Lake Day!

 We have been so busy this summer that we have hardly gone to the lake at all! The G family invited us to come to the lake by where they are staying so we gathered a few friends and headed over! 

 

  

 

Normally there is a TON of goose poop at this beach, but there was hardly any even though we saw a whole flock of Canadian geese while we were there.

 

We stayed for three hours and the kids enjoyed volleyball, paddleboarding, kayaking, and playing on the floating mat. 

 

 

 

S brought her paddleboard and she, Peanut, and B took it out. 

 

 

 

The water was cold but they all stayed out there the whole time...except Lou who would run back shivering every thirty minutes and trying to get warm, using a clean towel each time. :P 

 

 

Boo and E walked around the lake to a friend's house and borrowed their kayaks and then paddled them across the lake.  

 

 

I was worried about "I" because he was the only boy but he joined in with all the girls and had fun. Here he is leading the brigade. :) 

 

 

They had a lot of fun with this volleyball circle. 

 

Ms J, Ms. B and I also had fun, just sitting there chatting while the kids played. Such sweet friends! 

 

 

We are going to miss them when they are gone! 

Funny Friday

 

 

Happy Friday! :) 

Parade!

 The day after Peaches got home from camp was also her re-birthday and our town days and parade! I made them pancake cereal for breakfast and she got to open her Adventures in Odyssey. 

 

 

They are getting rid of the discs in favor of streaming which is such a bummer! You have to pay $10 a month to stream and you can get any series you want but then the minute you stop paying you lose it all. I would rather buy the discs and have them forever. I guess I'm going to have to buy a whole bunch before they stop selling them. We have about 75% so far.

 

 

After breakfast we headed to the parade. At the last minute T, E, and D decided to walk in the parade with the hospital so Peanut and I went and found her friends to hang out with. 

 

 

Ready for candy! 

 

 

The girls did a good job of throwing candy out to all the kids on the sides. 

 

 

And Peanut and her friends did a good job collecting it, haha. 

 

 

There were three floats in the parade this year! The Princess program is dying out and we have only been having one or two for the last couple years so I was happy to see that maybe it will have a resurgence. 

 

I can't complain too much though because I'm part of the problem...Boo thought it might be kind of cool to do it but I wasn't willing to tackle it. The families have to spend literally hundreds of hours building the float and then every weekend from May-September going around to all the little towns and doing parades. I am not willing to make that kind of commitment and I guess a lot of other people aren't either. But I'm happy a few still are! The girls' friend F was the Queen of our town this year.

 

 

Another town had this adorable fairy float. I thought they did a great job! 

 

 

And this is the big one from the city. 

 

 

Everyone did a good job with the parade this year and the girls had fun looking through all the booths afterwards. I always feel like summer is half over once the parade is done...it's going too fast!!! 

Wordless Wednesday

 

Lou's Week

 Lou was definitely at loose ends without her sister-bestie around for a whole week. Thankfully by the time we got home from taking E to camp on Monday it was pretty much time for bed. Tuesday she got to go to her friend C's house for a playdate. That afternoon she kind of followed me around, not really sure what to do with herself. 

Wednesday we went to town for groceries and errands, and then got things ready for the ladies "salad supper" that night at church. She got to hang out with Daddy all evening while I was at that. 

Thursday was her best day because we invited her friend B over and she got to stay for the whole day. They had a ball running all over the house. They played all sorts of things and after lunch I let them make cookies.  

 

 

I only helped them a tiny bit! They did a great job! 

 

It was pretty hot so they changed into swimsuits and ran through the sprinklers and squirted each other with the hose. :)

 

 

 Then they swam in the hot tub for over an hour. They had a blast!

 

 

Friday was the town chalk contest so we headed down there shortly after breakfast. 

 

 She chose to do Bingo and did an amazing job with it! Normally she just does a few quick things and is ready to go but this time I was hurrying her along as she spent a full hour working on her creation!

