Days with the Dorans

Reenacting the Lion King! BWAHAHA Although we are no longer members of our old church, the kids were happy to volunteer (and attend) VBS. This year Z was able to help and he chose to be on the drama team (and we got LOADS of compliments about him) while the ladies stayed with the preschool kiddos. Sean was a participant. We carpooled again with the Macs and Shannon once again spoiled our troops with lunches! I love this little tradition they have of helping out and Shannon loves the kids- especially "the king" AKA Seany. She sent me the best pictures which was awesome because I didn't do any of the driving to church this year. I have been driving Joe to XC so dad took them (and Jeff doesn't have the best phone for pictures).  I think it's safe to say that "The King" is thankful for Mrs. Mac and knows she's a gift from God, herself! I did have to send her these pics. The King loved his crown so much, he didn't take it off!

VBS came fast this year because school went so late. The kids had their last day of school on Friday and started VBS on Monday! I hadn't even closed up my classroom when VBS started! The Bigs both had friends come. Joe and Dom worked with the preschoolers and Al and Sarah worked on snack duty. The girls decided that next year they wanted to work more with kids. Joe LOVED it and had one little preschooler who really loved him and that made his day. I was excited that they all were such great volunteers. The Littles had fun too of course and with VBS raising money for kids in Peru to have clean water, we came up with a way to multiply our money. We got some things to make a lemonade stand and Al's friend, Ava, came over to help! I was so proud of all the kids. They were out there for hours and we even gained some extra workers when Maris and Sarah stopped by for some lemonade! It was great because we got to meet some neighbors too. We made it a free will donatio...

 It's hard to believe that this is Ali Jane's and Sarah's last VBS (though next year I believe they are going to be "helpers"). The girls and our Littles went to church each day, had a blast learning about God, meeting new people and more! We did a carpool this year which was awesome. We dropped the kiddos off at church and the Macs picked them up! Our kids were soooo spoiled because Sarah's folks took them out to lunch just about every day!! The day of Jeff's accident, Sarah's dad also took them to the park and kept them later until my dad could get over to my place with Joe. It really takes a village and in addition to all their lessons in church, I hope they learned the importance of helping others in need. Being on the receiving end of it this week really reminded me what a blessing it is to have people who care!

VBS was cool this year (and I mean cool)!  They did Mt. Everest!!  I actually helped a bit with decorations which was fun (I always tell them I'm willing to help but nothing with kids- I enjoy my break in the summer more than you know).  Joe was really excited because he had so many friends in his crew!  Ryan and Michael from church and Connor and Dominic from school! I am good friends with Ryan's mom (Nan) who is an amazing photographer and took many pics of the kids so I could get a window into what they did! She's the best!!  Ali only went to VBS on Thursday and Friday because she was in dance camp from 9-5 on Monday-Wednesday.  Her friends had so much fun in the past that they went without her and she joined up with them when she could (Thursday and Friday).  She had a great time and so did Claire, Maddy, Sarah and Anja! Z got a friend too of course.  He and Alex had a good time and I heard quite a bit about the week from Zach (who...

 So I am finally trying to play catch up with my blog.  Sadly, Sean spilled some water on my mac (SOB) and so it is at the hospital (aka Apple Store) where they are building it a new mother board.  Thankfully I have an amazing friend (and photographer Nan) who takes lots of pictures so I was able to take her pictures for this post.  The bottom two pictures came from Sarah's mom. This year Al wasn't able to go to VBS at our church because it happened to fall on the week of her first dance workshop so it was a boys week!  Joey and Z both had friends come with them and this year SEAN GOT TO GO!!  Jeff did the transportation for VBS while I took care of Ali so I felt a little out of the loop.  I did go with him one day to pick up the boys.  It was interesting.  Sean has this thing with putting things in his pockets.  I mean he ALWAYS has to have things in his pockets and they're usually Lego's.  We learned that some of the Lego...

 The kids were excited for Vacation Bible School this year.  They had a "knight" theme and the recurring message was to "Stand Strong" and know that God is always with you.  They played games, had fun snacks, made crafts and of course learned about God.  Thankfully my talented friend, Nan, was there taking pictures so I was able to get a window into what the kids days really looked like. I sent out an email a few weeks before VBS inviting some of the kids' friends.  A lot of people go on vacation or start camps right away in the summer so both Joey's and Zach's friends weren't able to come.  Ali's friend Sarah came (she also came last year) and so did her friend Madeline.  I think Al was in heaven having her girlfriends with her (and not having to be surrounded by boys).  Just because Joe's friends from school couldn't come didn't mean he didn't know anyone.  His good friend Ryan (from church) was there and they were ...

Last week was VBS for the kids and they had another great week!  This year, Ali's friend (and look-alike), Sarah came and Ali LOVED it!  They learned to always TRUST GOD and had a lot of fun.  They had yummy snacks, fun crafts and one day they even watched a real hot-air balloon blow up!  They came home and talked about everything they learned and enjoyed singing the songs too. The Bigs were in "Crews" (groups) and the Goose (since he was still considered to be in 'preschool') was in the "Squirrel" group.  The first day I picked him up the teacher mentioned that he and his buddy, Felix were really wild.  When I asked Z about that later he said, "But mom... We're in the squirrel group and squirrels are CRAZY!"  I told him that his teachers needed them to be a little less crazy the rest of the week and thankfully my little squirrel listened to me. Sunday was our church picnic.  It was H-O-T (at least to me).  Jeff was playing guitar so I ...

Last week was VBS (aka: Vacation Bible School). It felt like it came earlier than usual because school got out later (and I still hadn't finished up at school). It worked out great though~ I would drop off 3 Bigs (this was Z's first year being old enough), work 3 hours at school, pick them up and then we'd go home for a yummy family lunch. Each day the kids played fun games, did neat crafts and learned all about God. When I think about all that makes me who I am, makes my marriage as wonderful as it is, makes my family as amazing at it is~ it all comes down to one thing... God. God is the center of our lives and because of that everything seems to just fall into place. Some of the 'falling' can get sloppy of course. Mid-week I got Sean's pink eye and then later in the week we visited the ER with Sean (as previously mentioned). Joe's "prayer journal" that he made at VBS came in handy during the week (of craziness). They loved the new Pandama...