3 weeks...

until school begins.  Some years at this point I am saying "these kids need to go back to school.  They need their routine."  This year I'm saying "no, summer can't be over already!"  I love summer.  I love the laid back schedule and the barefeet and the open doors and windows.  I do not like humidity, but otherwise, I love it.  School gives us a nice routine and me the chance to shop with fewer kids...but I do like having my kids around me.  :-)

The weather has cooled a bit--nice cool mornings and evenings.  I always think I can tolerate heat much better if it's cool over night.

Miss S was here this morning to do physical therapy with Mark.  The agenda for the rest of the day includes laundry and baking.

Friday night the younger 3 went to Grammy's overnight.  We took the older 3 out for supper and shopping.  Then they watched some old episodes of Hogan's Heroes (stuff we've restricted from our younger ones as they pick up way to much!)  Saturday the 3 of them spent the morning with Randy while I went to a friend's house for a freezer meal workshop.  She sells Wildtree (all natural, GMO free, organic seasonings, oils, etc.)  I had to do some prep work before (chopping veggies, buying meat, etc.)  Then at the workshop we put together seasonings in bags, came home and added my prepped stuff, and put it in the freezer.  Now I have 10 meals all ready to thaw and grill.  We tried the grilled Tilapia recipe last night and it was fabulous!

Sunday we had church at Woodcrest Retreat followed by a meal.  Then we enjoyed their pool and waterslide in the afternoon.  In the evening our VBS started so we have that this week.

Joy Dare

I haven't blogged about the Joy Dare for awhile...and I didn't look up the prompts for today...but today I count my blessings as:

1. The cool breeze blowing through the house.
2. No Humidity!!!  (That should count for multiple blessings!)  :-)
3. Swimming Pool Pass.  This year we got one (they're currently discounted for the rest of the summer).  We frequently go after supper for an hour or two.  They work off lots of energy and are ready for bed when we get home.
4. Did I mention that it's cool and not humid?!
5. Beautiful flowers from Randy.
6. That we've started cleaning the house already this week...perhaps this will be the week that it's done before Saturday...(On Saturday we clean anything that didn't get done during the week.)

Monday...

This past week it's been hot and humid so we've been doing a lot of swimming to cool off.  This weekend on Saturday evening we went to my Grandparents along with most of my family and my cousin & his girlfriend for supper and the evening.  It was lovely.

Sunday morning we went to church...and later in the afternoon we went swimming again.  :-)

This week is scheduled to be relatively quiet.  I have a couple of appointments on Wednesday but otherwise the week is pretty open...so I hope to get some things done around here, catch up on errands, and enjoy it as most weeks are not like this.  School starts 4 weeks from Wednesday so the summer is winding down already.

Currently reading:  "Make Love, Make War" by Brian Doerkson.  He wrote popular Christian "praise & worship songs" such as "Come, Now is the Time to Worship".  This book details the story behind several of his songs.  I'm really enjoying it.  He & his wife also have 6 children, including 2 boys with fragile X syndrome.

Josiah went with Randy on the truck this trip so it is after 7:00 and none of the kids are up yet.

Have a lovely week!

Appointments....

This week is going okay...it is hot and humid and I tend to be a bit less patient in that sort of weather...but it's sunny.

Monday morning Miss Sharon showed up at 8:00 for Mark's IU13 physical therapy...I had forgotten she was coming.  But we were up and dressed so it was all good.  :-)  Zach and I then went to the eye doctor.  My left eye went back slightly...which is actually nice, because now both eyes are the same and I don't have to worry about which contact goes in which eye.  Zach has astigmatism and will be getting glasses.  I'm a bit nervous as to how well glasses and a high-strung, active boy go together.

Tuesday Mark had occupational and physical therapy in the morning.  In the afternoon I took Josiah to the orthodontist.  Randy got home in the morning so it was nice not having to deal with babysitters or taking everyone with me.  We got a pass to Woodcrest Pool so we ate supper early and went swimming for a bit to cool off before bedtime.  Lovely!

This morning Mark had speech therapy.  The rest of the week is (I think) appointment free!  As it is quite warm, we may end up at the pool some more...we'll see...

