e-mail from/ to GiGi

Honey, I've checked your blog several times this week and you don't seem to be doing as much blogging as usual. Have things slowed down? Or are you catching up on other things? Pls check in with me - I worry when I don't hear from you. God bless all. Love, giGi

GiGi~
Oh to have the time to blog!!! I was warned that Isabella going into Kindergarten would only speed up my life, but I truly had NO idea! Where does the time go??? Where do the days go??? (Other than getting sick as a dog last night) things have been wonderful at our house~ just so very busy. I have tons of pictures to post and alot to blog about...just no time.
I spend Monday mornings in Isabella's classroom just helping the teacher get paperwork ready for the week. I love being there:) And then Lisi and I are off and running for the rest of the week! I was SO concerned about what I was going to DO with her~ Isabella has taken such great care of her for these past 3 years! But what I have found is a Lisi-girl who I totally love:) And I can tell you that this is the LAST thing that I thought would come of Isabella going to Kindergarten. But Lisi and I just have a blast together! I even miss her when she goes to preschool 2 mornings a week! She does not nap, and that is why I am just so busy. There is no sitting down at the computer with a lonely 3 year old around:)
Tuesday mornings Lisi and I go to Mom's Group, and then usually to lunch at Happy Joes with a group of moms and kids~ CRAZY! but fun!!
Wednesdays Lisi and I stay at school and sit in on 'chapel'. It is probably my most favorite part of the week. This week Pastor Lori is speaking in chapel, but I love them all. Then Iz goes home with our friend Ellie on Wednesdays, and her mom takes them to "Sparks" at Valley Church. It is an incredible Bible program for kids. Isabella earned her Sparks vest on the 2nd night there by knowing the Pledge of Allegiance (which she learned in preschool) and knowing John 3:16 (which she sings from Bible School this summer). I am so happy for her, and PROUD of her!!
Thursday Lisi (and Colin) have preschool. I am doing an amazing study on the book of Romans Thursday mornings. Then Dara picks the kids up from preschool and keeps them for the afternoon. In theory, I have that time totally to myself, but these first few Thursdays have not panned out that way. Well, I guess we have only had 3 or 4 Thursdays with preschool, and 2 weeks ago Mark and I were traveling to Angel Fire (LOVED IT!!!), and this past Thursday Dara was sick, so I had Lisi.
Then Fridays Lisi and Colin go to preschool, and I pick them up and keep them for the afternoon. And man oh man is THAT a busy day!!!
My parents kept the girls last night, and driving them over there, I noticed my throat was really beginning to hurt. By 9pm I was just SICK, and this morning Mark took me to the drs office. Unfortunately, it is viral, and will just have to run its course. But she did give me a prescription decongestant that has made a HUGE difference. Mark took the girls to Panora to help my parents put the boat away. I slept until 3pm, and am now feeling MUCH better. Thank goodness!!!
Oh, and on Sunday afternoons Mark and I are hosting a "Life Group" for church. Generally speaking, a Life Group will have 4-5 couples who do a Bible study of some sort once a week. We switch it up every semester. So Mark and I are doing one on Love and Respect in Marriage...and we have 17 couples...with KIDS!!! YIPES!!! Total craziness, but fun! Our first session was this past Sunday, and the group voted to do a pot luck dinner every week. Thankfully I found fun plates at Target for 40cents each and just stocked up!!
Maybe I will just copy and paste this e-mail to my blog so everyone knows why I have been absent:)
I love this life that I get to live!!!

Love you,
Eeem

I love Lisi

Not much time to blog right now, but I am simply overwhelmed with love for my sweet, funny and energetic 3 1/2 year old. I just want to hold her~ squeeze her!~ and tell her over and over again how much I LOVE her!!! But she keeps wiggling out of my arms to go running off somewhere else.
Just had to share!!!

Breakfast With PaPa

So tonight I found out what my Dad gives the girls for breakfast when they are with my parents:
*pancakes
*syrup
*root beer
*gum

...and for lunch he re-heats what is left of the pancakes still sitting on their breakfast plates.
And I wondered why 'WAG' week was such a struggle?!?!?!?!?!

James 1:19

"Be quick to listen"
This is Lisi's memory verse for pre-school. Yes, a memory verse in pre-school:)
And she knows it!!
But what I am letting sink deep into my heart is the rest of the passage:

19My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,20for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

The righteous life that God desires. I want that for my life!! James' words are not easy, but they are do-able.
Blessings to all of you for the righteous life that God so desires for each one of us.

