Maggie and her "buddy" Andrew. They are always complimenting eachother on their clothes. Today, Maggie was telling Andrew what a nice sweatshirt he was wearing, and other times I've heard Andrew complimenting Maggie on her dress - that really gets me!

I just love it how the girls are playing imaginatively together now...it is such a blessing to hear them playing peacefully in their room. In this picture, they had cleared out their toys in the kitchen (I keep two baskets of toys/books in the kitchen for them to play with in there while I am cooking, etc.), and were pretending like they were sleeping on a train. So fun!

Special shout-out to Aunt Kelly!!!

You said you check this a couple of times a day, so here's a post dedicated just to you...we love you!!!!! Can't wait to see you in a few weeks... Still waiting for you to sign-up for Blogger so you can leave comments for your girls!!

P.S. Here's a question for all of you bloggers out there: When someone leaves you a comment, should you reply to them on your blog (i.e. under where they left you the comment), or on their blog. Here's my thinking on this. I tend to think you should leave them a reply to their comment on their blog, after all, who really has time to go back through to everyone's blogs and check to see if they replied to your comments. Hmmmm....just wondering?

Tomorrow is Carissa's birthday, but we had a surprise party for her yesterday. Rhonda Ollila hosted it, and did an "Olive Garden" them with Pasta Fagoli soup, breadsticks, Olive Garden salad, and of course, Andes Mints! It was delicious. I made my first German Chocolate cake...pretty good for something with coconut in it! Carissa was surprised, and we all had a good time laughing, and being with the girls. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARISSA...WE LOVE YOU!!

When Daddy comes home from a trip, the Fipps' house becomes Party Zone. The girls get to stay up late to wait for Daddy, and we always stand at the window and watch for him to pull up in the driveway. Then, the girls go running down the sidewalk in their pajamas to give Daddy a huge hug. Of course, the first thing out of Maggie's mouth is: "I missed you. What's in that bag? Is it something for me?!" This time, Rob brought Maggie some dress-up rings, and he brought Madeline some wind-up chattering teeth. Maggie was so excited about the rings, but Madeline is still not sure what she thinks about the teeth (An appropriate gift, since Madeline is getting in her eye teeth, and is pretty cranky.) And of course, Daddy brought back enough candy to last until Christmas! I am definitely glad to have my wonderful husband back.

Carissa and I have decided to watch each other's kids one day a week for two hours each time so that we can have a little time by ourselves to do something around the house. Monday was my day to watch the Belford kids, so we went in the backyard and had a "photo shoot" of sorts. Maggie and Andrew have so much fun together - so that makes that part easy, and Madeline and the twins (Chloe and Eden) are about the same age as well...we had a blast!! Not to mention, I enjoyed my two hours on Tuesday when Carissa took the girls for me! That's what friends are for!!! Thank you Carissa!

Today, Maggie got a letter from her "teacher" from camp this summer, Brianne Haskett. Brianne has worked at camp for the past two summers, and has become a good friend of our family - but especially a good friend to Maggie. She was one of Maggie's teachers in the 2s and 3s class for Family Camp. She has always made an effort to get to know our children outside of the "class" setting, which has gone a long way with Maggie. She LOVES Brianne!! As soon as she read Brianne's letter, she said, "Mommy, let's write Brianne back right now!!" So, we did. I simply wrote down everything that Maggie said, and except for the part about the jewelry box (I have no idea what that was about), it amazed me what she came up with. Here it is straight from Maggie:

Dear Brianne,

I love you Brianne! I hope you love the jewelry box with princesses in it. I hope you love your school. Always do your school Brianne. It's important to do your things. I'm sorry that I disobey your teachers that you were working with. In Jesus Name Amen. Oh yeah, I want to play basketball with you some day.
Love, Maggie

What is it about the TV that makes our children stop whatever they are doing and glue their eyes to it? Tonight, I had just gotten the girls out of the bathtub, and was wondering why they were being so quiet. I walked out to the living room to find both of them glued to what...Blue's Clues? Perhaps Dora the Explorer? Oh no, my girls were intently watching Runaway Bride.

