Camping Pictures from Sat/Sun

OK, OK, OK... my friends gave me a hard time about taking this picture instead of stopping it from happening! Now, if I really thought there was going to be a problem don't you think Miss Safety would have intervened?? This is how the story went... Matt poured on the lighter fluid which looked like a rather generous amount to me. A few moments later Chad reached down to light the wood with a flame-thrower. Now, I thought that he was going to light a piece of paper or something and throw it on the wood... thus the reason I, Snap Happy, had my camera ready, just in case there was a picture worth taking. I didn't realize he was going to reach his handsome face over into the soon to be fiery inferno! Not to worry... after a few checks of the eyebrows and hair, we all decided that he had come out on the other side just fine.

Here are the blueberry pancakes I made for breakfast Sunday morning. Our $5 camp stove works pretty good!


Quinn charged me 25 cents to take this picture of him performing this death-defying feat again... so I could get a picture. Aren't you all impressed? (He's saving for a Nintendo DS).

Here's a classic camping picture... Madison playing her new Nintendo-DS while trying to look like she's camping. Actually we told her she had to find something "camp-y" to do so she did put it away.

(Keep scrolling down to see some rodeo pictures)

Back from camping

We're back from camping. Three words sum up the last 24 hours... "hot and humid!"
The kids had a good time and wished we could have stayed longer. Quinn got eaten up by mosquitos. He said, "is that because I'm one sweet guy or what?" I'm downstairs in Tony's office. I'll post some pictures when our dining room computer is up and running again. Hopefully by tomorrow night. Tony has to call this software company during week day hours. He was trying to install a program and it won't install or allow it to be removed and has frozen up my Internet.

Hope you all had a good weekend.
Love, Leah

Internet problems

We've had some Internet problems recently...sorry for not posting. We are going camping today at Potato Creek Park. Yes, tent camping. No, it's not my favorite thing to do but the kids love it. I'll try to post again Sunday night. I'll eventually get my blog caught up. It's pretty much a journal/diary for me so I like to go back and make sure to get everything down. We've been to the rodeo at the fair etc... I've got some awesome pictures to share.

Sorry 'tis short and sweet.
Love, Leah

4H Fair Rodeo

Here are some pictures from the rodeo at the fair.
What do ya think?

Quinn's Quips

Sunday night after Tony and Quinn came home from basketball camp and Madison and I came home from the fair, we all sat in the living room and were visiting before we told the kids it was time for them to get ready for bed. Quinn was so tired (and whinny) and said in his whinniest voice, "Well, can't we have a little family time...for at least a pig pile or something?" How can you turn down that offer... for a pig pile to count as family time? So we piled on Tony. Yes, the secret is out. We occasionally have pig piles at our house!

Dairy Show

Madison and Katie (and many others) are washing

their calves before the sun is even fully up.

What ambitious young ladies.

Today started out awfully early. I went to bed at 12:30am and didn't sleep well because I knew I had to get up at 5am. I set 2 alarms even! Madison and I were at the fair grounds by shortly after 6am this morning. The calves had to get washed early to allow for their coats to dry. ... so that they could be clipped, sprayed with super-duper cow hairspray "stuff", sprayed with black cow paint "stuff" to cover up the hairspray "stuff"... (sorry to be so technical) have their tales ratted, their faces carefully washed and brand new halters put on. Whew! Thank goodness the kind, wonderful farming family has teenage boys who know what they are doing! They were quite busy with all of their family's cows this morning.

I'll keep this short tonight because I'm EXHAUSTED but I knew that the g'mas, g'pas, aunts/uncles/cousins/friends would be checking their blogs to see how it went today and I couldn't let them down.

Madison and Katie did very well today. They each got blue ribbons... and a $5 bill (?). Sue, the farmer's wife aka "cow expert" gave them each a big compliment on how well they handled their calves, how confident they looked... all in the face of competing with kids who have grown up on the farm and been to a bazillion cow shows. I can write more about it later when I have more time.

I posted some pictures for you though!

Dairy Show Pictures

Double click for a better view.

