Harvest Moon Drive-In

It sure was nice to have an evening with all of us together tonight! (Wednesday night when the kids & I got home, I had to go right to church as soon as Jeremy got home from work. And He was gone Thursday overnight for a staff retreat.) So, we went to the drive-in in Gibson City to see Ratatouille.

Even though none of us was really all that excited about the movie itself, we had a great time!

The kids were most excited about getting cotton candy!

They snarfed it down in just a couple minutes!

Yum!

Second most exciting anticipation was the carousel. It's a vintage 1940's carousel, free rides before the movie. Sylvie grinned and Annah smiled during their rides, but Caeden was stone-faced the first time. I thought he was either scared or maybe dizzy and ready to throw up or something. But, as soon as it stopped, he grinned and said, "I want to ride again!" So they did!

It was actually a cool evening, so we all snuggled up. I ended up in the trunk with the girls after a bit, and Caeden went back and forth between the trunk and Daddy's lap in the lawnchair about 50 times. Even though the movie was just so-so, it was such a fun evening!

More Pages

Some fun and really challenging challenges this week! It was hard to keep up while traveling! Whew! (Click photo to go to journaling and larger size.)

Snuggles

Tonight, Annah went to see Grease! at the Wagon Wheel Theatre with Gram. So Sylvie got to snuggle in the chair with Krampa until Annah got home from the show. I was ready to put her to bed, but she looked like she was about to fall asleep in Krampa's lap watching The Goodnight Show on Sprout. Krampa looked at me and said, "Sylvie's not going anywhere!" I can't blame him; she is the world's best snuggler!

Lake Day

We spent a good part of the day at the lake with Grandma Lopshire today! The kids aren't quite too comfortable swimming in the lake yet. Annah got in and waded close to the pier quite a bit, but didn't want to bother all the fish and their nesting beds, so she didn't go far. Caeden got in on a couple floaties and played a little bit--until he tipped off one and got his face in the water. Sylvie sat on a floating chair for a few seconds and that was as close as she got to getting wet. The water was a nice temperature, and even pretty clean. We just need to take them more often. If Jeremy had been there, they would have all been in.
Kasey was up at the cabin, and was gracious enough to take us for a nice long ride in his great pontoon boat! Ahhhh, it was so relaxing!!!

The kids were excited about the little dragonfly that kept flying around. Annah sat still enough for it to land on her for a while.

Caeden was a little too fearless on the boat--running from one end to the other and jumping up and down. Kasey probably wanted to strangle him (or at least I did), but he didn't show it. The kids really enjoyed the boat ride too. Thanks so much Kasey!!!

Grandma fixed us spaghetti, our favorite, for lunch. And, the kids had fun playing with the kitties and watching the new baby goats. We were all worn out, and got baths and naps this afternoon!

Family Takes the Time

Aunt Erin shares the kids' love of playing games, and is always so sweet to make the time to play with them. The game of choice this week seems to be Sorry. Thanks, Aunt Erin, for the many games!

Caeden is much better behaved when he gets more attention--(imagine that!), so he has been a pretty good boy this week. He's even given out a little bit of snuggle time, which is hard to get from him!

Second Cousins

What a treat we had today! Wendy brought Aidan & Esme down from Michigan to play with us, and Mindy brought Clayton over too!! I think I only know one of my second cousins, but our kids are so blessed to know lots of theirs!

We had mac & cheese w/ hot dogs, peas, and watermelon for lunch.

All 6 kids and 3 mommies went swimming in Mom & Dad's pool this afternoon. I was stressed having to hold onto Caeden the whole time, he's so fearless. But, we all had a great, fun time!!

Annah gave a spontaneous concert for Aidan & Esme. (It was one of several she gave this week.)

The kids watched Chicken Little before lunch and A Night At the Museum after swimming, snacked on ice cream, and played a bit with Barbies too. It's such fun to get to play with our cousins!!

A Busy Special Day

This morning we went to church at Churubusco Church of the Nazarene. Travis & Erin had just finished up a marriage Sunday School class and the whole class renewed their vows during the service--very cool. The girls were excited to see Uncle Travis play piano too! And, Pastor White gave a great sermon about David and the horrible lies of trying to cover up sin. It was powerful!

Krampa, Sylvie & I visited (Great) Grandma McEowen for a bit today. Annah had visited a couple days ago and played her violin for Grandma. Sylvie took her stuffed puppy, Dorothy, to introduce to Grandma. I wish we could have spent longer there. I miss Grandma so much, and hadn't seen her since Christmas!
This afternoon, us girls (Gram, Erin, Annah, Sylvia, and me) took a short trip to my cousin Angie's house for her jewelry party! The girls loooooved learning about the jewelry, and especially getting to look at it all up close and touch it and try it on!!

