Summer Happenings

So much for summer being a time to kick back and be lazy!  We're staying plenty busy, and I've been too busy to blog lately as you can see! 

We had lots of picnics and events on the 4th of July!

A parade, fireworks, and fun with friends!

Alathia and Jeremiah are in swimming lessons 4 mornings a week for 3 weeks

We have had many fun playdates, like this one where Ali and her friends played dress-up

We do a few pool parties every week, which the kids love!

The kids love to ride bikes.  They packed their water bottles in their backpacks and went riding up and down the alley behind our home in their swimsuits.

A light-saber in one hand and a popsicle in the other!  A summertime boy!

Every day the kids are catching bugs, worms, or butterflies for pets

We were blessed to see our friends who moved away to Kansas.  They came to stay with us for 4 days, and on Sunday all of our girls wore similar dresses to church!

Will my hubby ever mature?  Not likely!  He and the youth group boys rigged up his motorized bicycle to our old bike cart and gave each other rides.

Our good friends from Kansas, Jesse and Shiloh

We celebrated our 8th Anniversary by going out on the town in our wedding clothing. It was so much fun!

The kids with my Dad

The kids and their Daddy

Josiah's birthday was on Father's Day!  Ali made him a dirt/gummy worm cake in a bucket since he loves it!

In addition to the activities above, we do the summer library reading program which I have been doing since I was a little kid!  I also host a weekly Women's Bible Study here which is such a great encouragement to me!  My mom, aunt, and cousin attend among other wonderful ladies and it's been going for a few summers now.  I started a monthly frugal club called Frugal Friends which meets to share ways to save money and swap coupons/clothes/curriculum.  Josiah and I both will be leaders at some purity retreats our church is doing in a couple of weeks (the girls are going to a "big city" and the boys are going camping).  We are hosting a 5 Day Club again the last week in July and we have 6 teenage girls who are the club teachers coming to stay for a week.  We're also trying to squeeze a camping trip or two in and a trip to the Dinosaur Muesum.  And we're all greatly looking forward to seeing our favorite missionaries, my brother and his wife and new baby boy, when they return from Honduras in mid-late July!  Yay!  In August, Josiah is planning to take the 3 oldest kids with him to visit his folks in MN, while I stay home to have my first week off as a mom!  I'll still have Katri but it will definitely still feel like a vacation!  I plan to paint the kids' bedrooms, organize homeschool stuff, have a scrapbooking marathon day with friends, and pamper myself a little bit! 

For the last 6 weeks of the summer I'm also challenging myself to go walking at 6am as a way to make exercise more of a priority.  There are 4 other Christian women friends on my street and I've invited them to join me for a 30 minute walk followed by a brief prayer time 2 days a week.

What have you been up to this summer?