Here I Is!

Liddy's hair has been so slow growing and now that she has hair, the top hair is just long enough to cover her eyes. Her sisters keep asking me why I cut bangs for her. It's hard for them to understand that this is just her hair from birth finally growing long enough to pull out of her face.

She's notorious for pulling her bows, clips and piggy tails out when they bug her and then we get a "Cousin It" look. I say to her, "Where's Liddy's eyes? I can't see those pretty blue eyes." She grabs her hair, flips it back and says, "See! Here I is!"

Fish That Swim

Leah did a great job on her dive this year.
She's now a Fish that can swim well and has surpassed her Mama for sure!
(I still can't dive...so sad.)

This picture makes me giggle because I caught Campbell Cousin, Esther, entertaining the little ones waiting for their turn at the diving board.

This Little Man had huge anxiety over swimming lessons. Every time we passed our teacher's house, he would start crying if anyone mentioned swimming lessons coming up. He whimpered the first class, whined a bit at home the 2nd class and the 3rd class he told me he loved swimming and was hoping Ms. Trish would let him jump off the diving board and dive for rings. I tell you, our Swim Nazi is a miracle worker!!!

Leah doing her favorite stroke.

The little guys waiting for their turn.

Who can resist this sweet little face?? I can't!

The Princess Leia buns are just too cute!

Way to go Little Man!
Next year we'll add the last Little Fish to the pool. She was almost ready to go this year.

Protection

Have you had something happen to you when you believe God was clearly protecting you from danger? And as awful as a situation feels at the time, the thoughts of "what if" makes you want to cry and thank God all at the same time? We had that this past week.

Tim had hooked up the trailer to his truck to haul some large rocks to fill in erosion by our levee. Earlier that day we had a huge downpour of rain and the ground was still wet.

The minute that his front tires hit the wet ground, his 4-wheel drive wasn't effective and he started sliding down this hill. (You might be able to see his tire tracks). As he went, he picked up speed.
His truck slid sideways and the trailer rammed into the back end of his truck, just inches from his gas tank.
It scared me half to death to think that the tank could have exploded or the truck could have flipped. It stinks that his truck needs pretty big repairs now, but I am so grateful that God's hand was in, this protecting My Man from danger. He got an extra big hug from his 7 that night!

Campbell Cousins at the Lake

First I need to apologize to all my readers who are tired of lake photos. I know it might get old seeing new faces on the same ole tube and kneeboards. If that describes you, just skip the posts with the red and yellow life jackets. If you don't mind my documentation of our lake weekends, keep reading.

We were so excited to have half of our Turkey cousins arrive last week. They came early to join us for swimming lessons with our beloved Swim Nazi that you might remember from previous years. We took a quick weekend to the lake and had a super time.
Although this guy is Liddy's age, he's Josiah's size and thinks "Yo Yo" (as he calls him, which is Jo Jo) hung the moon.

These 2 post-kindergarteners were so happy to be reunited, but very content to stay on the boat and off the tube.

And Ms. "Me Do" just wants to be where the action is.

Granddaddy enjoying time with his daughter after 10 months away from the good ole U.S.A.

Leah responds very well to peer pressure when her Campbell Cousin showed up. Leah would not allow all the crazy tube rides and double kneeboarding to go to AB instead of her. There were no more tears and "cut throat" signals from her this weekend. She was ready for some fun.

Go Class of 1990!
My B.F.F. from 8th grade and now S.I.L. wanted to try doubles on the skis.
We succeeded and haven't totally lost our youth. I think the last time we skied together was on our Senior Ski trip. Whoo Hoo!

I offered to take the 2 year olds on a tube ride and what fun we had singing and screaming at Grandma in hopes she could hear us up in the lake house.

You should have heard the giggles.

My Man bought gloves since last weekend he ripped skin off his hands from wake boarding.
When Caleb wore them, they were a bit scary like a horror movie...The Revenge of the Oversized Blue Hands.

See in the middle? She's trying her hardest to look like she's enjoying the crazy tube ride.

