They used their gift money to buy lunch!
Good thing they had extra energy… The boys did an aerial obstacle course.
I WANT TO TRY!
Month: July 2011
She’s serving herself…
which is good, right?
Isn’t that where YOU sit to slice cheese?
Not sure what this face means…
but it was so interesting we asked
her to repeat it for the camera.
I think she is working on
“confused innocence.”
Or just confused!!
Party-time [again]
It wouldn’t be summer for these Disciples if we didn’t have parties. Lots of them.
On July 9th we celebrated Beau’s 11th, Champ’s 9th, and Skeezix’s 7th. We were blessed with a gorgeous day to share with our awesome family, and friends-who-might-as-well-be-family!
Just because it wasn’t her birthday didn’t mean Angel had to go without! Nope – there are always a few family members that feel badly that she is “left out.”
It’s such a “pool” story
I grew up in a home with an above-ground pool.
JB grew up in a home with an above-ground pool.
When we got married we bought a house without an above-ground pool and promptly had one installed.
When we bought this house, without a pool, in 2007, we said, “We will go one summer without a pool.”
We went without in 2007 – as expected.
We went without in 2008.
We went without in 2009.
We went without in 2010.
At this point my mom, Nan, offered to purchase us one. We refused! Nan is not well-to-do. She is a widow on a fixed income. Besides, our yard is on a hill and it would require a lot of work. We have a new baby and no time to do it ourselves [as we prefer], and we have no $$$ to hire someone to do the work!
In spring 2011 Nan offered again. She insisted that she would take it from her 401K gladly, offering, “I know I will have everything I need.” We prayerfully accepted her offer.
Installation began 7/11. Because of our septic system and lines, we had exactly one place it could go in our back yard.
The first day we watch a Bobcat work 2 hours to just get an area level enough to start the assembly.
By dinner time it was starting to fill.
And the yard work began.
Tuesday, 7/12, at 7 AM when Home Depot opened, JB was at the door to buy the required black silt fence.
You can see here at the back of the pool just how high they had to build it up! It is taller than me!
He also made the decision to hire out the electric. This was a hard choice for JB. He is really good at electric and it was VERY expensive to have it done for us. But the town’s code has gotten much more complicated than it was 13 years ago, and the yard is very large.
On Wednesday, 7/13, a 5-man team of electricians worked 6 hours to do the electric.
We went to Seabreeze…
On Thursday 7/14, while the girls and I ate at Pizza Hut, JB and the boys worked at home on the landscaping.
As the parents came to pick up their daughters, they picked up their tools and jumped in to help us complete all we needed to complete in order to pass the inspection Friday for our C of C.
As we went to bed Thursday night John said, “Isn’t it just like God to send us help like that?” ♥
On Friday, 7/15, after passing inspection, I let the kids go in for about 20 minutes before I went to work.
Champ had the Inaugural Splash.
On Saturday, 7/16, I finally got in.
Scooter, although smiling in this photo, is not all that sure about the big-chilly-bathtub!
More friends freely offered up their help. As kids swam and played the dads built a French drain.
And we had our first “pool party” afterward for our friend, L.
BiRThdAy! BIrtHDaY!
On 7/13, our sweet Skeezix turned 7. I still vividly remember when the doctor announced, “It’s a girl!” I was floored! I was looking forward to my third son. She has been a joy! A light! A jewel! She rains down sunshine into our family with her happy heart.
We had presents before Daddy left for work.
They included some Star Wars toys, circa 1978.
And a new dress!
Her breakfast choice was fruit-filled puff pastries.
At 2PM we picked Nanny up and headed to Seabreeze. The place was the most empty we have EVER seen it. We walked onto the rides. 
Scooter had her first train ride.
After Daddy arrived with pizza and wings we had a pool-side party and then headed into the all-but-abandoned waterpark.
Mommy and Skeezix rode every waterslide together. I had a BLAST!
We dried off around 7:30PM and sang Happy Birthday with her requested chocolate chip cookies.
We all went to bed tired, but happy, around 10PM. SUPER SUPER DAY.