I have to tell you the story behind the picture at the 3 o'clock position. This was taken in the showmanship competition. The judge asked the 4H'er the same question. He asked the kids "If you could change something about your animal, what would you change?" I think he was looking for something like... fuller in the ribs (?), straight legs (like I even know?). Anyway, Madison is walking away from the judge in this picture. The kids didn't know what the question was going to be. I asked Madison what she said. She said, "I didn't know what to say... so I said I wish she had a longer tail." Isn't that the cutest? I laughed so hard! The judge told the audience at the end that he asked that question and then said that he got some very interesting answers and some didn't answer at all. I told Madison that it was better than not saying anything at all. (And the judge had something to laugh about on the way home!).

Yes, Madison was so tired by the end of the day that she laid her head down on that picnic table after supper and fell asleep for about 10 minutes!

Quinn at the 4H fair

Here is my airplane model for Exploring 4-H.
Now, what can I eat next?

Taylor Hicks Concert

Just after the fair board released their entertainment plans for the fair I promised Madison that we could go to the Taylor Hicks concert. We faithfully voted for him during American Idol from the very first time you could vote. Well... I didn't know it then but we would have to be at the fair grounds by 6am the next day! Needless to say we got home at 11pm! We had a great time though! We both enjoyed the concert a lot. It was LOUD!... we both had to plug our ears at times and we were clear up in the grand stands. Taylor seemed very humble and kind of in awe that people would actually come and hear him sing. His band was great!

This was our view... from the grand stands. Madison counted 42 speakers!! Why does it have to be so loud? (Do I sound like I'm getting old?)


He is playing the harmonica and guitar in this picture.




It was a beautiful summer evening with something special to do with Madison tonight!

Pretty Cows?

Here are some pictures from the 4-H fair today. Ed & Eileen, Joshua, Jeremiah and Jacob stopped by the dairy barn. Ed had perfect timing as the girls could use some help washing their calves for the first time. Once a farm boy, always a farm boy. It took Madison and Katie 1 hour and 15 minutes to wash them. I hope that gets faster or we'll have to get here VERY early on Tuesday morning, before they show them at 9am.
Actually after they have been cleaned up I've decided that cows can really be a pretty animal. Their eyes are so expressive. They are soft as can be now. Someone has to sit by their stall for basically 12 hours a day to make sure their stalls stay clean.(Poo-Patrol).


How do you liked the "teased" look in her tail now?

Madison decided tonight that she wants to go to college to major in agriculture so she can learn to be a farmer. She decided not to be a vet because she could never put an animal to sleep. (I wonder how many times this major will change?).

I can't tell you how much she is enjoying this calf... does the picture say enough?

PS... Tony and Quinn are home from basketball camp. I'll write more about that when I have more time. They had a really good time!

A girl's day out

Today was a continuation of our girls-only weekend. I can pretty safely say that I got very little done around my house today but it was worth it. Madison and I went to Meijer's to grocery shop. That is really not a fun thing for me to do usually... that's why I only go every 2 weeks. It was more fun with company though.

This afternoon we went shopping in South Bend. We took Heather (our neighbor from 2 doors down) with us. I've been wanting to go to the brand new TJ Maxx and so we did and now I can check that off of my summer goals! (Pretty lofty goals huh?). Madison found a backpack for school and a pair of shoes. She walked up to me and said, "These shoes are tight." I said, "OK, well check and see if there's a bigger size." She's like, "Mom!... they don't FIT tight... they LOOK tight!" ....OK, so I don't know the new lingo! Now I do!! She and Heather proceeded to find many tight things and even I was able to use the word appropriately by the end of the evening. What did we say when we were young?... I remember saying things looked "rad". Do you remember what else we called cool things? Now I really need to know because it's going to bug me. Leave me a comment if you can think of some... Anyway...

We ate supper at TGIF's and went to see the movie Hairspray. The girls loved it. It does have some funny parts. I kept thinking the whole time that if Tony were here he would be absolutely bored to tears! We liked the music a lot and Madison already says it's a buyer when it gets to DVD. I don't know... there are the usual PG innuendos but I don't like listening to them over and over again in my home, even if they do go over the kid's heads. Quinn would never be able to suffer through this... he can't even handle Flicka now. I'd officially deem it a chick-flick.

