A Week in July

 I promise I checked the weather several times the day that we were planning to go to the cove in the evening. And I *still* managed to pick a time when the sky was gray and we felt some raindrops. 

Anna had fun taking pictures. 

The church kids had a Nerf event. Isaiah was so excited. The youth group has had epic Nerf nights the last couple years and Isaiah has always wanted his chance. 

It was well organized with lots of different games for all age and skill levels. Below, teams were trying to shoot the other team's pyramids of plastic cups off of igloo water coolers. Isaiah got the last plastic cups at the very last second. He had a lot of fun!

This is why I pickup groceries instead of going into the store. Things like a Pokemon hershey kisses catch my eye and I think "the kids would think this is so much fun" and then I pick them up and buy them. 

Isaiah and his friend, Ian, did the Jr. Park Ranger camp at Janes Island State Park. This was Isaiah's second year and he still really enjoyed it. They did crabbing, archery, took a pontoon boat to the island, and did some fishing. 

 

4th of July

 

Watching a baseball game before fireworks seemed like a good way to spend the evening on of July 3rd. It was warm but not too humid. The game was good until the last inning and I finished a book between innings. Sitting in a line did not make for easy conversation among ourselves! 

The truth is I really like a good fireworks show on the 4th. Being in the baseball stadium you have a seat and the fireworks are close. Anna was the fireworks photographer. 

Our friends, Rebecca and Tim, invited us to have 4th of July supper with them. The kids had fun together. Rebecca's parents and uncle were also there and we enjoyed thinking of major and minor historic events to see if they "remembered where they were." We had all the good 4th of July food and Tillamook ice cream for dessert. 

 

Anna caught the sunset! 

  And we all went to watch the Salisbury fireworks...from a distance....that had a parking lot much quicker to exit that the baseball stadium. It was just a comfortable evening with people who are easy to be around. 

Joy Dare::June

 12,351. Keeping my perspective in the present
12,352. Good Sunday School discussion
12,353. Hearing that our friend is expecting a baby
12,354. Stuck on the couch

12,355. Big kids to mow and string trim the yard
12,356. "I love you" supper tonight
12,357. Catching up with both of my moms
12,358. Observing
12,359. Watching Aliza and theater friends watch The Little Mermaid recording
12,360. Absorbing all the feelings
12,361. Stamina for a longer-than-expected drive
12,362. Hearing about Anna's evening
12,363. Josiah did his part
12,364. Working with a team
12,365. Technology to stay connected to home when I'm away
12,366. A strong body
12,367. Introducing a family to BJU curriculum
12,368. One more "before camp" talk with Aliza
12,369. Being part of a family
12,370. Josiah and Isaiah had the day together
12,371. Enough energy to drive home tonight
12,372. Hugging my sister
12,373. Grocery shopping
12,374. Home
12,375. Bonfire and fireflies
12,376. Anna's opportunity to share her faith
12,377. Making time to play piano
12,378. Finding a new rhythm
12,379. New growth on dahlias every morning
12,380. Talking to Aliza
12,381. End of school lunch with Maria
12,382. Staying long to talk
12,383. John, Laura and Sean having a wonderful evening together
12,384. Coconut opening and tasting

12,385. Isaiah proud of completing PE
12,386. Karen's surgery was very successful
12,387. Sean had a fun day

12,388. Hard news that drive me to pray evening more
12,389. Jeremy could be the driver to WV tonight
12,390. Breakfast with Christie
12,391. Steak supper for the Dads
12,392. Josiah making us laugh at midnight
12,393. A picture of Aliza in her yellow camp staff shirt
12,394. Talking to my Dad on Father's day
12,395. Zephaniah 3:17
12,396. Finding my role
12,397. Talking to my brother
12,398. A day with no hard news
12,399. Hugging Laura
12,400. Teaching Isaiah to mow grass

12,401. Prayer
12,402. Holding Maggie
12,403. Josiah, Anna and Isaiah having fun together
12,404. Watching Josiah play with little kids
12,405. Quieting myself
12,406. Community
12,407. Talking to Aliza
12,408. Island Creamery ice cream
12,409. Packing for camp
12,410. Talking with Josiah
12,411. Safe travel in heavy traffic
12,412. Hugging Aliza
12,413. Sister on the same campus for a week

