Family Camp: Because the Kids Must Stay Busy

I haven't figured out if it is an effective strategy to keep the children super busy while Dad is away so the time flies by, or if it just does nothing but exhaust Mom.  I only know that I have fallen asleep all week before my head even hit the pillow and I have not woken up in the middle of the night at all!  Praise the Lord for good rest!  I sure have needed it to keep up with this crew!


Early this week I took the hyper crazies to a free family camp.  They enjoyed a tree top obstacle course, archery, and a lot of other camp activities.  The two youngest girlies found a toad and a tree frog, of course.  It was a beautiful campus and it was an absolutely gorgeous day outside.  It sure was a lot of fun and it was great that it was all free.  We stopped by the lake for ice cream and slushies on our way home.


I also have been working in the back yard with Kylie with her softball.   She is gaining more confidence in her hitting and catching.  It is hard to believe she's only been playing softball a little over a month.  When she gains full confidence in herself she really has the potential to go far with softball.  I think her natural athletic build with long arms and legs really help her with softball a lot.


The kids decided it'd be fun to climb on top of the shed out back and jump from the roof off on to the trampoline (Matthew's brilliant idea).  Thankfully, they all had a great time and no one was injured.


 I've been working on getting the PH levels regulated in the pool.  The pool people said the neighbor's Bradford Pears are making our water levels highly acidic. The bottom of our liner is almost shot because that is where the leaves and debris sit overnight until we can vacuum them out.  Matthew got a bad rash from the PH levels being off and the water being highly acidic.  We dump a lot of money in chemicals into the pool trying to get the acid out.  It stinks we cannot have anyone over to swim in our pool any time soon, but I don't want to risk other people getting acidic rashes because of our pool.  Patience is a virtue for sure! 
We are all getting anxious for home schooling to finish up for the summer.  The more that it is sunny outside, the less the three youngest kids want to stay focused on their work.  If they had the motivation, they would have been finished already for the summer.   Tim and I are still determining what we will do in the Fall with the kids' schooling.  Tim wants them in school.  I would also like them in private school, but I don't see a way without a job.  Most of the time I love homeschooling, but some days it's terrible trying to stretch myself to meet the needs of 4 very different kids when I feel teaching is not my gift.  Matthew especially NEEDS school due to his energy level and he needs to learn English through immersion into American school.  We are continually praying for God to open and close doors where they are needed.  In the meantime, I must keep the kids busy!!!!