Poolside

We have spent a couple hours the last couple days at the neighborhood pool. I open up an umbrella and sit in the shade with a book while the kids play.

Rachel has been at camp so these are pictures of Aaron and Hannah.

The kids love this giant turtle. They were pretending it was a sinking boat and they had to swim to shore. Whatever keeps them happy.

Aaron has been wearing this mask all summer. It has left a tan line that makes him look like he has a five o'clock shadow or a really dirty face.

Adult swim is called at quarter til every hour. We have started packing a cooler and letting the kids eat lunch while they wait to get back in the water. It gives them something to do while they wait and they aren't crying, "I'm so hungry" all the way home.

Yard Work

My grass that I planted in the front yard and nurtured ever so carefully was beautiful for a while. Then we got our first water bill after a month of using the automatic sprinklers and figured out we must have a leak in the system somewhere. We decided to stop using the automatic system and feed the kids instead. The grass all but died, but the kids are still alive.

Thankfully, we finally got a lot of rain and the grass in the front yard made a come back, sort of. We have a drainage system that filters water to the backyard so it is always green. Because we have had tons of rain, the grass in the back was actually kind of jungle-ish.

Aaron and Hannah (Rachel is really innocent) are forever leaving balls, sticks, rocks and other junk around the backyard that I have to dodge when I am mowing. Because the grass was so high this time around, I sent them out there with rakes to go through the grass before I mowed.

Hannah came out of the garage carrying a garden rake and said, "I am just like a farmer with a pitch fork. I love yard work."

I mowed the side yard while they went over the backyard. After that, I had them pick sticks up out of the front yard. Not that I couldn't see them with the almost dead grass, but it is good for them to help out.

After mowing, I trimmed the trees around the yard.

This is Aaron and Hannah having a popsicle on their break. They were too cute sitting on the steps with their rain boots on. The boots were their idea.

Of course, we don't do yard work around here without finding snakes. We found one this morning, but I didn't stop to take a picture.

As I started typing this post, Aaron and his friend came to get me because they found this one in the backyard. I am fairly certain it is a midland brown snake. It is hard to tell in the picture, but it is probably only six inches long.

Shipped Her Out

Aaron, Hannah and I dropped Rachel off for a week of church camp this afternoon. She and I did some last minute shopping last night and got her all packed up.

She has been to camp before, but this will be the longest amount of time she has been gone. The camp runs from Sunday through Friday.

We arrived about twenty minutes before the gates opened and there was already a line of cars waiting to get in.

There were signs along the road into the camp announcing the camp radio station. It was really helpful. They broadcast exactly how check in would work. This camp was organized! Check in was so easy and the counselors were all very cheery. It kind of made me want to stay.

At one point the radio announcer said, "We like to get an idea of how many of you in line are listening so when we count to three, honk your horn." They counted to three and I honked my horn. In my defense, I was NOT the only one. Rachel fell in the floor because she was so embarrassed. She has got to learn to have a little fun!



Once we got through the gate, we had to go through three stations. We stayed in our car and drove to a line of counselors. The first stop was to check Rachel's name off, make sure we had paid up and that I didn't want to deposit any more money in her camp store account. Her friend, Montana, has attended this camp before so I talked to her mom about how much money she thought Rachel would need.

The second stop was to take Rachel's temperature. Every camper is checked and anyone with a fever can't stay. Whew! We passed that one.

The third and final check point is to get her cabin assignment. The counselor gave us a car tag and color coded it for the girls' cabins. There were then counselors along the road to direct us to the proper parking lot. Once we parked there were counselors to greet us, carry the bag and walk us to her cabin. We met her counselor, Mariah. She seemed very nice. As Rachel was the first girl to arrive, she got her pick of bunks. She chose a bunk bed and took the bottom bunk, saving the top bunk for Montana.

I had to sign her in with the counselor and then leave. Rachel is so independent and self confident, she didn't care at all that I was leaving. I asked her several times if she was o.k. Finally she asked, "Are you?" Uh, maybe! I left, but ran right back in to take a picture of her for the blog.



The cabins seem really nice. Seriously, that floor looks cleaner than the hardwoods in my house. Notice the pillow and sleeping bag hanging on the front of the suitcase. I got the brilliant (so humble) idea to bungee cord them on to the suitcase. It worked really well because the suitcase is a rolly one.

