landscaping ideas-- need ideas

Big news at the Neuhaus family!

Lauren has a loose tooth! WooHoo-- her first one.

1st day of 1st grade!

An exciting day! I can't wait to hear all about it!

At home...

In the front...

Another in the front...

This was yesterday, at orientation. She was able to unload all her supplies into her very own desk (last year Kindergarten they has tables with 5 to a round table)... and locker! The locker is a huge hit... she thinks she is pretty cool... even asked Paul and I if we had a locker when we went to school!

Summer is offically over...

It has been ages since I last blogged... but we have just been enjoying the summer, the weather, the fun things to do and each other.


Mason was an only child this weekend, starting Friday night (Lauren went to CR with my Mom) so Mason picked to eat at Red Robin Friday night...




Mason started preschool at his new school today... Gosh he looks tiny there...he is 4.5 yrs old... and he is actually wearing 4's and 5's but he looks tiny!!!

Lauren has orientaion today at noon and then offically starts tomorrow! She already has her 1st day outfit all picked out... she is to funny! She a little fashion queen!

Summer went by fast... and while we still have a few things planned it will be different with them both in school all day now!

We have been enjoying bonfires with neighbors, volleyball and swimming... I have been running quite a bit and enjoying the sunrises and sunsets that I take in on my daily jog!

I am still wrestling with putting Lauren into gymnastics... I just feel like she has a lot going on with Daisy's on Tuesday's and Treasure Seekers (youth group at church) on Wednesday's. If I did gymnastics it would need to be on Tuesday's or Thurday's from 4-5, and I might just be pushing it... I know she would enjoy it, but it means a lot of running and I am taking a class that is on Monday and Thursday's from 5:20-7:20... so we are all busy! So we will see...I might see how the school year starts out and then add her... or if I could find a Saturday morning class that would be great... we are also thinking of trying to get Mason into karate this year, or possibly the youth wrestling program this winter-- they can start at 4?! Totally amazes me... I think 5 might be a better maturity level!

Well I am off for now... I know it was general and brief but hey it was an update!

What a fun weekend!

What did we do, you might be asking! Nothing! Seriously, we had one of the best weekends, doing nothing planned... all just being.

Friday Mason went to the park with Paul and played in the sandbox while Paul worked on the horseshoe pits. Lauren went for a bike ridewith me, while I ran in the new phase (my favorite spot right now).

Saturday we ran a few quick errands (got gas-- $3.71 hooray! Seriously not sure why I am that excited to spend $3.71, except that is pretty good from where it was a few weeks ago)! We then headed to swim for a few hours, came home had BLT's and then headed to the park for a neighborhood BYO party... we played volleyball, the kids played, tag, tetherball and enjoyed the sand box!

Sunday, headed to church in the morning and left with Dilly Bars! Yummo! Then hit the pool again from noon till 8:30pm last night! It was such a fun day... it is so nice lay back and relax at the pool ... both Mason and Lauren are such fish and great swimmers! I still have Mason wear arm floats (they are really tiny so they just keep him up enough) but with a deep end it is just easier... not that he can touch in the shallow end either. I do let Mason swim without his arm floats if I am working with him on his swimming skills, but for just being by the pool(with my lounging around) I just rather have them on and for sure when we are in a public place with lots of kids! Both are diving(it is so cute to watch Mason) and they are both little fish! Tracy (my neighbor who was there with her 3 girls) and I were joking saying "isn't it nice to have a pool in our backyard" oh wait it isn't not our backyard it's Mary's! (Mary is my neighbor and we swim there practially everyday! )They were gone Sunday to Monday and invited us (tracy and I) to go down and use it all we want! Ahhh Mary is seriously the sweetest person, and not because of the pool, she is just a wonderful person!

I can't even tell you how tan my two kiddo's are! Even Mason my little toehead -- he is like a surfer with his white bum, boardshorts, blonde hair and tan tan tan everything! Lauren always is tan, and looks so pretty with her dark hair and light eyes and then that tan skin! And then there is me with my now really blone hair! My colorist really lightened it up Friday, so it is really light... looks like it did when I was a kid-- of course then it was natural! We will all be ready for vacation this coming weekend with our tan skin! I am even wearing a bikini on our trip, now that I have managed to get my abs back! I would still be ideal to loose 10 pounds... but that will not happen in a week! lol! But I wore one all weekend to get sun in the places that needed it... but I will not be wearing a bikini as small as the ones I wore this weekend.

Today Lauren headed off to her first day of Girl*Scout Camp! She is SUPER excited and I can't wait to hear all about it tonight. She goes all week and then camps Thursday night! OH so fun!

This coming Friday we head on vacation! Just a nice extended weekend! Friday to Tuesday...

Fourth of July Fun - weekend update!

We had a great weekend... starting July 3rd we headed downtown to the river front to watch the fireworks with about the entire city! We had great seats thanks to our neighbors who headed down really early and saved us some. I packed up some great subs, chips and dip, snacks, and light up necklaces. I also decorated the kids faces and they wore cute "holiday" outfits (aka red, white and blue things!). The fireworks this year were great! The city really goes all out! Friday we woke up really early and packed up to head to the lake to camp with Paul's family! It is always fun to be at the lake, fishing, swimming, camp fire, outdoor cooking, 4wheeler rides, the kids just getting to run around, good drinks- camping , but with bathrooms/showers and real beds-- that is my kind of camping!

