I seriously cannot believe how behind I am getting on these posts. I know we have been busy, but this is almost embarrassing ha! Not to mention my memory is shot so it makes things extra hard to have to remember activities and details! We've got a lot going on and while it may be pretty chaotic at times, I'm trying to soak up every single minute with my kids during our favorite time of year! Even if it is just time in the car going from one activity to another....
Here's what's been happening!
Johnny is participating in the Shooting Sports event for 4H again this year and has chosen Shotgun as his discipline. He is the youngest kid out there and does a great job keeping up with the high school kids-I couldn't be more proud of him and it makes me so happy seeing him do something he truly loves to do!
Mellany had dance tryouts for her final year of middle school and she made it! These are the traditional "good luck" flowers that we always get her (and Charlotte too!). 3 roses for her 3rd year...
Spring time flowers are so pretty! Our irises were truly amazing this year.
The boys and I went to Barnes and Noble to spend gift cards from Nana and instead of books, they found some Lego sets. These boys truly love their Legos!
One perk of subbing in the middle school is having lunch with my girl and her bestie!
We had a pretty significant storm roll through and blow over our patio table. This table has never budged in wind and we've had LOTS of wind since we purchased it. Thankfully nothing was damaged on the patio set itself, just the umbrella and my pot.
The 2025-2026 Battle Ground Middle School Dance Team! Can't wait to see what this year holds for these girls!
The last week of school meant theme days for these boys. They both dressed up with Simon for Twin Day. I really think they could pass for legit twins most days.
The 7th grade awards assembly was held on the second to last day of school and Mellany received 3! She received and award for gym and two awards for art. This girl truly impresses us daily!
LAST DAY OF SCHOOL! One of our favorite days of the year! After we turned around when we finished taking the picture, we noticed Winston in the door window watching us so contently, so we snapped a pic with him too.
Speaking of Winston, he always finds the clean laundry being folded on the bed.....
After getting back home from Destin, FL, we headed out to the strawberry patch to pick so we could make jam! The kids really do help a ton and I'm so thankful they enjoy picking; it would take me forever by myself.
After making enough jam to last us the year, I decided to make some shortcake too!
It was a quick turnaround, but after getting back home on a Monday night from Destin, picking strawberries and packing on Tuesday, Johnny left for 4H Camp on Wednesday! He was so excited for another year at camp and had a great time!
The following week after that, we had VBS at church. This year's theme was Upwards! and we had a great week learning about Jesus!Johnny and Charlie can still attend VBS, while Mellany lead music and volunteered in the toddler room and I helped man the Operations Table. Gammy was here this year for VBS too and that was such a huge help! Because while VBS is so fun and exciting, it's also exhausting!
Johnny has been working with his dairy cow, Tilly, every week and is truly loving it! He's hoping to make it to the dairy farm more than once a week but our schedules just haven't allowed for that or it's been hotter than the sun and Tilly doesn't care for it to be super hot outside!
While Gammy was still in town, we ate Mexican for lunch and the kids dug out some quarters for the claw machine. They literally walked away with like 4 stuffed animals from the machine! It was so impressive!
John and I also celebrated an early anniversary by going to Noblesville for the Thomas Rhett concert. We love a good outdoor concert (or really any concert with good music) and TR did not disappoint-it was fantastic!
When we got back home on Sunday, we talked Gammy into playing on the VR set....I think she loved it. :)
That Sunday was also Father's Day and the kids surprised John with a sign in the yard when we got home.
After Gammy went back home and all the dust had truly settled from our trip to Florida and VBS and picking strawberries, we finally hit a phase of boredom. Which is honestly one of my favorite phases....at the time I took this picture, Charlie had told me he was bored about 75 times....to which I responded "GREAT! Now you can be creative!"
They weren't bored for long, because then we started working on 4H projects! A drawing and a dress for Mellany, a model and poster for Johnny and a lego set for Charlie.
The final shooting sports "practice" and it was HOT! But Johnny did great and had fun!
It's been extra hot here, which means we are extra thankful for our neighbor's pool.
These two got dropped off at Purdue this week for 4H Roundup. Roundup is a career exploration camp where they stay in a dorm and take several different classes that explore different career opportunities. It's such a neat experience, and I think they are both looking forward to it again next year.
Mel sent a breakfast selfie on the second day....so that night we sent her a family selfie.
She also sent several pictures from her day.....her favorite class was an aviation class where she got to sit in airplanes at the Purdue Airport.
I've won some major "cool mom" points by letting the boys camp out in the living room the past several nights. These are the things that summer is all about-being able to stay up way too late and sleep in the living room!
The boys have been brushing up on their swimming skills and getting ready for Camp T in the coming weeks!
WHEW! That was a lot! And the fun is only beginning! Have I mentioned how much I LOVE SUMMER?! It's my FAVORITE!!!
