Tonight Arch is gone and I told Shelly this may be her last chance to be an only child. So tonight she gets whatever she wants, my spoiled only child.

SV: Almost Over!

The boy will go back to school in six short days. Shelly and I will be on our own again, but only for a short time because, of course, our new boy will arrive and our new adventure will beign. Somehow I can't believe that Summer Vacation is nearly over and in the same moment I'm soooo ready for Archer to be in school again.

Last (school) year I had promised Archer and Shelly that during the summer we would ride our bikes to school and play on the playground. Today I realized we hadn't done it even once and the clock wasn't on our side, we'd better make it happen soon! So I told the kids that if they cleaned their rooms we would go to school. It turns out that this was a big enough motivator for them to clean their rooms, work together without fighting and do an even better job of it than I would have ever expected. This was a huge task, their rooms were disaster zones, places I was afraid to walk for fear of tripping and falling on something. When they said they were done and asked me to come inspect, I was nearly speechless. All I could say was "I can't believe it! Wow! I can't believe it!" They had not fought. They had not given up. They hadn't cut corners. It was amazing! I'm so proud of them and I made sure that I told lots of people and that Archer and Shelly heard me telling everyone how proud I am. Kids, I am SO PROUD OF YOU!

Today's events also prove that they KNOW how to clean their rooms, so the line "I don't know what to do" won't hold up anymore. They just need a motivator. So its up to me to keep them motivated. I can do that...

Lessons in Patience

A theme in my conversations with the kids lately is "practicing patience." When they have to wait for something, or sit quietly, or don't get what they want right away I say to them, "This is a good time for us to practice our patience. Sit quietly. Don't pout, just wait." I think they might grow up hating this phrase, it might be one of those annoying things Mom always used to say. So I say it more to make sure they remember it ;-)

Its funny how I can be so focused on teaching the kids something and then have that same lesson brought right in my face, the Lord saying "Listen, Amy, do what you're telling your kids to do. Practice patience. Just wait." Yesterday I had my third ultrasound. If, at my first ultrasound, everything had been perfect then I would not have needed to go back. But they want to "keep an eye" on how things are going. The placenta is too close to the cervix. The baby is perfectly healthy and normal. They want the placenta to move away, they tell me that in the vast majority of cases it does and everything is fine. But they want to keep an eye on it. So I went back a month later, and it was still too close. And I went back yesterday and it hadn't moved. Our son is growing normally and now weighs over three pounds, I saw his beautiful little face and even the hair that's growing on his perfectly formed head. But there's still the issue of the placenta being in the wrong spot... And though the doctors have assured me that everything will be fine, we just have to keep watching and make our plans accordingly (c-section vs. natural delivery), I was worried. I am worried.

I went out to my car and had a meltdown. I cried out to God and told Him I know that He can fix it, make everything ok and heal it and protect us from harm and make it better. I asked Him to fix it. I cried out for Him to make everything ok so that I didn't have to worry anymore about the stupid placenta being too close to the stupid cervix. And this is where He reminded me of the little words that I keep saying to the kids. "Be patient." And I'm beginning to understand that being patient isn't just about sitting quietly, its about trusting. Trusting that as I sit and wait quietly, He'll take care of us. Trusting Him and having faith that either way - if that placenta moves or not - He'll provide and protect and keep His promises. He tells us not to worry. He tells us that we need to be patient and trust Him. And He's reminding me that each day I can choose to worry about something I can't change, or I can choose to ask Him to provide and then trust that He will. And practice my patience.

I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry... He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.
~ Psalm 40:1,3

Praise the Lord, for He has given us a precious miracle growing within me at this very moment and that baby boy constantly reminds me that he's there with his kicking and squirming around. I love you Baby, your perfect little face and those strong legs and arms and the fuzzy little hair on your head!

The Sunday After...

There was an unexpected side-effect of Family Camp. A sudden change that I hadn't considered and am still getting used to. I should have guessed this would happen but it just didn't cross my mind. We used to be anonymous. Its easy to do in a group of 1,000. We'd go to church on Sundays, smile at the person holding the door, say good morning to the people sitting around us, pick up the kids from their Sunday School classrooms and leave. The end.

Not now! Seven days at Village Creek jump-started our social circle at church and for the last two Sundays we've had actual conversations with people at church, we know them and they know us and we stop to chat. Well, God's got all kinds of blessings for us and silly me for thinking that the blessings of camp would end when camp ended. Thank you Lord for continuing to surprise us with your greatness, your love and care. You're helping us connect with like-minded families even when we don't expect it. Isn't he so AWESOME?

