Phil

I love every other Wednesday.

Every other Wednesday afternoon, Grandma comes to our house for "Art With Grandma."

Joshua and Matthew look forward to this day so much!

I do too.  

After all these years of knowing her 

and spending time with her, 

I should no longer be amazed at her creativity. 

But I am.

Each and every time.

Last Wednesday, Grandma came over with one of the little boys' (and Carrie and William's) favorite books...

I was busy in the house when Grandma and GG came, so I didn't realize they were here.

The kids did though.

And this is where I found everyone when the house became too quiet.

Grandma was hoping for a rain-free day and a good place to read the story.

She was blessed with both!

Look at Charlie.

Even a dog enjoys a good book every now and then.

Everyone is waiting on their cue...

GG enjoys watching the kids listen to a story.

She enjoys watching the kids to anything.  

One pair of shoes goes...

 Clomp!  Clomp!

One pair of pants goes...

Wiggle!  Wiggle!

One shirt goes...

Shake!  Shake!

One pair of gloves goes...

Clap!  Clap!

One hat goes...

Nod!  Nod!

One pumpkin goes...

Boo!  Boo!

And one black dog goes...

Play with me!  Play with me!

Do you want the ball?

Do you?!

And what do you get when you put one pair of shoes, one pair of pants, one shirt, one pair of gloves, one hat, and one pumpkin together?

You get Phil (because he's filled with leaves),

the Scarecrow...

And here is Matthew with the finishing touches...

the extension cord that will make Phil's face light up!

William says that he really isn't a Scarecrow at all.

He's really a ScareJodi.

Just look at him!

You would jump too if you walked out of the house and had that in your peripheral vision!

And don't think that he couldn't 

be called a ScareWilliam too.

I've heard William jump and utter too 

as he leaves the house.

All kidding aside, when Phil is replaced in December with Christmas lights, 

I might cry a little bit.

He is a pretty cool Scarecrow.

Where has Carrie been this entire time?

Ah...working on her research paper.

Now for the finishing touch.

Would you like to go inside and see what that is?

Grandma thinks of everything!

Sorry Phil.

"No cupcakes for you!"

(Said with the Soup Nazi accent.)

Judy, sometimes events and days go by so quickly that I don't say how thankful I am that you are my kids' Grandma...and my Mother-in-Law (that sounds so cold...you truly have become a Mom to me).  Thank you for making memories with us and for loving us so much.  

God blessed me with you.

Enjoying Grandma and her creativity,

Staying Camping

Two weeks ago, we were going to go camping.

A trip that we had all looked forward to with much anticipation...southern Indiana...Lincoln State Park...Holiday World!

The last time we had gone to Holiday World, Josh was just a wee little thirteen-month-old.

(Oh!  What is the rule on the dashes in this word?!  I cannot remember!)

Josh was so excited about going!

The morning before we were to go, Thursday morning, Matthew crawled into William's bed.

Maybe I should have seen it coming.

On Thursday afternoon, I took a picture of us before we went into our homeschool group classes.

Maybe, just maybe, if I had looked at this picture sooner, I would have seen it coming.

At the beginning of class, this is what I saw.

But by the end of class, Matthew was in my lap, red-cheeked and blood shot-eyed.

We went to the doctor right after homeschool group.

Matthew had a fever and was given a breathing treatment.

The doctor sent us home with instructions to continue the breathing treatments.

Before we left, she said,
"Holiday World probably isn't a good idea."

I agreed.

It's scary enough to be at home in the middle of the night when Matthew has trouble breathing,
but in the camper in the middle of nowhere?

Paul and I agreed...not worth it.

Oh, but Josh's little disappointed face. 

The next day, the day we were to leave, the boys were outside riding bikes.

I thought, "Did we make the wrong call?"

And then came Saturday morning.

The weather report was sunshine, sunshine, and more sunshine!

The boys began their day with another bike ride.

Even my Travelocity Gnome
was questioning my decision-making skills.

(Sorry, he's so doggone cute that I just had to include his picture and his opinion.)

But it was after this bike ride, while making breakfast, that I noticed Josh's red cheeks and droopy eyes.

His eyes are notorious for telling on him when he is sick.

Fever...101.4 degrees.

The rest of the day was spent on his couch bed
resting and napping.

That evening, we decided to have a campfire to soothe some of the disappointment.

Grandpa, Grandma, and GG joined us to make
for a special evening.

Still smiling.

Campfires are special no matter where they are built.

Our neighbor, Alex, came over to hang out, ride bikes,
and eat with us.

Josh gave it a winning try.

He ate some supper.  He rode bikes.  He did some swinging.

But in the end, his favorite place to be was in his orange camping chair looking at his ToysRUs catalog.

He just wasn't "up to par."

Isn't this a beautiful thing?

I didn't fall to the flu like the littles did, but I know that I was pretty bleary-eyed from taking care of a couple of sickies.

And, as much as I love camping, I was very happy to drop into my own bed each evening...
rather than my camper bed.

Ohhh yeah.

You know what I mean.

Training in Progress.

See what I mean about his eyes?

Our barn light.

Someday I will tell you about how much I love our barn.

Because Paul built it all with his own two hands.

Charlie got about a half a hot dog and a couple marshmallows out of her camping trip.

My prayers were that I wouldn't have to clean up a mess in her crate the next morning.

Thankfully, my prayers were answered.

We didn't sing any campfire songs.

So, what did we do for entertainment?

We took turns riding William's Monkey Bike down the hill.

You will never see the video of Paul and me riding down.

Let me rephrase that.

You will never see the video of me riding down.

But for now, I will leave you with William's ride.

Enjoying campfires and healthy kids...and runs down the hill on the Monkey Bike,