A "yes" mom

Bunny and Pappy came down for a visit after Pine Cove.  

I have been terrible about taking pics! I took 2 pictures while they were here, and Pappy's eyes were closed. I'm losing my edge.  My kids are so tired of posing!

We had a great quick visit!

My parents were in town for my niece's birthday, so they came over and visited with my in-law parents.  It had been a long time since they've seen each other, and they enjoyed catching up.

At Pine Cove, we get a different "theme" from the speakers every year.  This year was parenting which was a first for us.  It was GOOD.  The speaker so enjoyed his seven, yes seven kids.  He talked about being a "yes" parent.  I am so quick to say "no" when their requests are not convenient.  We as a family are often so busy, that I'm constantly saying, "no we don't have time for that" or "no not right now."  And of course as parents, we say "no" all through the day just correcting behavior.  His point was try to stop and say "YES" for a change!

The girls are always asking to paint.  My response is always, "The boys will want to paint, too, and it's too crazy, so we will do it later."  I had tons of paint because we used to paint all the time.  So when they asked this week, I said, "YES!"  They spent HOURS painting.

I walked in from Tae Kwon Do with G and needed to get supper started tonight.  Mary asked to make cookies, and I said, "YES!" 

Hubs was so proud (He's the YES parent).  I'm so schedule oriented that I get upset when we get off track.  I burst the bubble tonight.  We made cookies first, then cooked dinner!  We ate 30 min late, and no one SUFFERED! ha.

So to my kids, I didn't always say NO.  Here's your proof:)

Family Camp

No way, has it been two weeks since I've blogged?  

I think it takes about a week to pack for camp, and there is no internet at Pine Cove.  (which is actually a really nice break!)

Rodeo night

It was a rainy night, so they had to do it inside which was hysterical.  The counselors dressed up as cows and horses...sounds crazy, yes.  But hilarious.

Catching up with old friends:)  I love this about Pine Cove.  I've gotten to know these ladies over the past few years and I learn so much from them.  Some have older kids, some kids the same age, but we catch up on our families like we've know each other for a long time!  The friendships are one of the best parts (I sound like I went to high school camp!)

Allie LOVES it!  We hardly see her because she's running around with all her girls.

Resetting for Angry Birds.

Mary has gotten really brave.  She zip lines, horse back rides, slides, boats, and goes back for more.

David's face??! 

Garrett saying good bye to his favorite girl!  He talked about her all week:)

I can't say enough about what this week does for our family.  We have a lot of down time too, and the hubs and I attend several mornings of speaker sessions that are an investment in our lives spiritually and for our marriage and parenting.  The week fills us up!  It's not exactly easy vacationing with four kids, but this is a real break.  They are busy and happy (even David) and we get time with them and with out them!  

Thank you Pine Cove and see you next year!

Alot of nothing...finally

This is the first week all summer where we have mostly stayed at home and done nothing.

There is a great toy store here in town that sells "bridge" books for the summer  (preK to K, 1rst -2nd, 4th-5th).  If a child finishes the whole book, they get any toy in the store at half price.  They have worked on their books some, but this week they hit it hard!  I think they may pull it off!

Garrett likes school, and he does well with reading and loves to learn, BUT he is really not a fan of writing or coloring!  As extra incentive I told him he could earn his Wii time by working through the book.  It has worked!  Look at that concentration (he can't write without his tongue!

Each book covers all subjects.  Even physical ed, so I walked in, and they are doing squats together, and Mary was doing push ups!

"My birday?"

David "gets" the birthday celebration by now, so every time someone has a birthday, he says "my birday?" Over and over.

Yes, little man.  Today is your birday!

He has changed a LOT!

We had more of a "swim date" birthday party during the week because we were a little overbooked today.  He was so sweet singing along with everyone to himself!

You are one sweet dude.  You are sensitive and affectionate.  You are saying a few sentences here and there but mostly are still talking in 3 words phrases, but you talk a lot. You have entered the question phase.

"What doin?"

"Why?"

"What doin now?"

"Where going?"

"Where's Daddy?"

"Why?"

Oh the questions! Agg!

You love Thomas trains more than anything.

And finally, one of your favorite sentences is, " I a GOOD swimmer."  You are so proud!

And for a three year old, you ARE!

Happy birthday to you David!!!

Fourth

Major mom fail.

I forgot to take pics of the rest of them.  Oops.

Don't know if you can tell, but all the watermelon on that tray are half eaten.  Hmm..

Last day of base camp.  They are worn out.  

Mary picked out her little sock/shoe ensemble.  Ha

Pine Cove is back

One might get tired of me going on and one about Pine Cove.  But we LOVE all things Pine Cove.

Our church is doing a "base camp" this week, and we are housing four of the counselors. 

The kids LOVE it!

This "culture" of college kids is the best.  They are so fun, even if two are LSU kids one one is an Aggie.  We don't try to let that bother us too much:)

When we picked up the girls today at camp, David ran up to "Caaahhson" and hugged him so sweetly.

Garrett has really taken to "Screamy."  He asked her to put him to bed tonight (He's in sister's room).

The girls leave out early every morning, so I've tried to find some new breakfast recipes.  This is one I've never tried....crock pot breakfast casserole.  It has hash brown potatoes rather than a bread so we shall see how it turns out!  

I got the recipe from "Six sisters" blog under "breakfast." 

Summer times

Our kids get along "reasonably" well although what I consider reasonable may be terribly unreasonable for someone else.  

With four kids, on any given day, at least one kid is out of sorts, so it is pretty rare that they ALL get along or that they ALL want to do the same activity with the given age spread.

So  I nearly tripped over my chair to get my phone, when I caught them doing this.

A mamma lives for moments like this.