Back to School - 2016/2017 School Year

Well, it's official!!  The summer is over and school is back in session!  We are back in the full swing of chaos and structure (hard to believe they are same thing!)

This is the first (and only, thankfully!) year of having kids in 3 schools.  We are blessed by many things, including our elementary school being on the same campus as the high school (unlike other parents who have to drive from the elem to the high school).  Kaitee has joined a few afterschool clubs as well, so she has walked home a handful of times which helps too.  Alex is currently running cross country with the middle school.  For now, that eliminates afterschool pickup. 

Here are the kids at each of their school's "Unpack Your Backpack" night...

Maddie & Will - 5th Grade (last year at Roosevelt)

Alex - 7th Grade (Wilson Middle School)

Kaitee - 9th Grade (first year at the Moline High School)

First Day of School - getting out the door on time was a success!!

Due to work commitments, Matt wasn't able to help get the kids to school on the first day.  I had to wait a few days to get the twins' picture as they did their patrol duties.

A few weeks later, the two middle school marching bands were invited to play with the high school marching band during the football halftime show.  Alex is the first musician with the yellow shirt.

Here is Alex at her first Cross Country Meet - it was hot with lots of hills!

 I'd say that the school year is off to a great start!!

Wrapping Up the Summer - 2016

We always think that the summer will last "forever"...

 

With the end of school, we look ahead and see so much potential for the summer!  Well, somehow we are already at the beginning of the school year and look back on the summer and think "where did it go?"

 

I was looking at our photos from the past few months and realized that we actually did quite a bit of stuff this summer...it just went too fast! 

 

We had a great visit with Matt's parents from Oregon.  It was a relaxed week with nothing planned (other than Whitey's of course!!)

Notice Will's poor shoulders - huge blisters from a sunburn

Goofing with Grandpa at the mall

"Dad, I'm finally taller than Grandma!"

We also visited Great Grandma Phyllis in Chicago (she flew in from Oregon to visit family in IL & Michigan).  Any visit with Great Grandma includes a stop at the Lego Store and Barnes & Noble.

We cheered on the QC River Bandits 2x this summer as well. Both were beautiful evenings (even though the Bandits lost both games) that ended with fireworks!

Becki's sister & nephew came home for a week in July. We enjoyed the zoo and hanging out together.  The kids sure miss their cousin!

Matt was able to take the kids to a drive-in movie just before school started.  Again, it was a beautiful night and they stayed for both movies!

Of course, add swim lessons, dentist & doctor appointments and 2 church camps, our summer filled up very fast!  At the beginning of every summer, we make a "bucket list" as a family.  Now that we are at the end of the summer, we realized that we didn't mark half of our items off the list!  Luckily we have nice weather for the next two months to continue our quest.

Celebrating the Rio Olympics

The kids are finally (all) at an age where they can stay up late(r) to watch the Olympics and to truly enjoy them.  We've had the opening ceremonies on our calendar for a few months - we were very excited for the games to start!  The day of the Opening Ceremonies, I put the kids on task by cleaning up the basement and then decorating for the big event.  I wasn't disappointed by the ideas they came up with!  I did help decorate a bit (taping, etc), but the ideas were all theirs!

We enjoyed the Olympics immensely, but quickly realized that we couldn't have the tv on 24/7 just to watch them.  We settled for the evening events and enjoyed the time together as a family.

Church Camps - 2016

The kids always look forward to church camp!  Kaitee & Alex have been attending camp since they were in 4th grade!  Unfortunately, the twins haven't been away to a camp due to changes made in the past few years with the summer activities at church. 

This year, they were finally old enough to attend the Awana camp near Peoria.  The only requirement is age and finishing their Awana book.  To say that they were excited (and maybe a bit nervous) would have been an understatement! 

We enjoyed following their activities through the camp's Facebook page.  Seeing pictures of them did a great thing for this mama's heart!

Will in the tube, Maddie on the noodle

Every day the camp has "mail call". To receive your mail, you have to sing/dance for it.  You can see Will at the end of the line in the first picture and both Maddie & Will in the next picture.

Every morning, before breakfast, they have a time of prayer around the flagpole (as the flag is raised for the day). It is voluntary to attend as it is EARLY!  Will is the short one in the middle (Winner shirt). 

We traveled back down to Peoria to pick them up the next Saturday.  This is how we found Will - all tuckered out.  However, he and Maddie both had enough stories to share to entertain us the 2 hour drive home! I'd say the Awana camp was a success!

Alex & Kaitee both headed south to Lake Williamson in Collinsville, IL with our church's Jr & Sr High Schoolers. As always, Lake Williamson was a beautiful setting and the girls enjoyed themselves with their new breakout groups.

Traveling in style!

Worship!!

Color Party! (Alex's team in purple, Kaitee's in blue)

Mud Pit - ewww!

Testimony Time

Alex standing up, sharing her testimony

Kaitee also shared her testimony at the high school campfire but no pictures to show.  She was asked by the Sr High leader to share again on their "camp recap" night at church.  One of my youth leader friends shared this picture with me with the caption "so proud of your girl!"

Kaitee's Breakout Group

Alex's Breakout Group

Saying Goodbye (Hi School Group)

Next year will most likely see some changes with church camp.  We have been told that Harvest is looking for a camp that is closer to home.  Also, Maddie & Will will be eligible to attend Harvest's camp as they prepare to go into middle school!  They have both expressed interest in attending the Awana camp instead though.  We'll see how everything plays out! We are blessed to have camps available to the kids and leaders who are willing to pour into them!!