We finished our evening off with mud-mask facials... complete with cucumbers for our eyes. Madison made a special request not to publish the one picture she allowed me to take of her. Sorry Cheryl, I know you've been waiting. Heather is staying overnight tonight too. This is good because last night Madison slept with me and kicked me all night long! Brings back memories of sleeping with my sister!

OK, well, that's all for tonight. Oh, the highlight of shopping for me was getting a new pair of dress sandals. Let me tell you, they are very tight!

Love, Leah

Quinn's Quips

Quinn called at 10:30 on Friday night from the father/son basketball camp. He sounded quite excited and the first thing he told me was "I'm minus 53 calories now!" He was delighted that he found an exercise machine that told him this information. Then, instead of telling me about the basketball playing itself or of the pizza party that he had been looking forward to, what dorm room they are in, or if he saw any friends there, he told me this...

"A man came to speak to us tonight and he painted with his fingers. He painted a picture of Jesus, by just using his fingers. There was blood on Jesus' head that ran down by his eye to remind us of how much Jesus suffered for us."

We went on to talk a little bit about how it's good to have reminders every now and then about Jesus' suffering on our behalf.

.....Come to think of it, we never even talked about the basketball part of the camp.

He said, "I love you Sooo much Mom" and then we hung up.

That's my Quinner.

Championship Cake

Wow! Imagine our surprise as Madison and I walked up to see her cake tonight at the fair! She got the championship ribbon!! Neither one of us could believe it! She was initially so disappointed in her cake that I almost told her to forget it... she didn't have to take it! I'm so glad I didn't. There were 33 cakes in her beginner level. One of the cakes is going to the state fair and then her cake won the next highest honor out of all those cakes. How cool is that??? I guess our cake decorating class paid off. She is thrilled!

Madison and I had a great time at the fair tonight. The weather was absolutely perfect. We were there almost 6 hours! We went and worked in the Dairy Barn (selling ice cream) for the the Dairy Club for 2 hours. We also decorated Crisp's stall with Karla and Katie. The calves come to the fair on Sunday afternoon. The showing is Tuesday morning at 9am. Madison is so excited about it. We went to see the empty stall 3 different times tonight! ...Just to look at the sawdust and the decorating. She absolutely can't wait. She said that "after humans, animals are the absolutely the best thing that God created on earth."

Tony and Quinn went to the father-son basketball camp at Goshen College for the weekend. I dropped Quinn off at Rollpak on the way to the fair this afternoon. We won't see them again until Sunday evening. Quinn was pretty excited about getting to do something like this with just Tony. Madison and I said our goodbyes... tried to appear a little sad and then when we rounded the corner we said our YAHOO's!... Just us GIRLS for the whole weekend! He-he!! We are living it up. We are getting ready to play Scene It now and we are having a slumber party in my room tonight.

OK... we must get the game started, before I become a party pooper!

Love, Leah

Nothing exciting to talk about.

Nothing much to report from Thursday folks!
Quinn had his first soccer practice and was happy to find 2 friends on his team. I had a board meeting at church from 5:30-8:30. Madison stayed home by herself. Tony got home around 10:15pm from work.

Cake Decorating for the 4-H Fair

Here are some snapshots of the cake that Madison took to the 4H fair. She was disappointed and critical of how it turned out but I thought she did a

great job! I told her that she was a beginner... not a computer! She was also tired and moody when she made it yesterday afternoon so that didn't help. I took some vacation time from work to come home so we could make it before her softball game. I went to Michael's to buy the "stuff" and wouldn't you know it, when I got home I had the wrong "stuff". Grrrrr! You have to follow the directions from the Fair exactly and I bought a cake base that was 2 inches larger than the cake. It needed to be 3 inches larger. Abby volunteered to run back to the store for me so she exchanged the "stuff" while I got things ready to go when she got back home. That was a huge help!!! The cake is actually a styrofoam base. Madison found that there are advantages to frosting styrofoam... you can completed turn the cake and cake board on it's side because it's all glued down... and you don't have to mess with the crumbs that get into your cake!

