Summer

I know everyone has probably decided I've dropped off the blogging radar. :) I almost have, I guess. Our summer has been so incredibly busy already. Even though we haven't taken a vacation, our days have been very full from morning til late at night! We have been making the most of every one of these beautiful days. I'm trying to think of what we've been doing since I last blogged, and here are just a few of the things that have been happenin' around here:

Indy Air Show
Erin & John's Wedding (Leighton provided music)
Brian & Sherissa's Wedding
3rd Row Boys Concerts
Caravan Award's Ceremony
Cammi - Gymnastics ended til Fall
Ben - Swim ended til Fall
Strawberry Picking (and freezer jam making)
Indianapolis Zoo
Eagle Creek Park Field Trip
Summer Reading Program
Michael's 16th Birthday Party
Garage Sales
Fireworks/Festival
Hangin' with family and friends

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I am helping a friend out this summer with childcare as well and am still doing cleaning work. The extra money is nice. :) I am taking advantage of not having my school responsibilities to focus on "simple life" stuff. I may post more on that later, as it is consuming quite a bit of my time lately & is kind of my passion right now.

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In between all that we're doing, we're spending every minute we can outdoors! :)



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I'll try to post again soon! :)

Life Is Cute

Ben carefully taking apart his old computer. He is storing all the parts safely in his toolbox. The toolbox is already full with all the parts of an old boom box he took apart last week and many other strange items from various electronics. ;)

Cammi making cupcakes to celebrate her Friendaversary with her best friend. Yes, they bought gifts for each other and everything. :)

Spring in Indiana

A hail storm from the other night......
.....wrecked havoc on some of my plants!

You can imagine what my little vegetable plants look like. Being a new "little farmer" is hard. I already had to replace several plants because of a late unexpected frost a week or two ago. Hat tip to all the real Indiana farmers! I guess I know now why God didn't call me to marry a real farmer. I'm pretty sure my stress-o-meter would be on overload if my livelihood were dependent on plants and weather conditions. :)

Parade Highlights

I'm running way behind on things I'd like to blog about but....that's just the way it is. :) Here are just a few snaps I decided to upload from the Indianapolis 500 Parade.

Cammi & Elise having fun hanging out. We always get there early to get our nice grassy spot! The kids play ball & Uno, draw & snack while we grown-ups chat. Ok! We snack too. :) Family fun!

America!

Loved this float with balloons!
A hot & sweaty Ben, watching all the action. (Knowing him, he's probably thinking about something else entirely though!)

Chinese Dragon

Tim giving Katie a better view

"Chloe O'Brian" from the tv show, 24.

Innovation often comes from parents who are cheap. ;)
(They made their own flags with notebook paper & markers.)



The red-headed gal on the tv show, The Office.

Leighton's favorite racecar driver.
Not really. He just likes the guy's wife - Ashley Judd. ;)

Kurt & Michael. No pictures of us women.
It was too hot and they just would not be flattering. ;)

Trey snacking.

Leighton holding a very hot Alexis.
Yes, honey, that is her name. (Family joke!)



Thomas Kinkade

Grand marshal, Josh Duhamel. Looks much skinnier & less hot in real life, IMO. Not that I notice things like that usually...... ;)



My man, Mitch!

I'll end the photos with Mario Lopez. ♥
You know, best for last and all that. ;)

Being A Grown-Up

Today I am home after attending a funeral. It was the funeral of my great aunt. It was a lovely service and was a very nice tribute to a special woman.

I was recently talking to a friend of mine. who had lost someone in her life. She was telling me about what was going on as they were making arrangements for their loved one. She was the one who had to make some of the calls to let people know about the passing and she was telling me how rather difficult those calls were. She said "I know I'm an adult and have to do those things now...but it was really hard!" That little comment has played over in my mind several times recently. We wait for years to be able to finally be an adult but, the truth is, it's not always what it's cracked up to be!

In the last couple of days, I've had a lot of memories play over in my mind that have related to (great) Aunt Bonnie. I always called her Aunt Bonnie, because, well, that's what I always heard her called. ;) I have a lot of memories of my great aunts and uncles. Because we lived in the "hometown", we were probably around most of them more than many of the other kids in my generation were. Anytime anyone came home, we always ended up at Grandmother Julie's or at Aunt Wanda's to see them. Even on normal days, we spent a lot of time at Aunt Wanda's. I spent a lot of time in Columbus on weekends as a kid too, so Bethel was kind of our second church. Anyway, I had a lot of different memories that included Aunt Bonnie. She was always sweet & even after I grew up, she always seemed to glad to see me and my family.

