Whirlwind

Is it really almost the end of July? Where has the time gone???? July, it seems, has been a flurry of one activity to the next. On the housekeeping side for some reason (I have no idea) when I changed blog backgrounds the blog site took all my slideshows and rearranged them with the old ones. I think I have it fixed. Computers!

I just kissed Josiah goodbye.........he is headed out for his first scouting adventure without anyone from our family. A week in Park Island ID. I will confess I am nervous but he is totally jazzed and seems to be at peace about the whole adventure. I am praying that it will be a wonderful time for him.

Elijah leaves tonight for a SEVENTY mile hike up into the Bob Marshall Wilderness. It will be a great week for him with the scoutmaster he really respects and two of his favorite buds. It doesn't sound even the TINIEST bit of fun to me -- hiking in the mountains 70 miles in five days carrying around everything you need in a 40+ pound pack on your back!! I will be praying for him also all week.

Gabrielle had her bday party this weekend, nothing extravagant. Just family and friends for cake and BBQ :) She really is a fantabulous young woman. I am enjoying her immensely, although I will confess some days she also stretches my character immensely. It will be wonderful when the hormones level out! :)

I guess it would be two weeks ago now (the week of the 12th) the kids all participated in VBS at one of the local churches. We have helped with their VBS for the past three or four years. I LOVE VBS and the church we were attending didn't so we helped with another church that put one on every year. This year was High Seas Adventure - Gabrielle dressed up as a seafarer every day. I wish I would have thought to get pictures. She was ADORABLE! The older three kids helped teach/facilitate. The younger three attended and KJ and I spent the mornings together. He decided he LOVED the undivided attention - like he doesn't get enough already!!! We spent most of the mornings just kicking back at a local park near the church. I did some reading/studying and worked on a cross stitch while KJ just played in the grass climbing all over me and thinking he was VERY smart stuff. It was an awesome week and I was blessed to hear Bekah still reciting the core thoughts of the week even a couple of days ago. She came up to me in her little voice and said Mom - God's Word CHANGES US!!! Then she would look at me and whisper, this is the part where you say: Let's GO! Throughout the week they learn five core thoughts and whenever they hear one of them they are supposed to yell out a response that goes with the week's theme. They learned God's Word Changes Us, God's Word is TRUE, God's word is comforting, God's Word is surprising and God's Word is for everyone! (Let's GO!!!) GREAT core thoughts! I was blessed to have them all participate. The church that we help with does an awesome job with their VBS programs!

Other than that I have been working on projects. We are watching, keeping the bees. Hoping for a good return this fall. I am a little anxious about it because we have had such a wet spring but the last couple of weeks have been HOT (too hot for me!) and the bees seem to have picked up a lot with the warmer weather. If we have a warmer fall I think we will do well. We'll see...... I also have done a few other things like refinish a yard sale dresser. It had layers of paint which Timmer helped me plane off and I redid. I love those types of projects. I needed a chest of drawers for KJ and this one is just perfectly sized for him and will work for him as he grows I think. I painted the frame which we couldn't get all the paint off a chocolate brown and then stained the top and the drawer fronts a red chestnut color which I like a lot. I think it will work. I also repaired some old framed prints that I had. Really neat old pictures but in a weird shape (which is part of the reason I like them so much) but the wood frame was decorated with a plaster or clay pattern of flowers all around the edge and many of them were broken off and damaged. My friend Natalie suggested making molds of the flowers that were unbroken and then gluing in new pieces which worked pretty well overall. Then I repainted the entire thing. They are not exactly as they were -- the older colors/patterns are hard to match but Gabrielle and Tim said that I did a nice job and the entire family decreed my project a success which of course made me feel great. I was jazzed to hang them up.

We are still working the yard, garden, etc and working on getting ready for our winter season. Elijah is stacking the wood he chopped with Judah at his side. It is a great opportunity for Elijah to teach patiently and for Judah to find accomplishment in a big project completed :) Good match all the way around! Tim and Josiah have been working on our deck - HURRAY!!! They have the support beams up and stained and they finished setting all the joists yesterday. On to the decking!!!!! Tim's help will be gone for the week but he is determined to persevere and use Zachy to help him instead. I will have to post some pictures in the next day or so. Tim is still pondering the railing but he will come up with something really great; he is quite skilled and has an artistic flare for building so he also does a fabulous job!

A week ago now we had a HUGE fire about three miles from us which got my blood pumping. Thankfully for us it was across the waterway so we were not really in any danger but it looked like it was going to swoop down from the hill right on top of us -- so extra scary. I was so thankful also that no one lost their home. We had been praying for those on the shoreline there. I was up the first night with the baby at 12:30 am and the glow was bright enough and strong enough to see the continuing billows of pumping smoke in the night sky. They are saying it burned about 1.7 square miles and over 1000 acres. One outbuilding was lost but no lives and no homes. I am so grateful. Tim and the kids hiked up the McMaster hills by us and watched the fire planes, choppers, etc fight the fire one night. I will try to post those pictures as well.

KJ has an ear infection which has been a bit of a bummer and most of us have been fighting a nasty cold - you aren't supposed to get colds in the summer!!! Other than that we are staying well. KJ is a regular mover and shaker, crawling everywhere.....pulling up on things........ basically finding lots of TROUBLE!!! It is a fun stage though as he is learning so quickly. I love the little munchkin.

Well........I have a list of things to accomplish today so I will get after it. It is supposed to be about 95 today -- WAY too hot for me but we will survive it.................... I think. :) Want to get going while things are still cool. Have a marvelous day!