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Camping at Potato Creek

We spent a great week camping at Potato Creek State Park. The weather was beautiful - 70's and breezy. We enjoyed hiking, paddle boating, fishing, relaxing, reading, playing, and yes- the kids even swam. BRRRR!!!! Amelia & Grandma Patsy found a baby turkey alone in the woods. It followed them around chirping. The DNR people said they couldn't do anything about it. The day we were packing up to leave, it showed up under Grandma & Grandpa's camper and started following the kids around again. We put it in a box with some bread, and took it back into the woods to release it. After we let it go, we ran so it wouldn't follow us again. It was the cutest thing! We said a quick prayer that it would find it's mom and it wouldn't get killed. As we pulled out of the park, we saw a turkey and the kids were sure it was the mom and that it was looking for its' baby.
We were really glad that Kim decided to bring the kids for a couple of days. We had fun with them. On the way home, we stopped at Essenhaus in Middlebury to eat dinner. When we walked in, Landin looked around and said, "Mom, is this a nursing home or a restaurant?" Everyone around us laughed! We all enjoyed our meals, and the kids were excited to pick whatever kind of pie they wanted. We all picked a different kind and shared.
When we got home, many people asked me if we had to visit the emergency room this time like we usually do. We actually survived the week with just an earache. We had to call the doctor to get a prescription of eardrops for Landin. We were nervous the first night when we pulled in and it stormed and hailed and the power went out in the campground within the first 10 minutes. It stayed off until about 4 AM. The rest of the week was so much fun, we almost forgot about the rough start!

A Busy Weekend

Well, it is the end of a very busy weekend. We started out Friday night with a baseball game that got rained out about half way through. Saturday morning at 8:30, Landin had a baseball game. He was very excited because he got 2 outs at first base and a couple good hits. Amelia had a game after Landin. She got to pitch and she did pretty well. Right after the games we went to 2 different graduation parties. We had a lot of fun visiting, playing volleyball, and playing kickball. The kids were exhausted and slept well that night. Today between church services we went to Uncle Tom's pond for my sister-in-laws surprise birthday party. The kids spent about 3 hours in the pond and have the red faces to prove it! It was a very busy weekend, but we really had fun! This week will be filled with baseball, softball, and preparing to camp next week.

Family

I am very lucky to have family close by. I spent the day shopping with my mom and sister today. We had so much fun together! We were all able to find some things that we needed. Grandpa Tim kept all 6 of our kids all day while we shopped! He also dropped Riley off at baseball practice and took Landin to his baseball game. All of our immediate family lives close by, and we are very close to all of them. I have had many people tell me how lucky I am to have them so close, and I believe that God has blessed us with that.

Mother of the year....NOT!!!!

I am a busy mom of 2 kids who play sports and have many activities. I try to keep very organized by putting everything on my calendar and making notes for myself. Last night I knew both boys had baseball games, and I had them on my calendar as 7:30 & 8:30. I started supper at about 5:45 and expected Todd to be home to eat before going to the ballpark. He called me at 6:10 and told me that Riley's team was already on the field and playing! I thought I had everything under control, so I felt horrible about it. Riley has never complained about leaving a game early or coming to a game late on Wednesday nights, so I felt even worse that he could have played the whole game if I would have read the schedule right (and my husband made up the schedule for everyone). When we got to the field it was the second inning. Riley got up to bat once and walked. He got sent to the outfield to play for one inning. He was up to bat a second time when it started lightening and they called the game. His team won, but I felt so bad about it. I expected him to be upset with me, but he surprised me instead. When I went to tuck him into bed, he hugged me and said, "Mom, don't worry about the game. It was no big deal." I was so moved that he acted so maturely. I am blessed with such wonderful kids! I had to say a prayer and thank God that he took it in stride. I think it upset me more than him, and he loves to play.

Tonight Amelia and I got to go on a date again! We spent time alone together two times this week! We had fun going to the mall and eating dinner. I let her get her nails painted at a salon (something I don't do for myself). The employees at the salon didn't charge me much at all, and Amelia was so excited. I made sure she knew that this was something special, and she shouldn't expect it very often. We ended our date with dessert at Debrands. She was very excited to share some chocolate cheesecake with me. When we got home, I tucked her in to bed and she wanted to pray. She said her prayer and ended with "...and thank you, God, that Mom and I could spend the day together without the hooligan boys. Amen." It was all I could do not to laugh! The boys are spending the night at the Wizards Stadium with the boy scouts, so church tomorrow should be interesting! I am sure they are going to be exhausted!

A great day!

We had a great day! We went to a friend's house for a play date, and the kids had so much fun playing together. I really enjoyed visiting with my friend, too. After that we went on a field trip to the Fort Wayne Museum of Art with our homeschool art class. The teacher had entered the student's art work in a calendar contest, and Amelia earned an Award of Merit. It is like an honorable mention. She was very excited. I have included a picture of her with her certificate.

I am so blessed

Today was an ordinary day. I had 2 doctors appointments and many errands to do. My sweet 8 year old daughter wanted to go with me. I explained that it wouldn't be exciting, but she really wanted to go. It made me feel so blessed to have children that want to spend time with me, even if it isn't doing something special. We did the things on my list, and we had a great time. It is so great to spend one on one time with my children. Todd and I try to take the children places alone. They enjoy just going to the store with us so they can have our individual attention. I am so happy that they are still young enough to want to spend time with us. We ended the day by going to Amelia's softball game. She played catcher and short stop and made some really good plays. She had two great hits! They won 7-0. It was a fabulous ending to a great day! I look forward to my "dates" with the boys.