Happy Father's Day!!

25 Things We Love About Our Dad...by, Parker and Andrew Riffel (and Bella)

(Yes, Parker helped me write this post)

1. He makes the best big breakfast!

2. Our Dad loves to go camping!

3. He is good at building with Legos.

4. He helps us learn all kinds of new things, from learning how to go fishing to using the computer, our dad is the best at everything!

5. He was the first one to hold us when we were born.

6. He's not scared of poopey diapers!!

7. He throws my ball for me until I can't run any longer (from Bella)!

8. Our Dad gives us smooches!!

9. Our Dad gets up in the middle of the night with us and snuggles us back to sleep.

10. Our Dad is good at grilling food like hamburgers.

11. He plays with us while Mom cleans stuff.

12. He is good at giving bottles.

13. Our Dad loves to go swimming!

14. He takes us to Colorado and climbs rocks with us.

15. Our dad loves going to the lake with us.

16. He knows all of our favorite movies and TV shows and he makes sure they are all on the Apple TV for us to watch over and over and over again!!

17. He takes us golfing with him.

18. He always eats ice cream with us!

19. Our Dad makes the best elephant noise and it always makes us laugh!!

20. He let's us destroy the playroom and somehow Mom never finds out!! (He he!)

21. He always plays outside with us!!

22. Our Dad let's us pick out our own clothes (Mom never let's us do this).

23. He is good at building things.

24. He reads us bedtime stories!!

25. He loves us VERY much!

Dad: We hope you had a fun Father's Day!! Like all good father's do, you made the day more about your family than something that YOU wanted to do...we attempted fishing (it was too hot for all of us), we ate pizza (our favorite meal), and we went to the swimming pool...at our request. What a fun family day and fun dad you are! We love you to pieces!

Your very best boys, Parker and Andrew....and your sweet Bella girl.

An Unexpected Day...

What do you do when you find out a day ahead of time that daycare is closed the next day...well, if you're a working mom, you rack your brain for a grandparent, aunt, neighbor, or some other kind of back-up plan. It's not that I don't want to stay home with the kiddos, it's just that I would prefer to save my vacation days for fun vacation days and save my sick days for when someone gets sick. But this time, the grandparents were all busy, aunts were working, and we don't really have any other kind of a back-up because usually one of those works out for us! SO- I asked my boss if I could take a sick day on Thursday (no one wants to use up their vacation like that!) and stay home with my boys.

Let me just say that I am so blessed to have such caring bosses- they know what it's like to be a parent and they know we put our family first and are flexible with our time off!! So, of course, Janet said that was fine!!

What a fun "unexpected day" at home we had!! I love being at home with nothing planned and no schedule to keep!! That hardly ever happens and when it does- it is usually completely unexpected!! We played outside, and then when the clouds rolled in, we played inside....we ate waffles for breakfast and made pizza for lunch. We watched "Rio" (one or our new movies) and played Dr. Seuss Memory. Parker and Andrew built a farm and played with all of the "Little People" that we could find. When Andrew napped we played with Play-Doh and painted. And, in-between all of the playing, I managed to get all of the laundry done and clean out a few of our cabinets. What a great day to be at home...the weather even played in my favor with it pouring down rain all day (who wants to go to work or be out running errands when it's pouring rain outside?!)!!

We haven't had much down time this spring and summer...and this "unexpected day" was much needed for this momma!

He's Wild, He's Wild....

God is wild about you, do, do, do...do, do, do do! This is just one of the songs that has been running through my head for the past few days!! It's just one of the amazing songs that Parker learned at vacation bible school.

Now....most people know this about us....we aren't very good about going to church. Actually, we haven't been since Easter...I know, I know, but Brandon and I truly do believe that spending time with our families on Sunday is where our hearts and our true spirituality belong. And, don't get me wrong, I like going to church- it fills my heart and my mind with peace and fellowship that you can't find anywhere else...it also is a crucial part in building your child's education about right and wrong, peace, love, and even social skills, and this is something I hope to be better at in the future.

Well...we have some good friends (who also happen to be our very good neighbors) who asked Parker to join them at vacation bible school this year (there are actually only a couple in town that offer this for preschoolers that are 3 years old) and, because I know how much Parker loves learning, going to church, and being with these buddies of his, I knew we had to let him go on this adventure!

And....what an adventure it was! Every night Parker and his group of preschoolers would get together and hear stories, do a craft, make and eat a delicious snack, have fellowship together, and sing songs! And, every night (except one, when I let Brandon pick him up), when we would pick up these four boys, their minds were racing, they had a million stories, and they were so excited about their "PandaMania" adventure that night!!

