Camping

We bought a tent this past spring and have planned to use it sometime this summer, but time was flying by and summertime was coming to an end quickly. So, the first weekend in August we decided to spend one night at a local lake. Hannah was away with Grandma Asher for a women's conference, so she wasn't able to camp with us, but she had a Great time with Grandma!

We arrived and Daniel set up the tent with a friend, while the kids and I went to go pay.

When we got back it was all ready. Nice! :)

The kids trying out there beds for the night. They were super excited!! It took them forever to get to sleep. ;)

We waited til about 7:00 pm before we went to the lake because it was a very hot, sticky day in the low hundreds. So, after the tent was up and we had organized things a bit the sun was setting and made some good opportunities for pictures. So, we had a bit of a photo session.

Abby

Abby's reflection

Some sand, feet, and water pictures. :)

The lake was just beautiful with the sun setting. We had fun with our "photo shoot." :)

The kids were very patient while we were having fun.

Here they are watching us from shore.

The kids asked almost immediately when they could go swimming, so we said they could get in for just a little bit in their clothes, then change into their pj's.

Joanna and I enjoying the water.

Isaac and Abby having a blast!

The sunset was just beautiful.

Abby

Here's a view of our campsite at night.

Keeping the mosquitoes at bay.

The calm evening lake.

Pictures of the next day coming soon. Just think lake. We were in it pretty much all day long!

Exercise.....

Gen asked me in a comment how my exercise was going, so I thought I would just post my answer. No "fantastic" results as of yet, but I'm trying to stay positive! I looked back at my calendar where I've been keeping track (since I don't remember such details very well). For the last 14 weeks straight I've exercised 5 times a week. By exercise I mean doing a 30-45 minute exercise video and sweating like crazy! (Not counting the Pilates I've been doing in the evenings for the last 4 weeks, too.)


I feel pretty good and I'm glad that I've kept with it, just disappointed in my lack of "results." At least what I consider results! :) I've only lost about 4 lbs. in the past 14 weeks. I'm happy for that, but was really hoping for more. :( The only thing that I've really noticed is that my wedding ring has gotten pretty loose and I'm gonna need to resize it soon.


So, I'm pretty much complaining here. :) Sorry! I've just got some frustration here!! Daniel and a couple of friends have said that they think I'm toning up, but it's just hard for me to see it on myself. A friend suggested I measure myself to see how many inches I lose, so I think that I might try that. What I've really been trying to do is not let myself get too down and just throw my hands in the air and quit. I will not be a quitter! So, I'm gonna keep truckin' and we'll see what happens. I've got 3 months left until we leave for Hawaii, so I'm not gonna stop now! :)


Thanks for "listening."

"Grandma's Creek"

The time at the creek was definitely a highlight of the weekend! Thus we have LOTS of pictures of our time there. Here's a little variety for you.

Here's some pictures of the creek without any people in them.

Just getting in. It's a little chilly at first!

Carrie, Hannah, Abby, and Isaac enjoying a little waterfall.

Mommy, Isaac, and Joanna

Hannah

Noodles are a fun toy in the creek, but you have to make sure they don't get away from you!

Mommy and Joanna sharing a noodle.

There are several little waterfalls around and the kids enjoyed trying to "ride" them like water slides. Here's Abby going for it.

Now Hannah's turn.

We also enjoyed putting our heads and backs under the stronger ones. Like a little water massage! :)

Isaac

My turn.

Now with a different camera setting. That one was pretty strong. I had to put my foot against a rock to keep myself there.

Richard also did a little fishing while we were swimming around.

Daniel found a crawdad and then we all decided to go crawfish hunting for bait. We caught quite a few. They can be fast little buggers!

Abigail checking out the finds.

Joanna did a fair bit of just sitting in the water and playing with the rocks around her.

Getting her toes wet.

Doing some exploring with Mommy.

Sitting with Mommy.

"I Love You!"

Our family all together in the creek. Fun times!!

If any of you are wanting to play around in "Grandma's Creek" too, just visit Koinania in Black, Missouri! ;)

"Those" People!

Well, I have become one of "those" people. You know, the ones who have a blog, but post so infrequently that it gets frustrating and annoying and you wonder if they're still alive? I have become one of "them"! :) I really do have good intentions of getting back into posting regularly and doing better, but it just doesn't seem to happen! So, here's just a little somethin' for ya!

We had a nice long weekend in Missouri. My cousin's family came down too, and it was really nice to catch up! We saw the horses get their hooves trimmed, spent an afternoon at Grandma's creek, went fishing, made s'mores, helped Grandpa clean up his garage, and had lots of fun!!

Here are a few pics of our adventures! I'll post some now and more a little later.