P.S. The other unexpected side-effect was the Camp Cold. Shelly caught it sometime during the week, I'm guessing Thursday. David had it from Sunday till Wednesday or Thursday. It finally caught up with me on the Friday after getting home. Archer's the only one to have avoided the Camp Cold. And I'm realizing through Facebook that MANY of the other campers had it too. I think we had so much fun we just wore ourselves out and there was no resistance for the little bug that spread quickly through the crowd. We were living and eating in such close quarters, getting too little sleep and the next thing you know we're all sick! Since we've been home for over a week now I'm hoping we've seen the last of the Camp Cold.

Family Camp

WOW.

That pretty much sums it up. We're SO GLAD to be home, back to our own beds, showers, bedrooms, bathrooms... But we had an AWESOME week. A week that somehow felt like it passed by in only two days, and yet we crammed in two or three weeks' worth of fun and activities. So glad to be home, so glad we went, what a great adventure!

When we arrived at camp on Sunday afternoon we knew no one. We knew a few names but really didn't know the people and now, after a wonderful week at camp we've had the chance to talk to so many great families and when we left this morning we could name (almost) everyone that waved goodbye.

Now for the highlights...

Archer and Shelly signed up for the Little Dudes program, which meant that every day they got lessons on safety and caring for and how to ride horses. And by Friday they were both riding on their own! They loved every minute of it!

Both kids tried out the bungee trampoline and archery, I think the trampoline was a bigger hit than the archery. They spent lots of time playing in the game room, especially the foosball table. I taught them my method of playing - madly spin the guys and hope they hit the ball when it comes past. This worked out ok except not when you're playing with a ping-pong ball because you can't find the other ball. The lighter ball usually goes flying. (David did not approve of my technique. Sorry honey!)

They loved the beach, craft room and toys in the indoor chapel, all enjoyed with our wonderful family assistant Courtney. This also gave David and I a chance to cool down in the air conditioning while the kids ran off some energy. They finally crashed tonight, with only minor crabbiness to show for the long days and constant activities.

Shelly's hair was almost never dry, it was so hot and her head was continually soaked with sweat. Archer's head was wet too, and usually covered with dirt or sand. And then there was the red lip from the Gatorade, how come that stuff won't wash off no matter what you try?

I wish I could better explain the great time that we had, but maybe its just one of those things that "you had to be there..." The other families that we spent time with were so genuine and friendly that we felt right at home among them and I look forward to seeing them again around church, around town, where ever.

For you make me glad by your deeds, O Lord; I sing for joy at the works of your hands.

~ Psalm 92:4

Oh, did we sing at camp! And we're still singing praises, thank you Lord for a wonderful time!

FC: Saturday

We had breakfast, a musical performance by the kids, saw the video of our week and then it was time to pack up and go home. Miss Courtney again stepped in to help us by taking the kids to play while David and I stuffed everything into garbage bags and crammed it into the car. All week long I'd been so impressed with how everyone was incredibly friendly and helpful and this especially showed itself on Saturday. Our neighbors in the lodge helped carry things down to the car which made light work of clearing out our room. "Is there anything else? No? Then let me put away this vacuum for you..." Wow!

I have to admit that before family camp, I pictured going to camp and hanging out with my family, smiling and saying hi to the other families but mostly just doing our own thing. We didn't know any of these people. Sure, they're from our church but we didn't KNOW them, they weren't our friends, we just all happened to be going to the same place for a week. I didn't realize how many opportunities we'd have to really connect with them, make new friends and get to know more about their families. And I didn't expect people to be so genuinely interested in getting to know us and begin new friendships. It was a pleasant surprise. I felt sad to be leaving the great place where we'd met all these people and venture back into the world where, who knows if we'll see them again? It was time to go and I expected the kids to reflect my feelings on leaving but they didn't seem too upset, it was just on to the next adventure for them! We said our goodbyes and drove away, down the gravel road, over the scary bridge in Lansing (EVERYONE thought this bridge was scary, not just me!) and on our way home. Goodbye Village Creek, hope to see you again sometime!

On our way home we met Grandma and Grandpa for lunch and it was so nice to see them. The kids managed to behave themselves in the restaurant long enough for us to visit and an added bonus was eating a meal in a room NOT filled with 200 noisy family campers. Peaceful!

We finally got home around 6:30 p.m. We emptied out the car and pretty much crashed after that. We were dead-tired, so glad to be home, and so thankful that we'd had the chance to go on the amazing trip to Family Camp.

FC: Friday

"Can you believe its the last day of camp? On Monday it seemed like the week would last forever." It was a fun week but we were ready for it to be over and get back to our own beds. Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves, there was lots to do on Friday! The schedule had to be adjusted to accomodate the downpour that came in the morning but by the time the kids had their final Little Dudes lesson things had dried out enough for them to ride the horses ON THEIR OWN! They rode in the arena with the wranglers walking in front of the horses, no one next to Shelly to make sure she didn't fall off, no one holding a lead to make sure Archer didn't take off in the wrong direction, and they LOVED it! I was impressed with Archer and Shelly's confidence, way to go kids!

