What's This? A Blog Post???

 Well now. Five months. I told Danny it's time to either blog again or just be done with it completely. I'm not feeling ready to just say I'm finished though so here I am! It's been a good summer, eh? Plenty of stuff to keep busy with but also plenty of days where we just didn't have that much to do.

Memorial Day weekend we had a trip to Pokagon State Park for a couple nights. There was one point where Summer and her cousin went missing on a trail which cause some mild panic, but they were reunited with adults fairly quickly so all was well. If I remember right there were a couple others that got lost in the shuffle too, and nobody knew for sure where they were for awhile. Apparently communication was not our strength that weekend!

Then it was right into our two week VBS. A time that is simultaneously exhausting and energetic!

Date night for Danny's birthday! We had supper at Portillo's before doing mini golf and go karts!

Our dear friends, the Herrmann's were passing through Indy on their way to their vacation destination. So we went down and spent the night at a hotel and hung out with them for about 24 hours. It's always so good to have time together with them!

Sawyer and Danny did a father/son t-ball thing with some guys from church. They would play a game, do a devotion, and have a snack. Saturday mornings were an exciting time during May and June!

Our family split up for a weekend at the end of June when I went to Illinois for Angie's surprise 40th. We were not on top of things when it came to planning, and our plan A fell through.  But our plan B turned out to be loads of fun!

We spent the afternoon at our brother-in-laws place, where there happens to be a pond. And some kids happened to find this turtle. And Summer happens to want a pet (always). And her uncle happened to have a little cage at his house leftover from days of yore when his own kids were young. And so we happened to come home with the aforementioned turtle. His name is Tony and he still survives.

We really didn't have plans over July 4. We borrowed our neighbor's fire pit and had a little cookout with the kids. It really was way too hot for a fire but still fun.

Tanner was a little scared of the fire so he set up camp away from us underneath the trampoline. He demanded his food and drink be brought to him in that spot and that is where he stayed for all of supper! He did overcome his fear a little and move closer during s'mores time though:)

There were weekly trips to the library- sometimes more than once a week! Not too much though, because I didn't want it to get old for the kids and have them not enjoy it.

All of us went to Illinois for Harvest Call's Proclaim and Serve conference. Well, the kids stayed with grandma and didn't go to the conference. Tucker wanted his picture taken on her  chicken statue!

It was such a good conference with a lot of information and thoughts to try and soak in. Friday night Danny and I did a Cost Of Poverty Experience that was very impactful. Then a whole lot of speakers on Saturday and a whole lot of seeing friends from near and far, many of which we haven't seen in so long!

One of Summer's birthday presents back in May was a certificate to go pottery painting. She had the choice of me taking her and a friend or going on a date with just her and Danny and me. I'd say daddy ranks pretty high! It was a fun night out for all of us:)

Summer had been asking for a long time to make fresh squeezed lemonade so one day on a whim I finally bought a bag of lemons and they went to town! It was harder work than she thought it was going to be but they all stuck with it until all the juice they could manage to squeeze out was in the pitcher!

I'm a little too good about just watching the fun from the sidelines... so sometimes I just have to remind myself to enjoy this while I can and get in on some of the action!

And then it was time for the lakes.

The thrill of the catch. This girl loves to fish!

We had less than 24 hours at home after the lakes before we left to do the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum with my family. It was a little rushed, but worth it! And who doesn't love having grandparents help you load up on sugary breakfast food while you watch TV in the morning?

It. Was. Hot. Sooooooo Hot. At one point we took an ice cream break but Summer looked at me like she was about to throw up or pass out from the heat. So we grabbed her ice cream and headed into the bathroom building, hoping to find a bench in the common area. We didn't, so we slumped to the floor and propped ourselves up against a wall while we tried to cool off. After resting, sharing the ice cream, and getting a nice big drink of water, we felt much better and Summer was definitely going to survive:)

Such a neat place!

As far as the museum goes, I would love to go through it without kids! They still enjoyed it, but there's so many interesting things to read and we just couldn't.

But Danny got to be part of holding the giant python!

Thanks, dad and mom for a great weekend!

After that, it was time to get ready for school and find things to do to make the last couple weeks not drag by! Playgrounds, playdates, screen time.... we made it work!

One of Sawyer's friends invited some boys over to have a lemonade stand and bake sale. The money went to a charity and they were rather successful!

And then finally it was time. Our last few days we were all very ready for break to be over. Tucker will join Summer and Sawyer in a couple weeks when he starts preschool so I will have just one for awhile! 

And may it not be five more months until I blog again:)

Florida 2023

 Our trek to Florida has came and went. Whhhhyyyyyyyyyyyy does it always go So. Fast. Huh?????? Anyway, we started by meeting my parents half way and sending Tanner home with them. He may have liked Florida, but we liked it way better without him. Maybe next year, buddy! 

We drove through the night and the kids did great. A little melatonin never hurt anyone.😉 We couldn't get into our place until 4:00 in the afternoon so we had some time to kill. We decided to check out Disney Springs which was fine, but now crossed off our list. Maybe with a little more planning and a little more sleep it would be better. But it was fun to see the LEGO store at least.

Then we just got bored and really tired and it was time to go to our house anyway.

We've always gone to Ft. Myers Beach, but Hurricane Ivan brought that to a screeching halt. My SIL found a house in the Orlando area that could accommodate all of us and had some really cool stuff! So while we missed FMB, this was a really great backup plan!

