BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!

We are in the middle of transition here at the house. Luckily it is just fun stuff with the kids and nothing major; like soccer and baseball/softball. All three kids are playing ball this summer with Jason coaching Hannah's team. So this week is the last week of soccer and ball practices. Ball games start next week, then life is going to get crazy.
On another positive note, we are almost done with school. I can't believe we made it another year. Just 1 more week to go. Robby, on the other hand, will be starting up again after his brother and sister are done. He has only a few pages left, but he just can't seem to finish it. This weekend is the Michigan Homeschool Conference. Really looking forward to hearing the great speakers, spending time with friends and purchasing school books for next year. The kids are not as excited about that.
Well, gotta go help out with softball practice. It sure feels good to be outside. Enjoy your spring!

Florida Was Fun!

Well, our vacation is over. But what a vacation it was. Thanks to my in-laws for a great Christmas gift, many wonderful memories were made. We did so much and were able to see so many interesting things. The weather was perfect (only 1 day of rain off and on). The temperatures were in the 70's and 80's. It was hard to leave the wonderful weather and drive back to where the snow is still on the ground. But I must say that I would definitely miss the four seasons that we see here in Michigan. I don't think that I would like living down there. The traffic was terrible along the east coast, it is warm/hot all year around, and everything gets a good coat of salt all over it if you live on the coast. So, it's nice to be back home.
One of my favorite things that we did in Florida was visiting the Oceanographic Museum in Stewart, Florida. The boys and I are studying Marine mammals this year for science and we got to see some of these little (and a few big) creatures first hand. As you can see from some of the pictures, it was a great hands-on place. The volunteer workers were great about answering my questions and they were very knowledgeable. I think we could have stayed there for hours and hours. We also learned a lot just by walking up and down the beach outside our condo. We say man-o-wars up on the beach (blue, balloon like creatures with tentacles), dead crabs, a dead sand flea, a sand dollar, pelicans, sea gulls, and little sea birds. Marta (sister-in-law) saw 2 dolphins jump up out of the water together, and Sandy (mother-in-law) saw manatees in the Indian River (about a mile walk from the condo). I couldn't believe how much wildlife we saw. It was great.

Robby's favorite thing he did on vacation was going swimming in the pool on the beach. Sandy and Dave rented a condo (where we stayed also) for 1 month on the beach on Jensen Beach which was right on the ocean. They had a big pool for the kids to swim in and yet a beach to walk on. Grandpa spent an afternoon teaching the boys some swimming strokes. Drew is now swimming on his own in the deep end and Robby is doing quite well himself. Thank goodness they are starting to lose their fear of water. They are becoming confident swimmers. Robby also said his second favorite thing was picking up shells on the beach. And boy did he pick up lots of shells, crab claws, and all kinds of other treasures. I am still trying to get the fishy, salt water smell out of our house. I was just as bad as the kids about picking up shells and treasures on the beach. Jason was complaining that he spent more money on gas coming home because of all the shells we had in the back. We were loaded down with an extra 50 pounds (exaggerated) because of sea shells.

Drew's favorite things about Florida were: swimming in the swimming pool and Disney's Animal Kingdom. Like I have said before, Drew did very well swimming with Grandpa. He loved the pool. They played in the ocean, but the waves were too strong to go swimming in. I was glad that they didn't want to go swimming in the ocean. I was so afraid they would be swept out to sea. Drew also loved Animal Kingdom. His favorite thing at Animal Kingdom was the Safari ride through the wild lands. We got to see all kinds of wild animals from the jeep. They have quite a neat set-up of the African safari (with rickety, swaying bridges, weedy landscapes, and washed out roads). We did so much walking at Disney and they were all troopers. I couldn't believe how well the boys did. I sure was tired every night so I know that they were exhausted.

Hannah's favorite things about Florida were: seeing Cinderella's castle and walking along the beach at the condo. She never got a chance to walk under/through Cinderella's castle, but it was cool to see it for real. She (just like the boys) loved to walk along the beach and pick up shells. Although, on our 1st day there, she went running into the ocean to get a sand toy that was picked up by a wave and was knocked down by another wave and cut her knee open on some coral/rock that were near the shore. She had a nice cut on knee. It bruised and swelled up for a couple of days. Uncle Jeff called her "Lady Limps Alot" for the rest of the trip. Because of her soar knee, maybe that's why she didn't name the Tigers baseball game against the New York Mets as one of her favorite things to do (or maybe because Magglio Ordonez wasn't playing that day). It was hard for her to get up and down the steps at the stadium.

