NEW READERS CRACK ME UP!!!

I am so glad that we get to experience the "new reader" period 3 more times! Bottle Rocket has consistently cracked us up over the last 2 years. It is exciting to see kids begin to understand what they see around them- things they had no clue existed prior to that moment! A great example is last summer when Bottle Rocket began reading the July 4th Fireworks on the Pier signs when we were at the beach. He read the signs to us so many times, it persuaded us to stay one additional day to watch the show!! Today he cracked us up again when he asked us (while we were on the highway!)......."Dad, where is Mary Land? Hehehehehehehehehe!!!!!! Oh that was a good laugh......kids always keep you on your toes!

FINALLY (FINISHED WITH CAMP!) FRIDAY!!

Whew! Today was the last day of summer camp for us! MacGyver and I teach a total of 5 academic camps at a local University and have done so for the last 8 years. It is a lot of fun, a lot of work and a great way to introduce young students to careers in the healthcare field. It is not the average camp with games and playing all day. In these campus camps, students learn a great deal of info about the camp subject, meet with college admissions officers, spend the week overnight in a dorm, explore the campus and visit various college departments throughout the week. And that is just in the evenings! Throughout the day in our camp we take field trips to local health facilities, visit the nursing and kinesiology departments on campus, tour student health services & "play" with all their cool medical equipment and have one-on-one interviews with healthcare professionals such as medical doctors, anesthesiologists, registered nurses, physical therapist and radiology technicians. We also learn CPR, medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, how to take blood pressure and how to assess a patient. The students also particiapte in a number of group activities to promote teamwork and communication skills. The TRU team (you might have seen some of their commercials on TV) visits us for health education as well. It is so much fun to work with the students and they all leave a lasting impression on me. They are typically interactive, eager to learn and well mannered. That being said, I am happy to have another year behind us, but I will also miss interacting with these fantastic students who often teach me just as much as they learn!

Here are a few shots I found on the camera this week. They are not all exactly recent, but close enough! Camp wore me out each week, more so than the kids ever do!!

DO FACTS MATTER IF THEY LISTENED AT LEAST?

Over the weekend, we visited my parents. During the visit, Macgyver decided that one of the cedar trees in their natural area needed to be cut down. It was a great idea...a way to help out and the two older boys had a blast! They helped cut the tree into 8 foot pieces once their dad had it chopped down (so cool to watch!). It was neat to see MacGyver and the boys out there working together. Man are they going to be a lot of help down the road! A big advantage of large families! I am also so grateful to have a husband that thrives on constantly teaching his kids and presenting them with new opportunities and experiences.

So we got home that evening and MacGyver shares a sweet story with me. While chopping wood with the boys, Bottle Rocket excitedly exclaims, "Hey! I am just like Abraham Lincoln!". His Grandfather and Macgyver were thinking "what?", but went along and listened as Bottle Rocket continued talking. He said, "I am cutting down the tree just like Honest Abe did!" He was so enthusiastic that it crushed his grandfather and dad to inform him he had the story mixed up! They took time to explain to him that who he was likely referring to was George Washington and he did in fact cut down a tree....just not a cedar tree! I give him points for at least knowing the names and stories (somewhat) around these figures. Pretty good for a 7 year old!

SATURDAY SACK OUT!!

We are not anti-television, but we really make efforts to limit the amount of TV our kids watch. We would prefer they play, read or go outside for some fresh air, etc.
So when they do watch TV, this is what happens!

FINALLY FRIDAY!!

Here it is.... the few pictures we have this week for Finally Friday!!

ADI

Here is what MacGyver has termed our ADI...otherwise known as Average Daily Intake from our garden lately! It has been blowing up and we are picking tons of veggies each day. We typically average about 6-10 cucumbers, 2-4 peppers, and 4-5 squash per day! Smoke Bomb's favorite saying when I come back in from the day's venture is "Holy Moly! You got all that today?" The tomatoes are just starting to turn so fresh salsa is right around the corner..yummy!

In truth, the whole thing is really quite humbling to both of us as we did not expect the garden to do so well, especially during an experimental year. So please, come over and pick it fresh off the vine or venture inside the refrigerator to see what we have. No need for store-bought cucumbers, green peppers, squash or tomoatoes.....we have them right here! We are happy to share!

HEHE....

It was one of those moments where you laugh when you really should not. One of those moments when you think you just might actually pee in your pants because you are laughing so hard. And of course it is always best when shared with someone else.....that makes you laugh even harder!

We were all sitting at the dinner table tonight having a fun time talking and carrying on. Smoke Bomb and Bottle Rocket had finished dinner and MacGyver and I were still eating. Smoke Bomb (who just happened to be sitting in a different seat - yes they have "favorite" chairs at the table!) pointed out the window and exclaimed, "The squirrels are playing on the swingset!!" So of course all three of the boys make their way to look out the backdoor window. No harm. We see the squirrels playing on there quite often. Suddenly Bottle Rocket exclaims excitedly, "Look Dad the squirrels are fighting with each other!"

