Skydiving!!

For Mikaela's 18th Birthday we told her we would take her skydiving. Her birthday was in September and this was the first weekend that was available, but she said it was worth the wait!I was nervous for her but she was just excited! Her boyfriend, her dad and our friend Kelly and her boys Gideon, Joshua and Caleb all came to cheer Mikaela on. Grandma (aka Geaba) was planning on coming with cousins Justin and Kimberly but unfortunately was rear ended and was in the ER. It was very odd for me to be there watching my first born jumping out of an airplane when my mom was in the hospital. My mom assured me that she was fine and that I was where I needed to be (she called me when she was strapped to a board in the ambulance).

I was very happy that I have a great lens and was able to get some great shots. My favorite photos were of someone else, bummer. We were not sure which jumper she was so I took pictures of all of the skydivers.

Erik sat through the whole training with Mikaela and REALLY wanted to jump too. I am sure that he will someday. The children were all hot so they sat under the picnic table for some shade and enjoyed some Popsicles that Kelly brought just for the occasion. The boys even enjoyed some basketball while we were waiting.

I cannot believe that I have a daughter who is old enough to go skydiving. The time really does go too fast. Renee once said to me, "The days are really really long, but the weeks go by fast."

That is so true. I value all the time I got to spend with Mikaela as she was growing up and wish that I could have a few more years of influence to shape her into a Godly woman.

Becoming a parent of an adult is difficult and exciting at the same time. You never stop caring. Prayer becomes much more fervent and frequent because you don't have the control that you do when they are young. Ahh, how naive I am I am never in control they all belong to God and should be constantly treated as God's.

Sean and Mikaela are talking about making this an annual event. Thank you very much but I will enjoy it from the ground not 14,000 feet in the air, at least not this year.

Amendment

I was so blatantly reminded last night at 1 and 3 am that I forgot to mention how graciously Sean takes care of the puking that occurs frequently in our home. He doesn't even seem to mind that I always puke when cleaning up so he steps in cleans up and allows me to go back to bed! What a man!!

Happy Birthday Sean

OK so this photo was not actually taken today, but how many of you have a picture of your husband with a Bumbo seat on his head? We celebrated with homemade pizza, strawberry rhubarb crisp and great friends. Thanks to Jason and Jess and their family and to Syndi for sharing the day with us! Those of you who don't know my husband may think of him as quiet and reserved. Don't let that fool you. Once you get to know him is is quite animated and funny in a dry sort of way. He has a special fondness for old books, especially the books you can find at Goodwill. I have evidence by the 4 foot stack of books on our dresser in our room. He loves to read. He reads things I could never imagine reading. One day he told me he was just getting to the interesting part of the current book he was reading "Architecture of Country Homes". He also reads Analytical Chemistry books for fun!
He loves his bees. When I started studying bees with the children in our homeschool he thought I was nuts. Now I think he is a bit nuts. We went from one hive to five (our lot is 1/3 of an Acre). Then we drove a hive over 200 miles (with all the children in the van) to give to Sean's father.
Sean has very high standards and adheres to them himself. He is honest and ethical (almost to a fault).
I admire his integrity. I love talking to him and discovering new things about him, even after 12 years of marriage. I enjoy seeing him with his daughters and the joy and delight he experiences with them. His sons love to play with him, and seek his approval above all else. When they see the affirmation he offers they are filled with pride.
He is a wonderful leader of our family and we all enjoy listening to him read to us. He has patience of a saint.
He loves routine and being home. He likes to keep his family close.
Thank you to his mom and dad for shaping him into the man he is today.
Happy 38th Birthday Sean!

Nature Studies

The Bible tells us to teach our children when we get up, walk along the way and lay down at night. I have found that I have to be intentional with my teaching. A lot of teaching happens by 'accident' but most of it happens when I think about it and plan. I inter-library loaned a great book called "The Handbook of Nature Study" by Comstock. When I noticed the poppies blooming in my front yard I pulled out the book and we read all about poppies.

Then we cut open a poppie and looked at the seed pot. We counted and observed.

Finally, we drew the poppies and are going to put the drawings and observations in our Nature Journal. Taylor loved the exercise and Ian was very through. Erik got it done quick but did participate. Aaron missed out because he is at golf camp.

Solid Rock Family Camp 2009

I don't know if I could pick a favorite part of camp because we all had so much fun! My highlights differ from my children's but since it is my blog I get to tell my best parts. I love being with these friends. The older children help so much with the younger ones and are ready and willing to serve with a smile. I remember when I first started hanging out with Renee our now 9 year olds were little babies in diapers. Where oh where does the time go?
This year the planning was so through and the children so helpful the adults had time to drink tea, and coffee and laugh together.