Another thing we did was go see Kennedy Space Center. The space shuttle Discovery had just landed the day before in Florida. It was its last mission to space, so I thought that maybe they would have some big fanfare about it, but not at all. I guess that they are so used to rockets blasting off and shuttles being launched and landing there that they don't think too much of it. I thought it was a big deal. We did get to see the building holding the shuttle doors open while we were there. The next shuttle, Endeavour, was going to be pulled out and taken to the launch pad the next day. The Endeavour will blast off on April 19th. You can be sure we will be watching that. While on the log ride at the Magic Kingdom, Drew, Jason and Hannah got to see a rocket go up in space from Kennedy Space Center. They happened to be going up a hill looking to the east and saw the rocket and smoke go up into space. We also say a huge eagle's nest and the eagle perched on a telephone post nearby the nest at Kennedy Space Center. That was awesome! Drew has been wanting to see an eagle for years, his wish came true. We drove right by it, so we got a good, but quick look.

All in all, we had a great time. No problems on the drive down or up (we drove straight through - bad idea, don't ever do it. Drew was the only one that actually slept somewhat throughout the night). God is an amazing Creator. There was so many beautiful thing to see on this trip. That all didn't just happen by chance. God, You are truly amazing.

Snow, Snow, Snow

I can't believe how much snow came down here in St. Johns. I thought for sure we would only get half of what they called for. Nope, proved me wrong. I think we got a good 12 inches, but I haven't heard the official total yet. The Weather Channel says we should get some more snow over the next 5 days (but not a blizzard like last night). Well, it is cold out there, but it is beautiful.
I told the kids last night that we would have a snow day today with everyone else. They were loving that. They went out to play this afternoon and I snapped a few pictures. They also did some serving and shoveled the neighbors driveway, sidewalks and around a vehicle. Jason and I were out at 8:00 this morning doing the large drifts of snow, so the kids just had to do only a few inches of clean up. Although, Jason had a small snow blower and I had a shovel (but we're old and they're young). None the less, it is greatly appreciated kids. You have made your parents proud. We all need to be servants more often.
Florida is looking more and more inviting. Let's see - 30 days and counting!

Sickness Gone!

Augh! We have had a sickness run through our house, like almost everyone else around this part of Michigan. It started right after Christmas and just finished up a few weeks ago with Hannah. Hopefully that will be the end of it for this year. We will be going to Florida in another month for spring break, so hopefully we got it out of our systems.
Since everyone was feeling better we decided to go to Grand Rapids with my parents for an overnight stay at a hotel. This was a Christmas present from my parents and we had a great time. We went on a Sunday and the hotel was practically empty. We had the pool almost to ourselves. I was amazed at how Robby was in the pool. He could barely touch the bottom, but that didn't scare him from getting in with Drew and Hannah. He's going to be our fish. He went underwater several times on his own (he sure is the opposite of me when I was his age). My mom shared with me the time I took swim lessons and the teacher called me her turtle (I wouldn't put my head underwater). Drew, on the other hand is like me. He's my turtle. He is so much like me when it comes to water and food (picky about meat), it's scary.
We also went to the Public Museum on Monday. That was great fun. They have quite a museum. Lots to see and learn about the history of GR. We even rode a beautiful carousel (all except Hannah - she wasn't feeling well from drinking too much chlorine water).
So that's how our new year is going here. At least we have Florida (condo on the beach, Disney World, Magic Kingdom, Cape Canaveral, Tiger spring training game and lots of swimming in the ocean) to look forward to in March. Can't wait for spring!

Merry CHRISTmas 2010

Wow, Christmas came and went. It is now 2 days after Christmas, the house is full of new toys and piles of stuff. We had a great Christmas around here (even though Drew is sick today). Kids are watching Toy Story for the billionth time and just sitting around relaxing. We were hoping to go to G.R. to a Holiday Inn (with a slide and kids water park) on Wednesday, but it looks like we will have to postpone that trip. Hopefully no one else will get sick.
Well, we'll still enjoy our Christmas vacation. They have new toys,Wii games and movies to watch. That's what vacations are for.
Hope you all have a safe and healthy New Year!