12,414. Easy drive home
12,415. Talking to a Mom new to homeschooling
12,416. My day with Maria
12,417. Visiting John
12,418. Isaiah and Mom time
12,419. Air conditioning in the car
12,420. Ice cream cone on a very hot day
12,421. Fresh fruit
12,422. An afternoon with a dear friend
12,423. Celebrating Joel
12,424. Reconnecting with a friend
12,425. Isaiah on the slip n slide
12,426. Jeremy had a safe trip
12,427. Seeing Aliza hug her Dad
12,428. Hearing all about camp
12,429. A good talk with Anna
12,430. Campers catching up on sleep
12,431. A little scrapbooking
12,432. Making prayer a priority
12,433. Conversations after church
12,434. Considering suffering and the character of God
12,435. Girls trip to Pocomoke
12,436. Josiah working with Jeremy
12,437. Having Sean for the afternoon
12,438. Anna's smile  

Camp Week

 Camp week was memorable as always! This year held some new adventures. I drove a van full of teenagers to camp for the first time. I may have had ulterior motives in driving--I got to give Aliza a hug. I also got to see the sweet moment when Aliza and Anna saw each other. 

Our youth group was on the Orange Team and wore their orange Crush shirts to arrive. 

I drove home and then Isaiah and I drove to WV and spent a couple days with Grandma and Grandpa. Isaiah is holding it, but I was pretty excited about a fresh fruit salad. 

Anna texted this picture and was so excited to tell me that she had gone on the giant swing in the high ropes course. That was the only time I heard from Anna!

Isaiah and I got to be part of Joel's birthday celebration. 

Ronan kept Isaiah busy. When it was time to leave, Ronan tried very very hard to kiss Isaiah--on the mouth. Isaiah was having no parts of that. 

Josiah talked a solid 20 minutes on the drive home with me when they got back from camp! He had a great time and only had great stories to tell. I asked him if he had a favorite memory and his response was that it took all of the activities together to be his favorite--without any one thing it wouldn't be the same. 

The heat index was over 100 degrees every day of camp. After color wars every afternoon, the boys jumped in the pool to try to give their sweaty shirts a quick clean. 

Isaiah and I spent an afternoon with friends. He didn't think he was going to enjoy the afternoon, but ended up having a great time playing Mario Kart and Minecraft with Liam. We had some time to kill and found. a sale on outdoor summer toys at Target. We bought a slip n slide which Isaiah enjoyed. 

Rain was a welcome reprieve from the heat!

And then on the last morning of camp, Jeremy, Isaiah and I got to sit in on the last large group celebration. It's fun to just get to sit back and watch. The music started and Josiah was up and headed to the front with everyone else. Isaiah now CANNOT wait until he is old enough to go! 

 It was special to get a tiny glimpse into the energy Aliza gives to the campers from breakfast to midnight every day. She also got to give her Daddy a BIG hug. 

A bunch of our group were sick during the week. Anna was pretty miserable on Friday. Josiah was just getting it on Friday. The worst for Aliza was Wednesday/Thursday. 

One more group picture and then I drove a van of teenagers home again. Traffic was terrible again. But we made it. I'll even drive again next year if I'm needed. 
 

I'm so grateful that this is such a positive life-impacting experience for our kids. So life-impacting that Aliza wants to create the experience for all the campers. She is right where she is supposed to be. In spite of the physical and mental exhaustion, she absolutely loves talking to the campers, interacting with the youth group she is assigned to and tells me in almost every polo that she knows that she is living in her purpose.  

So Far This Month

 The day finally arrived for Aliza to meet her team and start her summer camp adventure! She is part of a missions team that puts on week long camps for youth groups. It's our first experience of having a child away from home for an extended period of time. 

There have been some beautiful afternoons for reading outside. 

Anna continues to document our sunsets. 

We acquired a coconut which led to quite the process of draining the water from it, opening it and scraping the fruit. 

Josiah and Sean built a reallllly tall tower!

We spent the weekend in West Virginia. Jeremy and I each got to spend a few hours with friends. Josiah, Anna and Isaiah played hide and seek with Ronan. We got to see Van for Father's Day and see that Karen is recovering well from surgery. 

And we also got ice cream...and took a picture for Aliza. 

