we have a "Cuse" kid

Well I got a couple of pictures!! Over the weekend Georgia participated in a soccer camp put on by the Syracuse Orange soccer coaches and players. It was very fun and informational for her. Here she is in her T-shirt. The picture of the back wouldn't upload for me but it says " 'Cuse kids club". We plan on going to a game this fall to see the players that she met and give them a cheer.

I can't post.

Sorry everyone, I can't post. I have tried over and over with no luck. As soon as I can get it working again I will have some pictures up! xoxo Jenny

Kebin

For many years we have sponsored a child from Guatemala. Kebin is our second boy from Guatemala that we support through the Christian Foundation for Children and Aging
He lives with his parents and 3 brothers and sisters in a small home made of blocks with a metal roof. They don't have a well and his job is to collect wood so they can cook over their wood stove. We recently received a letter from him and heard all about his schooling and family life. We love to hear from him. It teaches us many lessons.

We did some research on Guatemala. First though we found it on our wall map. Good job Georgia.

We made Kebin some birthday and Christmas cards. If we send them now he will get them in time. Can you believe it takes that long!?

A really fun Saturday.

Some pictures from my sister Stacy and brother in law Paul's wedding. More to come...

My little Georgia sang "Tim McGraw". She did great. I'm proud of you Georgia.

My little Jo Jo sang "Our Song". Wow I was proud that she really did it. I even saw her little body start swaying every now and then.

Rick letting loose!!

Rick and I sang the night away! It was really fun even though I did feel like a BIG dork at times.

Visitors

Friday morning I finally caught a glimpse of my hummingbird friend. It likes to come and drink from the blooms on my hostas.

We had a wonderful visit with my friend Jenny P and her daughter Sarah and their dog Sally Friday. She now lives in New Hampshire so visits are few and far between.

We always take a picture of the kids on the swingset. It won't be long before they have outgrown this! I tried to find a past picture but couldn't on this new(er) computer. We love you guys and look forward to visiting with you again real soon. It is nice to get that b.f.f. feeling back!!

xoxo

getting you caught up

Well I got a few more this morning.

This is a picture of Em and I watching the French Festival fire works. They are awesome. Em was a little worried at first but loved them after a bit.

Russell wasn't too fond of returning the love to his little niece Emeline at Elsie's first birthday party.

Here are the babies on the carousel.

I am trying to get everyone caught up with our happening but I am having trouble posting pictures.

Yesterday we took the kids to the fair- here they are after a long awaited carousel ride.

The Big "Game"... finally!

Well, FINALLY it was the night for the big "game". See as a surprise at the end of their season coach told them that they had a game in town. The first game was cancelled and it was rescheduled for last night. The kids were all psyched for a big game and when they saw the college age players they had looks of despair. "Those kids are biiiig!" It took a long time for them to realize that they weren't going to play anybody (Georgia was kind of let down. She really wanted one final game.) but that they were going to get to run out in front of hundreds of fans and hear their names called over the loud speakers! This is a picture of Georgia watching the "big kids" start their game. They cheered "We want a single just a little single s-i-n-g-l-e- single single single...." many times.

Here is the team in the dugout waiting for some Wizards and to be called out.

Well here are the Wizards! It was a frenzy. There is my little Georgia down in the middle of the group (green hair tie) getting an autograph!! Georgia you rascal.

She says "I GOT IT!!"

Here is my little Georgia getting another autograph. She ended up with her glove signed too.

The kids got lined up and were each called out by name. The anouncer said "Sweeeet Georgia B--------" .

There she is looking pro while the National Anthem was played. She ran right back grinning ear to ear and went out of her way to take one big stomp on first base. She was thrilled!

Learning about Muscles and Bones

Well we actually did have "school" for a couple of days. We learned about muscles and bones. We made charts, labeled each other and found some interactive sites online that provided some fun.

I gave them a visual because the matching on the computer was fun but not really memorable. Josie just thought it was soooo funny that there is a muscle on her fanny. She said gluteals for the rest of the day :)

Here is Georgia being labeled. Josie did ok.