Ready for Thanksgiving

I can't believe it is almost Thanksgiving. Time is flying. We have been busy picking up leaves outside and getting ready for the winter. I can't believe that Dish Network is playing Christmas music on its music stations and the t.v. stations are playing Christmas commercials. I am finding I am humming them throughout the day. It's kinda nice - for a change. The kids and I have been working on doing sign language to "We Three Kings" these last 2 weeks. It is much harder than it seems. I find that I look to Hannah for some help on some of the words. We hope to have it "perfected" (verse 1 only and the chorus) by Christmas Eve so we can perform it for family and friends.
Well, soccer is over with for the season. They will start back up in the spring with the same teams. The boys loved it. It was fun to watch them.
We are all looking forward to the Christmas traditions that we do around here. But first, we are going to get thru Thanksgiving. We will be going to Grandma Hedges house this year. Looking forward to spending time with Jason's cousin and family. I wonder if we have snow on or around Thanksgiving. We often have our 1st real snowfall around that time. Kids can't wait to play in the snow.
Have a great Thanksgiving!

School is Underway

Wow! The summer is gone and school is underway. Robby is now in kindergarten, Drew: 3rd grade and Hannah: 8th grade. It gets easier in some ways, yet harder in others. Robby is already reading small words all by himself. Not bad for a kid who can't sit for more than 30 seconds. What do you know, he is listening to me and learning along the way. He also started soccer. He's had 2 games now and he scored his 1st goal last night (in his own team's net). That's ok. He's having a great time. He just runs around the field with a big smile on his face.
Drew scored his 1st goal in soccer last week. Yah Drewman! They ended up tying the game 3 to 3. But he scored the 1st goal of the game. We were so proud of him! Soccer is so good for him.
Hannah just got her braces off. She's very excited about that. She looks so beautiful (with or without braces). I can't believe she's in 8th grade this year. She is growing up so fast.
Jason took a day off at the beginning of the month to go with us to Port Huron. We had a great family day to celebrate the boys' adoption a year ago. We got to go on a light ship and the retired Brambles Coast Guard ship. We followed the tours up with ice cream as we watched a freighter heading north on the St. Clair River. What a good day it was!
Hannah and I got a chance to go to Chicago to see Uncle Jeff and Aunt Marta (Jason's brother and sister-in-law) last weekend. We had a great time. We went to the Lincoln Park Zoo, an art gallery (Aunt Marta was helping set-up a non-profit fundraiser there), and most importantly, a Chicago Cubs game. LOVED IT! The stadium was AWESOME! I believe it is the oldest stadium (98 years old)in MLB. Chicago is a great place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. It's just a whole different world to me.
Jason had a man's weekend with the boys. They hung out with the McCausey men. Drew got a chance to shoot Josh's bow and just do some boy things. It was a great weekend for everyone.
The trees are changing color and things are cooling down (finally). Looking forward to a great fall.

Sonny's Rest-Up

Vacation is over with, how sad. But we had a great time! The weather was pretty good (only 1 wash out day), mild at the beginning of the week, but warmed up at the end of the week. Kids had a great time fishing, swimming, watching a movie every night, playing games and pretending they were pirates and going on a treasure hunt (the 3 younger ones anyways). The 5 older kids were bad pirates and tried to steer them away from their treasure hunt by making them do things for them. In the end, the boys found their treasure (bag of rocks) on the ends of their fishing rods in the river.
Drew was the true fisherman of the week with two 17 inch long, big mouth bass. He caught them right off the edge of the dock. Robby wanted to fish too, so he asked Nolan to use his fishing rod to cast out. Well Rob, being 5, got bored so he spent most of his fishing time running up and down the dock talking. So while Nolan was fishing for Robby, he caught a 17 inch, big mouth bass also. Robby went screaming down the dock, "That's my fish. I caught a fish." Poor Nolan! But Nolan did end up catching a pretty big pike (or something like that) a few days later.
Hannah spent her vacation reading, taking pictures and shopping. Fortunately Bekah and Kayla enjoy all of those too, so the girls spent lots of time by the campfire pit reading and taking pictures of the freighters going by. Everyone loves Sonny's. There is something for everyone.
While we were in the U.P. we went to Mackinaw City, Whitefish Point and the Soo Locks. We had a great trip. Can't wait till next year!
Now it's time to great ready for school. This year will be a challenge, but I am looking forward to it. I get so excited when their school books come in the mail, it's like Christmas all over again. Kids aren't excited, but mom is.
With school starting comes the changing seasons here in mid-Michigan. Thank you Lord for the great summer, but I am really looking forward to the cooler weather and the beautiful fall colors.