 

 

 And it turned out so cute!! She added the funny quote from Bluey, "Nice parking spot Rita!"

 

 

As soon as she was done we ran home for lunch and then hopped in the car to go get Peaches! She definitely missed her sister, but she did a good job keeping herself entertained all week. 

 

Camp!

 Another great camp season has come and gone! This one was a little more chill for us because Boo only worked two weeks. It was nice to have her home more and not just for a few days in the month of July. Peanut wasn't planning to work at all but Pastor J still wanted the younger teens to go to Staff Training to start getting plugged in at camp and when I picked them up from their week up there she said she was going to work 7/8. 

I asked Boo to try to get at least one picture of her and R at teen camp but they didn't so I took this when they got back. :P 

 

 

They got to talk in front of the church about their week at teen camp. Boo had a much easier week than she did last year with a nice calm group of girls. :)

 

She always does a great job speaking in front of the church. 

 

 

Peaches went to 11/12 camp even though she is only 10 because all her friends are older. They had 5 girls from our church together in the cabin and Peaches was SO excited when we got there! 

 

She was especially excited because the girls saved her a top bunk! The kids that ride the bus get there two hours early because staff has to be there early so the top bunks are always taken by the time the other campers check in, but Peaches asked A to save her a bunk and they did. She was thrilled. Here they are all sitting on her bunk. :) 

 

 

Boo drove up with us to drop her off so she could say hi to her friends that were working that week. 

 

 

And then 4 days later Lou and I headed back to pick up our girl! Here she is with her cabin leader E. 

 

 

It sounds like they had a wonderful week and all got along really well! Peaches even won a contest for catching the biggest fish of the week! Her prize was a fishing pole but since we don't fish she gave it to her friend A.  

 

 

We packed our car full of girls, stopped for ice cream cones, and then hit the long road home!  

 

 

Apparently Nala missed Peaches the most. She melted into her shoulder as soon as she was picked up. So sweet!  

 

 

Boo and Peanut both worked 7/8 camp. Boo was a cabin leader and Peanut was a Timothy. It was her first week ever working at camp and it sounds like she did a wonderful job! The older teens were impressed with how well she did and she said she had a really fun week! She got to be R's Timothy and they got to have Lou's best friend B in their cabin! B's mom sent me this picture.

 

I'm so proud of Peanut for branching out and trying something new! She was not too excited about working at camp, but she gave it a shot and ended up doing a fabulous job! I asked Boo to get a few pictures of them up at camp since I wasn't going to be up there to take any pictures of them. Silly girls. :P

 

 

This is Boo and her two Timothy's for 7/8. 

 

 

And the girls with B. This was B's first time working at camp too. So proud of these girls! 

 

 

They had to get up that Sunday and say a little bit about their week at camp. Boo's week was a little rough because she had a particularly naughty camper that gave her quite a bit of trouble but it sounds like she had a good week otherwise. 

 

 

 

Peanut did a great job sharing! I know it's not easy to get up in front of 125 people and talk, but she was clear and concise and expressed herself well. 

 

 

So proud of our girls for working hard and using their time to serve God this summer! Now we are praying that each of the campers that were up there will take the words they heard to heart and continue growing closer to Jesus each day!  

 

 

 

 

 

FOURTEEN!

 Peanut is a high schooler! That seems so crazy to say! She is such an old soul that it feels like she's been a teenager for about five years now which makes me feel like she is just in this never-ending teenager place, but high school means that she only has four more years at home. :'( I know it is going to go so fast. But for now we are just going to enjoy the time we have and make the most of it! 

Peanut is so much fun. She has this very quiet, perfectly timed wit that cracks us up at the most unexpected times. She always has something funny to interject into any conversation, but you have to be listening carefully to catch it. She doesn't like repeating herself so if you miss it it's hard to get her to say it again. 