W.A.G. week

ARGHHHHH!!! I have not even had a moment to blog about the AMAZING vacation Mark and I went on last weekend.
And why is that???
Because I have been surviving WAG week...Week After Grandparents.
Almost makes a Mom wonder why going away ~ alone ~ with her cutie husband was ever a good idea. Because let me assure you, 3 short days of my sweet girls never hearing the word "no" was not a good idea. ARGHHHHH!!! Have I said that already???
Prayers would be appreciated.
Someone coming to take Lisi would be even better:)

8 Years Ago Today

I married the man who makes me laugh out loud, knows just when to kiss the top of my head and tell me everything will be okay, and who blessed me with a life beyond all expectations.Amy & Mark Main @ Hoyt Sherman Place

our sweet flower girls, Mackenzie & Manndy Main
with my FUN cousins, Paige & Heather, in the background
(the only time those 2 are in the 'background', I might add!!!)

tossing the bouquet

As amazing as our wedding day was, it pales in comparison to the joy of the days and years that have followed. I have said it many times before, but here it goes again....
when you choose right, married life ROCKS!!!
I love you cutie husband!!!

more of our wedding photos are still on the photographers website
(these are not all of our wedding, but about 1/2 of them are~ ours include the photos that look like the ceremony is in a white 'chapel', a close up of me holding our wedding rings, my friend Khanh fixing the hem on my dress, the 4 kids talking, and the boy and girl standing next to cans to tie to the back of the car)

our church is just cool

...and not just because we 'made ink' in our local Juice magazine!
But it is a great article, and you can check it out here.
Better yet, you can read even more about Jordan Creek Family Church here, and join us Sunday morning at the theaters!

Play Doh recipe

I have had a request from (favorite cousin) Heather for a good homemade play doh recipe. I am going to post my 'tried and true' recipe, but if you have others, please feel free to add them to the 'comments'!
I like this one because it is (in theory) edible, and gets its color from Kool Aid.

2 1/2 c. flour
2 pkgs kool aid
1/2 c. salt
3 Tbsp oil
2 cups boiling water

Mix ingredients in order & stir.
Cool on wax paper.
Knead.
Store in air-tight container (I like ZipLock bags)

Princess Party

Isabella and Lisi were able to experience something this weekend that they will not experience in their own home...a Princess Birthday Party. The invitations included dress up shoes to wear to the party with the promise to meet Prince Charming.
So Saturday afternoon Isabella put on her finest princess clothes, Lisi dressed to be the "Palace Pixie", I loaded them onto the Royal Golf Cart and transported them across the street, to be retrieved at "6 Bells".
The Royal Golf Cart left home at 3pm and returned to bring our princess and pixie home at 6pm. (In case you 'missed' that, it was a 3 hour birthday party for a 6 year old!)

Isabella and Lisi in front of the Royal Palace bouncy house.

Princess make-up (applied by 'hired' 3rd grade girls for all 22 party goers)

The Palace Pixie (wings and all) holding her 'glass slipper'.

The girls had a GREAT time, the birthday girl did NOT have a melt-down, and the parents seemed to enjoy the afternoon as well.
This is something that just does not register with me.

Back Seat Boogie Girls

These are my carpool girls having fun, and singing songs, on the way to school...

Happy Grandparent's Day!!!

I have heard it said that grandchildren are your reward for not killing your own children as teenagers. I am so totally in love with my 2 sweet girls right now that I cannot even imagine them as teenagers, or having them drive me crazy as teenagers.
But I do know what a total blessing my own grandparents have been in my life. I love them so much, and consider each of them to be among my closest friends.
And what is REALLY cool about blogging about them on Grandparent's Day is that each and every one of them will be able to see this post as I have the most computer literate grandparents ever!
How cool is THAT?!?
I should also mention that my girlfriend, Jena, is the one who inspired me to write this grandparents post. Her's is so beautiful. She is so beautiful. How did I get great family and great friends???

Lisi, Grammy, Papa (my parents)& Isabella
@ a family wedding 2 years ago

Lisi, Grandpa Bill (Mark's Dad) & Isabella this summer.
I need to do an entire post about Mark's Mom, Grandma Kay.
Oh how I miss her every day.

GiGi & The Great One (my Dad's parents) @ a family wedding last month. They have been married 61 years!!! (and had their wedding reception at Hoyt Sherman place, as did Mark and I.)

GiGi gets double billing with this pix of Isabella.
I just think it is sweet:)

The Greats (my Mom's parents).

