life.

Summer vacation is really nice. When bathing suits are the standard uniform of the day in lieu of clothing, it really cuts down on my laundry pile. Except for those beach towels. As far as the kids were concerned, this Memorial Day weekend was the kick-off to their summer-- and what a full weekend it was.

We did talk about the actual meaning of Memorial Day with them and about all the soldiers we know personally in our church. I am blessed to know the soldiers, both young and old, who serve God and our country. It amazes me how extremely young some of these soldiers are and how they could have said "yes" to do whatever is asked of them for our country. Amazing!

Just to answer a question I was asked-- No. We do not do any school during the summer. I really feel that the children and me included need that time to enjoy some time off. 170 days a school year are enough for us. It's time to focus on our family. The way I see it-- what's the rush? There will always be plenty of time for school.

Back to the weekend...
Ruby had her first visit to the beach. We filled up a bucket of water and gave her sand toys to dunk and she literally sat in the same spot (she can crawl) for over an hour giggling and splashing in and out of the bucket. That was until she discovered wet sand. Yuck. For some awful reason she thought it tasted really good. She looked adorable though covered in wet sand with a cute ponytail in her red hair.

Pearl had to be rescued by her Daddy. She thought she was being like the big boys by sitting on her brother's bogey board on dry sand until the waves swept in around her and began to pull her and the board into the foaming surf. A look of panic filled her face and I yelled at my husband to save her. He calmly put down his tunafish sandwich, then took off running and snatched her out of the water just as she tumbled in. Surprisingly, she emerged laughing and ran over to our blanket to tell me about it all, even though I had watched the whole event unfold. He said that it was just like God to save us at the last second. Hmmm....

Lincoln ran around feeling unleashed and free. A 2 year old with no boundaries.

We brought along the neighbor kids both days and my children loved that. They roasted marshmallows with us, slip-n-sided with us and went to church and the potluck with us. I wonder when they grow up what they will say when they remember the crazy next door neighbors who already had 7 children and counting but never minded adding neighbor children too. Funny.

Our American flags are up for the summer and we are already gearing up to participate in our local 4th of July parade next month. Hooray! Sophia will be the Statue of Liberty and Ethan will be Uncle Sam. Parker wants to be George Washington. I think we are going for 'Under God' theme tying in the founding fathers.

I am very thankful to be an American. Blessed to be a Christian. Amazed to be a Mommy of many.