Summer 2014-Big things are happening!!!

I haven't updated the blog in so long. The more things that you have going on, the more I want to share, but the less time I have to do so! It is a horrible cycle!
So far this summer, some of the big things that have happened are:
1. We got kittens!!!! Camille Paisley and Joey Jo Jo!
This one is Joey, Clinton's kitten. How adorable is this cuddle?!

 Here are Drew and Camille. Adorbs!!

 Here are the sisters together! They are a little stinky. Mostly Joey. "She has poopy issues" as Drew and Clint like to tell people! They are getting along with the dogs and we are so lucky to have them!

 

2. "People helping people" is sort of our summer theme. That's what it is all about. I get frustrated with Drew because she is so "into" her "things". If someone borrows a shirt, the FIRST thing she will say is, 'but she isn't going to keep it, right?'. If someone is over and is using a sippy cup, the same thing. Pretty much every scenario you can think of "they aren't going to keep it, right?" I feel like Drew has SUCH a big heart which is why I get so frustrated. At Christmas, she buys toys to donate, and she has NO problem donating her own money out of her own piggy bank, but she LOVES her THINGS and wants to keep them ALL FOREVER. So, I realized that she is 4, and it is silly of me to push it at this point. She shows so much compassion, and is so giving, I need to focus on that. It all started with some neighbors who are adopting from Ethiopia. Their biological children decided to sell some of their toys/ stuffed animals to raise money for the orphanage. Drew made it VERY clear that she didn't want to sell her toys. However, she was thinking that maybe we could sell some of our food. She grabbed a 1/2 empty jar of peanut butter and said, "let's sell it for a little more than we paid for it!" Genius. However, I said, I don't think people will want our 1/2 eaten food. Thus was born, the idea of a neighborhood bake sale. Long story short.. I am SO proud of Drew for thinking of ways she could help others... it didn't matter that she didn't want to sell her toys. What matters is that she thought of another way to make money, and boy did she make money! We sat at the entrance to our sub for a little over an hour, and then Drew asked if we could move the "garage sale" to our drive way, so we did. I had been selling cookies for 25 cents, or whatever anyone wanted to donate. Not Drew... when someone asked her how much the cookies were, she said 1 dollar! She made 35 dollars on her own after I had gone inside for the night! Not only did we make around 200 dollars from our baked goods.. someone saw what Drew was doing, raising this money, and that family donated 500 DOLLARS to the orphanage!! Drew's idea to sell our peanut butter turned into 700 dollars worth of donations! WOW.. one child really CAN make a difference! Not only that, but the kids chose a new family member.. his name is Bersukal and he is the boy we are now sponsoring through Compassion International. To quote one of my favorite new charities... Give a little, CHANGE a lot!



 

3. The next big thing is that Clinton did a triathlon! We had originally signed Drew up for it and thought Clint was too young, but Drew decided she was too nervous to do it (we think it was left over anxiety from the 1K she did in May!). We figured that since we had paid, we might as well go see what happened! Clint did awesome! First, the swim.

Then, the bike ride. Clint's favorite part!

Then the run...The ENTIRE time he was saying "But we left my BIKE!!  I want to go get my BIKE!"

 And finally, his big finish!

So proud of our little buddy!  He was all heart!

4. Our baby Drew Bug is SOOO GROWN UP... she ditched her training wheels and decided she was ready to ride without them! There was no magical moment that Jon and I had anticipated, where we would run behind her and let go, only to see her ride off into the distance. Of course not. Our little lady can never do things ordinary! Instead, she told us that she thought she was ready and could do it. She walked up to a neighbor boy's bike, asked me to help her by holding it so she could get her feet on the pedals, and the she just took off!! WHAT?! The next day (today), we got her a smaller bike.  Hers is 18 inches and entirely too big for her. She has so much more confidence on a smaller bike so we found a 5 dollar Dora bike on craigslist. Jon brought it home, she hopped on and rode off! She didn't even need me to hold it for her to get her feet on the pedals! I love seeing her so proud of herself. She should be!

Coming up yet this summer, we have Benji's birthday party, a Shashaguay family reunion, and a trip to Jackson and Georgia! Still so much fun to be had!