When the big cats are away.....the little mice sure know how to play!!

Daddy and the 'big boys' are away at youth camp until Saturday. This is C's first year so there was a bit of melancholy going on around here in his absence. This is one of the most significant annual events in our parent/youth ministry so I am praying for the Lord to really minister to all 3 of my guys! We could pine away until they return home...but why do that when we can have fun with other friends who are 'left behind'?? Yesterday we had L's buddy M.Di over ...we went to a friend's to swim with lots of other kiddos and moms, then hit the crowded chikfila for free kidsmeals (and a bit of sensory overload!!)...we came home and had a mini birthday party for M.Di who will be turning 8 on Friday (his 3 older siblings and mom are away at youth camp). Today we hung out with the McB tribe... what a blast we had! Between their 4 (plus one baby) and my 4, there was lots of activity!! We had an impromptu field trip at a friend's family farm, ate a 'relaxing' lunch at McD's --free because of coupons Mrs. McB shared with us. One of the older employees was astonished that all of these kids could be ours...then he said,"It's not biologically possible"... I'm not sure if he was referring to all the pregnancies represented or the fact that 2 of our children have beautiful African skin? Just imagine what he would have said if ALL our kids were there...5 were missing! Next he asked if we needed a Mac Truck to 'haul all those kids around'...I assured him that a 15 passenger van does the trick :) After lunch we headed to the local Dunkin Donuts (after one of the little ones coyly downed a creamer for a snack before dessert!!). Once again Mrs. McB pulled a stash of coupons so each of the kids could choose one free donut...after the melee to choose and wolf down donuts, we headed to their house for a swim. A few minutes into the pool time,it began to rain lightly...we covered ourselves with the kids' towels (I had Odesco's Mr. Incredible towel hood on my head and G's princess towel covering my body--a sight to see!)...then the sky opened up and Mrs. McB ran to get umbrellas...she came scurrying down the stairs from her deck with the biggest beach umbrella I've ever seen! It was hysterical as we stood there in the rain while the kids swam, attempting to get this big momma umbrella open...Mrs. McB succeeded and the thing was big enough to keep all 8 kids dry--seriously!! After all this excitement we headed inside and attempted many conversations in between adjusting hearts and playing referee...overall the kids did great together. We stayed for dinner...PB and J sandwiches, watermelon, and leftover mac and cheese. Such a fun day!! Once we arrived home the kiddos got changed for bed and we watched a Feature Family film while I cut coupons (I can't just sit...need to multitask...sad, I know!) Finally, all the kiddos are in bed...

Happy 8th Birthday, M Di...the kids made this ice cream cake for the guest of honor (and let's face it...they were excited to have a reason to celebrate with cake!)

What fun it was to hold these sweet peeping chicks!

Odesco was the boldest....he really enjoyed this!

This chick was a bit older and a little challenging to get a grip on. Miss S was up for it though!

L was content to watch although he did get his hands on a few chicks momentarily~

Mercy is not quite sure about this farm stuff!

Meet Bella...a 2 week old Alpaca

Bella's mom for some reason would not allow her to nurse so Bella's owners have to hand feed her goat milk every 4 hours ...look at those eyes!

Everyone wanted to feed this little one!

These are the other alpacas who were not too interested in us!

What a crew :)!!

A parting gift...as we left, the owner of the farm gave us 2 dozen fresh eggs...look at all the different colors...each representing a different breed of chicken! He also gave us a huge bag of clothes his daughter had outgrown...the Lord does lavish good gifts!!

Having all this fun is downright exhausting :)! I'm off to bed myself and thanking God for fun friends and memories made . Thanks for checking in~

Milestones worthy of celebration!!

Children's children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.
Proverbs 17:6

Happy 57th anniversary Mom and Dad B!!

Mercy enjoying some time with Uncle Bill and Aunt Sharon :)

Fun with some of the B cousins!

On August 2nd, we trekked over the bridge to enjoy Uncle Jim and Aunt Sandy's hospitality for a celebration of Mom and Dad B's 57th wedding anniversary and Dad's 79th birthday... (yes,they were married on his birthday!) I am so grateful for the rich godly heritage I married into!!! Both Mom and Dad have had health challenges over this past year making this day of celebration all the more sweet!
Rejoicing in His goodness once again,

Think Snow!!!

I never did get around to posting pictures of our homeschool ski group this year. What better time than in the midst of a heat wave?? Enjoy...hope you are viewing these in the comfort of an air conditioned or well ventilated room and if not, maybe the thought and view of snow will cool you off! We had a great ski season...the 4 littles really improved so much in their control (especially Mercy!). One day we had the 'thrill' of being stuck up in the lift for about 15 minutes due to a mechanical glitch...I was with the girls and M was a few chairs behind us with the boys. We both had our cell phones...Daddy called to tell us about the sweet snack he had stashed in his coat pocket and was sharing with the boys and I made them jealous to hear about the hand warmers I was breaking out for the girls! It was probably the coldest day we skied but the ski patrol gave us coupons for a free hot drink once we finally got off the lift....it definitely took the edge off ! We are so grateful to be able to make these memories as a family. Because M is organizing the group now, we get to ski for a nominal cost...it's well worth the effort :)

Are we having fun yet?? These 3 were going to their first group ski lesson of the season....don't they look enthused?! Actually, their skiing and safety (!) improved so much due to these lessons. The kids finally realized that we were serious...'no lesson, no skiing'...and I think by the end, they actually enjoyed it!

