Vacation Day 1!

Here we are in Indiana! We made our way over yesterday. Jeremy was working in Lafayette, so the kids and I picked him up there and made our way up to my parents' house then. It was nice to have a change of scenery on the long drive.

Today, Jeremy and I slept in. He was long overdue for getting some sleep! He has been so busy lately with work, helping others, studying for a LOMA test (which he passed on Wednesday! Yay!), and just being his awesome self. He seriously never gets even 6 hours of sleep in a night. I don't know how he functions. I would be physically sick, myself. Anyway, I'm rambling...Jeremy took off with his brother and cousin this afternoon to head up to northern Illinois for the Fischer Memorial Golf Outing. I hope they'll have good weather.

The kids were baking with Gram by 8:30 this morning. They made Rhubarb Goodie and Oatmeal Scotchies. (Both are more than half gone already.) They rode bikes in the driveway a lot today, although the mosquitoes here are viscous!!! They also fingerpainted, played playdough, blocks, and repeated all those activities. We visited with Great Grandma Crabill for a bit. Tonight, Travis & Erin came over for dinner and we all watched Enchanted, which we hadn't seen. Everyone else is in bed, so apparently I better head that way too...

some inspiring sites I've come across recently

A Year of Crockpotting - This lady cooks EVERYTHING in her crockpot, and posts daily with all kinds of recipes--most of them are even gluten free.

The Crafty Crow - A super, growing collection of crafts and fun things to do with kids.

Pandora - Listen to free Internet Radio. The coolest part is that you put in your favorite group or style or song and it will play only music that sounds similar!

Letterboxing - Do you know anyone who does this? I think it would be so fun to start with the kids!

Children's Books Forever - PRINTABLE children's books!

PhotoSet on Flickr - "Mom's World" - A man has posted this beautiful black-and-white collection of his photographer mother's work, including her captions spanning from 1949-2007.

my cousin Lonnie

How to begin this post? There is so much to say, but I don't have the words to express my feelings and thoughts as I want...

My cousin, Lonnie King, passed away on Thursday after batting colon, liver, and stomach cancer for 2 years. He fought it with everything he had, and so many of us family and friends prayed and prayed and prayed for him during his battle with that horrible cancer. Lonnie had all of us convinced and believing that he would beat it and be healed of it, even up to the end. He was so positive through it all, as we watched his body change and his heart stay so full of love and hope.
What a wonderful person he was. He was one of those people you think of and say to the Lord, "God, you did a good job on that one." You know, one of those people who everyone just absolutely loves. I think he must have been a friend to everyone he ever met. At our family gatherings, he was always there, and was one of the pillars of our family who reached out to everyone. We all wanted to be around him and laugh with him. He was so good at caring for people and showing his love in simple, powerful ways, just by being there. I don't even want to think about what our family gatherings will feel like with out him. He brought happiness.

Oh, how we have prayed for Lonnie over these past two years. We prayed daily, begging God to heal his body, and draw his soul to Jesus. I thank the Lord for doing just that, even though we all felt his healing should have been a healing of his earthly body. I praise God for drawing Lonnie to him, and helping him to accept the perfect love and grace of Jesus.

The memorial services for Lonnie were a beautiful tribute to his life. So many friends and family came to remember him, to cry, to hug. And now we pray different kinds of prayers. We pray that some will come to know Jesus as their savior somehow as a direct result of Lonnie's passing into heaven. We pray that God will hold Lonnie's parents Bob & Arlene, his beautiful wife Renata, and his precious 2-year-old daughter Madison in his strong and loving arms and comfort them with his love and peace which goes beyond understanding the questioning "why's" of it all. We pray that memories of him and his legacy will continue in our hearts and minds.

Rest and rejoice in the arms of Jesus, Lonnie. You are greatly missed and remembered.

~ Lonnie Alan King ~

A little time in Indiana

While we were so sad for the reason of our quick trip to Indiana, we had moments of blessings while we were there.

This morning it was cooler than it has been for a few days, and I had packed only clothes for quite-warm weather. Sylvia asked Gram for a scarf, and of course the other two decided they needed on as well, to keep them warm enough to play outside on June 17th! Funnies.

The kids love to watch Gram fill the various bird feeders.


Caeden was determined to get up there and do it himself, so Gram got him there.


kisses for Gram


Gram and Sylvia devised a plan for Sylvia to hide under the blanket with Gram until after Daddy and the rest of us left so that she could stay at Gram & Grandpa's. It didn't work too well, but it made us all laugh a lot.

Into Summertime!

We are officially off and running with summertime! This week we have beautiful, tolerable weather too. The girls and I have been working on their photo scavenger hunt for Kid-Mo. We've walked all over the village and driven all over B-N taking photos of the things and places on their list of a couple hundred items. It's been really fun.

