Joy Dare::July

4532. Catching up on errands and cleaning
4533. No one terrified during fireworks
4534. $1 ice cream cones after fireworks

4535. Aliza had so much fun at a friend's birthday party
4536. A day at home
4537. Dinner with my friend
4538. Jeremy's car is working again
4539. Josiah refers to Grandad's boat as "our boat"
4540. Parade candy
4541. Dinner and an evening with my grandparents
4542. Pool
4543. Supper at Mom and Dad's house
4544. Rainy day, slow morning
4545. Birthday thoughtfulness
4546. Made sure I did a scrapbook page
4547. Black raspberry chocolate chunk ice cream
4548. Feeding baby goats

4549. Date with Jeremy
4550. Lawnmower fixed
4551. The girls could visit Great Gramma
4552. Kinda fun to run into my sister in the grocery store
4553. Visitors at church
4554. Isaiah pedaling
4555. Beautiful evening to sit outside
4556. Dropped 2 kids off for the morning
4557. Playing games after cleaning out the game closet
4558. Feeling productive
4559. Dropped 3 kids off for the morning!
4560. Doing what I can
4561. Feeling the value of marriage and family
4562. Isaiah and I doing the library program thing

4563. An afternoon of boy play
4564. Clean kitchen counters
4565. Giving a Bible Study welcome
4566. Redirecting my perspective
4567. This week of VBS has been so good for the children
4568. 16 married years
4569. Steak and ice cream date
4570. Salty relaxation in the Salt Cove
4571. My Brave Friend inviting 10 Heslop's to her house
4572. Our husbands talking and kids playing
4573. Listening to a sermon
4574. Lazy Sunday afternoon
4575. Lunch with Matt and Chrissy
4576. Pedicure
4577. Leftovers ready to heat up for supper
4578. Fresh zucchini
4579. First batch of juice was delicious
4580. Tuesday-talk-on-the-phone afternoon
4581. Cove morning

4582. Aliza was invited to play with a group of girls and she did
4583. The pool water felt so good!
4584. Isaiah used the puddle jumper floaties
4585. Aliza's game arrived early
4586. All the fresh fruits and vegetables
4587. It felt so good to get the outside work done--sweat and all
4588. At home day
4589. Hammock on the porch

4590. Hummingbirds at the feeder
4591. Some girl time this evening
4592. Aliza snuggled in with me during the thunderstorm--it was late, but not too late for giggles
4593. Sunday time for reading
4594. "Grandma Friendly's" after church
4595. My kids' sensitivity and innocence
4596. They loved the strawberry, kiwi and spinach popsicles
4597. A couple little houseplants

4598. The change I was praying for
4599. Decorating cakes=Aunt time

4600. Sparkly eyes
4601. Hummingbird sitting still
4602. Cooking to give away
4603. A couple extra boys for the afternoon
4604. Sports camp week
4605. Visiting with my Great Aunt
4606. Seriously dirty legs and feet (Isaiah)
4607. Trying to remember to give my children my eyes
4608. Swimming
4609. Listening to the rain and frogs
4610. Mending

4611. Picking the first green pepper
4612. Interesting documentary
4613. Sports Camp songs
4614. No humidity today
4615. Paper burning bonfire
4616. Books to fill our bags
4617. Celebrating my Mom
4618. Green grass to mow

Pictures and Few Words

16 years married

Anna mastered the scooter and then she took a tumble and skinned her knee and elbow

Master tricycle rider

Supper on the deck with friends and the temperature was perfection

A friend who loves your family + inlaws is a treasure for sure!

Aliza's favorite thing to do is listening to the ladies talk. =)

Somehow her face ended up with as much chalk on it as the driveway.

Boys and their binoculars

And when you know you're going home a first-thing-in-the-morning tricycle ride is a must.

Salt Cave

Brandi treated Karen and I to a new experience--salt therapy in the Salt Cave. You can read about the technical stuff on the Touch of Grace Spa and Salt Cave website. I've been explaining it to people so I thought some pictures might be helpful.