Not to be outdone, we celebrated with friends on 7/14. Skeezix, Angel, and two of our friends went to mini-golf. Each of the girls had either never gone before, or it was so long ago they did not remember doing it. It went well. By the 5th hole I was thinking how much fun it would be to have another appendectomy… 😉
I gave them the rules off the bat. By the second hole we had abandoned all of them. If you are a mini-golf purist I apologize. I allowed them to cheat with reckless abandon all in the name of getting it done before my 40th birthday. They had a great time, I believe. They were just so sweet with one another and encouraged one another. We did not keep score. And what is great is not one of them asked, “Who won?” at the end of the game.
We scooted by Ella’s house to pick her up [she’d JUST gotten back in town] and we headed to Pizza Hut!
If you have never enjoyed a meal in the accompaniment of 5 young ladies, I highly recommend it!
Home for presents and cake. It was a splendid, splendid day.
Two birthday celebrations for my daughter who has enjoy energy to be counted as two girls!!!
I ♥ her.
“Look what I did, Mom!”
Angel has been really, REALLY struggling to read.
While she has perception beyond her years, and has often been regarded as tremendously clever, Angel is just struggling A LOT with learning to read. She is the only child in these disciples’ house that wasn’t reading by age 5.
We’ve been working a lot with letters and sounds. I left the table about 10 minutes before this picture was taken. I left fighting back tears and lamenting to our God. “HOW can this be!! Why can’t she get it? LORD lift the veil from her mind. WHY CAN’T SHE READ? She’s so SMART, God. I am helpless to help her, LORD, but You are not!” And then – just like David did now and then, I pulled out the big card, “LORD, how can she read your Word if she can’t read??” That should convince Him to unlock her mind, right? 😉
When I composed myself. I came in to the computer to email a friend of mine who is an early childhood education expert. She has been encouraging me and offering me support and suggestions these last few months.
Angel called me back to see her work. She was particularly pleased to show me how when she ran out of letters she made her own. See the second and third Ms in Mommy, the first M in Marie, and the A in Nan.
“Thank you, God, for my daughter. Exactly how You made her. I am humbled by her weaknesses and trust that she will read Your Word according to Your timing.”
Oh, how many times does He use my children for my refining.
Only a blogger…
Super Seabreeze Day
We have Seabreeze season passes again this year. We haven’t used them as much as we normally would have by this time of July because of my surgery in early June. JB has had this week off and we planned to enjoy one full family day at Seabreeze.
Plan (A) – go all day Tuesday.
We had to scrap that because JB woke with a sore back on Monday and could barely move on Tuesday.
Plan (B) – be there at 11AM on Thursday to hit the waterpark before it was crowded.
We had to scrap that because the kids’ lackluster approach to chores and generally poor attitudes this morning lost them [and us!] the privilege of going.
Plan (C) – Try again to go Thursday afternoon if kids exhibit improved behavior and make great strides in deep cleaning the bedrooms and the game room.
We made it!
We arrived around 2:30PM and the park was perfect. Very low crowd. We did dry rides until about 4:30PM. I did MY first rides of the year. [Maybe the last ones, too. I rarely ever ride as I mostly take the kids solo.] I don’t really care if I do them or not, honestly. But the kids get a kick out of seeing me scream and laugh on the wilder ones. They like to see how brave I am. I like holding their hands in lines and hearing them share all the “secrets’” of how to have the best ride, such as “Sit in the back; it is faster,” and “Don’t hold on to the bar and you will feel like you are flying,” etc.
Scooter got to do lots of scooting-around as she practiced walking all along park benches, stone walls, and her favorite – the stroller.
Yup – that’s me with my hands in the air. I am such a rebel, aren’t I? 
We then headed to the waterpark for another two hours. Neither JB or I were up to getting in the water, but the kids had a blast. Only about 20 – 30 people in the wave pool. The girls had the waterslides to themselves and three of the kids enjoyed the lazy river. The late afternoon sun felt so good as JB and I sat with Scooter and watched the kids splash and play.
Check out the close up of their faces
just before the bucket dumps!
Finally, we enjoyed another 90 minutes of dry rides before heading home. We wanted to stay to see the lights, but it was 8PM and still too light out for lights and we couldn’t think of anything else to do!!! They’d done everything.
So we stopped at Wegman’s on the way home for a container of ice cream. It cost less than one cone at Seabreeze!
It was such a great day and totally worth having to go on to plan (C). I think God was blessing JB and I for NOT taking the kids when they hadn’t followed through in the morning. 
Dayspring Disciples 
