Fire Crackers and a Visit with a Friend

 This July 4th, we had extra reason to celebrate.  My mom called me at 1:45 in the morning to let me know that my little sister had her baby (we were waiting for the call, at least I was with the phone by my bed) and got her wish for a Firecracker baby!  My newest niece, Sianah Joy was born on the fourth of July and weighed in at a whopping 10 pounds, three ounces!!!  She is adorable and we cannot wait to meet her!!  My sister has tons of pictures on her blog on my sidebar if you want to see pictures of baby Sianah and her family!

A bit later in the day we went over to my brother's home to swim and celebrate.  The kids loved the pool.  Joel and I each took a swim and it was very refreshing, even if you had to dodge the eleven children swimming and jumping around. 

 Cousins enjoying cupcakes for dessert.  It is good to know that while they might die of sugar coma, they will not drown!  I love Asher's very serious blue face here, and I love his deep friendship with his cousin Blair. 

 It takes so long for it to get dark in the summer, which is one of my favorite things about this time of year.  Except having to wait around so long for firecrackers, and lightning bugs.  As soon as the sun went down, out came the boxes of sparklers and poppers.  Yay for the Fourth of July!!!

 Asher getting ready to go run around the front yard with his sparkler.  Once it was completely dark we enjoyed watching neighborhood firework displays.  The kids ran up and down the sidewalk watching all the dads set off little rockets and firecrackers to the chorus of lots of cheers.



I kind of really stink at self portraits.  But my college room-mate, Amy, was in town on a family vacation from Colorado, so I was so happy to get a chance to catch up with her and have lunch together yesterday.  The two hours went way too fast, I think we could have talked all day.  It had been two years since we saw each other, and might be that long until we meet again, unless Joel and I can take her up on the offer to visit them in Fort Collins.  That would be a fun trip! 

Other than that, our summer here has been very typical.  Joel has done a few house projects and we have a few more small things to do yet (paint and paint some more).  I have been able to get to the pool at least once or twice a week with the children and our friends.   Timothy loves to splash in the baby pool, and the older children love to take him around in his little inflatable boat.  I have the older four children each take a turn with me watching the younger ones so that it is managable for one mommy to take eight kids to the pool, at least for an hour or so.  I come home exhausted, but glad to have had a chance to enjoy the day.  It has been horribly hot and humid lateley.  We have taken the kids to see a few free movies at the local theater.  We have been enjoying the local library's summer program with the younger children.  Today. Luke lost his yucky nail at the theater.  Hopefully not in the popcorn!  His finger is healing up, but still swollen and bent.  We will see with time, how fully it heals. 

Joel and I celebrated our Sixteenth anniversary a few weeks ago!  Where does the time go?  We spent two nights away in a wonderfully secluded but gorgeous cottage in the middle of nowhere.  Just what we needed after a long year full of busy, busy and more busy.  Our kids enjoyed staying at my parents and our bigger three boys at the home of their best friends, the Schells.  The poor food bill for those few days with six hungry boys to feed!  Thanking God for friends and family that allowed us to have that trip.  And thankful to God for this marriage.  It hasn't been easy, but it has always been good. 

So that is it.  I have lots of homeschool planning to accomplish yet this summer, as well as all the nessessary legal forms for the school district to get done.  Not really feeling like any of that right now.  I aim to take the camera to the pool one day and get pictures of the kids this year.  This is our third year, and I have yet to get a picture at the pool.