We are AWANA Cubbies, we're happy all day long...

I've been a busy beaver trying to get ready for Cubbies, which starts in one week. (AUGH!) I'm excited for it, and think it'll be a lot of fun, but also not feeling ready quite yet. Hopefully I'll be able to get enough done this week to feel ready when it actually does start! We have 11 possible 3- and 4-year-olds coming this year, not including any new people that might show up. That's a lot of little people!

I'm excited to finally use some of my college education, though. I feel like this is an area where I've been trained - so I might as well use my education and skills to the glory of God!

Emily's wedding is in 2-1/2 weeks! Wow! I'm excited! We took our corsage/boutonierre class last night, and it was harder than the bouquets! I hope it goes well with the real flowers! Now I need to get my dress altered.

Happy news - Caleb is just about crawling! All the Rumleys except Erin and Betsey got to see him last Friday when he got up on his hands and knees and started rocking back and forth. He's a pretty cute little kid. It won't be long until he gets the hang of actually moving his arms and legs...and then I'll have to chase him around the house all day! : - )

Speaking of babies...It feels like people are having babies all around me! My friend Diedra had a little boy named Isaac Robert 8 weeks ago. Then Angie had a litte boy named Alex Michael this month. Sheri, Kelly, Melissa, and Rebekah are due in October. Stephanie is due in December. Goodness! Must be the time of life, huh?

That's enough babbling for now! Just wanted to update!

-{lkr}

P.S. Grace and I were just looking at Dan and Emily's pictures on their website, and I asked her who was in the picture, and clear as day, she said, "Dan." So, there ya go, Dan-o. She likes her new uncle! : - )

Showers and flowers...

We had two successful bridal showers for Emily, and I've been wanting to post some pictures of the one that was at our house, but it takes forever to upload those things on dial-up. So, I guess it'll wait until another day. Sorry! Let's just say, we had a great time!

Emily and I took a class on making hand-tied bouquets last night, so that we can do all the bouquets for her wedding next month. The picture is actually the bouquet we made. Beautiful, isn't it? It's not the exact bouquet that will be at her wedding, but it's close to the right colors. Next week, we'll learn corsages and boutonnieres. (Definitely had to look up the spelling on that one!)

The wedding's coming soon! We're excited!

Cubbies is starting soon, too - AUGH! It starts two weeks from today. I'm SO not ready. Yikes! And I can't quite put Backyard Bible Clubs out of my head, either, because we have a follow-up meeting coming up with a couple of the elders. Sometimes ministry overwhelms me.

-{lkr}

Argiope aurantia

I was standing about two feet away when I saw this gigantic spider who apparently thinks our motto is "mi casa es su casa." It's an "argiope aurantia," or common garden spider. The name "garden spider" makes it sound like I should invite it to tea or something. Trust me; this is not the case. This thing gives me the creepy-crawlies just thinking about it. Rumley girls, you would have screamed if you were here. This picture is one that Luke took through the basement window, since Ms. Argi has built her home there. I asked Luke to kill our new houseguest, but he thinks it's good that she's eating our bugs for us. In fact, she was eating one as he took that picture.

If you want to read about Argi and her friends, this is a good site. One disturbing thought gleaned from this informative site: This spider can have an egg sac containing anywhere from 300 to 1400 babies, which hatches in the late summer/early autumn. If we have 1400 of these scary spiders around our house, I'm either moving out or declaring war.

-{lkr}

We're still alive!

The plant didn't end up poisoning us. I was pretty nervous for a while there, but things ended up fine.

More good news...Caleb slept through the night last night! From 10pm until 7am. Not bad, hey? We've been waiting for it to happen. Funny thing is, I'm STILL tired! MomR says the tiredness lasts at least 25 years. Lovely.

-{lkr}

The Cardinal Flower

Grace and I were walking around our yard and pond tonight, when I spotted this beautiful plant near the pond:


So of course I picked one of the flowers for Lacey and took it back to the house because it was so cool looking. I held it, then Grace held it, then Lacey held it.

Lacey put it in some water, then got herself some water (touching the ice), drank it, then nursed Caleb.