After lunch we went up to the lake (the camp staff called it the lake, those of us who live near Lake Michigan constantly referred to it as the pond) to see some of our friends' baptisms. What a wonderful way to close the week, seeing people's commitment to follow Jesus and singing worship to the Lord in the middle of His beautiful creation.

We left the kids to play on the beach with Miss Courtney and as we walked away David looked back and then turned to me and said, "Ok, don't freak out, but..." Courtney had Shelly in a kayak and they were paddling out into the middle of the lake. Pond. Whatever. Suddenly that little pond looked big and scary and WHY WAS SHELLY IN A KAYAK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BIG SCARY OCEAN??? Really, I'm usually pretty easy going about the kids trying out new stuff but camp was stretching me a little bit. We watched for a little while but I had to just turn around and walk away to calm down.

We got cleaned up for the Fifties Party and then we got to see everyone launch their rockets they'd been working on all week long. First went Shelly, immediately after her rocket went up she joined the pack of kids chasing it down. Next was Miss Courtney and then Archer's rocket was launched. It went up about 20 feet then suddenly turned and shot straight towards the roof of the brand new dining hall, missing the top by only a narrow margin and heading off into the field and trees beyond. The poor kid was the only one to loose his rocket and I think it will be a sore subject with him for a long time.

This was all followed by campfires and s'mores and visiting. The kids played with their flashlights and ran around screaming and laughing in the dark until we corralled them and dragged them inside for bedtime. It was great to see (hear, actually) our kids playing with their new friends. And by this time David and I knew almost everyone's names. The week of saying, "I'm sorry, I don't remember your name" had paid off and we were saying that phrase less and less often. And I was feeling a little sad that our fun was at an end.

FC: Thursday

After a late night out we were ready to get up extra early for the Hayrack Ride to Breakfast! (Yeah right!) Well, we made it out the door on time anyway and climbed on the wagon for a ride with a bunch of other sleepy-eyed campers. We rode off into the woods and were greeted with a warm breakfast. Yum! The featured item on the menu was "heart attack toast." Bread toasted on a griddle with generous butter melted everywhere is the best way to describe it. The camp chef held a pair of tongs in one hand and a full pound of butter in the other and held the butter to the griddle before placing a piece of toast down in the pool of butter. The butter melted and dripped everywhere and by the time the bread was done being toasted it was a delicacy that I look forward to enjoying the next time we go to camp! And I understood why it was famous. And also why it was called "heart attack toast." (Although, for the record, I believe that the white bread toast was actually worse for our health than the butter. And no one seemed to care whether it was good for our health or not!)

In the afternoons the kids worked on crafts and their model rockets with Miss Courtney while David and I retreated to the air conditioning. There was a funny twist of words at the camp, where the AC stood for Activity Center and had NO air conditioning so was often even hotter than the outside temperature. (Daily high temps were never lower than 85 and sometimes as high as 92.) The only cool place to hide was our room. The kids couldn't settle down to rest in the room because of all the opportunities for other fun activities in other places, like the game room in the AC. We all truly appreciated Courtney's help when the parents wanted to go one way and the kids the other, and she was able to make it happen.

Shelly fell asleep in my lap at supper and we took her back to the room for a little nap before the rest of the evening's fun. (Meal time was always hard for her, the noise and heat was difficult for her to tolerate and it took an extra measure of patience for David and I to understand what she wanted or needed when she wasn't speaking clearly and we could hardly hear her through the noise.) I think this is when she picked up the Camp Cold. (More on that later!)

Thursday's big event was the Men and Boys' Adventure. The girls had a tea party while the boys were across the street doing manly stuff and suddenly we heard loud yelling and chanting and then I saw the big group go running into the woods with only a few of them armed with flashlights. Shelly didn't really eat any of the snacks at the tea party which was a big clue that something wasn't quite right - she never passes up treats! The boys had their adventure in the woods and the girls met them when they came home from rescuing Pastor Paul. And we all fell asleep pretty quickly after our big day.

FC: Wednesday

Our first attempt at archery didn't go so well, the kids each only shot off a couple of arrows before giving up in frustration. The good news is that later in the week David took Archer back and tried again with much better results. Yaay boys!

Archer spotted a toad in the grass (good eyes kid!) but the kids wouldn't touch it so I picked it (trying to instill some bravery or love of wildlife or something) and we studied it for a minute before letting it go again. Because you can't go to camp and see a toad and NOT pick it up, right?

