On the lake

DSCF9810
Originally uploaded by Kelly'sphotos

here is a video of us on the boat....

Vacation

DSCF9799
Originally uploaded by Kelly'sphotos

I'm in Arkansas right now. It's been super hot and so far, we've been on the lake three times. The other dayss (when my sister is working), I take the kids to the pool.

We have a bird who has set up house in our garage. She built her nest on top of the motor to the garage door opener. We now leave a garage door open so she can come and go as she pleases.

Friday was the Field Day at my kids' school. There were different stations set up with little games to play. The kids were free to pick what task they wanted to complete. The weather cooperated which isn't always the case in central Pennsylvania. I started out at the "American Idol" booth. It was a CD player with a CD and some pop songs on it. The kids had a microphone and they would sing along to a song. It was a little lame but fun when the kids would pick a song with a beat. At one time there were about 20 kids doing some kind of Cha-cha thing. I was doing it, too, along with the gym teacher. The gym teacher put the whole thing together and she did a great job.

Saturday, Kendall had her last soccer game for the spring. She has been under the weather a bit this week so her energy levels weren't very good. She seems to still like soccer, if only for the social aspect of it. Tomorrow is Clayton's last soccer game.

I also went for a run this morning. I'm up to 45 minutes now for my run. I don't really push myself so it's only a little over a 5K. I did increase my speed a bit halfway through my run today when it started raining on me. It wasn't a hard rain so I survived. My husband said that Clayton wanted to go pick me up. He's so sweet. My legs are a little tired today but it definitely feels good to be "back in the saddle," so to speak.

Eventful week

This week has been packed. First, we had Kendall's field trip to the Penn State Agricultural land for the soil field trip. My husband was the host and he was really good. The weather was perfect for it, too. The kids started out checking out a rain simulator to see the benefits of *no till farming. The dad of one of Kendall's class mates is big into that research.

The kids also saw two pits with different types of soils and then Pete took them to a field and they dug up samples and tried to identify it based on what they had learned earlier. The mode of transportation was a hayride pulled by a tractor driven by Pete. We ended the trip with some Penn State ice cream from the Berkey Creamery.

one of the students trying her hand obtaining a soil sample

Pete explaining horizons

Then last night was Clayton's rescheduled birthday party. All he wanted was a Fun Unleashed party so we finally decided he could have one. He is the second child and gets so many left overs that we felt this would be his big chance. We had a good turn out and the kids had a blast. I hope this is it for the huge parties.

time for the kids to introduce themselves

the little guy

I'm glad we did it. He had a smile all night and the kids were exhausted from running around non-stop all evening. We'll be busy this weekend writing the thank you notes.

*No-Till Farming: A method of farming where the soil is not plowed or turned before planted. This method reduces erosion of both soil and nutrients, while increasing organic matter in the soil.

I think these new black sandals will look lovely in Barcelona, don't you? They're comfortable, too. I still haven't bought my plane ticket, yet, but I will need to make the decision soon. I'm hoping a friend in France can join me.

Today I volunteered at Centre Volunteers in Medicine (like every Tuesday) and tomorrow I will assist my husband with a field trip. He's hosting my daughter's class for a soils field trip. I won't be wearing the sandals pictured above because it will probably be a little muddy. Then Friday is the Field Day for my kids' elementary school. As you can tell, the school year is (finally) winding down. It won't be long until we make the long drive to North Arkansas to see family. The closer it gets, the more excited I become.

And then Thursday we will have Clayton's birthday party. We had to reschedule it last week because he broke out in hives all over his body. It was scary. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the party will happen this week! It's also the last week of my kids' soccer. Wow! Time has flown by these last few months.