Camp

CAMP...
I have had so many different things I could have put as my Facebook status over the past 4 days. But have had spotty (at best) internet reception. Might sound trivial, but please pray for the internet "situation" regarding my work-from-home-part-time job. Coming to camp again this year was a tough decision. One of the stipulations that was agreed upon was internet access, so I could continue w/ my job. The camp has been helpful in trying to get me internet access, but we are in the WOODS! They have Hughes Net for internet, but have alot of access points, and are having trouble with all the band-width being used up. From 9am to 11am, I have had success
in logging in, but then have the issue of the boys being awake and needing to be taken care of and occupied. I have yet to be able to log in during their nap time which is my normal routine in NC.
So with no house to clean, no meals to make, no internet access to work and earn money, and being sequestered to the porch while they sleep in the cabin, I have been getting some reading done! I am reading 2 books at the same time: "When Sinners Say I Do" by Dave Harvey and "Don't Make Me Count to Three" by Ginger Plowman. This is probably the 4th time I've read the latter. It's such a great book on child-rearing and is based on (and includes) tons of scripture! I've also been able to "catch up"
on the boys' baby books/journals.
I am thankful for all of those things, but get very stressed with having the "when will I be able to log into work next" thoughts hanging over my head. I have been granted access to go to the camp programming office to get internet, but I can only go when Adam is able to watch the kids. The other night I couldn't get up there until 10:30pm (when Adam was done w/ his responsibilities for his job)and really should have stayed up there until 1:30am (I have that much work to get done, and
also need to make up the hours I missed to make enough money for our family budget). But I was falling asleep around 11:30pm, so I had to head back. The boys have been getting up at 6:30am, so I'm exhausted by midnight have to get to bed and get ready for the early birds! I've always wished that I could "just" be a mom and wife and not have to work a job to earn money. But since I have to work, I do have the best job I could ask for (under normal internet/home circumstances). All that to say, this internet/camp thing is really been a strain on me. And quite frankly, I've found myself saying, "this is for the birds"! But the Lord knows we need the summer
income to make ends meet, so what can we do? Just have to stick it out and pray the boys sleep well and don't get sick, and pray that I get some extra super-engery, and super-patience, and some super-internet! ha! :-)
Anyway...Back to all the things I said I could have put on my FB status...
-Wyatt: "Mommy, I just really want a backpack that talks" (when he was watching Dora)
-Levi: "He wants his Mommy" (whenever he sees someone that is sad in a book or on tv)
-Wyatt: "Please help Ethan not to pull Dixie's ears. And please help Dixie not to be afraid of the big dogs" (while he was praying one night)
-I finally figured out why Wyatt's favorite color changes everyday depending on the color of his shirt (as if being 3 yrs old wasn't a good enough explanation)...on Blue's Clues, the guy is asked what his fav. color is, and he looks down at his shirt before he answers the question!
Those are just a few of things that I would have put in my FB status if I had had a good internet connection last week!
The new pictures are from a photographer my sister knows in Greenville, SC.

1st Try at Posting a Video

This is a test! :-) The video (if it posts) is of Wyatt saying some Bible Verses that correspond with his "Letter of the Week" homeschool preschool we did for about 9 months. This clip is just of letter's M through T, and it starts of a little rough, but then he does better and even sings a few of the verses :-) I used "curiculum" from a couple of different websites that I have listed in my favorites on the right side of the blog. The "curriculum" was just different themes, ideas, printables, crafts and book recommendations that I found on those websites. For the books, I would go online to my local library and reserve the books that corresponded w/ what we were going to learn about. The library is just a mile or 2 away from our house, so we went there often! And the online reservation option was so helpful, b/c it's quite impossible to look for a list of books while in the library w/ 2 kids ages 3 and under! :-) Now that we have gone through the alphabet (spent about 2 to 3 weeks on each letter, but only about 2 days/per week, so it took awhile!), next fall, I am going to go thru the plans on www.abcjesuslovesme.com and incorporate more Bible lessons. Looking back, I probably should have done that first, and the alphabet afterwards, but I just now found that website. Oh well. I hope to start Levi w/ the letter of the week ideas this fall too...pray for me! (and him!) :-)

Fun Outside

Yay for warm weather and playing outside!
Here's a picture of the boys with their friend Alex. We had a fun day at his grandparents' pool.

But along with playing outside comes bug bites. Unfortunately our boys have bad reactions to mosquito bites. Bad reactions to say the least. Poor Levi! Thankfully it went back to normal after 18 hrs and round the clock doses of Benedryl. Now we know that we have to put on insect repellent anytime we go outside, no matter what time of day, morning, noon or night!!