The kids have been eagerly waiting for dinner and ice cream at the Magic Wand in 'Busco, and tonight was the night! Both sets of Grandparents were there--an extra special treat! Caeden had fun teasing and playing with Grandpa Lopshire, and even gave him his favorite recent ornery line..."I'm gonna put you in jail!" I think Grandpa was a little surprised by that one! Caed was definitely just teasing!

Gotta love dip-top ice cream cones!!!

Tea, Tired, Toes

This morning we planned to swim at the lake, but as soon as we got our swimsuits on, we realized it was raining and only 62 degrees outside! So, a whole big crew of us (me, the kids, Mom, Erin, Carolyn & Betty) went to the Quiet Corner Tea Room for tea and lunch. It was SO nice! It's way back in the woods, in a homey little place, and was so comfortable, relaxing, and even kid-friendly too. We shared a fantastic pot of authentic Indian Chai and had incredible sandwiches and pies too. Definitely plan to go back there on another visit! Mom has been there many times, but the rest of us were newbies and were very pleasantly impressed!

We've been staying up a bit too late the past few days, and it's catching up with Caeden. He also missed nap today, so needed a good snug with Gram.

Aunt Erin was a hero of the day today, taking the time to give the girls beautiful manicures and pedicures. They can't stop talking about how she gave them two coats of pink and two coats of clear! They look really nice! Thank you Aunt Erin!

Zoo!

We always love to visit the Ft. Wayne Children's Zoo, and today was a perfectly lovely day to do so! The African section is being rebuilt, so we just saw giraffes there and spent most of our time in the Australian part. ALL the kids really cared about today was riding the log ride and the train. Yes, they liked seeing the animals--while they were asking about the log ride and the train...every 10 seconds!

Apparently, the log ride was worth the wait and the price to them.

I remember playing in Little Poof when I was a kid, and it's fun to see how much the kids enjoy it now.

Caeden definitely liked Little Poof too, but was very bothered by the fact that its cars were not connected! He kept trying to push them together, and was so frustrated that he couldn't budge them!!!
After the zoo, we had a picnic in the park! Thanks Gram, for treating us to a fun time at the zoo! It was super special and fun to spend the day with you!

Fishin' With Krampa

The kids and I came over to Mom & Dad's yesterday. It was the first time I've driven the 5-hour trip by myself in almost 6 years, and I was nervous. I really don't like to drive and get very anxious when it's a drive I don't do frequently. So, thank you to those who were praying for us!! I definitely felt the prayers, and the trip went really, really well.

So...we are here for a week of fun! The girls started off the morning with a fishing trip in Krampa's boat! They caught 4 fish--including a couple big crappies! Krampa said the girls were really calm and easy to fish with. They all had fun together.

My Everyday Life

I had so much fun doing this layout for the All About Me Challenge at www.scrapfabulous.com today! (As always, click on the pic to see it larger and read journaling.)

an evening at home

We have been running here and there every evening this week, and were so glad to spend tonight at home! Ahhhhhhhh!

Jeremy got the kids' wading pool down from the garage rafters, cleaned it, and filled it for them. They splashed around happily for a long time until I bribed them with ice cream to get them inside the house.

We have lots of bunnies in our yard. Every time we go out the back door we see at least one. There were three playing in our neighbors' garden, right behind our yard. They weren't the least bit scared by the kids romping in the pool!

The view westward from our backyard is quite a bit different now that the windfarm is here!

After ice cream, the kids got their jammies on and went back out to catch some lightning bugs. It was the first time all three of them were big enough, and it was so neat to watch them get all excited and yell, "CAUGHT ONE!" loud enough for all of Arrowsmith to hear. We put them in the special lightning bug container and brought them in for a nightlight.

Washing Daddy's Car

Last night I was getting carseats out of the Aztek for Jeremy to put in the ZX2. (We were taking the Aztek to get the AC fixed, yay!) The kids were standing in the driveway waiting. Just as Jeremy came out the backdoor, Caeden said, "I'm washing Daddy's car!" Not looking right away, I said, "Oh, you are?" Then I looked and saw him...holding a large rock in his hand! I looked at Jeremy's car and there was about a 4"x4" space where Caeden had "washed" it with his rock.

Jeremy didn't talk for about 10 minutes. Not a sound. In fact, I think he may not have breathed for 10 minutes either, because he turned pretty red.

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My dad's question upon hearing this little story..."So is the car clean now?"

this week's pages

I've had a hard time finding scrapping time this week, but have had a few things that had to get done...

(click on the photos to see them larger, in a gallery, and with the journaling)

For the circle journal...This entry was just supposed to tell something about myself...


This layout was for the All About Myself book challenge. This week were were to tell the story of how we met our significant other...


Contest layout...the challenge this week is to start the journaling with the phrased, "I never thought I'd scrap..." and also to use at least 25 of the same embellishment on the page!

Sprinkler Park Fun!

