Lena is two

Lena turned two on Sunday and Nicole had the most darling rainbow party for her!

I thoroughly enjoyed shopping for her present in the BARBIE aisle (Grant wouldn't take a step in the aisle, he stood at the end of the row). After opening her new Cinderella Barbie, she meandered over to the corner and just cradled and held her new little doll. So precious.



Happy Birthday Lena-girl!

12- wahhhhhh!

Dylan is 12 today! I know, I can't believe it either. How did he grow so fast? Remember this sweet gorgeous baby?





Now, a sweet gorgeous preteen.





Happy Birthday baby, we love you!

School

The big boys just left. Jack to second grade and Dylan to sixth. I was up early this morning with worry about the weather and about the bus and lockers and schedules...and then I sat down to read my morning devotion and read this:

'Jesus was promising to guard, protect, and care for them as they went out into the world. He assured them that because He cared for simple things like birds and lilies, they could be certain that He would take care of His “little flock” of believers (vv.24-32).

We cannot know the future. But we can know this: No matter what comes, we are under the loving, caring, watchful eye of our great Shepherd, who also happens to be the Son of God!'

And I realized that I didn't need to worry (quite) so much. And the weather, well, it cleared up right before the boys left so we were able to snap the first day of school pics by the mailbox :-) God is good.

Thank yous

Yesterday I took the boys to the Velvet ice cream plant in Utica. It was a beautiful day with practically no fighting. We took a picnic lunch, ate some ice cream, played on the playground, learned about the underground railroad (slaves slept under the gristmill there), hiked (Grant lost his shoe in the river) and fed fish ad ducks. I posted some pictures yesterday.

Yesterday evening, Matt loaded us all up after dinner and we went to the Hartford Fair to watch the motocross races. We sat front row for hours and watched these bikes ramp over he hills. The oldest guy racing was 58 and the youngest 4! I know. I sat beside a mother with three little boys and we gasped at the thought of our boys riding dirt bikes (and the length of the girls' shorts walking around the fair) and decided, after the ambulance took one boy out on a backboard, that we would stick to baseball and soccer. The boys did not agree and all have decided to buy motor bikes, NOT! It was cool, for other boys of course.

On the way home, the boys thanked Matt for taking them and talked about how awesome the night was. My response, no one thanked me for taking them to the ice cream factory :-) Matt just grabbed my hand and smiled. Let's see, ice cream factory or high speed motocross racing? Motocross wins every time!

Summer pictures

Gas poop

Gas poop- definition; a word created by Grant to describe his bowel movement; poop followed or preceded by a large explosion of gas sounding somewhat like a leaky air mattress. Used in a sentence: "Whoa, Mom, you won't believe this gas poop!" or "I just had a huge gas poop!"

Boy scout camp

We dropped Dylan off Sunday at camp. We got his wood finished and it was accepted, yee-haw! He seemed to be excited...









When we were packing him up Saturday night, we put his pack on and he fell backwards. We just died laughing. Somehow he managed to hike 1 mile to his campsite with all of his equipment without falling forward or backward. He walked right up front and didn't ask anybody for help.

Unloading gear.








The pipestone wood.





His looked awesome compared to others...it seems we are now wood experts.



His group, 11 boys and 10 leaders.


Waiting for his medical interview. They interviewed all 400 boys about their medical forms (privacy policy or something).
Finally the hike to his campsite, The Prophet's Rest.


The lake has fishing, swimming, sailing, and kayaking.


The dining hall overlooks the lake. Each troop has a flag and they meet here morning and night for flag ceremonies. I guess there is a canon they shoot off every evening here also.


And here is Dylans campsite and his tent is to the left in the next picture.


We hiked back with the boys and stayed to watch the swim test (100 yards and he passed) and then we headed out. I think he will have a good time, I hope a great time with lots of stories to share when we pick him up.