The count down to school!!  This is our last full week of summer.

We watched a decent amount of the Olympics this year.  So fun to finally have the boys old enough to express interest in certain athletes.  We have had lots of conversations about how athletes are not made over night.  You have to train, train and train.  You have to fuel your body well.  You have to get good rest.  Two of the boys wake up and do some training in the morning....sit ups, push ups, pull ups, running sprints in the driveway, etc.  I tell them every little bit helps.

Our 4H group recently had a big obstacle challenge, that the kids really enjoyed.  There were small teams and each team member rotated through doing different elements.  One caveat...whoever was doing the challenge had to hold a water balloon (Joseph put the balloon in his shirt and that is why his shirt is in his mouth).

They still had their balloon half way through (for some reason I did not get Jacob participating or maybe he was just too fast for me to catch up and grab my camera).

This is Benjamin.  He had to get in a raft and hand paddle across a pond.  The last element was a team member pulled the raft out of the pond and then ran around the pond carrying a worm (not sure why a worm...).

Some of the kids swam (Jacob and Joseph).

We had a podium ceremony for the top three teams.  Candy was the prize!

As the sun set it was getting very cold but they ended with a water balloon fight.  Glad our heater works well in the car because we had to turn it on.

It has been a very, very busy week.  We had vacation bible school every morning and then appointments/commitments in the afternoon.  I am tired!  I headed up games at VBS and it went very well.  We had about 50 kids each of the four days!  There was some excitement in that a fire broke out just north of the church.  Most of it was farm land, so fortunately they were able to save the one house that was threatened.  It only burned a couple of hundred acres.  It started when a combine hit a rock.  I did not know but all the dust and chaff it stirs up is like gun powder.  So, assuming when the combine hit the rock, there was a spark and everything went up quickly.  Fortunately the combine operator was not injured.

Here is a picture of the helicopter going to get water.

Benjamin had a great time at camp last week!  He came back with lots of stories!  I swear his voice is deeper.  As he was unpacking his bag he said 'I forgot my toothbrush'.  I just gave him a look and he said 'I tried to eat good smelling food'.  Yuck.  At least he showered more days than he did not!!

Recent pictures from our days.

Joseph and I played some games....

My favorite drink is by far water.  I have to be in a mood to drink anything else.  However, some days I just get to doing other things and forget to drink water.  So, I downloaded a water drinking app.  (I am shocked at what they make apps for ~ just about anything) This guy is my daily buddy....My phone chimes periodically to remind me.

We have found a group that gets together every Friday night for dinner and to hang.  The group fluctuates every week, but when every one is there (which has never happened) there is probably 25 school age kids, most of them seem to be boys!  Benjamin surprised me by digging into the Halloween dress up bucket and coming out to model for us.....

The cows have been hanging out really close most evenings.

For vacation bible school I requested water balloons.  Someone donated these.

I know it is the end of summer and probably hard to find in stores (at least up here) but they are awesome.  Basically you attach all the blue sticks and balloons (on left in picture) to the end of the water hose.  Then hold them inside a bucket and turn the water on.  In less then 60 seconds all the balloons have filled up, sealed themselves and dropped into the bucket.  A little spendy but a great gift (and time saver for parents) for any kid.  Speaking of gifts, I will throw my two cents out there, go for something consumable, meaning it won't be a toy that will forever be around the house.  Things that can be used up...membership to museum or local pool, movie theater gift card or maybe a cookie of the month club, where you give them a different type of a dozen cookies every month.  (This was meant for no one in particular :-), I just often have this conversation with parents that are overwhelmed with all the toys and gifts they receive from family/in laws.)  I also hear that there are biodegradable balloons that don't have to be picked up.

Two recent bridge jumping outing.
Benjamin surprised me by jumping several times on this first outing.  My best guess is that the bridge is about 12 feet from the water.

Of course Jacob was all over the bridge...jumping and hanging.

Joseph so badly wanted to jump.  He probably walked up there a dozen different times, got out there and eventually talked himself out of it.

More of Jacob...between both trips, he probably jumped 40 times.

Some older boys trying to encourage Joseph on the second trip.

JR joined us for the second trip.  It was so funny.  He would not jump from the bridge but he would hang and drop in.  I tried to tell him the difference was only 5 feet.

JR was trying to talk Benjamin into going out and hanging with him.

The guy on top of the bridge was crazy (probably an additional 15 feet)

He did a back flip off.  The one on the right was our neighbor.  He climbed up and jumped several times.

The guy would also run across the bridge and swan dive over the wire.  One the first trip, we watched a guy do that.  However, before he dove, he did not look over the bridge.  We watched the other guy dive off and he literally came about 2 inches from slamming his head into another swimmers back.  Scary moment just watching a near collision, that could have been fatal.

Last week Joseph had a small 'friend' birthday.

We met at the park.  Had water gun fights, rock climbing, ice cream cookies and soccer.

One of the presents he got was a remote controlled boat.  So he and I got out and took it for a test drive.  He managed it very well.

This one had a lot of fun swimming.

She quickly took off for the geese.  I was finally able to call her back.

Then we headed to the dog park.  I was finally able to get a picture of Bree running toward me, full on.

