Bicycles and Scooters and Running

Fun summertime stuff. 

Sierra has learned how to keep the pedals moving in the right direction and how the handlebars work.  She wants to ride all the time now. 

Sean loves his scooter as much as his bike.  Here he thought he was really beating Braden in a race.  Braden was being very nice. 

Every once in a while, we see this one running barefoot in the neighborhood. 

On Saturday, Sean was Daddy's big helper all day.  They disassembled an old doghouse, moved a bunch of bricks, nailed down nails on the deck, etc.  It was a big day. 

Craft time.  If Sean had his way, we would do crafts and science experiments all day every day.  Sierra is wearing a patch on one eye to help the trying-to-be-lazy eye work harder so the brain will not stop sending signals to it.  She's been doing well with it.  The hardest part is when she gets sweaty from playing outside and the salty sweat stings her eye.  I think the adhesive is starting to irritate her skin so we will be looking into alternatives for that also. 

Flutterbies, Butterflies

 

It was really neat to see this exhibit.  We've been to a butterfly exhibit before but it did not even compare to this one.  We could easily see the butterflies drinking nectar from the flowers and the feeders. 

 
I really like this picture. 

There were several hanging baskets of petunias which the butterflies apparently loved.  See this one taking a drink. 

Notice the proboscis (what they drink with) all curled up.

I had told Sean I didn't think we'd see any chrysalises but obviously I was wrong.  Wow. 

More Zoo Pics

I'll share some of the animals this time. 

Sleeping Koala.  Since Koalas sleep 18-22 hours a day, it's not easy to see them awake. 

The sea lions were fun.  They have a lot of personality. 

Callie's favorites.

My favorite. 

Zoo Field Trip

We took advantage of the wonderful weather this weekend and made a trip to the zoo.  It has been a while since we've been to the zoo in Indy.  As a matter of fact, it was the first time for Sean and Sierra.  A couple years ago we visited Brookfield Zoo in Chicago but they do not remember that.  We also visited Cincinnati Zoo about 4 years ago.  Anyway, the Indiapolis Zoo has changed some.  Here are a few pics that I took. 

 

Callie would set up a tent and live at a zoo or any kind of place that has animals.  The goats were a bit spoiled, I think. 

Sierra loves the animals.  She chose to wear pigtails because she thought the animals would like them. 

This was taken at the Butterfly exhibit at White River Gardens which is next to the zoo and no extra cost.  It was spectacular.  It was the favorite part of our visit for most of us.  I will post more pictures later. 

2008 Olympics - My Observations

We are enjoying the Olympics on NBC. First, we were awed and amazed by the Opening Ceremonies. The thought that comes to my mind is that I would not want to be the country that gets to host the 2012 Olympics. They have a tough act to follow.

Today and this evening we watched some men's gymnastics, women's beach volleyball and swimming. It was fun watching Sean and Sierra really getting into the events. Sean is all about voting for Team USA. Sierra loves the gymnastics.... says she loves all those guys. :)

Michael Phelps rocks. We hope to see him win a few more gold medals.

I find beach volleyball interesting. I don't understand why all that sand does not bother the players. I cannot stand to have sand on me like that. It also interests me how their uniforms cover less of the body than the men's swimsuits. Men's swimsuits have definitely evolved. Some wear long swim pants. Some wear something like a jumper. Definitely suits that cover more body than the vintage Speedo-ish bikinis. Is this so they do not have to shave their body to acquire more speed?

Well, this is your unofficial Olympic commentator signing off. Good night and God bless.

Hot Days Cool Treat

We had some pretty hot days recently.   The water felt good to the kids. 

We have a nice break right now from the humidity and heat.  3 1/2 of us are recovering from a summer cold virus.  I have evaded it so far and C isn't sure she has it or maybe she's is in denial so she can go swimming tomorrow with her 4-H club. 

 

Summer Memories

Sean loves tennis just like his daddy. 

 

We had a nice visit with Mrs. R (preschool). 

Looking for butterflies.

Just a swingin'. 

What's Up

The kids and I took a trip south for a few days to visit with family.  We got back yesterday and have been settling back in.  Sean's new floor is done and looks great (way to go, Daddy!) but most of his stuff is in Sierra's room.  I hope to get it moved and organized in the next couple of days. 

Bugs are trying to invade the green bean plants that have been untouched by this bunny rabbit.  They must have arrived when they learned that I was gone.  I sprayed them this evening which assured that we would get rain... we did.  I will try to re-spray tomorrow.  I did pull weeds.  It's amazing how fast those grow when you are not looking.

Ok, so my weeds weren't quite that big, but look at the potential! 

My main focus the next couple of weeks is preparing for school.  I have most of the materials....  it's the mental preparation that I am working on the most.  I want us to have a good year. 

Mechanically inclined

Sometimes it comes in handy to have a brother who is mechanically inclined.   Kerry fixed the door on the van.  Turns out, as we suspected, it was just a pin missing after all.  Good news was the pin wasn't missing, it had just worked itself up so it wasn't working anymore. 

Now we are wondering if the dealer would have told us about the pin and fixed it, saving us $150 for the part, or if they would have pretended to replace the handle and charge us anyway.  I guess we'll never know and we're glad to not find out. 

