Girl's Retreat

I got to go to a youth girls' retreat in Oklahoma City this past weekend and it was such a blast. My dear friend Courtney hosted the retreat through her ministry (ID ministries). Here are some pics of my friends ~ the sponsors and my D group girls.

BubbleShare: Share photos - Play some Online Games.

The girls' fun weekend at Nana's House

Madeline and Hannah went to stay with Nana, Manda, Becca and Cody this past weekend. They had a wonderful time and I got my hands on some adorable pictures that they took of Hannah. Here are a few of my favorites:

Swinging in the backyard

Aunt Manda and Hannah

One of my favorite pics of Hannah, ever!

Hannah with almost-Uncle Cody

And here are some other recent pics of our family that I thought were blog worthy:




This one is kind of hard to see, but Hannah is pushing Madeline on their Nemo car

A couple of yummy summer treats...

I've been on the hunt for some healthy summer treats for the kids and we've found a couple of favorites I thought I'd share ...

1) Frozen chocolate peanut covered bananas (madeline loves to help make these)
Use very ripe bananas and cut them into slices
Dip them into a mug of chocolate syrup for a thin chocolate coating
Dip them into finely chopped peanuts
Freeze and enjoy

2) Fruit Juice Popsicles
We buy 100% fruit juice (our favorite is Treetop Apple Grape juice)
Pour it into some popsicle molds (we found some great ones for $3 at Bed Bath and Beyond)
Freeze and enjoy

3) Frozen grapes or any other fruit (freezing them makes them into a much desired treat in our house! Yesterday Madeline enjoyed eating frozen blackberries)

4) Fruit Dip
1 large tub of strawberry yogurt
1 large tub of cool whip
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
Mix together and set in the fridge overnight. The mixture gets fluffy and so tasty

Hannah's First Birthday - June 15, 2008

2nd Baby Syndrome is a proven fact: I just realized today that I never posted Hannah's birthday pictures on my blog - BAD MOMMY! Hannah turned one year old on June 15, 2008. We are absolutely in love with her personality. She is feisty and silly, often doing things on purpose to make us laugh. She's found her own way to explore the world. Her first three weeks of life were scary, but those are a distant memory. She's developing well and shows no signs for concern related to meningitis and we are so very thankful. We literally thank God every night that He's given us the opportunity to be Hannah and Madeline's parents. Enjoy...

BubbleShare: Share photos - Find great Clip Art Images.

Fun in Nana's Pool

This video features:

1) Madeline "read" her carebear kickboard as though it were the 10 commandments
2) Madeline turned it over and "read" a story from the back
3) Madeline and Hannah play well together in the pool. Hannah absolutely loves the water. I think if we let her go she might just take off swimming. And Madeline learned to doggy paddle for short bursts of time that day so she's showing off that skill as well.


Fun in Nana's Pool from jen giles on Vimeo.

Madeline's artwork and story telling ability

Sure, I'll admit it, I love to brag on my kids. Madeline drew this picture on her doodlepro the other day and I thought it was rather spectacular for a 4 year old. This is a family of bears - I love the detailed clothing.



One of my favorite past times these days is having Madeline read stories to me. I especially love the stories that she tells from 'memory' or by describing the pictures she sees. First I'll share her rendition of

Noah's Ark

And the lamb and bunnies and lamb and cows and puppies, they were with the flood and the bird. The floods baby flood. Noah said “Now I’m going to ride on my donkey” chuckling to himself in his breast. So they builded. The lion the tiger the pigs, the zebras, the giraffes, the elephant, the cat, the butterflies went along too. So did the mouse and the bear. So did the turtles too. They were all safe in the ark. He go'd and go'd into the ark. They were all in the rain and the flood. They were all cozy in the ark. And the rain was pretty much interrupting, like other people. And the whales liked the sun. The sun was showing on them. The clouds came out and they never never never had a flood again come. But they did once. And all the alligators, turtles, pigs, bears, lion, tiger and ostrich and donkey and bunnies and cows and alligators, bears, elephant, giraffes, zebras, pigs and a lamb and a elephant all got out. And God said “this is a sign what made me think I’m so special”. The end.

One of her favorite stories is "Duck in the Truck" (thank you Chris, Brian, Connor and Ashlin for sending this one to us!). I asked Madeline to read the story to me while I typed. (one important fact to note: when Madeline was potty training, this book was a favorite. She would have me read it to her while she pooped on the potty. The story says "stuck in the muck" multiple times. So we modified it and I would read "stuck in the muck that looked like poop". That, my friends, is why she refers to poop a couple of times in this story :)

The Duck was running away from the bush, but he did not like the road and muddy. He hit a rock into a big mud puddle that looked like poop but it wasn’t. He bumped. He whipped his car into the mud and his vegetables all came out in the mud that looked like poop. The duck jumped down in the mud with his feet. He stepped down and looked for his vegetables and said “Hmmmmm”. They pushed the car out of the mud. "QUACK QUACK QUACK" he shouted, waiting and chuckling to himself. “Ah Hah Hah I scared you!” ... “you did my friend” said the sheep. The sheep got out and waited and waited till they found a plan “I got it! We’re strong” said the frog “and we can do anything!”. “You’re right” said the Duck. "QUACK I scared you again! Hahaha” the frog laughed and chuckled to himself and they pushed and pushed. They saw a vegetable on the car. It was muddy, they couldn’t even push. “Hey” said the goat “I’ve seen you before”. There was a string they tied around, and they pushed and he pulled. “Is it working?” said the duck. "Waaaaaa!" Said the goat. “I’m falling into the water and I need help, you need to help me!” He fell into the mud and he splashed in it. “Oh dear, why is he getting out in the mud without saying sorry”. "Oh we got muddy, we need to take a bath”. "Hey you come back here!" they shouted. "I have muddy wheels and I’m running away from you, sorry!” said the duck.
And that's the end.

Blackberry Picking

The other night, Madeline, Hannah and I met our friends, the Clarks, at Toomey's Black and Blue Thornless Berry Farm to pick Blackberries. We came home happy, sweaty and stained purple - it was a blast. Madeline enjoyed picking the berries and Hannah loved eating them. I felt a little bit guilty when we walked up to the register to purchase our picks. The evidence of the number of blackberries Hannah had eaten was smeared all over her body. I didn't have my good camera with me that night so I'm not sure that these pictures will do it justice but she was a little purple monster.

Toomey's is located at about 61st and 225th East Ave in Broken Arrow. Link to their site is: www.toomeysblackberryfarm.com I highly recommend a visit. Our berries are in the freezer - next task is finding a good recipe...