Who is that masked(and goggled) young man??? Give up??

It's C...honestly sometimes my older kiddos ski right past me and I don't even recognize them due to all the layers of protective gear!!

oops...so much for self portraits?!

Odesco on the lift up the mountain. One day we tried a more challenging trail and he took a spill. Once we got his skis back on and he made it to the bottom of the mountain he declared,"I'm never doing that again! That freaked me out" Yep, he is definitely becoming more and more "Americanized'!!

G and C with Daddy~

What can I say?? This picture just makes me smile!!
Believe it or not, this little guy managed to ski a ' double black diamond' by the end of the season -with Daddy, of course !! He wants me to take a picture of him but there is no way I am even venturing near that one!!

L with his 2 buddies R and M...

Mercy and Daddy preparing for 'another run'

Miss Britt and Mercy...doesn't Mercy look so much younger with her short locs??

Ski helmet hair...what's a girl to do???

G actually was followed down the mountain by a ski patrol guy...he handed her a piece of paper and congratulated her for practicing her 's' turns and skiing under control. Then Daddy took her to the office and they gave her this official certificate. Way to go, G!!

G was able to ski with our sweet friends, the Y family for an afternoon:)

No surprise here...L found another friend who shares his love for sketching...one of the things I love about our homeschool group is how the older and younger kiddos mix so well :)

Getting warm and filling bellies in the lodge~

Too cute!!

Odesco was awaiting his turn to ski...here he is watching a video in the lodge with his adorable little friend, L

Sometimes getting the ski boots off is a workout in itself! I actually was not able to set Mercy's foot free and a friend who needed to visit the equipment shop brought Mercy with her...the guy had to do something special with the buckle to get it to release!

Play dough fun helped to keep these boys busy :)

Ingenious aren't they?? Playing jump rope with a scarf...now that's resourceful!

All this fun sure tuckers a fellow out! L's buddy, M was literally asleep in this awkward position. These guys get quite a workout!

See what I mean?! ZZZZZZ.....

Indiana...Part 2!

Once again, I'm way behind on posting but I wanted to get these pictures up...mostly for the benefit of the family archives since I'm sure most of 'our readers' have given up the hope of seeing a new post~For those of you who are still kind enough to check in, I hope it was worth the wait!!!

Here it is...I know not very impressive to look at but I loved not having to lug all my stuff to the campsite' showers. Well done, men!

Not too pretty but very functional!!

One day into our vacation, L tripped going up the stairs to the trailer and gashed his head open...there were lots of tears and blood :( We took a late night trip to Walmart and found this dandy bandage to hold the gauze and ointment on his head and to keep the blood off Mimi's linens!

One of the added benefits of that cool bandage is this unique hair style!

On the road to healing!! Thankfully, he did not have any infections and the wound is completely healed now...there's just a red scar on his scalp.

Many kayak trips were taken by all different combinations of B kiddos and Pop-Pop.

Flowers, for me??? The kids always bring me cattails and water lilies from their kayak adventures :)

Of course Mimi(aka 'Kayak Granny') had some fun too!

This was the day L hurt his head...we did not want him to swim due to the risk of infection so Mimi took him off on a conciliatory sunset cruise while the others enjoyed a swim~

The 'older' crowd took a ride into town to get the mail but I think their primary motivation was the promise of icecream once they reached their destination!..It was several miles round trip and they had quite the workout.

Shuffleboard anyone? Not sure what my hubby is doing in this picture?!

Beautiful sunsets....

...savored while the kids frolicked in the lake...we almost had the beach all to ourselves and because it doesn't get fully dark until nearly 10pm, they enjoyed several late night swims!

Lots of 'down time' for reading good books!...

...Or pretending to read good books!

Mercy is actually 'reading' my book. For all my homeschool buddies, this book is a must have. It is the best book I have ever read regarding the nitty gritty sanctification that occurs in our homeschools. It is a 'heart' book so be prepared to be convicted and yet filled with hope for change. There is also a devotional that goes along with it...I just received it yesterday and I can't wait to get started!! Here's the link for more information.

Time for some much needed rest!!

And time for pampering at Mimi's nail salon!

Mimi even applied cool decals...too bad this picture doesn't do it justice!

Of course there's always time for games with Pop-Pop~

And time for snuggling too! This is one of my favorites from our week there!

And of course, time for shopping!! We took our annual jaunt to Shipshewana, a huge outdoor flea market. We gave each of the kids a few bucks to spend...can you guess what the boys invested in? Weaponry, of course...the cool hats were last year's purchase!

The girlies bought these matching hats...and Mimi much to Pop-Pop's surprise and delight, bought nothing (he,he!)...

...Except for icecream for all of us...so yummy and refreshing on this hot day!!

One of the kids' favorite traditions is the making of breakfast cinnamon rolls over the fire!

Freshly bathed beauties taking a break after a day in the sun!

All this fun makes for LOADS of laundry--literally!!

What a man!! He even helps with the wash :)... and he helps back at home too!

The night before we left, the grandaughters of Pop-Pop's brother and sister in law visited with us... we always enjoy our time with them!

Goodbyes are so hard~ Especially early in the morning!!

One last snuggle before buckling in for the long journey home~

Do you think they are a bit tired out?? Mercy was the only one not snoozing!

This picture cracks me up....Odesco is out of sight because he is slumped over so far.

Thanks for stopping by...more posts are in the works, I promise :)!!