In our session there were 7 people. We arrived last and 2 of the people were clearly sleeping or intending to sleep so we got the hint to be quiet! Silence isn't required, it just depends on the group of people in the session. The chairs were zero gravity lounge chairs. There was a blanket on each chair in case you were chilly. The room is kept at 72-74 degrees. I got chilly during the last few minutes.

The floors, walls and ceiling are all salt and dry salt air is blown into the room during the 45 minute session. The lights are low and change color and there is instrumental music playing.

I enjoyed it. I'm not very good at relaxing though! I kept thinking about things I wanted to say!

The Night of Lightening

I was sound asleep when the first child came into our room. It felt like 5:30 in the morning so I was very relieved to see that it was only 12:30am. There would still be an opportunity to sleep!

It was the lightening that brought Aliza into our room. It was constant. I have never seen lightening that was so constant. It was only a couple seconds later that Josiah ran over and jumped under our covers. I roused Jeremy telling him that I had never seen lightening like this. He said, "it's probably a car outside" and went over to the window to check. Sure enough--it was lightening. ;) He got back in bed a bit annoyed. After a few cracks of thunder and Anna coming in, he check the weather radar.

I wish we had taken a screenshot of the radar. It was deep purple and red over us and continuing to move over us. There was also a grid outlining the purple area. I got a little more nervous at that point.The thunder wasn't really that bad, but that lightening...!

And then Isaiah woke up screaming. At that point Jeremy left our bed and I had 4 children in the bed with me. Aliza was shaking and her hands were freezing on my right, Josiah was on my left with his head buried in the pillow. Anna was on top of me--pretty much sleeping. Isaiah was tucked between me and Aliza. My right arm was snuggling Isaiah and still touching Aliza.

Meghan texted me at 1am to see how many of my children were awake. She had two that slept through it! I checked on another friend. She was awake with children in her bed too.

The lightening had subsided a lot by 1:30. I put Isaiah back in his bed and Josiah in his bed beside his Daddy. It was 2:30 until Aliza finally settled down and the girls slept in my bed the rest of the night.

The moral of this story is that I NEED a king size bed! 

Determination

Just when we had bought a new minivan and thought we were squared away for a while, Jeremy's car started having trouble. He spent two weekends working on the radiator and hoping that it was actually the radiator and not the engine. Thanks to a good friend and you tube tutorials, Jeremy got it fixed.

He had some other "help" too! I know Jeremy was determined not to buy 2 vehicles in 2 months!

In the midst of working on his car, the lawnmower also broke. Thanks to a father in law who knows all things lawnmower, Jeremy spent the 3rd weekend fixing the mower. Now our lawn looks great AND we have two working vehicles!

There is another determined little person in my house. He is almost 3 years old. He thinks he is as old as his siblings and wants to do everything they do. I took the kids to the library to collect their first prize for the summer reading program. Isaiah didn't want a prize from the preschool drawer. He wanted something from the preteen drawer. The worst public temper tantrum that I have endured ensued. He was laid out flat on the floor--screaming. The girls checked out their books on their own and I took Isaiah outside. He continued to scream. I stood beside him calmly watching all the people walking past looking at me like I was crazy. Since then we have averaged at least one temper tantrum a day. Yesterday's tantrum was because he couldn't stay at VBS with the big kids. Kids have to be 5 for this VBS. I kinda felt sad for him--imagine a 2 (almost 3) year old saying "I wanna go VBS." Today's was over just getting dressed. It's going to be a fun stage around here!

The Sum of the Week

We joined Janell's family to watch fireworks in Snow Hill. the kids were piled on Jeremy's lap this year! Isaiah was a little uncertain at first, but he enjoyed it by the end.

I enjoyed going to a restaurant for dinner with one of my friends on Monday evening.

Isaiah picked up one lollipop at the parade and was completely satisfied. He stood back and ate his lollipop while the girls filled the buckets.

This car was the highlight. Isaiah said the car had wings and he expected it to fly.

Jeremy and Josiah spent the day with my Dad breaking in a boat. Josiah has referred to it as "our" boat ever since. He is super excited that Grandad has a big enough boat to go shark fishing.

I had my grandparents over for 4th of July supper. It was really nice to just enjoy their company.

