Where I've been...

I’ve been chastised lately by my legions of fans (well, all three of them) for being a negligent blogger. I confess. I apologize. Before this summer, time always seemed to drag just a bit once the heat set in. Then we had children. The thing about kids is they provide a wealth of material for blogging, but they refuse to let you sit down for two minutes to organize your thoughts! Couple that with a busy June and July, and summer practically slipped through my fingers.

As I type this, my kids are tearing the house apart while eating cinnamon raisin toast. They are multi-taskers. I am sacrificing my home for my fans (again, all three of you).

I discovered last night that Picassa photo editing (the program I use since photoshop got ganked) has a collage function that allows me to post several photos in one. Obviously the images are a bit smaller, but in this instance it was the only way I could tell this story in a thousand pictures or less. I hope you’ll forgive me.

Jackson has been a very busy three year old this summer. He started out with swimming lessons with “Miss Mwissa.” He loved her, he loved going, and as long as she didn’t let go of him or make him put his face in the water, he was a happy camper. Sadie also benefitted from his lessons in that she and I played in the water along with them. She has no fear. None. Slides? No problem. Face in the water? Piece of cake. Jumping from the side? Just say the word. I have no pictures of this adventure, because neither my camera nor my daughter are waterproof.

One of Jackson’s favorite adventures of the summer was his first ever Vacation Bible School. He loved everything about it: his teachers, his friends, and especially the songs. He still breaks into some part of “Boomerang Express” at least once a day. On the final day of VBS, his cousin, Hope, gave him a stuffed dinosaur just before the kids performed their songs for their parents. He was a little shy about getting up on the stage until he heard the music start and saw his buddy Maddi up there. It might look as though he’s not doing much, but if you look closely, you’ll see that the dinosaur is doing the motions.



My dad turned 70 on June 29th, and my sibs and I put together a surprise party for him. My mom took him to Tyler to get him away from the house while we decorated an area near the lake for the party. As a cover for all the cars my dad would see when they arrived home, my nephew, Mark, called Dad and asked if he could “bring a few Bible study friends fishing.” Emphasis on the word “few.” When my parents drove up and my dad saw ten or fifteen cars parked near the pier, he was beside himself. I learned that it’s pretty easy to surprise a 70 year old, because he had to get up close before he realized that he knew all the people “fishing.” Even though it was hot and sticky, we had a great time.


For the July 4th weekend, we drove north to Woodward to visit the Campbells. If you’re not familiar with them, visit the “Chasing Campbell” blog here. Sadie isn’t much of a world traveler yet, so she had a granddaughter weekend with the grandparents. Jackson got to be a real cowboy while we were there since Cody and Karen bought him a super sweet cowboy hat. We loved riding four wheelers, seeing deer up close, swimming and watching beautiful sunsets.

In between all the VBSing, birthdaying and traveling, the kids managed a few adventures of their own as well as a swim or two…

I really am still in denial about summer coming to an end. We're just getting warmed up!