Hannah's Week at Camp

 We planned for Hannah to go to camp the same week as her church friend, Gwen.  In a happy surprise reunion, there were seven other girls who were also in their cabin last year, including Hannah's friends Stella, Ainsley, and Becca!  For an extra bonus, our family friend Hannah Eyre (who used to babysit the kids and was just on the high school trip with Micah) was one of her counselors.  There were a TON of pictures of our Hannah on the camp app, and they all looked like she was having fun!

The families in our small group at church are taking turns volunteering to help with camper check-in on Sunday afternoons.  Last week Scott and I helped move luggage in the rain (which was surprisingly fun) while Matthew and Hannah helped watch the younger kids of another family.  This week it was sunny, and we got to run the slushy station!!  Almost every family had to come past us, and it was really fun seeing all the excited faces (including a lot of familiar ones).

Matthew chatting with friends from school and soccer

When it was Hannah's check-in time, I abandoned Scott to get her settled in.

She and Gwen were so excited they raced ahead of the parents.

Each cabin does a skit for the whole camp on the first night.

Cabin 10 (minus Hannah Eyre who was on a plane home from Mexico at this point)

trust falls

painting yourself with clay from the creek is a camp tradition

Ainsley

Stella

Hannah explained later that they are making an "A" for their tribe name: Asher.

Ten!

 Matthew turned 10 yesterday!  

We celebrated on Saturday by meeting four of his friends at a local arcade.  After they had their fill of games, we went back to the house for pizza, cake, presents, and playing outside.

Matthew chose a Dairy Queen blizzard cake, but he wanted it undecorated so we could put a Dolphins logo on it.  (I made the logo with help from Hannah and Matthew.)

They turned the volleyball court into a dodgeball arena.

Our best attempt at a "nice" picture

On his actual birthday, he opened family presents throughout the day, played games, built lego, and got to choose some of his favorite foods for meals.

starting the day with legos and a doughnut

Matthew at age 10:

favorite color: gold

favorite food: mac and cheese pizza

favorite sport: football

closest friends: Luke, Porter, and Christian

likes to read: Big Nate

likes to watch: Dude Perfect

dream vacation spot: Hawaii

Matthew loves to make people laugh and is always looking for opportunities to crack a joke.  We have seen him mature this year in knowing when is a good time to try to be funny and when to practice self-control. His teacher said "He has a good sense of humor but remains calm at the appropriate times. Teachers can count on Matthew to do what is asked of him."

Matthew loves sports of all kinds, but he also enjoys staying in his pajamas and reading or drawing all day.  He is growing in discipline - both in the ability to work hard and persevere, and in the ability to accept correction with humility.

I'm not super happy that my youngest kid is in double digits, but I do love watching him grow into the person God created him to be.

Finishing Soccer, Starting Summer, and a Foster Care Update

Hannah's team finished their season 6-1-1.  We are so proud of them!  They only had eleven girls on the team  - just enough to play.  The sometimes had guest players fill in for illnesses or to give them a sub, but they often played the entire 70 minutes with no subs.  Every season Hannah's confidence grows. We love watching her play!

Her team, minus one on vacation, plus four from another local team. 

Hannah, Evie, and Lilly (not pictured) were the only 6th graders on the team.  The rest were 7th and 8th graders.  Hannah and Evie played together in kindergarten.  They don't remember it, but the moms pulled out the pictures!

Hannah and Evie as 6 year olds

Matthew is finishing up his soccer season this week.  We have absolutely loved being a part of this team.  Matthew has had to work very hard to keep up with this fast-paced, talented team, and we're incredibly proud of his effort, attitude and improvement.  We will miss them in the fall when Matthew returns to American football. 

Matthew is back row, far right

Coach Jeremy is everything I could ever ask for in a coach.  We have been so blessed to have him! 

white uniform and chocolate ice cream....

The Tallmadge High School softball team made it to the state championships!  The game was close to home, so we joined the rest of the town in cheering them on.  It was an exciting game, and Tallmadge won!

We also went to a semi-pro local soccer game.  The boys prefer not to have their picture taken, but I snagged one of Hannah looking cute.

Grown-ups night out! The Guardians won in 14 innings!

We invested in a new volleyball net with adjustable height.  We've all been enjoying games of volleyball, badminton, nuke 'em, and foot volley.

A few people have asked me lately about foster care. We are still doing it, but ever since we opened our house back up in November, we have only had one call for a long-term placement.  (She ended up going to live with a family member.)  We have been able to do respite for other foster families, including an energetic little guy over Memorial Day weekend.  He went back with his foster family on Monday night, then we had a crazy couple of days!

Tuesday morning we had a call for an 18mo boy.  We said yes and started preparing for his arrival.  However, a few hours later they called back to say that he was going to be placed with a family member who could keep him with his sibling.  Tuesday night my phone rang again around midnight, but I slept through it.  By the next morning they had found another foster family. Wednesday night we got a call for a 3yo boy who had been found walking around by himself.  When he got to the house around 10pm, both the worker and I thought he said his name was Byron, so that's what we called him.  By Thursday afternoon they had found his family, learned his real name (which was not Byron), and were able to place him with his grandmother.  

By the time my phone rang on Friday morning, I was wary.  But the ask was for an 8mo girl, which is a great fit for us, so we said yes again.  After several hours, a little confusion, and a few phone calls, baby girl ended up going with a family member.  So we had four calls in as many days, but we do not have anyone currently placed with us.

Hannah making our respite buddy laugh

"Byron" snuggling with Sadie