Bree also loves playing fetch with a stick in the water.  There were two other dogs and the three of them would race for the stick and then fight over it, again and again and again.

Another quiet week and weekend on the horizon.  Benjamin has been at camp all week and the younger two have been at day camp.  I have gotten a LOT done around the house.

I have been contemplating what my fall will look like.  I don't want a full time job.  I desire just enough to keep me busy a few days a week.  With maybe one day going to work with JR and the other day running errands, grocery shopping, cooking for the week.  I went and talked with a lady today who works for a company that is currently hiring home assemblers.  It would be 15-20 hours but pretty confident I could do it quicker, because I have always been good at assembly line type stuff.  It pays decent and I can do it in my pajamas.  It requires a lot of boxes/supplies though so not sure if I have the space for it all.  It would drive me nuts to always be stepping over boxes.  The gal really appreciated our talk and suggested maybe a position in the actual warehouse..where there is some flexibility.  What to do?!  At least I have a few days to think/pray about it.

Next week we have vacation bible school at our church and I am the game director.  So my mornings will be spent there.  I will probably come home exhausted from being in the sun and playing with kids all morning.  I have wrangled the older two into helping me and Joseph will be a participant.

Happy 7th bday to this kid!!! My crazy, loud, fun, full of energy dancer/gymnast! What a blessing he is.

We set out recently on our bikes for a three hour tour....a three hour tour (Gilligans Island is running through my mind). Our goal was Pokemon.

This kid was given a pair of boxing gloves by a friend and had to wear them.

The boys took turns finding the Pokestops and spinning for balls, which are used to catch Pokemon, which the Pokemon are then used to do battle in gyms around the town.

Then we stopped off at the library for over an hour.

Jacob and I battled in Jenga...I think I won both games.

They spent a long time building.

This was Joseph's finished church,

Jacob's finished tower...balancing just perfectly.

This is one of the favorite ways to run Bree.  If you can't tell, she is tethered to the bike with her leash.  Makes me nervous but they tell me she does very well.   She is still too hyper to take out without a leash.  Doing better, but there are those times when you tell her 'no', she looks at you, looks at what she wants to chase, looks at you and then takes off.  I really miss being able to run her in the field with the bikes.

Look at this kids cartwheel...almost near perfect.  He is trying to decide if he wants to do gymnastics or football.  I think football is winning out right now.

Another day at the pond.  Our neighbor recently went there and got some bad bacteria.  I guess as the summer wears on that it makes sense it would get more gross, with all the use.  Maybe our last trip?  We will stick to flowing water.  The boys played on rafts and paddle boards which belonged to friends.

I went this week and registered Benjamin for middle school.  After 2 years of homeschooling, it is time for public school.  As I felt strongly about pulling him out after 4th grade, I feel just as strongly as putting him back in for 7th grade.  The electives he signed up for were Medical Detectives, Video Game design and computers.  For his 4th elective he wanted to take guitar, but I told him he really needs to learn Spanish.  It really frustrates me that JR is ESL (English as a second language) and none of our boys speak Spanish and at this point, can not talk to their paternal grandparents.

JR is going backpacking this weekend.  Sunday is Joseph's bday and we take Benjamin to camp Sunday afternoon for the whole week.  All next week the younger two are at a day camp, so I hope to work a day or two with JR.  Otherwise, I plan on starting my whole house (every nook and cranny) purge.  With school starting soon (Aug 31), it will be a lot easier with huge chunks of time to weed out and clean up.  I am not planning much the whole month of September...looking forward to finally having some extended periods of quiet (except going to work with JR).

August 1st!!

Just some random pictures from our days!

Saw this traffic jam the other day!  Seems the small cows had gotten loose.  The lady on the 4 wheeler was luring one of them with a bottle.  (Yet another reminder to me to always have my camera with me because my cell phone just is not adequate.)

 Ben got two baseball hats for his birthday.  It is not unusual to see him without one.  He has never really worn them in the past, but amazing how different he looks in them.

Messing around in Walmart.

More lazy days!  I think we are heading out to go clothes shopping for school today.  Fortunately we don't need much, mainly shoes and a few pairs of jeans/sweats.

We have been in the high 90s but hoping within 2 weeks or so the heat disappears and fall slowly arrives.

The wildfires have started!  Fortunately we don't live in an area that would ever have fires closer than probably 7-10 miles.

Funny things my boys say.....Recently Joseph had a friend over and they played in the sprinklers.  As they came inside, Joseph told his friend "just put your towel on the floor and my mom will pick it up".  Oh boy, did that get a resounding "I don't think so" from me.  Jacob and Joseph have been eating lots of salads lately.  I tried one night to get Jacob to eat a salad with some chicken on it (some chicken that he actually likes).  He was not buying it.  He said "Mom, vegetarian and meatatarian don't go together!)  I still laugh thinking about that.

Other than Tae Kwon Do, hopefully bridge jumping and one appointment, pretty quiet week.  Some of the neighborhood kids are back, so someone for my boys to play with.  Next week the younger 2 are going back to week long day camp, while Benjamin is at a 6 night AWANA camp.