Just some more pictures from our day to day summer living.

The Atlanta Falcons put on an evening football clinic.  I heard they had several hundred kids that came out to run drills.  The staff was shocked at how many kids there were.  They were asking if football was just huge up here.  I wanted to shout out 'yes' but it was probably the free event that drew people.  There are very few free kid events around here!

Our church had an annual hike and then cookout.  It was our first year going and the boys had a blast.  They especially loved throwing rocks in the river with all the other boys.  (Photos taken by one of our pastors)

My silly Jacob

Look at the big campfire marshmallows

I love when my boys iron.

I found this on my phone.  This is Jacob.  They are really watching the top teeth.  The upper ones with braces are permanent teeth.  Not sure how the other permanent ones will drop down in there!

Joseph out riding.

Here is a picture of the quilt I did for my niece Kendall, for high school graduation.

Enjoying a visit with my niece Kelsey and her husband. The days sure are hot, but we have gotten out and done some hiking and sight seeing. It is rare for me to take luke warm showers and to sleep without lots of blankets, but that is exactly what I have been doing!

Happy 4th of July.  I wish I had it together to put up a patriotic post, but, well, I don't.  I seem to be doing well to get my pictures off my camera and phone once a week!  

Pretty low key summer so far. 

Here are some random pictures.

I love the selfies my kids take with my phone!

Our small group bible study met in a different location last week and Joseph was so excited to see they had a pool.  It sure was cold, but it did not stop this guy.  Everyone was shocked at how long he stayed in there.

Jacob getting in some mowing time with Jose.  He has it under control.

The local food bank offers free meals M-F for kids at local parks in the area.  We don't utilize this as much as I wish we did.

One of their meals.  It is their way to assure that the kids are getting at least one meal a day during the summer.

The local library had a program on drums.  This guy is amazing and interacts wonderfully with the kids.  He even travels periodically to his teacher's village in Africa.

We are gearing up for my niece and her husband to come visit.  They arrive tomorrow and we are so excited!  Gonna get out and do lots the next week!  Just not real sure when I will get pictures uploaded!

4th grade talent show

On the last day of school, there was a 4th grade talent show. I was so excited when Jacob told me he and a few friends had signed up. (I had been telling him the whole school year they should do something.) Well, here is the video of their performance. It is about 3 minutes long and mostly repeats, but was so cute and a crowd favorite!!!!

This is my first attempting downloading to YouTube (the only way I could get it off my phone~it is private download) so hopefully it comes through as it should.

 

Happy 13th birthday to this kid.

I told him recently that he can claim something that no one else in the world can....he gave me the title 'Mom'.  He celebrates this week at camp!!

(I have lots of pictures to share and hopefully this week I can carve out some time to get them all downloaded)

When I drove Jacob over to camp, I opted for the road less traveled and there was some beautiful scenery.  (Took Bree along to run)

On our way to camp, we stopped at the Natural Bridge Caverns.  Wow, the water was flowing.  This is where the water flows under the rock (thus creating the natural bridge)

All I could think about was someone falling in and having to travel through that little hole.  Made my stomach turn as we have had several 'falling into the river' water deaths recently around here.

This is the side it comes out.

We ran into Jacob's school buddies who were also heading to camp.

On Sunday we took Jacob over to camp! He was a little bummed to realize some of his school buddies were not in his cabin. However, I was so proud of him, that he did not sulk and eagerly met some of the other kids in his cabin, even if one of them was initially rude to him. He extended his hand and introduced himself and then proceeded to get lost in a game of basketball.

The camp is tucked back in the woods...really beautiful.

Could not believe the wall to wall bunk beds.  They are so small, hoping the only thing they are gonna do in there is sleep!

It is a week long camp.  He will ride the camp bus home on Saturday and then we will turn around on Sunday and take Benjamin for his week.

So, it is quiet this week.  Benjamin has started a few mowing jobs.  He and Jacob have both committed to helping me with my boxes.  Hopefully they will both be able to earn 20-40 bucks a week.  Benjamin is saving up for 8th grade trip to Washington D.C. and Jacob is always saving up for something...I think he really wants a phone and does not want to wait for us to buy him one when he is a little older.

Quick check in.

Looks like rain the next couple of days. Benjamin leaves for 4H camp today and will be gone for 3 nights. Jacob leaves on Sunday for week long camp and then Benjamin leaves the following Sunday for week long camp. So lots of coming and going around here.

It snowed in the higher elevations today! Crazy!

The younger two went to the dentist today. Poor Jacob. He grinds his teeth so bad that the pulp is starting to show (its baby teeth but if it continues with adult teeth, will need a mouth guard). The dentist said the teeth kind of adapt so that is why they do not hurt. The dentist is recommending to the orthodontist that several teeth be pulled. He just has no room! Will be interesting to see where we are in about 3 years with him.

I played in a one day tennis tournament over the weekend. I lost the first match, won the second and lost the third. It was great to get on the court, but man, my body has aged significantly since I last played competitively :-). I got really frustrated because the last match was one that I just beat myself mentally. The other player hit drop shot after drop shot. I would make it to the ball, only to be lobbed over. Ugh.

We finally got Bree a laser pointer. She goes crazy for that thing! It is also fun to watch her with flies. She tracks them and then pounces on them, then proceeds to eat them! Ugh.

Not much else happening around here. Will be quiet with at least one kid gone for the next 2 1/2 weeks!

A few weeks ago I went out to a local youth ranch to take some pictures of an event they were having. Joseph went along with me.

This family caught my attention.  This mother was pregnant with her 12th child.  She had 5 girls and 6 boys!  I can't imagine.

As we left, Joseph wanted to ride his scooter on the deserted road. We were in the middle of nowhere.

3 days left of school. On Friday we are having a sundae party and inviting everyone we know to stop by to celebrate the arrival of summer. Would be fun to make it a yearly tradition and watch it grow of the years. The boys are writing up their summer contracts (expectations, bedtimes, etc) Jacob has asked me to put together some workouts for him to do this summer. Would be fun to do them alongside him! We have lots of conversations about what it takes to be an athlete and the daily disciplines. The other day he wanted to see how many times he could bench press 50#. He asked me to do it and was shocked when I did it 20 times. (I am so glad I can still impress my kiddos!)

Allergy season is fully upon us. Poor Jacob suffers so much. I think we finally found a combination that at least holds the allergies at bay. On Sunday he took a 4 hour nap and then still went to bed on time.

Benjamin went to the dentist the other day. The dentist says he does not push orthodontia but that Benjamin really needs to go back to the orthodontist to prevent some huge problems down the road...breaking of teeth, tmj and other things. It appears that his back teeth only meet up in two different places. So, I have an appt for all three of them to go to Jacob's ortho. I guess the ortho needs to prioritize my boys needs! Maybe if Benjamin's needs are more so than cosmetic, insurance will cover it? Joseph seems to have Benjamin's bite, so we might need to take some aggressive measures with him. If there are things we can do now to prevent more stuff later, I am all in.