Guess what? IT IS POISON!!! "Beautiful, but deadly..." that site says. Yikes!

Hopefully, just a small amount, if any, was ingested by Grace or Lacey. Some prayer wouldn't hurt. Thanks,

--
Luke

Remember this?

It wasn't so long ago. Well, it'll be three years in December already!

I FINALLY bought a photo album for all of our wedding pictures. I can't believe it took me 2-1/2 years to do that. Thank you, WalMart, for stocking a wedding album I like. Now, whoever would like to browse through our wedding photos does not have to hold a huge stack of pictures. Instead, there are ten photos in each 2-page spread. Quite pleasant to look at, actually. : - )

Now, it's Emily's turn! I can't believe there are only 32 days until the wedding! YAY! I love weddings, especially when it's my sister (in-law)! I just need to get rid of these pesky tan lines before wearing that strapless dress!

-{lkr}

Grace's First Pigtails!

So stinkin' cute!


The rodeo tickets are still for sale - don't get distracted by the cuteness.

--
Luke

Rodeo, anyone?

The Professional Bull Riders are coming to Grand Rapids. Melissa and Karl have excellent seats (not sure where, but they're Fan Club seats). Anyway, the show will be here on September 22 - just one week before Melissa will be induced to have her baby girl. She's not supposed to travel down here that close to delivery (just in case). SO, would anyone like to buy these tickets from her, and enjoy a lively rodeo?

I gotta tell ya, Luke and I went to a smaller rodeo with Melissa and Karl (at McBain Cow Camp) last year, and it was SO cool! Rodeos are way cooler than you might think.

I think they have two tickets for $100 ($50 each). Sounds pricey, but these are the professionals. Any takers?

-{lkr}

Home sweet home!

We're home! We got back yesterday afternoon, and it still looks like a tornado came through the house! Hope it cleans itself up before Saturday! : - )

Caleb had his four-month check-up today. He weighs 14lb 3oz (35th percentile), and is 25-1/2 inches long (55th percentile). So, he's not as big as Grace was at this age (she was always around the 90th to 95th percentile), but he's healthy and happy. And he did SO well with his shots. Praise the Lord!

Now we just need to get him to sleep through the night again...

And another bit of happy news...Luke's coming home from Texas tonight! YAY!

-{lkr}

North, south, east, west...

I'm in the "northlands" for a couple of days, visiting my family with the kids while Luke is on a business trip. He's in the great state of Texas. (I don't really know if it's great or not, but I'm sure some people think it is. And George W. came from there, so that's good.)

We had a good day today. We drove up here through a rain storm after church, and then visited for a while. Then my dad took us out. He bought burgers for the whole family, and we went to the beach/park. The kids had a great time playing on the playground equipment and throwing a big rock in the water. Then he even treated us to ice cream at the Tasty Treat! We're getting the royal treatment! It was a lot of fun.

It's nice to have help with the kiddos. I love them with all my heart, but I am just not cut out for single parenting. I hope I don't ever take Luke for granted, because I'm really seeing how much he helps me with them. They're good kids; it's just harder by myself. I have to say, I have a pretty daRn amazing husband.

Well, not much more to report. Emily's shower is coming up on Saturday. Everybody come, and bring lots of presents!

-{lkr}

The last of the pictures, for now!

Grace and Kade cruising around Grandma and Grandpa's yard in the Barbie Jeep (again). Notice Grace talking on her cell phone?



Grandpa held Grace and Kade during the "Greatest Fourth in the North" parade for a while.



Then Grandma and Grandpa shared the grandkids! How cute!



Grace loved swinging on this tire swing with Aunt Alonna!



Caleb looks like a little man in this outfit!



Emily, Erin, Betsey, and I spent some time putting together Emily's BEAUTIFUL wedding invitations. Only 54 days until the wedding! Don't forget to RSVP at their website!

More pictures!!!

Grandma had a good time holding her second grandson when we visited. (Aren't they a beautiful pair? I think so.)



Grace and Kade really enjoyed playing with Alonna's old Barbie Jeep. Sheesh, kids learn to drive so young these days!



