Year in Review-July 2017

Our whole family picked blueberries. It went fast with 5 picking. I made a couple of  batches of jam and froze the rest.

We did some hometown sightseeing. At the old Fort in Fort Wayne.

I'm not sure what treat this Starbucks was.

We went to a couple of Tincaps games. This was the first  Tincaps game that I went to-they used to be at another location and were called the Wizards. Ram and the Lambs had gone to the Tincaps on previous vacations to see my parents. This game was with a bunch of friends from church.

Another Tincaps game, this time CLHS students and alumni game.  I found out they sold wine slushies at this game.

This was the coldest Three River's Festival parade that I ever remember going to. It was the Lambs first 3 Rivers Parade and I don't know if they ever want to go again. We bundled up in all the blankets we could find in the car. We didn't expect that for July so had not dressed warm. It brought back a lot of childhood memories for me.

One day we walked downtown to some Three Rivers events.  

We took a free boat ride. It was neat to see the perspective of Fort Wayne from the river.

Lamb 1 told us that he went farther in rowing camp than we went on the boat ride. That was impressive after I saw how far we went.

All the Lambs participated in some summer track meets. It was not too hot for any of the meets. They didn't give ribbons, it was just a fun time. We met the CLHS cross country head coach which was good for Lamb 1's future.

We went to a program on bees at the library. 

I signed up the Lambs to do swim lessons at the city pool.  There was confusion about what level they were in  and after a few days of too difficult they moved them back a couple of levels and their new levels were too easy. The levels were very different than Idaho swim lessons at the city pool. It ended up being a waste of time, especially for Lamb 1. I'm not sure what we are going to do next year, but it won't be lessons at the city pool. The last day they were allowed to do whatever they wanted in the pool and that was the only day they liked.

We rode out bikes to DQ one day and then the Lambs wanted to go for a family bike ride every day after that.

We actually did go a couple of more times during the summer, figuring that DQ wasn't as bad for us if we got exercise getting it.

Our family played the game of LIFE. I had the white car. How come in the game I have 5 girls and no boys? My girls were expensive to educate!

We participated in a summer fitness program. One day they got their miles at an event where they rode their bikes through the woods.

None of the Lambs liked the fitness program and I basically just recorded all their normal summer activities. I don't think we will do it again, but I was glad we did it one year to see what it was about.

In our decluttering we played some games to make sure all the pieces were there. You can't tell from this picture, but Lamb 3 liked playing Cootie with me.

We went to a free end of summer party at a local park. The Lambs liked driving these cars. It makes me sad that the end of July is considered the end of summer.

Lamb 3 won a McDonalds Happy meal coupon at the end of summer party. The Lambs had never been to McDonalds for food, just apple slices or ice cream. Lamb 1 said it was unhealthy and asked if we could go without him. Lamb 2 loved it and wants to go again. Lamb 3 didn't finish half of it because he didn't like it. It was worth paying for Lamb 2's, getting Lamb 3's free, taking a picture, and telling them that we only go to McDonalds for food when it is free.

All the Lambs took a 3-D printing class at the library. After the class was completed they got a coupon to do some 3-D printing for free, normally it is a $1 an hour. Lamb 1 created a bunch of projects to print, but then he never decided what to print. He figured it's only a $1 an hour so he can do it another time. The other two Lambs had a good time printing their projects.

Lamb 2 made a small Star Wars mug and Lamb 3 made a sword.

We went to an end of summer party with free snow cones and a water balloon fight at the library. They were supposed to do this earlier in the summer but thunderstorms canceled it. The Lambs were glad for good weather this time. Lamb 1 didn't want to go, but Lamb 2 and 3 had a great time.

Photo credit: Effie Sharon
I met Rhonda in 2011 after being internet buddies for several years before that.  When we met we both lived in MN. We hadn't seen each other since then and we both moved and had several life changes. She attended our church one Sunday and stayed for a fundraiser lunch. I had lots of time to cuddle her baby before she returned home. It was a fast day together, but we talked fast to catch up! Now it is my turn to make a road trip to visit her.

Lamb 3's surprise

At the first track meets this year, Lamb 3 ran the 50m and did not participate in any more events. He was content to play with small toys he brought while his brothers ran many events.
The final track meet it is spread over two days and they do give ribbons for placing in the top finishers for each event. Lamb 3 said he would also run the 100m for this track meet.
Ram was not able to attend the whole second day with us and met us there later. Lamb 3 decided on the way to the meet that he would not only run the 100m, but he would also run the 200m to surprise Ram.
About halfway through the running events on day 2 of the track meet it started pouring rain. We all ran up to shelter in one of the buildings, waited about half an hour, and then finished the meet while it was sprinkling, but not pouring. My Lambs put on raincoats when it started pouring. The coach said we really needed to finish the track meet when it was scheduled, it would be impossible to reschedule both for all the families involved and the time we could get the track.
By this time Ram had joined us. When it came time for the 200m, I didn't think Lamb 3 was going to participate with the rain. He decided he was still going to run it. For each event they run, the parents fill out a sticker with their age, full name, and event and put it on the child's shirt. After each event they remove the stickers from the shirts and attach them to a sheet with the official time. Ram was surprised that Lamb 3 was going to run the 200m and thought we needed to fill out a sticker since he was doing another event.
At this point, Lamb 3 unzipped his rain coat and showed Ram that he already had a sticker on his shirt. He got such a big smile to be surprising Ram by running 3 events over 2 days.
With the rain, none of my Lambs ran real well on the second day of the track meet. They didn't finish getting ribbons ready to give out when we left. Any more ribbons will be mailed. But we think all three Lambs might have gotten a ribbon for the 200m because so few people were left to participate after the rain. We are hoping that if he gets a ribbon for the 200m, it will encourage Lamb 3 to try more events next year. Now we impatiently wait for the ribbons to come in the mail...

