Clydesdales, Bald Eagles & Camels, Oh My!

It was an early start today. Well, early as could be for it being the Saturday morning after my finishing VBS and my family driving almost 8 hours the day before. Mom had it decided before we were even out of bed this morning that we were doing something, likely in St. Louis. After some review, we settled on Grant's Farm.

joe. sydni. cori | dills

Heidi & Paul had some plans to do some hiking over on the Cahokia Mounds, so Jonathan loaded up with us and we started on our exhibition to St. Louis. We didn't take off before stopping by to see our good friend Bulent in Belleville [gelato stop, duhhhh] and of course taking Mom by Peace by Piece. Oh, and remember a week or so back when I stopped in and nabbed my TOMS ballet flats.. and I'd ordered something else? At the time, I was holding out because I didn't wanna ruin the surprise.. Well....

I ordered a necklace. Sounds a little goofy, but here in Belleville, there are a plethora of locally-based artisans who I would love to see be successful. Heather, the crafty hand behind this piece, took my order herself and did the work of putting the Dills on a chain in something of a non-traditional way. I'm not big on the typical mother jewelry, but I was attracted to the simplicity of this one, along with the fact that it's the entire family. Like I said, I could've easily done this myself, but I'm happy & I love it.

Grant's Farm was the place to be today!

grant's farm!

It took us no time at all to cover the horse stables and see the beauty of the famous Budweiser clydesdales. It also afforded us some great opportunities to update some long-overdue family photos...

family :) 

daddy & syd
joe. jonathan. dad | joe. syd. mom&dad | me & jonathan!
mama & syd

There was of course the tram ride that traverses over the grounds of the farm: Naturally I wound up with three times as many pictures as necessary, but Sydni kept demanding that I capture every single animal, be it sleeping or flying. We tried. Haha. 

animals everywhere!

My favorite collaboration from the day: 

she. is. adorable. call be biased ;)

Oh yeah, and of course Nana & Pappy insisted on buying a "little something" for Sydni, so we stopped off at the gift shop and spent a good while churning through a bin of colorful rocks. Sydni picked out as many as she could fit into the little leather bag provided, and shared with us her brazen pride with her selections all the way to the car. So... stinkin' ... cute. 

pickin' out rocks with mama

Whew. We are... spent! It's time to get to grillin' - Heidi and Paul are back from their day trip and we're about to do some business with the grill :).

I LOVE.. MY FAMILY!

xo | cmd

VBS Finale | Family | Bitter Goodbyes

Before I get into the meat of this one, I want to THANK Christine for bringing me this little diddy today! Anyone who knows me knows I'm a sucker for all things charitable, and I try to do my best to support causes that serve the needs of under-developed countries, the less-fortunate or otherwise forlorn. This one, Puravida Bracelets, donates a portion of all proceeds to the development of resources that enable local artisans in Costa Rica to find and maintain full time jobs. Sure, it's a far, far degree of separation between myself and the hands-on part, but with these kinds of things, I firmly believe that every little bit counts.


the small beaded bracelet [puravida] hanging out with my invisible
children liberty triangle! many thx, christine!! i love it!

Soooooo,


from lara: "we're going home!"

Good news passed on to me from the Babot family: They're all home now! Woo! Mama & Emilia are doing phenomenally; I'm so thrilled for them!

We are definitely chompin' at the bits to go and see the Babots, and shower that little munchkin and her big brother with some fun stuff.

Here in the Dills house: we are ALL here. My family came in from Ohio to visit for the weekend! Joe came back from Albuquerque, and the VBS parent night/finale was tonight. *WHEW. We had a BLAST. I was so thrilled that my parents, sister, nephew, and sister's beau were able to come and see the last bit of what we've been doing all week for VBS with the kiddos. It was so much fun :) They're all here at the house now, hanging out and having a family jam session with the guitars. I love my family, and I love when they visit. ♥



the little ones [with some help] doing their vbs song!

mo! love this girl. love our shirts, too ;)

PS - VBS IS DONE!!! It's bittersweet, but for the moment, feeling slightly more sweet than bitter. Talk to me tomorrow and I might feel differently ;) Heh. On an absolute positive though, I believe that 6 kids this year dedicated their lives to Christ and committed to following in His path. All music jokes aside, that really is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!! Amen? Amen!

