Kayaking

Today was a gorgeous day.  It was one of those picture perfect summer days.  80 degrees, slight wind, blue sky with a few clouds here and there.

Of course, when you add in sand and water it just makes it that much better.

After church today, the Putman family came over and we all hung out down at the beach.  The fun thing was that they brought their kayaks.  Mark graciously took each of the girls for a spin.  He said that when he asked Selah where she wanted to go she pointed to the middle of the lake.  Ha!  Both girls did great.  Mark was surprised at how brave they are and how wakes from passing ski boats only added to their fun.

 In the meantime, Isaiah was having a grand time playing with sticks and sand.

Lovin' Summer

Teething = Sleep

No, I didn't mis-title this entry.  Most parents might have said Teething = Sleepless Nights.  I am so glad this isn't us.

Isaiah is quite the teether.  His first two teeth appeared at three months without us even noticing.  At thirteen months he is working on teeth #s 13-16.   Now he does have some side effects to his teething.  There is always lots of drool.  I mean lots.  He always gets a runny nose.  And the most wonderful side effect is that he takes extra long naps and still sleeps through the night.  It's almost as if he goes to sleep in order to hide from the pain (and no, I don't medicate him).

Unbelievably he will soon have all of his baby teeth.  After this round of teething he only has his two year old molars to come.

VBS Week

Vacation Bible School is a very exciting week in the life of any church.  It is fun, busy, and most importantly a week of sharing and teaching the gospel to children.  


This year I took on the role of directing VBS.  Wow!  It is challenging and exhausting but very gratifying.  This year we averaged 124 learners.  We ran VBS Monday through Thursday 9 am - 12:15 p.m. and had a family program on Thursday night.  We did this in hopes that we could reach more families.  


God was so good to us.  My mantra for the week was "The battle belongs to the Lord!!!!"  I needed these encouraging words because I did feel the spiritual battle.  The first battle came on Monday morning at 5:30 a.m.  Our niece came to stay with us for the week.  Stella is a sweetheart but being that she lives in Michigan on EST this was  a natural time for her wake.  "Lord, I am weary but you are my strength."


Monday afternoon Selah woke from her nap with a 103. 5 temperature.  At 2 a.m. Tuesday morning her temp had reached 105.6.  I took her to the doctor right at 8 a.m. and it turned out she had strept throat.  "Lord, you are in control of things.  Lord, you are our healer."  Being that Kevin and I and basically all of our friends were involved in VBS, we set up a sickbed for Selah back in the church offices.  She missed out on two days of VBS.


Wednesday was a day of celebration!!!  Eight children stated that they wanted to begin their relationship with Jesus Christ and accept him as Lord.  We as a family were especially excited because Stella and our neighbour Oliver were two of the children who made professions of faith.


Thursday was another day of celebration.  This year we challenged the VBS learners to give an offering that would benefit a church in Joplin, MO that had been affected by the tornado.   We added a challenge to the giving.  Boys vs. Girls.  If the girls gave the most, Mrs. Sheckler would throw a pie at Pastor Kevin and if the boys won a pie would be thrown in Mrs. Sheckler's face.   This year the offering was over $800 (well above past years' average of $200) and Pastor's Kevin's face was creamed.:)

Check out our niece Stella cheering in the background.

Again, a fun, busy, challenging, and encouraging week. 

Isaiah's VBS nursery class.

Selah's 3 &4 year old class.

Stella's 2nd grade class.

Sofia's Kindergarten class.

"Lord thank you."

Hand stand class

When Sofia was 3 1/2 years old I enrolled her in a 10 week gymnastics course through Parks and Rec.  It was a great opportunity for her to gain skills of balance and body control.  The best thing that came out of that class was our friendship with the Dancas.  While Brooke and Sofia were in class together, Amy and I were in the parents room with our 6 month old baby girls.

This past April, being that Selah was now 3 1/2 years old, I enrolled her in a 10 week gymnastics class that just ended last week.  It was at the same place, on the same day of the week, at the same time of day.  And she took the class with Aubry, Brooke's little sister.

Selah loved it!!!!  She called it her "handstand class".

Getting ready to jump in the pit.  Aubrey is already in.

Can you see her?  She is hanging on the bar.:)

I'm listening to Coach Rick, mommy!

Swing time!

Now that both girls have taken a gymnastics class you can only imagine all of the "tumbling" that takes place in our home.   I must admit their handstands are looking pretty good.

Six Flags

The amusement park Six Flags is less than five miles from our home and we drive by it quite often.  Sofia was two years old when we moved to our current home and has been asking since day one if she could go on the roller coasters.  Knowing that we couldn't really afford a day at the theme park we would simply tell her that when she was six we would go to Six Flags.

Sofia turned six this past year but being that we live in the Midwest, Six Flags is only open May - October.  However, this winter, Sofia took part in a reading program through her school that rewarded her with a ticket to Six Flags for reading x amount of time.  Summer has come and it was time to go to Six Flags.

Thankfully we were blessed with the opportunity to go by our dear friends the Dancas.  They have had season passes to Six Flags for the past couple of years and they know this park inside and out.  Monday, June 13 it was bring a guest for free!  Now we can use Sofia's free ticket on another day and sweet Brooke gave Selah her free ticket that she earned from the reading program.