Here are slide shows of some of the fun photos we've taken for the hunt that the kids are actually IN:

ANNAH'S SCAVENGER HUNT:

SYLVIA'S SCAVENGER HUNT:

Gymnastics Class

Tonight I took Sylvia to gymnastics by herself, and Jeremy took Annah and Caeden to get pizza and then home. The gym's teams were all away for a competition, so there were only the little kid's classes going on. The gym was pretty open, and they let me out on the floor to follow Sylvie's class around and take pictures!

practicing her handstands


bridge!


This teacher, Kayla, reminded Sylvia to put her hands up and say, "Ta-da!" after she finished each thing.


pike


tuck


kick the cone


the class taking a little break and listening to Miss Kayla for instructions on what to do next


Sylvia has been very afraid of the high beam so far. Some of the teachers will allow her to hold their hand while going across, and some make her do it on her own while staying close by. She seems to be getting braver, and says she prays to Jesus when she is scared up there.


side-stepping on the medium beam


the whole class moving to the next activity


Class is over. Everyone gets a stamp on her hand, and bubbles for everyone to pop! These smelled like banana!


Gymnastics has been really good for Sylvia. She really enjoys it, and says she wants to do it for "lots of years." Tonight it was especially fun to watch her helping a couple of the girls who were new, and being the one to show them how to do things! We were thinking gymnastics would just be for a few sessions this summer, but she likes it so much, and it's been so good for her confidence, we may try to find a way to continue.

Arrowsmith

This morning we took a long walk all around Arrowsmith, up and down almost every little side street, to take photos for the girls' scavenger hunt for church. These are some of the spots we found:


I saw this really cool wall and wanted to get the kids in front of it. Will definitely have to do some more "shooting" in this location.


A tiny little spot in the middle of the village...the little plaque at the bottom says, "This Little Park." No one ever uses it.


The old part of the village bank building.


ours and our neighbors' mailboxes across the street from our house


Caeden on the tracks

Concert for a Clavinova

Today I had the honor of being part of a concert "back home" where I grew up in Indiana. Many alumni were asked to sing or play a piece from a movie (I sang, The Sound of Music.), and the concert was to raise money to buy the local elementary music department a new clavinova. It turned out to be a very nice concert, and it was so nice to see so many friends and talents that have come out of our little school. I didn't realize until after the concert, that the reason the community chose to put together this concert is because part of the school administration is not in support of funding the arts at the school anymore. (Okay, basically one "important" person is not.) Anyway, I am so glad that the community of Churubusco supports the arts and realizes the importance of music in students' lives!! Hopefully the concert and other efforts by the people of the community will keep music in the school district for a long time to come!

Bad Waffle-Maker

As I came upstairs this morning, I heard Dad say to the kids, "Okay kiddos! I'm sorry; I'm a bad waffle-maker. I didn't do a very good job, but you can eat these waffles." The girls came right to the table, and unquestioningly ate the waffles. They were just undercooked and kinda crumbly. Dad told Caeden he needed to come eat, and Caeden protested but came and sat down. As Dad put the waffles on his plate, Caeden said, "I'm not gonna eat these!! You're a bad waffle-maker, 'cause look!!!" We cracked up. Caeden did decide to eat the waffles and even said they were pretty good.

Caeden's Very First Fishing Trip!

Grandpa took us fishing this afternoon! (Me, the kids, and Grandpa) It was Caeden's very first time to go fishing, and he has been waiting anxiously for a while now! It turned out to be the perfect day for fishing, and it was very exciting for Caeden! (And the grown-ups watching him too!)

Grandpa cast out a line for Caeden, and as he was explaining to Caed how to hold the pole, watch the bobber, work the reel, Caeden got a bite! He reeled in a big ol' catfish! It was nearly 2 feet long! You can imagine the excitement of a little boy catching such a big fish! He kept saying over and over, "How can I catch such a big fish? I knew I could!"


Yep, he thought it was pretty cool, and wasn't afraid of the fish at all!


He also caught a crappie, and Grandpa showed it to him up-close.



I was trying to take a picture with Dad's camera and had it on a video setting...
Caught a cute moment...


Caeden wasn't afraid to touch the fish.


He caught a blue-gill too!


When we got back to the barn, the kids jumped out of the truck and ran to get Uncle Travis to come see Caeden's huge catfish. Grandpa called Daddy and put him on speakerphone so Caeden could tell him all about his big catch! Caeden was so excited and funny. He was holding the fish, petting it, getting right up in its face, and pulling its whiskers. He loved the whole experience, and I loved watching him. I know Grandpa did too, and I wish Daddy could have been there. What a day! Quite an experience for a first fishing trip!