Yummy treat

The boys and i made parfaits earlier this week. Very simple to make, even with little ones :) The idea came from Adam's magazine. It's funny to hear the boys ask for their "parfaits" They are so sophisticated. HA!

Layer Nilla Waffers (the mini ones work good), Instant Vanilla pudding, strawberries (or other fruit). Layer the above again and top with whipped cream.

Dig in!

Funny conversation

Adam and i had quite the discussion last night. I asked him "Where do you think you'll work when you get big?"

Adam's immediate reply: "No where. I'm staying home and making the mom go to work" (meaning his wife).

Me: "What are you going to do at home".

Adam: "teach the kids homeschool. Well actually the mom can stay home at first when the babies are young, then when they get old the mom can go to work and i'll stay home and do school with them."

Cracked me up! i had to jot this one down, so i can look back on it. He said it so matter-of-fact. Like, this is how it WILL be! yikes!

July

The month is almost gone. I love summer with little ones. So much exploring to do that can't be done in the wintertime. Ever notice kids don't seem to mind the heat? The boys don't complain about it being hot. Meanwhile sweat is dripped off them. It's a challenge to make the twins drink, they don't drink much which i normally don't think too much about. But they have to when the thermometer says 102!

Lots of gardening was done this month, green beans & corn were the main ones. The garden looks like a jungle now, but still have carrots, tomatoes, and peppers to do.

Started writing a list of chores for the boys to do every day. They usually don't mind working. It's just a matter of me staying on top of it. Cause of course it's much faster to just do it myself!!

We're trying to take people on the boat that didn't go last year. Clay being one of them..

Krista being another....

I often find frogs when i'm weeding. We keep them for a day then take them down to the creek. The frog looks about as thrilled as Clay did on the boat :)

Cousin Dustin came for a sleepover...The pool was definetely maxed out! I know we show deer photos a lot, but these beauties just amaze us! This is 1 of 2 bucks eating our applesTeaching the boys sign laungage, the little that i know. I love you too, Brad!The boys like the water this year. We've gone swimming a lot..

Reading the bug book with daddy:
A good month, no big ouchies or sickness. Thank you God for the enjoyment and excitment of life!

Just for fun

Active
Descriptive
Adamant
Mischievous

Bigger then Brad
Easily amused
Nonchalant

Bug Lover
Rambler
Aware
Dramatic

Cute
Laid back
Alert
Young

The burn pile

Every couple years it's time to burn the burn pile. It gets pretty tall!

Rod burns it as soon as it gets daylight, 5:30ish. Only 1 firetruck showed up.

It'll smoke for a long time.

It's here

Adam's cirriculum has arrived. I'm trying him out on Grade K this year at home. He's too young to go to school, but i feel like he needs something at home. I chose My Father's World. I liked the reviews from friends, and it looks easy to follow for me! Everything is scheduled out, which i like.

Rod is very confident Adam will be fine in public school starting next year. I still don't have a good feeling about it. I've never actually gone to public school, i went to private all 13 years. Maybe that's part of my hesitation. I still remember Wednesday morning chapels from Grade K-8, and all the fun bible songs i learned, praying before lunch, and Bible class. I wanted my guys to have that too. I know i can't totally shelter them, but i'd rather not have my kids in public school. So anyway, we are differing on that subject right now. BUT this week we learned that Dayspring Christian is moving to Mountville! That's like, our backyard almost. Rod wants to go to an Open house and check it out. I'm excited for this. It's sits much better with me then Hempfield. Of course he already calculated how much it would cost to send 4 kids to private school for 13 years each. Yes, it's a pretty penny. But worth it to me.

We still have time to figure it all out.. I'm looking at this year as a "trial". See if i like homeschooling/see whether Adam likes it/see if it works!! Then we can either cross that option off the list, or consider it. Rod would rather me not homeschool at this point. I think i told him my GPA in school :) Shoulda kept that one quiet!

while i was watching kitties being born, rod and the 3 boys were out on the boat. they went friday night and stayed overnight. it was rainy saturday, so they didnt want to stick around long on saturday. rod was docked and ready to get off the boat when brad noticed a fire truck on the other side of the river. then another, then another. turns out harrisburg was doing some big fire truck expo, there were hundreds of fire trucks lined up, blowing their sirens and spraying water into the river. so rod and the boys headed over on the boat to get a closer look. it looked pretty amazing.
They all got to feed the geese Friday night. Rod enjoyed the overnight adventure with the boys. I'm thankful for a husband who is not only willing to spend this time with them, but he enjoys it also!

Kitty farm

In all my years growing up with kittens, I've never seen any being born....Until this morning. Right outside our back patio door, our 1 year old kitty gave birth to 4 kitties! I stood there and watched. She was surrounded by 3 of her cat friends. This is our 4th litter this season. Oh dear. I don't even know how many cats we have. But i wanna say around 18. This week one died, from litter #1 or 2, probably from the heat. Adam saw it and came with me as i took it to the cornfield. He said "I like looking at dead cats mom". (That reminded me to pray for sensitivity in his heart, in general. He lacks so greatly in that area). Anyway, we're really working on taming litter #3. And sometimes i think we got it down and they will be friendly. But really, who am i kidding. Even if the boys mean well, they are rough. Ben however is the most sweet with them. He truly loves kittens. Not so sure about the other ones, who are the reason for my quote mentioned in a previous post.
Here's the new Momma: She's purring as i take the picture. Here's the process of taming, common..reach for it! so close...look at the poor scared middle one.

So they ended up just pushing them off the picnic table. BUT Ben can usually catch this one, a pretty tame one named Mel.

I used to tame cats for fun when i was little. It's like a sport. Here's me when i was 4 giving my kitties a wagon ride.

If anyone wants a kitten, you know who to ask!

Clay 3 months

Wow, can't believe he's 3 months old tomorrow!! He's really getting his personality. So fun to watch him develop. I took his 3 month pics this time, so i didn't have to lug him into Penny's.

He needs to stop falling asleep for these photo shoots!

He likes the Johnny jumper!
He's our most content baby, we are so grateful..
Here's a picture of ADAM at 3 months. I think they look alike..

Weekend

Everyone have a good weekend??

We had some fun memories. Friday night we hosted the Gingrich extended family for a July 4th shindig. Not overnight this year. it was a beautiful evening, weather-wise. And fun to be with the family. Sunday eve we got to see Long's Park fireworks from Rod's grandparents apt at the Mennonite home. And today Rod was home, so we ventured off to Hempfield Rec's swimming pool. Rod sweet talked the lady into giving us a free day pass. So we enjoyed a few hours of pool time. The deepest part of the pool is 2 feet so the kids could roam all over the pool and we didn't have to worry about a deep end. And in the middle of our 4th of July weekend, we got to meet the latest Smoker. Baby Brandon was born Friday (on his due date, like Adam). Now my parents have 8 grandkids age 5 and under. WOW! almost feel bad for them. haha!

Dana in her glory with the 2 new ones, Brandon and Clay:

Waiting for fireworks Sunday eve:

The pool:

Adam drew a campfire with chalk on the driveway and we're sitting aroud the "campfire" eating peanuts.
Now this week we will lay low. gotta make sure the boys don't think every day is a party full of fun and activities!