June 30

 A picture I downloaded off Facebook of Julia at camp. 

 

In between mulching the yard and helping Clay bundle up branches, I drove Elliott to meet Nonna and Grandpa Carroll in Indianapolis. He is going to have such a good week with them. He wasn't the least bit sad to leave us. Ha! While I was gone, Clay worked almost non-stop on our yard. He cut down a bunch of our neighbor's limbs that were hanging over into our yard, mulched the side and back yard, and trimmed up a bunch of bushes. It was 90+ degrees with a heat index of over 100 degrees. 

June 29

 Julia left for her last year of middle school church camp yesterday.

 

 

Vicki and I took Rylie and Elliott to Main Event for the afternoon. They have a really good Summer Special that we took advantage of. The boys played laser tag (twice), unlimited arcade games for 90 minutes, bowling (4 games each), and gravity ropes (twice).

June 28

Julia got her spine x-ray'd yesterday. She has a 5 degree curve in her thoracic vertebrae, which the doctor said is minor. It doesn't require anything more than monitoring. The doctor said she was fine to continue with CrossFit/Weightlifting. She said that having a strong core is good for her back.

We spent the rest of the day running errands, doing laundry, shopping, packing, etc. Julia leaves for church camp today. Kat and Lucy are heading to the lake with Mamaw and Bapaw today. And Elliott leaves tomorrow for a week in IL with Nonna and Grandpa Carroll. 

June 27

 I asked Elliott if he wanted to help cut the grass yesterday. He was excited at the idea that he was big enough to do it. Well, after he mowed the section of our yard that I gave him, I asked him what he thought. He said, "It sucked!" He then asked if this was going to be his new chore. He wants more allowance like Julia and Kat get, but he wasn't sure it was worth cutting the grass to get it.

 

 

Summer means swimsuits, sprinklers, water balloons, and popsicles.

We visited with Old Mamaw today for a little bit before VBS. During the final night of VBS. I noticed almost all the other adult leaders looked like zombies. I felt refreshed and happy to be there. Rocking babies for the win! 

 

Elliott's fourth grade class

 The recreation leaders and helpers. The head rec leader, Meaghan, told Julia that next year she was going to be her go-to youth worker because she was so reliable and responsible.

 

The boys won the offering this year, so Marsha got the swamp bog dumped on her. Between the three campuses, almost $10,000 was raised for missionaries in Zimbabwe to build a church.

 

Clay power-washed the patio last night. The dark area? That's dirt and grime- not water. The lighter area where Clay stood to take this picture is the wet/clean area. Gross! I guess we should power wash more than once every 13 years!

June 26

To celebrate 6 months until Christmas, we watched Christmas movies, ate snowman pancakes and Christmas cookies, and made ornaments.

 

3rd night of VBS

 

 Clay was pressure washing more of the deck when we got home from VBS - by headlamp. Ha!

June 25

 I wish we'd taken a "Before" picture of the siding before power washing. The green mold is gone! Clay got a good chunk of the deck power washed too.

 It was a rainy day. These two spent alot of time playing Barbies.

They also made a yummy blueberry cobbler.

 Both boys got haircuts yesterday. 

 

 

 Second night of VBS is in the books! Usually the youth workers help adults run games. When I walked through the gym, Julia was running the game and the adults were crowd control. I can't imagine where she gets her bossiness from? Actually, I am really proud of her for taking charge. She's a good leader. Kat has also been a good helper.

June 24

Last night was our first night of VBS. The night started out with Jonathan and his mom hanging out in our basement for a little while before we could leave for church. Tornado warnings and a nasty storm blew through. 

 

 Roman and Kat ganging up on Elliott with Silly String

 Last year I was miserable at VBS. It's just too loud and crazy for me in my old, cranky age. So this year I am working in the nursery snuggling babies. Instead of being absolutely exhausted at the end of the night, I felt nice and relaxed. Snuggling babies is therapeutic!

Julia and Kat are helping with recreation this year. We had nearly 300 kids the first night.

Clay was a busy boy this week. He cleaned out the gutters, then power washed the vinyl siding and gutters. He also finished the deck steps. 

June 23

Lucy took notes during the sermon today. So cute!

June 22

 

 

 

 

 

We met friends and spent the day at KY Kingdom. As you can see, I spent most of the day with Lucy and Abbie. We ran into Elliott and his friends (with Riley's Grandma Vicki) a few times. The sun was out for most of the day - for the first time in awhile.