When I think of going 'home', I think of their home on Horseshoe Drive. They have lived there since 1954. I just love them so very much. My grandpa will be 95 this winter, and has put his 'life history' on the computer. He cannot see well, so my grandma has been his 'eyes' for this endeavor. I am not sure it has been her favorite way to spend time, but I so admire both of them for a) the desire to do it (grandpa), and
b) the computer-literate ability to do it (grandma).

Like I said, my grandparents just inspire me.
Not pictured, but equally as special to our family are my step-mom, Grandma Jill, and her mom, Great-Grandma Jackson. Each of these women (along with Great Grandpa Jackson) absolutely welcomed me into their lives and their families when I was just 5 years old. It was Jill who was first 'crafty' with me and took me to paint pottery looooong before it was 'cool' to paint pottery. Now she shares her love of doll houses and miniatures with Isabella and Lisi.
It has been such a blessing to me in my own life to learn that kids can never be loved by too many people:)
I so totally appreciate what grandparents and great grandparents contribute to our family today.
Happy Grandparent's Day
...now go call your own grandparents:)

Every Move I Make

Have I mentioned how I enjoy carpooling???
Having Ellie be in the 'pool' just adds to the fun:)
Anyway, this morning was just SO much fun as we were driving to school, and I looked back, and I had 3 sweet girls singing "Every Move I Make I Make In You, Jesus!"
And if that is not the best way to start out the day, I don't know what is:)

OK, "Big Fish" with motions was alot of fun, too!!!

Jakester, this one is for you!

This morning Lisi and I were just hangin' and decided to go read books at the bookstore.
Lisi picked lots of Dora books, but I found my new favorite.
And I think that Jakester will agree, it is "pants-tastic"!

SunRise Alarm Clock

I am going to stray from bragging on our sweet girls to mention how AWESOME it is to have a sunrise alarm clock. I have had one in the past, stopped using it, gave it to my friend when I thought it would be of help to her, and then decided that maybe I should be using it again. This new one has a few new features that are really nice, but basically the same concept as what I have had.
It has a globed light on the top of the alarm clock, and 30 minutes before the alarm is set to go off, the light gradually begins to brighten your room.
It mimics the sun rising!
So when the alarm does go off, the bedroom is nice and 'sunny', and therefore so much easier to get out of bed.
Just thought I would share!!!

oh glorious vacation

...from PARENTHOOD

My parents took Isabella and Lisi to Lake Panorama for the weekend, and Mark and I have enjoyed a vacation in our own home. And if you have young children at home, I think you will agree that is a glorious vacation.
Highlight of the weekend: we were invited to a BBQ at the Patterson's last night, and we were the only people without kids, and we were able to have a conversation! Actually, several conversations throughout the evening. When everyone else fixed a plate of food for their kids, cleaned up messy mouths, and changed kids in and out of swimsuits, Mark and I enjoyed our dinner and the company around us. IT WAS SO WONDERFUL!!!
But the girls should be home in (approximately) 3 hours and 33 minutes, and I am really ready to put some fun back into our family:)

pony & cowgirl

notice the 'bit and bridle' in the pony's mouth. love the authenticity and imagination!

Lisi's 1st Day of PreSchool

It was a difficult decision to move Lisi from Mrs Van's pre-school class to Des Moines Christian. We had just had a FABULOUS 4 years at our previous pre-school! But because I am a bit of a lazy mom, I finally decided that my convenience out-weighed the needs of my 3 year old, and we opted to send Lisi to the same school as Isabella.
OH MY GOODNESS is this a case for being a lazy mom!!!
LOVE the pre-school, too!
I really should not be acting this surprised. Lisi's classroom is just 3 doors down from Isabella's Kindergarten room. Lisi, too, gets to say 'good morning' to Principal Lambert on her way into school.
And after opening the classroom door and walking in Friday morning, I learned that the teachers will open the door to let the students in after they are done praying before beginning each school day. (A slightly embarrassing way to learn that teachers pray, but a good discovery none the less.)
I also do not think that I have yet blogged about how much I LOVE carpooling. I have wanted to carpool since Isabella was born. Just sounded like a real 'MOM' thing to do:) And man oh man did we luck out by hookin' up with Ellie. She is so darn sweet!!! I have also wanted to be a HomeRoom Mom since Isabella was born, but that will have to be its own blog post:)
These pix are of Lisi finding her own name and putting it in the treasure chest. And how cute is this: she wants to be "Elise" at school! But when I called her Elise after picking her up from school on Day #2, she corrected me and told me that I am to call her "Lisi".
Then she hangs up her backpack, and finds a place to PLAY!
What more could a girl ask for???