A belated happy Father's Day

The most important thing in the world is family and love.

John Wooden

One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters.

George Herbert

Babies don't need fathers, but mothers do. Someone who is taking care of a baby needs to be taken care of.

Amy Heckerling

Psalm 127:3-5New International Version (NIV)

3 Children are a heritage from the Lord,
    offspring a reward from him.
4 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
    are children born in one’s youth.
5 Blessed is the man
    whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
    when they contend with their opponents in court.

It's that time of summer for scout stuff

Tonight, I get the computer to myself while Liam and Kella watch Netflix on the Wii controller and Marcus watches television.  Kinley is sleeping.  It is 9:30 at night.  I also will add that there are 5-6 kids playing in my backyard.  None of them live with us.

Where are the rest of the fam? They are enjoying nature at Cub Scout camp.  Andy was able to take Ewan (his 2nd year) and Cale (his 3rd or 4th year) to Cary Camp along with 2 other scouts and another scout leader.  That is pretty cool because for the past 2 years it has just been Andy and our boys representing our Pack at the camp.  I love the idea of more kids getting involved in scout camping.  (and a random parent just came by to shoo the children to their homes 9:35)

Marcus just got back from southern Indiana and a caving campout.  The troop camped out on the park grounds and then did a couple walking tours of the caves and did some crawling about in some tunnels-called the Masher.  Marcus had a blast. I love that he is excited to do these scout activities and that they are with a different set of kids than who he sees at school.  A wider circle of friends.  He gets a week at home before going to his Boy Scout camp.

The Boy Scouts.  Good luck finding Marcus, I can see his head between 2 guys in the front row.  

And, another cave pose.  Marcus is easier to find this time since he is wearing orange socks and is in the front row.

And, here is our crew for Cub Scout camp.  I know one of the campers looks unhappy, but I know he will have fun.  They all will.

So, I get to hold down the fort.  Me verses 4 kids, which might sound frightening to some, but isn't bad.  We are enjoying late night tv watching and wearing our jammies all morning

.  It's as awesome as it sounds.  

How could we forget Kinley?

Well, with 4 spring birthdays, I guess I thought I had posted pictures from everyone's birthdays.  

Guess I was wrong.  

Poor, neglected 6th child.  I totally forgot about her birthday pictures. 

So, here are some.

Opening presents.  Kinley was excited to get presents.  She knew they were hers.

Dinner time.  Looks like pizza.  Kinley likes it.

And the cake.  Kinley loves Veggietales and I thought it would be fun to have a cake with some of her favorite friends on it. I haven't fretted this much over a cake for a long time.  I got the cake pan off of ebay and the cake baked up great in it-strawberry cake-just like Kella.  The challenge, for me, was the frosting.  I made a double batch of buttercream delicious frosting and then colored individual bowls of the frosting. I even had a tube and tip thing to squeeze the frosting out of into the cool star shape.  Bob the tomato went easily, but I only had 1 tubey thing to squeeze frosting out of and Larry needed frosted in green, not red.  I'll admit to a panic attack at this point, but luckily, Andy to the rescue with a plan to decorate Larry.  Looks great and Kinley loved it.

She liked being sung to.

Photo bombed by her siblings.

The very, very end of spring soccer (in June)

It's raining, pouring actually.  

Kind of reminds me of those pop-up Florida showers.  

This rain will do nothing for the humidity.

Andy and Marcus are at a scout activity shooting things, painting things and eating lots of meat.

Kinley is napping.

The rest of us are watching a B rated movie called Soccer Dog.  Thank you to our library for carrying this fine title.

Last Saturday was Marcus's final soccer game of the season.  The game had been post-poned due to rain (surprise) and it took a couple weeks to reschedule.  It was a tough game for the boys.  Some of the players were not there-you know, families made plans thinking that soccer would be over at the end of May.  The temps were hot.  And, I don't usually complain, but even I thought the reffing was sub-par. 

Oh well.  

Anyway, the boys lost 1-2, and, even though I would have like to see the team make it to the championship, I was pretty happy to pack up the van after the game.  No more soccer till September.

Now, for some final photos of the team.

This team has played together so well.  Most of the boys have played together for both the fall and spring seasons.  Marcus had a great experience and some great coaching.

Last thoughts from the coach

dog pile!

Me and Cale, watching the game.  Cale was really paying attention since this is the league he will be in next year.

Finally, fishing!

It's forced reading time for the summer reading program at our house and for about 30 mins I will have the computer all to myself.  And, possible Kinley, who is sitting next to me.  

But, last weekend, the boys were pretty excited that Andy was able to take them to a free fishing event on the reservoir.  Cale got a fishing pole for Christmas and another one as a prize for selling popcorn for scouts and has been itching to use them.  Andy was free, the weather was not horrible, so it was a perfect time to go.  Extra bonus-the event had extra fishing poles so no one had to share.

Just some boys, fishing.

Cale caught a fish!  Actually, all the big boys caught a fish, this was the only one I caught on camera.

The littles decided to play at the playground.

Marcus won a fishing pole-bringing our total to 3.

And, some swinging.

Another day, another memory.

Let's hear from Kinley!

