June 2017

Summer is going so quickly, already four weeks down!  

• This month we packed in playtime at home (really what the kids LOVE to do), a women's bible study on Tuesday evenings, a playdate in Arlington at a MOPS friends' farm, dance recital, seeing our Dads for Father's Day (lunch with Derbys in Eagle on Saturday then they took the kids until evening and lunch at Pennells on Sunday.) and of course Sunday school, church, and all the normal summer stuff.
• We took a trip to Milford Sate Park in Kansas with the Derby family on 23-25th.  It was almost four hours away and in the end the algae levels were too high to get in the water, but we got to stay in cabins, have campfires, kayak, take a walk, play at the park, ride Aaron's parent's boat, and have picnic lunches/dinners.  It was a fun family trip with all of Jeff's family and Michelle's in-laws, the Holmbergs.  There were discussions of making it an annual thing (maybe a different location since everyone is in NE now though!)
• Summer U was at our church the last week of June.  All the kids had fun with the spy themed crafts, activities, science experiments, stories and large group with the high school kids putting on a song/play each day.  Samara seems to think she's found her calling in 8 years. ;)
• Eagle house continues to get closer to done!  Jeff's been working hard on the finishing items (which always add up).  Mulch went in this month, making the outside now picture worthy.  Inside we were finishing up trim, basement and any other items needing tied up.  Ready to officially go on the market soon!
• Amanda's MOPS table had a fun night - baby shower/game night.  MOPS is now done for the year and it was such a blessing to be involved on leadership again.  My role as publicity was a good fit and way to ease back into Steering Team for sure.  Our current Coordinator asked if I would be interested/willing to step into the Coordinator role when she is done.  I had already considered what my response would be if they asked and I said yes.  I know there are a few hectic times of planning and executing items during the year, but I'm looking forward to serving in that role staring this summer/fall.  I'm transitioning the Publicity role to another mom and I'll be the Co-Coordinator for 2017-2018, then Coordinator after that for two years.  Locked into MOPS for sure, but that's a good thing!

Samara's Moments for the Month:

• She was explaining how something would be and inadvertently combined catastrophe and disaster.  Haha, good one, may use that!
• She continued to go meet with Deb at City Care during the month of June.
• She has been loving our Gretna pool membership!  becoming quite the fish (or mermaid if you ask her).  She can kind of do a handstand underwater.  She likes to try and swim like a mermaid.  She can do the back float if you help her start, need to time the length, maybe 10 seconds.
• Samara's dance rehearsal and recital were June 10th-11th.  She really enjoyed getting makeup done, hair done (thanks to "the perfect bun" thing that I got at target, made it so that dreaded bobby pins were barely needed).  She had fun performing and knew her dances all the way through.  I had fun watching her and reminiscing of my recital days.  She kind of wanted to keep dancing for next year after the recital, but I think it was the "performance high" as she still seems more excited about Kids Warrior Gym starting in July.
• Samara was a big helper with all her cousins on our trip!  She was watching out for them and playing with them.
• Jumped off the diving board first time try!  She got on diving board and jumped right in to (well, kind of ON) Daddy.  She had fun on the first evening swim session with Daddy of the summer.  The big kids got to go into the deeper water and jump in to Daddy while I took Wesson to the baby pool area.  We can't do that when just I'm there with the 3 kids.  It was a fun kick off to the weekend!

Kalum's Moments for the Month:

• The kids brought a movie each to watch in the van ride to KS.  Kalum got to watch his Ninja Turtle selection on the way there, so it was Annie on the way home.  Apparently it was no not interesting to Kalum that it forced him to sing made up songs of made up words for a while on the way home. I've never heard him do that before, too funny.
• Since I taught Samara's class last year at Summer U, I said I would teach Kalum's this year.  It was fun to see him in action, enjoying big group, knowing all the answers to the questions about the big group story, enjoying special yummy snacks and doing crafts.  When making the paper grocery sack "coat of many colors" he was lining the strips up precisely so there were no overlaps all the way across.  He was definitely more particular about his project than basically all the other kids.  He even pointed out to one of the other boys that his coat was missing a certain color.  Perfectionist much?!
• Kalum got to attempt the diving board for his first time ever!  It took several tries with balks, one where the lifeguard lowered him in, another finally dragging him off board because too scared and other kids were waiting.  After some jumps to Daddy off the side of the pool, he warmed up and braved jumping in off the board!

Wesson's Milestones/Moments for the Month:

• He's starting to repeat things he hears (not just when you ask him to say things).  Kids were watching the rest of Beauty and the Beast on the way home from Eagle on evening.  Kalum asks after the beast is injured at the end, "Did he die?"  Wesson from his car seat, where he had been just babbling, "Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!"  Well we better be sure we watch what we're saying around him now...
• By mid-June he can actually jump and his feet leave the ground a little.  Also can point to and say body and face parts on his own-eye, nose, chin, neck, forehead, eyebrows, knee, head, hair, toe, mouth and ear.  He always seems to be babbling and saying something.  Most of the time it's babble but some words make sense so you can tell what he's getting at.
• A cute baby phrase is already gone from his vocab.  He called his blanket "diddy" until end of June.  Now says "ki-ki" and in blanKIE.  Cute to hear him saying things more clearly each day.

June pictures