VBS

I am way behind on blogging! Carley's first VBS was a week ago. We had so much fun learning about Paul and being a christian. It was so cool that she was old enough to go and I had fun working there. Cody and I had a Carpentry shop. The nights that he was at the station, Jennifer and my mom filled in which made it lots of fun. Carley also was able to bring her friend Elise with her which made the week more fun for her. They were really cute.

The part of VBS that cracks me up is the music. Carley loves her VBS CD and you know how funny they are. It is cool that the kids learn the music so well and it teaches them such great things. It is just funny.

The funny part was Paul talked to the kids about telling people of God's love and things like that. Carley took it to heart and randomly asks people all the time if they are Christians. I am not sure what to do about this. Here are some people she asked 1) our waitress at IHOP 2) the greeter at Walmart 3) a little girl at the swimming pool 4) my parents. I just think it is cute and sweet. I am sure some awkward moments will come from this but haven't too bad yet.

Corey's Baby Shower

On Sunday some friends threw me a baby shower for Corey. It was so sweet. I had a great time, enjoyed seeing so many friends, and loved celebrating Corey's upcoming arrival. It is hard to believe I am 6 weeks out. Everyone was so sweet and kind. My favorite part was reading the cards (which normally I barely skim). So many people wrote that they had prayed for Corey before they ever knew he was really on the way, or that he was an answer to many prayers, and other things like that. It is so true for us.

Carley and me before the shower

My hostesses: Nicole, Jenn, Barb, Kim, Michelle, me, Ashlie, Heather, and Traci

My diaper bag!

My little helpers before the shower
It was firetruck themed. Aren't the dalmatian cupcakes cute?

My sister, Alyssa, me, and My mom

lots of people brought presents for Carley too, which was super sweet
These pictures of Camryn and Carley drinking the punch are just funny.

Because, in the Core family, you match

As mentioned in previous posts, Alyssa's girls and Carley match. Poor Corey is all I have to say. :)

Nana had their pictures made today and I thought they came out super cute. Here are a few.

Happy 30th Birthday, Cody!

Cody is 30 today! I want to wish a very happy birthday to my sweet and special husband.

In honor of him, here are 30 fun things I love about Cody (in no particular order)

1. Cody can draw really well. When we are waiting for our food at restraunts Cody draws Carley the cutest 3D cartoon characters off the top of his head to keep her happy. Truthfully, it entertains us both.

2. Cody loves my family like his own. He is a great addition to the Core clan and especially a great son to my parents.

3. Cody takes Carley to McDonalds every week for breakfast on their own date.

4. Cody loves organization and his closet is a perfect example. He is always building new things for his closet and drawing up new ideas for it.

5. Cody is easy going.

6. Cody is super strong....like it is crazy how strong he is.

7. Cody loves to go to eat for breakfast.

8. Cody is really into guns. This is not my favorite thing about him, but he loves them and loves the safety factor of them. He has his CHL (consealed handgun license) and takes it very seriously.

9. Cody had a really crappy childhood and has overcome more than anyone knows.

10. Cody paints and creates beautiful rooms.

11. Cody is always trying his hand at new things. He is wants to be a a jack of all trades.

12. Cody listened to all of the Harry Potter books on CD with me.

13. Cody never suggests we stay home from church and always encourages me to go.

14. Cody is a really good listener.

15. Cody really is a guy's guy.

16. Cody loves safety and security. He is on the security team at church and is a safety clown for the fire department.

17. Cody is a good neighbor. He is the guy who everyone around our house comes to when something isn't working or they are suspicious of something in the neighborhood.

18. Cody is very gentle. Over the past year he has had to give me lots of different shots. None of them have ever hurt. He just has a very gentle touch at all times.

19. Cody is really good at all of his jobs.

20. Cody has a great, quick, and easy smile.

21. Cody always tells me that he loves me.

22. Cody is a great father.

23. Cody always sleeps with his hand on my pregnant belly.

24. Cody is always looking at new ideas for how to do stuff.

25. Cody is hard working.

26. Cody has had jobs as a butcher and as a mechanic. He is super handy.

27. Cody is very patient.

28. Cody loves me like Christ loves the church.

29. Cody is great with Carley.

30. Cody is a wonderful father, friend, and husband. I am so lucky to go through life with him.

Happy Birthday, Cody! We love you!

Confessions of A Book Nerd

Man, I have been a book nerd again this summer and really enjoyed it.

I read the new Janet Evanovich on the Stephanie Plum series.

I read the new Karen Kingsbury books, Take One and Take Two.

But the best thing I did was reread two of my favorite series. I reread the Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer and the I reread the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.

I cannot tell you enough that if you haven't read the series, you need to. They are both excellent. The movies do not touch on the greatness of these books. The Twilight series, in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful love stories. It is a story of pure love, and sacrifice.

The Harry Potter series is the best epic fiction tale of all time. It is a powerful story of friendship and good vs. evil. It is a tough decision, but I think these are the best books I have ever read.

Cody made so much fun of me when I started reading the HP books again. He asked me if I was expecting a different ending and I told him, "the first time I read for plot, this time I am reading for the literary element of foreshadowing". Looking back at my response I can see why Cody ridiculed me for WEEKS about this, but I can't help it. I wanted to see what details from the early books foreshadowed book 7.

Anyway, Summer is coming to an end, read a book! Read two books! Read the Twilight series! Read the Harry Potter Series! Read Redeeming Love! Read the Redemption Series by Karen Kingsbury! Read a book by Meg Cabot or Jodi Picoult! Just read a book before school starts and life really does get crazy again. Start with a chapter a day.