Friday...already

Wow!  This week has flown by.  Today is the girls' last day at camp...it's a cooler day then we have had for awhile.  This week:

• I canned a basket of red beets
• Iblanched and froze a basket of green beans
• Josiah, & Zach went shopping (backpack for kindergarten) and out for lunch with me
• Aunt Wendie & I went out for coffee after dropping the girls off at camp on Monday (Courtyard Café in Denver, PA is very nice!)
• I read more of Little House on Plum Creek to Zach (and whomever else was around)
• I got some packages in the mail...fun!  I've always liked the Pampered Chef dots dinnerware/glassware.  But was never willing to pay for it!  Last week PC's outlet had it extremely discounted.  I now have a set of matching glasses in 2 sizes. Small things make me happy.  :-)  I didn't mind using my mismatched glasses from several assorted sets that have mostly broken and disappeared, but it's always enjoyable (to me) to have a complete set.  I know that after awhile some of these will break and I'll be back to mismatch...and that's okay too.  I feel happy when drinking from these glasses (yes, shallow, I know...but I will still count them a gift from God...something that gives me pleasure, yet within our budget...something that I didn't think that I could afford when I first saw it years ago.)
• While we haven't gone gluten free yet, I'm working at minimizing the gluten and artificial colors and flavors for now....
• Randy continues to work hard...
• I continue to try and totally revamp my parenting to line up with the "Beyond Logic, Consequences, and Control" and "The Connected Child" models.  It's really, really hard.  But we are so excited at the small, positive changes we are seeing in Zachary...and I believe it will be beneficial to all of our children as well...I ordered the conference DVD series and am looking forward to watching them and learning more.

Sunday Night

We had a lovely weekend!  As I mentioned, Friday evening we spent with Randy's brothers & families.  Saturday we did assorted household things and cooking things, then went to the Woodcrest Pool and over to a friend's house for supper.  Today we went to church where we also ate lunch.  Randy left on the truck.  We watched "Eight Below" again (love it!...although it scares one of mine even after all these times...).  Played outside (mommy sat in the shade and watched and read).

Speaking of reading, I've been reading Heather Forbes' books and getting a new perspective on parenting...particularly challenging children.  But I'm really enjoying the books and that perspective despite knowing that some (particularly in Christian circles) do not agree.  But that's okay.  Kids are different...what works for some does not necessarily work for others.  Anyway...I've been using her techniques a bit more in the past month and have to say that I've seen improvement (tiny glimmers...not perfection)  :-)  ...we'll see...

As you may remember, I'm focusing on different books of the Bible each month.  May & June I focused on Exodus.  This month I'm focusing on 1 and 2 Peter.  I'm also reading through a book study called "A Place I Didn't Belong:  Hope for Adoptive Moms" by Paula Freeman.

This week the girls are going to camp.  Autumn is going to overnight camp; Janae to Day Camp.  I had a bunch of appointments but I'm going to reschedule 2 of them so that the week is not quite as full.  I think that one morning I'm going to take Josiah & Zach out for an hour or two for time with mom...we'll see how that pans out.

We had a nice shower (thunder storm) tonight which helped cool things off a bit.  Supposed to be pretty hot this week...

Family Fun...

Yesterday, being July 4th (or Independence Day), it was kind of like a holiday around here.  Randy was off work (not always the case for a truck driver).  In the morning we took the kids to a bike trail not to far away and went bike riding...with various amounts of cooperation from some of the little ones...so we walked some too.  We went on the Lebanon/Cornwall Rail Trail (not sure of it's actual name).  It's a lovely spot.

In the afternoon we did assorted things around the house.  I went and bought more groceries.  We had cheeseburgers, salad, and baked beans for supper.  Relaxed in the shade of the shed....did I mention it's really hot here in the northeast?

Tonight we're having Randy's brothers' families over for supper.  So today we're cleaning up the house, preparing food, finalizing the menu, doing laundry, and shortly washing Randy's truck.  Randy's working today but will be back soon.

Great Lakes Trip - Final Post

Wednesday we headed to Letchworth State Park.  For myself, this was one of my favorite places on the trip and one that I'd love to return to.  We spent a day there (maybe 5-6 hours) and there was still more that we could've done...but the kids were worn out.  There were 3 sets of falls, lots of hiking trails, magnificent scenery.  In fact, Letchworth is called the "Grand Canyon of the East".

The Middle Falls

The Upper Falls

My girls

Micah and Janae

Zach - love the play of light and shadows.  :-)

Me, Autumn, Mark, Janae

The lovely Glen Iris Inn.  While we did not camp at this park, there are assorted places to stay within it...camping, lodges, efficiencies...

