Footsie Wars

Surely we're not the only ones to play footsie wars?! Their expressions crack me up. At least Mommy can still win at something. Maybe not for long, but for now... :-)

Summer of VBSes

Vanessa still goes back to visit friends and family at Northwest Bible's VBS. Their theme was Ocean Commotion, which was a perfect followup to our vacation beach trip. They always have extra participation days, like dress as something related to the theme. Vanessa went as a jellyfish. After it was all said and done, she and Zane were invited back to participate in their marketing video. It was a great experience and they were both excited to do it for Him!

Violet Baptist did the same theme as our church -- Journey Off the Map -- except families hosted the events at their homes, to reach kids in their individual communities. We got to go over for a night. At the end they passed out communication cards asking kids to determine where they thought they were in their journey in a relationship with Christ. Zane took this very seriously. He wrote his name and as each option was shared, he marked that he was still thinking about the importance of a relationship with Christ. I was overly impressed and will pray for him!

The set for Guide Church's VBS was over the top this year, due to the awesome work of so many. Zane has been really sick and sadly missed out on the experience, but we're thankful I could facilitate crafts and Vanessa could bring friends. She even dressed the part one night but I didn't get a picture. It's amazing what so many will do to share the Word with so many little ones. My heart has been touched.

Little Fishies

NOTE: Before, Blogger only embedded advertisements if you were trying to earn monies for posts. Now, it seems, Blogger has started tagging/linking a word of its choice in non earning blogs and posts to attach an advertisement too. Just know that I will call out links I want you to go to, so don't feel the need to tap on on blue highlighted, linked words -- save yourself the agony of being smothered by another advertisement. :-)

It's been a summer of swimming! We've been trying to get to the pool as much as possible, around vacations, sickies, VBSs, playdates with friends, and weather . . . the weather. :-) Even on some days when the weather has been questionable we still attempt to go. 

We go to East Pool or the West Pool -- depends on our mood and skills we want to practice and sometimes whether or not we intend to meet up with friends. The West Pool (Main) is the larger. As you can see below, it has two gigantic slides, a lazy river, and a fun little water park for younger kids. The East Pool is pretty average but still a plus in so many ways. This is the first year I feel comfortable allowing Vanessa out of my sight for short times. Zane just wants to be a bigger kid so he can go down the slides and to the deeper parts with friends.

Both kids have come so far this year. Vanessa does both the huge slides. On the particular day shown below, she carried her tube to the top of the red slide and then the lifeguards blew whistles for thundering in the far off distance. You can see her coming back on the far left of the picture. She was a trooper and didn't get mad -- she just made it a point to be the first in line the next go at it. Vanessa also spends a considerable amount of time swimming and flipping under water. She likes throwing balls to friends while in deeper parts of the pool. 

Zane, unlike his sister and Mom, will brave the jumps into water without necessarily holding his nose. He jumps and spins into the pool. I have to remind him to take a break from going under so quickly and frequently to just go easy on his body.

Our pass was a great way to use our Christmas gift! And it's finally worth it for us!

BFFs

These two haven't seen each other in almost a year. Dru was shaking from excitement. Vanessa said she would hug Dru so tight and never let her go. Sadly the visit came to an end but we hope to see each other again soon.

Busyman

There are always opportunities for showing Zane cleaning.

The Black Skulls & Ms. Hustle

What a great introductory season for Vanessa! She was excited for softball to begin. We registered in January and waited till May to meet the team. Ironically, out of all the teams in the league, she ended up on a team with a gal whose mother we grew up with and have been friends with for years. That made it extra fun for us parents and little siblings. The team voted on a name at one of the first practices -- the Black Skulls. How perfect with Vanessa's history and love for the color black and skeletons. It was meant to be.

Vanessa played well. She was one with no history of prior experience on an organized softball team. Others played t-ball and minors. Other than a few learning experiences for simpler rules for younger leagues, she did really well and caught on fast. She was a pretty consistent hitter, thrower and caught well, making some amazing plays over the season. Her out-of-the-box position was playing catcher. Sometimes she did better than other times but that is certainly a hard position to get used to, with the ball flying at you. So thankful she has been willing to try it and to grow from those experiences. Some of the older girls will move up to U10 next year. Vanessa looks forward to regrouping next year with the other girls and some new ones for U8.

