Day 30 - pajama day

Today we had a relaxing pajama day! The kids love to hang around and watch tv, play and do whatever they want. At the end of the day the boys were off to a base ball game. The girls and I went to see Brave and play at the park.

Day 29 = Youth Lake Day

                                                           MA with C having fun on the tube

                                              They have a really, really tall dock and W is the only one
                                                             of the kids who will jump off!

                                       

                       K with H - her first crush on an older man - she LOVED playing with him!
                                                   She wanted to follow him everywhere

                                                          I just loved this pic of K and W.

Today the kids and I headed to the lake to enjoy the day with my hubby and the youth from our church.  It is  a fun day with lots of skiing, tubing and swimming.  The kids love it!  They especially love all the attention they get from the youth!

Day 28 - interns

This summer my hubby has had the best interns! Not only do the youth love them but our family loves them! My hubby and I have enjoyed many nights playing games and just hanging out with them. If only I could be as cool as them :). K told me she owes her greatness to her awesome grandmother that she loves! We are so thankful that these girls are a part of our lives and the lives of the youth

Day 27 - Tie Die Tradition

I am very big on traditions (as my hubby can tell you).  I love them!  I want my kids to be able to say "remember when mom made us do ....every year!"  I want them to want to come back for holidays because it would not be the same if we didn't.....  So my tradition for the 4th of July is for everyone to wear tie die shirts.  Every year we spend the 4th at the lake with my in laws (who are gracious enough to go along with my traditions).  The first year I decided to die the shirts the kids and I did not use enough die.  The next year we dipped them and they were great!!  Then I washed them and they were not so great!  The next year my sister in law volunteered to die them (they turned out better).  This year we gave it another shot.  I am hoping for the best!  I talked to several master tie diers and got tips from the internet.  You will have to wait for the 4th of July post to see how they turn out.  The funny thing to me about my tradition is that it has really changed from just wearing the shirts to making them every year.

Day 26 - Money Making

Today was a wonderful summer day!  After not getting to go to the pool yesterday, we headed up this afternoon.  The weather was nice with a breeze and clouds to keep us cool.  My kids had great friends to swim/play with.  I had lots of sweet pool snacks and of course there was the best crushed ice around.  All of these factors made for a relaxing day at the pool.  I was able to visit with a special friend and learn more about her!  It was a lot of fun!

  The picture above is of W making some summer spending money.  He has been asking me to come up with some chores for him all summer to earn money.  I finally found a good one.  He did an amazing job on cleaning the car.  He was well worth the money!  Hopefully we will be able to keep it that way!

Day 25 - Friend Fun

Today was one of those days where you were not sure if it was going to rain or not.  We decided to have some friends over.  These are some that the kids love to play with and I love to have over!  They all play so good together!!  I was even able to go out and mow the lawn.  We had already taken K's friend home by the time I snapped this pic.

Day 24 - Rainy Day

After a fun filled day at the lake, we were able to enjoy a relaxing day because of the rain.  Here are a couple of our favorite rainy day activities.

Day 23 - Lake Buddies

                                                          My Favorite Picture of the day!

I love that L popped  into this picture!  He is so funny

Today we were able to go to the lake with some amazing friends!  These are friends that are L's age but have siblings and include W.  Their whole families are friends with ours.  It was a huge blessing to spend a relaxing day at the lake with them!  We all had a great time and everyone was happy, which is quite a feat with 7 kids!

Day 22 - Lake Bound

We are fortunate enough to have a lake place to go to.  We always love it there.

Day 21 - Amazingly, wonderful ordinary day

These pictures are from the kids cameras...just wanted to show what great photographers they are and how funny I think they all are!  I love those kids!!

Today we had an amazingly, wonderful ordinary day!!  The boys were off to morning camps.  The girls went to craft time at a store in town.  Then we hit the pool for an amazingly, wonderful ordinary day!  With the daily struggles of life, I am eternally grateful for an amazingly, wonderful ordinary day. Even more thankful for the amazingly, wonderful extraordinary God who created it!    

Day 20 - Summer Solstice

The to do list

                                                                    Before the war

After the war

                                                         They are serious about tag


Today we celebrated the first day of summer!  The longest day of the year! Since it was the longest day, I thought we would try to do several of our "summer to do" list.  We had a no electronics day.  I did hear much complaining about this but all in all it was not too bad.  We went to the pool and stayed until they closed.  We had a great time with Meme and Poppy coming to swim with us.  We had a water balloon war!  It was very fun and I came away soaking wet.  We played a kick ball game by sunset.  W loved this!  He is always wanting us to play.  To end the day we played flashlight tag.  It took us all (except Daddy) a few times to catch on.  It was a perfect end to a great day!

Day 19 - Craft Time

We are going to start a new idea I read about...Kid of the Day.  So tonight we made sticks with names to put up for the day.  I am hoping that this will help to diminish some of the summer time arguments.

Day 18 - Braces Off

At the beginning of the school year W got braces.  They said he would be done by the end of the school year and they were right!  He was very excited to get them off.  Now he has no more excuses for smacking!  He looks very handsome without them!

Day 17 - Father's Day

After a long week and weekend with out our Daddy, we were all super excited to celebrate Father's Day! Dad came home this afternoon and we had a great time with him the rest of the day.  No one wanted to go to bed.  Thanks honey for being a great dad and husband.  We love you!

Day 16 - Photo Scavenger Hunt

Today my Mom came down for the day.  She and I needed to go look for a new stove/oven since mine died last week.  To keep the kids entertained, I decided that we would do an activity from our summer to do list. A Photo Scavenger Hunt.  I came up with about 15 things for the kids to find.  They broke up into teams so the older ones could help the younger ones read the list.  W came out the winner!  Points were given out based on creativity and how many from the list you found.  It was a lot of fun and kept them entertained most of the shopping trip.

                                            K found something with legs...legs and a bench

                                                                      W's letter W

                        W found something that was helpful...always good to know when the floor is slippery

                                                            MA found the letter N

L was creative in what he found as well but they are on his ipod and i don't know how to retrieve the pics :(

Day 15 - My Office

This summer we moved my office from the kitchen to the guest room.  It has been so nice having the kids at the house while i work.

Day 14 - Vacation Bible School

The kids have been having a great time at Vacation Bible School.  One day they had a fun day.  There were blow up slides, a dunking booth, a rock wall and a balloon man.  The kids had a wonderful time!

Day 13 - Swimming in a new pool

One of the things on our "to do" list this summer was to swim in a pool we have never been swimming in before.  Some friends that we have not visited with in a long time invited us over to swim.  The kids were a little nervous because we have not spent time with them since the kids were very young.  After a  little bit of time, everyone warmed up to each other and had a great time!!  The kids also tasted real lemonade.  The funny thing is  it is my recipe that I have never made for them!  Thanks to our friends for the invite and the lemonade!   We can't wait to enjoy the school year with you!

Day 12- Mema's Pimento Cheese

Today the girls and I made Mema's Pimento Cheese.  It is a favorite with most of the family.  As the girls say "it is the best!"  I always have fun making it with them.

Day 11 - Sweet Summer Friends

Today we got to hang out with some of our best buddies!  In the past we have been with them just about every day at the pool.  Today was the first time we have been able to be with them this summer.  It was a great reunion!  The kids played great and had a wonderful time.  The boys had a blast playing with the sprinkler on the trampoline.  Nothing sweeter in the summertime than time spent with friends (and family).

Day 10 - Turtles

We were driving down our drive way and saw this guy crossing.  He had a lizard in his mouth.  Later we saw him again walking through the front yard.