4th of July Fun-Part 1

As you can see I am not the best one-handed photographer, but I wanted to get a picture of Dalayna in action jumping rope. This is part of what we spent our 4th of July weekend doing-jumping rope. Yes, even I got involved . I figured it was a way to celebrate being another year older.

Don't you love the pony-tails in the air? Dalayna learned to jump rope in our homeschool classes this year. We had tried it at home, but she really got the hang of it in class.
Here is my moment of glory(HA!) I was laughing so hard I messed up!! The good news is-I can still jump at my age!!! The flip side of that is I need more exercise, so the aftermath of this is I am walking 2 miles a day now.

Terry didn't want me to post these pictures, but I just had too because hey, I don't get good action shots very often, but this is a good one. He can still jump too and he is several months older than me.;) The aftermath for him involves running 2-3 miles a day!!

Colby's turn.

Back to Dalayna.

Visiting around the table. This usually involves everyone but me eating some form of chocolate, but we must have all had our fill of food for the day!!

Dalayna's attempt to jump rope before everyone got involved; using the garden flag as a "person" holding the rope.

Pedicure Party

Last month Dalayna and I were invited to a pedicure party at my friend's house. Of course we jumped at the chance since we don't always have time to do our nails and such. It was just a little mommy-daughter time. It was also a great chance to get to know a few people at church better. Dalayna soaking her feet. We decided this is a must when the weather turns cooler. Let's hope that is a way off!!

Here is her very first time painting her own nails. One of her friends was at the party and since she paints her own nails, I thought Dalayna should try it for herself. She did a pretty good job!!

Another first: Dalayna painting my nails!! Her friend Sarah is watching intently.

Would you believe these things are cookies? One of the ladies at church, who bakes cakes for a living made these. Are they adorable or what? And they tasted great too!! So our party was complete with soaking our feet, painting our nails and cute feet cookies!!

June Visitors

In June, we hosted our very 1st overnight guests:My in-laws. We always enjoy their visits and this time was no different. My father-in-law wanted to be put to work, so he started mowing grass. Unfortunately our John Deere mower started giving him problems and as of right now, is currently out of comission. We are getting plenty of exercise mowing it by hand. Anyway, we appreciated his help since our yard is so large. He also did some of the mowing using the push mower, which is not self-propelled!! My kids love being outside.

Grandma and Dalayna getting ready to play solitaire.

A refill on coffee anyone?

At the European market, where we tasted some of the best jelly ever. It was cherry jelly made from Michigan cherries. It was so good, but economics won out over taste since it was $10 for a little jar. We did buy a bag of kettle corn, my favorite, and a loaf of fresh french bread. There were fresh pastries, cheeses, fruits and vegetables; lots of good food!!

We also took them to the beach. It was around 90 degrees that day and the water felt wonderful. As you can see, there were lots of people there.

Colby's Acting Debut

Back in May, Colby took part in a play with teenagers from our homeschool group. It was actually one of the classes they offered for the semester. He wanted no part of it. He wanted to do behind the scenes stuff like lights, props,etc. They needed people to take parts, so Colby was drafted. He had 3 different roles. They performed the play "Pilgrim's Progress." Maybe I am partial, but I think our group did an excellent job. The moms who led the class put together the costumes, props, everything. The teens also did a great job memorizing their lanes, and some had quite a few. I am thankful Colby got to participate in an event of this kind. I will probably NEVER get him to do this again, so I enjoyed the moment. Colby, as Mr.Worldly Wiseman talking to the character "Christian."

Mr.Worldly Wiseman

Part of the group photo.

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July!! Dalayna designed this post for me. She did a great job!! Take time this holiday weekend to thank God for the many freedoms we have. Thank God also for those who fight that we may have those freedoms.

Beach Day!!

