Busy summer...

Well, as  you can see, I have been majorly behind when it comes to blogging.  Having the kids home this summer was GREAT and we filled up every second with fun activities....soccer, swimming, triathlon, more swimming, picking blackberries, going to the lake, visiting with friends in StL, and more!  Who had time for blogging??

Now that the kids are in school, I am trying to get everything posted asap.  Then hopefully I won't get so behind...after all, we have school starting, the big birthdays coming up, and the before you know it we will hit the holidays!

Happy Reading!

Show-Me-State games

Well, it was the hottest time of the year, which means it must be time for the Show-Me-State games.  The competition was fierce!  Owen's team played hard and had some great plays.  Owen even got to play goalie and discovered how much he loved it.  He is quite the defender!  They didn't win a medal this year, but had a great time playing!  Brendan played on a competitive team, even though he hasn't really played in over a year.  He held his own and did lots of running on that huge outdoor field.  He played forward and was able to help make some great plays.  His team won a bronze medal!   Now both the boys each have a bronze medal (Owen got one last year)!  It was hot and sweaty but they boys enjoyed playing outdoor soccer (we..and by that I mean me.. are usually wimpy and stick with indoor soccer!).

Look at those cuties!!

The bronze medalists:-)

"Larry's Lake"

Brenda's brother Larry has a lake that he is nice enough to let us visit.  It is a beautiful retreat, complete with rustic cabin and port-a-potty:-)  The kids love the lake.  This year, they figured out the rope swing, with a little help from their older cousins.  The Wendling's were in full force: Aunt Kim, Lauren and Dayna, Aunt Lisa, Uncle Jeff, Shelby, and Sasha were able to also come up this year.  I really only took pics of the kids on the rope swing (oops!) but that was THE entertainment!

Fine Arts Camp

Brendan was selected to attend a special Fine Arts Camp sponsored by Columbia Public Schools this summer. Only 5 students from each elementary were selected and Brendan was one of them!  He LOVES art and was thrilled to be chosen.  He went from 8::45am-3:45pm every day for a week and learned more about art and music.  Every day he couldn't wait to tell us about his day.  On the last day, they had a program to show off all they learned.  Brendan got to play the bongo drums in a neat drum program, in which part of it he played blind-folded!  He also got to show of his art work and answer questions about it.  Here are some pictures....

Brendan and his Spanish-inspired "nateraleza" or "nature" box

Playing the Drums...even blind-folded!

A joint project that all the students participated in....the stain glass window will be hung in the district office.

Loving every minute of it!

Glasses

Well, you may or may not have noticed, but two of our children have recently gotten glasses!  Brendan got them a couple of weeks before school got out and Emma the last day of school!  We were starting to suspect Brendan and our theory was confirmed one Sunday morning when I realized he wasn't singing the hymns.  At our church, we have HUGE screens that show the words to the songs and such during the family friendly service.  Come to find out, he wasn't singing because he couldn't see the words.  ON. THAT. HUGE. SCREEN!  Sure enough, in less than a year since his last eye exam, he had progressed to needing glasses.  Here is a pic of Darran's mini-me:-)

Well, that isn't the end of the story.  See, while I suspected Brendan was having trouble, I had NO idea that Emma was having trouble!  At Brendan's exam, while we were waiting for our friend Dr. Jones to come into the room, the other three were messing around trying to read the letter chart.  Emma seemed to be struggling.  At first, I couldn't tell if she was just trying to get a little attention (What you say? A child with three other siblings, two of which were born at the same time, for some strange reason, seems to find ways such as this to attract my attention??  Poor things!  Donations for future therapy accepted!!)  Any-who, I decided we best make an appt. for her too just to be sure.  Sure enough!  Her eyes need as much correction as Brendan!  Well, I can't say I am too surprised...I got glasses in kindergarten.  Technically, she was a first grader, since school had been out for about 2 hours:-)  Guess she really is MY mini-mi!

Kids Track

The kids recently participated in a track club event.  It was so much fun!  We didn't know what to expect but were surprised at how much it was very much like a real track meet.  There was a 200 meter run, 400 meter run, 800 meter run, and 2 mile run.  They divided them up into age groups, as well as girls/boys.  They also had long jump for the girls and shot put for the boys (this rotates each meet).

We started with the warm-up....

How cute is that?

Then on to the events!!!

Claire doing the long jump

Actually long jump was not her favorite thing.  She jumped once and decided the sand felt "gross" and didn't want to do it again.  She isn't one to enjoy getting dirty:-)  Unfortunately, I didn't get any good pics of her running, which she enjoys much more.  She ran the 800 meters and got third place!

Owen learning the shot put

Owen got second place in the shot put!  It was a little tricky trying to figure out how to push the shot put instead of throwing it like a baseball.  Still he was able to throw it 8 ft 3 in.  The boys learned the shot put was an "eight pound ball" and couldn't stop giggling about that:-)  Owen also ran the 800 meters and got fourth place.

Emma prepping for a big jump!

Emma got first place in the long jump.  She figured out how to make that big leap and went a whopping 5 feet 9 inches!  She also ran the 400 meter run and got third place.  She had so much fun running that, that she wanted to do the 800 meters too.  Unfortunately she just tuckered out too much before she could finish...not hard to do in 90+ degree heat:-)

Brendan getting ready

Brendan did the shot put, the 200 meter run and the 800 meter run.  Running has always been a favorite thing of his.  He got fourth place in the 800 meter run and second place in the 200 meter sprint.  He also got fourth place in the shot put with a 12 ft 2 in final throw.  Competition is fierce in his age group, which has 10 year olds in it too!

We've been wanting to go back and compete again!  Unfortunately, they moved the meets from Wednesday to Friday nights because of a conflict on the field and it just hasn't worked out yet for us.  Hopefully it will soon!  I love that the kids want to be so active.  It is so good for them! 

Swimming FUN!

Well, school is out and that means lots of time at the pool!  After taking lessons since January, I finally feel less stressed hanging out at the pool alone with the kids.  The kids are ALL swimming independently, even Claire!  Darran and I actually sat at the side of the pool and watched the kids swim the other day.  We couldn't believe how far we have come...thinking back to those days when it definitely wasn't relaxing to take a trip to the pool.  Ahhh, not missing those days!

Here are some pics of my favorite little fishes:-)

Brendan has become quite the proficient swimmer.  He is looking forward to completely the kids triathlon again in July and has been practicing his lap swimming.  He routinely swims about 200 meters each time we go to the pool so he'll be ready to go!

Emma has become a strong swimmer.  She loves to dive down to do headstands and tricks under the water.  She also loves to jump off the diving board and go down the big slide.  She isn't afraid to swim underwater and tries hard to keep up with the boys!

Owen has such a natural athletic ability.  He makes swimming look so easy!  His upper body strength means he can swim pretty fast too!  He loves to dive down to retrieve toys, do flips from the diving board, and is hoping to complete his first triathlon in July with his bigger brother.

Claire has come so far this year!  A year ago, she was in the shallow end, hardly wanting to put her face in the water....now she is jumping from the diving board and swimming all the way to the edge with her face under.  And look at that smile...she has really come to enjoy the water and it is just evidence at the confident little girl she has become this year!