This was also Parents' Night Out while the kids stayed at camp with the counselors. As we drove away I worried about Archer and Shelly. As we ate dinner I (irrationally) thought about the (imagined, horrible) things that could happen. I wondered if the camp would be able to reach us when these (imagined, irrational awful) things happened because our cell phone reception was so bad. I thought they probably wouldn't call us because they'd still be in the middle of the crisis when we returned home, still looking for our missing children or.... Can you tell we don't leave our kids with babysitters very often? The kids have only been left with a non-family babysitter ONCE. And this was the second time, not even at our own house with people that we know well. I did enjoy our date, eating dinner without having to tell the kids to sit down or quit kicking each other under the table or cut up their food was really nice. Spending time with my wonderful husband was a great treat. And when we got back to the lodge and met Courtney in the main room and she said the kids were sleeping peacefully it was such a relief. All was well!

FC: Tuesday

This is about the time when we really started to know where everything was and understand the system a little better. And this is when the kids got more comfortable with Miss Courtney, our wonderful family assistant who joined us at every meal, answered our questions and took care of the kids when David and I wanted to escape. We didn't take her up on this offer until Tuesday afternoon when we went on a kayak trip down the Mississippi River. A long, hot, wet kayak trip. But fun! Its too bad we couldn't take our camera because the land was beautiful and we saw several bald eagles flying overhead as we paddled our way downstream. I worried about the kids but honestly, a little more about us as we paddled and paddled and.... it seemed to last forever. What if I fall out of this kayak and can't get back in? What if the current takes me the wrong direction? What if?

Well, no worries, we made it safely back to two children who had been just fine without us. Miss Courtney kept them safe and happily entertained, they probably didn't even care that we were gone for three hours. They jumped right into all the games the other kids were playing and never bothered to think about what may have happened to Mom and Dad!

Tuesday is also the day when I discovered that our building had no running water. I started to wonder if there would be some new adventure every night and someone else wondered if they were re-filling the pond and that's why we had no showers. Hey, its camp, you can't be surprised with little hiccups like no water, right?

FC: Monday

Our first full day at camp was long. And hot. Well, this describes every day at camp, so I won't mention it again. But it was H.O.T. The kids had their first Little Dudes lesson, we visited the lake, kept busy with playing gau-gau and the playground. I was surprised that Archer and Shelly both wanted to try out the trampoline - Archer's too afraid to jump from the side of the pool into my arms but he was willing to go flying 20 feet in the air with bungees and a trampoline? Shelly was not going to be left behind in the adventure and asked to try it too, but only after we assured her that she wouldn't go too high.

Notable for Monday was the fire alarm. Sometime in the middle of the night there was a fire alarm in the lodge. Not a little smoke detector beeping, a full out industrial strength fire alarm. No fire, just the alarm. They shut it off but we heard it again twice before it was off for good. I couldn't help but think of the false alarms in the dorms in college. Thankfully the kids barely woke up!

FC: Sunday

So it took us FOREVER to get to camp, approximately six potty stops and 220 miles later, we had finally arrived. A car full of gear and excited children parked next to many other vehicles with the same description and we were met by friendly faces willing to show us to our room and help us unload the car. We attended the "New Camper Orientation" and left just as confused as when we arrived. It was a whirlwind of information that was a small taste of what our week would look like. Little did we know what was in store for us!

The kids were sent off to learn camp songs and the parents were assigned to teams for some friendly competition. And the fun begins!

Countdown till Camp

For the last two weeks we have been counting down the days until we leave. This week has been dedicated to making lists, packing and preparing for our departure on Sunday. The kids are so excited they can hardly stand it, they keep migrating to the area where I've stacked up our supplies and snacks and clothes and they have to touch everything. Or climb on it, or think about unpacking it to see what's inside, or ask "are we bringing...?" We're so excited to be going on vacation together and can't wait to see what God has in store for us!

Calm Down Baby!

Our baby boy is squirming and squiggling non-stop, its hard for me to believe he weighs less than two pounds right now. I mean, how can someone so TINY be causing such a commotion in there? I sometimes wonder if its possible for a baby to kick through his mom's tummy. One of these days I'll look down and see a foot sticking out. Ok, not really, of course. But calm down baby! I do NOT remember Archer and Shelly being so active and so strong this early. Does that mean we've got a trouble-maker on our hands? Maybe a soccer player. He'll have to be tough to keep up (put up?) with his older brother and sister. So I guess he's just getting an early start. Today he is 26 weeks, 4 days old. That means 14 weeks to go, plus or minus a few. I just wish he would chill out a little bit, its tough to sleep with a baby kicking you in the gut all night long!

Less than 48 hours until we leave and the kids are SO wound up - it will be a miracle if we don't end up in the ER with injurues from bouncing off the walls.