She is as creative as ever and constantly drawing, painting, and creating things. I am often finding bits of cardboard an hot glue on the counters from her latest creation. :P But I am amazed at some of the things she makes!

She had a wonderful year in "real" school and did a fabulous job! She got straight A's, made lots of friends, and tried so many new things! Everyone up there loves her just like I knew they would! She played middle school soccer, volleyball, and basketball! I know the volleyball and basketball weren't as easy for her, but she tried hard and made a lot of improvements over the season. She was also a good leader and the coaches often made her the captain of the games and looked to her to lead the others. That was especially true of her Spring soccer season. She and G pretty much led the team since the new coach was inexperienced and happy to let them take over. We are really proud of her and the leadership skills we are seeing come to the fore front! 

She did an amazing job with AWANA as well and Mrs. J was often telling me how much she appreciated and relied on Peanut's help with the 1st graders. It was the largest Sparky group and sometimes got a little chaotic but Peanut handled it well and did a great job with them. She participated at an entry level with the youth discipleship program this year. She went to meetings, but didn't go on the mission trip. She did get to work at camp and do staff training and then work 7/8 camp and did a fabulous job from what I hear! She also worked two weeks of VBS this summer and did a wonderful job! We are very proud of her using her talents to serve God!

Drama Club was her other big activity this year, and it was definitely a big one since she got the lead role this year! She did such an amazing job playing the Pirate Queen and it was so fun to watch her months and months of hard work pay off when she was up there on stage. I don't know if any year in the future will be able to top it! I'm already excited to find out what play they are doing next year and what role she will receive! 

We saw a store the other day called the Elegant Hippie and thought that fit Peanut well, haha. She loves anything earthy looking, Boho clothes, funky/dangly jewelry, Henna tattoos, bright colored hair, and vintage record albums with music from the 60's and 70's, although to be fair she also like music from the 50's, 80's, 90's, and 2000's as well. She has quite the eclectic taste in music, clothes, and decor. I think it has to do with her artistic creativity. She sees beauty in things other people don't.

Here is her birthday interview:

1. Favorite color: green

2. Favorite toy: RC cars

3. Favorite fruit: cherries

4. Favorite TV show: I don't know 

5. Favorite lunch: hamburgers

6. Favorite outfit: green shirt

7. Favorite game: Super C

8. Favorite snack: goldfish

9. Favorite animal: elephant 

10. Favorite song: More Than a Feeling

11. Favorite book: The Ranger's Apprentice 

12. Your best friend: S, B, L

13. Favorite Cereal: Capn' Crunch

14. Favorite thing to do outside: go on a walk

15. Favorite drink: strawberry milk 

16. Favorite holiday: 4th of July

17. Favorite breakfast: parfaits  

18. What do you like to take to bed: blanket

19. What do you want to be when you grow up: Graphic Designer 
 20. What do you want for your birthday dinner? Texas Roadhouse

 

 Dear Peanut,

 

Happy birthday sweet girl! I can't believe you are going to be off to high school in just a couple of weeks! I feel like your childhood disappeared in the blink of an eye which makes me sad but it is also so fun watching you grow into the young woman God has created you to be. You are so fun and smart and creative and talented and beautiful. I know He is going to do amazing things with your life! 

 

You really had an amazing 13th year and it was awesome watching you take risks, try new sports, make new friends, and star in the Drama Club play. I know it wasn't all fun and games, but you did such great job and we are so proud of you! I'm praying  your 14th year is just as wonderful and exciting!

 

We are so blessed to have you in our family. You always know how to interject the perfect comment to get us all laughing and lighten the mood of any day. I know things can get crazy around here with all our different activities, but I love the times when we can just be home and having fun together.

 

I can't wait to see what your first year of high school brings. I know it's going to be an amazing year of watching you shine bright! Keep living for Jesus and you can't go wrong! Thanks for being you and making my life a better place! I love you more than I could ever say!

 

Love,

Momma