*

Last but absolutely not least, on a somber note:

I recently caught up with Dusty, an old friend of mine from back home, who I've known since we were about 6. We were close friends for a long time, but just happened to lose touch over the last few years. It's been great reconnecting with him and updating on our lives since the last time we saw each other. He and his family used to live on our street, and I fondly remember the shenanigans of our days as the 'neighborhood kids.'  



from the newark advocate & a shot borrowed from fb... :(



My heart breaks today for his family; Dusty's older brother Mark lost his life today in a motorcycle accident back in Ohio. I can't imagine the strain of losing a sibling, especially in the midst of other trying obstacles. Our deepest and most sincere condolences go out to the Runyons today and I pray that whatever peace can be found, is embraced.

Life is short.

Embrace it.

Love your family.

You really don't ever know.

*

With my family being here this weekend, I plan on doing exactly that - I love them to the end of the earth and I'm so blessed for them being here.

Happy weekend, friends :)

xo | cmd

PitaPit! [VBS Day5]

I found this place yesterday.
I ate there again, today.
I don't feel bad about it.


yup.

This place is going to be a problem for me, more specifically for my wallet. In the realm of all places fast food, I have to say it's going to take me quite a while to tire of this new discovery. I'm a firm believer that food is much better served in a pita, no matter how you spin it. :)

Sorry, that's about all I've got for now, other than Day 5 of VBS, which would fool anyone into thinking it's still opening night - major kudos to the VBS crew at the Tower - you.. guys... ROCK :)

It's late. See you tomorrow, bloggerbees.

xo | cmd

WELCOME BABY EMILIA!! [VBS Day4]

So as we all went to bed last night with the anticipation of little miss Emilia's arrival, the Babots headed to the hospital where Lara was induced at midnight. The journey started for them while the majority of us were asleep. This morning around 11am, little Emilia made her grand entrance!

I.. Am.. SO.. Excited!

welcome emilia leigh!

WELCOME EMILIA!!!!

[& Congratulations to proud Mama & Daddy Lara & Alex, and of course big brother Landon]

proud mommy, flawless & beautiful, as always :)
gorgeous daughter & mama!

I cannot wait to meet little Emilia, and I will gladly stand in that line to do so. We're continuing prayer for the proud parents, and perhaps even more proud big brother Landon! I pray everything goes well for the next couple of days and that you're home in no time. We are so excited for you. Yiieee, babies! ♥

----

Today, as we all know, is day 4 of VBS. It's been an energetic week so far, and we crossed the halfway point. I took a break from all things VBS to stop by Tracy's house and snag the giant bag o' T-shirts that were ordered for the Towerviewers participating in Relay for Life. I got them all home and separated them into labeled bags for the picking. Since my team co-captain is pictured above doing ridiculous other things like having a baby [sheesh... c'mon ;), heh.. jk!], I made sure to take care of this. It was a bit of work, but an oddly-refreshing breather from the cardio that is VBS music ;) Hah. Fun stuff.


relay for life | bellville il | july 20-21, 2012!

It's been a whilrwind week so far! We are so blessed :)

The almost-Friday is just around the corner!

xo | cmd

Thrifty Office Deco | VBS Day 3

Tips for office deco:

Don't spend more than necessary.
Done, and done!

why thank you, goodwill!

^ Magnetic dry erase board, in pristine shape, making its new home on the wall next to my desk. Since we moved out of the janky neighborhood on the other side of the dividers, I no longer have the overhead that previously attached itself above my desk. First world problem, I know, but as it stood, I had a cup full of homeless magnets that were taking up desk space. I decided I'd consult the inventory at Goodwill, thinking I may on a whim find something fun to brighten up the day. Goodwill so rarely disappoints; today was one of those days in which I felt I was almost expected. Ah, thrifty finds. :)

Oh, and VBS is in full swing!


meet your vbs music directors: kirsten & cori
see them taking a break? yeah... :)

Three days down, three to go. We are on fire! The kids are incredible.. and we are.. exhausted ;) Haha. All in good fun, and really we're having a blast doing it.

