Cam deserves a medal this year. When Jenna hurt her ankle in November, we had no idea she'd still be hobbling 5 months later. There was zero way for Jenna to plan and run a birthday party for Campbell so she went along with postponing it. The poor thing had to wait over 4 months but her mom came through with a fantastic sleepover.
Johnson Weekend 2017
Nice laid back weekend at Annie and Pops with the Johnson's and their girls. Swimming, Fishing, and Baseball. It was basically a beer commercial.
Noah's 11th Birthday and Downtown Obstacle Race
As always, Noah's birthday party was delayed due to the end of the school year crush. This year though we had a definite end goals. The Jones Center was having a kid's obstacle race the first weekend in June and Noah circled the date. He invited some buddies over for a sleepover and the next morning they would race. Friday night, we took them swimming. We celebrated low key on his actual birthday. He wanted cheesecake for both and we happily obliged.
Campbell also wanted to race so she invited a friend to spend the night (with the dual purpose of keeping her occupied from her brother) and they raced also. The morning of the race came and they went off in waves by age. Campbell's race was a half mile. She came through the first few obstacles in the middle of the pack. At the midway point though there was one boy in front of her. At the end, though she was in the lead. The final obstacle was a slip and slide down the hill. She sat down and started scooting and I had a flash she was going to lose first place by not just sliding. Luckily the other 7 year olds didn't know what they were doing either. So first place for the baby girl. The best part of the video is the finish line volunteers cheering on that a girl was going to win! You'll have to excuse the end where Oliver finds a bone in the video :)
Noah is such a competitor. He walked the course 3 times when we first got there. He kept asking me if they were doing the route twice since it was twice as long as the 9 and under route. After the 75th time of me saying I didn't know, he asked somebody 5 minutes before his race. Of course they told him the second half of his race was on the other side of the Jones Center. He went pale because he hadn't scouted those obstacles. He was panicked but it didn't show. He won his age group and he wasn't messing around with his slip and slide finish. I kept it running to see the gap to second place.
Another Aquahawg
Last summer Campbell made it to the last level of HawgStart but didn't graduate in time to be invited to join the Aquahawgs before the summer league season. This year, she blew through it and now she's officially on the swim team with her big brother. I have never seen her as excited or nervous as she was before the last session when she'd find out if she made it. So this summer she will swim with the Rookie Hawgs in the NWA summer league while Noah swims long course with the Jr. Hawgs. I'd say no one could be more proud of her, but she's awfully proud of herself.
Spring Break 2017
Months ago Jenna had the idea to stay in a yurt at Petite Jean. We booked it so far in advance we really weren't counting down the days until it got here. There's something about camping that brings you together. I don't know if its the outdoors, being unplugged from our plugged in lives, or that you are just trapped together. I doubt it will be the same when they are teenagers but I pray it will be. Gallery below.
Spring has sprung in Februray
80 degrees. 80...Degrees!
Christmas 2016
I almost titled it "An Embarrassment of Riches." Christmas was a mixed bag this year. We got a good solid 19 day break from school, including a week before Christmas. So we got plenty of time to just hang out as a core group. Then we traveled for the south Arkansas tour. It felt rushed like it always does but it was still almost a week from home. We had nice visits with everyone. Jared and his girls were only in town for one day so we didn't get much time with them. Holly and the AZ crew weren't able to make it at all this year so that was a bummer too. It was also our first Christmas without toys, which Jenna celebrated but kind of struck me with melancholy. Happy holidays to everyone. I sincerely hope it was filled with love and joy.
All I Want For Christmas Part Campbell
It has been loose for long enough, and she finally got the courage to let Mrs. Thompson "Just see how loose it is?" Of course, it was too late for picture day last Friday but at least it has been put out of its dangling misery.
Bike ride shenanigans
Shenanigans I tell you.
Buffalo River September 2014
I'm enjoying the new Memories section of Photos in iOS 10. This popped up as 2 years ago today and it made a video. I tweaked it for 2 minutes and BAM.
I thought I'd share it here since it was so easy but if you are interested here is the link to the original trip.
Summer 2016 Montage
The next iOS has a collections tab that pre-populates with pictures in a certain range. This one popped up today as the "The Past 3 Months." I took a look and other than the random opening picture of kayaks I think it did a pretty solid job of capturing our summer so I decided to throw it on here. No telling how good it could be with a little effort but then it goes back to that whole time thing :)
2016 Vacation Bible School
With Jenna's new contract back in Springdale being a week shorter she was able to be a lead teacher at VBS again. She also got the bonus of having Campbell in her group. All week we soaked in the praises from people about our kids. There is nothing like unsolicited praise about your child. Campbell makes friends so easily she's going to run for office one day. Noah's leader said he volunteered to pray every single day for his group. It is so hard to stand up and spontaneously speak to 100 mostly strangers but its another to spontaneously pray in front of them. I'm so proud of both of them. Here is the video of Sunday's celebration. Cam is middle row to the right and Noah speaks at the 26:20 mark.
Random Summer Fun-2016
Jenna has to keep reminding me we are only 2 weeks into June. It already feels like summer is flying by us!
Last day of Kindergarten
Sigh. Where did the year go?
Campbell's Kindergarten Celebration
So proud of her little personality that comes through in everything she does.
Easter 2016
Excellent message this morning by our pastor. I've never really thought about the symbols of Christianity the way he presented. Although the cross is recognized as THE symbol of Christianity, it is truly the image of an empty tomb that defines us.
2016 Multi-Cultural Dance
Each year the kids' school has a combined Music/PE curriculum where they learn dances from different cultures. This was Campbell's first year and she got to do the macarena. Oh the memories of seedy bars in Leesville, LA and that song...but I digress. This may have been her favorite thing she's learned all year. Noah was pretty mum until the day they got to show off what they learned for parents and then even he was excited.
Hello Spring-2016
Still not officially here but try telling that to my allergies. Everything is blooming like crazy. I think our roses will have flowers before April at this rate. This coming weekend the kids and I are planning our garden. Mom wants tomatoes. Cam and I want cucumbers. We all want squash. Noah wants...carrots. Not sure about that one. This past weekend was a dream. Sunshine but enough rain earlier in the week knocked most of the allergens out of the air to make outside bearable. On Sunday we went for a family bike ride to downtown Springdale and let the kids play at the park and then we ate tacos at Black Apple Crossing cidery. It was a great afternoon.
Mad About Plaid-Daddy Daughter 2016
Our church had their first annual Daddy Daughter Night. They kicked it off with a Mad About Plaid theme. I think it's pretty obvious we had fun.
I have to put a second edit of the video on here too. I kind of liked it but after awhile its disorienting. I showed it to Cam and it was her favorite so I'll let you decide which you prefer.
Flowers, Bell bottoms, and Hippies-Oh My!!!
Not sure if I'm ashamed or proud my kids had their own hand made tie-dyed shirts for Hippie Day.
