Kittens

Over time we have "collected" a few outdoor cats...that's what happens when you live close to farms and have children that want to feed every creature that comes to our house! 

We have 2 outdoor cats that we have been feeding on a regular basis, "Kitty" and "Ralph".  Ralph was wild and untamed when it first came to our house, and after spending many hours working with the cat, it was finally tamed and it turned out to be a great outdoor pet. 

Turns out though, Ralph should have been named Ralphie!  April 23 she gave birth to 4 kittens, although after a few weeks only 3 survived.  They have provided the kids with countless hours of entertainment, and they each picked out their "own" kitten, with the understanding that we would not be able to keep them. 

The end is drawing near, and the kittens will be moving to a farm where they will have lots of barn to explore, and fields to hunt.  Dillan, Anna, Ella, and Eliza W. are counting down the days.

Faith and Lucy

Noah and Casper

Hope and Orange Fuzzible

Silver Beach - St. Joseph, Michigan

 

4 out of the 5 of us thouroughly enjoy summer at it's hottest! When the weather cooperates, that calls for a trip to the beach. The kids can be found burying each other in the sand, making sand castles, or wading out in the water. Mom likes it the best for the 4-5 hours of uninterrupted sun time! Silver Beach is our favorite beach to visit!

 

Clubhouse Awards

 Throughout the school year at church, on Wednesday nights, the girls were part of the Clubhouse program.  They each had a booklet they needed to work through, memorizing scripture and doing specific services or activities.  Your end of the year "award" was determined by how far you worked through the book and which levels you completed.  Both girls earned a silver medal for completing 4 out of 6 units.  Their group leader also handed out acheivement certificates that night...Faith received the "Good Participation" certificate, and Hope received the "Fun Loving" certificate. 

Hot Sunny Days - Sprinkler Style

What are we to do before the pool opens on those hot sunny days? Dig, dig, dig, until we find the sprinkler! 

The water may be a little cold, but it sure is fun.

Baseball

What a season this year was...after many rained out practices and games, the kids were finally able to get in about 3/4 of their scheduled games! 

Both Hope and Faith made improvements throughout the season, especially after we figured out Faith should be catching and batting right handed (it only took a few games and practices at home)!  Hope still felt more comfortable doing both left handed, so it was a little easier to tell which girl was which when they were out on the field or up to bat (Hope also had a blue batting helmet, and Faith had a red).  They both enjoyed their first season of playing at the Waky ball diamonds and are looking forward to next year!

After adjusting to being in the minor league this year, Noah enjoyed his season as well.  The biggest changes for him were the following:  2 hr. games, stealing bases (which he did well at but gave his Mom heart failure everytime he stole a base), subbing in and out of the game, umps making the calls, and it was no longer the coach pitching the ball to him.  Thankfully, he was only hit by one pitch, which he informed me did not hurt that much!  Great improvements were made by him as well.

BIGFOOT Comes to Wakarusa

We by no means are a "Monster Truck" loving family...but who could resist going for a glimpse of this truck when it was visiting a local business in Wakarusa?  The kids were excited to see it close up and be able to get their picture taken with the driver of the truck as well!

 

Field Day

 

 

 

Noah participated in some events this year on field day (the max he could); the sack race, the 50 yard dash, disc toss, obstacle course, and the softball throw.  Noah and Dawson did an awesome job, they received a ribbon for 3rd place in the sack race, and he also received a 3rd place ribbon for the disc toss!  The girls had fun watching the different events and hanging out with their friends.