New Bible

Every summer at our church the rising kindergarteners are told to start bringing their own Bibles each Sunday.  So last week we gave Mead her very own (purple) Bible.  She was so excited about it!

Love her joy, and pray that she will continue to be excited about God's Word for a lifetime.

Home Depot and more

A couple weekends ago Penny was home working on a paper, and I wanted to return some dead plants to Home Depot (love that they take them back, by the way!!), so all the kids piled in the car and went with me.

The kids started climbing all over the riding lawn mowers (something they frequently do at Home Depot) while I was in the return line, and one of the workers asked them if they wanted to build a lawn mower instead of just climb on them.

What fun!  We stumbled upon their first-Saturday-of-the-month workshop for kids to come and build something.  I'd heard about it before, but we've never actually participated.

So an hour and a half later they came home with new work aprons and assembled and painted toy lawnmowers - all for free!  (Not to mention Penny got a lot of work done on his paper while the house was quiet :-)  It was a fun and unexpected way to spend a Saturday morning.

I've noticed the girls becoming better friends lately - can't remember if I already mentioned this.  Got this sweet photo of them holding hands on the way to church recently.  Love it.  Hope their friendship continues for a lifetime.

Last week the kids had VBS at our church.  I didn't get any pictures, but Mead's group leader sent this one to me.  She was playing a game of catch-the-sponge-in-the-bowl/hat and having a great time.  So glad for the many things our kids learn about the Lord through church activities and all the fun they have while doing it!

Strawberry picking

Early in the summer we always make a trip to Lakeview Farms to go strawberry picking.  This time we had several families from school and church join us.  

Laine and Clare are both going into second grade and will be studying the United States this year, including sending Flat Stanley all over the States and the world.  This is the first of many Flat Stanley pictures we'll collect this summer.

Mead and Cole loved picking strawberries (and eating them too!)

One of Mead's new kindergarten friends joined us for the morning too.  They should be good buddies by the time school actually starts!

Summer time fun

We've had two weeks of summer come and go, and this week the kids are all attending VBS at our church.  Here's what we've been up to so far:

Mead made her name out of play dough - one of the suggested Kindergarten summer activities.

Cole watched a tree stump being removed from our yard - very exciting!

We've had some busy days where Cole hasn't gotten his nap - so he inevitably falls asleep on the couch in the late afternoon.

We met friends up at the school while the teachers were cleaning up their classrooms.

And we've been swimming a lot - at the neighborhood pool and at a friend's pool.  Many more fun activities to come, I'm sure!

Last day of school

The first week of summer has already come and gone - hard to believe!  Here are the kids on the last day of school.

Laine finished first grade, and Mead finished Junior Kindergarten.

Cole will start in Little Pelicans next year - a three-morning preschool.

The kids were so excited about summer starting!

End of school picnic with friends was a big hit.