Aunt Michelle took her to the judging today. Of course every thing happens during daytime hours. She did really well and got a blue ribbon. Madison was quite delighted because she thought she did such a "bad" job the day before... such a perfectionist! And guess what?... Michelle said there was a lady who complimented her on following the directions exactly by having the cake board the correct dimensions, including thickness. She said several girls were marked off points right away because of that. Whew. Her cake will be on display in the Home Ec building. For you locals... stop by and check it out. The fair starts this Friday.

Tonight was soccer practice for Madison and Tony. Only 4 girls showed up. Hmmmm, not a good way to start out. Must have been an inconvenient night I guess. We went to B & P's for supper and to spend the evening with Michelle and Jade....they are all leaving in the morning to go to TN and then on to Archie's graduation from Warrant Officer training in AL. We finally have RAIN so the kids played and splashed in the rain puddles... including Beppe in their soaking fun. We got home about 10:15 tonight and Madison and Quinn stayed overnight tonight and will come home in the morning. I never sleep very well when my babies are gone from the nest.

Middlebury 11, Concord 1

Well, 3 full months of softball has come to an end. The all-star team lost in the District #14 championship game tonight against Middlebury. I've got to hand it to Middlebury, they are a great team! The coach went to college with Tony and so we were talking with him afterwards. They practice year round. In the winter they have batting practice each week by using the indoor batting cages. They can use the gym for some practicing before they actually get outside. Their pitchers take lessons from Notre Dame coaches.... Let's just say that Middlebury is very serious about softball! Our team was presented with pins that say "9-10 year old all-star team" on them. I thought the winning team would get a trophy but they got pins too. Their's probably said 1st place or something. I guess this is the farthest that any of the Concord all-star teams got this year, so that feels good.

Madison's highlight of the evening was that she finally got to play her beloved 1st base for 2 innings. Our best pitcher (Jenny) walked 5 girls in before throwing in her towel due to a pulled muscle (or something). The rule is that if you have a player who is injured and can't bat... the other team gets to choose a player who would usually be sitting out to come and bat and play the field. It was Madison's turn to sit out. We couldn't figure out why 3 of our players went out on the field and stood arm and arm in front of the other coach and kind of "modeled it up" for him. Ha! All 3 of them had already struck out earlier (it was a no hitter). He choose Madison! (YIKES!). SOooo, she had to bat again (another strike out) and that's when she got to play 1st base. So that payment of striking out was worth it for her at least. She got to play the entire game this way. : ) She made a great play at 1st base too. Wish I had it on video for you.

Don't worry... it won't be a dull sports moment for long. Concord Youth Soccer (CYS) practices start TOMORROW!... the cleats don't get to cool off yet. Ha!

Tomorrow I'll try and post about Madison's cake she decorated for the 4H fair.

Would anyone believe me if I said, "I'm tired...."

Going Bananas!

My kitchen refrigerator's freezer has been occasionally dripping on to the floor lately. My dad came out at the perfect time, he figured it all out and fixed it for me. The drainage hole in the bottom of the refrigerator was plugged (probably with dust..I was shocked! ha!) so apparently when it self-defrosted, it couldn't get out that drainage opening. ANYWAY... my whole point about this is that when I carried everything out to the garage freezer so we could defrost the inside freezer I found a "few" bananas stuck away in the freezer, waiting to be made into banana bread. When bananas get too ripe I just throw the whole banana in the freezer. When I've collected at least 3 I make banana bread. Does anyone want to guess how many bananas I found?....OK, I'll just tell you... 14. Yes, that's fourteen bananas! I have a lot of bread making coming up!

This is nearly enough bananas to make 5 loaves of banana bread. I have to say that my Mom's recipe is THE BEST ever! ... the "secret" ingredient makes it the best. What is the secret ingredient you are wondering? OK, I'll just tell you because I know I can trust you with the secret... It's chocolate chips! I know, I know, you would never have been able to guess that. YUM!
SO... here is the part that will interest you. Would you like one of these loaves of banana bread with the secret ingredient? All you have to do is click on the comment section and let me know that you would like one. The first five people will each get a special loaf of bread! That's all you have to do. Yes, you out of town people can participate too. You may have to wait until the weather cools a bit though or it will be a chocolaty mess by the time you get it.

So, go ahead, the first 5 people get them!

PS... Aren't you glad this wasn't about softball???

