Austin's Time At Camp

Austin spent Wednesday through Friday last week at camp. He has been looking forward to this for some already. The campers were able to choose a cabin mate that they would like to be with. Austin and Shannon, his cousin, signed up together.

Once we got there and got signed in, we found his cabin. It located near the dining area, near the tether ball, near the climbing wall, and near the ga-ga court--really it was in the middle of everything, very convenient for the boys. We went in the cabin, he chose his bunk and we set up his sleeping bag.

Then he was off to play!

Somehow, Carol got them to stop long enough for a picture!

I did not sleep the best while Austin was at camp. I would wake up and wonder if he was cold (there were some cold nights! One night it got to 48 degrees-brrrrrr)

Friday came, and Carol and I rode together to get our boys. There was a program, so we met them were the program was going to be. When his cabin walked in, this is the Austin I saw-

He matured quite a bit over the few at camp! They had a "carnival" Friday morning. Face painting was one of the activities. Almost everyone had a beard-even some girls!

At the program they sang some of the songs they had been singing while at camp. There were several that I remember singing at camp as a child. Austin thought that was amazing that I knew some of the songs, and they sang them "back then."

One of the first things I noticed about Austin, was that he was wearing the same clothes I had taken him in on Wednesday. He did not change clothes while there. He could not find the bags of clothes that I packed for him. I had gone as far as to pack a gallon size Ziploc bag with clean clothes, socks, and underwear for each day, plus an extra--just in case. Oh well, we had clean clothes for this week!

Austin told me, one day they hiked, and had a picnic lunch--I'm not sure where they hiked to or what the bathroom was exactly like there. Austin needed to use the bathroom. When he got there he asked his friend what was on the seat. His friend said he thought it was a rope. Nope--It was a SNAKE! I think Austin handled that better than I would have!

We then went back to the cabin to gather their things. Carol got a picture of the boys and their counselors.

Both Counselors were named Mike. However, the one on the left had the nickname of Biscuit. I guess that made it easier to tell them apart, if nothing else.

Adam missed Austin! He would ask, "When is Austin coming home?"

He made him this card, probably before Austin even got to camp on Wednesday.

Austin had a great time! He is already talking about next year. He wants to do the 1/2 week again. He is afraid he will miss me if he does a full week. I know I would miss him!

Boy Milk Or Girl Milk

We are having a very hot, very dry summer. We have some pumpkins planted in our backyard. They seem to be doing well, but with the hot and the dry, I worry that they might not get watered enough. Last night as I was laying in bed, I thought, " I know! I'll take empty milk containers, fill them with water, and poke a hole in the bottom. Then place it by the pumpkin plants. That way they will continually get a little bit of water!

This morning, Adam and I decided we would do this. I told Adam to go out to the recycling bin and get some milk containers (gallon size). (Let me just say here that I do not always buy my milk at the same store. Some stores have different color lids than others) Adam came back into the house and held out a milk jug with a blue lid, and asked, "Did the milk that was in here come from a boy cow..." then he held out a jug with a pink lid, and continued, "...and the milk in here from a girl cow?" I chuckled and explained that all milk comes from girl cows.

He is a city boy--no question!

Adam's tooth

Adam's tooth has become more and more wiggly! Often as I would see him, I would ask, "How's the tooth coming?" (Austin has had 2 adult teeth come up behind the loose baby tooth. I like to avoid that if I can.)

We have recently been trying to shoot the tooth out with a Nerf gun. Somehow, that did not work for this tooth. The floss, no matter how tightly it was tied, would slip off. Adam would be there trying to shoot it out, and suddenly say, "I'm shy" I think he meant I'm nervous. But, still cute!

This morning, I was going to the kitchen and saw him on the couch. As I walked by I asked, "How's the tooth?" Then he wanted me to come and check it out. It was barely hanging on. I told him, "I bet we could get the tooth out without much trouble." Just as I said that, the tooth fell into his lip!


Now, we have to make sure that the tooth fairy has gone to the bank and didn't blow all her money on the July 4th celebrations!

July 4th

This year we celebrated July 4th on the 3rd. When the 4th falls on a Sunday, sometimes they do the festivities on the 3rd.

There were some activities that sounded like fun downtown, so we went to check it out.

They had a parade. "Uncle Sam" was handing out flags. Ironically, there were about 4 "Uncle Sam's" at the parade.


The one that tickled Austin and me the most was the one on roller blades. Somehow, I have NEVER thought of Uncle Sam roller blading!

