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!