Here is Mason on "his" chair by the fire ring, just before dinner time!

Paul and Mason sitting by the fire.

These are my SIL Tracy's nephews with Mason. They were having fun making a "fort" out of the firewood! Mason looks so tiny next to them!

We stayed Friday night and hung out Saturday; Mason and Paul went fishing and I took Lauren to the lake to swim, twice! We stuck around for the fireworks and then headed home late!

Sunday we slept in (and skipped church services, which I do not like to do, but it was a must)! Paul headed to the farm to cut the grass, and we headed out in search of play sand! Sunday was hot, hot, hot and humid! We headed to my lovely neighbors house to do some swim time! It was great, she told me that morning to com eover, they would be gone but to come and enjoy it! So we did- how could myself and my fishes pass that up! It is so wonderful there, peaceful, and nice to just let the kids swim and play-- it really makes me want to put a pool in! Except there is all that upkeep! Maybe someday! The swimming must have totally wiped Mason out because this was him at dinner-

Note he barely took any bites from his hamburger! This was at 7pm mind you...

and he slept till 8am on Monday morning!

Paul and I both took Monday off to spend just one more day at home... we had big plans of doing some landscaping; but the heat and humidity convinced us otherwise! lol! Paul did some work on the deck while I worked on my bible study in the shade and the kids played on the swingset and ran thru the sprinkler to wash the sand off! Paul requested that we grill out, so I broke out my Rachel Ray magazine and found this great (and easy) recipe which we tried... so here is the before grilling! It is pounded sirlon steak with provolone cheese in side and asparagus; I drizzled basil and herb olive oil on the asparagus before wrapping and then also rolled the meat wraps in it before hitting the grill. SO easy and SO delicious! I will be making this again, and also trying it with pork loin and chicekn breast and changing up the veggies and the cheese selections!

The kids LOVED this meal. I made smashed red potatoes with it and a mushroom/garlic sacue to go with. Everyone cleaned their plates and then we had rasberry chocolate mousse for dessert!

Weekly update

I finally uploaded some pics from last week and this week.

Lauren is half way thru her summer soccer season. She is really enjoying it and is doing really well. she scored several goal at last weeks game and really gets in there and moves the ball around and stays with the game.

Lauren is the last one in line, wearing a bright yellow jersey (#7).
The kids wrapped up VBS on Friday. WOW the church really outdid itself this year... it was fabulous! And both Mason and Lauren walked away with a better understanding of God and their relationship with him. I wish I had pictures, the gym was set up like a town, with tents, a synagogue, and the kids all had robes and sandals. Really it was amazing! They learned some great new songs, which I uploaded to Lauren's shuffle. I so rather have her (and all of us) listen to Christian music than the radio and what they "consider" appropriate!

On the Saturday we went to the kids Jr. Banker picnic- which is always a fun time. Their cousin Macy and a little friend Clayton came along with us. They played games and won neat prizes, had lunch, enjoyed the inflatables, and the music!

Monday Mason went to Y camp for 3 days. First two he was kind of a stinker! But by the 3rd day he caught on... I am not sure that the counselors were really encouraging this year. There was a big difference between the counselors last year and this year. I am debating on pulling him from the other session he is signed up for, but he did have a good time.

His group was called The Awesome Candy Chompers.
They did a little skit on the last day!

Tonight we are going to the big fireworks display over the river... I am packing up subs and snacks as we will head down around 7ish to see the different planes and jets, and the parachuters and activites that go on down there. I am also going to stop at the dollar store for some fun things-- light up necklaces, etc to keep the kids having a fun time! Tomorrow we head to the lake for a few days. All of Paul's family will be down there camping too so it will be fun and the lake has their fireworks on Saturday night. Plus the kids will do some sparklers and such there, even though I am not a big fan of them- it is sort of a per pressure thing, since all the cousins will have them!

Have a great 4th of July weekend everyone! Be safe!

CR Flood

A friend emailed this to me... I can't even explain the pictures do not do this justice. My sister lives in CR, thankfully she does not live in the areas that were flooded out. But it is erie to see it now, with the water receeded and the devastation left behind. But this video has a beautiful song playing with it, that talks abotu praising even during the storm; hard to take in, but how true, God has a plan for everyone a plan we may not know or understand/comprehend, but it is moments like this that we need to lean on our faith, there is a light at the end of every tunnel and there will be for this event as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU5ny84eV7U

Why go to Church?

(This is good)

If you're spiritually alive, you're going to love this! If you're spiritually dead, you won't want to read it. If you're spiritually curious, there is still hope!

A Church goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday (or Saturday). "I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all."

This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher.

"I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this.... They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!"

When you are DOWN to nothing.... God is UP to something! Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible! Thank God for our physical AND our spiritual nourishment!


"When Satan is knocking at your door, simply say, "Jesus, could you get that for me?" I love this line!!!!!!!

Awesome song!

I have hearing this song the past few weeks at church and it is so beautiful. To bad I don't know how to link the video right in, but watch-- it is awesome!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d61LamkXfwk