Rock Lake Christian Assembly - 2010

Another successful year. We had so much fun. Even though I wasn't with the campers the whole time, it looked like they (all 35 of them) had a great time too. Drew got to experience sleeping in the lodges with the campers (even though he wasn't technically a camper last week) and he did so well. He seemed to love being a part of the group. Robby stayed with me at a cottage with Hannah and a couple of the junior, junior faculty girls (teenagers). He had a great time. It was good for him to have some apart time from Drew.
I was very proud of all three of my kids. Hannah stepped up to more responsibility in being assigned to help with a team of campers for the week. Drew did what was asked of him by being a runner for Jason and a helper to Grandma(the nurse for the week)in getting the kids to get their medicines at mealtimes. I didn't hear him complain or argue even once! And Robby did pretty good about being obedient and following instructions from the girls who watched him while I taught my Christmas Traditions class. As I told my friend Renee, it gives me a great feeling to see my family come together in a mission and make 3rd and 4th grade week a success. I am so thankful to have children who are picking up our mission to give a week every year to God and to tell others about His love.
We had 3 baptisms Friday night, and many seeds were planted. My Christmas Traditions class went well. I was able to talk to the campers about many traditions and relate them to the Bible. We looked up scripture and talk about Jesus' birth. Hopefully the campers will remember all that was taught to them (from all 8 classes) in a few months when they see Christmas decorations and prepare for the Christmas season. This group of campers seem to be really interested in this year's theme of Christmas. I think they got it!
Robby's 5th birthday was on Thursday during camp. Lucky Kid! He was Mr. Social. He sure has a way with the ladies. He wore the birthday hat his "Birthday Boy" t-shirt that we made together and all the campers sang "Happy Birthday" to him at lunch that day. We'll do some more celebrating with a pinata up at Sonny's (vacation) next week. Makayla (who's family will be with us next week in the U.P.) has a birthday this week. We'll celebrate both birthday's on vacation.
So now that camp is over with for this year, now we can look forward to vacation next week. Sonny's Rest Up, here we come!

Camping

Well, we did it. We went camping for the weekend at my brother's cabin at Higgings Lake. We borrowed Smith's pop-up camper and headed up-north. Unfortunately it rained 1/2 the day on Saturday, so we stayed at the cabin and played games (even outside in the rain). But we did have a wonderful time. Jason took all of the kids out on the golf cart. They took EXTREME rides with Uncle Jason/Dad and came back muddy but excited and ready to go out through the trails again. On Sunday, we finally got to go to the Lake. The weather was still overcast and cool so we didn't take Tom and Mary's (brother and sister-in-law's) boat. As our luck would have it, it ended up to be a beautiful day Sunday. The boys even got a little sun burned. Well, we still had fun at the North Higgins State Park. Grandpa (my dad) took all of his grand kids (all 6 of them) down the beach a ways to the natural spring. They had a contest to see who could stay in the longest, Hannah won. She was still complaining her feet were numb 5 minutes afterwards. It must have been cold.

My father remembers camping at that exact state park as an eight year old (or so) boy. He and his 4 older brothers would go camping with his parents on Memorial Weekend. His parents would then leave all the boys for the summer up at the campground. They did have an uncle who owned a gas station a few miles to the west of the state park, so they would walk to the gas station to help out, eat, or just visit. My grandma and grandpa would then go up to camp with them every weekend throughout the summer. Then on Labor Day weekend, they would all come home. Wow, life was a lot different 55 years ago. I can't imagine letting my kids do that. Geesh, I can bearly stay away from them 3 days to a week while they are at church camp.

I think we all had a wonderful time, but my parents enjoyed it the most. We (my brothers and I)are rarely able to get together. My older brother (Tom) and his wife are busy with their 3 girls. They are all active in sports. The twins are seniors and Mareena is in 9th grade. Wow, life goes fast. I can remember when they were born. I swear it was just yesterday. Well, they have grown up beautifully. My younger brother (Trevor) is a runner. He is always doing marathons and triathlons in and out of the state. Fortunately his wife also enjoys running, biking and swimming along with him (not quite to the extent as Trevor, but they make a perfect match). So this weekend was a weekend to get caught up on the latest with everyone.