Okay.  Almost caught up on all the birthday stuff, but we don't want to forget our new two year old.  She doesn't talk much, so the questions have been answered by her siblings, who know Kinley pretty well.

What is your....

favorite color?  purple (from Kella)

favorite toy?  Sweet Pea and Larry-two Veggie Tale characters

favorite stuffed animal?  (see above)

favorite thing to sleep with?  blankie

favorite fruit?  apples and bananas, strawberries (from Kella)

favorite cereal?  cheerios (from Kella)

favorite thing to eat for breakfast?  toast with jam

favorite thing to eat for lunch? pizza (from Kella)

favorite dessert?  brownies (from Kella)

favorite drink? milk-now in a bottle with a sippy cup lid-not just a regular bottle

favorite dinner?  pizza (from Kella)

favorite animal?  ponies (from Kella), frogs (from Ewan), I say dogs-Kinley gets pretty excited every time she sees one

favorite book?  How Many Veggies

favorite song?  Rock-a-bye-baby, Let It Go

favorite game?  pat-a-cake

favorite tv show?  Veggie Tales-Sweet Pea Beauty, Where's God When I'm Scared

favorite movie?  Frozen

favorite thing to do outside?  bounce on the trampoline

best friend?  maybe Allie

What do you want to be when you grow up?  a teddy bear (from Kella)

Pin for the week-wise words

Do you know how hard it is to have a few minutes for myself on the computer?  Every time I would like to have a chance to sit and have some screen time, there is someone or something that needs attention.  Or a kiddo sitting right at my elbow, waiting for a chance to get on the computer when I'm done-such is the case now.

I have a whole board of sayings/phrases/quotes that I like.  Today, I will share one with you.

http://hviit.blogspot.com/

One of my New Year's themes was to "be still".  This saying is a reminder to me to be still and be in the moment.  The moment is pretty awesome.

Let's hear from Liam!

Today, it's time to hear from our new  6 year old, Liam!

Right now, he is lecturing me on geometric shapes and dimensions.  

And, you know what?  He is spot-on with his definitions and explanations.

Right now, 3 dimensional shapes are his favorite.  

Let's see what some of Liam's other favorite things are....

What is your....

favorite color?  red and blue

favorite toy?  robot

favorite stuffed animal?  dog

favorite fruit?  watermelon

favorite cereal?  oatmeal

favorite thing to eat for breakfast? cereal

favorite thing to eat for lunch?  a drink

favorite dinner?  watermelon

favorite dessert?  brownies

favorite drink?  lemonade

favorite animal?  a doggie

favorite book?   My Big Book of Thank Yous (Liam pulled it off the shelf when asked this question)

favorite song?  Rock Monster (from The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything-playing on tv at the time of these questions)

favorite game?  Monopoly

favorite tv show?  Electric Company and Odd Squad (thank you PBS)

favorite movie?  The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything

favorite thing to do outside?  exercise

Who is your best friend?  Aiden

What do you want to be when you grow up?  a worker, scientist, technology, Liam has said in the past that he wants to go to a "nerd school" (thank you Big Hero 6), he is very interested in M.I.T. at this time

rec league soccer is over!

I have the computer to myself. 

 In the car. 

 At Marcus's third to last soccer practice.  

Time for a new blog post.

Here are some pics from Cale, Ewan and Liam's last soccer games. Rec league ended last weekend in between the girls' birthdays.  The boys played great, got awards and we even tried to go to a semi-pro soccer game that day.

Ewan, right after a kick.  One of the fastest kids on his team and a good passer.

Cale, playing goalie.  He stood a lot in this game.

Liam has scored a couple goals this season.  He runs with the pack most of the time and understands the rules of the game.  And, he has fun!  What us can we ask for?

Ewan and his medal.

Liam and his medal, and snacks.

Cale, Cale, Cale.  Cale won MVP for his team this season.  His second time he won this award.  He is now the owner of 2 white soccer balls with the rec club logo on them.  Liam promptly claimed the old one for himself.  Cale was gracious enough to give Liam the ball.

And, then, to top off the day, Marcus's second game got rained and lighteninged out, as did our trip to the Indy Eleven soccer game.  We got to see about 20 mins of the game, including a goal by the Indy Eleven, before they called a weather delay and made everyone leave the stadium.  We got to the parking garage just in time before the downpour started.  Turns out, about that time, a tornado was going through a neighborhood on the south side of Indy (we were downtown).  Who knew?  Anyway, we did not stay for the re-opening of the gates which did not happen till 10pm.  We will have to try to attend a full game later.

A break from sports.  How sweet is that?

Kella's birthday

Here we go.  Photos from Kella's birthday.  We had cake and ice cream and presents.  Marcus and his friend decorate with streamers and balloons.  Andy baked the cake.  Everything a 4 year old could want.  She loved getting gifts to open and Liam was super excited to help Kella open her gifts, too.

the stuffed mommy giraffe she was asking for

new play doh

girlie legos!

the queen asked for a strawberry cake.  we put more strawberries on the top, along with some well-know frozen people.

we let Marcus light the candles

traditional, yearly photo with Daddy

and, with Mommy