The adult women were talking about how wonderful Hilary is and how creative she is, we love her! and Brian, her husband replied, "Everyone wants to be my wife!"

It was so classic because he really did not mean it to be about him, but it was.

Erik's team placed 3rd overall but in my opinion they were the best! Both Erik and Sam are high energy and require a bit more supervision and Colin and Judah were so patient and included them in all the activities. During the scavenger hunt one of the items they had to bring me was one live bug. Sam was so excited to bring it to me and when he opened his hand and showed it to me it wasn't alive anymore. Colin and Judah could have been very frustrated but instead they hurried off to find another live bug!

Erik was super helpful and even offered to wash several adults dishes.

Ruby was very seldom with her group but enjoyed every activity. I couldn't help but smile when she came running down the hill crying because everyone used 'her' 300 water balloons. Other than a few 3 year old possessive issues she had a wonderful time and was very happy her papa was there to help her.

Syndi and I slept in a tent with Libby and Ruby and we had way too much fun. I felt like a little kid again talking well into the night. I am not sure how we ended up not sleeping in a tent filled with children but it was wonderful. I know that Chuck did not appreciate it (sorry). Next year I will remember to make sure that I am not sleeping on an incline!

Thanks again to all the people who worked so hard for such a great weekend, and for all the children who participated and appreciated the hard work!

Celebrating Ben

We had the privilege of celebrating Ben's 11th birthday with him. We started the day with a glorious trip to the beach where the children played on Ben's new raft and swam and ate and played. We love the beach and it is even more fun with great friends. We were so excited to meet Ben and we try to not be bitter that we lived around the corner from each other for 5 years before we met! Ben is such a great friend and plays so well with all of the children. It is rare to find a friend that you can spend so much time with and never argue.
Ben is honest, he is fair, he is respectful, and kind. Ben has integrity that is difficult to match. I enjoy watching Ben figure things out and include others with the games. Ben's laugh is distinct and full of joy. He has a smile that lights up the room.

We had this onesie for little Libby that says "Jedi in training pants" and on the bum it says Star Wars. I couldn't resist having her wear it for the Star Wars party and she loved playing with the light saber. Although one of the dads at the party kept referring to her as a he (I guess I can't blame him).

I will have to copy this game of light saber wars where the children have to balance on a half ball and try to knock each other off. It is an all boy game where they learn balance and can hit each other fairly. We did have to remind them several times not to hit in the face! Taylor enjoyed the game as well and was really quite good at it.

Another memory made, another day to let others know how much we care about them but definitely not another ordinary day!

Time Flies

Usually our summer is laid back with many days at the beach and home. Not so this year! I cannot believe it is already July 8th! Ruby has been showing interest in riding a bike but the only one we have around here that is her size was missing one training wheel. I knew where some other wheels were but was too busy to fix it. I gave the box of spare training wheels to Aaron and he went to work! What a great brother.

Then, with great patience and determination he tried to teach Ruby to ride the bike. She wanted to pedal backwards but not forward. They worked together beautifully for awhile until they both got bored.

This is reality. Notice Aaron sitting on the couch in the background. We have been so busy that I have been doing laundry but not folding it. I decided when we couldn't see over the laundry that it really was time to fold. My children are each responsible for putting their own laundry away and they rotate whose job it is to take the laundry out of the dryer and lay it flat (so I can wait to fold and it doesn't get as wrinkled). Taylor helps Ruby and Aaron puts Libby's laundry away. Ian tends to shove his shirts in the bottom of the closet but has to go back to hang them up. Erik does not want anyone to take HIS hangers, he has them color coded and equal numbers of hangers.

It took me a bit but I got it all folded and the children put the laundry away before breakfast so it couldn't get knocked over. Next time I won't wait so long.

Another random photo I found on my camera. Aaron was trying out his new toothbrush. I bought them because they stick to the counter and do not have to be in a community cup where the toothbrushes all touch. I never knew you could brush your teeth with the toothbrush stuck to the door jam..... I guess we will see what the dentist says about how well it cleans. We have 5 dentist appointments tomorrow. Our dentist has a Ms. Pac Man game in the lobby, I must remember to share the game with the children (I will get high score again =)).

Future Posts to update where we have been:

Ben's birthday

Happy 3rd of July

4th of July: Parade, BBQ, Fireworks

Bee Moving

Justin's 10th birthday

And that is just last week!