Summer fun!

Scott taught the kids how to play one of his favorite games, Quoridor.  They love it.

I'm not much for these strategy games, but it's fun to watch them play.

We have been swimming a few times this summer.  The kids picked up right where they left of last year.  I was surprised at how much Brooke liked her first swim.

Man Time

There was a project to be done, and it was for the guys. 

The first thing they had to do was go to Bluestem of course.  Luke needed safety glasses, and he picked up a bag of popcorn while he was there.

Next they had to pick out the wood they were going to use.  Good thing we've been tearing a bunch of woodworking projects from the previous owner out of the back yard.  We have a lot of wood to choose from.

Luke was so excited to cut the wood, but it wasn't as fun as he thought.  

This is what Luke had in mind for cutting the wood.

Father and son being very precise.

And us girls were inside getting pretty and painting our toenails. 

Summertime!!

 We started the summer off with VBS!

 The kids had such a good time.  And the adults did too!

 Luke is really into crafts now.

 Action shot.

We hadn't taken a picture of 3 kids in a tub in a while. 

Upcoming summer events include: riding in the combine, lots and lots of swimming, reading, playing outside, building a deck, killing our grass and planting real grass, and maybe some landscaping.  Scott and Luke are going to do a father son project together and build a wooden box to keep the outside toys picked up. And the highlight of the summer is taking a trip to New Mexico to visit our friends the Lees! 

Scott started taking summer classes.  He is taking 9 hours!  He added 3 more hours because it's been surprisingly easy for him.  I want to brag a little bit about my genius husband.  He took a statistics test yesterday and never opened the book.  He said the test was, "A piece of cake."  I think maybe he could have taught the class!  The classes will probably get harder and he might have to do some studying later, but it's so encouraging that it's so easy so far! 

Summer classes have worked out better than we thought because Scott is gone during the normal school hours like we're used to. We have him all to ourselves in the evenings.  One of his classes is a 2 week workshop, and they are providing his lunch.  That is awesome for me since I don't have to pack him a lunch.  And they also gave him an ipad that he can probably keep.  So far the doctorate degree has required minimal sacrifice and we're glad we made the decision to do it!  The main punch in the gut is the amount of gas it takes to drive to Manhattan every day!  UGH.  But he will be able to take online classes during the school year, so it is good to get the driving classes out of the way.  He really doen't mind the drive that much because he has a lot of time to work on his bible memorization, or listen to music or other things he enjoys. 
The class he added is in July and will be in the afternoon while we are all taking a nap! So he will get to eat lunch with us, go to his class, and be home for dinner! I think it's good to take a big load of summer classes because it's easier to stay on the schedule we're used to. He can't really get a part time job for a month, and teachers get a little bored if they don't have anything to do in the summer!  

Strawberries

Strawberries are the favorite fruit of the whole family.  Luke woke up this morning, went right to the fridge, pulled out the carton of strawberries, sat down at the table and went to work.  I took a picture and then went to get a plate to give him just a few.  As I was doing that I got distracted and forgot all about him.  When I finally remembered and came back there were only 2 left.  Ooops!

Rachelle's Wedding

I'm a little late in getting this posted, but I finally had some time to sit down and upload the pictures.  Rachelle got married last weekend and we had a great time seeing so many family and friends.

 Brooke and Addison were both flower girls.  Addison has the flower girl job down.  She takes it very seriously and knows exactly what to do.  Dumping the rose petals out kept Brooke happy.  She did a great job with all the pictures and waiting, and the rose petals were a big help.

We all had a part in the wedding.  The kids kind of stole the show when Luke came down the aisle pedaling a John Deere tractor pulling a wagon which Brooke rode in.  The funniest thing was that a few people waved at them, and Brooke waved back!!!

 Here's my handsome little man trying to avoid a picture.  This little guy was all about pedaling that tractor.  After the rehearsal he passed up going through the dinner line because he was doing laps on the tractor.  If you know how much this boy likes to eat that is a big statement! Later he was giving rides to other little kids that were there.  I found out later that he was charging the parents of the kids for the rides!  Little stinker!  He had a few pennies, nickels, and dimes when we got home.  It opened up a good opportunity to talk about money.  He learned about working for money to give, save, and spend. 

Addison did a great job helping with Brooke.  She kepts filling her basket up with petals so Brooke could dump them out again.  The dress Addison is wearing is made from scratch by my mom.  It was AMAZING!  Addy wore it all day and wanted to wear it to church the next day.

When the wedding was over Addy observed that people get married the day before church.  Scott told her that people usually get married on a Saturday and she said, "So they can worship God right after they get married!"