After the parade we stopped at Jess' for some supper. They put us in the back room, which was probably a good idea--we had 7 children and 3 adults.

They had some rides. Austin wanted to do the climbing wall, but we agreed that the "cow wagon" ride was a better choice.

Karen was gracious enough to buy some cotton candy. When your are celebrating the 4th, there is nothing like fluffy sugar to top of the evening!!

We had some more time to waste until the fireworks, sooooo.....

Someone had a great idea to go to....

Kline's and get some ice cream.

Hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries, cotton candy, and ice cream. Sound healthy enough??

We walked around a bit until is was close to firework time. While we waited, Adam rested. It was WAY past his bedtime. He almost fell asleep!

We had a wonderful evening celebrating the 4th on the 3rd. What shall we do tonight?

My Favorite Phrase, For Today

I have decided that we are doing a whole house cleaning!! My kitchen is a disaster from re-doing the floor, and Austin just came home from camp-another mess. To add to all this, I just found out that my in-laws are coming for a visit next week. I am cleaning!!

This morning, I was working in Adam's room. When I would find something that he no longer uses, I would ask, "What do you want to do with this?" His response, my favorite phrase, "Give it to Grace!" and sometimes it is shortened to "Grace!"

As my boys grow out of things, I always pass them through Lana, my sister, to see if there is anything she wants for Grace, my niece, or any future child. My boys know that this is the process, so when they are done with something, it goes to Grace.

They have even gone as far as to say that about some boys items (like swimming trunks). I do offer them to Lana, but that is only in the case that a boy may follow Grace.

Lana, be warned!! I am in a cleaning mood, and my boys are being generous. I am working on bag #2 for today, already--and it's not even 9:00! :)

On Thing Leads To Another

A few months ago, Mom came over and was helping me do some cleaning. She pointed out some areas that seemed concerning about my refrigerator. My refrigerator does have some age on it. Several years ago, I called the company to ask them a question, and they said that it was already several years out of it life expectancy, at that point. I had been waiting for my fridge to die, and that just was not seeming to happen. I talked to Mike, and we decided to look into getting a new refrigerator.

We went on a date and the main focus was....Refrigerator shopping!! I thought that I had a pretty normal size refrigerator, however I soon discovered that out of the 3 places we went to, to look, we had a choice of 2. The 1 I did not like at all, the other I could clearly look over. I think it came to the bridge of my nose--not a top choice. Apparently, when our house was built, they put in fridges that were only slightly bigger than a dorm fridge (might be a slight exaggeration, but I was frustrated!!)

I found another place that sold appliances, and they said they could order one for us that would fit, I liked the layout, and it had all the factors that we wanted. I was happy.

Then I got to thinking. The guys are going to install this for us. I do not want to move the fridge in a year or so, to re-do the floor. (We have had a problem with our ice maker since we moved here 11 years ago. I don't want to move the fridge for fear that something may come undone and we would be back to the same problem!) So, again, I talked to Mike and we decided to take care of the flooring problem.

We went and picked out the new flooring.


Wednesday, Mike and Dad, (I helped a little) took up the old...


Then they started to put down the new...

I think I looks great. I am anxious to wash, and get rid of some of the sticky spots. Mike needs to do under the fridge today, then next week we can have the fridge delivered.

I wonder what else this could lead to.

One Year Ago Today....

....I started blogging!

At that time, I was enjoying reading my sister's blog, my friend, Davene's blog, and a few others that I had come across, along the way. I was not thinking of starting one for myself. It seemed that they had so many interesting things to write, what on earth would I write about??

Davene, had made several suggestions that I should start one. I would always think, "yeah, yeah..." Then when I decided to give it a try, I had to come up with a name. Lana got really excited about this. I remember her calling me, and having all sorts of names that she would run by me. I would nix them all. It would not be too long, and she was calling me with some new suggestions. Then I suggested something like, "The Joys Of My Boys." But then I thought better of that because I wasn't sure that all my posts would be about joys. That is when I came up with "Moments With My Boys." That can pretty much cover anything!

Now, I wondered, "What am I going to write about. Just because I have a blog set up, doesn't mean that interesting things are going to happen." I don't know anything overly interesting has happened over the past year, but I have found this to be a great way to document little moments of my boys lives. I had been journaling before, but would only write about once a month... if I remembered. I think a lot of little moments were lost while I was doing that. This way I document what is going on, and I do it more regularly. Often, I think, nobody will find this post interesting. But, it may be something that their future wives will enjoy one day.

So, one year, and 208 posts later, I am enjoying this process.