handsful

…just can’t wait to get on the boat again.  Are you humming the tune, yet?? 

hold on, kids, daddy drives fast. 

The girls in your usual spot at the front of the boat. 

Holding tight to Ms. Lainey.  Too bad I wasn’t quite as careful with my sunglasses.  They’re currently enjoying the bottom of the St. Johns river.  Dang. 

Ready for a swim?  Notice the quirky FOUR pontails she had to have that day. 

Nice and refreshing…

Ethan, in mid-laugh.  Blowing up the tubes, now…

Lainey joins the girls, her first tube ride!

She liked it, but didn’t love it. 

Payton, our creative cartoonist. 

Marley, lover of all creatures great and small. 

Abbey, extroverted leader of anything/anyone that’ll let her. 

Ethan, budding lead guitarist…and wanna be wake boarder.  Here he is practicing. 

and, Lainey…the girl who will try anything once.  And, usually do it again. 

A little knee boarding to round out the afternoon.

And, then we headed home.  Once there, something reminded me that I forgot to put on sunscreen.  Must have been the extreme heat and sensitivity that I was feeling on my back.  Oh well…it was a great day on the river anyway.

What we’ve been up to these last precious days of summer vacation :)

Tired but happy, Abbey LOVED her week at the church and working all 14 clubs that she helped lead!  We are extremely proud of her…last year, we couldn’t have paid her to participate in Power Up Clubs.  The thought scared her to death.  This year, she couldn’t imagine NOT doing it, and it shows how much she has matured both mentally and spiritually.  She can’t wait for next year! 

Power Surge (our end of PUC extravaganza at church) was a huge hit with all the kids, especially Lainey.  She rode down a water slide, had her hair sprayed with red streaks (kinda hard to see), and slurped down a whole BLUE snowcone! 

Ethan takes guitar lessons during the school year at our homeschool co-op on Fridays.  For the summer, our friend Steve came over every Monday night for one-on-one lessons.  EJ absolutely eats and breathes the guitar, and he’s been practicing A LOT.  Steve has mad skills, and Ethan soaked it all in.  He learned so much this summer, we’re so glad that Steve had the time to work with him! 

Speaking of guitar, Abbey is taking a beginner class at co-op this year.  Ethan is trying to give her a jumpstart!

someone’s hair FINALLY grew long enough to squeeze into pig tails!

She’s shoutin’ it from the rooftops :)

No, we didn’t get another dog…we’re dog sitting for our friends so they can spend their last days of summer in the Florida Keys.  Cammie is a cutie, but Jack keeps looking at us like “is she…uh…staying?” 

There is more I could post, but it’s been a llllooonngg day, so I’m closing this post.  Yawn… Happy almost end of summer, ya’ll. 

Last day of our Power Up Club was fantastic!  If you’ve been reading my blog for the last few days, you’ve seen how our weather has been less than dry lately.  Everyday, it’s been blue skies until JUST before it’s time for our club and the rains come.  Thankfully, we have the back porch and it’s worked perfectly for those days when we’ve needed it. 

Abbey douses her brother during a game of “drip drop’ (think duck, duck, goose with a pail of water).

But, Thursday is always “Tidal Wave Thursday”, meaning WATER games.  Kids come in their swim suits and get seriously wet.  I SO wanted the kids to be able to have this day, without having to improvise on the back porch.  So, I prayed.  I gave the outcome totally to God, like I’d done each day.  He’d use it as He saw fit, and if that meant rain then I’d take it.  But, I asked God to give the kids their water day.  

As the club drew nearer, the clouds started rolling in and it looked a little dark behind us.  But amazingly, as the kids played, the clouds just rolled by without a drop of rain. 

No rain!  And, the kids had a blast. 

Abbey the interviewer (picture a microphone in her hand…)

Wanna know the interesting part?  About 5 minutes AFTER all the kids left, it started raining :)  Thank you, God.

We thought we might avoid the rain tonight…

At one point, the ominous clouds appeared to be blowing over. 

But, eventually it was clear…we had to head to the back porch again! 

I’ve never been so thankful for this porch than I’ve been this week.  Our club has been awesome, all the kids have loved it, our team of teen leaders has been amazing.  I hate to see this all end tomorrow!  Tomorrow is called Tidal Wave Thursday – the day set aside to play water games.  Makes me laugh, considering everyday has been water-filled!

I don’t see any rain. 

I mean, would we REALLY still have our Power Up Club if it was pouring rain outside? 

Of course not. 

That would be irresponsible, letting all those kids get wet and all. 

Downright silly, dont ya think??

But, if we did decide to hold the Power Up Club when it was raining, the least we could do is offer our back porch. 

A little dancing…

A little drama…I guess it could be fun.  Maybe we’ll consider it.  If it ever rains on Power Up Club night.

Day One of our Power Up Club was a success…I’m partial to this particular team member :)

Here she is, giving her testimony.  She did a great job. 

Games, drama, music, dancing, snacks, small group time, lesson, more games…who wouldn’t love this?  More pictures to come as the week goes on!

My husband has an addiction.  The bag was stuffed full.  Using two bags would have been, well, going overboard. 

I bought this for Randy last Christmas and I think he likes it more than anything I’ve ever given him.  Not bad for $14.95.  And today, when we were at a Super Target, and came across a wall full of self-serve Jelly Bellys seperated into individual flavors (cause, let’s be honest, who really likes the licorice and buttered popcorn ones anyway?), he was like a little boy in a candy store.  Well, literally. 

Do you like Jelly Bellys?  What’s your favorite flavor?  Randy loves bubblegum and hot cinnamon.  I’m partial to banana and toasted marshmallow.  We give the popcorn ones to our dog.  :)