On their final night, Parker was putting his shoes on and I told him, "I will miss you tonight while you're at vacation bible school, buddy." His reply was, "I won't, Mom, because I am going to have fun!"

On the last night, all of the boys put on their PandaMania t-shirts (the first iron on t-shirt decal I've ever put on) and they were all smiling from ear to ear, eager for what the last night would hold....Parker said, "Mom, I bet we will find out the end of the Panda story tonight. Don't you think, Mom? Don't you think we'll hear the end of it tonight?!" So excited! They were so excited that I had to take some pictures!!







And...because they were so excited, us moms, well we were excited too! We decided to pick them up a little early that night, just so we could catch a glimpse of the grand finale of PandaMania!













Parker, Julian, Caleb, and Carter had the time of their lives....and the best part is how much they all loved learning throughout the week! I can only imagine what it will be like when these four buddies start going to school, how much they will learn, what their personalities will be like, how awesome they will be in everything they try to do!





They had so much fun at PandaMania, we've now signed them up for another vacation bible school- Mission to Mars - in July. I haven't mentioned this to Parker yet....I'm afraid his excitement will be too much! He he! Oh...what a fun summer this is!

And, remember...."He's Wild, He's Wild, God is Wild About You!" (Do, do, do...do, do, do, do...do!)

Lake Time!

What's the next best thing to having your own lake house? Having the greatest, kindest friends open up their home summer after summer at the lake! Once again, the Woolery's have welcomed us to "the lake house"...only this year it was Ben and Junelle welcoming us to their NEW lake house!! We always have the best time at Pomme De Terre lake with our friends, Jayma, Ben, and Junelle (and Annie too!). For the past 5 years we've been going down to the lake to visit, swim, boat, tube, ski, wakeboard, eat yummy food, and just relax with our friends. Our trips to the lake used to be about relaxing, sleeping in, and living a slower life....now it's about entertaining the boys!!!

Parker's been to the lake at least once, every summer since he was born, and I am happy to say that we introduced Andrew to "the lake life" this weekend!


Parker's favorite part about the new house is the loft....we even slept up there!! I think I slept with one eye open all night in fear of him getting up in the middle of the night and falling over the edge!!



Croquet balls, a 3 year old, and two dogs that are crazy over any kind of ball...dangerous?!





Ben and Junelle's lake house....so pretty!





Aunt Jayma and Andrew hanging out in their PJ's!!



Lake fun in the canoe!





It was a little chilly (at 9:00 am) for me and Andrew to get in the water...so we snuggled on the dock til the sun came out!





Parker and Brandon (and Bella and Annie) did get in the water!!



The sun finally made its debut and so we did what we do best at the lake- lounged in the water!









Andrew's first dip in the water...he loved just hanging out in his floaty!!





So, thank you Ben and Junelle for sharing your weekend with us and opening up your home to us...it is absolutely beautiful!!! And, thank you Jayma, for making your weekend even more crazy by driving from Omaha to Pomme De Terre just to spend time with us!!

We love our "lake time!"

PandaMania

Parker and his buddies from our neighborhood are all attending Vacation Bible School this week and the theme is "PandaMania". Every night at 6:15 pm we load them up and take them to the church and every night around 9:00 pm, we pick them up. We (all of us moms) try to get there early so we can catch the last song of the night. This is a video of Parker, Julian, Carter, and Caleb singing and signing the song last night. Parker is wearing a grey t-shirt and is very good at signing the song!

I am so proud of my little guy!! Last night before we left, I told Parker: "Parker, I am going to miss you tonight while you're at Vacation Bible School!!" I gave him a big hug and a smooch and he looked at me and said: "Mom, I won't miss you because I'm going to be having fun!" I love it that he's having so much fun!!

Hot Fun in the Summertime!!

This weekend it was H-O-T- HOT! And...because there's nothing my boys love better than being outside, we just had to make the backyard into a water wonderland...we had 3 pools (one for Andrew, one for Parker, and of course, Bella had one!), the sprinkler was going, we had water squirters and water slides....and boy was it fun!!

This is going to be the best summer ever!!

Happy Birthday Cameron!

Last night we celebrated Cameron's 4th birthday!! Happy birthday to my sweetest 4 year old nephew and one of Parker and Andrew's best buddies (cousin)!!

I hope your 4th year brings you many fun adventures!!