Now this is a funny story...First, I must remind you that we live out in the middle of nowhere. It is very unusual for us to drive anywhere, and not see some some sort of wildlife (deer, bear, wild turkeys, possums, etc.). We have many funny stories regarding various wildlife around and in our home, (like the time I was in the bathroom and there was a deer watching me right outside the bathroom window). Anyways, we have had problems with bats getting into our wood burning stove. Maggie and Madeline have been fascinated with them. Well, Rob really wasn't sure how we could get rid of them, and so every night in family devotions, Maggie has been praying, "Dear Jesus, please help you for to get the bat out of our oven, help Grandma and Grandpa to sell their house, in Jesus name amen." I was actually starting to wonder how we could get rid of the bat so we could teach Maggie more about God answering our prayers, etc. ("O ye of little faith!") Well, of course, God took care of it! One morning, on our girls usual run to the oven to look inside and say, "Hi bat!", Maggie said, "Oh no, the bat is not moving." Yes, God answered our prayer by killing the bat. We haven't gotten it out yet, so this picture is a picture of the girls' new morning routine. They run over to the glass and knock saying, "Wake up Mr. Bat!" Then, Maggie unfailingly says, "I think the bat is still dead." It has been a good chance to teach Maggie about God hearing our prayers. Now, when she prays, she always starts by thanking Jesus for hearing our prayers - something Rob and I didn't have to tell her to say! I love how the Lord delights in showing Himself to ALL of us - even our children!
I caught Rob playing dress-up with the girls on Sunday...so funny!
it is 8:30am...do you know what your house looks like?!

This is what my house looked like when I got out of the shower this morning. It was only 8:30am, and already, my kids had just about every toy they own out on the living room floor. They were playing very nicely together, so I was not about to complain. They were pretending that the living room was Madeline's house, and they were bringing things out of their rooms to decorate "it." I LOVE the fact that they are playing together, and using their imaginations more!

Today, Maggie and Madeline had a friend over to play. We had so much girly fun! From dressing up, to having a tea party, we had a blast! Here are just a few pictures of our little princesses!

Rob, Madeline and Maggie were having so much fun at the dinner table last night. A while back, Maggie started something where she would give her kisses to us names. For example, if she had just brushed her teeth, she would say it was a "toothpaste kiss," if she had just had a glass of milk, she would say it was a "milk kiss," etc. So, last night, in order to encourage our girls to try a new recipe that I had made, we were eating bites of food, giving kisses, and saying "ooohh chicken kiss," etc. Wow! You can definitely tell we're parents of a pre-schooler...hee hee!
Our beautiful girl!!!!!!
We must give special props to the NBBC student body officers...Edward Estes, David Broughton, and Mr. Tuttle. They did an incredible job...Rob and I have seen many skits, student bodies, etc. in our four years at Bob Jones, 5 years at Northland, and 7 summers at camp, but this beats anything we've seen. Rob was in this skit about homeschoolers...hilarious, stereotyping skit. Then, they did a video of Gufus, the sock puppet, coming through registration. Just had to mention that because Maggie is so enamoured with Gufus now...she wakes up talking about Gufus, asks questions about Gufus all day long, and has dreams about Gufus. Very funny! But, the highlight of the evening was the 20 minute video (it is very hard to make a 20 minute video that both looks professional and that is funny - at least that is what Rob tells me) about these "Three Men" who were trying to get back to Northland, but they didn't have the money for plane tickets...so they travel through the sewage lines. I know I am not going to do this justice, but it was so funny. They were popping out of manholes all over the country. They popped out of a manhole right in front of the Washington Monument, then they popped out of one in downtown Chicago right in front of the Sears Tower, and one time, right in front of the Maranatha sign, where they ran over to it and hung a sign over it that said, "I prefer Northland." But, probably the funniest, was when they were underground, and they said, "Do you hear water?"...then one of them decided to find out where they were, and he came up out of the Bob Jones University fountain...if you're from BJ, you know how sacred the fountain is...no touchy!! A hilarious, hilarious video...good job guys!!!!

This is my friend, and a buddy to Maggie & Madeline, Melanie Aynes. Melanie was in my Power Group this summer at camp, and was a counselor for us as well. This is probably Melanie's last semester up here....we'll miss you Melanie!

Maggie giving the "thumbs-up" while riding the motorcycle ride.
Ben Gunderson (Uncle Ben), a family friend, came with us to the fair.
Awww...what a cute family...typical Maggie face!

Tonight, we went to the Dickinson County Fair in Norway, MI. While the fair is pretty "small town" in nature, this year they had definitely improved in the food. We had hot wings, fried sweet potatoes/onions/peppers, grilled teriyaki chicken kabobs, egg rolls, and last but not least, deep fried oreos!!! To us, the best part of going to a fair is the food!! Of course, Maggie loved the rides, and expensive games - we came home with yet another cheap toy that I will probably get rid of in a few weeks. We also went to a logging competition...pretty good for a little fair like this was. There was also a CEF booth where they were painting kids' faces and showing them the Wordless Book. I think the lady that painted Maggie's face was about to skip the Gospel story, since she knew we were from Northland, but I asked her to tell Maggie. Everytime Maggie hears God's Word, I know it is sinking deeper and deeper into her mind...there is something so exciting about hearing someone else share the salvation plan with your child, and yet so sobering, as it reminds me that right now she is not serving the King of Kings but the prince of this world. May we be earnest in praying for the salvation of our children's souls.