New Template

We decided to change our template and profile picture. I found it on pyzam and and my mom and I really liked it. Is it okay to read? Leave a comment telling us what you think about it! God bless!

Ring Around the Tub!

What do you get when you add to one two year old boy: sand, fried chicken, cantaloupe, baked beans, cake, juice, mud pies, water, and did I already mention sand?! By the end of a fun-filled day, we had a major ring around the tub at our house! By the way, have you ever taken a two year old boy wearing overalls and tipped him upside down after playing in sand for hours? You should try it - it's amazing how much sand comes pouring out!

Flowers... Again

I know I just did a post on flowers but on my way to work the other day I noticed how pretty some of the flowers are. Here are a couple pictures I took.

Camp!

We had a totally awesome time at camp! My mom was able to go this year and she brought Sam with. The theme was Pilgrims Progress- which I think is a good theme. Plus, a lot of my friends were there, and it was great to be with them and to talk with them. We had great meetings, fun activities such as water balloon throwing, races, volleyball, kickball, bean-bags (which I'm horrible at :), charades, a bonfire, talking, staying up late in our cabins (and I mean late!), we had wonderful food- did I mention dilly bars? Group pictures, Camp shirts, God's word, life lessons, I could go on and on about all of the things we did at Camp, there's so many!
Something that really blessed me- when we came to the end of the Wall of Salvation, there was a cross and, like Christian, we knelt in front of it and had a quiet moment with the Lord. It was at this point that we were freed from our burdens. It was great experience and when I knelt down and prayed a wonderful feeling crept in, like I had just done the best thing I've ever done. Anyway, this picture is of Viv, kneeling in front of the cross. (special thanks goes to Mrs. W for this picture :)

Overall Camp was great, I learned a lot, had fun, and was blessed. Hopefully more posts will start to come... we're swamped right now! Maybe as school starts back up again I'll have more time to post.

Happy Birthday, Si!

Wishing you a very happy birthday, Si! We are so thankful that the Lord has brought you into our lives. You bring much excitement, conversation, and joy to our family. With all our love,

The Captain, Maria, and the rest of the von Seven

What We've Been Doing

As you can probably tell by the lack of new posts, we are extremely busy. I am doing a summer waitressing job at my grandparents local Cafe, -which keeps me hopping! Si and Chris are doing outside work for right now and Soph is visiting our other grandparents. And with our house being remodeled, our house is quite chaotic! Between that and the little girls being little girls (i.e. making messes, running around the house, making more messes :) we are swamped! Mom and I finally found the time to give Sam a haircut (which he badly needed). Note: make sure you have time for this activity, especially if you're giving a young child a haircut! Twisting and squirming to get down to play, Sam was difficult to entertain enough to sit still. But, in the end, he was finished and it turned out pretty well. Below is a picture of the finished product:

He's really cute in this picture, so concentrated on looking out of the window, he didn't even know I was taking the picture! Well, hopefully we will find more time in which to post, but for now, this will have to do!

You Are Special!

The other night mommy had to go to a meeting, my dad was working in his garage and I had the girls and Sam in the house (the boys were still up at Grandpa and Grandma's house). Soph and I were put in charge of cleaning the kitchen up after supper and the little kids were watching a show in the living room. Soph was supposed to sweep the floor while I loaded up the dishwasher. When I turned around, there was Soph sitting in the living room with the kids - watching the show. I was frustrated that my only helper decided to 'take a break' (as she put it) and desert me to do all the work.
"Soph, you get up here right now and start sweeping the floor. Why is it that I am the only one up here?! Stop watching the show and come finish your job." I have to admit, I didn't talk to her in the best tone of voice but she came up looking pretty remorseful. I turned back to my job, satisfied that she would do hers.
"Hanna," Soph said in a quiet voice at my side. "Here. You are special." She handed me one of our refrigerator magnets that has a picture of a rose on it with the words "You Are Special" written below it. It was so funny that it was all I could do to not laugh out loud! Instead, I said while trying not to laugh, "Well, Soph, thanks alot! I love you, Soph. Now, let's get back to sweeping the floor." I reached out and hugged her. Little people can be so funny. Let's just say that with lots of kids around, life is NEVER boring!