Either Kade didn't want to ride with a woman driver, or he was a little too short to reach the pedal. (Can you tell he's sitting on top of Grace? They rode around like that for a while!)



Grace's first Fourth of July sparkler!



Grandpa took Grace for her first motorcycle ride down the street! She did okay, but that heavy helmet made her like a little bobblehead. :-)



Dad and Karl's Suzuki Savage 600's. (Dad's is blue; Karl's is black.)



And the picture you've all been waiting for...Luke's induction into the Manton Motorcycle Gang!

#2 of 4

The Cherry Creek Community Church worship band entertained us at their pig roast. See Luke on the far right, playing the electric guitar?



Grace brushed this pony before she rode him.



Grace's first pony ride! Thanks, Kathy, for letting Grace ride the pony! She had a great time!



Grace made fast friends with Abbie Belcher when we visited. I cannot believe Kelly and Abbie are getting so old!



I just can't post without a cute picture of Caleb!



And a cute picture of Grace!



We found a free beach in Lowell, not too far away. Grace loved playing with her shovel and bucket!

A Sampling of the First of Four Rolls of Film...

Hyo-Sun Kim, our Korean exchange student/sister for the year



Erin, Hyo-Sun, and Caleb at Hyo-Sun's going away party



Luke and Grace's first ride on the new lawn tractor, right before they cut down our jungle



Great-grandma Laga stopped by for a visit with her first great-grandson!



Luke and his kiddos on Father's Day



This picture is fun for two reasons. One: Grace didn't mind that we made her a "swimming pool" out of our wheelbarrow. Two: she's making the "monkey face." Who doesn't love the monkey face?



And who doesn't love this sweet face?

Terry Sturman is our favorite photographer!

Our new family picture, with all four of us!



The sweetest picture of our little 3-month-old Caleb.



Caleb loves his puppy, just like Grace loves her lambie. Thanks, Debbie (and Steelcase PDM)!



Peek-a-boo!

Jambo (Jambo!) means hello (Hello!)...

Week One of Backyard Bible Clubs is over! We had 35-40 kids every day (except Friday, when a bunch of them went away for the weekend or had swim meets.) It was a little chaotic the whole week, but we survived! We didn't see any salvation decisions this week, but we had some unchurched kids that were at least exposed to the Gospel. I hope we planted some seeds!

Our theme was a safari theme, called Kingdom of the Son. (It's a VBS curriculum by GospelLight.) It was all about the Lord's Prayer. I think it went pretty well, but I also feel like I was running around like crazy all week trying to make it happen, so I didn't get much of a chance to just sit back and listen to the Bible stories and lessons.

Anyway, we survived! I was (and still am a little bit) exhausted! It was a rough week for me and the kids - very tiring for all three of us. And housework went to the wayside last week, so we're trying to catch up now. Laundry and dishes - fun!

Hope everyone is doing well. Glad to hear that Mom and Dad Rumley, Zach, and Elyse are home safely from their trip to Georgia. Oh, and by the way, Emily's wedding is in LESS THAN 9 WEEKS! WHOA! Are you ready, Em?

-{lkr}

P.S. I'm in the process of getting pictures developed (FOUR ROLLS!), so more pictures to come...SOON!

Hog wild.

Yes, I did want to join the Manton Motorcycle gang after being able to drive that thing down the road at 65mph! It was awesome. Lacey will make sure that I don't join the gang, at least for the time being.

I never imagined being a biker, but 60mpg could convert anyone with a 25 minute drive to work. For the record, Lacey's Dad bought one first and has been riding them all his life, then Karl bought one.

Grace did get to ride and we will post some fun pictures of that once they are developed / scanned. She was scared at first, but got used to it.

Alonna has started a blog, and we updated our list of blog links over in the sidebar to include all the family blogs (I think). -->

Bed is calling...later,

--
Luke

A newer family picture:

Two steps forward, one step back...

Well, we had a great time in Manton! It was wonderful to spend time with my family and some friends. We got to spend quite a bit of time in the sun, too, so it's REALLY nice to have some color on our formerly pasty-white bodies.

