Week 30

Saturday July 23rd
We spent the day in North Stonington at Kaleigh's 4-H horse show.



Sunday July 24th
This picture needs a little background information. Eric came home after doing sound for the evening service to find Parker and Blake in the shower. He proceeded to dump a cup of cold water on them while they were in there. He went about his buisness and began to change the roters on his car while the boys gathered squirt guns for payback. They atttacked him while he was working. I snapped the picture just as Eric got up to go after them. I love the look on Parker's face!


Monday July 25th
We went to the Klim's for a playdate.


Tuesday July 26th
Eric had planned a long overdue family trip to the beach. We got to the Groton/New London bridge when the axle on the boat trailer broke. He called a tow truck and sat on the side of the highway and waited for it, while the kids and I headed home. Then he and his dad spent all afternoon trying to get the trailer out from underneath the boat so it could be fixed. Guess that family day will have to wait.



Wednesday July 27th
Kaleigh finally got around to having her birthday sleepover.



Thursday July 28th
The girls playing a Country Dance Game on the Wii.


Friday July 29th
Was spent getting ready for another horse show and trying to avoid death while putting the boat back on the trailer. Too busy for pics :(

Mouse Traps

We got together with fellow homeschoolers and friends yesterday. The kids get along really well and we love how creative they get with their play. Yesterday was a perfect example. The boys got a hold of some mousetraps and it was non-stop laughter and excitement for HOURS! Here is just a snippet of their time together...


Then they tried to scare the girls with the traps.




Who knew mouse traps could be so entertaining. It brings me back to the days when cardboard boxes and pots and pans were their favorite toys. Guess what the boys are getting in their stockings this year for Christmas ;)

New London County 4-H Fair

Today Kaleigh participated in the horse show for the New London County 4-H. Our day began as we left the house at 6am to head over to the barn. Kaleigh was a big help to me as I tried to get the horse trailer hooked up to the new truck for the first time. Then, she headed to the ring to lunge Pride, while I gathered all the tack, brushes and neccesary equipment. By the time I was done, it was 7:00am and we had a half hour to get him sparkling clean and load him in the trailer. We were rolling out of the farm about 7:40am. We safely arrived to the fairgrounds at 8:30 and had about a half hour to get registered and set up for her first class, Showmanship.



She didn't do too well in Showmanship. The judge thought Pride looked fat and greasy. So our new nickname for him is Guido. At least Kaleigh learned the things she needs to practice before the next show.

After Showmanship, she tacked Pride up and headed over to the trail ring. She got first place for her performance in trail.


After about an hour of waiting, she got to complete her last three classes, Pleasure, Equitation, and Command. Unfortunately, she was the only one in her division, so there was no competition. She was bummed because she likes competition.

After that, she decided to have some fun and enter in a couple of the games. She did Sit-A-Buck, in which the rider places a dollar bill between their seat and the horse. The last one left with the bill still there wins. It is harder than it sounds and she came in second.

Then she tried Musical Envelopes.


It was a HOT day and we were glad to get out of there around 2:30. But the fun didn't stop there. Once I got back to the barn around 3:30, all the stuff that we had brought needed to be unpacked, the trailer needed to be cleaned out and put away, and there is ALWAYS poop that needs to be shoveled from stalls. It was 5:00 pm by the time I left the barn and I was completely drenched in sweat. It was a fun, but tiring day!

Week 29

Saturday July 16th
The kids came home from camp. We all went out with my grandmother to a spagetti supper to hear all about their week at camp. Sorry no pic :(

Sunday July 17th
Parker missed Missy I think.

A few minutes after taking the first shot, I called him into the kitchen for something. When I went in the living room, I found he had put the cat down and tucked her in. :)


Monday July 18th
We have seen Mama bird coming back and forth to this nest for a month. I was shocked to finally see babies...big ones at that!


Tuesday July 19th
Eric had about 45 minutes after coming home from working at the apartment before he had to head back out for band practice. He decided to grab a swim with the kids and they were pleased to have some time with Daddy.



Wednesday July 20th
Kaleigh has been working hard polishing up all her tack for her upcoming horseshow.


Thursday July 21st
Kaleigh snapped a picture of me working hard painting signs for our church tag sale in the 97 degree temps.


Friday July 22nd
One word...HOT! BTW this thermometer is in the shade!

Week 28

This week was a fairly productive week for me, the kids were away for the week at camp and I was able to get many cleaning projects done around the house that I have been putting off. Of course I left some time for play :)

Saturday July 9th
I dropped the kids off at church at 8am and waved goodbye as they headed off to Word of Life camp in NY for a WEEK!





That evening Eric and I attended the second wedding of the weekend, my cousin Robin and her husband Bobby.


Sunday July 10th
Yup ANOTHER wedding. This time it was for Eric's childhood friend, Matt.


Monday July 11th
I had a softball game.


Tuesday July 12th
Spend the day scrubbing boogers at the rental property for five hours and then took two loads of tag sale items from a friend's house to the church storage unit. Yup, I was pooped!

Wednesday July 13th
Had a softball game in the rain. Got to play and look at this :)


Thursday July 14th
Had some fun with my little buddy I watch.


Friday July 15th
Spent the morning out of the trails with Loree, Tux and Dottie.

Then headed up to Boston with Eric to watch Thane Stimson fight in his AFO competition. Ever see the mixed martial arts cage fighting on TV? Yup that's what he does. We were thrilled to see him take away a win and continue as an undefeated champion.

Week 27

Saturday July 2nd
John and LeeAnn are here from West Virginia, so we went to the Putnam fireworks with them.


Sunday July 3rd
Was spent at the in-laws relaxing poolside and lovin on my nephew.

Monday July 4th
At the in-laws again for a retirement party for my father in law.

Tuesday July 5th
Took Mac to the vet for a hot spot gone bad. Poor cone head.


Wednesday July 6th
Blake had a pretty good case of swimmer's ear. I was able to take care of it with alcohol and vinegar drops. In explaining what swimmer's ear is and why this works, I mentioned how the inside of this ear looked all white and wrinkly. He of course wanted to see it and begged me for a picture. Of course, he couldn't see the white, but at least I made an effort for him :)


Thursday July 7th
Kaleigh had her last swim lesson so I took a shot of the group that had been together over the last two weeks.


Friday July 8th
We had two celebrations today. Eric's Uncle Gary got marrried......

and Kaleigh turned 12!

Rocky Neck

Our dear friends from PA were up this week, so we headed to the beach on a cloudy Saturday morning. It was forcasted to rain later in the day, but the kids didn't care. They just wanted to go crabbing on the rocks. So we did. The kids spent HOURS crabbing.
And I took lots of pictures of them enjoying it! Two other friends joined us with their brood. There were 14 of us in all.








Parker dropped his line and was trying to retrieve it.

The day ended up turning out beautiful, so we all headed over to the beach.


Kaleigh playing frisbee


Parker eating as usual :)


These two crazy boys got out of the water and covered themselves with sand. Then repeated the act about 5 more times. Silly!


Blake jumping waves


The ladies