On Friday, there is an end of camp celebration and families are invited. I can hardly wait to hear all about her week. Hopefully, she will do a guest post!

Riding Solo

We bought season passes for Six Flags last fall. Six Flags was running a special offer. We were able to purchase a season pass for the price of a regular one day admission and if four or more passes were purchased a free parking pass was given. Score!

I love season passes because I feel like we can visit the attraction, be it Six Flags, the zoo, etc., and hit our favorite parts without killing ourselves trying to see everything in one day.

This summer has been pretty hot so far. I had been wating for a day where the high was going to be below 90 and we found one. PK had to work so I took the kids for the day.

I was a bit worried about letting Hannah ride some of the "bigger" rides without PK, but once we were there, I felt pretty comfortable letting the kids ride the rides alone. Alone being without a parent. All three of them road all the rides together with the exception of one.

We started with the train that makes a loop around the park. Let me tell you, Rachel was thrilled (sarcasm, sarcasm, sarcasm). I happen to like the train because I prefer rides that don't make me want to throw up!! I don't really like roller coasters, any rides that spin (I can barely handle the carousel) or go extremly fast. However, I do like things that entertain the kids and I do like to people watch. Amusement parks are a great place for both!

One of our favorite rides is the Monster Mansion. It is a leisurely boat ride through a tunnel of whymiscal monsters. Of course, this is the only ride Rachel likes to ride more than the train (more sarcasm). While we were waiting in line, she asked, "Are we only going to ride slow rides today?" about a thousand times. Sometimes I said, "Yes" and sometimes I said, "No. But we are going to ride rides that everyone enjoys." and sometimes I asked, "Are you having fun?" to which she would reply with the obligatory precious eye roll and, "Yes."

At the beginning of the ride a picture is taken of each boat with the guests making their scariest monster faces. Rachel decided we should practice our faces.


Rachel


Aaron

Hannah

We eventually worked our way around to one of Rachel's favorite rides, The Wheelie. It starts out flat and gradually raises up until it looks like a Ferris Wheel except it goes really fast!! This is the only ride that Rachel road solo.

I could see her face as her car zoomed across the bottom and I could see her smiling. It made me happy that she was having such a good time.

One of our other favorite things is the Bad Bob show. It is a comedy about a sheriff, his deputy and the bad guy, Bad Bob. After the show I had the kids stand in front of the set for a picture. If you think Hannah looks a little afraid, it is because she was. I guess she tought Bad Bob would really get her.

The swings have always been a favorite. This was the first time Hannah was tall enough to ride. She was soooo excited!

Aaron is in the front and Rachel is the orange streak behind him. Hannah is kind of in the middle in the pink tank top. The other people are just blog extras. Ha, ha!

The final ride was the Mind Bender. I didn't actually take this picture. I downloaded it off the web. This roller coaster has one loop that goes upside down. It was the first time Aaron went on a roller coaster that goes upside down. The line was short and as soon as they came off they all begged to go again. They went one more time and then I told them it was time to head out.

I had checked the forecast before leaving home and it said no rain until tomorrow. As we were walking toward the exit, I noticed the sky was growing quite dark. We managed to get to the car and on the highway just before it started storming!! I made the comment that I was glad we left when we did and weren't stuck walking to the car in the storm. Rachel said, "I guess it was God telling you it was time to go. He protects us that way." She was so serious and matter of fact. That was my favorite part of the entire day!!

Nap Time

The kids were watching a movie and all three of them wanted to be on the couch. In days gone by, they probably could have fit, but they are too big now.

Hannah got creative and used the top or back of the couch. This would be exhibit number one as to why we have almost 13 year old furniture. The kids are usually pretty good about not jumping or climbing on it, but if they do or their rowdy friends come over, at least it isn't my new furniture.

I'm not sure if you can tell in the above picture, but Hannah was so comfortable that she fell asleep.

Here's a close up.

The Big 1-0

Today is Aaron's 10th birthday. He is thrilled to have hit double digits and announced that he is a preteen or at least a tween. I'm not really in agreement with either, but whatever.

