Pool Parties & Two Wheelers

Summer has begun.....with lots of excitement. We haven't made it to the beach yet, but the kids still seem to be having a fun start to the summer. Miranda had two pool parties last week, which she thoroughly enjoyed. The first was on Friday night and was the with the youth group at our church. Now that she is entering the 5th grade she can join the Youth Group. We are so thrilled and so is she. It was really great for her to be out with kids her age and older and to not have her little brother around. The party was for the kids and their families, but I left CJ home with Chris, so Miranda could have some time without him. She is excited because now she gets to go to Youth Group on Wednesday & Fridays. Wednesdays they have teaching and Fridays are the outings. They've got miniature golf coming up and another pool party next week. Then on Saturday, she had a pool party at one of her friends house. We actually dropped her off and didn't stay, a first for me. She had a good time there as well. And so starts the social life of a 5th grader. Yesterday we were at the park and the kids were riding bikes and I had that moment where I was like "CJ is 6 years old and he's never going to learn to ride a two wheeler" (his bike still had training wheels). It was such a random thought because I had never attempted to teach him, so I don't know where the thought came from. Anyway, Chris was at the park umpiring and had his work van there, which luckily had a wrench in it, so I decided to take the training wheels off CJ's bike. To my amazement (seriously) CJ rode it right away with no problem. I couldn't believe it. I was planning on holding him up, running along side him, breaking my back..lol, but nope I didn't need to do that. He had amazing balance and was fine. We just have to work on the turning a stopping a little more, but my son can now ride a two wheeler!!! Our friends came over yesterday and the kids had a nice water gun & water baloon fight outside. Somehow the parents managed to get wet too, not sure how that happened. Anyway, we had a nice night of dinner, smores, and cards. My friend's three children ended up sleeping over, so I was up at 7:00am this morning. They are actually doing really well though, a little loud this morning, but now they are all sitting and playing games. Not sure what's on the agenda for today, I know we are planning on going to the lake this week and fourth of July and also the beach and the movies. All of you in NJ know about this, but in the summer there are two movie theatres here that have free movies on Wed & Thurs mornings. They are children's movies, that usually the kids have seen before, but it is a nice free outing and the kids love it. Last week we saw Evan Almighty, we brought our own popcorn, candy, and water and we were all set. So when there is a good movie we make sure to go. I imagine they have this in other states as well...it's the Clearview Cinemas & AMC Theatres. It's worth a check. I'm all for free fun in the summer. Okay, well I'm off to get everyone dressed and clean and ready for the day!! Have a great day!!

SCHOOL'S OUT!!!!!!!!

It's official, school is out for the summer!!! Thank you, Jesus!!! CJ graduated Kindergarten and is now an official 1st grader. You can see the pictures of graduation at www.pixagogo.com/1726954109. He had a great day! Miranda is now officially a 5th grader. She will actually be switching classes now and have a different teacher for each subject. Also, we say goodbye to the plaid jumpers and hello to gray skirts (which she is very excited about). It was a tough year for me with my class, so I'm happy to have the summer to recooperate. I asked to be moved to an older classroom next year, so hopefully that will happen and it'll be a better year. Today was our first official day of summer vacation. The kids and I have a routine planned and so far it's started off great. We get up and read a devotional together, the kids each read a verse from the bible, and then we pray together. After that, they start their summer workbooks (1 page a day, plus reading) and I do my workout. Today it started off great. The kids are excited about it and seem to enjoy doing the workbook, it will definitely keep them on task this summer. There's a reward after they complete each series. The first series is 15 days and they decided for their reward they would like a Webkin. The next is 20 days, when they complete that we will go bowling & to a movie, then when they complete the last 15 days we will all take a family trip to Hershey Park. I'm hoping by the time this summer is over, we all will be in good shape spiritually and they will be in good shape academically, and I will be in good shape physically. I'm still at my same weight loss, but I really would like to lose some more and definitely tone up. The kids have a couple of weeks of vacation bible schools, we'll do some library trips, as well as beach & lake trips, so it should be a great summer. The one goal we are shooting for this summer is to get a car. Please keep that in your prayers when you think of us. I should be able to update the blog more now that school is over. Hope you all have a great summer. Love you!!