We got to swim at our favorite pool on Wednesday. Isaiah is still fearless. He laid right down mad and screaming when I wouldn't him in the deep end.

Then my Mom had us for supper. We had a fun visit with Mom and Dad. And then it was my birthday.

I got a special delivery.

These cute faces wrapped up a special present. And Aliza made special whoopie pies--that we ate so fast I didn't take a picture!

Gramma took us for ice cream on Friday.

It was all topped off with a date with Jeremy Friday night while Meghan fed them all supper! My kids had so.much.fun! Jeremy and I did too!

I'd say it was a pretty great week!

Joy Dare::June

4451. I was so brave watching a snake slither across the yard
4452. Jeremy came home with a free (used) scanner
4453. Garden planted
4454. "To love your life, do nothing with rush or resentment, but do everything as if you love it." Ann Voskamp
4455. The car is vacuumed and clean
4456. Karen made excellent time coming to our house
4457. Making vacation lists and getting excited
4458. The girls and their bedtime giggles
4459. Josiah had a great time fishing in the ocean--with no seasickness
4460. Watching the snapping turtle

4461. All the pre-vacation excitement
4462. A great first day on the road
4463. So much fun in the pool
4464. Restaurant, hotel fun
4465. Kind people to help us
4466. Provision of transportation
4467. Safe arrival and hugging my Grandma
4468. Movie afternoon
4469. Popsicles on Grandma Rhoda's porch
4470. Lots of fun swimming
4471. A great location for gathering
4472. Second cousins playing together
4473. Jeremy arrived!
4474. Got Mom help and no wait
4475. Making decisions and action plans
4476. A great day at Sauder's Village
4477. Krist and Mur's patio for suppers
4478. Visiting Heather and her family
4479. The kids saw a big city--unplanned trip bonus
4480. GPS took us straight to the hotel and we couldn't have been happier to see it
4481. "Some plants grow into huge trees. Others are meant to be small plants with beautiful flowers. All are needed." (Jason Rissler)
4482. A quiet morning in the hotel room
4483. Letting my husband make the decisions
4484. HOME.
4485. Doors on my upper kitchen cabinets!!

4486. An act of kindness touched me deeply.
4487. Finally some time to talk to Jeremy
4488. Felt more like myself most of the day
4489. Blogging and reading blogs
4490. The children ended up enjoying something they were dreading
4491. All 6 played nicely this afternoon
4492. Gramma and Grandad stopped in
4493. Sortof fearless snake hunters

4494. Catching up with Meghan makes me feel a little more back to normal
4495. Isaiah watching airplanes for as long and as far as he can see them
4496. Aliza and Anna mixed up a batch of chocolate chip cookies completely on their own
4497. Drove the van we are buying--yay!
4498. Good thing I did what didn't make sense
4499. William saved me from driving to Georgetown again
4500. Some time with Maria
4501. Making Father's Day dinner for my dad
4502. Jeremy took full advantage of me telling him to sleep in
4503. Just in time before Chesapeake Dairy closed
4504. Scanning station set up downstairs
4505. Boring homeschool review
4506. Curtains for the girls room

4507. Catching up with my Mama by marriage
4508. Bushes full of blueberries
4509. Emptying school notebooks
4510. Tea and blueberries

4511. Taking care of my nieces and nephews
4512. Enough food for today
4513. It wasn't the beach, but they made the most of playing in the rain
4514. Food supply restored
4515. Quick visit with a friend in the grocery store
4516. Jeremy able to do the car repairs
4517. Curriculum sales
4518. Freedom to worship freely and in public
4519. The children had a great day with Grandma
4520. The first night of Bible School went well
4521. Anna went into Dance Camp by herself and loved it
4522. The most vivid, vibrant rainbow I've ever seen
4523. Watching Isaiah enjoy the experience of Bible School
4524. Strength for the day
4525. A phone call I wasn't expecting
4526. Isaiah in his rainboots "dabbing" at the top of the slide
4527. Fun at the cove with friends
4528. Hugging my sister
4529. A perfect morning for the park
4530. Anna made it through dance camp
4531. VBS song and socializing