The BIG 2!!

Saturday was Maeci's 2nd birthday. It's very hard for me to believe that 2 years has past. She has brought so much joy to our family. She is so loving. There is nothing better than a huge bear hug on your leg while cooking in the kitchen and she likes to give out a lot of those.

That evening we had my mom, Jerimae's mom and dad, Keith & Melissa and Drew & Trever over to celebrate Maeci's birthday. The theme for this year was Hello Kitty. Maeci loves cats so I thought that Hello Kitty would be a big hit for her, and it was.

Here's a few decorations:

I looked around for a Hello Kitty t-shirt for her to wear, but I never could find one, so I decided to just make one myself. So I bought her a white t-shirt and some puffy paint and here it is below:

"I'm two" (she's trying to hold up 2 fingers)

We grilled out for dinner first. Here is a picture of Grandpa and Grandma Yoder eating with all their grand kids...how sweet!!

Then we had cake and ice cream. I made her a Hello Kitty face cake.

YUM! YUM!

And finally the unveiling of the presents. Many, many presents. She made out.

Even Kaleb liked playing with her new toys!!

I think she was a little overwhelmed at first with all the new toys. She got a doll with a bunch of accessories, stroller, highchair, baby bed, baby car seat carrier, glittery purse with accessories, dress up doll, vacuum, broom, mop, new bathing suit w/cover-up, and a cute capri outfit.

The Lord has blessed us with an incredible daughter. She gets lots of love from all of us, especially her brothers. They are so good with her. I have so enjoyed watching her grow. She makes me laugh all the time.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PUNKIN!!!!

(I hope to add a video clip if I can get it downloaded)

Good Times!!

Bonfires have to be one of my favorite ways to spend time with the family. The weather was awesome yesterday, so we decided to have our first bonfire of the season. We roasted hot dogs and of course, marshmellows. You can't have a bonfire without making smores.

Not too close!!

June in Review

I can't believe that a month has past since I've blogged. I was under the impression that when the boys were done with school and summer began, life would slow down. I have been terribly mistaken. It's been a roller coaster of events here in the Yoder household (all good, I must add).

We started out June with a outing to our first baseball game here in South Bend, Silver Hawks vs. Lansing Lugnuts. The weather was perfect and the food was delicious. We had a lot of fun. There was a place set up for the kids to play some games and jump around in one of those inflatable jump and slides.



Then we kicked off the summer with a party at the Williams' House, friends from church. Lots of great food and hanging out with friends. The kids played in the sprinkler to cool off. Maeci wasn't so sure about the water, so she kept herself busy with the bubbles.



The second week of June we held our church's annual Soccer Camp. We had over 400 kids from the community that took part in our camp. We had the opportunity to share Christ with these kids for 5 nights. Over 100 of them gave their lives to Christ. AMAZING!!!!! It was exhausting, but well worth it.



We also went up to Silver Beach in St. Joseph, MI on that Thursday with grandma Yoder. I love Silver Beach. You can spend the whole day there. Spend some time on the beach, then stroll into town for some ice cream. It's only 45 min. from home. It's clean, and there is also a great playground on the beach.





The boys started T-ball the following week. Not at all competitive, but lots of fun. It's the boys first exposure to playing sports with other kids. It's been really good for them. Jerimae has had the opportunity to go on Mondays to watch and help their team.

Zarek Kaleb

We camped out for the first time on the weekend of the 20th. We were at the Pro-Life Festival, just south of Warsaw. Jerimae MCed a tent there. I don't think I will ever want to go camping again in tents until Maeci is 4. Maeci did not go to sleep until 1:30am. She finally just pooped out. If we were to go camping any time soon, it would have to be in some kind of camper/RV.





This last week of June, the kids and I went down to Indy to visit my mom. It was so fun. Tuesday we took the kids to the Indianapolis Zoo. I think the dolphins made the biggest impact on Maeci because she won't stop talking about them.




Cooling off in the water.

The boys also had the opportunity to go to VBS every night at Centennial Bible Church, the church we attended when we lived in Westfield. The boys loved it and they got to see some of their old friends (me too, I really enjoyed seeing my friends too).

Then on Thursday we took the kids to The Children's Museum. It was so much fun watching Maeci discover everything there. The boys, of course, didn't want to leave.


Waiting for the dinosaur eggs to hatch!


Weeee!!


Maeci loves water, so this was the highlight of her day!





On Friday, we came back home. It was a very exhausting week. I think I could use a vacation now!!

Come and Get it Birdies!!

We have a little woods behind our house and as a result we have a lot of birds. The boys have been fascinated with all the birds we've seen. They love the cardinals. I decided it would be a great idea to make bird feeders so we can watch the birds more often. So today we created our bird feeders. We made them out of empty orange juice cartons. The boys had a blast. Hopefully tomorrow we can get them up in the back yard.

We started our project outside, but then towards the end of us finishing it began to sprinkle, so we had to move it inside.

Here is our feeders. Kaleb's, Mine, and then Zarek's.

Relaxation

I need to catch up here on my blogging. The week before Mother's Day we went on a small 3 day vacation just south of South Bend to Warsaw. There is a house that we rented near the Grace College. It was wonderful! We played games, went to the park, watched movies and the best part was relaxing in the hot tub. The kids loved it.

Thursday of that week we dropped the kids off at Jerimae's parents and we headed to Alabama for my best friend's wedding. Jerimae and I had been anticipating this trip for months. Ten hours on the road, just him and I. We love road trips and haven't taken one in a very, very long time. We stopped for the night in Nashville, TN. I had never been to Nashville. We got to our hotel, freshened up and went out on the town for an hour. We ate at a bar and grill and walked around a bit. Friday we got to Birmingham, AL where I met up with my friend Sharon (the bride) and Ovis (maid of honor) and we got our nails and toes done. Then we had some lunch and then went back and got ready for the rehearsal and dinner.

Jerimae and I sitting at the table at the rehearsal dinner.

For dessert we got to choose what we wanted. My friend Heather and I chose the Chocolate Cake for Two. It was more like Chocolate Cake for Four. I barely put a dent in it, but it was so very scrumptious. Jerimae got a piece of pecan pie and it was so tiny compared to my cake. We all laughed.

Sharon and Jeff's wedding was absolutely wonderful. The wedding was at an old church in Birmingham-exactly where I would have pictured Sharon getting married. Everything was beautiful, especially Sharon. The reception was at Jeff's dad's house. Absolutely gorgeous. We had so much fun. I got to see a lot of my friends from college that I haven't seen in a long time. I will post pictures of the wedding and reception later.

Jerimae and I then headed home Sunday--a straight 10 hour drive. The weather was perfect until we got to Kentucky. The company, however, was great. We had a blast!!