A Camping He Will Go

I sent Justin off to pre-teen camp on Monday. This is his second year to go, remember last year? I don't think Justin was as excited to go this year as he was last year. He had two buddies that were supposed to be going with him, but they had so many kids sign-up that they ran out of room and had no more spots left. I hope next year they figure out another solution so that kids don't get left out.

I on the other hand was super excited for him to go. The camp offers so many fun things to do that he wouldn't normally get to do, and it gives him the chance to learn some responsibility for himself. I discovered that last year he only took 2 showers the whole week he was there... gross! I had a nice little talk with him about that and I'm hoping some of it stuck in his head and he takes more showers this year.





We got a call from him the very first night at 11:00. Thankfully, we were still awake. I could tell in his voice he was a little upset, but when we would ask him if everything was alright, he would tell us everything was fine. Justin has been having some issues lately at night, he actually has always had issues at night. Justin is a bit of a scardy cat, only at night though. He goes through phases of being so scared he keeps himself up all hours of the night to phases of not seeming to care at all, falling asleep not long after his head hits the pillow. I talked to the children's minister the next day and she said that he was fine, running around just as busy as he could be. Thankfully we did not receive any phone calls last night, I'm taking that as a good sign.

I can't wait for him to come home and tell me all about it! I want to hear about everything he did and about all the new friends he made. I want to hear about what food he ate and what they had that he didn't like. I want to know what he chose to spend his money on and what his favorite thing he did this week. I'm so glad we were able to send him to camp. I honestly think I get more excited about the thought of sending my kids off to camp than they do, for so many reasons. One, sending them off gives me a much needed break. Two, it gives them a chance to have some fun, make some memories and learn responsibility for themselves. And three, well, I can't stress enough the break I get! Yippee!!

My Young Entrepreneur's

My boys and all the neighbor boys are all about making money lately. They have started up their own business together.

Want a tattoo? Need your bike painted, washed or fixed? Well, they can help you with all of those needs. They are open for business Monday through Friday 11:00 - 3:30.



You might leave with a misspelled tattoo, or your bike half painted or missing some nuts or bolts, but they are cheap! And they even want you to tell your friends about their place. Man, do they know how to advertise or what? :)

Fourth of July

Playin in the Rain

After a week long of rain, I finally let the kids play in the rain while their cousin, Brooklyn, was spending the night. The kids had a blast while they got soaked and wet. There is nothing more fun than a good splash and soak.

No More Curls

Here is, Justin, 8 years ago before he got his very first haircut at 2 years old. His curls back then were so pretty and I didn't want to cut them off, but it drove Jeremy nuts that people would tell us how pretty our little girl was, even though he was wearing a red t-shirt with overalls.

Here he is after his first haircut. He was so tired, it was his nap time. He looks a little out of it :)

Here is Justin 8 1/2 years later. He has had longer hair now for almost 2 years. I love his curls and longer hair, but of course Jeremy can't stand it. Jeremy has been trying to talk Justin into cutting his hair off since the day he started growing it out, he even tricked Justin a little over a year ago into letting him "trim" his hair and he used kitchen scissors to chop all of his curls off. Can we say impulsive?!

I finally agreed with Jeremy to cut his hair off since he is about to go off to camp and it will be so much easier for him to take care of while he is gone. Also, Justin told us that he only takes two showers the whole week he is at camp! Gross! Can you imagine what that mop on his head would look like with only two showers?!


Here he is, with his new cut. Don't you just love that irritated smile? He wasn't very happy about taking his picture again. He reminds me more and more of his daddy everyday.


I love Justin's new sharp do, but don't you dare tell him he looks handsome, because he doesn't like that word. So if you see him, tell him he looks sharp, or cool or whatever, just don't tell him he's handsome. :)

Lazy Summer Days

We have had some lazy days here lately, not because it's too hot to go outside, but because the weather has been so rainy and yucky outside. We have spent a lot of time playing some Wii Mario Cart, and I just have to say I rock at that game. Ashlyn has been getting in some good practice too, she can actually win first place if she is playing by herself.


It has rained almost every day this week, thank goodness because we needed it. I love watching the rain from my front porch


We found a bird's nest with eggs in it in one of my hanging baskets. I got it down to set in the rain and there they were.


It looks like we will be having some new baby birds sometime soon. Not sure what I think about that. Sounds fun, but also sounds like a pain, not looking forward to a dodging mama bird when I water the baskets.

So glad we have gotten a break from the heat, and thankful for all the rain. Now if it would just go away for a little while so we can enjoy some good 'ol fireworks for the 4th this weekend!

Poor Lobes

You see these precious earrings? They were the second new pair we put in Ashlyn's ears since we waited a full 7 weeks to take out her ear piercing earrings. They were her favorite new pair we have bought since she got her ears pierced. She couldn't wait to put them in.


This is what those precious earrings did to her precious ears! She had them in for a couple of days and when we went to take them out to put different ones in, this is what I found.

We had to take her earrings out to try and heal them up, and this is what her ears look like 4 days later. We tried to put her earrings back in but they are all scabbed over and we couldn't put an earring through the scab without it bleeding.


We just sent our kids off to their cousins house for a few days and I'm hoping when she gets back they look even better. But I'm afraid she will have to have her ears pierced all over again, and I'm not sure Ashlyn will go for that. I'm so bummed we made it 7 weeks with no issues at all with her ears and the minute we put new earrings in it practically erased those 7 weeks of waiting.