10th Birthday Party - Revisited

For L's 10th birthday he wanted an Army party with a sleepover.  I realized that we usually go all out for his birthday, esp. compared to the others.  I was trying to figure out why and I think it is because he is very particular!  He knows exactly want he wants and rarely asks for much, so it really shows when it is birthday time. 

You have to look tough if you're a soldier! (Thanks Papa for the army gear)

We had an obstacle course:  climb up the slide and swing . . .

over the infant pool (hey, you use what you have!) . . .

drag the bag to the treehouse . . .

hook it on the pulley . . .

go up the treehouse and pull up the bag . . .

crawl through the tubes . . .

around the tree . . .

through the ropes . . .

and to the tetherball!

Even Nana and Aunt T dressed up for the party! (with 3 brothers, I'll have to get Baby Girl some camo!)

No cake for L - just Jello entrenched with Army men!

A campfire and smores to finish out the night!

4-H Dog Club Showmanship

Here is the video of J and Toby for the showmanship portion of judging.  This was the first year for both of them.  The obedience was more for Toby and J was judged on the showmanship.  They both did a great job and received 191 out of 200 for showmanship.  Notice, the rapid wagging of the tail when the judge approached! 

Fair - Revisited

Come to the Elkhart County-4-H-Fair!

On our first visit, we saw the Elephant Encounter,

dressed up as a bee-keeper,

 and watched J and Toby in the obedience judging for dog club.

Notice, we are the only ones with a Jack Russell terrier . . . do you know why no one else enters a Jack Russell terrier?

This is why!

On our second visit, we rode the ferris wheel - what a view on a beautiful day!

Took a break with a sno-cone,

went in the fun house,

watched the chicken flying contest (can you spot the chicken and the fair queen trying to catch it?),

and J and Toby competed in Showmanship for dog club. 

Day 212-218

I don't know about you, but this week was a rough one!  I found myself looking for something to take a picture of at the end of the day.  Needless to say, most of the pics are of things and not people.  Oh well, I guess some weeks are like that.  Here's hoping I am a little more on the ball next week!

Day 212, Sunday, August 1st

Yeah, Toby, this is about all I want to do to!  Maybe there is something to the saying "the dog days of summer"!

Day 213, Monday, August 2nd

Went to dinner with some high school friends - It was great to see everyone and to catch up!

Day 214, Tuesday, August 3rd

It took me all day to can these beans!  Between feeding kids, a teething 1 year old and the prep work - only one more batch to go!

Day 215, Wednesday, August 4th

My freebie with my B&B Organic fruit box this week! 

Day 216, Thursday, August 5th

I went to pick up our Math-U-See books for the upcoming school year. (See, I warned you there were some lame pics!).

Day 217, Friday, August 6th

Remember the kids triathalon M and L participated in?  M just rec'd his trophy for his 5th place finish!  (Apparently the times were not completely accurate after the race and it took some sorting out).

Day 218, Saturday, August 7th

Speaking of triathalons . . . here is my dear hubby completing his!  This one was nice and close so we were able to go and watch most of it.  He got first in his age group - way to go Babe!  I love L in the corner cheering him on!

Day 205-211

Wow!  What a week!  Summer is flying by and we have been so busy.  This project is helping me stop (at the end of the week at least) and enjoy some of the busier times!  Oh, yeah, and I was off a day last week, I think, so I tried to correct, but then I visited someone else's Project 365 and my numbers were way off - oh, well, I'll see where I end up at the end of the year! 

Day 205-Sunday, July 25th

Finally!  Baby Girl did not sleep much today.  Our church times are different for the summer, so she was falling asleep on the way home, but didn't stay asleep.  I thought she'd take a great afternoon nap then, but that didn't happen?!  When she was finally out for the night, it was a relief for all of us! 

Day 206-Monday, July 26th

Can you spot the boy?  This week seems to have been all about L from my pictures, maybe I was just trying to capture some of my boy before and after his birthday. 

Day 207-Tuesday, July 27th

Caught - reading!  The older two boys started the Harry Potter series this past week.  This is where I frequently find J.  And I frequently hear "just let me finish this page".

Day 208-Wednesday, July 28th

They both get excited when someone arrives!

Day 209-Thursday, July 29th

Happy Birthday L!  J had to show the dog again at the Elkhart County Fair, so I took the boys for the afternoon and hubby brought the dog at show time (sounded like a good idea at the time, but made for a very, very long day).  All L wanted to do for his day was ride the Ferris wheel (check!) . . .

and eat an elephant ear (check!) - he is so easy to please!  I hope you had a wonderful birthday 10 year old!

Day 210-Friday, July 30th

Time for a birthday party!  Can you guess what the theme was?  (Yes, the knife was real and carefully handed back to Papa after the photo-op).

Day 211-Saturday, July 31st

What a beautiful day!  We went to a cookout at hubby's aunt's house and spent some quality time with relatives.  Baby Girl loved playing with Grandpa's hat!

Happy Birthday 10 year old!

Happy Birthday L!  I can't believe you are double digits now! 

Hope you have a wonderful day!

L and his favorite pastime - reading!

Day 198-205

Day 198, Sunday, July 18th

Pool party at the Bollenbacher's!  Our wonderful hosts of a wonderful time!

Day 199, Monday, July 19th

It was beautiful . . . I don't think the picture does it justice!

Day 200, Tuesday, July 20th

Does anyone else use baking soda/water mix for a bee sting or is it just something I learned from my mom?  It was only a sweat bee and I am not sure if it really helps or was just psychological for M.

Day 201, Wednesday, July 21st

South Bend Silverhawks game with the family thanks to a vendor at hubby's work!  You gotta love free tickets and free food!  When we were talking about going, the boys were so excited - "free food - that means we can eat as much as we want too!"  We (Baby Girl) didn't make it through the whole game, but we came away with 2 baseballs!

Day 202, Thursday, July 22nd

We had some a friend and her two kiddos over for dinner and I took this picture for his Daddy who is in Afganistan - just what every soldier wants to see, his boy loving a baby doll!

Day 203, Friday, July 23rd

Four-wheeling/dirt-biking in the sweltering heat!  Getting dirty like boys like to do!

Day 204, Saturday, July 24th

Obedience judging for 4-H Dog Club at the fair.  J and Toby did great - Toby just needs a little more work sitting/standing still for 1-3 minutes.  And if you know our dog, that is a tall order!