After last month’s post about my Facebook status updates, I had a brilliant brainstorm: instead of feeling like I’m always behind on the blog, why don’t I write at the end of each month and post highlights from it? It would take some of the pressure off, plus help me feel like I’m still keeping a record of my children’s lives. So here’s a look at this past June.
We started June with a lazy morning at a nearby lake.
Third grade had officially ended for Katie, but that week was the calm before the summer storm (i.e. Mommy’s Calendar Chaos of trying to fit a job, kid day camp activities, and regular life into this new routine). My friend Michelle and I took the kids to dig in the rocky sand with shovels and buckets, and we sat in folding chairs and talked about life. Thank God the sun was out. It’s the only reason we didn’t freeze into popsicles! Even though it was June 1, it was not very warm yet.
The next few weeks of June were filled jam-packed with one of the busiest times at my job: our church’s once-a-year baptism celebration. We had 358 people baptized, and it was one of the most exhausting and fulfilling days I’ve had in a long time. Exhausting because of the emotions and preparations for so many people at church in one day. Fulfilling because I was honored to photograph this:
And this:
And this:
Oh, and be a part of THIS (click on the word “this” to read more details from my friend Gina):
Baptism day was ALSO Father’s Day. And it was ALSO Katie’s 9th birthday. Since it just wasn’t physically possible for me to work from 7:30am until 9:30pm and celebrate all three events in the same day, we made the whole weekend a big celebration. That Friday, we took Katie swimming at our neighborhood pool. She enjoyed hanging out with neighbors and using Daddy as a diving board.
Katie also had quite the haul for her birthday. Dan and I gave her a telescope (thanks to a neighbor’s garage sale), Aunt Jen and Uncle Mike gave her a Kindle Touch, and Aunt Mimi and Uncle Wally sent her a Nintendo DSi. This photo shows the moment she opened the DSi. This photo does NOT show Jackson bursting into tears beside her because she got such a great gift and he didn’t. (And for the record, these gifts were all hand-me-downs.)
Saturday morning, we drove into St. Louis to find a bakery we read about in the paper. They make homemade oatmeal cream pies, which is one of Dan’s favorite treats. We bought two cupcakes and two oatmeal cream pies, then found a nearby park to eat them. When we were done, Dan drove back to the bakery to buy eight more cream pies. Yum!
Jackson REALLY wanted to buy Dan a set of Nerf guns for Father’s Day so they could battle with them. So when we got home from the bakery, we opened the Nerf guns and had a war! I love this photo of the kids attacking Dan.
June was also the month of day camp chaos. In order to keep the kids occupied while I work, I signed them up for lots of camps, visits with Grandma, Vacation Bible School, and Jackson’s regular Parents Day Out program. One of the cool things Jackson got to do was a two-week-long Safety Camp with the local police department. The kids learned about stranger danger, gun safety, poison control, bike helmet safety, following street signs, they got a visit from animal control, and had snacks and a cool graduation ceremony. It was lots of fun for him.
Katie had a Girl Scout milestone in June. She bridged to the new Junior designation, and her troop celebrated with a cookout at a local park.
While she’s so busy growing up, there are still moments here and there that remind me she’s still a little girl. This is one of those moments. She had a neighbor over to play while Jackson napped, and the girls took their dolls to the treehouse to play. I watched them from the kitchen table, and it was one of those moments when my heart poured out gratitude for God. I know a day will come when the dolls aren’t played with anymore. The anticipation of that carved this moment into the memory bank of my soul.
The month ended with a birthday celebration for my friend Jennifer. A bunch of us couples surprised her by meeting at her favorite karaoke bar. Four of us five women (except for the chicken in the group) got up to sing “Love Shack.” Ayiyi! It was a fun time, and I learned I’m better at singing karaoke from the table instead of the stage.
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