over my life when I was a just a little girl. I now feel so free when I have my time with God in the morning and when I can focus on what he wants for me and my family. He cares about every move we take and every decision we make. It seems as though with the death of Boley it sparked the thought about how I affect others lives as a good or a bad influence (it will be one or the other). Then I read my friend, Kamrin's blog and she talked about the same thing, affecting others lives by her life. I think God is trying to teach me something about how I treat others and the lasting affect on them. My hope is that I will make a lasting eternal affect on everyone I come in contact with.

Brian taught Life Group again today and I was not scheduled to do service today but I ended up volunteering for the children's registration desk. I love that job because I get to greet all the children and parents for children birth through five years old. Today I met a woman that was new to the church and a little scared to leave her baby in the nursery (stay at home mom who never left her baby....I can understand that feeling). I was able to tell my story about us moving here and how wonderful the children's program is there at the church. She left her baby and went to class, then enjoyed worship hour. She is a neighbor to one of our members and wanted to come to church but couldn't because she didn't have a car seat for her baby. We had a church member that has a relative that works at the police station that found a seat for the baby. God works out all the "small" details. To most people that would be a small detail but to a mom that is a big deal. This woman was so happy to be a church today and her excitement rubbed off on me. It was just a great day with the Lord.

I hope you enjoyed your time of worship today. If you didn't have time to attend church somewhere, please try it .....you might like it, smile (and you will make God smile if you do).

Hugs and Kisses....Goodnight.

Sorry about the date!!!

Sorry about the date posted. I entered it after midnight on Friday night so it posted as Saturday. Just wanted you to know that if was actually Friday's blog.

Good Night.....or should I say......Good Morning.....hehehehe.

I am going to bed now!!!!!

Shopped til we DROPPED!

Bright Sunshine and a Cool Breeze were our friends today (74 degrees this morning at 10:00 am). Mili and I packed up to go to the mall today. Mili's stroller is bigger than me so you can imagine the "funniest home video" while going down the stairs at the apartments (I do believe we could win some money on that one). After getting down the stairs I can maneuver (even though there are two more sets of stairs outside, I have learned to off-road and go down the hills on the grass and Mili has learned to hold on for dear life at the right time). Down the parking lot and onto the sidewalk. We were on our way....ducking under some trees taking over the sidewalk.....passing more apartment complexes (we live on apartment row)......passing the library......and crossing a street.....on another sidewalk to the parking lot.......and finally walking, walking, walking across the parking lot. After all that, we only live about half a mile from the mall (the parking lot feels like another half of a mile).

The pictures above are from Mili's playtime at the play yard in the mall. It is a big play area with that memory foam under the carpet and all the frogs and other stuff are made of the same or similar material. Mili had a great time running (crawling.....still not walking but getting closer every day) around every where. The kids playing would scream and she would scream just because they were. She got so excited. She hit a little boy that was smaller than her (I hope that is not an indication of her being a bully later in life). They were so cute playing together. He was probably 9 months old and he didn't really crawl, he did the army crawl on his elbows (he was faster than Mili).

Mili loves other babies and kids. Today every time she saw a stroller (it didn't matter if she could see the baby or not) she started screaming and flapping her arms. She gets the attention of everyone that walks past her. When I see people smile when they pass her it makes me want to have more kids just to see other people happy about a precious new life.

Brian came to the mall and had lunch with us. We enjoyed that time with him since he has been working late a lot this week. Mili didn't want to leave his side. Fortunately she did let him have enough space to eat and then she was right back in his lap.

It felt really good to be out of the house today and having fun while doing it is always a plus. It is a win win situation for both of us. I love to shop and Mili loves to ride/watch people (especially kids). We are both happy when we are shopping. Today we really did shop til we dropped. When we arrived home, Mili crashed and I wanted to.

Speaking of crash....I am up too late....it is 12:45 right now.
Love to all and hope you enjoyed your day as much as we did.