Ready or Not Here July Comes

I seriously can't believe that it is July already.  This year as flown by.  Here is our update!

Chad:  I finished swim lessons and can swim like a fish even more now.  I love to dive down to the bottom of our pool and grab something.  T-ball is over but I had a great time and improved so much.  If anyone comes over, I still want to wear my uniform for them.  The best part of t-ball was having my Dad as my "boss"...oh, I mean coach.  I get that confused!  I am very excited to have my birthday in a few days.  I am going to take cupcakes to church.  There is a list of other desires for my birthday that I give at random times to Mom.  I tell everyone that I am going to be six in a few days.  Several people have told me that I am really growing up.  I am taking initiative and helping Mommy a lot more.  Guess I am just getting ready for Kindergarten.

Kaylee:  In swimming lessons, I learned to keep my face in the water for a few seconds.  I couldn't be more proud.  A few morning ago, I woke up and walked into the dining room.  On the way, I noticed how light it was outside and said "Mommy, it never got dark last night!"  Mommy said that it did get dark but that I just slept through it.  I am such a good mommy to Cole.  Mommy is impressed at how patient I am with him considering he wants to be with me all of the time.  We like to sit in the doorway of our rooms each morning and talk.  My favorite time is "girl time."  With all of these boys around, I really like just one-on-one time with Mommy.  I am Mommy's little helper.  I can even buckle Cole into his carseat.

Cole:  My Mommy calls me "her favorite mess,"  I guess I can see why.  I continue to challenge her in every way.  After my two year shots, my tummy didn't feel to well for about a week so I focused on it more than potty training.  Guess I forget everything that I had learned.  But, Mommy is trying to be patient with me as I slowly begin to return to "being potty trained."  Bedtime is still my favorite time to be creative.  Not sure when I will give up but it has been a good run.  Sleep just isn't very important to me.  I pull out all the stops when I don't want to do something - "read Bible", "pray", "I go potty."  These are sometimes hard for Mommy to resist.  A couple of days ago I counted to 14 for Mom.  I just missed number one.  I maybe could have gone further but I got distracted.  Mommy made a big deal out of it. 

Baby:  I am growing right on schedule.  Mommy and Daddy got to see me in action yesterday at the ultrasound.  The tech asked Mommy if I move a lot.  The tech said that she would attest to the fact that I am a very active baby.  Because of this, I didn't take good pictures at all.  Mommy says that this needs to change.  My brothers and sister like to talk to me and are filled with questions about when I am going to "pop out."  Those are Kaylee's words.  I am excited to meet everyone in about 20 weeks! 

Michael:  Bike...work...Daddy... and a little soccer.  The four consume his days.  He works at work and then comes home and works for Mommy or the kids.  But as you can read, he also has time for biking and soccer.  Since it is so light out in the evenings, he often takes his rides after the kids are put to bed.  Chad has gotten into watching soccer with him.  Chad really gets into the game!  Since Mommy is pregnant, the pool is his responsibility.  The kids love to swim each evening.  We love how it wears them out!

Heidi:  After six months of working to get the ABCJLM curriculum ready to print, I finally finished Monday night.  To our amazement, I can't keep up with orders.  Michael and I are already trying to figure out how many more to print.  It is truly amazing and awesome to see how many homes are receiving the Good News of Jesus Christ by way of the curriculum.  So many of you have joined us in this ministry through your suggestions, help, and prayer.  We can't thank you enough.  

Last week I spent the days on and off sick.  Doctor wasn't sure if it was kidney stones or just a bad bladder infection.   Thankfully the culture showed a positive for ecoli and the medicine has taken care of it.  Now that the curriculum is done (and I am feeling well), I am returning to house work.  It has been a long time and the house shows it.  We started on Kaylee's room yesterday.  The kids enjoy helping as we find little treasures!

Garden:  Thankfully much better than the past few years.  I dried 2 large yogurt containers of onions.  That will definitely get me through the winter.  The potatoes yielded 8 quarts canned and 11 (yogurt) containers for the freezer of cubed potatoes.  The tomatoes aren't doing as well as we would like but hopefully they are just late bloomers.  The apple and peach trees are loaded and we continue to pray for a bountiful crop!  If it would ever rain around here, it would really help!