Can't do it all

 

Today is the kids' last day at Camp Good News. They left at 8:00 this morning and won't be getting home until probably about 9:30pm because they have a campfire tonight. I still can't believe the camp cost only $15 for the week, and that included a free t-shirt (see above photo) plus snacks from the Sugar Shack each afternoon. They have had such a great time that Ian and Oliver told me they want to go to Camp Good News' overnight camp at this location (Mountain View Bible Camp) next summer instead of PMBC or Camp Susque. Nadia said that she wants to be a junior counselor at that overnight camp next year and attend Camp Susque as a camper. I have to say I am ready for camp to be done. Usually if I'm ready for a camp to end it's because I'm weary of the driving. In all the years of the kids attending camp, I believe this is the least amount of driving I've done for a camp. I'm very, very grateful that our neighbor and Paul have been able to do  almost all of the chauffeuring this week. I am ready to trade vehicles though as I prefer driving the Odyssey over Paul's Mazda. However mostly I just really miss my kids!!! I am extremely grateful that I homeschool them. I can't imagine spending so many days apart from them. I'll have about 8 hours with Nadia tomorrow and then we'll be driving her to Camp Susque for a week of overnight camp. I'm very thankful I'll be with my boys next week. Oliver's birthday is next Saturday so I've planned special outings for next week on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I'm taking four boys (mine plus Micah and Isaiah) for a pottery painting experience and roller skating on Wednesday evening. On Thursday I'm taking my boys plus Addi and Westyn bowling and then to Kaos for arcades, trampolines, and laser tag. I'm planning to take the boys to Knoebels for bargain night at 5pm next Friday. I'm hoping Pop Pop will come to our house next Saturday on Oliver's actual birthday.

Something else Nadia painted at art camp last week

Nadia wanted to attend a retreat from Tuesday through Friday this week with the youth group at FBC. She couldn't since I had already signed her up for Camp Good News M-F. She was able to attend most of the sleepover at Jill's house on Tuesday night. I dropped her off about 2 hours after it started and picked her up 2 hours early the next morning. Similarly, she would have loved to have gone on the mission trip with the FBC youth group in June, but the dates partially overlapped with the Bible Bowl event in Oklahoma. That trip was also the reason she couldn't be in Alice in Wonderland. She's also missed several youth group events at our church due to theatre camp, Camp Good News, and Camp Susque. I think her choices will become more complicated in the coming years. She could be a junior camp counselor with Camp Good News for one or more weeks next summer, and she's also considering being a junior life guard next summer. She wants to start working at a petcare center near us when she's 16. She could be a full fledged life guard in two years when she's 15. She always likes to be in theatre productions. I'm sure in future years she'd really like to go on this Glory Barn youth retreat that she missed this week. She wants to continue spending one week at Camp Susque for the next 3 years.  She'd like to go on missions trips and continue participating in Bible quizzing. The national competition will be in South Carolina next year. Nadia likes having a BUSY schedule in the summer. We shall see what all manages to "make the cut" in the future and what isn't possible due to schedule conflicts.

One of Ian's paintings from art camp last week

I talked to my friend, Joyce, yesterday for about 90 minutes on the phone. We probably talk on the phone about three times a year on average. We've been friends for 25 years. She asked me what did I do this week since I had so many hours without the kids (a very rare occurrence). I had a lengthy to do list. Some items were quick and only took a few minutes such as updating our E-ZPass information with our new license plate or contacting Six Flags again to find out when our membership expires. I finally got an answer! It expires on August 4, which means we're not going to go again this summer. The kids and I visited a Six Flags park 8 times over the past 13 months, and Paul went 4 times. We also received free parking and unlimited free drinks each time plus some other random benefits. I'd say we got our money's worth as it cost us about $360  altogether which works out to $10 per person per day we spent at Six Flags. I'd continue our membership if we lived closer to a Six Flags, but it's at least a 3 hour drive to any Six Flags park. 

Nadia's flower

Other things I accomplished this week took more time such as getting caught up on the videography course, lesson planning, and working on learning more Spanish. I am now in Unit 3. There are 9 units altogether. The first unit is VERY short compared to the others. If I keep at my current pace, I will finish unit 3 sometime in August. I did a load of dishes, mowed the lawn, did three loads of laundry, tried a new recipe for s'mores cookies, took Milo on a longer than usual walk every day, and made chicken parmesan with spaghetti. Usually when I have a chunk of time without the kids I focus on projects around the house. That wasn't the case this week, but I am hoping to do some cleaning, decluttering, and organizing over the next three weeks. I also had more time to spend with friends this week, which is a VERY rare treat for me. I had lengthy phone conversations with Aunt Tina, Tab, and Joyce. I met Carol for lunch on Tuesday, and I'm meeting Cheri for dinner and concerts at our church tonight. I asked the boys for LOTS of hugs when they came home at night "necesito un abrazo, por favor" is what I said. I didn't do any reading, and I missed listening to audio books with the kids this week. We listened for a VERY tiny bit each morning while they were eating breakfast, but that was it. I will enjoy listening to books for a bigger chunk of time again starting tomorrow! I loved camp when I was a kid so I'm very grateful that my kids get to go to camp.

Ian's artwork