 

Joy Dare::May

 12,257. When Aliza realized she can fail the final and still get an A in the class
12,258. Getting to mow the grass
12,259. Last English class
12,260. Isaiah finished 3 subjects
12,261. Aliza's Spanish story
12,262. A very intense game of monkey in the middle
12,263. Going to a choir concert with Aliza
12,264. Meeting a group of friends at Island Creamery
12,265. Crossing off the Saturday to do list
12,266. Hearing all about the SAT when I picked up Josiah
12,267. Spending the evening with Nicole
12,268. Our church community
12,269. First year of college completed for Aliza
12,270. Planning for a few days away
12,271. Keeping my focus on the present
12,272. Spontaneous plans that let Jeremy and I have an at home date
12,273. Jeremy was able to fix the van's air conditioning
12,274. Running into Annie Nichols
12,275. Family
12,276. Stopping for lunch 2 hours from home and friends were there too
12,277. Experiencing NYC--especially with Anna
12,278. Exploring
12,279. Ice cream
12,280. Visiting with our hosts
12,281. Rainy day morning rest
12,282. Afternoon adventure
12,283. Movie night
12,284. Driving out of the city
12,285. Being able to help Aliza in a positive way
12,286. Home
12,287. A day full of friends
12,288. Mother's Day chai from Aliza
12,289. Visiting with Mom and Dad
12,290. Lettuce from Dad's garden
12,291. A hard good bye
12,292. Theological lunch discussion
12,293. The first peony bloom

12,294. Enjoying an orchid on my counter
12,295. Isaiah found a book to read on his own
12,296. Lunchtime with Grandma and Lydia
12,297. Little girl giggles, smiles and stories
12,298. A good math day with Anna
12,299. Late night Wednesday talk with Aliza
12,300. Henry's had the best day with us--so much giggling
12,301. A Thursday evening without a commitment
12,302. Anna did really well on her math test
12,303. Planting a couple dahlias
12,304. Josiah did well on SAT
12,305. Family game of Geoguesser
12,306. Retirement party for my long-time-ago mentor
12,307. A month late, but it was a fun Easter egg hunt
12,308. the breeze made it a lovely afternoon
12,309. 4 year old Haitian friend wanting to tell us that she is "sweaty" but she says "I'm sweater" over and over
12,310. Aliza's choir concert
12,311. Doing my best to parent well
12,312. Woke up at 3am and knew I had to pray
12,313. While I'm overreacting, 4 children got the snake off the porch
12,314. Hearing all about the girls shoe shopping excursion
12,315. Starbucks for me

12,316. My friend with a kiddo in the same season as mine
12,317. Learning to wait
12,318. Snap peas from Dad's garden
12,319. Listening to Aliza's thoughts and feelings
12,320. An evening of fellowship
12,321. Kind words when I was nervous
12,322. These 3 not wanting to go to bed

12,323. Isaiah's genuine interest in Aliza's activities
12,324. Anna wanting to ride with me

12,325. Josiah's favorite guy evening

12,326. Doing all of my computer work on the porch this afternoon
12,327. Pokemon walk around campus
12,328. Impromptu supper on the porch with Aliza
12,329. My heart at rest
12,330. Restful Sunday afternoon
12,331. Bible study
12,332. Visitors at church
12,333. Talking to Janell
12,334. Evening walk
12,335. A Mom moment with Anna 

12,336. Coffee with my girls
12,337. Baking cookies with Isaiah
12,338. School is finished
12,339. Buying flowers with Mom
12,340. Watermelon season
12,341. Josiah lets me hug him
12,342. End of school Chick Fil A
12,343. Anna was SO surprised
12,344. Watching Aliza live her best life
12,345. Sheats family evening
12,346. Praying for John
12,347. The Little Mermaid professional recording watch party
12,248. Planting flowers
12,249. Family day at home
12,250. Everyone enjoyed hamburgers for supper

 

End of School

 School is finished! I feel like I drug everyone over the finish line which did not feel like a victory. lol I even tried to generate some enthusiasm to finish by promising Chick Fil A for lunch the next day. Oh well. They did it and I even submitted grades and portfolios to the Board of Education before we went to lunch. That DID feel like a victory! 

It worked out that Jeremy could get away to meet us for lunch. Taking big kids out to lunch is almost as unpredictable as taking littles out to lunch.  

Josiah is a SENIOR now! The straw of four straws was pretty entertaining. 

Anna makes flowers out of straw papers. 

Isaiah got in on the straw excitement. It came home with us and has made a few appearances. 

   

It's going to be a fun summer. We are going to soak up every minute of it!