The Lennertz Six

Friday, October 14, 2011

VBS and Legoland

The first week of August we spent a week at Grandpa and Grandma's house... and the kids had the opportunity to go to Vacation Bible School at Eagle Ridge Church. The theme was "Big Apple Adventure", and they learned songs, stories, did crafts and really had a wonderful time. All four kids participated and it was wonderful. (Wes and I enjoyed some kid free nights too! haha) They even got t-shirts and the last night was a big party with cotton candy, snow cones, hot dogs and popcorn. They loved it and were so super excited! 3 of our 4 kids won prizes from the raffle... imagine the luck, right? Kathryn got a CD of VBS music. Matthew got and inflatable taxi cab, and Joshua- a giant inflatable statue of Liberty.

Huge, right? ha ha

That week we also had some wonderful time with the family.

The kids got to go to Legoland! What a treat, thanks to Grandpa and Grandma :)

The boys also experienced their first fishing experience with Grandpa!

Apparently they caught nothing, but found it 'relaxing' and really want to go again. Josh fell in the water and thought that was the coolest thing ever.

Thanks to Grandpa and Grandma Lennertz for a great week :)

Summer fun

Our summer was filled with chores, playtime, parks, cousins, family time, etc. So I thought I'd just post some shots of things we do daily.

Kathryn posing.

Matthew had this kick where he took off all of his clothes except the diaper and put on Josh's rain boots.. He also has marker on his tummy. This happens. A lot.

They climbed trees

We did some crafts.. one was this. Light-sabers made out of pool noodles, duct tape and electric tape

Yeah! I just get a kick out of watching them beat on each other.

Can you guess which ones I did vs.. the kid ones? lol yes I'm kind of a Star Wars nerd

Josh lost a tooth

Water fun with our next-door cousins

I think we had popsicles at least once a day. I like to make them w/fruit juice, but this one is a bought one

So my brother made his daughter an amazing play house.. the kids love hanging out in there. It's so fun to live next door to cousins and have a yard to run around and explore in.

Matthew likes spraying water. He got me right in the face once. Rascal!

A big tree was chopped down. These were some of the logs left over

The summer was so fun.. I was sorry to see it go by!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Chores

When the kids are home for the summer I love it. It gives us a chance to do fun things and be together more. It also becomes necessary to keep a loose schedule, as (ahem) some discipline issues can arise. We have a chore chart we use, but I added a couple of things this summer as well.

Bean Jar. I added beans anytime I caught them being good. When it was filled, they got a prize.

This was a lifesaver. I filled a coffee can with ping pong balls, with jobs written on each. Any time I heard "I'm bored" they had to do a ping pong job. You get the Picture! :)


This can is filled with Rewards. They complete a job, they get a reward. This was a HIT! I don't know if you can read those but rewards include things like, "You get to pick our dinner", "Go out with mom or dad", "Family game night", "Get a popsicle"

I am a firm believer in loving your children and training them in what is right. I absolutely mess up at times, but we try to teach them good qualities.. to work hard, have a good attitude, love others and be kind. Maybe also that teacher part of me just wants to motivate them.. especially in a positive way. If you are rewarded, you will work hard. I work that way!

Pokeman cake

Joshua turned 6 years old, and so of course I had to make him a fun cake. He requested Poke-man, as that is his favorite thing --for the time being :). Here is what we created for him.

Here a "middle of the process shot"

And completed cake.

Lapras (on top) is the only one made out of fondant. The rest of the pokemon are toys the kids have

But everything else IS edible.

We wanted to get the Lettering to resemble the Pokemon logo


Happy 6th birthday my Joshua!

Yes, the inside even looks like a Pokeball. It tasted good too :) Although the first thing the kids ate was Lapras..

July 4th and around

Fourth of July with Grandma and Grandpa

On the fourth of July, we were visiting Grandma and Grandpa. It was nice and hot.. and we took a trip up to see a farm, etc. When we arrived it was POURING rain. So, instead of picking strawberries and seeing things outside, we had lunch inside this cute themed restaurant.