Ever Seen This?

Yellow watermelon?

Yep, we had it with our dinner tonight. It tastes just like the regular stuff, but it's yellowish-orange.

Latest Project

On Wed. night I was asked to help the Young Women make matching pajama bottoms for girls camp. That gave me the itch to sew again. So on Thursday I took the girls to the fabric store and this is what I made yesterday. I think they are my favorite! I love the colors.

They REALLY like to pose for the camera.

Meet Of Champs

Isaac qualified for the Meet of Champs in freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, and IM. Quite an honor considering it's the best of the best swimmers from central Arkansas. He did well, finishing 3rd in his division in freestyle, 1st in backstroke. He also did well in the other events, but didn't medal in them. He had fun with his buddy Caden...they are usually neck to neck in their meets...a little friendly competition never hurt anyone. So the swim season is done and it ended on a good note. We are proud of him!

I'm #1

Next on his agenda: Golf Camp next week, his first triathlon on Aug 7th, and then back to school!

Heat Wave

It's hot here. Like fry an egg on the side walk hot. The kids can't go outside, it's too miserable. So, we have gone to the pool almost everyday for relief. That's about all you can do outside. So in order so keep the kids busy and not cooped up fighting, we go to the Maumelle Community Pool. It's a great place...we always have friends there. The life guard told me the water was 90 degrees today. Not much relief, but better than being at home or sweating to death in a park somewhere.

I've been trying to get the kids ready for school. We still have 3 or 4 weeks of summer left, but if I put off uniform shopping too long the sizes I need are gone. So I went through closets this week. Pulled out the clothes that are too small or just flat out grungy. Went shopping and filled the closets back up. Not a cheap task considering we have 3 kids in uniforms who have all outgrown their last year stuff. But the task is done. Now we just need school supplies and we are ready to go.

boyz new digs...notice Isaac has no pants. He won't wear them. only ONE time last year.

Caites new digs

VICTORY

I had tears of joy rolling down my cheeks as I read my friend Stephanie's blog the other day, and then again when I received the phone call. After a long, hard fight, my little Leukemia fighting friend, Odette, is now cancer free!

I have tried my hardest to be a supporter for Stephanie and little Odette, but it's hard to do from a distance. We talk weekly and I try my best to cheer her on. I have learned a lot from Stephanie and Odette.

Happiness is a choice. Being positive and putting your faith in the LORD is the only way to get through the darkness. It truly does take a Village to raise a family. No one in this situation can do it alone. It took friends, neighbors, and church members, to pitch in a help with the other kids at home while Stephanie spent the time needed in the hospital and Ken worked. It also took a slew of medical professionals to take care of Odette and get her what she needed.

Stephanie is an amazing person. She constantly does things for other people. Just last week she organized a "fun run" to raise money for a family who's father was just diagnosed with cancer. It was a success. ONE person really can make a difference.

I'm am blessed to have her as my friend. Love you girl!

Funny thought from a funny kid

Setting: The kids finished watching a movie and Aaron told them to turn off the t.v.

Isaac: "But why?"

Hayden: "Because Dad says it makes your brain rot and then jello will come out of your ears. Then you will have to go to the emergency room."

Aaron: "Yep, and we can't put your brain back in when it's jello."

Hayden: "Yeah, you won't have a brain anymore."

We are F.A.S.T.

Yesterday was a day of races. We had a swim meet in Cabot first thing in the morning. We finally convinced Hayden that he could kickboard across the pool in a meet. He did great, bringing up the rear! All he cared about was the ribbon he "won". Caite did fantastic also...coming in 2nd over all in kickboard and 4th in freestyle (for her age category). Isaac also had a great meet, except for a DQ in backstroke, due to a flip turn mistake. We have some pretty great swimmers in our family. I am proud of the progress they have made this year.

Last night was also the "Big Dam Bridge" 5K race. It has become tradition that Aaron and Isaac run this with some of the other residents and docs from Children's Hospital. While they run, the rest of us enjoy the live band, bead booths, and lots of yummy food and drinks. We walked over to the finish line at about 20 minutes in and a few minutes later Aaron came running through followed by Isaac a few seconds later.

We hung out at the park, ate pizza, danced, and waited for the awards to be given out. Isaac got a silver medal...coming in 2nd for boys 14 and under.

I guess the flash whited out the medal on the ribbon, but was there.

Garvan Gardens

There's a beautiful garden in Hot Springs that is about an hour from our house. I have heard wonderful things about it, but we have never gone. Aaron was off on Monday, so we took that opportunity to head out for the day. The garden was amazing! It was huge. We spent about 4 hours walking around looking at everything. The kids had fun playing in the many waterfalls. We found a Koi pond and fed the "great big gold fish" (according to Hayden). There was a kids section full of boulders to climb on, creeks to wade in, waterfalls to play under, and tunnels to crawl through. Once again, I just enjoyed the time together.

Here are tons of pictures...and I'm only posting a fraction of them...we took a ton.

I didn't know Aaron took this pic. Like mother, like daughter.

Independence Day

I love the 4th of July! The parades, fireworks, bbq's, watermelon, and friends. The nice part about the 4th of July in Maumelle, Arkansas, is that you can get it all and not the crowds.

We got to the parade about 3 minutes before it started. parked. pulled the chairs out. waved to our friends in the parade. collected TONS of candy, t-shirts, balls, cookies etc. loaded up the chairs. walked to the car. A TOTAL of less than 30 minutes. It was great! Nothing fancy, just the necessities. The kids only care about the candy anyway.

Then we headed home to have a bbq with our new neighbors, the Gardiners. They are just starting an ophthalmology residency. SO glad we aren't just starting! Food was good, company was fun.

Then off to the fireworks at the lake. Once again, it's nice to live in a small town. pull up and park, watch the 20 minutes fire works and home for bed. The kids got to do everything you do on Independence Day and we didn't have to loose them in the crowds.

Peabody Park at the River Market

Most days our lives revolve around Swim practice in the morning, swimming for fun in the afternoons, and Swim Meets on Saturdays. So this week I convinced the kids that we could do something other than go to the pool. We headed out, with our friends the Marshalls, to Peabody Park in Little Rock for the afternoon. It's a fun place with things to do for all ages. The Splash Pad is Hayden's and Halle's favorite.

Then they have a section with climbing rocks, tunnels, and caves. Caite really likes this part.

Isaac found a cool waterfall place. The kids had fun playing on the waterfall. It reminded them of Swiss Family Robinson's...but we didn't let them slide down to the river.

We also walked over to the bridge, took the elevator up, and let the kids run back and forth over the river.

Then we walked down to the river and let the kids throw rocks and climb around.

We had a fun day. The air was dry and not so hot. It reminded me of Utah. Days like this I would rather go on adventures. The Natural State is a great place for adventures.