Week #3 of Summer in Review...

So this week was good.  It was really nice not to have anywhere we had to be this week (like camps)!  I have had lots of backup plans for the summer of things to do (not just going places, but just things to do around the house) in case the kids got 'bored' or started bickering too much or whatever.   I have been pleasantly surprised at how they are just playing.  Together.  Without fighting so much.   There are times I want them to practice their instruments or do their chores or whatever, but I'll hear them being creative and playing and will decide to just not ruin it.  It has been really nice and I'm so glad the kids are enjoying each other.  Bo and Noah also do so much better when the older kids are here and can help direct their energy. :)  Will is especially good at engaging them and I appreciate it!

Bo and Noah had their last swim meet on Thursday night.  They could practice next week, but I'll just have to see if I feel like getting up early enough for that all week.  From the first week til the last, they have shown so much improvement and absoulutely LOVE doing swim team.  They have really grown to love a certain coach and he was so great with them.  I have kicked myself that I didn't make the older 3 do swim team.  It would have been tough with baseball and camps, but I think it would have been worth it for the lessons and just getting up and movin' early each morning.  And the exercise. 


Luke had a tournament last Sunday.  It was really hot!  They won one and lost one.  Luke did good and it was fun for him to play in his first all star game.  He has another one this Sunday (tomorrow).  It will be so hot!!  My mom got to come watch him play last Sunday and then spent some time with us on Monday, so that was fun.

Luke picked #31 for his birthday date

The kids and I (except Luke) went to pick blackberries at a 'farm' down the street the other night while L was at practice.  We did it on a cool-ish evening and it was fun.  We road our bikes there and back.  I love evenings like that and it's fun that all the kids are old enough to do that kind of thing now.  We went again on Friday morning with my sister and her kids and it was MUCH hotter!  Then we hit the pool, which was nice.  The temp on my van said 101 degrees Friday afternoon!  I have lots of blackberries to freeze, if the kids don't eat them all first!

From our first picking (1 gallon...$8)

I took the kids to Carowinds for about 3-4 hours on Wednesday.  That was fun and it was before it got super hot!


Big man has been playing his drums and loving lessons still...
He plays Until the Whole World Hears, White Flag, several Switchfoot songs, Where We Belong, and some more.  It's fun.  He is teaching Luke, Bo, and Noah and that is a hoot.

Cooking...this week KK made the mint chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches for G's birthday, as I mentioned before.
Noah made spaghetti and salad for supper Weds night.  He, I'll have to say is probably my most involved cooker.  He really seems to love it and gets into the whole cooking part, not just the finished product.  Maybe I have a future chef on my hands. :)

I really went out on a limb and prayed for no chopped off fingers and let him cut up the veggies.  He and Bo have great fine motor skills so I figured he'd be ok as long as he took his time and didn't get distracted...and he did. 

He loved assembling everyone's salad, and he even grated the cheese...

Luke cooked for Friday night pizza night and made the peperoni pizzas (dough in breadmaker).  He grated the mozz cheese from a block and everything. :)  He couldn't be normal in any of these pictures...

Luke has been my most scatter-brained cook yet and I do doubt he will make it in the kitchen alone...I say that with love.  :)  He is a funny guy and made me laugh more than anyone else has in the kitchen.  He turns everything I say into a song or funny saying and it makes me laugh.  He reminds me a lot of his daddy. :)  Poor guy did make the comment that I have the easiest job in our family though (because oh my goodness...they have to go to school!) and he will regret ever saying that.  He will be walking alongside me doing some 'easy' chores for the next few days.  Oh, and he was VERY proud of his pizzas!

He also made an Apple Cinnamin Dessert Pizza that was really really good!

Got a busy Sunday coming up...Will and Luke both have tournaments and it's gonna be a scorcher.  Yikes!

Birthday Season is Upon Us...

Geoff turned 38 yesterday.  He starts off our summer birthdays, followed by all 4 boys, who have July birthdays.  We also have 4 cousins who have June and July birthdays.  There is a lot of party-goin' and gift buyin' during these months (and thank you note writing)!  Kendall wanted to throw G a surprise party but I told her people usually do that for the 40th b-day.  She said if we did it now it would be a real surprise.  So true.  But we didn't.