Concord 20, Osolo 9

This afternoon we beat the same team we lost to yesterday in only 4 innings (10 run rule). I said that pitching makes all the difference! It was a hot but beautiful day. Madison stole home base and was safe. Isn't this an awesome picture?... Somewhere in all that dust is the pitcher, covering home base, and attempting to lay a tag on her. I love this picture!



The team was quite happy they won! Their dug-out was LOUD with softball cheers today. After the game they all got in this huddle and did a little dance. It was great to see because until 2 weeks ago, this team didn't exist... so some of these games have been lessons in how to play with a new team. I love Madison's face! Is there any doubt that she is having a
good time?

Their next game is Tuesday evening at 6pm against Middlebury....played in Edwardsburg, MI. They are an excellent team and it will be a very tough game! This could possibly be their last game. It was fun to have my mom and dad here this weekend. They saw 3 games. I think they enjoyed it too. It's been a WILD week with 5 games in the last 6 days! Frankly, I'm pretty tired.

Is anyone ready to read about something else other than softball? Well, rest assured that soccer is right around the corner! Hehe! Next week will be all about the 4H fair stuff so I'll change the topic finally.

Have a great week! Leah

Osolo 14, Concord 3

Losing isn't nearly as fun as winning! Softball (baseball too) is certainly a game of calculated strategy... more so than some other sports. We went into this game 3-0 and knowing that we would play tomorrow at 2pm whether we won or lost. We were the only undefeated team in our pool so a loss wouldn't affect our playing schedule. The pitching is always an issue and making sure that your best pitchers stay eligible to pitch in expected tough games. They can only pitch so many innings without having to sit 1 or even 2 games out. Today our coaches pitched 5 different pitchers for us. I don't know... I know what their intent was but no one really had the time to get in the groove. We got hammered. We actually play Osolo again tomorrow. We'll see what they do with the pitchers. If we loose, we are done.

Madison played 4 out of the 6 innings and played well. She was only up to bat twice and singled and walked. They had a very good pitcher! Some of our regular hitters struck out each time they were up! She won't be able to pitch tomorrow now. (Thank goodness!)

Tonight Madison has a Flames soccer party at one of the coaches houses. Peyton is here for the afternoon. Madison is still pet sitting and our neighbor across the street told her she was welcome to come and "hang out and play Play Station... to get away" if she wanted to. Ha! Sooo, that's where Madison and Peyton have been this afternoon... at the neighbor's house. They are very responsible and respectful girls so I'm sure they are doing perfectly fine over there. I went and checked on them once. I think they feel so grown up.

Here's a picture of Quinn for ya... he's been dragged (drug?) around all week to games. He's more interested in his Game Boy during this game. This picture was actually taken earlier in the week. He spends a lot of time at the concession stand too! I told him today I better get a second job to keep up with his concession stand habit....

Concord 38, Baugo 9

The Concord All-Stars didn't have any trouble tonight for sure! Our coaches tried everything not to run up the score... they even searched for ways to get our girls out. He had our batters switch hit, swing at any pitch that was close etc... Most of the Baugo girls were younger than our girls I think. That makes a big difference... even in the 9-10 year old softball leagues. Ed, Eileen, Jeremiah and Jacob came to check it out. Ed was moving slow but looks good. Quinn didn't let the boys alone for a second. He had them off in a different field playing and then he was hanging all over Jeremiah when he sat down to watch the game. You are a good sport Jeremiah!

Quinn & Jeremiah

The funniest part of the evening was when a mouse decided to sprint across the infield, right in the middle of the game! It generated quite the shrieks from some of the girls. It ran from right field all the way across near 3rd base and then turned around and headed back towards second. Madison tried to catch it with her glove but it crawled up her arm and jumped off her shoulder!!! (Was she brave or what?!). The coaches and umpires were out trying to catch it. Tony was a base ump tonight. He said he thought about trying to step on it but quickly thought better of that, realizing he would have a bunch of grossed out girls on the field... including those in the stands. They eventually caught it in a glove and put it in a bucket. Of course, me being the shutterbug, had my camera on the scene. I was able to snap one and only picture. It's of one of the base umps picking the mouse out of the glove and putting it in the bucket. Madison is the player on the left. If you double click on the picture, you'll probably like her expression.

