Camp Bee a Friend

Day Three ~ More Sickness

It seems like my accounts of our camp experience are not going well!  Momma's tummy was still feeling out of sorts on Wednesday, but she was pretty sure all she needed was some food to settle things down.  BUT poor Grace took up where momma left off.  :(  She was SOOOO sad when I told her that she was going to have to stay home for the day.  She kept saying, "But, I feel fine!"  Poor girl!

Daddy dropped Libby off at camp and then came back so we could enjoy some time with Grace and John.  Daddy asked if he needed to stay home again, but I told him I thought I could handle things on the home front.  When we picked up Libby from camp she had an award on her shirt.  I asked her how she won her award...she had no clue.  She immediately began to cry over silly little things, and had two break downs before we even left Albrecht Acres property.  Momma instincts told me she needed a nap!  Sure enough, she didn't even fight it, and I am pretty sure that she fell asleep halfway to her bedroom.  ;)  I only let her sleep for about 40 minutes for fear that she wouldn't want to sleep at night, alas all this having fun is wearing my little darling out!  She went to bed at 8:30 without a problem!

*Oh, and rest assured...by the time I get to day three of camp, we all got to go again.  :)

Camp Bee A Friend

Day Two ~ One Sick Momma

After a good night of sleep (for the girls that is) they actually woke themselves up at 7:00 this morning.  They rolled out of bed, and, well I guess rolling is the key word.  They were still dragging their feet a bit.  They still didn't really want to eat the yummy breakfast daddy made them.  The difference between the two days is that today, momma didn't want to eat daddy's yummy breakfast either!  She wasn't feeling so well! 

As forward as momma was to heading back to camp for round two, it just wasn't going to happen!  Thankfully, daddy stayed home from work and took care of the sick momma!  As for John...he was an angel!  He was such a good boy for his daddy.  By the time daddy came home with two girls today, one (Grace) was probably even grouchier than yesterday and just fell into her bed for a nap and the other (Libby) is already asking if she can go back next year.  Success!  We shall see how day three goes, now.  Hopefully, momma will be able to re-join her friends!

Camp Bee A Friend

Day One ~ Rough Start

We have a quaint little campground about 2 miles (if that) from our house called Albrecht Acres.  They deal solely with special needs individuals and make sure to have plenty of activities for them.  Two weeks of the year, they do a camp for typical learning children AND children on the spectrum.  It is a great way to make the typical learning children aware of their special friends and help them to know that different does NOT equal bad.

I wanted Libby and Grace to be able to attend this year, but didn't think we were going to be able to make that happen.  At the very last minute, we were able to squeeze in, as long as mommy helped out for part of the day.  :)  I have to admit, it has been so long since I have done anything outside of the house for a certain length of time that it was almost a daunting thought.  That being said, I knew it would be WELL worth it in the end.  So, we signed up and got ready to trot off down the road the next morning!

Monday morning arrived and I jumped out of bed bright and early to get things rolling.  After a shower, it was time to get the girls up.  They, for some reason, were not as excited as I was.  They dragged their toes through breakfast and even asked if they had to do this "every day."  I told them it would be worth it in the end, but they couldn't catch the vision quite yet.  I ended up dragging them down the road, instead of the three of us trotting off.

By the end of the day, I think they would admit that they had an "ok" time, although they were still both tired and grouchy.  I told them that maybe we should make their bed time a little earlier for the night.  That just might help!  They were worn out enough that when I tucked them in at 8:30...not a single child fought me! 

Guilt-y!

Imagine with me, if you will...John's adorable face meeting me at the top of the stairs.  He grins as wide as an alligator and proudly exclaims, "Candy!"  I close my eyes, already knowing where this is going, and ask, "Did you eat candy?"  His smile gets wider, if that is possible, as he replies, "Yes!"  I look at him with a look of dismay, and query, "Were you supposed to eat candy without asking mommy?"  His sweet little face falls.  He knows he should have asked.  Would he have had the opportunity to eat the last five pieces of candy had he asked?  No, but he knows mommy's answer would have either been "yes" or "as soon as lunch is over."

Funny, I could probably take a lesson from this.  Maybe I should start asking God for permission a little more, and stop informing him after I have made decisions.

  

Gone Fishin'

Oh, dear!  I apologize.  It seems that I might have "gone fishin'!"  I don't always do the best with keeping up with my blog, but I do try to do better than I have this month!  Oh my!  Either way, here I am...back again.

