Time Flies ~ when you are having fun...

I cannot believe that there is only 16 days until school starts back up again! Everyone keeps making jokes about how I must be ready to boot them off to school and as shocked as I am to say this, I am absolutley NOT ready! Okay, I have to be honest, there have been fleeting moments, far and few between, where the kids have drove me crazy and I have thought "I cannot WAIT for school to resume", but for the most part, we have had a blast. I think the relaxed atmosphere helped Ashton a great deal and it gave me a big block of time to fall further in love with my 3 inherited boys, then I already was ;) I am going to miss my long morning snuggles, the I love you's throughout the day, and the wet hugs by the pool ;( I feel very blessed that I was entrusted by God to care for the boys and very honored that I was chosen to be Andy's wife, hence giving me the opportunity to do all that I am doing now.

We have enjoyed the time so much.....

swimming

and camping

and sunning

and playing

and parties

and parks

and the Indy 500 parade

all I can do now, is make the most of the time that is left and be thankful for all that I have been given ;)

Fishing at the Pond

Zach and I had a fishing date today. While the other boys are at their moms, I am taking advantage of some one-on-one time with him. He has been BEGGING for weeks to go fishing, ever since they all got poles from their grandpa, so today we took off for the big adventure. I was very impressed with myself, I hooked the worm AND even cut some in half with a rock (they were pretty big crawlers). Shocking, huh? At first I was kind of nauseous, but I quickly got a hold of myself and sucked it in for the big picture, a fun day with my son ;) WELL the day was fun, but we didn't catch any fish. The fish, on the other hand, received a tasty treat for free- they kept stealing our bait! Eventually we got tired of re-baiting and called it a day, I assumed that I must be doing something wrong and decided we needed help from the expert, dad- defeated, yet happy, we walked away with a smile ;)

Beach Bums, or as close to the beach as we can get ;)

Well, I finally caved and took the boys to the lake. I am just not a lake kind of girl. I think that it is absolutley beautiful to look at, but the thought of swimming where I can't see my feet on the bottom and that fish poop in, scares me! To my surprise, we had a blast! The boys love to swim but needed a break from the same old pool and slide routine, this was exactly what they needed, a different scenery with the same concept- getting wet. The sun was shining, the breeze coming off of the water felt great, and little footprints in the sand made for an excellent day. Now that I know we can get in for free because a cousin is a lifeguard, we will be spending a lot more time there ;)

Homecoming!

Well, it has been a tough couple of days. If you are close to me then you will understand that statement in a minute. The boys ended up going with their 'real' mother, as she refers to herself ( I am just the stand-in-mother that has all the responsibility while she enjoys all the fun), for 4 days in a row, which will continue for the next for weeks of summer break. They will be coming home today and I am very excited and stressed. I missed them very much but do not look forward to the days of reprogramming ;) These next four weeks will be very trying because there will only be 3 days in between visits. Andy leaves tomorrow for a business trip, luckily he will be home wednesday evening. VBS is this week as well, so it will be very busy. I never imagined being a step-mom would be this hard. Please do not take that statement the wrong way, I love it! - But I didn't foresee all of the emotions and hurt that went along with it. They have become like my own children and to have them leave for 4 days to go to their moms was very hard. I worry about their safety and stability when they are away from me but there is not much I can do but pray. I will be very glad when they walk through the front door and I can wrap my arms around them and know they are safe again ;)

What a catch!

Well, the boys got fishing poles today from their grandpa. They are all very excited to get them out to the lake, but had to settle for the yard today. Besides some trees and a close call with a power line, they did a good job of casting ;)

My little dare-devil

Caleb's diving trick ;)
He's been jumping off the diving board for a while,
but yesterday I looked over and there he went,
somersaulting off the board!

Hooray!

Zachary Jumped off the diving board and swam across the deep end!!

Swimmin' Fun

Caleb, my fish, can't keep him out of the water

Collin, seemed a little swimmed-out today

Zach and Ash were buddies, in and out of the pool
Ash even convinced Zach to try it in the deep end, good
job Zach!

This last one is Ash swimming, it is so neat, my new camera!!!

Baseball Trophy and Pool Party

I can't tell you how wonderful Zach and Collin's coach was this year. Andy and I were both very pleased at his ability to work well with the kids and parents. The coach did an excellent job of letting all the boys play all the positions. He truly seemed to care about the boys on his team and I am very excited to know that they will both be on his team again next year. The Tigers had a good year as well, they went through their first tournament game and then lost their second. Collin did a great job at hustling, he gets so in to the game. He focuses so well and did a good job at being catcher, not to mention his skill at hitting. Zach did a great job of improving his hitting skills and caught some good balls as well. All in all, they enjoyed being on the team.

Now came the time for some laid back fun.....
And the trophies

Happy 4th of July

We had a great 4th of July. My mom and step-dad came and ate dinner with us before heading over to the lake to watch the fireworks. The kids were worked up ALL day and could barely keep their excitement inside! Once we got there they of course bombarded the grandparents for various items that they have learned not to us ask for ;) (Just kidding to all you grandparents if you are reading this, you know we love you!)

The boys sat by the lake and watched the fisherman make their catch. Then came the beautiful fireworks. I made such a fuss about being right by the lake and you couldn't even see them reflect off the water, but it was still a nice background to look at.

Finally it was time to leave and walk back to grandmas, and besides Caleb running to play at the park without telling us, it was a pretty uneventful evening; but things were about to change. On the way home Collin starts to feel a little to sick, maybe mom knew what she was talking about when she said that he didn't need a whole elephant ear to himself? ;) I am sure that it had more to do with the heat, running around non-stop, and the odd tasting lemonade, but sure enough he stopped to throw up in someones yard. Here to show you that not a day goes by without some incident, just goes with the territory when you have 4 boys and a dog ;) BUT I love it, every minute!!

Splish Splash

Well yesterday was a day for excitement. I was really excited to use my new camera that could go UNDERWATER! I still need to learn all that it can do, but it is so neat to take pictures underwater, not to mention not having to worry about getting it wet at the pool or beach. Other than that, Caleb switched from the life jacket to arm floaties. I was really excited and proud. He does a really good job at kicking his legs and moving about. PLUS, he had that guts to go off the diving board, so I let him. After that one time, I couldn't keep him from doing it. Its good to see him more comfortable in the big pool, when we first went he wanted to stay in the baby pool ;)

Creek Stomp

Like I mentioned yesterday, I try my hardest to keep the boys occupied for free. I luckily found a park around here that has a nature center that offers NUMEROUS free activities for the whole family. There are movie nights at the park, stargazing, hikes, and nature learning fun. Today that kids got to hunt for crawdads and tadpoles during Creek Stomp. My youngest one (Caleb) had more fun playing in the creek, but as long as they have fun, right? Ashton and Zach had a blast catching crawdads. Collin was just a bit freaked out by the possibility of getting pinched ;) Tomorrow is Turtle Power. Hopefully Collin will be a little more relaxed with the turtles.

Toot Toot!

I cannot believe I forgot to mention this yesterday. Zachary said one of the funniest things I think I have heard in a VERY long time, goes to show you can never underestimate what might come out of little mouths. We were at church and participating in the Family Worship, highway 67. The topic was doing secret acts of kindness. There was a skit, songs, and a lesson. (It was really neat). Well, during the lesson, the teacher talked about the old saying "don't toot your own horn". Well, during family time, I asked Zachary what he learned, he said "don't fart your own trumpet, fart for Jesus". I know that he was not meaning any rudeness in the matter, just got a little confused in the lingo. Now, when you hear that saying, if you do, you can remember Zach's spin on it ;)