My mom and dad arrived around 4pm today so they got to go to the game tonight. Madison played about the same amount and played at 2nd base.

That's all for tonight!

Love, Leah

Concord 9, Edwardsburg 2

Tonight Concord played Edwardsburg in Michigan. It was a very well played game with a GREAT professional umpire (thank you Lord!). Madison played 3 innings, for half the game. She was only up to bat once and hit a single. The inning closed out with a fielder's choice at 3rd base though. She played right field tonight and only had one ball hit to her. It was actually a pretty quiet night for her. This picture was taken after the game. The girls lined up at 3rd base and all slid into home plate. Yes, there is a plate somewhere in there.

I'm up late tonight washing uniforms. Tomorrow is her last soccer camp morning. Today the weather was so beautiful, only in the mid-70's. It was a much better day to be outside the majority of the day. Aunt Michelle took her to the batting cages this afternoon.

Tomorrow night we play Baugo at Concord Little League. We'll see how it goes... who knows. Anything can happen. Grandma and Grandpa are coming tomorrow afternoon in time for the game. Stay tuned for tomorrow's late sports news. ......

Love, Leah

Concord 9, Mishawaka 6

Double click for a close up view.

Madison's first all-star game was in Mishawaka tonight. We won... but it was an ugly game. I hate that! The umpire was terrible, didn't know basic rules... like the catcher caught a foul ball after bouncing off the backstop and he called the batter out. Thankfully that was one call he ended up reversing. Anyway, you get the idea. Why other leagues don't pay for professional umpires for these games, I don't know. I actually started feeling bad for this guy. I bet Quinn could have called a better game... and I'm totally serious.

Madison played about half the game. She batted twice and walked both times. She played at 2nd base. The last inning actually got rained out. Thank goodness, it could have ended much earlier for me! Actually it was a very close game until the 5th inning when we pulled ahead. We started that inning down, 3-5.

A special thanks to Addi for sharing the Picasa web site for me. That's how I made this "picture pile."

That's the ESPN news report for tonight. Stayed tuned for tomorrow night. We play in Edwardsburg, MI... against the Edwardsburg Eddies. : )

Baby Birds

Madison is pet sitting for Heather's family this week, until Sunday. They live 2 doors down from us. She is going over 3 times a day to let their dog out and is feeding/watering the ferret and turtle. She is also watering flowers. She is a busy girl! I think she is enjoying it and tonight our neighbor across the street (Nater's mom) called and asked if she would dog and cat sit from Wed - Sunday this week. Looks like she'll be making the rounds... just like a nurse, checking in on her patients, going from house to house. Tonight she asked me to come over to Heather's because when she was watering some flowers she noticed this bird's nest filled with baby birds. They are so little! ... They even look a little damp yet. You'll probably have to double click on the picture. Of course may be they were sweating their feather's off because it's 95 degrees outside! I'm glad she didn't accidentally water their nest.

Madison spent her morning at a Dutch Soccer Camp, from 9-noon. She has been looking forward to it all summer. It's Mon-Thursday of this week. She had a good time but said it was just soooo hot! The coaches are either from Holland or have played in Holland or somehow have a Dutch connection. They are here just to hold this soccer camp. Don & Isy are actually hosting one of the coaches... hoping that he would be a Dutchman. It turns out that he is very American, from Michigan and went to Olivet with me!!! He graduated the same year. I pulled out my yearbook but couldn't place him. He was a PE major and played soccer so I don't think our paths crossed much. John & Evelyn also were interested in keeping a "Dutch" coach and I'm so relieved that their coach is actually from the Netherlands. They wanted to talk about the "old country" with them. Ha!

Tonight Madison had her last all-star practice. They only practiced for 1 hour. I'm glad because it is too HOT! Tomorrow starts the first game of the run of 5 games between Tuesday and Sunday. It will be busy! She enjoys softball and she chose to play but soccer is certainly her first love. I told her to expect a fair amount of time on the bench during the all-star games. She is and she's fine with that. She loves to be busy all the time!... it's too busy for me.

Well, I best be moving along. Hope you had a good Monday.

