Summer Lovin'

Water and more water has been the highlight of the kids summer. Between time at the lake, the sprinkler, the slip-n-slide, Wild Water West the kids got a lot of water in. But of course a summer isn't complete without a trip to the spray park.

We joined some friends for a picnic and an afternoon of fun running through the sprinklers. Sara and I enjoyed sitting on the sidelines and catching up on life. James and Joe are like siblings to mine and have so much fun together.

Shane is all wet but ready for some more!

Alexa and James hanging out in the water!

James and Shane being boys and trying to stop the water from spraying up!

Alexa with a big jump!

Emma helping Jo with the sprayer!

Two buddies who just can't get enough of each other.

True Emma style .... loving life!

Alexa taking a little break to cool off!

What a great summer day with friends!

School Is Almost Here

The girls and I had a date night to go shopping for school supplies. I have taken them seperately in the past but they decided they wanted to go together. Their energy and excitement was at the top of the charts. We made a stop at Wal-Mart and Target to tackle the list. They were so cute going from isle to isle looking for the perfect folders, school boxes, pencils .... I remember how fun it was to get those brand new school supplies. Oh the memories that it brings. We then made a stop at the mall and they got to pick out their back to school outfit. Our final stop was for some ice cream at Dairy Queen! What a fun night with my girls!

A Rainbow

Tonight we had a big rain. As the kids were coming upstairs to get ready for bed Shane caught sight of this rainbow. He was so excited and called the girls to come see. They were all dancing and squealing. It was the first rainbow they have seen. That in itself totally surprised me since they have been around rain quite often. They were so excited. Emma looked at me and said, "Mom, that rainbow makes me think of Leigh Ann in heaven!" Thanks Lord for moments like this. Leigh Ann is never far from our mind or our hearts!

Firewood Anyone?

We have had a wonderful summer and have once again made some wonderful memories at the cabin. This summer had plenty of hot summer days that were spent in the water at the lake or at Wild Water West. You don't always get hot summer days in South Dakota so we are going to chalk this summer up to a nice warm one. This also was the summer of a lot of rain and some major storms. One weekend a storm rolled through at the cabin and this was the damage that was done.

Yes, you see it right. A grouping of 7 trees was uprooted and blown over by the strong winds. We have tons of trees on the property so were very thankful that it wasn't one that was close to the cabin.

As you can see it had quite a larger root system that came up. Look how big it is compared to the kids. The kids were in awe of the big pile of roots behind them.

It actually was a group of trees were were wanting to trim back but you are not supposed to mess with the shore line of the lake. The trees and branches hung over the lake and made it hard to see the kids play in a nice sandy area. The uprooting cleared out a nice new area for the kids to play and now we can see them with out the trees in the way. So the storm took out just the right trees on the lot!

A Visit From An Author

Some of you may not know that besides being a mom I have another job that I love. Often when I am asked if I work outside of the home I say no and then have to catch myself. The work I do at Excel Achievement often doesn't feel like a job and the thing that I love the most is it fits right into our family. It is so flexible, I don't have office hours and most of my work I can do right from home during naps or after kids are in bed if I need to. I worked at a center in Arizona before we had kids that retrained little ones brains who struggled with reading and most were diagnosed with dyslexia. A couple years ago I was approached by the owner of Excel to bring the program to their center. My hearts desire was to be at home with my kids and I wasn't looking for a job, even a part time job. I did agree to go in and observe their program and see if I could give them any insight. I still remember the night I sat down and watched a little brown eyed girl struggling with reading. I couldn't help but see my little Alexa sitting at that table. My mommy heart strings were tugged pretty tightly and I thought "what if that was Alexa and someone had the keys to help her but wasn't. So there the brainstorming began. How could we make this work but still primarily be at home with my kids. I began to train teachers so they could be at the center and do the actual tutoring. I go in and observe teachers and students a couple times a month but am able to do lesson plans from home or at the center when Shane is in preschool. I love being able to keep my hand in education, help these sweet little struggling readers but also feel like it doesn't take away from my family. I love it and it is a win all around!