Lower Falls

 

Wednesday was a beautiful day.  The rain came in Wednesday night.  Thursday morning we quickly packed up and left in the rain...destination Spruce Lake Retreat for our annual church camping weekend.

 

We had originally had Corning Museum of Glass on our list, and then deleted it thinking that perhaps glass and boys was a bad combination.  Because of the rain...it returned as our list and ended up being another favorite place.

 

While there we saw some demonstrations of glass blowing and glass making.

Back on the road...entering Pennsylvania

It was a very rainy day...Randy & Josiah rigged up a tarp so we could still cook our hamburgers over a fire.

 

The rest of the weekend was lovely and we enjoyed spending time with our friends...sitting around the fire, swimming, playing on the playground.  No photos of all that though....

 

We took 775 photos on our trip...now I need to sort and print them...sometime...

 

We had a lovely trip...perhaps we'll take it again someday....

Great Lakes Trip - Day 10

Tuesday we traveled across Ontario, stopped to see the Niagara Falls (Canadian side), and then proceeded to a campground in New York near Letchworth State Park.

Lake Ontario - the 5th and final great lake that we saw and touched.

Lake Ontario

Niagara Falls is magnificent in size...but we really did prefer to see our waterfalls in the midst of nature instead of concrete...still...quite impressive!

Writing a postcard to Grammy

This one kept hiding when I tried to take his photo...

Crossing the bridge back to the states.

Our campsite was near this creek...the kids had fun.

Great Lakes Trip - Day 9

Monday was a day where we mostly drove.  We drove across Michigan and into Ontario.  We went to The Pinery Provincial Park on Lake Huron and camped their for the night.  We had rain off and on that day.

entering Ontario, Canada

Playing on the shores of Lake Huron

My attempt at getting a photo of all the kids...

 

 

After supper the kids got on their swim suits and went swimming in the lake.  It was shallow for a long way out.  Then a cold front came through and chased us back to our camper.

 

It was neat seeing the front and fog rolling in and out and back in again.

Random

• Mark had his absolute best PT session ever since we started...and it was with a different therapist.  She's a bit older than the other 2, and I'm wondering if he sensed that she was more confident.
• Zach's behavior is still an issue...I've read about lots of different options to try.  One that I've been wanting to try is Gluten Free...but that is such a big step...and I love my carbs...I want to try it for a weekend/week and see if I notice a difference.  Other things I've heard of are using essential oils and high does of (buffered?) vitamin C and something called GABA.  We'll see...On the positive side, I got a voluntary "I'm sorry" for the first time ever!  :-)
• Micah and Mark really need to be potty trained.  I hate potty training.  It's a bad combination...
• I don't believe I mentioned it, but last month our latest nephew was born.  Very exciting to have another baby in the family.
• Today I got 2 teeth filled...my mouth feels very swollen
• It is very muggy here...humidity must be near 100%!
• I've been re-reading some of my favorite Agatha Christie and Louis L'Amour books...old books are like old friends..  :-)
• The kids are doing the summer reading program at the library.  Zach & Janae are finished.
• No plans for the 4th of July weekend...yet...
• Randy & Josiah love to ride bike.
• Autumn loves iced coffee and frosty mocha smoothies
• Janae likes to sleep late.

Great Lakes Trip - Day 8

Sunday we packed some lunch, loaded the bikes, and set off to spend the day at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park.

First we went on the scenic loop with approx. 10 points of interest.  This was overlooking Glen Lake. 

At the one point, we located a trail and the kids went to climb a dune.

On the great dunes...it's a long way down to Lake Michigan!

From the Lake Michigan overlook point.

 

Climbing at the "Dune Climb"

 

Half way up...

Our attempts at family photos didn't go so well on this trip!

At the top, looking down.

 

Mark

 

After the dune climb, we ate lunch.  Then we rode our bikes on a bike trail to Glen Arbor.

 

We took a break at a historic village (the name escapes me at the moment...Glen something).

 

 

Then continued on our ride...

 

When we got to the end of the trail, we rode into the town of Glen Arbor and found a place on Lake Michigan to rest.  Josiah & Randy rode back to the Dune Climb for the van and came and picked us up.

 

On our way back, we stopped at the General Store in the historic village...very nice...and a nice little museum in the other room.