our little traveler....

I have had the chance to fly a few times with Danny and he is such a great traveler. It is fun to see him interact with the other passengers. He is so cute and I love it when other people get to see that too. This Friday, Joshua will get to take his first flight when I head to Atlanta to take the pictures at my friend Lindsey's wedding. I am sure he will do a great job....he is really a wonderful baby. It will be a special time for mommy and baby, while Danny gets a special weekend with Daddy!
I am so excited to get to be a part of Lindsey's wedding. She was one of the girls in my high school d-group that I met with for four years in Atlanta. And now she is getting married. Wow! I can't believe those girls are at this stage in their lives now. It has been a blessing to continue to watch them grow up over the past few years. And I can't wait to have an excuse to take a bunch of photos! I love taking pictures! Here is a picture of Lindsey and her fiance Jimmy that I took last year.

Just praying that we all get better before Friday! Still have the funk at our house...Scott is doing better but still not great, Danny has a secondary infection and is taking an antibiotic, Josh has been getting an occasional fever, and I have a bad cough. Not trying to complain, but two weeks of sickness at our house is exhausting!

tough week

It's true. It has been a tough week. I can't believe it is already Thursday. Scott is sick and missing work. Danny has been sick since last Friday and is still being very moody. Josh has a fever and is of course acting as sweet as can be(he is good even when he is sick!) And Pollack has a sore paw. All my boys are feeling yucky. Let's hope mommy stays well. This sore throat and nagging cough I have is not a good sign.
But as we sit here in the office...Danny is hopping around me and Josh is sitting in my lap....we are encouraged by some worship music we found. I had forgotten that I had downloaded songs from the kids worship at Grace last year. What a blessing to sit and listen to kids sing praises to God and think about doing the hand motions as we worshiped together. There is nothing sweeter than a child who loves Jesus and who is confident in God's love for him. Music has a way of encouraging your soul and that seems to radiate into the physical aspect too.
Part of me knows we are just recovering from our very busy week last week. We had a Backyard Bible Club at our house and were able to share the gospel with our neighbors. Most of the 15+ kids that attended were church going kids, but with the new relationships we built, we are excited about making this an annual thing. One mom said to us..."Lets do this again next year and invite our non christian friends." YES! They got it! So many fun things are going to come out of this week. And we feel so blessed that Grace Fellowship in Snellville GA has a vision to reach the next generation. They gave us all the crafts, lessons, game ideas, props, and even a parachute. And best of all, they sent us sweet Ashleigh to spend the week with us. She was a tremendous help....Danny loves her and thought she was his personal buddy. I could send them outside every morning and trust that Danny was in good hands while I prepared for the club.
(update: I now have two little boys in my lap as I type. This is comfy!)
Here are some recent pics.

Ashleigh is trying to get Danny to smile!

Joshua is always happy in a lap.

Look how strong he is....and very serious as he lifts himself up!

I will try to be better about posting. We should have lots to share in august with birthdays and traveling!

Can you tell me how to get...how to get to....

Sesame Street?!?! We met a celebrity today. The one and only Cookie Monster came to the Children's Museum today and we decided to go check it out. Sesame characters are dear to our heart. Our favorite is probably Elmo, but he is followed closely by Cookie. Well, Danny was not a fan of the monster in person. I guess there is a big difference between a monster on TV and one in person.
We do enjoy that show, though! While most people are talking about who was the Bachlorette's choice and who is going to win So You Think You Can Dance, I will be talking about the hilarious sketch I saw on SS. For instance they were cracking me up last week when they did a spoof on Deal or No Deal. Those writers are really good. It was a Meal or No Meal game show with Cookie playing the part of the "Baker". Yeah, it was funny.
Here are the Gaskills with Cookie.

Danny is crying at this point! Poor guy!
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And we have another sign that our kids mean a lot to us....or maybe just that we like free food. Friday was Cow Appreciation Day and if you dressed up as a cow, you could get free food at Chick-ful-A. Joshua and I were full cows. My costume had a blowing up mechanism that when in use it makes me pretty wide and hard to miss. Sadly we have no pictures(convenient!) Danny and Scott wore white shirts and black spots to be half cows. We actually hit up two stores...one for free dinner and one for free dessert. Then we enjoyed the outdoor(free!) concert at Short Pump Mall. Danny was the entertainment for all the people seated around us. Cost for the night...what ever amount of gas it takes to drive 1 1/2 mile from our house and back. Pretty nice...and part of what we love about our new town!

Danny's new chair! Thanks Nana and Max!

Dancing to the music!

Let's Party!

We celebrated the fourth by watching our neighborhood parade, swimming at the pool, and cooking out with our neighbors at a block party. Danny discovered that he really loves watermelon. We haven't had it at home since last summer, but I think it will be on our shopping list this week.
Saturday was a fun day with two parties(woohoo!) We were so exhausted when we came home that Danny went straight to bed without his bath. mmmm, smelly boy! It was a fun day, though! We celebrated our friend Caroline's first birthday at her grandparent's house. Caroline is such a sweet little girl and we have loved hanging out with her and her mommy this summer. I think Danny was hoping the Elmo toys and slide were coming home with him. He does have a birthday coming up soon, so maybe we will have to put some things on his wish list for mommy and daddy to buy!
Then we went home, grabbed our key lime pie and brownies and headed to spend a few hours with our playgroup friends and their parents. We had a great time at the cookout and even attempted to get a picture of all the kids together. You can imagine that nine 2 year olds would have a tough time sitting for a picture, but it was surprisingly successful. Not everyone was smiling, but at least they are all in the picture!
Enjoy the pictures from our busy day...check out the rest of the photos at our picture site http://gaskills.smugmug.com

The birthday girl!

So much cuteness in one place!

Ready to go!

Happy 4th of July! What a blessing to live in the United States of America...we are blessed with freedoms and opportunities that most countries in the world do not have. Traveling overseas has taught me to be thankful everyday for our great nation. I hope everyone has a wonderful day with family and friends!
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Anyone who has traveled anywhere with two children knows how hard it often is to just get out the door. Depending on where you are headed, it can take even longer than ever expected to get ready, load up, and go. A trip to the pool is one of those trips that takes a really long time to get ready for. There are swimmy diapers, bathing suits, sunscreen, hats, towels, juice, and snack....and then I have to get myself dressed in my suit and cover up. Of course, after you put on the swimmy diaper, you have to quickly get to the pool...or wait to put it on until you get there. But of course it is soooo fun that all the trouble is worth it.
All that explanation was needed to convey my disappointment when I got everyone ready to go to the pool with my parents and then drove up to the pool on a swim meet night. Fortunately, we live VERY close to Short Pump and the Walmart. One plastic pool, the backyard, and a hose.....not quite the same, but still fun! And I will definitely be putting it to use this summer.


Golf in the pool!


All smiles...we like our new pool!


At least we got wet!


Even Joshua enjoys outside time!