Have you read this summer? What are you reading? Do you ever use the phrase "literary elements" in a sentence?

Great Wolf Lodge

Go to Great Wolf Lodge. We had a great time there. It is a perfect family oriented vacation. We were able to check in Sunday at 1:00 and stay all day Monday. There are lots of really fun and cool things about it. However, if you could avoid going when you are almost 8 months pregnant, I would recommend it. :)

Here are some highlights from our stay. These are in no particular order.

1. We went with my sister, Alyssa, and her family and my parents. We all stayed in a big room that had 3 queen size beds and a full size pull out couch. It was fun to stay together! Carley got to sleep alone with Lauren and thought that was really cool.

2. at 8:00 each night all the kids go to the lobby for story time and clock tower show. The girls thought this was so neat!

3. The water park is about 85% indoors. I am a sun-lover so I hated not getting tan, but it was SO nice not to have to worry about the weather, the heat, or sunscreen. The girls (and Cody) lasted much longer because it wasn't so hot.

4. They issued everyone plastic wristbands very similar to what you wear in the hospital. There was a chip in there that worked as a room key too! It was so nice not to have to worry about keeping up with key cards or wallets. Also, it was nice to know that if any of the girls got separated from us, their wrist band would let them know who they belonged to.

5. They had a huge play area that was just for smaller kids. Carley and Cam enjoyed this several times when they wanted a break from having to be watched so closely.

6. In two of the pools, there were huge floating animals the kids could climb on. They also had a Lily Pad game that the kids all tried to cross. All 3 girls crossed it before we left. Lauren did it all by herself. She worked so hard! Cam and Carley had help from us.

7. There is a 1000 gallon bucket that dumps every few minutes. It is the first thing you see when you walk in. The girls laughed every time it dumped!

8. You can't go to the water park unless you stay at the resort. This made it special because everyone was a guest.

9. The FOOD- The restaurants were great. When you checked in you could go ahead and prepay for some of the meals if you wanted. It was nice because if you prepaid, adults ate for kid's prices. This saved our family of 6 adults and 3 kids a lot of money! The food was delicious too!!!! Carley was so exhausted that she fell asleep at the dinner table

10. There were HUGE slides that were fun for kids and adults. It was so nice to be somewhere that was so safe and so fun for everyone!

11. It was all for families. It was really nice to be on a vacation where it was all families. There weren't young couples making out everywhere or people that just wanted to layout and looked annoyed when your kid splashed them. There were people of all ages and sizes there and I seriously didn't hear any foul language the entire trip. It was nice to know that everyone was looking out for all the kids there.

12. There was a magic quest game that was played all over the huge hotel. It is hard to explain, but basically the kids ran around with a wand following clues to different treasures. Our three little girls had lots of fun waving the wand and making things appear!

While in Keller, we stayed with Alyssa's family. As always, they were perfect hosts. We had such a good time together. I got to see some extra special favorite people as well. My cousins from my dad's side met for lunch on Saturday. My cousins from my mom's side saw eachother on Sunday morning. I got to see some special friends at Richland Hills on Saturday night was well.

Cousins Clothing

We had a great 4th of July with Alyssa's family. The girls have had a great time playing together. If you could sum up my sister and my mom's fashion sense for girls in 2 phrases it would be 1) holiday themed and 2) matching. It makes for cute pictures, but I still feel the need to make fun of it. Here are just a few pictures of the matching girls. I wonder what Corey will wear when he arrives for the next holidays?

Happy 30th Birthday, Leslie

Today is Leslie's 30th birthday! Her sweet husband had the idea of greeting her today with birthday blogs, which is a great idea!

Leslie is a sweet, genuine, hilarious friend, and I must say in the late 90's we made the back row of Siggie Sing Song a more beautiful place! :) She is a true friend who cares for you and prays for you. We are blessed to share lots of the same people in our lives and I have called her several times over the past year wondering what to pray about certain situations and she has always guided me. She is a blast, a blessing, a beauty, and now 30!

Happy Birthday LCM!!!!

Nursery Preview

Where did June go? We have had such a good summer. Carley is in preschool 2 days a week and next week is her last week. I am going to miss those 2 days! :) She and I have had a blast together. We have also had a lot of family time which is so fun. Baby Corey is doing great. 10 Wednesdays and he will be here. It is so hard to believe!

Cody has been working hard on the nursery. The room was mauve when we moved in and we have never messed with it. We assumed Nelson 2 would be along sooner than this so we kept deciding to wait until we knew gender. "The Pink Room" has been our storage room for 2 years so it has taken a lot of work to get ready. Long story short, I wanted a baby blue room with brown stripes. Cody wanted a firestation looking room. Cody told me his ideas and I hated them. But, I have humbly learned, in the Nelson house when it comes to colors and big projects, Cody is always right. Yes, folks, I said "always right". So I protested, he ignored, and he got to work.

The top of the walls is now grey. Cody didn't like me stopping his work to take picutres.

He did brick board around the bottom.

He changed all the light fixtures from white to black with sliver diamond plating on the outside.

He put in a white chair rail and baseboards. (which I thought were too big, but once again, I was wrong)

Carley was quite the "helper". She went in about every 10 minutes to check on dad and help. She insisted on using her tools and hammering with Cody.

We are still working on decorating so I will post more later, but I wanted to show off my cute construction man's project.