A couple of prayer requests.  One is for Ephraim who is recovering from open-heart surgery.  He is Sierra's age and was in her bible study class and his mom was Sean's Bible study teacher.  Everything is going great but he has a slight fever which they are keeping an eye on. 

The next one is for Coleman.  This is a picture of Caden and Coleman.  They are twin 4-year olds.  Coleman has been battling cancer for a couple of years - medulloblastoma.  It is a brain cancer.  He underwent a stem cell transplant a few months ago but they have found that he now has several tumors on his spine.  He has maxxed on radiation and the strongest chemo was given for the stem cell transplant.   Please pray for these sweet boys and their parents and family.  If you want to read more about them, go to www.carepages.com and visit carepage ColemanScott. 

Storms

 

We got some much needed rain today.  Unfortunately it came with a bit of wind.    

One limb from high in a tree broke off....   hit our new gutter leaving this dent.

Then the wind lifted the limb even higher...   and it finally landed on top of the house like this....

The limb came from the tree on the far left.... clipped the gutter and then ended up wrapped around the vent pipe.  Strong wind. 

Our first clue was when I was looking out the front door during the storm and noticed these spread out on the front lawn... and in our neighbor's driveway.  Our second clue was when Callie came running down from her room claiming to have heard a noise like something popping. 

Trying to be optimistic, I asked Jeff if those could be our neighbors shingles.  :)    He reminded me which direction the wind had been blowing.  If you look up at the first picture... you can see where these are missing from the left side ridge.  Just more evidence of how strong those winds really were.  We are blessed that it wasn't worse.  And, of course, what's a good storm without losing power?  We lost power for a few hours.  It came back on at 9:00pm just as I was putting Sean and Sierra to bed.  They were really concerned they were having to go to bed without their radios.  How could they possibly sleep without their radios???    So, right in the middle of bedtime prayers, praying for patience without electricity, praying for those who live without electricity, etc...   the lights came on!  Sierra said immediately, "Thank you God!"

Jesus Messiah

I've been hearing a new song on the radio that I have quickly fallen in love with.  I had not been able to catch who was singing it though.  Tonight, while it was playing on K-LOVE, I pulled up their website to see who sings it. 

I wasn't surprised.  Chris Tomlin sings several songs that are powerful like this one is and I have two of his CDs.  I suppose I'll be getting a third one soon.  It is not too early for me to get an early birthday gift.  :) 

JESUS MESSIAH

He became sin
Who knew no sin
That we might become His Righteousness
He humbled himself and carried the cross

Love so amazing
Love so amazing

Chorus:
Jesus Messiah
Name above all names
Blessed Redeemer
Emmanuel
The rescue for sinners
The ransom from Heaven
Jesus Messiah
Lord of all

His body the bread
His blood the wine
Broken and poured out all for love
The whole earth trembled
And the veil was torn

Chorus:
Jesus Messiah
Name above all names
Blessed Redeemer
Emmanuel
The rescue for sinners
The ransom from Heaven
Jesus Messiah
Lord of all

All I hope is in You
All I hope is in You
All the glory to You, God
The light of the world

Chorus:
Jesus Messiah
Name above all names
Blessed Redeemer
Emmanuel
The rescue for sinners
The ransom from Heaven
Jesus Messiah
Lord of all

Wascally Wabbit

Our late garden is not looking too good.  I'm pretty sure the culprit looks like this: 

Or at least if he wasn't this big a few weeks ago, he is now after all the green bean leaves he has eaten. 

What does one do about rabbits eating their garden?  Several people say, "Get a dog". 

Our dog Sam has apparently retired from her rabbit hunting days and is content to sleep on the deck all night while said rabbit is munching away at all my hard work.  Yes, she is part beagle.  She used to catch varmints in the yard and bring them to the house to show us her prize.

I suggested to my husband that we might be able to foster a dog displaced by the flood for a couple of months... maybe a younger one that still hunts rabbits.  He didn't go for it.  

In the meantime I have tried some last ditch efforts involving spreading hot sauce or pepper around the remaining leaves but I think I am too late.  I didn't realize what was going on until things were too far gone.  I guess I was relying too much on said dog. 

More stuff

We went to the fair today looking forward to the cold front that was supposed to happen before we went.  Well, it was a few hours delayed so we walked around in the heat and ducked into a couple air conditioned buildings a few times.

Sean gave his best at the tractor pull and got 4th place. 

Callie walked around with a bunch of kids and 4-Hers for Smoke Free Day and they would all drop on the ground to play dead to show what smoking does to people. 

Sean volunteered to be a rock star with Sparky the Dog.  It was a special show about fire safety.  Sierra said, "I think Sparky loves me!" 

Tennis anyone?  Sean is taking lessons.  He ended up in a 6-7 year old class but is doing fine.  We're glad it worked out that way because his lessons are an hour and he is learning a lot more than in the younger class which was only 30 minutes.  He absolutely loves the class.  I think he would go every day all summer if he could.  Of course, Jeff has tennis fever now since he has not played since pre-shoulder surgery days.  He is hoping to get out and play with his brother soon.

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Technorati Tags: flowers,daylilies,daylily,photography,blooming flowers,colorful pictures

I had some fun this weekend snapping photos of our beautiful daylilies.  Tell me which photo you like best. 

Robins in our tree