Instead, Kendall and I made mint chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches for him.  We made the cookies and the ice cream homemade.  They were really good!  I can't say enough how much I love our little rival ice cream maker.  We used this recipe for the mcc ice cream.  And this recipe for the whole thing.

G got a new lawn mower and weedeater for a combo Father's Day/b-day gift (that I guess he ultimately bought himself since he's the only one who works for $$ around here).  So for his b-day he didn't get much.  We got him a bunch of candy (treats at work) and Grasshopper cookies (his fave) and a freezer mug.

The kids planned an elaborate scavenger hunt for him to find all the candy and cookies and it led him to the living room where Spongebob was cued at "Sweet Sweet Victory" to play and we all jumped out to say surprise.

The kids had made b-day signs...

Kendall's

Luke's on the right. Will's on the left, inspired by Bob Ross.

Bo and Noah's with some help from Kendall.

Faith, Family, and Freedom Celebration...

My sister bought extra tickets for this event and let me and the 3 big kids come along with her and her 2 kids.  I am so glad she did!  It was a wonderful night.

Tickets are only $5...so if you like Christian music and fireworks and don't mind sitting on hard bleacher for 4ish hours, then you should go next year!

We saw Laura Story, Sidewalk Prophets, Big Daddy Weave, Building 429, and Mark Shultz perform.  I enjoyed Laura Story but she wasn't the kids' favorite...we enjoyed Sidewalk Prophets and were surprised at how many of the songs we hear on K-Love are by them...Big Daddy Weave was my least favorite...Building 429 rocked and we LOVE some of their songs (Where I Belong!!)...and Mark Shultz was good but his voice was sort of nasally at times.  It got a little long near the end, but the kids hung in there and really enjoyed it all.

Then they had wonderful fireworks that coordinated with lots of other good music like God's Not Dead, Shine, and tons of other great songs that went well with fireworks.  I got my fireworks fix for the season. :)

The kids and Angie with Lug Nut (the concert was at the drag race place)

LN is a big NC State fan apparently

Kendall with big cousin Lindsey

Luke and Will with Austin



Angie and me

The seats Ang got were great...they let people that were far away come stand on the road in front of the stage.  Not sure if my ears could have handled that closeness.

Building 429...awesome

Will was literally taking notes during the concert about the drums, etc.  He tickles me.

KK wasn't feeling 100% because of her bad ear ache, but she made it and enjoyed the music.

3D fireworks glasses

It was a great, great night.  So thankful for good Christian music that the kids and I can both love and they can be inspired by as they learn to play their instruments.  This was my kids' first concert and they were big fans.  Next stop...Toby Mac at Christian Music Day at Carowinds in September.  That will be more than $5 per ticket, but we cannot miss that guy!!! 

Week #2 of Summer in Review...

I mentioned the other day that I am loving our quiet reading time after lunch.  That continued to be a favorite this week.  Another of my favorite things we are doing this summer is our cooking time.  It is supposed to be on Wednesdays, but sometimes I have to do it on other days.  I realize that I am terrible when it comes to letting the kids help in the kitchen.  I like my cooking time to be quiet, clean, and I like to think while I cook. When I let one kid help, the others seem to congregate and want to help too and it just becomes too much for me and I send everyone away. 

So...having each kid assigned to 5 things they want to cook this summer and doing it gradually over the summer has solved those problems.  My mindset is different when I know a kid is going to cook and they don't all gather around wanting to help since they know they'll have their turn another day.

This week Bo made chocolate chip cookies and they were soooo good.  We got to use some of them for our 'thoughtful thursday' activity and take them to a neighbor.  He was very proud of his cookies and we all enjoyed them!!

Licking the bowl was a treat for him...

Luke went to basketball camp from 9-12 each day and had an OK week.  I'm so glad we have a few weeks with nothing officially planned ahead of us!