We had his party yesterday. PK was off, so it just made sense. We invited three of his friends and their family for a cookout. This was probably the most low key birthday party I have thrown for any of my kids. However, the kids didn't seem to mind and I was able to relax and enjoy!

The Dupuis' (The Dupuises?...I think Sarah was an English major. I'll have to ask her how they do it.) came, minus Allison. Charlie's mom is the Minister of Discipleship at our church and had a youth function, so she dropped Charlie off. With Hannah, it was a perfect number of kids. Rachel was there, but she just watched (a true tween).

We pulled out the slip and slide.

Charlie brought his water gun and Aaron pulled out a couple. They tried to ambush Hannah.

Then she got smart and took the hose off of the slip and slide.

The Dupuis' (Dupuises...whatever) came right before a thunderstorm hit, so Coleman missed out on the water activities. I also finished grilling burgers and hotdogs just before the rain hit. We also had corn on the cob, homemade macaroni and cheese and chips.

Aaron wanted a Lego theme party so I had a friend of mine make him this Lego cake.

I detest goody bags. They are expensive to put together and all the stuff inside usually breaks or is just junk. The last few years, I have tried to come up with alternatives to goody bags. For the Lego party, I bought a container of Legos, dumped them in the middle of the floor and let the kids have at 'em. They worked on this for well over and hour. Whatever they created went home with them. I guess it was a double duty party activity/favor. I spent less on the tub of Legos than I would have spent had I bought stuff for goody bags and an activity. It was also less messy than the painting activities I have done in the past. Not that those aren't fun, it was just easier.

Coleman, Aaron, Charlie and Hannah with their creations.

All in all, another successful party.

Theology Check

What did he just say? I never asked that question growing up. When my pastor said something from the pulpit, I took it as the gospel truth (no pun intended). I never argued a word he said. If he interpreted a scripture a certain way, I went with it. It was King James all the way because those "newer" versions were watered down versions of the truth. No harm was meant by that teaching, it was just a lack of education. Ignorance, if you will. If we all really wanted to be true to the scripture we would have been diving into some Greek, Hebrew or even Aramaic language classes.

This isn't a slam of that pastor. I respect him as a man of God. I am certain I would have taken the word of anyone considered a man of God as truth without hesitation. It was a line not to be crossed.

Same thing for Sunday School teachers. I remember sitting in the coveted youth Sunday School class one morning and our teacher was telling us why we should not listen to contemporary Christian music. She said, "The word 'contemporary' means 'like.'" I don't remember her exact words after that, but she was telling us that contemporary music was trying to be like traditional Christian music (hymns...which I love) and would some how lead us astray. Of course, I didn't go home and look up the definition for myself. I just stayed away from that music that would send me straight to the depths. If I had taken the time to look up the word, I would have realized it means "belonging to the same period of time or of about the same age."

Hindsight, I missed out on some great worship music before I found a love for contemporary music. I can still be found pounding out the old hyms on my piano, but some contemporary music has a great message.

The other night PK and I were at a church function. A man we hadn't previously met was leading in worship. His songs were meant to be a testimony of sorts of his faith journey. He had written some songs himself and performed several favorites.

He talked a lot between songs and as it was an informal outside affair with kids running around and other noises, I didn't pay attention to everything he said. However, one thing caught my attention right away. He said, "God is everything you want Him to be." I looked at PK and he had caught it, too. I whispered, "Bad theology" and PK said, "That is why there are so many different denominations.

Yes. God is everything we need. We could understand God to be everything we want if our hearts are in tune with His will and our needs conform to His desires for us. Then our wants are what He wants for us. But twisting the idea of God and His characteristics to conform to fit our wants is not scriptural.

I'm certain the man speaking wasn't out to twist scripture or start a cult following akin to "Name it and claim it" but when spreading the Gospel or teaching from scripture semantics says a lot.

I don't know if anyone else in the audience caught what he said or not. For me, I guess it was an opportunity to check my theology

Keeping the Faith

PK and I went to see a movie last night. It was the first movie we had seen together without kids in two years. Because his work schedule isn't traditional, his days off are Tuesday and Wednesday. We do lots of lunch dates while the kids are at school, but not movies.