Hehehehehehe.......Macgyver and I looked at each other and got SO tickled. Hand over my mouth to mask the laughter, I casually made my way to the window to observe the outdoor "brawl". Sure enough the squirrels were at battle, if you will. I must have made some silly faces while observing this because MacGyver kept trying to get my attention to walk away. Bottle Rocket kept talking about the squirrels fighting, and in a quick moment of reaction, I had to be truthful with him. What was my brain thinking? I blurted out to him that the squirrels were in fact not fighting, but making babies. His response was, "How do you know mom?" As if.......hehe. I straight-faced replied that I just knew- It is what you learn when you are the mom of 4 children yourself. And after that, they all got up to be excused and never asked another question! Whew.....I had opened a new can of worms and dodged it with a breeze! I am not holding my breath though. I am sure the boys will be asking about the backyard "birds and bees" before we know it!

FINALLY FRIDAY

It has been a fun week with July 4th parades, fireworks and celebrations. We have enjoyed a nice "down" week with pajama days, fun in the backyard and trips to the library. Bottle Rocket is so great about continuing to read over the summer. He really enjoys chapter books and found some neat new ones to read. This week Smoke Bomb admitted that he was "a little bit ready for Kindergarten"! Yeah! You see up to this point he has vehemently repeated to anyone that ask him...... "I am NOT ready for Kindergarten". At registration a few months back, he even told the lady giving us a tour that he was NOT coming here. So we are making strides...whew! MacGyver still remembers clinging to the seatbelt in his mom's car the first day of school! Sparkler got some new July 4th beaded necklaces and loves to wear them all the time! She finds them each morning and they stay on until she sleeps. I also found an adorable tutu for her at Target for $1....love great deals!. Fire Cracker has been busy making Sparkler crack up- the two of them play really well together. They are cute to watch!

So here is a twist to Finally Friday........Check out this super video MacGyver made of our recent visit to the mountains. What a fun way to keep track of the memories! Have a fantastic weekend and stay cool!

I RODE THE FERRIS WHEEL TWO TIMES!

The first time and the last time! period. never again. never. well maybe.

We took a road trip with my parents to a state mountain attraction this past weekend. It was an action packed day with loads of fun. The kids had a blast seeing new sites, seeing the mountains for the first time (half of them!) and making memories. The day ended with a trip on the ferris wheel with Bottle Rocket. Who knows what I was thinking? I mean really, I am sure they are bad enough on flat ground, what made me think the mountain scenery would make it more pleasureable? Boy that was one of the silliest things I have done in awhile!

When I got on the ride, I joked with the teenage "ride manager" about the ride not breaking down. AND HE JUST CHUCKLED!?! Wait let me off! But it was too late at that point as I was strapped in and he had his hand on the lever to make the ride go. It was a feeling similar to when I was 7 months pregant with an appendicitis and had to have surgery. There was nothing more I wanted than to jump off the bed when being rolled down the hallway to the OR. It was like my head and thoughts were screaming and there was nothing I could do.

So off we go and I am petrified. PETRIFIED! I could not even move my head....or hands which were locked onto the bar and sweating profusely.....or feet.......or anything. I was paralyzed. All I could do was scream. And then scream some more. And more. To make things worse, each time we went on the down side of the wheel I had a close up view of the pulley system that cranked that bad boy up. Why was there not a cover on it? I don't need to see that kind of thing. Being married to MacGyver, I know somewhat about how these things work........and how they can malfunction!

Bottle Rocket was beside me and thought it was funny to ask his dad, who was directly behind us and not so excited himself, to take his picture. ARE YOU INSANE? The only time I let go of the bar for the 15 minutes was to motion to him to turn around.....right now! I mean now and don't do it again! Don't you see the sign on the cart in front of us that says DO NOT ROCK THE CART? He just laughed. Finally I mustered up the courage to turn and look at him. I asked him if he was the least bit afraid. His reply was, "Nope, not at all!" So I just stared at him a little longer wondering how that could be? I felt suspended in time! And air! Polar opposite reactions. How can that be? Then it dawned on me in one of those lightbulb moments of life. Of course he is not afraid. He has blind faith. Period. He trusts with his whole heart. He lives each moment to the fullest. He takes on new adventures. He does not fear the 'what ifs' in life. He does not worry about what might happen. He believes in what is happening now. He has the faith of a grain of mustard seed. Wow, this was quite a reminder at 5200 feet above sea level. Sometimes we have to be given a gentle (or terrifying!) nudge to keep us on track. I don't ever plan to ride another ferris wheel, but if someone promised I would learn another thing or two on board, I just might consider hopping back on. Just not one in the mountains!

FINALLY FRIDAY - July 4th Edition

We went to the July 4th celebration parade in our town today. It was just that.....a small town parade.....a bit different that you would see in a big city. We have not been in a few years and I must say it was better than expected. For a small town, it was a long parade (over one and a half hours) but the kids loved each minute of it! We found a nice shady spot, street side, under a big tree and sat with some friends. Each of the kids had their own little chairs to sit it. The parade participants all threw out candy.....and necklaces.....and bracelets.....and popsicles.....and frisbees.....and other trinkets which was golden to all the little ones. I am fairly certain they each enjoyed the candy race more than the parade itself!