King of the Mountain
We sure have missed our cousins!

The 3 boy grandkids all on one tube.
There's no way that the 8 girl grandkids would all fit on one tube!

Good Friends & Short Visits

During our short trip to Memphis, we were graciously hosted by our good friends. Nine years ago when we moved to Nashville from Singapore, I began to pray for a good friend. Good friends are hard to find the older one gets, in my opinion. I asked God to give me a friend with whom I had things in common, one that homeschooled so our children could play together with a flexible schedule and one that was like-minded. It took a few years, but God answered that prayer and gave me Allison with her wonderful family. We enjoyed years of play dates, phone calls and social time. Then God called her, of all places, to our home town of Memphis. We only see each other about once a year but when we do, we always leave missing them more. What a great friend to host 7 people in her home in addition to her family of 7!

Caleb and Hunter loved catching up, riding scooters and playing Legos.

AB and Haley have grown up so much. Haley just became a teenager (she squatted for this photo so she didn't seem to tower.). How time flies!

These 2 just take off and we don't hear a peep but practically stepped into their picnic that
they set up right at the front door.

When we met, she had 3 and I had just had my 4th. Now there is 11 between us.

These 2 little guys were born just weeks apart. This was our first reunion where they really talked, played and became good buddies.
Thanks so much, Allison, for a great, quick visit. Your family truly blesses us!

Reaching Summer Water Goals

I think these photos speak for themselves as you can watch AB trying to reach her water goals for the summer.

Way to go, girl! You have surpassed your Mama!

Meeting New Niece

The kids and I took a quick 24 hour trip to Memphis to meet Uncle Justin and Aunt Mandy's new baby daughter, Reese. It had been a long time since we all had held such a teeny tiny baby. Lydia didn't seem so much like our baby anymore. Reese was just a doll and she was well-loved while the Fish Sticks were there!
AB and Leah literally fought over holding Reese. I had to set my timer to give them 15 minute increments so they would take turns. I don't think she was set down the entire visit. Then they would look at me with these longing eyes and beg me to have another baby.
Even this Little Man was all into his new cousin. He also kept saying he wanted me to have another baby but make it a boy this next time. :) I just kept telling them that they could just love on their younger aunt and uncle's babies and how much fun that would be. I don't know if they bought it.
Surprisingly our little baby was all into Baby Reese too. She kept wanting to hold her and then tell me to take a picture.
She was staring at her itty bitty toes and touching them here.

Couldn't be any prouder.

I totally forgot to have my brother take my photo with Reese, but I promise I got lots of lovin' time in also. I also forgot to get photos of the Fish Sticks with Reese's big brother, James. They lived in the playroom with him and had a super time. Just 2 years ago when we last visited when James was born, they were wandering the empty back yard trying to find something to fill their time. Two years later there were plenty of toys to play with. Funny how kids can transform your life, eh?
Thanks Justin and Mandy for a great visit. You have a precious little family!

Bail Out

Our number 3 can be such a stinker sometimes. She's as tiny as she can be for 8 years old, but she's so strong she picks up 100 pound teenagers sometimes. She's athletic and muscular and we've been told a few times by her gymnastic coach what a natural she is and what potential she has. Here's the BUT. But, she gives us such a hard time when trying new things. She doesn't like to be adventurous and freaks out very easily. Sometimes we think it's just a show for our benefit because if we add a bit of peer pressure with a friend or cousin, it's as if she's all willing to try.

So she hops up on skis like a natural, and we can even see a smile on her face.

The waves might be a bit bumpy and the smile seems a bit strained.
Then we notice the ruffled brow and know that the "cut throat" signal would be coming soon if she could just ski with one hand for that split second to give us the signal.

But instead she just bails. She's got it down quite well. This way there is no bust with water up her nose, skis flipping her over and getting stuck. Just a quick hop out of the skis into safe waters. As for her parents, we are now shopping for smaller skis that hold tiny feet tighter. She's a mess!