We went to see Soul Surfer at the dollar theatre. We call it the dollar theatre, but it is actually a dollar seventy five theatre. Semantics. We can take all three kids and let everyone have a snack for less that what we would pay for admission at the regular theatre.

I digress...

We let Rachel babysit. Yikes!! I have let her stay at home with the kids while I ran quick errands, but I was a bit nervous about an entire movie. PK pointed out that we let neighbors' kids who were Rachel's age at the time babysit our kids when they were babies. Of course, Rachel wanted to know if she would be paid. I responded like every responsible mother, "Uhhh, yes! With food on the table, roof over your head, clothes to wear, money for Youth Week at the church, money to go bowling and the 5 dollars here and 5 dollars there to do whatever it is you are asking me for at the moment." She replied with a precious eye roll.

We liked the movie. I had heard so much hype about it that I may have been expecting a small spiritual revival. It had small bits of scripture woven throughout and a taste of one of my favorite worship songs, but it wasn't overly religious. However, it was very nice to sit through a movie that wasn't drenched in sexual innuendos like the previews for animated movies directed toward children. That may be another blog post. I'll come down off of that soapbox before I get started.

There was a message of hope and perseverance. It was based on a true story of a girl who is a surfer and while surfing was attacked by a shark. She lost her arm and defied the odds to surf again and to become a professional surfer. There were clips at the end of interviews with the actual person the movie was based on. She did say in one interview that her courage came from Jesus Christ. I think her real life faith was probably stronger than the movie portrayed. The clips at the end may have been our favorite part!

PK and I were discussing it on the way home because he was singing Blessed Be Your Name by Matt Redman which was the song I really like. The basic them of the song is that we not only praise God when things are going great, but we praise him when we hit our lowest of lows.

I told PK something I heard in Sunday School a couple months ago had really stuck in my head. We are working through a Max Lucado book so I'm not sure if it is something he wrote or a comment someone in the class made. How we react to the situations we face, when the storm hit, really speaks to the level of faith we have in God. If I am faced with a trial and fall into a puddle or worry constantly, where is my faith? It is important to take things one minute at a time if necessary and remember that no matter the situation God is still on His throne. He is still worthy to be praised in my lowest of lows. He works good from the situations I think are unsurvivable. Many who oppose Christianity watch us in our times of trial to see what we are going to do with our faith. Do we keep the faith or do we wallow in our own self pity? Do we count our blessings or linger on the trials at hand? It isn't an easy lesson to learn, but it makes life so much more bearable when we can give every care to God and trust Him to move. When He does move we roll with it whether it is His will or ours.

Men In Uniform

My favorite Sailor and his sidekick (a.k.a. PK and Aaron)

Family Readiness Weekend

I have several close friends who are military spouses. There is a connection between those friends that I don't experience with any other friends. (I also have close friends who are not military spouses and I love them just as dearly....Thought I should throw that out there since some of them stalk my blog.)

I am not articulate enough to explain it without rambling on and on. However, if you are a military spouse, I don't have to explain it because you already get it. There is something about not having to explain how I feel when my husband is gone, or the knot in my stomach and the dropping of my heart when I see him in his dress blues and it reminds me of the times he has gone with the CACO to inform a loved one their service member is not coming home or that I don't need pity when he is gone or what I mean about the gremlins striking the moment he leaves. I can pack and unpack a house in lightening speed. I know way too many acronyms and always have a current POA. We are prepared and although I don't see myself as strong as some of the ladies I admire, military spouses are a strong breed and we can cope.

Since PK switched to the reserve side of things several years ago, I have often told those mil spouse friends that I don't really consider myself one of them anymore. In a post 9-11 world, the reservists are jumping in there with the active duty guys and seeing as much action. My hubby spends more than his one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer.

As soon as I say that I don't really feel like a military spouse, PK will usually go away for the entire summer to work with the Sailors at Great Lakes or take a week for annual training. This time I am feeling the title because he will be deploying to Bahrain for 2 months. I have had more than one person chuckle when I say, "It is only 2 months." We have never done a deployment where he actually leaves the country, but we have done several 2-3 month separations. The reason I say, "only 2 months" is because I have watched friends' spouses deploy for 6-12 months multiple times.

