One monkey

If you are looking for CJ, I am sure she is hanging around here some where.

 Bars that wiggle

 or swing

 side by side

 twisted around

or under a bridge, she is swinging away and enjoying every minute.

Vaction Bible School

A highlight of our summer is always Vacation Bible School.  This year due to schedules, the price of gas, and life, we were not able to sign up for the one we normally take part in.  So I brought it to us! I invited a few friends and we had a grand time! 
While I have worked tons with Bible camp and VBS in the past, it has been a few years so I felt very rusty.  And this crowd of the younger set.  So it was a mini VBS for only a couple of hours, but we all had a really great time!  Here are the highlights:

 We talked about the importance of serving, using Gal 5:13 -14 for inspiration.

 We made books about the Story of Jesus.  Covering several of his miracles, the favorite one that the kids kept talking about was Jesus walking on water and Peter having the Faith and Trust to do the same.

 My heart sang, each time he saw a cross, he said "Church!"  I love watching their faith grow and even as a toddler identifying symbols and ideas!

Thanks for the help! Using tacky glue with toddlers can be precarious, but once we got everyone on board that the mommies squirt the glue it was all good.

 This was painting story board cookies.  The idea was that each child would paint a picture representing one of the many stories we covered.  However, with this crowd it was really nice that no one ate raw dough, threw it or touched someone else's.  They enjoyed painting to various degrees...everyone enjoyed eating.

 At age 2...little attention span once mommy directed him to not dig holes in it

 At age 4, the determination to use every single color, leaving not a drop in the dish if possible. Also make your own new muddy colors and cover the entire surface area.

At age 6, while focused on all things rainbow, she recognized the shape of the dough and painted an Easter Egg.

Funny side story. While I prepped for the painting, I pulled out and used our Easter kit dye dishes. Upon seeing the dishes, with "paint" in them, the little guy pulled out the carton of eggs and promptly began to dye them.  That was the biggest mess of the project, thank goodness!

 The jelly bean prayer craft was the one the kids enjoyed the most. And we didn't even have real jelly beans to make it an even sweeter craft!

We also sang songs, read stories and played games.  In the comfort of our own home, with a laid back feeling, with friends, it was really a good time had by all!

Daddy Dearest

Happy Father's Day!

I am pretty sure the kids get their antics from you, and this picture sums it up!

So here is a big wish for a Happy Father's day!

And option #5

Always have fresh cut up fruit on hand.  Kids love it and help themselves!

 

Or Fresh sweet peppers.

Beat the heat option #4

Read!

CJ was really excited to learn that her reading to her siblings would count for her time as well as theirs, for the summer reading program!

 Oh how we love the bus library, yes we do! Those should keep us busy for away!

A fantastic summer read:  Black Heels to Tractor Wheels by Ree Drummond!  Such a lovely falling in love with a cowboy book.  It is witty, sweet and a quick read, perfect for summer!

Another quick book review for you. Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen.  Very fun, quick read!  When she talked about the top 5 shame foods that she had to take in her lunch, number 4 was persimmon raisin cookies.  I laughed, she really didn't like raisins growing up and paired with her classmates having Twinkies, these cookies were the worst to her. We have made these cookies and like them! They are moist and  yummy.  There was such familiarity to her journey, it felt a little like home to me as well.  Now, I didn't grow up Mennonite, but the German food, working hard, and the adventures life throws at us, I could relate to.

Option #3, for beating the heat

Turn on the sprinkler!

Beating the heat option #2

Get croup and be stuck at home, catch up on movies about big trucks and cuddles!

How to beat the heat Option #1

If you are feeling the heat and it is getting you down, don't fret or frown, go to town and go bowling!

He really needs his own lane.

As long as the AC is in working order, this can be a fun way to spice up your summer day.

Today on the 12th.

Today is June 12th.

Today we celebrate Twelve years of marriage. Seven different homes in five different states. Three beautiful children and one hyper dog. Note, nearly all those numbers are prime.  When I say 7 different homes, I don't count the storage room we lived in for a month, or the transitions that included couch surfing with various friends and family members. Or the "homes" we each set up while apart.  I would count up the deployments, schools and TDY's, but I would run out of fingers and toes to help me. I won't figure out how many we have actually shared together, because I think that number would make me sad.  I married a theatre undergraduate with big dreams.  Now I'm married to pilot for the USAF.  No matter our plans, God has bigger ones.

From the windy chill and blizzards of North Dakota to the smothering sauna and hurricanes of south Texas, we have lived along most of I-10 and Central Time zone. Rarely do we travel (other than to see family) together, but between the two of us we have seen many countries and most of the states and could be considered globe trotting.

Enough of the sappy sap. Someone has just rubbed Vicks on his head, someone else has stood upside down for so long her nose hurts, one can't find her shoes that were on her feet not more than 5 minutes ago, and I was just told something that is needed right now first needs to be washed -yesterday.  Or some variation of all that is going on, my time is up here.

Sweet summer time favorite!

 He was so busy watching Daddy eat his big ice cream cone, he was forgetting to lick his own.

It got a bit messy.

It might look like Daddy was having a hard time keeping up with his cone, but he had finished his and was sweetly helping K-man stay ahead of his dripping mess.

Thursday: Things that keep us busy

The masks are also handy to keep your anonymity.  It comes in handy. Just sayin'.

Daddy's office

We had an opportunity to go and check out the plane, inside and out.

Daddy did not go with us.

He did not meet us at the plane.

He was busy golfing and attempting to get a specific hole in one to win a brand new Jetta.

He did not get a hole in one. It only sat in our driveway because he was in charge of getting it to the tournament.

However, we had a fabulous time without him scientifically explaining anything. It was really a lot more fun this way.  We explained it all ourselves.

First we saw the size of the plane.

 Here is the fancy mumbo jumbo about the plane.

Fun true fact: it has a train air conditioning unit on it, modified of course since it was meant to air condition a train and not a plane. Confused the company once when they called trying to figure out to fix an issue. The company was floored once they learned it was being used in a plane and not a train.

There are 2 pilots because they have four of these things they have to cranked by hand to get it going.  It goes faster with 2 and keeps everything in better balance. They also have a special ladder on wheels I think.

 This is where R2D2 can fix things externally while in flight.  They also occasionally have contests as to who can catch the most bugs in their teeth during take off.

 So easy, a 2yr old can do it.

 Most of those gauges are just for show. It makes the pilots feel like they are important.

 This is one of the nap time beds.  It can actually become a bunk bed, making for a total of 3 nap time beds, one is in the cockpit.

 This is the time out chair in the way back.  A very secure 5 point harness. Lesson here, mind your P's & Q's.

See ya next time!