Another Birthday and Summer Fun!!

Well, June has been a very busy month for us. I helped oversee our church's VBS program, Brock celebrated his 3rd birthday, we went to Brown County State Park for a summer vacation, and celebrated both Father's Day and our 12 year anniversary on Sunday. We've had a great summer thus far and can't wait to see what the rest of the summer has for us. Here's Brock with his birthday strawberry shortcake. He loves fruit of any type, but he could eat a whole bucket of strawberries by himself it we let him. I guess that's why the good Lord brought him into the world during strawberry season!!

Hope had no fear at the water park at Brown County. We had to watch her like a hawk. She absolutely loved the water and swimming every day.

Claire's favorite part of Brown County was swimming and going on a 40 min horse ride. She just made the cut-off of 8 years old to ride the trail by herself on a horse. It was a more challenging ride than she or I thought it might be. The guide took Claire and I on a very muddy, rocky, hilly ride. Luckily Claire had a great horse. However, mine wasn't the greatest and I'm just glad that I didn't come back muddy from being thrown off.

This was probably where we spent the most time. In the Abe Martin Lodge water park. It was perfect for kids of all ages!!!

Claire's 8!!! (Another Post Follows)

It's so hard to believe that our little girl is 8 years old. Claire wanted to have a campout sleepover for her birthday this year. Since the weather has been wet, to say the least, we decided on a camp-in. She had a few friends over and, of course, two crazy sibblings. Claire likes to make everything dramatic, including opening cards. Notice also that she got a hair cut. She's been asking for a short "do" for quite some time. Striking a pose!! Brock will be embarrassed someday that he got into the action. However, since the girls are all 5 years older than him, he may think it's pretty cool to know the older girls.

Where the actual sleeping occurred, or lack there of!!

As usual, Hope liked the gift bags best.

April Happenings - Late!!

Hope is really growing up on us. She has gone from baby to a girl who knows exactly what she wants and how to get it. She's still very much a Momma's girl and rarely shows others her sweet smile, so here it is.

Brock is now really into cutting ("tutting" as he calls it). It's amazing how a single piece of paper can turn into confetti in no time! Claire's 2nd grade class had a field trip to the Shedd Aquarium which I was lucky enough to chaperone. We had a great time!

The night before we went to the aquarium Claire insisted that her and I have the same manicure and pedicure for the field trip. She, of course, had more in mind than just a simple pink. I haven't had this crazy of nails since high school. I was just happy she wanted to be seen with me, as well as our fun nails. We had to paint Hope's toes as well - for the first time!!

Earth Day Essay Contest Winner!!

We are so proud of Claire! She won the Earth Day Essay Contest this year for 2nd grade. Last week she received a call letting her know she had won. On Thursday they had a school wide Earth Day convocation and just before hand they asked Claire if she would read her essay. She said yes and did a wonderful job, so we are told. Several people including teachers, aides, and students all commented on how well she did and how clear and confident she sounded. Claire was the only one from her school that read an essay that day. Other schools from the area were also included so some grade winners came from other schools. We were proud and surprised that she had the confidence to get in front of the whole school (2nd-5th grade) and read her essay as well as do a 'Happy Dance'. It was a great day for her as she also got to jump off the big diving board during swimming class that day. The picture is of her reading it at the Renssselaer Earth Day Celebration last Saturday, not quite as intimidating.

Salvaged Spring Break

We are back to a normal work/school schedule this week and finding a routine. Last week was Claire's Spring Break and our plans were changed several times. Luckily we were able to salvage some fun out of the week on Friday and Sunday.

We had actually started for a trip to Indy on Monday only to get a call from our driver that he had laid the semi and livestock trailer on it's side with a full load of market hogs. We turned around immediately with very sad and crying kids. It was quite a scene with lots of people and pigs everywhere. TV 18 even showed up and State Road 421 was shut down for 5 hours in Medaryville.

On Friday we were able to get away and go to Lafayette for the day. The kids loved playing at Chucky Cheese and the park. Our friends and neighbors, the Redlins, invited us on a day trip to Chicago which only worked into the schedule on Sunday. We rode the Amtrak from Rensselaer so we didn't have to deal with traffic. Brock loved that we were riding on a choo choo train. Claire got the surprise of her life when we showed up at the American Girl's store. She has been asking and saving money for one for a very long time. The plan was to get one in May for her birthday, but what can you do when you're walking down the street and run into the store. It was priceless to see the look on her face when she realized where we were at and that she was going to get her doll. After a difficult week we ended it on a high note and are glad to be getting back to normal.

Random Happenings

Today after church we arrived to find these two furry fellas "playing". I think Angel (our dog) thought she was playing, but the ground hog was definately defending it's ground. We wondered why Angel was digging so many holes around that tree. Now we know why. The bad news is that both Angel and the ground hog saw their shadows. So we're either going to have 12 more weeks of winter, or maybe they offset each other and spring is here!!

Cousin IT showed up at our house the other day. Oh, maybe that's just Hope without her hair pulled back. It definately doesn't slow her down, though. She loves riding around on Brock's very worn John Deere tractor.

Here's one for all the outdoorsmen. Mark has been hunting for a "wall hanger" trophy buck for over 10 years now. About two weeks ago he noticed a deer antler in the yard. A closer look showed it to be the nicest one he had ever been able to call his own. About 5 days later, the match to the pair showed up in another part of the yard. After all the years of sitting in the freezing cold at 5am to get the perfect one, it showed up in our yard. A perfect 13 pointer without any mess to go with it. I think it's a sign from God saying "Here's what you've been looking for, so now just sleep in on those cold fall mornings."
HERE'S YOUR SIGN - You could be a redneck if........you look like this guy!!!

Polka Dot Girl

Itsy bitsy, teeny weeny, polka dotted, Hope Eileeny!! Here's a photo of our latest bout of illness. Hope had a reaction to the antibiotic they put her on. It actually got worse, but is now finally getting a little better. Bring on spring!!!!