Will and G got their new baseball tops.  I'll have to say that G didn't look as goofy

in a uniform as I thought he might.  He was actually kinda cute! :)

Kendall stayed busy one evening doing this...



She and Lauren next door had a lemonade stand and made 18 bucks together.  That was a nice treat!

Kendall made chocolate chip muffins almost completely on her own.  I love that she is learning to cook...

Bo and Noah had a swim meet Monday night and did pretty good.  It was our first REALLY hot and miserable swim meet.  We ended up signing out of Thursday's meet b/c it was supposed to be the same and I didn't know that I could take it again. :)  It ended up being a great night because L and G went to baseball practice, K was at a sleepover, so I just had the 3 little boys at home and that is always a fun treat.

Will cooked Chicken Caesar salad and cheesy french bread.  He hung in there the whole time and worked hard.  It was a good eye-opener for my little guy who often complains about what's for supper and eats it fast and then wants to wander off.  He realized just how much work goes into a simple meal.



After supper the 3 of them rode their bikes and I walked to a little creek thing we have around here and we ended up bringing 7 tadpoles home to watch grow into frogs.  It was a fun night with just the 3 of them.  Will loves playing with Bo and Noah so much and loves to be the boss for a while...and B and N just eat it up and love Will in return..

Friday night Will had his official all start area tournament.  They lost their first game and 2nd.  The 2nd was so close and we should have won, so that was a bummer.  I tried to take some pics, but I have to sneak and be quick or he'll turn away...

His team may end up playing in some more small tournaments throughout the summer but it won't be as intense with practices, etc.

Miss KK has been complaining of her ear hurting and I finally took her to the doctor and she had an ear infection.  It was so swollen inside that the drops couldn't even get to the ear drum, so he had to put a little thing in there to hold it open.  She's been on drops a couple days now and it still is really hurting her.



Saturday night we went to Faith, Family, and Freedom celebration.  More on that later...I loved it!

Sunday Luke had a tourney and now we are pooped as we enter another week.   Who said summer is a break?  :)

 (Not sure why I'm feeling the need to document our summer...I think it's because I'm trying to be intentional about things we do and how we spend our time and it helps me to write it all down and see it.  Who knows if this review thing will last.)



Virginia Creeper Trail Trip, Part Three (Last)...

So after we rode down the trail on Friday, the kids and I went to get ice cream while G searched for and barely found a shuttle to take him back up to get the van (it was getting late for them to run). 

Then we hung out at our place until it was time to go eat supper.

The kids enjoyed some watermelon we had brought...

Flowers K had picked on the trail made for a nice decoration in the cabin....

 

More creek play...

These guys spent about 45 minutes talking about walking to the other side.  Luke was trying to get someone else to go first.  They would get 'the manliest man award' if they did.  Eventually L and K went over there and it really wasn't all that big of a deal. 

Bo crying because he didn't get the manliest man award...

We had one more episode with the tubes, but this time no one was on it, thank goodness.  A local had to fish (literally) it out of the deep waters for us.

We went for a late supper at Quincey's Pizza, which has become a beloved place for us.  Pizza and wings made for a great supper. 

 

Something neat happened at Quincey's.  We were waiting for our food and a man walked over who had been sitting near us and he told G that he had played golf today and had a good day (I guess won some money) and wanted to help us out with our meal.  He gave Geoff $25 cash.  Wasn't that nice?  I have heard of that happening to other people (Tanya B!) but it has never happened to us.  It was such a sweet blessing and also a good lesson for our family to talk about...When you feel the urge to do something nice or out of the way for someone, just do it.  You never know how it will bless them...never mind your own fears or wondering if you 'really' are supposed to do it.

We had another nice night in the cabin and finished up our movie, then went to bed tired.

If I could change anything about our trip, it would be that I told the kids (and G agreed) that the TV did not work.  Downtime is too easily filled with TV when it's available and I hate that.



Videos...

This first one cracks me up.  Watch it until Luke gets all the way down.  His splashing, squealing, and flailing in the water make me love him all the more.  :)

This is Bo and Noah going down.  You can see when G turns it off, things are getting serious.  The rest of the adventure was not captured on video.  :)