August 25

Jay did well preaching both services yesterday. Many could not believe that that was his first time. Praise the Lord!!
I took Trent to the orthopedic group this morning. Although his bone is broken it isn't displaced at all. Casting it would cause more trouble than benefits....so he can walk or limp on it.
I am busy making all sorts of phone calls today to get the kids signed up for sports for this fall. The girls want to do full gym gymnastics and swim. The boys want to do tumbling....though Trent can't start yet and swim too.

August 24

Today Jay is preaching both services at our church. He is pretty nervous. He has been preparing for quite a while though and spent nearly all day after noon yesterday studying too. I will have to let you know how it went tomorrow when I report on whether Trent got a cast on his foot or not.

August 22

Lexie diving.

Abbey doing the breast stroke.

Brayden doing the back crawl.

Trent being silly.
Today was the last day of swim for the kid's summer session. They all did great. They said that Trent would repeat level 1, but I am not sure why. He only doesn't swim fast because no one else does. He just goes with the flow. I will put him in level 2 when we take lessons next because he passed everything. Brayden is still in level 2 because he is so scared. Again, he passed all of the skills. Abbey passed level 5. So now she is in level 6!!! How exciting. She started the summer in level 4. Lexie just had fun. They taught her how to dive better, and she can hold her breath for longer now. Otherwise, I don't think that she learned anything.
Then we get home....and the dr's office had called twice saying that it was urgent. Trent's foot is broken. They had made him an appt with the orthopedic dr at 10. Too bad they didn't call yesterday to let us know. So now I sit waiting for news on when to take him since we missed the 10 appt.
Jay also lined up a babysitter for tonight. Now we might not even be able to go out. :( We are waiting to see.

First day of school

Today we started school after we got home from swim at 10:30. The day went pretty smoothly. We were all done by 4. However, no one started math today. We did take a time outside for a bit. Lexie learned how to mow the yard. :) She is pretty excited. She mowed the whole front yard. Tomorrow she will work on the back ifwe have time.
This year the girls are doing the second half of American History (1850-present). They are doing electricity and magnetism for science.
The boys are doing intro to World History. Their science covers a wide range of topics too.
Both girls are learning to play the recorder which is very easy since they are learning the piano too. They are also learning spanish.
For sports, all 4 are tumbling. That is really all that we have figured out.

August 17

Since we are staying here for a while, we are starting on some home improvements. On Jay's list are tiling the kitchen and both bathrooms. He also wants to replace the countertops in the kitchen and the sink. I would like a new frig. Jay is going to take out the closet in the big bathroom, and we are going to buy some nice linen closet and matching cabinets and counter tops. We wants to tile from floor to waist height too. And we are looking at bay windows to replace the patio doors. WE think that we will get a window instead of a door.
In addition there are a bunch of small projects. He is replacing the lighting and mirror in the small bathroom today. We will replace the cabinet and sink after the bathroom is tiled. WE both think that these improvements could only add value when we sell in 1 1/2 to 2 years.
I finished another blanket for Jay's cousin this morning. I have been reading a lot and organizing the house.
The kids have been busy with swim, practicing piano, and the girls have started a Spanish program too. We will start school tomorrow though we might take Tuesday off already if some friends can go swimming. Also, if there is nice weather later this week, I want to get some beach pictures of the kids. :)
Trent's foot is still causing him a lot of pain. I am going to try to get someone to see him tomorrow.

VBS week

I taught the 2 and 3 year olds VBS this year. It was a lot of fun. It was also very challenging. I had 4 kids who don't go to church or Sunday School. Those kids wanted to do their own things instead of what was planned.

Our 4 kids had a lot of fun at VBS. On Thursday, Trent was jumping off of the stairs onto the wedge mat. That part is fine except that he jumped from too high and didn't clear the stairs and has been unable to walk since then. I did take him to the ER on Friday. It took 4 hours to determine that he has just badly bruised the bottom of his foot.

AFter the church picnic Saturday, Brayden complained that his stomach really hurt. I thought maybe something didn't set well. In the morning he complained that he hurt in the groin area. We didn't know what to think. When he got out of the shower though we saw that he was covered in red dots. We suspect that he has chicken pox. He has a slight fever too. He has had 2 vaccines for chicken pox already.

Brayden's birthday party

The baseball cake...


Brayden playing t-ball. ONe croc and one flip flop on his feet were the secret weapons.

promotion day

Jay taking the oath...to become a captain.

Jay with LTC Bailey. He was very nice to us. He gave the kids all a coin. IN the military world, that is a big deal to get a coin.

Jay thanking me in his speech.

Jay cutting the cake with a saber.