He is currently assigned to a unit in Knoxville, which is attached to a Marine unit in North Carolina. The unit has mobilized with the Marines many times and will probably do so again at some point. PK's upcoming deployment is actually not with this unit. A chaplain is needed in Bahrain to go from ship to ship to minister to the Sailors so PK volunteered.

Because the Knoxville unit does deploy, they periodically have Family Readiness Weekends. Speakers from different organizations are brought in to explain different resources to spouses. Hindsight, I really knew all the "stuff" that was shared. While PK was active duty, this information was drilled into my head. But it was a free weekend away. The unit picked up the cost of the hotel and we got to see where PK drills and meet a few people.

I may have packed my own coffee cup for the stay at the hotel and I may have also gone to the lobby to fill it up each time because the coffee down there was better than in the room. I know I have mentioned it before, but thanks to my mil spouse friend, Jen, for being the first one to bring me over to the side of coffee drinkers. Thanks to my hubby for making me a coffee snob.

The kids and I were on our own most of the day Saturday. We hung out at the hotel pool and read. This is a picture of Aaron and Hannah watching tv. They both had their legs bent up and swinging, but I missed it. It was too cute.

Rachel got comfy while reading her book. When the kids were little, the reward for being good in the car was they could jump on the beds at the hotel. Always a no-no at home. They have outgrown the bed jumping days.

The kids had tons of fun at the Family Readiness Program. There were several exhibits by 4-H members. They actually saw a chicken lay and egg.

Hannah got to ride a donkey. For our animal lover, this was next to heaven.

There was a huge jumpy slip and slide and Hannah got soaked.

The kids told me it was a great day.

It isn't often that we all get a weekend away, so it was nice.

Bad Words

After we got home from a weekend trip, we found a gazillion flies in the house. Well, that might be a slight exaggeration, but there were a lot. I'm still not sure where they came from. Before we left, I did any dishes that had accumulated and threw out some fruit I knew wouldn't make it through the weekend. Aaron took the trash outside.

We killed a bunch last night and I have taken out several more today. As the kids and I were eating dinner, I noticed a couple more in the kitchen and got 'em. There were still a couple that were driving me nuts, so Aaron and Hannah decided they would spend the rest of the evening trying to kill the rest of the flies.

Hannah came down the stairs all prepared to exterminate the flies. I told them they couldn't use bug spray (even though it is kitchen safe...whatever that means) so she found a canister of OFF. Nope. Sorry. You can't randomly spray that through the house either. She also had her old Crock on a leash to use to whap them with, an empty vanilla bottle that had been washed out a long time ago (she claims it still smells good and will attract the flies), her garden gloves and her bug catcher.



Then we had the following conversation:

Hannah: I also have my bug catcher in case the flies are the "s" word and we can catch them.

Me: What's the "s" word?

Hannah: The same as the "d" word.

Me: (Can't figure out how the two words are related and apply to the flies or how she knows them.) Can you spell it?

Hannah: Do you promise I won't get in trouble if I spell it.

Me: Yes.

Hannah: s...t..u...p...i...d

Do You Believe In Jesus?

This afternoon the kids were giving Holly a quick bath before we took her to the kennel. We were heading out of town for the weekend and this would be her first time being boarded. We couldn't have her smelling like a stinky dog.

Anyway, I overheard this conversation:

Aaron: (To PK who was peeking in to make sure everything was ok) Is this how you baptize someone? (Obviously trying to sprinkle the dog)

PK: Yes. But only people get baptized. (Walks away.)

ME: (In the other room, laughing and thinking we don't have time for a deep theological discussion. And isn't it cute that they want to play "baptize the congregation of one.")

The kids often play this game with Holly where they ask her a question and she will either nod her head yes or shake her head no. Usually it is questions like, "Is Mommy your favorite?" or "Do you want to play with your toys?" Her "answers" are really her moving her head and listening to them. I have no delusions that the dog is a genius and understands the entire English language and responds appropriately. If we can conquer sit, come and potty in the proper place on command, I will be happy.

Anyway, with that explanation, the conversation continues:

Aaron: Holly, do you believe in Jesus? (pause) She said, "Yes."

Me: (To PK) Well, they might drown the dog, but at least they get the whole accepting Jesus thing.