Summer So Far

Summer is the time of year when Robert is gone the most.  I remember the first summer as being the summer where I went to most things but was very hot and very pregnant, the second summer was the summer of Sarah teething molars and crying, the third summer was the summer of potty training, and this fourth summer is the summer of taking forever to fall asleep.  Interesting what major themes stick out to you.

Before summer stuff really got kicked off for Robert, I was in my second wedding of the summer!  Congrats, Tiffani and Matt!

Robert had Serve Springfield at the start of June.  Although he's technically home at night, he had 14 hour days Sunday-Wednesday.  It was an exceptionally hot week so Sarah and I really didn't join him for much.  I think we stopped by to say hi two or three times, but that was it.  Each morning the students worked at a senior adult's house scraping off chipping paint, power washing the exterior, washing his RV, and doing some yard work.  After they finished Sherwin Williams was going to send a crew to paint it for him.  In the early afternoon they worked doing landscaping for a new community of tiny houses for homeless men.  Super cool!  In the late afternoon they went door to door near our church asking if they could pray for people.  Talk about courage!  I don't know many adults who would be up for that, but the Holy Spirit always enables our students to get out of their comfort zones.  Then they'd meet up with other local student ministries for dinner and a worship service.

Sarah had her first lemonade and loved every second of it!

We celebrated Robert's 28th birthday early before he left for summer camp. 

And we got to celebrate Father's Day the day before Robert left for camp.

Camp was a week after Serve Springfield, and they returned to Camp Revo at John Brown University in Siloam Springs, AR for the fourth time.  We're hoping/thinking maybe Sarah will be able to handle going next year.  I really hope so!  The students had a great time, and I know God did big things in their lives.  Monday we went to Jump Mania with friends, Tuesday I went to visit my parents for the day, Wednesday morning was preschool, and then Wednesday afternoon hit and there was nothing left to do for the week.  I had an hour or two of panic and a pity party, but I managed to pull it together.  We went and used a gift card at Starbucks and played outside to end the day.  On Thursday we had dinner at Chick Fil A and stayed at the play place for a long time.  Thursday and Friday mornings I had other mom friends over for play dates.  Sarah has been taking an hour to an hour and a half to fall asleep at night for the last nine months.  It wouldn't be so awful if she'd just stay in her room, but she comes out several times.  She prefers Robert to do the majority of her nightly routine, and it's always worse when he's gone.  That was the case this week, but I am glad that once she went to sleep she stayed asleep.

Last day without Robert

 Robert's birthday is during camp every year, and the students always make a huge deal of it!  This year they all had cutouts of Robert's head on a stick to carry around. :)

We've been able to tag along for some small student activities like a game day and a pool party next week.  We've had lots of trips to Bolivar and have met up with Robert's mom and sister and their families.  We aren't taking any trips this summer, but it's just so hard with Robert's job, so that's how it has to be, and that's okay. :)  We'll have a fall trip to Alabama.

I donated 10" of hair to Locks of Love, and am enjoying being a bit cooler!

Sarah got more in to fireworks this year and really enjoyed throwing down the snappers.

Can't believe there's just one more month until a new school year and Sarah switches to going to preschool twice a week!