We have been hopping busy this summer!  We ended the school year and I settled down to relax and enjoy my family for the summer.  And, that I did...for a few weeks until it was time to prepare for VBS, which was an absolute blast!  As soon as that was over, I had to switch modes and start thinking about Ohio visits, diaper cakes and baby showers...while also slipping in some 4's and 5's at church (which I have loved leading)...oh, and keeping in the back of my mind that school really was right around the corner again.

Off to Ohio we trotted.  It isn't that I was dreading the trip, only my children's behavior on the trip.  It didn't start off well and I was thankful to a friend for wiping the tears from my face through the phone.  God used this busy, packed full trip to help me connect with my kiddos though.  I seriously had SOMETHING to do EVERY day this trip.  I always leave a few days for down time, and that didn't happen this time.  I had one date with a dear friend where I didn't tote kids along.  It was at the beginning of the trip...exactly where I needed it.  The rest of the fun the kids got to enjoy, as well.  And, you know what?  They did great...no, EXCELLENT!!!  I was so proud that they were my children, and I was so thankful to spend that time with them.  But what did we do?!?

Well, on Saturday we attended the annual Heizer Family Reunion (my Grandma Wagner's family).  I have memories of these reunions from way back when.  I remember loving the penny hunt.  They don't do the penny hunt anymore (my children were three of four children there), but the kids loved it anyway!  The girls had a blast playing in the pond and John was a momma's boy, for sure!  The best part of Libby's day, though, was when she caught her very first fish!  As for mom?  She was just glad that cousin Jeremiah was there to take that slimy fish off the pole for Libby!  ;)

Sunday involved more swimming as we visited a friend that lives along Indian Lake.  The girls weren't sure whether they wanted to swim there because they couldn't touch the bottom and they had to actually put a little bit of faith in the life jackets they were wearing.  We started out with only Libby and mommy in the water...and Libby was clinging.  Slowly, but surely, she was able to play beside mommy while Grace came in to cling.  Eventually, both girls were jumping into the water from the dock and splashing around with mommy just watching from the dock.  Momma's little fish!  What was John doing while all of this was going on?  Burying mommy's sandals in the rocks.  Sounds just like him, huh?

The last "best day" for the kiddos was when we visited one last mommy-friend who runs a music program.  Miss April took us through a session and, boy, did my kids have fun!  She sang a choo-choo song for John and there were lots of different instruments that the girls (and John) got to play.  I seriously wish we lived closer so we could join the fun more often!  I was amazed at the things that the kids were doing, especially John.  It was an absolute blast!

Now we are home again...and looking to the school year.  Libby's schedule is figured out, I bought the last piece of curriculum the other day, Grace's basics are settled on paper, and now momma needs to look up some fun songs on the internet so she can teach her auditory-learning son some things, too.  :)

Sorry for the long break and the long post!  Have a GREAT rest of your summer!  And, I'll make it my goal to be back REALLY soon!

More Fireworks!

Grace's original firework and her fun with Picasa versions!

 

 

 

 

Fireworks!

As if watching the fireworks were not enough, we decided to make our own fireworks today!  Here is Libby's original, and then four more that we decided to have fun with in Picasa.  ;)

 

 

 

 

 

Happy 4th!

We decided to check out the Dubuque fireworks last night.  I didn't get any good pictures of fireworks because of our location, but I got good pictures of three little cuties!  We were one of the few places that even had permission to do fireworks because we are on the Mississippi!  Next year we might check out a different place to watch the fireworks...and, I thought I was going to enjoy the music with the display...we might leave our radio off next year, too.  ;)

 

 

 

 

Pyro like his daddy?

Incidentally...

...while Libby was letting go of her balloon on purpose, John learned a lesson about the properties of helium.  If you look in the upper right hand corner of this picture, you can see John's balloon lifting up to Aunt Joanna as well, unintended.  I told him not to let go of his balloon just as he was...well, letting it go. 

He ran after it, but obviously, he didn't catch it in time.  It was well on its own journey as Libby was letting go of her balloon.

 

And, if you look in the last post, you can see poor little John coming up the hill, mourning the loss of his sweet Elmo balloon.

 

Love to Aunt Joanna

Libby has been wanting to send Aunt Joanna a letter telling her that she missed her (she died at the wise old age of 96 a couple of years ago) for quite some time now.  She wrote her letter last week and we bought the balloon today after swim lessons.

 

 

 After she let the balloon go, she asked me if I thought that God could slip two fingers from holding the world to snag it for Aunt Joanna.  Oh, the faith of little ones!

 

I love my little girl, and it thrilled her heart to be able to mail a letter to her Aunt!  I am 100% certain that it will thrill Aunt Joanna's heart to receive her letter, as well.