Yellow belt

Great news! Javin passed his Tae Kwon Do test and will be receiving his yellow belt later. It was so fun to watch the boys all crowded around the list congratulating each other for passing. Check back for pictures of him receiving his new belt. It's a big honor to get your new belt! He has been doing great at class and even practices at home. Way to go Javin!

Church picnic fun day

We had a great time at the church picnic this year. The kids both had a blast at the water stuff! Kailyn flew down the super slide like a maniac. It is a 400 foot slide that ends up in the lake. She just kept going again and again. Javin did some fishing (with only one bite)and played a bunch on the water trampoline and super slide. I ventured out and tried the zip line this year. I didn't mind the crawl up the tree. Jumping off was the hardest part. Then zooming over the lake was cool. That's me way up on the platform. Squint real hard and you might see me!

Skyview is such a fun camp. Kevin would have loved playing here all day!

So Long Status Quo

Have you ever had a song stop you in your tracks and speak directly to you? Everytime I hear the song "Brave" by Nichole Nordeman I feel it in my heart. That song speaks right to me. Challenging me where I am and how I am living. So here's your challenge. Listen to the song "Brave" if you can and read the lyrics below. Don't let fear tie you down, be brave and just let go. God believes in you. Go for it.

Brave

by Nichole Nordeman

The gate is wide

The road is paved in moderation

The crowd is kind and quick to pull you in

Welcome to the middle ground

You're safe and sound and

Until now it's where I've been'

Cause it's been fear that ties me down to everything

But it's been love, Your love, that cuts the strings

So long status quo

I think I just let go

You make me want to be brave

The way it always was

Is no longer good enough

You make me want to be brave

Brave, brave

I am small

And I speak when I'm spoken to

But I am willing to risk it all

I say Your name

Just Your name and I'm ready to jump

Even ready to fall...

Why did I take this vow of compromise?

Why did I try to keep it all inside?

I've never known a fire that didn't begin with a flame

Every storm will start with just a drop of rain

But if you believe in me

That changes everything

Big Smiles

Kailyn, my child who is full of joy and spunk, adds such drama to life. Today she called me to come in the house because she needed me. I opened the door and found that she had pulled a whole basketful of stuff onto the floor. The first thing she said was "Mommy, it's okay." As if she needed to reassure me that it wasn't a catastrophe, she was just looking for something. She's right, I need to repeat that to myself over and over the next time a glass is broken, or my latte gets spilled, or all the puzzled are dumped on a heap. (These things have actually occurred at my house in the past week or so.) It's not a big deal, just accidents, just kids being kids. Relax, Angie, and enjoy your kids.

A Big Day for Javin

Such excitement at our house today!! Today was Javin's first day of 1st grade. He was so excited he couldn't get to sleeplast night, so he woke up a bit sleepy this morning. But he was off to the bus without a hitch. Kailyn pouted the whole way back to the house. She was so sad her brother went to school. She can't wait until she is big enough to go. Only 2 more years, now that is a scary thought for mom! She got lots of one-on-one time with me today so she was happy. Javin came home with a good report. He enjoyed his day and even earned a special reward sticker for raising his hand in class.


After all of that, he had to get ready for his Tae Kwon Do testing. This was his first time testing to get his next level belt (yellow). We weren't sure what to expect. So everyone did the lower level kicks together. Then white belts (beginners) were asked a few questions. Then he could sit out and watch the other levels complete their testing. He did well I thought, but we will find out next week if he passed it or not.

We headed to Java Jo's for coffee to celebrate and the lady behind the ice cream counter gave him a free scoop of ice cream. So I think he had a pretty good day. We will leave out the melt down at bedtime and chalk that one up to the extra stimulating day.

New Hair Day

Before:
After:

Yesterday Javin went "under the knife" or clippers I should say. He has been very serious about his long hair for the last while. But today he saw a picture of a boy with spiked hair and decided he wanted to do that with his hair. I was quite amazed that he went for such a drastic change on a whim. So now he is Javin, the Spike, Peck and ready for school. Mom got spike lessons from the hair dresser so we are all set for one cool dude headed off to first grade next week.