Amy, Brooke, and Aubry hosted Mommy, Sofia and Selah with a really fun day at Six Flags.

Ready to begin their fun-filled day at Six Flags!

Where shall we go first?

Triple Play was the first ride of the day.  Lots of spinning and swinging high but the girls LOVED IT!

Teacups!

I enjoyed the expressions on the girls faces as the ride went up and down with sudden drops.  Pure excitement.

This is The Whizzer.  A roller coaster.  Mommy was a little anxious being that Sofia and Brooke were in the front car and there were many dips, twists, and turns.  My fears were relieved when I saw Sofia raising her arms and at the end of the ride when the girls were chanting, "One more time.  One more time!"

Gotta love those tooth changing smiles.

Bugs Bunny!

Wonder Woman (women)!

Sylvester.

Sweet friends.  They held hands most of the day as we walked from ride to ride.

One of the few rides where the sisters rode together.

What's a day at the amusement park without funnel cake?  And a funnel cake sundae at that.

Don't forget the cotton candy.

Carousels are always a favourite.

Smiles at the end of the day.

Last day of school --- Part 2

 It was such a great first year of school for Sofia.  Here she is heading to the bus stop on her last day of school.  (Check out her first day of school here.)

 Miranda, Simi, and Sofia were the three Kindergarteners in the neighbourhood.  Simi left a few weeks early so she and her family could attend a wedding in India and spend the summer there. 

 School bus #3.  Sofia LOVED taking the school bus and when I asked her if she wanted me to pick her up from school on the last day to go do something special she said she would rather ride the bus.  We did have the best bus driver ever.  Miss Laurie took great  care of our precious children each day.  She would give them candy treats now and then and even provided the kids with a flower to give to us mommies the Friday of Mother's Day.  We really hope Miss Laurie is our bus driver again next year.  It was so sad saying goodbye to her.  We were all in tears including Miss Laurie that last day.

The tears soon went away once we began to celebrate the end of a wonderful school year with popcicles, popcorn, and juice boxes.

Time to catch up!

I can't believe it has been so long since I've posted on our blog.  Needless to say we have had a very busy couple of weeks preparing and executing VBS at our church.  This week I hope to catch up.

"Z" day.

Today was the last day of Kindergarten for Sofia.   The tears began yesterday after school and were there again this morning when she woke.  She is very sad to be leaving Mrs. Jones and Kindergarten.  

The last 26 days of school were counted down through the alphabet.

A - Animal - bring a stuffed Animal to school

B - Brilliant Beach Day - bring a beach towel to school

C - College & Career Day - wear favorite college apparel or profession

D - Doodle Day

E - Exercise Day 

F - bring a picture of your Friends or Family

G - Games Galore

H - Hat Day

I - Ink Day

J - Jazz Day - listen to jazz in school

K - boys are King for the day

L - Letter Day - fun with the alphabet

M - Movie Day 

N - Necklace and Necktie Day

O - wear Orange  to school

P - Popcorn Pajama Day

Q - girls are Queen for the day

R - Read a Good Book

S - Sports Day

T - wear your favourite T-shirt day

U - U.S.A. day - wear red, white or blue

V - Visit a first grade class

W - Water Day

X - exchange autograph day

Y - wear Yellow to school

Z - Zoom Zoom! no more school

We are very proud of Sofia and the accomplishments she has made throughout the year.  She improved her reading and writing, and learned to add and subtract.  She learned about amphibians (she knows the difference between toads and frogs), sea animals, and plants.  Sofia enjoyed learning in her weekly computer, music and library time and the twice a week gym time.  And she also learned some practical things as well.  Like it's okay not to always have to be the first person in the bus line, or not everyone is going to like you everyday.  


The greatest thing we as parents believe Sofia learned this year was to love learning.  This is such a great gift and we are so thankful to Mrs. Jones who helped to instill and reinforce what we as parents are teaching her.  It was a great year.  And yes, it was a very sad day.  But in the midst of her sadness, Sofia is still VERY EXCITED that she is now a first grader.:)

Her class picture.  Sofia (or as the pic says, "Sopfia") is on the front row in the middle.

Suh-muh!

Oh we have waited patiently for summer to arrive.  We had an unusually cold and rainy Spring.  Just this past Sunday the temperature was in the 50s with rain.  AND IT WAS MAY 29.  Needless to say we have struggled with our attitude, tried our best not to complain, and kept enjoying our indoor dance parties.

But hallelujah!  Come Monday, May 30 SUH-MUH arrived!

Oh it was a most gorgeous day.  With blue skies, green grass, and the trees finally bearing their fresh new leaves, the outdoor thermometer read 90 degrees.

And what do warmer temps mean?

It means once Sofia gets off the school bus we run inside, change into bathing suits and head to the beach.

Here are the girls on Memorial Day.  It was their first day donning suits.

 And this was Wednesday after school.  The girls and the neighbour boy just enjoying life at the beach.

Oh we look forward to many, many of these days over the next few months.

Uncle Todd

I realized that due to Uncle Todd helping to take many of the birthday pics, I didn't get one of he and Isaiah. 

This pic is actually the next day on Memorial Day while we were at the village parade.  Daddy was at the park preparing for the Memorial Day service that he was a part of so that left Isaiah and Uncle Todd with 7 girls.  They chose to stick together.:)