babies and water

It's funny how different my kids were as babies with water....

Adam tolerated bathtime and being put in a pool as a baby but he didn't love it....

The twins h.a.t.e.d. water. In fact i remember researching the following plea online "my 2 year old still screams at bathtime, what should i do?!" No pictures of the screaming children, but we did catch it on video once just for "fun".

clay seems to like water just a tad :) hope it sticks, it's so entertaining. he's so determined to keep up w/ the older brothers.

Probably helped that it was 104 degrees that day!

I've told some people it's been a more challenging summer then last year, in the fact that clay has been a handful (the good kind, mostly) and the others have elevated their attitudes a bit at times. but i tend to not dwell on that, which is why my posts are generally happy ones. not because my life and my kids are perfect, but because i want to remember the good stuff! and there is so much good stuff!

Last week we hosted a Hatian in the apartment for a few days, while Wanda stayed elsewhere (He is a connection of hers). He was so nice, I would have loved to get to know him better. He loved the boys and kept taking their picture. I think their white skin and blonde hair was facinating to him! Jean-Michel leads a missionary group in Haiti called Seedtime & Harvest.

Tuesday Andrea and I and the kids took a day trip to Elk Neck (the bay). It was only an hour from their place. My mom kept the babies which was such a blessing. So that left us with "only" 3 kids each! They had a great time, lots of sand and very warm water! Minus the seaweed and dead fish it was perfect!!

The only picture of the 6 together:

Today the boys sold leomande at the end of the lane! it was fun! They made $6.00 in 1.5 hours, not bad! They had a blast and didn't want to stop. The customers were very gracious and didn't say a word when Brad sneezed on one man's lemonade and spilled a little on another lady's hand :) I was proud of their initiative, i just watched as they got the lemonades and collected the money.
Who wouldn't wanna buy lemonade from these guys??

Some customers included the mail man, a construction worker, and a motorcyclist!

Our Krista is moving next week, she will be greatly missed by us and 1/2 of Lancaster county! She's a blessing wherever she goes and I can't wait to see what all God has for her on this next chapter in her life. She babysat for the last time tonight.

My secret talent :) The boys made sure i knew i am not as good as uncle mikey....still fun.

"Where's Clay?".....

Oh of course, IN the urinal! silly me, i should have looked there first.

We did just clean it this morning if that makes anyone feel any better about the situation.

He really enjoyed flushing it too, this is not good!

Homemade Ginger Ale

When Rod's sister Pam was in to visit, she showed me how to make my own ginger ale. I was so excited to do this, she probably thought i was a little looney :) I love soda and the thought of making my own was way cool. I like it, i made it again today and adjusted the ginger for more flavor. Rod also likes to doctor it up with some flavored syrups, strawberry being my favorite. This is an easy, inexpensive thing to do, after the initial cost of the beer bottles.

Ginger Ale:

1 Lb. ginger- chopped

1/2 c. lemon juice

1/2 c. orange juice

4 c. sugar

2 1/2 GAL water, divided

*Chop ginger, put in extra large pot.

*Add the juices, sugar, & 1 gal water. Simmer several hours.

*Strain out ginger and add enough water to make 10 quarts.

*Mix together 1/4 tsp. yeast and 1/2 c. water and add to mixture

*Fill bottles with a small funnel. Don't fill the whole way to the top. The recipe makes about 19 bottles (16 oz bottles).

*Leave them set out for 2 days, then refrigerate. They are ready to drink at this point. Make sure you keep them refrigerated after the 2 days, to stop the 'brewing' process.

It's very fizzy, watch out when you go to open one!!! The bottles came from a home brew store up this way. Next to try is Root beer, look out!

Hot day

An oppressive day calls for a little slip and slide time....Very random conversations take place in this 60 second clip. That was more entertaining then the slip 'n slide itself. They make me smile.

Daddy's flowers

For Rod's birthday this year we planted sunflowers underneath his new sign! The soil here was pretty non existent, so i was happy that some of them came up!