Y-E-S to V-B-S!

What a day... :)

xo | cmd

VBS Day #2 | Softball

I wanna walk, I wanna talk, I wanna live in your power! I wanna pray, I wanna stay, I wanna move in your power! I wanna walk, I wannt talk, I wanna live in your power! I wanna pray, I wanna stay, I wanna move.. IN YOUR POWER!

^ Day 2, complete.
*Whew.

Conveniently enough, Dawne had asked early last week if Sydni could spend the night at her place tonight with Olivia and Lu, the two other little ones that she watches, for a slumber party. That left me free to really gauge how much time I would need to get from work down to church. I found I was good to go with enough time to stop at the house and let the dog out before heading over. With fifteen minutes to spare, I snagged some food with the rest of the VBS staff downstairs [many thanks to Miss Margaret, Miss Shirley, & the volunteers preparing this all week!]. Then it was upstairs for three hours of cardio ;)



we stole a vbs'er! ;)
cori. lyla. mo | softball



It seems to go by much quicker once the end approaches, but we're having a blast and doing our part to exhaust the little ones before we send 'em back home to their parents. Haha.

Tonight was extended by the weekly softball game to which us VBS workers slowly trickled once we were finished with our festivities at the church.

We didn't walk away with wins this week, either, but us bystanders had some fun of our own.

That being said, it's late, folks.

I'll be up and at it again in a few short hours!

xo | cmd

VBS Kickoff: Amazing Wonders Aviation!

What's up, SUNDAY?!

I'm pretty sure one of us ran the other ragged today. It actually seems to be that we both exhausted each other. This day's on its last drop and I don't feel like a bit of it was wasted.

First: I would like to request a prayer for my neighbors. I don't know exactly who they are or whose car this is, but it seems to be the sole victim in my subdivision of the storm that plodded through here last night. Bummer.

:( 

Hm.. So yeah - Whether it was the anticipation of today's VBS kickoff, or the unrelenting heat that has settled into my AC-deprived house, I spent the bulk of last night tossing, turning, listless for the most part.I must've lapsed at some point sometime after 2:30am, brought back to by my alarm declaring it was 6:30am and time to get moving.

the runion brothers: derek & ryan | gabe [not pictured]
congratulations!!!

Grawr. < That's the sound my body and mind makes when I'm out of bed long before I should be on a weekend. *sigh. Anyway, it was just before 7 when I met up with Kirsten outside Walmart to pick up the VBS choreo DVD for practice later between church and the kickoff. I made a pitstop at the gym on the way home, since I was already up.

Church flew right on by in the usual phenomenal Towerview fashion: It started right off with not one, not two, but three baptisms. I love these kinda mornings! [congratulations to the Runion brothers Derek & Ryan, and little Gabe, who snuck up there after I'd put the camera away!]

Once church let out and lunch had been devoured by grumpy, nap-needing little fingers, I made a date with the VBS DVD and committed myself to memorizing the last of the VBS music for the week. I apparently dozed off during a little break; I awoke to Mo calling me to come and help w/ her classroom setup. Off we were, back to church to put final touches on all things VBS.

towerview vacation Bible school 2012!

And V-B-S.... BEGIN!


I'm spent. Kirsten and I did about as much jumping, waving, signing, and dancing tonight as I could manage for one night. As is customary for any good VBS week, we're gonna be ready to fist-fight this stuff by the time Friday comes around, but in an endearing way. Haha.

Many, MANY thanks to Laura for "managing" the production of this year's VBS, to all the teachers, to the nursery workers, and especially to my church family as a whole for having me participate! It's gonna be a long but totally rewarding week!

Tomorrow starts early. G'Nite :)

xo | cmd