Father's Day, Family Reunion and More Fun

We have enjoyed lots of quality time with the Barker clan over the last few weeks! Between the Barker Family Reunion, Father's Day and Alex's birthday....we have had lots of excuses to get together.

First off...the family reunion. We returned to Lakeview Camp for this year's reunion, but I must say that the place really is a minor detail...being with all of the family, catching up and praying for one another...that's what it is all about :) It is really a huge blessing for my children to have such a Godly heritage and to be around many generations of family members that care not only about their physical well-being but their spiritual well-being, as well. Here are a few pictures of the reunion and a short video of Uncle Rich sharing about that Godly heritage...

Chanin and Mandy...and Mackenzie

Keith aka Papa leading the singing

Alex and his cousin Noah from Ohio

Aunt Roberta and Uncle Rich, brother and sister, and the oldest members of the family at this year's reunion. They are Chris' great aunt and uncle.

Anna and Sarah...her Barker Family BFF :)

Fast forward a couple of weeks to Father's Day. I must admit that I miss my Daddy terribly at just random times...not so much on specific days or dates. It will be an event, a memory or something that someone says that will trigger that tug on my heart. I am thankful that I have an awesome husband who is an amazing daddy to our children to celebrate Fathers Day with....and I am blessed with a wonderful Father-in-law who I know loves me unconditionally and just like I was one of his own. We had a great time...a yummy dinner, ice cream sundaes and an outdoor movie on the big screen.

Grandma and Papa

Anna took lots of pictures, including several self-portraits :)

Chris and his Dad...watching the movie

Alex playing with Legos...a minor obsession!

Finally, we headed over to Grandma and Papa's house for a belated Alex birthday celebration. We were happy to wait until Aunt Shannon could be here to celebrate with us.

Alex and Aunt Shannon

Alex blowing out the candles on his rice krispie treat cake :)

Alex...slightly excited...about a new Lego agents set.

Alex loved this gift from Aunt Shannon....it's a monkey sucking it's thumb...just like someone else we know and love ;)!

Our first-ever...BIG TIME CONCERT

This past Saturday Anna, Alex and I embarked on a big adventure to the....JONAS BROTHERS CONCERT! Not only would we get to see the JoBros, but we would also get to see the brand new Cowboys Stadium. Needless to say, we were just a tad excited!

Alex preparing not for the loud music, but for all the girls screaming...notice the earplugs :)

Me and Anna....in case you don't know....Nick Jonas is a Type 1 Diabetic...just.like.Anna.

Take a look at this pic I tried to take of the kids together. While waiting for the concert to start, Verizon had set up a special number for you to text messages that would then show up on the big screen. We had texted a message to Anna's friends from Diabetes Camp who wear also attending the concert. He was afraid that if he looked at me for the picture we would miss seeing Anna's text. Unfortunately, our text was never displayed. I guess with 50,000 fans attending ours just didn't make it in time!

Here is a picture of the stadium before the JoBros took the stage. It really is a cool place....there were no "bad" seats.

And, finally the moment we had been waiting for.....here is Nick singing "A Little Bit Longer"...the song he wrote about being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.

Nick...again

The whole group

And then the concert ended....but not really. As in all concerts we were certain there would be an encore. So, we cheered loudly with the other fans and waited...and waited...and then a HUGE SURPRISE....

Can you tell who it is?

It was....Miley. Singing the duet "Before the Storm" with Nick. Anna was just a tad excited....this song had just been released this week, but she had already memorized it and claimed it as her favorite. It was really cool! And Miley won't be appearing at any of their other concerts...so it was a big deal :)

Here is the link to view the duet from the concert...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CH1I1F8xkPE

We had a great time and are extra thankful to Daddy who picked us up and dropped us off, so we didn't have to walk miles. It had been years since I had been to any kind of concert...and I was reminded that if the performers are really good, then even the songs you don't really like on the radio sound good in person. That was definitely the case here...who knows, maybe Chris would have even liked it?? Next time, we'll have to take him along :)

Happy Birthday to my Baby Boy aka my Big Boy

Well...I can hardly believe it. Alex turned 7 yesterday. Can this really be happening? Is it possible that my baby is SEVEN. YEARS. OLD. I think I might be in denial. But the reality is right before me...he is an amazing kid. He is growing like a weed. Reading like a 10 year old. Analyzing everything. BUT, he still likes to snuggle up with his Mama. And he told me yesterday, "I have decided not to go to First Grade." Period. End of Story. He is just going to stay home. Is there some way he could test out of First Grade....is that exam available? If so, I'll sign him up tomorrow and then he and I will just stay home and play for the next year :)!

We had a big Lego Mania Birthday Blowout Bash last night to celebrate. It was super fun! Although, I must be honest and tell you that after he opened all of those shiny new Lego sets....he was ready for everyone to pack it up and go home. He wanted to build! He managed to remain graciously patient until everyone was gone and then he stayed up to 11 p.m. building Anakin's Starfighter. AND he has been building all day today. Sure beats watching TV and playing video games :).


Here are some pictures of the party....

Each kid built their own lego creation and received awards!

The party table

All the boys :)

Alex and Will

Molly Rose...with pigtails to die for :)

Anna and Alex...Anna is exhausted, going to Diabetes Camp this week, look at her in this picture...poor baby ;)!




Alex with his favorite present...Lego Agents Mission 5

I think he had fun...what do you think?

Back to reality....

....and loving it!

We had a great trip to Disney. It was so fun to be able to share it with extended family this time. On the last day my nephew Will told me, "Aunt Lissa, this is NOT the last day, because we will be coming back again next year!" I will say that May was definitely more crowded than our usual September visits, so after taking a break for a while our next trip will definitely be in the fall again.

I cannot even begin to express how nice it was to come home and not face work the next day. Although, I continue to miss the people and some of the intensity and mental challenges of the job, I am loving being home with my kids. Devoting my time to building legos, painting fingernails and, of course, laundry, cleaning and cooking! The kids have been a little disappointed that I am not playing with them 24x7. I had to explain to Anna the other day that if she would like a towel to dry off with, then I had to do laundry!! But, we are all enjoying this new phase of life and I am so thankful to have this opportunity.

Interestingly enough, summers at our house over the last few years had been a bit of a free for all. With me working, the kids really had as much TV/Wii/Computer time as they wanted and little to no responsibility. I did not feel that I had the time to "teach" them certain chores, so I just did them myself. Part of that was probably guilt-motivated on my part. No need to tell me, I know this is not a good thing. So, part of my goal for this summer was more structure, more responsibility but also definitely more fun for the kids. Although we have been on a 4 days home, 3 days away routine since we returned (taking short weekend trips), I have managed to begin to teach them a few things :). Let's just say that after the initial shock wore off, things are going well. Anna truly does love a "job", so once she gets used to the idea she has really enjoyed her responsibilities (except for the putting away clothes one ;) ) Alex...well, we're still working on maintaining a cheerful attitude while doing chores!

We are off to the Barker Family Reunion this weekend and then we will be home for a while...yeah!! Anna has diabetes day camp next week, Alex has his big Lego 7th Birthday Sleepover party planned for next Wednesday and we are anticipating a visit from Ryan, Ash and the girls soon! So we will be home but busy and having fun!

Blessings on your summer,