Today was what summer should be about:Friends, fun, sun and of course, the beach. I decided I am tired of staying home almost every day of the week, so I told my kids that one day of each week we will do something fun, whether it involves the beach, shopping, the zoo, whatever. So this weeks activity was going to the beach. Just what I have been looking forward to since last summer. Only this was a full day. My friends Pam and Lisa and their kids were there too. I think everyone had a great day and will sleep well tonight from all the activity. We did pick the coolest day of the week, so the water was a bit too chilly for me, but it certainly didn't stop any of the kids, even though at times their teeth were chattering. We were at a private area of the beach belonging to a couple at our church who live right on the lake. They are extremely generous to everyone in their invitations to come to their home and use the beach area, and the lower area of their house where there is a bathroom and kitchen area if needed. They invited our family the 1st time they met us, which amazed me. Here is Dalayna with her friend Abby. They had a wonderful time building sand castles and digging in the sand. Unlike the boys, they preferred to stay out of the water until right before we left. Colby and Jadon(Abby's brother) venturing into the water even though the outside temp was only in the 60's at the time. The waves were as loud and large as the ocean today, so Colby was happy since he likes to body surf those big waves.

Colby was a good big brother to all the kids today since he was the only teen. He kept them busy and watched out for all of them.

All the sand castles....isn't that they type of thing kids are supposed to do instead of sitting watching TV and playing video games?

I thought this was the cutest picture. Poor Abby had been knocked over by one of the waves, so she and Dalayna were holding hands to keep from being knocked over. And a good time was had by all.......

Tour of the House-Part 3 The Finale-:)

I am not ending my finale with big fireworks or the best room in the house. It is simply my hall bath and 2 of my 3 storage areas. Afterall, isn't storage what counts to many of us these days...where to put all the stuff we somehow acquire? I hope you have enjoyed seeing what everything looks like in our new home. Maybe this will be my home longer than a year this time........We are very thankful to be in our own home again and know we were able to do this because God provided the buyer for our house in FW.

We do have a bathtub with shower in the hall bath. It is ceramic tile on the inside. What fun to clean!! I do have to say the former owners left it in excellent condition. I hope to take care of it as well as they did.

I reallylike this vanity. What appears to be drawers are really doors with plenty of storage inside. The very bottom is a drawer. I also have a large linen closet next to the shower.

Obviously the stairs into the basement.

Storage room #1. All the clothes in the corner are winter clothes. Somehow over the winter they multiplied. Maybe it is because Colby is taller so his clothes are bigger, or because I want to wear nothing but sweaters living in the land of the frozen tundra(HA!). I am still trying to figure it out!! We went from 5 tubs of winter clothes to 7 tubs, plus some big storage bags. I guess I will figure it out next winter.

Storage room #2. This room will belong to Terry and Colby for their fishing and hunting gear. It is also a nice storm shelter, where my kids were last night when those 70mph winds blew through!! We were told the people who originally owned this house put this wash tub in to use for canning veggies, etc. In storage room #3, which is not pictured, I have this tiny little stove they used for cooking. I am hoping to get rid of that tiny little stove at some point. The washtub comes in handy for laundry if needed. We also have one of these in the garage, which is nice for bathing a cute beagle, or cleaning dirty hands after working outside. I would like to turn this into a bathroom someday.

The other side of storage room #2. I am hoping these shelves never become filled with stuff!! As I said, I do have another storage area, but it isn't that great. It has our furnace, water heater, a dehumidifier, etc.

Tour of the House-Part 3

These pictures are of my laundry/computer area and the basement. To the left of the washer/dryer is the garage. This computer desk area sits directly across from the washer and dryer. There are plenty of cabinets for storage and also a coat closet. , which is next to the computer desk.

Here is the basement. This area will eventually be sectioned off into a guest bedroom and schoolroom. The TV used to be in Colby's room, but we didn't feel he had room for it anymore, so now it sits downstairs, which is fine with him. Terry HATES this yellow color, so he would like to paint it because it could be next year before we drywall everything. What you see is all paneling.

Same picture-OOPS!

The guest bed.

Games, toys and puzzles. The door you see leads to one of my storage areas. I will post pictures of those tomorrow.

Our school room area.

The view into the family room area.

This is a gas fireplace with a blower, which will be nice when it gets cold outside. This room needs some new paint, a rug, etc, which will all be purchased at some point. Terry and Colby plan to make it an "outdoors" type of room.

This door leads into another storage area.

The final set of pictures coming tomorrow!!