Hours were spent in the ninja room...

...and in the arcade room! Including an epic battle between a few grown ups on the basketball arcade game:) I was not a serious competitor as my personal best was nowhere near the high score. I'm sure that comes as shocking news to you all.

There were three theme bedrooms in the house and our kids were thrilled to be able to sleep in the Mario themed room. There was also a pirate room and a Candy Land room.

We visited the world's largest McDonald's where we ordered pizza, pasta, and some yummy chocolate cake and cheesecake!

These birds were not afraid of humans and camped our right in front of the house!

And swimming. Lots and lots and lots of swimming.

Summer, especially, was a little fish. She would start right after breakfast and go until bedtime, taking breaks only for food if we would let her go that long.

Oh, and she also was introduced to the beautiful pastime of reading by the pool.

Last year at FMB I decided to buy a hat to help shade my face and to keep my scalp from getting burnt. It came with a t shirt that I had all the girls in the family pick a number to win. So this year on our non FMB vacation, we had to model our apparel:)

We spent one afternoon at Clearwater Beach. The water was cooooooold!

Aunt Cassie had the kids all help her make this super cool sand dolphin!

Popsicles at the clubhouse pool!

One night we made up a buddy system for the kids and all the adults went out for seafood. The older kids successfully got the kids fed and entertained with a movie while we enjoyed our time out.

So much good cousin time:)

Finally it was time to reunite with our bubby. I think he had a fine time with grandpa and grandma:)

It was a little rougher of a drive on the way back home. Not bad, but we had to stop and switch out drivers a lot more after a week of late nights and sunshine. We were pretty thankful to pull into our driveway late Saturday afternoon!

Until next time, Florida. Until next time.

The End Is Near!! (The End of Winter)

 Well we've all but made it through the winter season. Officially anyway. But we all know that sometimes here in the Midwest we still have snow days in April, which is just plain wrong. However, we fill up our days with some mundane and some extra stuff that's not mundane and here we are!

Summer took great delight in dressing up Tanner like a little old lady.  I mean, I didn't blame her:)

Guess who figured out the reverse camera on my phone?

Tucker in particular is quite fond of it.

A visit to the doctor in jammies while carrying a puke bowl. But the hope of medicine and a popsicle to soothe the strep made all the difference in the world:)

We've loved trading babysitting days with these friends!

Date night: round one. And after three weeks of no sweets because of our current health challenge we're on (which is aaaaaaallllllllllmost over!), Crumbl Cookie tasted pretty good!

Summer could play in the snow for hours.  She drags her brothers along, and one of them discovered that when mom actually gets the appropriate clothing and boots, it's not so bad!

A lot of times I'll sit on my bed during afternoon rest time while Tucker does his in the living room. Tanner does not believe in naps anymore and while I try to somewhat enforce a rest time for him, I usually end up with a little visitor a lot sooner than what I'm really ready for.

Date night: round two. We go in spurts and it's either feast or famine with date nights. But we do what we can when we can! And also we escaped. With the help of a lot of hints.

I guess just a quick 20 minute winter walk is the trick to get him to nap.

After watching the circus, Summer made her own circus. She loves to sculpt and wiki stix have fallen into the category of things she can sculpt and mold with.

The best way ever to fill up a winter weekend with no plans: the local hotel!

After asking to "do spowts" for a very long time, Sawyer's dream finally came true.  He loved playing basketball at the Y this winter and is ready and waiting for next year!

And speaking of "spowts", I was rooting for the Chiefs this year, simply because we have friends in Kansas who are big fans. Sawyer informed me he was rooting for the Eagles. Which he did the whole way through until the very end when it was clear that the Chiefs would win. Then he quickly switched loyalties. Learning how to lose well is a work in progress!

I helped with the class Valentine's party this year and took a couple extra buddies with me. 

At home for Valentine's day we had a jello slurping contest. Along with ravioli with red sauce and chocolate covered strawberries. And that was the extent of our celebration!

One day at the library I watched as Tanner put the turtle together with no help and about dropped my jaw. But after some experimentation I think it's the only puzzle he can do.

Sunday night family outing to walk around the mall.  Too bad we are out of touch and had no idea that it closed at 6:00 on Sunday nights. It was pretty short but sweet!

Another winter walk; this time along Lake Michigan on a girl's getaway weekend. The ab workout for the weekend came from laughing.

A quick pic on a gorgeous and unseasonably warm day with my girl:)

Crazy hair for Dr. Suess day!

I spy some cute little toes. It's a good thing winter is almost over because our wardrobe is just limping along. But I think we'll make it without having to buy anything until next year!

When you have to take gather all your dear children for a trip to get your haircut. They did great until the very end at which point the stylist was very willingly helping me gather both my things and my dear children:)

A quick trip to IL where Summer became an eager learner with a hammer and nails.  We now have a stack of nailed together 2x4s in our house that I'm just not sure what to do with.

Again with the wiki stix scenes.

And again with the reverse camera.

Not pictured is our 9th anniversary! We had plans to go out but we cancelled on one sitter when their mom got sick and then our back up sitter had to cancel because she got sick! It was nasty weather outside so I was more than content to just stay home. But we never did get an official anniversary picture. Oops!

We got hit with the stomach bug. Again. And are praying for the Lord's mercies that the second half of us go unscathed. And feeling a little anxious about it all. So....

Philippians 4:6-7

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."