Love, Leah

(Sorry, blogger has decided not to allow any lines between the paragraphs tonight!)

I Dare YOU!

I dare any of you to choose one of the most cluttered parts of your house and post pictures of it on the Internet for all to see!!! I'm brave enough to do it! Here are 2 of my kitchen cupboards that have been driving me crazy for months now! I have no idea how I've gotten so much stuff... it's not like I'm buying any kitchen bowls, pans, plates etc... I don't know how this stuff has multiplied over the 13 years that we've lived here but somehow it has reproduced and grown. I finally was brave enough (really I just finally found the time) to tackle it today! Here are my before and after shots... go ahead and be impressed. If any of you want the big bag of stuff to go to the 2nd hand store let me know! ...it can clutter up your cupboards instead!

BEFORE!

AFTER!

BEFORE!

AFTER!

Go ahead... I dare you!

Potawatomi Zoo

Today Michelle, Jade, Madison, Quinn and I went to the Potawatami Zoo. It was a beautiful day in the low 80's and surprisingly the zoo was not very busy. It was fun to show Jade all the animals. I always enjoy zoos a lot myself. : )

This afternoon/evening Madison had softball practice and then we went to B & P's for supper. Tony met us there and then he went to Victory Construction to work for a few hours. He is still there now.

Speaking of Victory...Ed V. (Tony's cousin's (Eileen) husband)had a bad accident on a wave runner on the 4th of July. He and Jacob took a bad fall while on their first trip out on the lake. He had some pretty severe left sided abdominal and rib pain. To make a long story short, he lacerated his spleen and spent the last 2 nights in the hospital. The latest treatment for spleen injuries is not to do surgery if they can get the internal bleeding to stop. His bleeding stablized and he was discharged this evening. He has strict NO ACTIVITY orders...to allow the spleen to heal. So, for those of you that know Ed... those orders will be quite Difficult to follow! SO, please pray for him; for healing and patience and the ability to hold still for a few weeks.

On a happier note... here are some zoo pictures for you!

Madison, Jade & Quinn on board a huge statue of a turtle.

A painting done by "Sammy"... one of Potawatomi's chimps.


This sleepy lion is what I feel like every afternoon at 2pm... like clock work! ... Look at that cute tongue sticking out!


Have a good weekend!
Love, Leah

Happy 4th of July

Most of our 4th was spent working... Tony did yard work, the kids picked up sticks/branches. I cleaned, defrosted our freezer, laundry, made food etc... It was a hot and humid day but at least it didn't rain as was predicted. Nate spent the whole day and evening with us. He even was a happy worker! His mom joined us for the fireworks later on.

The fun part of the day started in the late afternoon when Beppe, Pakka, Michelle and Jade came over. We went swimming at our neighbor's house. We grilled chicken and the kids enjoyed sparklers and Tony's personal fire work display. I was thinking about traditions... and if we had any. I guess it would be Tony's fireworks in the front yard. He started doing them probably 5 years ago... mostly because the fire works around here are usually not on the 4th....(?). Each year gets a little bigger. This year we enjoyed our neighbor's fireworks too but nothing beat Tony's "Texas Rattlesnake" grand finale! Ha! ...That's what the name was of the firework. Of course I'm like, "how much did that cost?!"... only $11.99... all up in smoke. OK, it was worth it.

I feel so blessed to be living in the USA. I'm very aware of those serving on the other side of the world and the sacrifice they make each day.... and in other parts of our nation... including one of our own; Archie.

Here are a few pictures of you...

Quinn & Nate ran through the sprinklers before swimming... and then popped into his house for icecream cones... after popsicles at our house. They know how to work the system!

Jade LOVES the water!

Michelle had Madison "lassoed."

Madison doesn't always like her picture taken now so it's harder to get them of her!

Quinn on one of his many "stunts" for me. Double click on this picture...it's hilarious. He LOVES to have his picture taken!

Madison helped Jade drive the gator. Look at how big Madison is now!! She no longer fits!! (sniff-sniff)

Quinn pretending to be an airplane with his sparklers.


Part of Tony's "Texas Rattlesnake" grand finale!

Our last guest left about 10:45pm. It was a late but fun night!