Geauga Lake Madness

Javin and I decided to try out Geauga Lake for something different this year. We have been going to Cedar Point, which is awesome, for the past few years. Geauga Lake was not busy at all which was great for us. We practically walked on to all of the rides. Waiting in long lines the whole day is such a drag. So we had it made with no waiting! With one exceptation - a new tube water ride, Liquid Lightning. It was an awesome ride in a 4 man tube that had a 60 foot vertical drop with speeds up to 24 mph. Quite fast for a just sitting in a tube with no seat belts on!! Javin rode every ride he could. He did all the rollercoasters and upside down, spinning things possible. There was only 2 rides that he was not tall enough to do. Sometimes he was the only person on a ride. I skipped out on the spinning rides and by the end of the day on the upside down ones too. But I went on most them with him. The water park was filled with cool slides and other fun water things.

Geauga Lake is definitely not up to Cedar Point caliber but, it was cheaper and had an amusement park and a water park all in one. Javin loved it. Ahh the fun times of summer!

Big Time Scrapbooking Plans

I am so exited at the great response I have had to the fall overnight scrapbooking workshop I am planning. This year a fellow consultant from Wooster, Janet, and I are planning our own overnighter apart from the rest of our group. In the past I have been a part of an overnight workshop at Zinck's Inn with around 7 other consultants. We pack the place out with up to 90 people. So this fall Janet and I are branching out on our own at the Amish Door Inn. Our previous overnighters were held from Saturday afternoon until Sunday afternoon, however we are changing the times to Friday night to Saturday night. It seems to be a big hit with my customers since I have a whopping 26 attendees so far!! In previous years I have had up to 10 people. What fun! We are going to have such a great time scrapbooking until we drop. I have been working hard getting all the arrangements set up and figuring out how things are going to work at our new location. It's been fun. Now my big project is to get my pictures printed and organized so I am ready to crank out the pages. So that's what I have been up to lately.

Beating the heat

This heat has been quite something! We have been holeing up indoors in the air conditioning or playing in the water outdoors. We had a fun day at Baylor Beach on one such hot, hot day. The kids played and played with all the fun things that they have to do there. There were slides all around the water, Kailyn could do all but the one in the deep end. Javin liked the challenge of log roll. It got the best of him several times. He came home with several bruises and cuts. The high diving board is always a favorite for Javin so, he got in a few jumps. The water was dark and green. So dark that you couldn't see your legs in the water. Weird! It was a fun day just the kids and I to be together. Javin and Kailyn played together nicely.

At home we set up Javin's Slip-n-Slide at the bottom of the play set slide and added water to the mix and "Presto" - Water Slide fun at home! It was a fast ride down then a hard bump onto the ground and then a slide into the grass to stop. They had several friends over to share in the water slide fun this summer. Thanks to the Wengerd's for the idea.

Another day was spent at Coshocton Water Park cooling off in the water and racing down the slides. This was our 2nd time out there this year and a much warmer one than before. Javin found a buddy from school to go down the slides with over and over again. Kailyn was all over the water play gym. She said her favorite thing was swimming underwater although I don't think she did much swimming underwater. She does put her head under though. We brought some friends along on this trip and I got to take the boys on the tube slide a few times. Javin and I also took our turns on the body slide.

Here's to keeping cool in August!!

Our Vacation Adventures - Part 3

We did so many fun things on our vacation!

Our first day was out on the boat tubing, swimming and picnicking on an island. Javin and Cody loved to be out on the tube. Kailyn enjoyed her turn as well. The weather was warm so Kailyn went swimming in the lake too. Their dog, Milo, went for a dip in the water too!

One day we went on a small hike to Little Wilson Falls, which turned out to be 3 miles round trip. It was a tough one for Kailyn. There were a lot of tree roots that made for some challenging footwork.




The hike was along the Appalachian Trail to a water fall.



Javin couldn't wait to go out on the kayak. Uncle Darin taught him how to row and steer it.




Another day was spent at the River Festival watching the parade, playing the kiddie games, and face painting. Pampaw bought a $2 ticket for the rubber ducky race. Weren't we surprised when we got a call later that day his duck won the race!


Javin and Kailyn loved to play with Milo and Sadie, the dogs. Sadie licked and licked us. Oreo, the cat, was in hiding most of the time.

The boys had a competitive game of Foosball going on in the basement among all the other games we played. Just for the record, I beat one round of Speed Scrabble against Darin, but alas he beat 2 rounds to come out on top in the end.


One night the kids were playing on the playground at school and we all got on the slide and Cody held us all up. It was hilarious!

It was such an enjoyable time to get away and reconnect with family. We hated to go home. Javin has big plans to go back next month. After an 18 hour trip home, I doubt that will be happening so soon.