Things I didn't blog about in June

We did lots of things in June....Rice baseball, Astros game, Emma's birthday, our anniversary, and other things here and there.  Still, I failed to document all our fun activities mostly because I get too lazy at night.  I just want to sit and do nothing including sit in front of a computer.  So, here are all the other things we did worth remembering in June.

First, Elena and her friend Carmendy spent a morning at a splash pad.  It was one of the last days before school ended and it was so much fun.

The boys played lots of baseball.  Samuel was fascinated with the College World Series.  He watched parts of most games.  For a 6 year old, his attention span doesn't last to watch an entire game on tv, but he definitely knew what was happening. I was amazed at how quickly he learned various players names from the different teams.  It has been really fun to watch his love of baseball grow over the past few months.  I spent part of one morning playing ball with the boys at a park.  Other than that Samuel likes to have Drew play with him several times a week in our yard.

There was a Frozen movie party at church.  Elena and Samuel enjoyed watching the movie on a big screen again.  The added bonus of pizza and ice cream sundaes did not hurt either!

Elena, Lilah, and Rihannon..some of Elena's church friends!

Samuel and Emma went to VBS with Ashlynn at her church.  They had a great week!

I have been running 5 days a week and most of it has been slightly miserable.  I really don't like summer running at all.  It is just way to humid for my liking.  In fact, I dislike humidity so much I have run some in the evenings picking 90+ degrees over humidity.  It is more tolerable.  This picture Emma took after an especially humid 10 mile run.  I was totally soaked like I had just been swimming.  GROSS, but that is summer running for me.

Elena asked me to run with her the other weekend and who am I to tell her no.  She surprised me by running almost a half mile non-stop.  That includes talking because she never stopped talking the entire time.  It was just too cute.  Of course I had to have pictures of my future runner!

I made my three favorite boys pose for pictures with me.  They are all just too much!

I celebrated my friend Ann Marie's birthday with some of my favorite people....Carmalyn, Ann Marie, and Kim!  It was definitely a calming highlight in a crazy busy week for me.

I did not get the color memo for our breakfast!

Jonah led the Invitation to Worship on 2nd Family Sunday.  He did a fantastic job and we were so proud of him!

Finally, we went to the pool lots and lots.  There isn't much else worth doing in the summer after 9am unless it involves water in my opinion.  So, most days we spend some time at the pool.  Thankfully, I have four little fish who like to swim.  And, it helps that we almost always find some of their school friends at the pool.  

Jonah goes to camp

This past week Jonah was at boy scout day camp Tuesday-Friday from 1p-8p.  This was after he spent three hours at the gym in the morning.  So one would think that he would be tired when he got home each night, but one would be wrong.  He was so excited about his day and so hungry that energy just fell off of him.  To say that Jonah loved just about every second of the day camp would be an understatement.

Jonah with his Den's flag

Each day I dropped off Jonah with his bucket.  I personally thought this was genius.  Everything he needed for the day including dinner, suntan lotion, towels, drinks, and a raincoat were in his bucket.  Then the bucket doubled as a seat.  So clever!

He and his friends learned how to tie different knots, how to shoot bow and arrow, they shot bb guns, they did crafts, they played life size Battleship, they carved soapstone, and who knows what else.  After all that fun I do think maybe one of the highlights of the week was a visit from a fire truck.  They had a quick tour it and then all the kids were sprayed by the firefighters.

A little wet, a little happy, and a lot silly especially Jonah

Jonah's t-shirt has signed on his shoulder because he had a bulls-eye during archery!

I almost did not sign him up for the camp because I was worried about him doing too much each day.  I could not have been more wrong.  Who knows what I am going to do with all his energy this week?!

Being Lazy

 We went to the lazy river pool area twice last week.  On Wednesday we left after being there for 10 minutes because it started to storm.  That was not in the forecast for the day so to say the kids were disappointed is an understatement.  So, we went back again on Friday and spent 4 wonderfully relaxing hours there.

Elena was not tall enough to go down the big slide much to her dismay.  Thankfully she is still easily distracted by other things so it wasn't too much of an issue.  My favorite part of the day besides watching the kids have lots of fun was having the boys be my guide through the lazy river.  Talk about feeling spoiled!

Believe it or not, Jonah is behind Samuel in this tube (above) and then all of the sudden Samuel disappears (below).  He was a little stuck and it was pretty funny!

Samuel went down the big slide 8 times.  He kept track because he was so excited about his new independence.

They always want a treat and I can't blame them.

Floating leisurely together.  It is nice to have occasional reminders that they do like each other!

Gotta love group selfies

Friday is our only day without someone at the gym. This was the perfect way to spend our day!

Happy 11th Birthday Emma!!

Today at 11:56am Emma turned 11.  Unbelievable that my baby girl...my first baby...the one that made me a mom is 11!

Poor Emma gets the mom who is learning as she goes.  Emma is paving the way for the other three, but somehow Emma is growing into a wonderful, caring, loving, beautiful girl.  I like to think that Drew and I have some hand in this, but in reality it is just Emma.  That is who she is and always will be. 

On her birthday and on the verge of a huge year in her life, I want Emma to know the following things....

1.  She is always loved by God no matter what.
2.  She is always loved by me and Drew no matter what.
3.  She is not defined by the outcome, but by her effort.
4.  She is beautiful because of her character not because of how she looks, dresses, etc.
5.  She is brave and confident beyond her 11 years so there should be no worries about starting a new school and working through two levels of gymnastics in the next 7 months.
6.  Jonah, Samuel, and Elena will bug her probably on a daily basis, but they will always love her and be there for her when it matters most.
7.  She knows who her friends are so stick with them.  Don't change for others.
8.  She will have bumps in the road this year, but it is all about getting up again.
9.  She should smile more.
10.  She is a role model for Jonah, Samuel, and Elena. 
11.  She is always loved by God not matter what....yes, I want to tell Emma that two times because it is that important!

Emma celebrated her birthday with her best friends on Friday.  They had pedicures, went out to dinner, and stayed up who knows how late.  She had tons of fun and that is all that matters.

Chocolate and vanilla cake ecorated by Emma!

Ashlynn, Aurora, Kaitlyn, Maddie, and Emma

We celebrated her birthday last night.  She had her dinner and dessert of choice.  Lucky girl had two special desserts this year.

Steak, cheesy potatoes, grilled veggies, sauteed mushrooms, and stuff jalapenos...so good!

For all her medals

Of course, as is tradition, Emma had her choice of ice cream for breakfast this morning.  Her pick was black raspberry dark chocolate chunk....gross!  Good thing it was her birthday!

Happy Birthday my dear Emma.  We love you and are so proud of the person you are and are becoming each and every day!!!

Love my girl!