Abigail's 6th Birthday

This Friday we celebrated Abigail's 6th birthday. Abigail invited her 11 "best friends" and we had a wet and wild, slip and slide birthday. We had a water balloon fight, water games, and our own homemade slip and slide. The girls all had a great time. After the girls left, we went to Chuckie Cheese for Abigail's birthday dinner.

It is hard for me to believe that my youngest child is six tomorrow. She is such a joy to all of us. We love her hugs and kisses and listening to all her imaginary friend conversations. She loves to play games - especially Slap Jack and Old Maid. She also becomes amazingly "very hungry" when she realizes that I have gum in my purse. We love the words that she comes up with - did you know that there was a disciple named Jankey? That toilet paper around our house is called taper powels? That she wears a " soccer costume" rather than a soccer uniform? She has a zoo of animals at the end of her bed but Rosie Bear is still the favorite of all. We love you Abigail! Happy Birthday!

Do you think she was having fun???

Watch out!

Abigail and her dolphin cake.

Imagination

We are back in the swing of things here in Little Rock. We had a busy week getting settled into life after our vacation. We were glad to be back in our own beds and get all 8 loads of laundry completed. Tim's Uncle Paul and Aunt Ruth Ann stopped in for lunch on Monday afternoon. They had been visiting Paul's mom in Harrison, AR. We enjoyed catching up with them and visiting with their grandsons Christian and David. We jumped back into school this week with both feet. The girls are doing a great job being diligent and are motivated to finish their work quickly. They have set up a town "Mayberry" in our playroom which includes the dollhouse, Lincoln logs, play mobile, Lego's, Polly Pockets, doll furniture etc. They each have their own home and there is also a store, a church, and hotel . Rachel and Elizabeth have also opened their own "library" in their room. The library has very strict hours and Christian and David were even roped into being security guards. Cake and tea are also served in the library. As you can see, they have great imaginations and I am thankful for the time that they have together as sisters.

Too many pictures!

Thanks Gray-Gray & Granddaddy for a great trip!

We have just returned home from a wonderful family reunion at the YMCA camp in Estes Park, CO. It is hard to choose just a few pictures from such a fun week. The scenery is beautiful, the camp is fun, and time with family is great. Here are a few highlights of our trip!

Getting ready to blast our rockets!

Time with cousins is such fun!

The girls table in the cafeteria made meal time lots of fun.

These huge rocks made a great place to play!

Elizabeth and Rachel try their hand at archery.

Learning to survive in the wilderness.

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The gorgeous mountains seen from camp!

Beating the Heat

We took a break from school this week to participate in our church VBS. The girls had a great time making crafts, playing games, etc. We also enjoyed spending our afternoons with friends trying to stay cool. Our weather has been unbearably hot. It is a sweltering 80 degrees when I get up to walk at 6 am. I am happy to say that I reached my 500 mile mark on Nike+ this week. We were also blessed to receive our new roof this week. One of the many hail storms that we had this spring allowed us to cover this expense. Tim took the Jr. Highers on a canoe trip at the end of the week. He is busy getting everything in place for the kick off of a new school year. We are looking forward to a family reunion next week in cool Colorado.



Enjoying a new park in downtown Little Rock. It is nice to be wet in 102 degree heat!


















Elizabeth perfecting her back dive.



Abby loves to be thrown by Daddy.

Welcome Home Daddy!

Tim arrived home from his Ukraine trip early on Monday morning. He did not get a chance to sleep in as four little girls were very happy to see him. He is still recovering from jet lag and the exhaustion of the trip. We have had a busy week with school, the city swim meet, and youth activities. We are seeing lots of summer activities slow down as everyone is preparing for school to begin. It is hard to believe that another summer is almost done.

Staying Busy

More Swim Ribbons - I had to post this picture because if you will look closely you will see that in the 9-10 backstroke event this week, Rachel received 1st and Elizabeth 2nd. A little sisterly competition is good for everyone. Next week is the City Meet where all the neighborhood pools compete against each other. They get to swim in the pool at the University of Arkansas Little Rock. It is very long but lots of fun!
Here they are on the first day of school - eager and ready to learn. I should have taken a picture on the second day of school when Abigail said to me "oh Mom, not again." I take a picture like this every year and it is fun to look back and see how much they have grown.
The three older girls participated in a Basketball Camp this week. It was great fun and they even learned some things. The camp was from 4-6 each afternoon which works perfect while Daddy is away.

Getting Ready!

Tim left for his annual mission trip on Thursday afternoon. The planning for this trip usually begins in the Fall of each year and continues until they leave in July. Now the planning is done and they are off for an adventure. The mission trip is also the end of a planning stage in my life. I am no longer looking through catalogs deciding what curriculum to buy. All the decisions are made and it is time to get to work. We usually begin school while Tim is away since the weather becomes somewhat unbearable in July. We are starting with three of our subjects next week (Math, Writing, and History). I have spent much of this week gathering school supplies, making copies, printing assignments etc. I always have mixed feelings about getting back into the swing of things,on one hand I love the routine but I also miss the flexibility of summer. I will let you know how we do.


Here we are getting ready to make meals for the freezer. We ended up with 11 meals put away for those busy school days. My helpers started strong and slowly faded. I was having trouble finding jobs to keep everyone busy so I finally assigned Abigail and Rebekah the job of playing a few computer games. They were very happy with this and productivity increased immensely.
The girls are always excited to get their ribbons for the swim meet. This was a special week because Elizabeth took 1st and Rachel took 2nd for the backstroke in the 9-10 age division. They were only a few tenths of a second apart. Elizabeth was thrilled and Rachel was a great sport. They are having fun competing against each other.
Here we are getting ready to see the Kit Movie for Rebekah's Birthday. She invited three friends and we all had a good time.