D - Branson (part 2)

It turned out that our favorite activity in Branson was when we rented a pontoon boat and spent the day at Table Rock lake. I wasn't just dying to do this because we have a boat and go to Arcadia when we want, so a day at the lake didn't sound all that out-of-the-ordinary to me. Was I ever wrong! It was just beautiful. The water was clear, the shorelines were lovely. A cushy, shaded pontoon boat is WAY more comfortable than our old bass boat. We were in the lap of luxury.



Katie likes it!


Noah found an original place to eat his lunch.



Katie thought it looked fun, so she joined him for her picnic.



My first ever time to try tubing, and Mike didn't go easy on me.

He was really trying to knock us off! Check out the air Noah is getting here.

Once Katie got on, it got a lot easier. She doesn't like to go fast, so Noah was pretty bored.

The boys had a great time showing off their lake-diving skills.

We all had a great time!

Maybe someday we'll upgrade our boat.....and our lake.....

D - Branson (part 1)

In my woeful neglect of our blog over the past many months, I somehow avoided posting anything about our July Branson vacation. Since this blog is primarily for my enjoyment and the only scrapbook I have, I'm going to go ahead as if we just got back yesterday. So, welcome to our summer vacation!

We had a great time this year, as we always do when we travel. We decided to stick with our road trips close to home and discovered that Branson is an easy drive with a lot of fun family activities. Of course, this family fun comes with a steep price tag. We joked that a family of 4 can't do anything there for less than $200. Funny, but painful.

Here we go!



First stop: Silver Dollar City!

The kids really did enjoy the rides. But because Mike can't spin without getting sick, I was nominated for all round & round activities. Fun!








The only thing I remember about visiting SDC when I was a kid was making these candles. So, of course, my kids had to do the same thing!

SDC was originally founded when they opened the Marvel cave up for tours. The park just grew up around the cave as they provided more and more activities for tourists to take part in. We always enjoy a good cave tour, so this was a lot of fun and a great way to cool off! And since it is included in the admission price, it's a can't miss for the big-spending Bosleys!

Leaving on the tram. Mike always finds clever ways to photograph the family.

D - Let the Games Begin! & more games, & more games

So this fall, against our better judgment, we let Noah play 2 sports. He has been saying all year long that he wanted to play football, but when time came to choose between it and soccer, he just couldn't miss soccer and chose it over football. But because his FATHER was a football player and REALLY wanted to see his son play, we let him do both.

It hasn't been too bad yet, but our Saturdays are pretty nuts with a minimum of 3 games to attend. We've had several schedule conflicts so far (and more to come), so I end up with Noah and Mike takes Katie since he's coaching her team again. They are both having fun, and it's awfully fun to cheer for your babies!


This soccer star has done so well this season. His game improved so much last year when he started playing every day with the boys at recess.



He has made 9 goals so far this season!



And this little star has improved SO much since the spring. The girl is fast!



& she scored a goal in her first game!



The budding football star. Look out OU - he's got big plans for you!

D - Katie's Birthday

In the brief time since I last blogged, Katie managed to sneak in a birthday. I can't believe my baby is 5! She is such a beautiful, giving, helpful, sweet-spirited girl, and we are so proud of her!



This year she really wanted to have a DOG party at Chuck-e-Cheese. Don't ask.



And the group shot.....most of it anyhow.



She had a lot of fun and got tons of great new stuff that is still all over the house. Gotta love birthdays!

D - Sweet Sugar

Meet Sugar - the new baby.



Cute, huh?

This kid BEGGED for a puppy for a year straight, and we finally gave in to him.



Katie likes her too, but has a short attention span.



We've had Sugar for 2 whole weeks, and it has not been easy, but I'm not going to complain about that anymore. The blog that I have been planning on writing where I vent about how hard it is having a puppy in the house is now completely scrapped. You're not gonna hear it from me.

Why the change of heart, you ask? Katie and I took Sugar to the vet this morning for her shots, and she had a severe allergic reaction to it. She went into anaphylactic shock, and very nearly died. It was so scary. The vet literally grabbed her up off the exam table and ran her down the hall to get her on iv fluids and treat her. I just sat there stunned and cried over how I was going to tell Noah and how awful it was going to be to head home and pick up all of her stuff for the last time. Who knew I even cared!?! Anyhow, she made it through. She got to stay the day with the vet, but we have her back home with us now.

So........... I gotta know........ What did you people pray for last night at church??? I know Laura put my sanity up as a prayer request, so you guys must be good. This incident has given me a complete change of heart!

D - 1st Day of School

Now that school is back in, I'm going to make a valiant effort at catching up on the blog. I can't believe how neglectful I've been this summer! We had a great time, and it just flew by. But now both of my babies are in school, so I have all of the time in the world to blog.

Oh, wait! Did I say that? How wrong I am. TWO of my babies are in school. My third baby is currently wearing me down, costing me sleep, making me cry, and driving me into a deep state of depression as I feel glued to my house and am constantly cleaning accidents up off of my kitchen floor. Yes, we finally caved in to Noah's year-long begging and got him a puppy. She is a cute, sweet, playful little 7-week old maltese named Sugar. But that is about all of the kind things I can say about her right now. I need to get some pictures from Mike, and there will be many more posts regarding my misery to follow.

But now, back to school!

This has been my easiest time with back to school yet. Noah has a great teacher who is the daughter of my grandparents' best friends, and my family has known her forever. I've heard from other school moms too that she is the teacher everyone wanted, so we're really excited. On top of that, 3 of Noah's best friends are in his class this year, so he wasn't scared at all. Yay! No tears for mom!

And this year even Miss Big Shot gets to go to school. Noah's Clyde Howell pre-k experience has been my favorite year yet. His teacher was sooooooooo wonderful and did so many extra things that no teacher since has lived up to the high bar she set. So, ever since Noah's last day of school, I've looked forward to Katie's first day there.

And here she goes.....

With 4 of her church friends in her class, this too was an easy transition. She was really pumped to go, and was all smiles for us. It's so fun to send her off to something that I know is so wonderful.

As you can tell, I'm very excited for both of them this year. Now if I could just feel as optimistic about my year....

M - Memorial Day Flag Planting

Noah, Katie and I, along with Noah's scout group, spent a little time on Memorial weekend planting flags on the graves of deceased soldiers.















Even though this is the kind of thing you do purely out of respect, you never really know quite what impact, if any, it might have on a 7 yr old. Nonetheless, I felt it important for us to participate for a number of reasons.




















Katie even got in on the act and was a great little helper.
















As I expected, Noah took it pretty seriously but we had fun also. He was great about handling the flag with respect and generally understanding the importance of what we were doing.




















I was awfully proud, to say the least.