Coach Bill mentioned to me how amazed I will be in how she grows from now till next year. He told her she better keep playing because this is definitely something she's good at. She has decided she most definitely will. 

We've been careful in not pushing her to do everything just because everyone else is. Going into third grade and because she seems to have matured enough, we decided she is ready for competitive experiences. She's ready to learn that we sometimes fail and we can't win everything. She was a great encourager to others, caught on to softball chants and cheers and initiated them, and only once or twice she got frustrated or upset about her own failing. The majority of the time she brushed it off and didn't fret. She has come so very far. 

Coach Bill treated the girls to DQ for their awesome season. They ended the season as #1. I think Vanessa has been oblivious to what this means, which is okay. She went the extra mile to tell other team players great job. We learned, especially after the last couple of games that we have some of the most amazing coaches.  To our surprise, they acknowledged each girl for what they brought to the team. Coach Melissa announced that she and Coach Bill decided Vanessa should be called Ms. Hustle because she went after the ball hard and got it to where it needed to be. 

And of course, Zane was learning to be there in support of his sister. He's anxious to start something too, but we've reminded him to be patient -- his time will come soon enough.

Ending the season with some relaxed games like Heads Up, Two Up. :-)

"Parents should always watch for opportunities to offer genuine, well-deserved praise to their children." ~ Dr. James Dobson

How Firm Thy Friendships

I should have taken a picture with all 4 tents up, but I didn't. ;-) Vanessa and Zane were eager to help daddy.

After snacking we went to explore. Of course after everyone stopped to watch Paul tighten Daniel's sandal.

 Time for cheesy poofs!

Just a bunch of guys chilling . . .

Jeff lit "fireworks" and Alex made some awesome quotes. [When lighting smoke balls] "They're like four giant farts." [When lighting snakes] "It's like the ground is pooping out poop." 

 Cool light shows!

When you give kids time without direction, they come up with some really cool ideas on their own (and believe it or not, some safe ones.) Vanessa started using the glow sticks for Tic-Tac-Toe.

 Maui is still so handsome! And a trooper to hang with a bunch of kids nagging him to do his tricks.

And the kids were happy to wake to each other's company before taking off.

We love for old college buddies to hang. Sheri is awesome to facilitate and make it happen. Sad the Cantwells will be moving away but very excited for them and their new experiences and ever so happy to visit them in Florida one day!

Lickety-Split Lawn Care

V&Z fight over who gets to drive the mower. They take turns. Not sure if they really care about the lawn or the fun of "driving". :-)

And here's something really neat and worth noting here. When we lived in Gallipolis, long before kids, Daddy and I helped Pappaw with many things. Pappaw would go way above and beyond to compensate us in some way (no matter our adamant no thanks and expressing no need.) At some point he decided that we would need our own riding mower, with anticipation of our moving to Hilliard, so he asked us to continue to mow for him long enough to earn his almost brand new mower. We agreed on a total and made a record for working it off.  He figured he would hire someone to continue mowing his lawn once we were no longer available, and that person would have their own equipment.

Pappaw passed within the first year of our using it in Hilliard. We used the mower for a couple of years, before it needed some work, like a new battery and new tires.  Then we went through a rough financial spell and couldn't justify putting money into and wasn't sure we should with how much the tires cost. It sat for a long time but Daddy and Paul got it running a couple of years ago, which motivated us to keep it until we were in a position to do something about the tires. We never did anything.

Without any knowledge of that story, a fellow from our church family shared with Daddy that he ended up with an extra mower after his neighbor passed. He wondered if we would be interested in it with our bigger yard. Daddy went to check it out on April 20, 2015, which so happened to be the anniversary of Pappaw's passing. Daddy accepted the gift that day too. Ironically, although a different brand, it seems to be the same year model and very similar style as the MTD Pappaw gave us.

Now we're back to mowing lickety-split. It felt like a posthumous bonus. We feel extra blessed.