The kids and I spent half the day at the sprinkler park today! We met Ashley & Jacob and Carlene there this morning and the kids played and played and played while Carlene and I chatted and caught up. It was so fun to watch the kids lovin' every minute of running through the water and getting totally soaked. All three loved it, which was a good thing! Last year Caeden was scared of the sprinklers and wouldn't go anywhere near them, and Sylvie wasn't all too keen on them either. So, I was so glad none of them had any reservations about them this time and just had a total blast playing for hours!! We stopped for a little while to have a picnic lunch. Caeden was almost too excited to eat and ran back into the sprinklers along with his granola bar!

a little friend

Annah's friend Jada came over for a sleepover last night! She got to hang out with us all day today while her mommy was at work too! Jada was in Annah's kindergarten class, and lives just around the corner from us! It's so nice to have a friend close by. Jada is a very sweet little girl.

The kids watched lots of Barbie movies, made up songs and put on shows, played dress up, painted nails, made crafts...all kinds of girlie fun!

Contest Pages

Just a quick post with a couple scrapbook pages I did for contests this week. I'm definitely not competing in them to win, but I love that it's really pushing me to get some pages done for the deadlines!

This one was for a challenge to use only 5 specific products. I take photos of Annah with this tree every spring when it blooms!

This next page is for an "All About ME" book challenge. I hope it doesn't seem selfish or egotistical to scrapbook about myself. I think about what would happen if I were to be gone from my kids' lives before they were grown enough to know me, and I realize that it's pretty important to do this, actually. It also helps me reflect and think about who I am and who I want to be. The first challenge was to do a page with a photo of myself and my "vital stats" and basic information about me.

Kindergarten over

Annah went to school for less than an hour this morning. I made a special gift and card for her to give to her teacher, and she got her report card, then came home. Mrs. Tompkins sent a sweet note for her, a very nice letter to us, and attached a note to her report card too. Annah and I read them and started crying. (She's such a sap, just like me!) So, we talked about being thankful for all the things she learned and fun times she had in kindergarten, how having Mrs. Tompkins was such a BIG blessing, how she made great friends, and how she has a lot to be thankful for. After we had a good cry, we talked about how she's a 1st-grader now, and has some exciting things to look forward to--summer break, and all that she'll do and learn in 1st grade in the fall. It was a GREAT school year!

We're working on a list of things she learned in kindergarten so we can make a scrapbook page about it. So far, we've come up with:
-how to read!
-how to jump rope!
-how to run around the track [1/4 mile] without stopping to walk!
-not to panic if she forgets her lunch!
-how to add & subtract
-how to count to 100 by ones and tens
-how to spell LOTS of words
-LOTS MORE!

We're so very proud of our girl!

Just Like You

How I wanna be, Lord,
Just like you,
And, oh, the good things
That I wanna do.

Listen to my heart, Lord;
Yes, it's true...
When you give your peace,
And you share your joy,
And you show your love,
Oh Lord, how I wanna be like you.

I want to be like you,
Lord Jesus, yes it's true.
I want to be like you..
Give your peace,
Share your joy,
Show your love Lord;
How I wanna be like you.

Annah sang this song at church today. In "big church" for the adults. All by herself. (I played piano for her.) She did a great job. She has a sweet, pretty voice, and I was so glad she was brave enough to stand up in front of all those people and sing! She is a very shy girl a lot of the time, but she's come a long way in that regard this year. We didn't force her to sing; she wanted to, and she enjoyed it. I'm proud of her, and mostly...so thankful that she sings for the Lord, from her heart.

Founder's Day

It's Founder's Day in Arrowsmith! Even though it's a tiny little village, they always put together a nice festival. We had tons of fun today!!

The parade passed right in front of our house. I don't think Caeden even saw anything that was in the parade; he was too busy picking up candy!

After the parade, the kids and I headed to the community center for some fun activities...
First we had to get our faces painted! Annah chose a cat, Sylvia an angel, and Caeden a star.

The Children's Museum was making stepping stones with kids, so we did one together.

Annah didn't want to miss out on the pony rides! She still loves horses of any kind. In fact, as soon as she got her face painted, she got this look of shock and said, "Horses aren't afraid of cats, are they?!" She was afraid her face would scare the pony and she wouldn't be able to ride it!

Caeden hopped on a pony with no fear whatsoever, and loved every second of his four laps around the yard! He looked like such a tiny big-boy riding around. He looooooved his first pony ride!!

Caeden made fast friends with this sweet lady from the Bloomington Library. They came out to make flying saucers with the kids. Fun!
Sylvie cautiously decorated her flying saucer just right.

When Annah heard there was going to be a cakewalk, she couldn't wait to be in it! We made sure we were there at the right time, and she joined in until she won a cake! She picked out an angel food cake. She looked so cute out there with all the grown-ups!

We also enjoyed a root beer float together, watched some friends and neighbor kids demonstrate their martial arts, and saw lots of friends and neighbors out enjoying the day. We were tired when we walked back home.

At night we all five walked back to the community center, snuggled on a blanket together, ate apples, and watched the fireworks display. Awesome.