End of Year Events

Piano Recital for Lamb 1 and 2
Last Sunday School before summer break
Final Track Meet Day 1
Final Track Meet Day 2
Last Cub Scouts for Lamb 1 before summer break
Church Preschool Graduation
Last Confirmation Class for Ram to teach before confirmation
Lamb 1 finish math book
Lamb 3 finish first 1/2 of math book

When all these events are completed, then I will declare that summer vacation is officially here for our family! I will attempt to update this list as we complete more.

March activities

March 1: This week track practice began and Ram's parents visited for three days for Lamb 1's birthday.
March 8: This was a normal week with activities and homeschool until Lamb 3 got sick at the end of the week.
March 15: This week Lamb 2 and 3 were sick and Lamb 1 took his first standardized test. We had our minivan serviced for the first time since we bought it. One great benefit of buying a new car is free service for the first couple of years. Our youth group had "Stump the Pastor" night which Ram really enjoyed. We had library book club for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
March 22: This week the Lambs had their first track meet. It was cold and windy. Lamb 1 ran the 3000 2 seconds faster than last year's placing. We are encouraging him to get a few more seconds faster before the end of the season and do it in under 15 minutes. Lamb 3 was in his first track meet. Ram's parents visited for 3 days to celebrate Lamb 3's birthday early since it is on Maundy Thursday this year. Ram also got a few birthday gifts early because they won't be back to visit us until May. We had beautiful weather and one day we went to the "beach".
Lamb 1 finally had his birthday party. It ended up being 6 boys because one was sick and one recently had surgery. It was rainy weather and the boys made the best of it, but it was not what Lamb 1 had planned. I was glad it finally worked out to have his party.
March 29: This week we had our last boys club/girls club because one of the families is moving away. The boys came to our house. We had beautiful weather and they enjoyed a walk to the park and played outside the rest of the time. I hope to get together with this family again before they move away. And I hope we can find another family to replace this family and have boys club/girls club next school year.
The rest of the week is back to normal activities plus extra church services for Holy Week. We'll also fit in celebrating Lamb 3's birthday and Lamb 1's baptism anniversary with our family.
I did go over my grocery budget in March, but it didn't surprise me with all the visits from Ram's parents, birthday party and family birthday celebrations, grocery store sales, and serving food at church for several suppers and some Sunday mornings. I am going to try to make it up in April, but my average for the first three months has not gone over my total budget.
The Sunday School children processed in with palms on Palm Sunday. Our Sunday School has really grown since we moved here. It made me so happy when Pastor asked the children what Sunday it was and they all had no trouble answering that it was Palm Sunday. They also knew the words to a hymn that we practiced in Sunday School the past few weeks. They didn't sing as a group, but you could hear them singing joyously with their families.
April 5: This week will finally be back to complete regular schedule for activities and homeschool. I am hoping to fit in lots of school and spring cleaning and decluttering in the next couple of months before our summer vacation. I finally have dates and am so excited to plan a trip back "home" after not going since summer 2012. Hopefully I can blog in more detail and post pictures for the above activities after Holy Week. Have a blessed Holy Week.

Honoring Holy Week

The local schools have spring break this week. Some of our normal activities (Cub Scouts) were canceled for spring break. Some activities were added because of spring break (track meet because the field was available).

Since spring break was this week all regular activities are back to normal schedule next week. Track practice is scheduled for Maundy Thursday. Track meet is scheduled for Holy Saturday. The community churches are invited to participate in an Easter concert on Good Friday. (I won't even go into how wrong that is!) I've received e-mails for lots more activities that I immediately deleted because we were not going to them during Holy Week.

I realize this happens because schools can not move spring break based on Holy Week. This year seems extreme with events during Holy Week for us as compared to the past few years. I was also surprised by Holy Saturday events because Easter egg hunts are such a huge deal here and they are usually on Saturday.

Lamb 1 is disappointed, but we will not be attending a track meet on Holy Saturday. I remember as a child I was shocked that the neighbor kids weren't allowed to play outside on Good Friday because it was a beautiful day. My parents would have let me play outside then as long as I had plenty of time to get ready for church and be at church on time. But the Roman Catholic neighbors did not let their children play outside on Good Friday. That memory stuck with me for 35 years. I am hoping that by not attending events in the community during Holy Week that memory sticks with our Lambs too. I want them to see and participate in our family's priorities.