I took the kids with me to the funeral today. I had talked with the kids and told them what we were doing. They didn't remember her but I didn't expect that they would. We haven't been to too many funerals so I was reminding Ben what it was like. I told him it would be sort of like a church service but it would be sober. I told him that it was not the time for acting silly (!!!!!) but a time to be respectful because some people were very sad that someone they loved had went on to heaven.

During the service, there were some encouraging and uplifting songs that reminded us of the Hope we have in Jesus and the reminder of the joy Aunt Bonnie was experiencing at that very moment. Uncle Bob stood with his hands raised and many rejoiced. At that point, Ben leaned over to me and whispered; "they don't seem sad to me...?!!" That caused the tears in my eyes to spill over as I told him "you're right. They don't need to be sad because they know they will see her again in heaven someday!" He smiled, nodded his head and went back to his observing.

I couldn't help but smile too. I was glad for yet another little seed to be planted in his mind. We love Jesus because He first loved us and we serve Him because we love Him. One of the best perks that come with serving Him though is the Hope of eternal life.

Yeh, sometimes being a grown-up isn't all it's cracked up to be. I see things on the horizon that will be hard and even sad. With Jesus though, no matter what comes our way, if our life is in His hands......we have a beautiful Hope.

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God,
believe also in me.

In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so,
I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come again, and receive you unto myself;
that where I am, there ye may be also. John 14:1-3 KJV

Ben Is Eight

Well, my baby is another year older. BooHoo! His birthday fell on Mother's Day this year, which was definitely different. I downloaded over 250 pictures from Mother's Day weekend but here are just a few from his birthday.

We've never been ones to have a party for every single birthday. We try to do something special but sometimes it's a party and other times...well, it's something else. Since he had a rather big party last year, we decided to go a different route this year.

This year he decided to have his best bud (and cuz!), Trey, to stay over and to go do something fun. Ben and Trey are, in my mind, kind of a funny pair. They are seven months apart and are different in so many ways. Trey is all about sports and Ben is more into science. Trey is a daredevil and Ben is very cautious. They have lots in common too though - fishing, video games, etc. but for some reason, I think they are so funny. Maybe it's because they are boys, and I was never around little boys but I find their relationship just so different from girls. They love hanging out together but they have this "comfortable-ness" where, sometimes they just do their own thing, even when they are together. But, they also can be very loud and wild when together too and they both love to laugh! They are good buddies.

Here they are all pumped up &
ready to head into Rascal's Fun Zone


Right time, right place.
A picture of all three of them on the bumper boats.....


Unfortunately, Ben is just a little too short to drive
the faster go-karts, so he had to ride with Dad.


It was Cammi & Trey's first time driving.......
which resulted into a little wreck!


Playing in the arcade.......


Cammi & Leighton dance off....!!!


Pooped out, watching Disney Channel and
waiting for dinner at the Pizza King Train Station.


On Saturday, he made his own birthday cake. Since we were going to Leighton's parents for lunch on Mother's Day, we brought dessert.

This year, Ben wanted:
Yellow cake with chocolate icing and....homemade ice cream!!


We took our annual trip to the Party Store and he picked out Transformers for his theme this year. I went ahead & iced the cake while he was doing something else. I didn't realize he was planning to not only bake the cake, but also ice it. Ooops!


Trying not to grin while everyone sang
"Happy Birthday" at Grandma's house on Sunday.
(The cake got warm in the van during church.
That explains the not-so-pretty anymore....!)


Ahhh, I love that little guy! Can't believe he's already eight!

Berries

Cammi helping me learn all about planting and growing raspberries and blackberries.

I've wanted to grow berries for years. As a kid, our neighbor had lots and lots of berries. We would pick them and my Grandma Blake would make us yummy cobblers and dumplings from them. MmmmmMM! My kids love berries and just eat them raw. They are so healthy too! I convinced Leighton that we have the space to grow some berries and I solemnly promised to keep them pruned so they don't overtake the yard. He finally agreed and I've been eyeing them at Lowes. Whaddya know - the other day, the berries were on clearance so that was the perfect time to buy, in my opinion. I decided to start small but I'm excited that they are now planted along my fence row.

Maybe in a few years I'll have enough berries to make a yummy cobbler or some dumplings like my grandma. I sure hope so!