Excel Achievement Center is also where the kids go to preschool. The books that they use through out the building are by an author from New Zealand. Her name is Jill Eggleton. New Zealand does a wonderful job of leveling books and we love her books at home and at the center. The kids all have loved her books and literacy activities in preschool. Emma came home from kindergarten one day and was so excited. She said, "Mom, you will never guess ... my teacher has Jill Eggleton books too!" When I found out Jill Eggleton was going to do a special story time for Excel's staff's kids I knew it was something we couldn't miss. The kids were so excited. Emma had her outfit picked out days in advance.

This was a new book she had just written!

The kids had so much meeting her and listening to her read her books. He passion for little ones and books is evident. The kids thought her accent was fun too!

The kids thought their first "meeting an author" experience was pretty neat !

Energy Anyone?

The other night we were at the park. Eric and I were sitting on a bench chatting near the playground as the kids were playing. Two gals came up to us who were working on marketing an energy drink. They asked us if we would try this energy drink for them and then they would contact us in a couple days to see what we thought. Shane noticed the fun looking drink sitting on the park bench and wanted some so bad. I told him no way, the last thing he needed was more energy. If only I could bottle up his energy I would surely be rich!

4th Of July

The kids always look forward to their time at the lake for the 4th of July!

Here is the gang minus Bailey!

The brown eyed girls!

Alexa actually snapped a picture of Eric and I!

Look at that handsome man!

The evening usually starts with POPS! I love this picture of Emma in action!

Then we move to the fire for some s'mores as we wait for the sun to go down before the fireworks can begin!

Emma roasting her marshmallow to perfection!

Shane was enjoying his s'more!

The kids had so much fun with the sparklers! Here they are lined up on the beach!

There is just something about lighting off fireworks by the lake!

Fireworks are legal in our state so Eric gets put in charge of picking out fireworks for the evening show! He is slowly learning which are the good ones! Here they are all lined up and ready!

There are some advantages of being the only boy .... no one else wants to help light fireworks!

Everyone waiting in anticipation!

Shane is loving the show!

Happy 4th of July!

Shane's Sweet Shoppe

Shane was very excited about his Sweet Shoppe! He was sure all his friends were going to like the candy! Shane had been at Papa and Grammy's for a couple days when Alexa had her Sweet Shoppe party so this was easy to pull together for me and he had no idea that his sister had a similar party days before. I just swapped out the pinks with reds and we were ready to go!

Everything was ready for Shane's friends, especially him!

I can't believe the birthday boy is 5 already! He is looking so grown up!

The cupcakes were made ....

and the candy shop was ready for business! The only thing we were missing was the friends!

Shane and his friend Ethan! I love the smiles on these two boys faces. They have sweetness written all over them, ok maybe trouble!

Shane and his buddy James were trying to pretend to lick the sucker. They were so funny together. I kept laughing so hard I couldn't get a picture taken!

Shane and James are like brothers so the picture posing quickly turned to hugs and kisses and finally James had enough lovin' from the birthday boy!

The boys made some airplanes out of candy as a little craft. They were so cute trying to get them all put together. The girls had fun being the big helpers!

The boys thought they were the greatest thing. They broke out their airplane noises and flew around the yard!

It was time for dinner. Shane's birthday party request was macaroni and cheese. My first thought was oh come on I want to make a cute little buffet of food like I did for Alexa's party. Then I remembered I have little boys who could care less what their food looks like. They would probably all be thrilled with macaroni and cheese and that they were!

A little boys party is so different than a little girls party! There was so much energy around that little table. Trying to get a picture was comical! Eric and I were watching them and listening to them from the deck. I looked at Eric and said, "Are we really adding another little boy to our family!" Of course we are thrilled about our new little addition but boys definitely take it up a notch in the energy department!

We had the boys do some races with gumballs and gummy worms on their spoons.

The water balloon toss was a huge hit!

Shane had fun opening his presents and his friends were just as excited about his new toys as him!

We got Shane a big remote control monster truck! I am sure this will keep him busy in the yard for hours!

Then it was time to sing! I love this picture of the boys! They really were so cute and had so much fun together.

And then it was time to make a wish and blow out the candles.

Shane's friend Jordan had his last baseball game that night but was able to get there just in time for cupcakes.

The boys were so excited to hear the news that Shane's Sweet Shoppe was open for business! They had fun filling their buckets with yummy treats!

Shane sent them home at night with a new toothbrush to brush off all those sweets.

Shane had such a fun night with his friends! When I tucked him in he asked if he could have another Sweet Shoppe party next year!