We also did the same thing for bones.
We visited two different websites. One can be found here . This one claims to be "The totally free children's learning network" and has a wide variety of topics. We went here to label the muscles and bones.

Shrine of Lourdes

These are a couple of pictures from a recent "trip" to the Shrine of Lourdes. It is our month to clean the church so we cleaned and then took a "trip" to the shrine.

My birthday cake. Soooo lovely. Georgia said "I'm just like Becky!"

"Summer school, oh maaaan!"

Well I told the kids Monday "Summer school starts today." I got in reply "Summer school, oh maaan!" We did some reading and some math and then we took a riding lesson. (Brad went to work for the town so I can actually DO something around here again. It seems when he is home I get nothing done.) Jazz was very patient. For those of you who can recognize- Yes she has a western saddle and an english bit and hand position- it makes it easier on Jazz's mouth if I start them this way.

Go Josie go my little cowgirl!

The real thing.

This one is for real. We took a run to Lowes last night because the drive belt on the lawn mower broke and we imminently needed another. Emmy was beckoned by Georgia to look at the water fountain display which was surrounded by landscape blocks. Em reached for the water and stopped short on a block. You can guess what happened next- her bottom half stayed still and her upper half continued. The fountain caught her on the forehead. It instantly ballooned right up and was quite grotesque. Luckily the employees had ice packs available. I was changing her diaper later that evening whence she decided to take a baseball clicker and talk to "memma" - should I be concerned? :)

A busy weekend.

It was my grandfather S's 80th birthday party this weekend. Poor grandpa was so tired he basically slept right through his whole party. It was a big day for him. Here is my dad joking a bit before we left. He told him he wouldn't have been so tired if he hadn't of hit the beer so hard. Grandpa laughed and said he'd get him back :) .

Here is my dad and my three girls. They think it is really special to see grandpa S. and Glenda.

"Happy Birthday to Jenny". Wow it was in 4 part harmony. (not really) Russell made the brownie cake just for me. I said to Russell "Russell it was so special that you made my birthday cake. I'm sure you thought of me every second didn't you?" His reply was something like, "Actually I only thought of eating it!" Little brat- BUT he is an honest brat.

Here I am blowing out my candles.

After all of the festivities Russell lit some of his smoke bombs and sparklers.

Everyone also topped the night off with another dip in the pool. The babies especially liked this dip. They were going NUTS.

I tried to put two more pictures on and once again I am having trouble I will try again later. They were pictures from my Grandpa S's 80th birthday!

"The Best Independence Day Ever"

Well I am almost done with the picnic quilt. I was going to be done but I have decided to figure out some top-stitching. I can't wait to use it.

We didn't go to see the fireworks last night because we are traveling early tomorrow to my Aunt Tricia's house for my Grandfather's 80th birthday party. Instead, we stayed home and watched "A Capitol Fourth" on PBS. Here are the kids dancing to Huey Lewis and the News!

Finally the fireworks were on. The kids really enjoyed them. To top the night off one of our neighbors had a 30 minute fireworks display too!! We sat in the kids bedroom window and cheered and clapped. It was a surprisingly great time. The kids kept saying "This is the best Independence Day EVER!" Maybe we'll stay home again next year!!

Moving Round Bales

Much of the day yesterday was spent moving round bales. Hay season is underway. Emeline was a big help to dad. She LOVES to go for rides.

What a helper.

More softball and more ducks.

Another picture of Georgia running to first. Brad took this one and I thought it was cute. (We had a lazy day yesterday and I didn't have any other pictures :) ) She did great again! Good job Georgia.

When we got home look who we spotted. The ducks had made themselves quite comfortable in the kids pool. We pulled up the driveway and three little duck heads popped up. "We've been spotted!"

A Day of Work

Russell was hired for the day yesterday to help with some work we have to do this summer. He was a great help and I think he enjoyed it as well.

Brad said, "There she is with that camera again!"


Here you can see Emeline lent a hand too. She is very helpful as you can imagine.

The work they did yesterday was all for these three little ducks. We are preparing for winter by building yet another section on the back of the horse shed. They are getting quite handsome.