The kids watching the shoer.

Isaac watching intently.

The shoer busy at work. He was very nice and gave each of the kids an old horseshoe. They loved it!

Joanna and me petting Stretch.

Isaac's turn. He would have stayed there all day if we'd let him. :)

Joanna and Isaac talking to the horses.

The kids sitting on the gate.

It's hard to tell, but the kids are petting a tiny kitten. It was only a few days old!


Helping Grandpa in the garage.

They enjoyed operating the engine hoist.

Isaac being silly! He loves being a big helper boy to Grandpa!

Joanna finding treasures in the trash can.

So, Isaac feels a need to investigate, too.

Look at that dirty face!

So busy and serious.

Creek pictures to come next.....

Update

We are having some computer problems. It looks like we will need to get a new desktop computer. :( So, I can only use Daniel's laptop and most days he has it at work with him. Also, this summer has turned out to be quite busy. So, I really haven't had much computer time.

We finished school this past Friday, and now we're off for about a month. Yeah! The girls are doing really well, and I enjoy seeing them catch on and learn so many new ideas, concepts, etc!

We're heading out to visit my parents in Missouri next weekend. The kids are getting so excited, and so are we! :) Maybe pictures?? We'll see.

Now that school is done, I'm hoping to have a bit more "free" time (haha) to blog more.

Thanks for your patience!

I'm still here....

So, I know that I haven't posted in quite awhile. I have been very remiss. My apologies.

I have a myriad of excuses, but I will give you just a few. One is that the time of day that I would usually post is now when I do my exercise DVD. I have been sweating like crazy, no fantastic results of yet. (I do plan to post pics of me all fit, trimmed, and hot in the near future! ;)

Actually, I'm hoping by November because I recently found out that Daniel and I will be going on a trip to Hawaii, if we can get all the little details worked out. (These are some times I really appreciate homeschooling!) The business earned 2 all expenses paid trips to Hawaii and his parents generously gave them to Daniel and Brian. For anyone who knows me, that is one place I have always said that I would love to go!! So, I'm totally jazzed and now I'm working even harder to lose those last 25 pounds! (Which actually sounds impossible right now, since I feel as though I've been working on losing weight for the last 7 years! BUT I will never give up!!)

Also, we are still working on finishing up first grade. There are so many basic principles to learn at this stage. We've really tried to go a bit slow to let it all sink in. The girls are doing great! They seem to grasp new things well and file it all up in their brains somewhere. We're working on being done by July 4th.

I do also have some pics I want to upload on here, but just haven't gotten around to it yet. Nothing too exciting, just fun. We've been enjoying all the great weather for playing outside. I want to let them enjoy it as much as possible before we get some crazy hot Kansas weather.

Tomorrow evening we go to Kansas City to pick up my sister Rebecca to enjoy our Christmas gift from her. She is coming out for about 5 days and Daniel and I can do whatever we want while she spends lots of quality time with her nieces and nephew. :) We are planning on staying one night in a hotel and lots of hanging out and play time all together. We are really excited, especially the kids!!

So, signing off for now, but hopefully more to come sooner rather than later....

Tag Time!

I got tagged by Tulipgirl and thought that I would actually try to post something on my blog! :) So, here goes:


If you came to my house. . .

You would see:
My new (to me) couch and loveseats, a variety of pictures of my family, several Scripture prints, and I'm sure quite a few toys lying around!

We’d probably feed you:
Papa Murphy's Take-n-Bake pizzas. (If you know me, at least some type of pizza at some point!)

And offer you this to drink:
Water, soda, or juice. If we're feeling fun, maybe a Smirnoff. ;)

We’d undoubtedly ask if you’d read:
Hmmmm.... Maybe Lord of the Rings or Dr. Seuss?

We’d want to play this music for you:
Well, I mostly listen to the radio, so KLOVE. (I spend most of my time with friends talking, not listening to music! :)

We’d want to tell you the latest about:
What our kids are up to, homeschooling, or the family business

We’d probably suggest a game of:
Cranium or Canasta

We might/would definitely show off:
Our kids silly antics

We might get on the computer and show you:
Some of our favorite pictures, including our trip to England.

If it was a long enough visit, we might watch:
Depends on the person.....home videos, chick flick, action/adventure?


After reading my answers, my house actually sounds a bit boring. Believe me, it rarely is! Between spilled juice, sibling issues, homeschooling, house cleaning, bath time, outside time, etc, etc. boring would definitely not be the word for it. You've just got to experience us! ;)

What would a visit to your house be like?

So, I'm supposed to tag some other folks. Let's say:

Emily posted
Sara posted
Heather
Lesli
Gretchen