July 1st

Our church family got together to celebrate Independence Day. Pastor Cory reminded us that Christians have a spiritual “Independence Day” as well when we come to Christ!

John 8:36  So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

It is so nice to be able to come together with other believers and just feel happy and content playing and sitting and talking about all the great things God is doing in our lives. It is a VERY refreshing thing for me to experience.

We all enjoyed being together, barbecuing, playing horseshoes, and fellowshipping! The youth had a blast playing volleyball and shooting fireworks that we all pitched in to buy. We stayed until midnight and really didn’t want to leave then but we were all tired.

July 2nd

Our hometown had what they call an “Old Timey Homecoming Day” event. It included a parade and a craft show. It would have been a much nicer event had they spent more time getting the community involved and spreading the word so more people knew about it ahead of time. I think they have a good idea, maybe just someone a bit more experienced in P.R. (public relations) should take up the planning. It was still a nice bit of time I got to spend with my little family of five since my eldest decided to join us. I sure miss my family being all together. But I am trying hard to stop missing what we had and start embracing what I have in the moment.

July 3rd

The kids went to stay with their cousin which has become a regular thing they do every weekend this summer. I suppose most teens would rather hang out with a cool cousin than parents.

So, hubby and I decided to ride around the lake a bit. Already feeling a bit down about my fragmenting family, I just seemed to want to cry as we rode around the areas that I have good memories with our kids growing up, the times I miss so badly these days. I know that “this too shall pass” but it comes in waves. Some days I do fine, other days I just barely can get out of bed. I haven’t even got an empty nest but we five were so close and did everything together, it is really hard to enjoy stuff when I feel like a chunk of us is missing most of the time.

July 4th

My sister and her family came over to enjoy the 4th of July with us. I wanted to do something to help get me out of my emotional funk I had been in lately. Austin came long enough to eat but had to go to work. The rest of us played volleyball and the kids swam and we sat around and visited. It turned out to be a pleasant day.

July 8th

I had my hubby buy me an  Intous draw pad {aff link}! I figured I could use it to draw stuff for school and even for my blog. I, however, am no artist! The salesperson said it would take a week or so to get used to using the pad and looking at the screen since we are used to looking at what we draw naturally. I hope to get better with it in time.

July 12th

Since I am not the artist of the family, I let Anna have a go at the drawing pad. After only a few minutes she had it down! She drew a mushroom and butterfly for me which I used on my Biology section of my school stuff. I am considering using the school stuff on my blog page so I had her draw her little “A” signature she puts on her sketches so I could give her credit and copyright her work. I love seeing my children use their God given talents!

July 14th

Halfway through summer and I was already sick of seeing the kids with their phones in their hands all the time. I know it is hot in East Texas this time of year and one can only spend so much time in the pool, but being inside glued to the phone all day is unacceptable. So I did the “mean mommy thing” and set some serious limits on their screen time. And guess what?! They found something else to do to entertain themselves!! This image makes a momma’s heart smile!

July 15th

Another childfree weekend, hubby and I decided to go ride around the lake area again. This time, it was better than the last time, we went to a couple of places that didn’t have tons of memories. We just mainly rode around but we did get out to enjoy the setting sun and take a few pictures. It was pleasant and peaceful. We decided to do our best to purposefully and intentionally start living in the moment and praying we find joy and peace in this unfamiliar phase of our life.

July 16th

Hubby and I decided to go ride out by the Rayburn Dam just to sit and relax a little bit and while we were there we geocached a couple caches that had been placed recently! He found one with a lot of stuff for kids (making us wish they were there too) and I found the other that was out on the point by the water. I am really hoping once the weather cools and fall in in the air that we can go on a few family hikes, hopefully with all five of my little family together.

Meanwhile, while we were out trying to enjoying ourselves, the kids were enjoying their selves at their cousins. Jonathan was showing Adam how to weld! Adam was really excited to see how it all worked. I’m glad his cousin is willing and able to show him new things!

July 17th

As much as I hate to admit it, we got sucked into the “Pokémon Go” craze! My sister jokingly says she is “so disappointed in me.” LOL
Yeah, I am feeling like a big ol’ hypocrite because normally I am so against these type of fads… BUT… it IS a fun way to spend time with your kids, especially since we have done so much during their childhood that they are kind of bored with hiking, biking, geocaching, and such, and it is too hot to get outdoors in the Texas summer heat and hike. So, I am just happy we have found something new we can do as a family and the kids are willing to “hang” with us again. Of course, I have had my share of friends warn me of the “dangers” of playing Pokémon, everything from it being “of the devil” to it is a security risk on our phones. (To which I reply, “My God is bigger than the fictional characters in a game and they fixed the actual security problem and everything else is just hype. I am just trying to enjoy quality time with my kids y’all, I appreciate your concern but I am not one to over think stuff like this anymore.”)

July 23th

Hubby had a weekend off work so we got together with my sister and her family and headed to the lake for a morning of picnicking, paddle-boating, fishing and just spending some time outdoors with family. I was thrilled Austin got to come with us even though he did have to go to work that afternoon.

Of course, the fishing was not all we had hoped for… my nephew Jonathan caught the only fish, an undersized catfish which he released, and all my family caught was the Pokémon Goldeen…  The fishing may have been poor due to the other occupant in the cove… a very large alligator!

But the kids did have fun paddling around the cove in the paddle boat and the flat bottom. Jonathan enjoyed splashing Anna with the oars as they explored the area then they raced to catch up with Adam and my sister in the paddle boat and overtake their vessel. I told them they were pirates!

It was a pleasant morning we talked, laughed, played and when it got too hot, we headed home!

July 24th

The kids went to church with their cousin (as usual) and then after church he piled into our truck and we rode around hunting Pokémon! Jonathan was thrilled to not have to drive and all he had to do was hunt! It was so much fun to hear the kids cheer when they all found Charizard and when Jonathan hatched a Pikachu! We took them by Sonic and fed the kids and then just kept riding around until dark loading up on Pokestop supplies, filling in our Pokedex, laughing and having a great time!

July 25th

So the part of the Pokémon game where you have to walk to hatch the Poke-eggs got old rather quickly for impatient children, so Adam came up with a bright idea… strap the phones to the RC cars and go play with the cars at the park! Anna decided to see if merry-go-round riding would count to hatch them but it didn’t really seem to work that way. At least we got them to the park and they were having fun!

July 30th

And just as quick as the Pokémon craze entered our lives, it fizzled out when they stopped allowing us to “scout out” or track the Pokémon with apps and website like PokeVision. We live in a rural area and finding Pokémon is nearly impossible without some kind of radar. Sadly, the company for Pokémon forbids any type tracking radars at this time. We may look around a bit now and again when we are in town but the game is frustrating and not much fun anymore.  I am hoping they allow tracking again in the near future but until then I think I will have to find others ways to hang with my teens. But hey, at least our patriotic avatars were pretty cute!

July 31st

The last day of this month was the first day the used to be “house church” met in their new (borrowed)church building! My kids went without us this time and excitedly reported back bout how beautiful the new church was with nice pew spacing and comfy pews and gorgeous murals on the walls depicting the Creation story in the hallways! My daughter was somewhat worried that they would lose the closeness that we had being a home-based church but she said that it was still had the close feel of a loving family. I am excited to get to see what God has in store for the church

Love and Blessings,

Becky

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