I'm all ears....

Mason made these ears in Sunday school.  He thinks they are so cool.  They are a good reminder for him to listen.  This craft was a great visual for the younger kids.  We talked a lot about keeping our ears open and listening to our hearts and what God has  for us to hear. We also talked about how God wants little children to listen to their parents and teachers.  I am co-teaching Mason's class and it is really awesome to see the little kids excited about attending Sunday school and learning about Jesus.

Maybe I should make some of these ears for myself.  Sometimes I could use the reminder too :)
Jennifer

New Things

Tired.
Very tired.

No, not Alice.
Me.

Girl Scout Camp.
Need I say more?

Alice and I spent the entire day at camp.  She zip-lined, learned archery, crafted, sang, put up a tent, learned to use a compass, opened and shut a pocket knife and much, much more.  And I followed along behind her with the water, snacks and camera.  It's a tough job but somebody's gotta do it.  I may have even tried out the zip-line.  Just between you and me, it was really fun :)

Jennifer

I Can See Clearly Now....

Samuel now has glasses.  He is amazed at how much better he can see with them on.  I think he looks very handsome and older. 

Peachy Keen

Who knew that 4 kids could eat up an entire bag full of peaches. In less than 2 days. One lone peach left. For now. Who knows how long it will last!
Thursday really cannot come quick enough. We need more fruit!

We are loving our fruit share from the CSA.  This is a pretty blatant add for the farm in which we buy our veggies and fruit.  It is my blog after all so I can do that.  At the beginning on the season I wasn't sure about the amount of produce that we were receiving.  The veggie share was really heavy lettuce and greens and the fruit was pretty sparse.  Now the veggie box contains more than our large family can eat (and we can eat) and the fruit share is starting to ramp up.  It has taken me a season to realize how much I need to order next summer. We are eating yummy produce that we wouldn't normally buy and other staples that we couldn't live without.  And it is organic.  Perfect.  In an organic fruit and veggie kind of way.

And the peaches are tasty.  Really sweet.  As you can see, everybody here enjoyed them. 

Huggable in Boots

Again

There they go again.

I so wish that time would stand still.

Kindergarten

Second Grade

Third Grade

There they go.

Again.

To all the babies going back to school and to all their mommas and daddies~ have a great day!

Love, Jennifer

Girl Time

This past weekend, Alice, Paige and I headed to Denver for a girl's overnight.  We went up Friday night and did some school shopping.  We stayed at a hotel and the girls had fun swimming.  Saturday morning we went over to the (new) American Girl store.  The three of us had sooo much fun.  Paige's doll, Gwen, got her ears pierced and Alice's doll, Felicity, got a new pretty hairdo.  The both got to pick out an outfit for their doll and a pet.  After the morning in the store we went across the street to eat lunch.  The restaurant caters to American Girl shoppers and had seats for all the dolls.  The dolls (really the girls) even get a free dessert. Very cute!

Wordless Wednesday

Getting close...

Well, we are nearing the end of summer vacation. There are 8 days left.  I am trying to be positive and enjoy that last few days with my kids before we go back to the routine of school and fall activities.  The truth is I am really sad about the whole thing.  I am sad that Paige is going to Kindergarten and won't be home with me any longer.  I am sad that Sam is going to 3rd grade and moving up with the big kids.  I am sad that my sweet Alice is growing up and seems more like a 7th grader than a 2nd grader.  I am also really excited for all of them and the places that they are going.  I will not cry, I will not cry, I will not cry.  Who am I kidding, I am going to ball like a baby. If you happen to have been there when Sam went to kindergarten, well, let's just say, it wasn't pretty.   He was screaming, I was doing the ugly cry.  Sooo, I am getting all the crying out this week.  If I see one more commercial for school supplies....Okay, now I am better and ready to blog about all the positive things we are doing before the fist day of school.
In sticking with our summer schedule we finished our mural as our art project yesterday.  Sam added an anemone, Alice painting a school of blue fish and Paige completed the bottom of our mural with seaweed.  They were very proud of their creation and have already decided that we will paint a beach scene next summer.  They informed Scott last night at the dinner table that they would like to put it on the gym wall.  He didn't seem quite as excited as them.  Huh?! I wonder why?!?!?

Today we headed out for a field trip to the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center in Woodland Park.  Kids (my kids anyway) are always enthralled with dinosaur bones and fossils.  This museum focuses most on dinosaurs found in North America and Colorado. 
My favorite line from today came from Sam.
Sam:  Hey Mom, that Megalodon makes a Tiger Shark look like  goldfish. 
Me: What's a Megalodon?
Sam: Mom, really.

Check out their faces.  They were pretending to be scared of the dinosaur.  Too funny. 

After my enlightenment at the Dinosaur Museum we headed to the park for a picnic and a bit of running around.  A great field trip day.  Not sure where we will end up next week but I am trying to think of something really fun for our last day before the start of school. 
----------------------------------------------------

The past weekend our kids finished up swimming at the state competition. Our team hosted the event this year so everybody had to chip in and help out in some way.  Alice swam two events on Friday and Sam swam three events, one Friday, one Saturday and one Sunday morning.  I was so proud of both of them.  Way to go, Sam and Alice! You guys rock!!! 

Have a great Tuesday! Tonight Sam will be competing in his final duathlon of the summer. 
Jennifer

Michigan 2010. Houghton Lake.

The majority of our time in MI was spent at Uncle Tom's cabin on Houghton Lake.  The kids jet skied and tubed from sun up to sun down.  Our time on the lake was spent relaxing and hanging out. 

The tube was fun on and off the water.

Papa G playing boccie ball with the kids.

What is wrong with this picture????

Cards with grandma.The kids would play all day, every day.  The good thing is, so would grandma.

Papa and Grandma with all the grandkids. The last time this picture was taken was 5 years ago and minus Billy and Mason.

Out by the campfire. 

Thanks for putting up with checking out all my vacation pics.  We sure did have a great time in Michigan.  Thanks to Scott's parents for all they do while we are there.  We always have such a nice time!!!!

Love, Jennfer