When we got there on Sunday, my family had a little party for us, I think just because we haven't been there in a while, and people wanted to see Caleb. My grandma (from about an hour away) and great aunt and cousins came, as well as some friends. It was really nice to see everyone and not have to worry about trying to go to all their separate houses. They all came to us!

My dad, Karl, and Luke had fun riding Dad's and Karl's motorcycles. They got them recently. They're 2001 Suzuki Savage 650s, I think, and they match (except Dad's is blue and Karl's is black). Isn't that cute? I took lots of pictures, so I'll post some when I get them developed.

The only bad part about the weekend was Caleb's loss of sleep. Remember how he was sleeping through the night? Yeah, not anymore. DaRn! I'm tired again. Hopefully he'll get back in the groove soon. We'll see.

Now that we're back I've been overwhelmed with Backyard Bible Clubs stuff. They start next Monday, the 10th. I will be relieved when they're over.

Welp, happy weekend, everyone! Can't wait to see my Rumley sisters this weekend! (YAY for sisters and wedding invitations!)

-{lkr}

*The picture of the motorcycle is borrowed from the Internet. It's not actually one of their bikes.

Just plain ol' "T-Bone"

Oh, man.

Luke got a free trial subscription to download songs to our computer, so that's what we were doing last night. And I thought, let's try to find that T-Bone song we heard on the radio the other day. I like that song. Yes, it's Christian rap, and yes I'm whitey-white, but it has a nice beat and good lyrics, and frankly, we like to boogie. Even Grace likes to dance in this household.

SO, not knowing the name of the song, we searched for T-Bone. And one of us suggested that maybe T-Bone Burnett is his full name - let's look at his songs and try to find one that sounds like it might be the one we like. So, we picked a couple of songs and started to download them...Did I mention that we still have dial-up? Yeah, it took a while...But FINALLY the downloads were done, and I was so excited to find out if the songs were the right ones...

OH, MAN! It was the weirdest music ever. I wondered if T-Bone fell off the wagon or something. It was NOT rap. At all. Surely the person who made these songs was on drugs? Poor T-Bone. I lost all faith in him.

So, I signed off the Internet, because as we all know, you cannot use the phone and be online when you only have dial-up. (Oh, how I miss the wonder of having DSL.) Anyway, I phoned my local DJ, who answered, "WayFM?" Thankfully, he knew who T-Bone was, and he told me the name of the song I wanted to hear. So, I signed back on and downloaded it. And played it. And YES! It was THE song! Woo-hoo!

So, in a flash of inspiration, I said to Luke, "Google T-Bone Burnett." We found him. Yeah, he's not our beloved Christian rapper T-Bone. He's a scary, old white guy. PHEW! My faith was restored.

Boogie on, T-Bone.

-{lkr}

Manton, MI - here we come!

Things are going well. Caleb's still sleeping through the night like a champ. About 7-8 hours every night. Not bad! It sure makes for a happier mommy in the morning, let me tell ya!

We're excited to be able to go to the "northlands" (as Luke calls it) this weekend, to celebrate the Fourth with my family. It's been almost a whole 6 months since we've been there, so I'm really ready to be back. I miss my family! I'm excited to see my Mom, Dad, Alonna, Melissa, Karl, Kade, and Melissa's baby belly...See Jana and meet Trent...See Megan and Michael, their baby Sidnee, and their new house...See Megan and Tommy and meet their baby Teddy...See grandparents, aunts, and uncles...Swim in the pool, watch Grace ride in the Barbie Jeep with Kade, relax...Go to Melissa's ultrasound and "meet" my new niece for the first time...Go to the parade in Lake City, which celebrates "The Greatest Fourth in the North"...And oh, so much more! :-) I'm anticipating a great weekend! Manton, here we come!

Oh, but when the weekend is over, I will be in overdrive working on Backyard Bible Clubs, which start July 10. Yikes! I'm the new lady in charge, so I'm concentrating on pulling it off this year with not enough preparation for me. (The former lady in charge recently moved to NY. We miss her!)

So, that's what's going on. Hope everyone's doing well. The weekend's coming soon!!!

-{lkr}