Cody's Bike Rodeo

Each year the Boy scouts of America put on a "Bike Rodeo". The boys ride around in circles on their bikes through obstacles and compete for a drawing. Yay! The Cody really did have fun.

And he earned his Artist pin and his Hiking Belt Loop, which he also enjoyed.

The Last Week of School

Of course the kids are excited about summer break and ready to be done, but the last week of school (even though teacher appreciation week has already past) I always like to give a few last gifts.

My caramel, chocolate, and graham cracker apples - because a caramel apple would just not do it. I gave these to our teachers, and our secretaries who have done so much for me this year. 

A photo book of highlights from different parts of the year. It's Cody's teacher's first year teaching so we thought this would be a great way for her to remember how great it was. 

We got Jake's teacher a gift card to Barnes and Noble, since he loves to read. 

And we sewed Cody's teacher a quilt
it reads
Dear Mrs. Edwards,
You have been the "Write" teacher
for us. 
Thank you for a great year.
Love, Your Class

At the very end we also hand-stitched all of the kids's names

And we made a sham to hold the folded quilt (or a pillow)

Backyard S'mores

Us girls decided we would surprise the boys with some s'mores tonight. I would love to have a fire pit put into the backyard someday, but at the moment the backyard is still unfinished {we'll see how long it takes to get it in shape}. So since there was no fire pit, we took out our tea light candles and roasted the marshmallows {which I made myself, by the way, the homemade kind is the best kind}, in our own backyard.

They did enjoy themselves.

Happy Birthday Saylee !

Yes, Happy Birthday to Saylee! 

Yesterday, she started playing the harp with a brand new teacher, which was sort of an early birthday present for her, she LOVES playing the harp. 

But when we got there we were a bit early... so we all went to the nearest park to find some shade.

 When we were done at the park, while we were driving back to her lesson, we saw this deer.

 Then we went for a {somewhat} early birthday dinner at Texas Roadhouse.

 It was kid's night there at the roadhouse, so the hostesses were doing some face paint. The boys walked around like they were ready for Halloween for the rest of the night. {and tried to sell the "my sister beat me up" story, but it didn't really work.}

 And on our way to the mall we were, for the rest of the night. {A birthday gift for birthday girl, of course.}

Her brother made her breakfast this morning.

 And then we all went for a fabulous birthday lunch at Cafe Rio.

Jacob's Scout Overnight Camp Trip

Jacob already went on a camp trip this summer, but apparently when you're camping it's really hard to remember that a hike is one of the things to do with the scouts so that they can earn some new something or other {badge, metal, pin, card...I'm not sure}. But the first time around they didn't get to a few things. So they planned another trip.

Jacob was fine with that.

I made Jake take one of those old disposable cameras...the one's that are pretty much non-existent now...because, well, I like my digital camera and didn't want it to get ruined, but still wanted some photos.

 What's a camp trip without some bacon first thing in the morning?

He was glad to be back home. And we got a bunch of stories the rest of that weekend too...