With that weekend over with, it is now time to think about camp. We leave for Rock Lake on Saturday. I am ready - well with my class anyways. I will be teaching on Christmas Traditions and how all of them tie in with Jesus' birth. It is going to be a great week. As the boys are getting older and older, it gets easier and easier. This is our family mission every year. We want our kids to grow up learning how important it is to volunteer and do God's work. We have done this for 11 years now and hopefully our kids will someday take our place at Rock Lake (or at least volunteering at another place spreading the news of the Gospel).

Well, I guess that's enough blabbering. I will be letting you know how camp went.
God Bless!

Summer colds

Summer colds are the worst. Jason and the kids were sick for about 3 weeks. It started just before Hannah's birthday and went through Drew's birthday and ended just after the 4th of July. Ahh! I thought we were all done, but Robby woke up with a soar throat this morning. There are all kinds of sicknesses going around town. I hear the Dr.'s offices are pretty busy. Well, as long as we get it out of our systems now and not have it linger on during camp or vacation in August.
Camp is going to be so much fun this year. The theme is Christmas (Jesus' birth). The kids are going to have a great time. We are going to have everything decorated as if it were Christmas. All these preparations for camp is putting me in the Christmas spirit already. But I just can't seem to think about starting my Christmas shopping yet.
Happy Summer (and Merry Christmas)!

Congratulations DeWitt Landscaping!

Well, they did it! Hannah's (and Coach Jason's) team won the softball championship game last night. I am so proud of them both. The team played really well together. They are all a great group of girls. It's great to see girls come together and play hard to win. They were the underdogs of the league with the most 6th graders and 2 girls who haven't played before. Yet, they pulled it off to win. What a great way to start off the 4th of July weekend.
Now that Jason is done coaching softball and soccer (at least until fall) we can relax a bit. He's not going to know what to do without a game to coach or practice to run. Hopefully our July will be less busy. Although I have to admit that I'll miss watching my kids play sports. I love to see their faces glow when they do something great, are encouraged by all the parents and see how proud they are of themselves. We have been very blessed to have some very supportive and encouraging parents/grandparents on our teams.
But August is coming quick. Time to think about camp. It feels like the summer is half over with already, but we still have camp and vacation in August to look forward to. Time flies when your having fun!

Memorial Weekend

Well, our plans didn't go as we planned for Memorial Weekend, but we did have a good weekend. Jason and the kids washed the van, we had a pool raid at the McCausey house, swam at Grandma & Grandpa's lake and we got ready for our trip.
Jason and I went to San Antonio last week (a FB conference)and the kids were all divided out to different houses. Although San Antonio was really hot, Jason and I had a great time. It sure feels nice to be back home though.
Here are a few pictures of our busy spring.

Making Ice Cream!

Yes, we actually made ice cream by hand. Drew's science book had a recipe for ice cream, so we thought we'd give it a try. The kids tired quickly (a lot of shaking), but it was fun. And the ice cream was actually very good! To make it tastier, we added chocolate chips to our bags of ice cream. Mmm Mmm!
The weather here was beautiful last week - this week, not so much, too cold. We took a walk to enjoy and observe the signs of spring. The kids were determined to find butterflies/moths on the sledding hill at the city park. We didn't find any butterflies/moths but we saw the local hawk fly over the park. We also heard the frogs talking in the pond in the woods. Flowers are popping up, kids are outside playing, no jackets are needed, bikes are in constant use, and we are counting down the days to the Detroit Tigers 1st game (April 6). So far, it has been a great spring!

Spring is in the air!

Well, last week was sure a nice week for us here in central Michigan. The weather was nice and warm, the sun was shining most of the week, and the snow all melted(Yah!). But, by the weekend it was rainy and cool so we went to the circus at MSU. What a great time we had. We saw elephants, tigers, monkeys, clowns, trapeze artist, magicians, a high wire act, and more. Drew liked the high wire acts and the magicians. Robby liked the monkeys and the red clown noses that Jason bought himself (which will come in handy for camp)and the kids. Hannah liked the elephant act and the dog act. I didn't get any pictures to post, but we sure had a nice family weekend.
P.S. WE SAW THE 1ST ROBIN OF SPRING IN OUR YARD TODAY!