Alright, I added a bunch of photos from May tonight, so you’ll have to back-track and take a look-see.  They aren’t all on exact dates, but I pulled out the cute ones I had and plugged them in.  Not as fun as getting a new one each day – I know… we’ll see if I can get better about that once we get caught up here. 

T-ball is over, swim team continues, and my parents were just here for a quick whirlwind 6 days – we went on a short camping trip together for 3 of the 6 days.

I can’t believe summer is almost half-way over!  I wish it could just be like this all the time!  I love the slightly more relaxed summer schedule.

Next week Matt’s parents arrive for a couple weeks.  

We had a week straight of crazy storms and tons of rain.  Then the PERFECT weather when my parents were here.  Now it’s pretty toasty. 

Our garden has issues this year…  we’re trying to work on it.  I’m not sure if it got too much rain or if the raised beds dirt isn’t the best or what… but things aren’t growing that great – aside from the raspberries and strawberries – they did pretty well. 

I have a huge to-do list, but don’t we all?  Just plugging along day by day!

I hope you are enjoying your summer!

C-

Hi there, I am SLOWLY adding some pictures…  I better take some more soon!  I still have quite a few to post though.

Last weekend Sat. Sun. Mon. I took the post-partum doula training (27 hours of class).  I’m glad to be done with the classroom stuff! 

We have had our fair share of storms here lately!  We had big thunderstorms 5 of the last 7 days with LOTS of rain.  My weeds in my garden are very happy.  Actually, aside from the strawberries and raspberries, my garden isn’t doing too well this year.  Bummer! 

Matt ventured to Minnesota this week for the AFLC annual conference.  The kids and I decided to stay home this time.  Of course the week flew by with swim team and guitar lessons and library trips.  The library is doing a reading program the boys are really excited about.  Unfortunately, it ends next week.  I would have thought they would do it throughout the summer. 

We went to a wedding today – LOVE weddings.  We even brought all the kids.  They did pretty good.

Next week is Vacation Bible School.  The kids are looking forward to that!  We also have friends coming over for the day on Tue., a swim meet Wed. and the VBS program Friday.  Another busy week.

Then, the week after VBS Nana and Papa (my parents) will be here.  YEA!

And the two weeks after that… Matt’s parents.

C-

Here’s my day (and most days are like this..)  This is why I am behind in sooo many things (including pictures here on this blog…)

- Matt was with someone in the hospital and got home around 2a.m.

- We slept in until 9:00 – that was nice!

- We took showers, & fed the kids. 

- While I was getting ready I took a couple phone calls.

- We launched rockets with the kids (Christian got a rocket kit for his birthday)

- Left at 10:45 to get to swim team by 11:00.  Swim team 11-12:30

- Had lunch

- Launched more rockets

- Got the kids sunscreened up again to go swimming again with friends.

- I went to do a post-partum visit with my birth client from a couple weeks ago.

- I picked up Ryan at the pool and left the other two boys with our friends.

-Ryan got changed and ran out the door to go to guitar lessons with Matt.

- I sorted all the laundry with Annika’s “help” and got some laundry going

-I’m off to cook some dinner and do the dishes that are sitting there.

- Christian and Dane will be home in 15 minutes.

_ Annika needs to get dressed – she’s still in her jammies.

- Christian and Dane will need to get dressed.

- Everyone will be home by 4:45 and we will eat.

- We have to leave at 5:15 for Dane’s T-ball Game

- We’ll come home, have our reading time, have a little talk with Ryan*, and get the kids to bed.

- Matt and I will work until the wee hours of the morning and we’ll start all over again tomorrow. 

*While I was picking Ryan up from the pool he said, “Mom, summer is supposed to be about the kids having fun and spending time with our friends, and you never let us do either of those things…” (he said this while standing next to his friend who he was swimming with..”  Umm HUH?  All I have been doing all day is running places to make it so he would have a fun day!  So I told him we would be discussing that later when he wasn’t with his friends.  Our kids all have times when they are ungrateful (particularly Ryan and Christian) and it doesn’t come out a ton, but when it does, it drives me batty!  I see many not fun days in his future if his attitude doesn’t change!  Then he’ll see what it feels like to not have fun!  : )   Oh the joys of parenthood.

Well better run!

C- 

Yes, I know I am way way way behind on photos.  So sorry.  I did not intend to catch up month by month, instead of day by day, but I guess that is just the way it goes sometimes.  I will try to get some up in the next couple days. 

Here is a bit of a recap of the last month or so.

- We trailer shopped and trailer shopped and shopped some more until we finally bought one.  We have spent a couple nights in it, and look forward to many more in the weeks to come.

- Soccer continued for Ryan and Christian and then t-ball started for Dane.  Now they are all 3 in swim team, and they also are all 3 signed up for football later this summer and fall. 

- Dane graduated from pre-school and was promoted to Kindergarten

- Ryan completed 4th grade with straight A’s all 4 quarters. 

- I got elected as treasurer to school PTL

- I attended my first birth as a doula – I was there for about 30 hours!

- Ryan and Matt continue to take guitar lessons

- It has rained a lot and there were a couple tornados a little over an hour north of us

- We have been working in the garden periodically when we are actually home and it isn’t raining

-R & C had a boy scout camping trip that… of course got rained out – they all came home early

-   I did a bit of garage saling and shopping with a friend

- Christian celebrated his 8th B-day and Matt & I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary

- Ryan took a hunting safety course – out of town – 3 hours away (our first night camping in our trailer)

- This weekend I am taking the post-partum doula training class – 27 hours of class.  It is only an hour away this time though, so we’ll just drive back and forth each day. 

Of course there were the normal household & work tasks and normal church meetings and such.  We don’t seem to have much of a problem staying busy, that is for sure!

I will try to get some new pictures uploaded in the next couple days.

C-