Spontaneity

Sometimes spontaneity strikes. Sometimes it strikes 3 days before a major graduation party when there is a list of things to do as long as both your arms. Regardless, when it does strike, one should seize the opportunity.

Even if it means spending the greater part of the day prepping, fetching paint, and painting your living room because washing the walls was just not going to cut it.

It really helps if you have a partner in crime, or several, who are willing to be spontaneous with you and either paint for several hours or make lunch and supper.

It also helps if you happen to have an awesome Dad who, after working all day, comes in and helps get the project finished in time for dinner.

But however it strikes, seize the day, and when applicable, paint it a lovely shade of light blue.

Dancing With Benjy Take 1

If you have read my blog for any length of time at all, you probably know that even though I am terrible at it, I love to dance. This spring a good friend of mine taught me some country swing dancing and I loved every second of it. Just like every other good thing, once I got a taste of it I had to have more, so I begged Benjy into letting me teach him so I could practice. I am sorry about the poor quality of the video, I am not sure why some times my camera does really well and sometimes it does not. We have a long ways to go, but we are getting better! This is our "before" video, one that we can look back on and be proud of how far we have come. :D

And there you have it! Thank you Benjy for patiently learning and practicing with me and Becca for taking the video. Look for an improvement video in a couple of months or so....

Keeping Cool

Thursday we went into an "excessive heat warning" which basically meant "The Hipps' house will become a sauna". We have not had air conditioning for as long as I can remember, unless you count that window unit in our old living room that died when I was 7, so we are pretty used to living with the heat. However, since this was supposed to be "excessive" we decided to take precautions.

Our thermometer was really the only one to complain, unless you count me. As you can see, it said it felt like it was 140 degrees outside. The internet never said anything higher than 125 for heat index that I know of...

Best, cheap, fun way to cool off?? An all out water fight!!

Rule number 1, no one is allowed to use the hose as a weapon, except of course Emily...

It worked pretty well. We 'fought' until we were soaked a hundred times over and ready to go sit in front of the fans. Side note: If you are going to attempt to beat the heat without AC let me suggest you stock up on adoring fans, they make all the difference!

Water fights work well, but it said "excessive" heat so we felt "excessive" cooling off measures were in order. Aka, another trip to the lake. :D

Katie got back in town a few hours before our trip and not wanting to miss one precious second with her, we convinced her to come swim with us. Okay, not that it took any convincing!! Among many other things, she is an expert swimmer and has worked many times as a life guard. She set up a buddy system for us right away and kept an eye on everyone to make sure we all had fun and stayed safe. Oh, and demonstrated how to hold your breath underwater for enormous amounts of time...

Katie brought along Christopher and Jubilee who brought along Bekah. The more the merrier they say and we proved it to be true again. Thanks for coming guys!!!

Rosie and John took it upon themselves to make sure that Christopher was sufficiently splashed, scared, and made into a lake tour guide. Reminds me of some of their older siblings and one of Christopher's older siblings and some chickens, sticks and water... Thanks for making sure they had a great time, Christopher!

How fortunate we were that National Ice Cream Day fell right in the middle of our excessive heat. It is not like we were not eating ice cream before, but now we could eat with purpose. Thank you, Lord, for ways to keep cool that are not only fun, but at times delicious as well!

Typical

Once again, I have collected a variety of random pictures from the last month or so that only go together because, well, we are in them. Please enjoy this sampling of typical everyday life with Rosie and the rest of us.

Leah is a senior this year and decided to take a few practice ACT tests to get warmed up for her last year. Oh, and she got a 27 on her first practice... I feel my shared position of holding the family record is in jeopardy...

We don't just clean the bathroom. We DRAMATICALLY clean the bathroom...

John got a surprise box in the mail the other day, full of hot wheels cars from Grandpa Bob and Grandma Phyllis! Thank you again!!

There is a time to dance, and I for one try to take advantage of that time whenever it comes around. Here I am with one of my favorite dance partners ever. I swear one day this girl could be on DWTS...

Oh the joys of being little enough that people can do crazy aerials with you.

Afternoon nap time...

So, yeah, the sheep got out and we were trying to find them. And yes, it was perfectly logical for them to be under the bridge which is what Leah and Benjy are trying to determine. And yes, this is very typical, as in suddenly stopping what you were doing to spend 5 hours chasing sheep is just a chance you have to take when you have sheep. When we were likened to sheep in the Bible it was anything but a compliment, let me tell you...

When we girls went to Omaha for the day, the other kids stayed with the Wattermanns. From what I heard they had an amazing time. Thank you again Wattermanns!!!

We had so much fun with burning the barn, we decided to start more fires all over the farm! Just kidding, actually with Trina's graduation rapidly approaching Leah is heading up the farm clean up crew and burning everything unsightly.... Okay, maybe that is not quite accurate either but you get the idea.

This is the best manners book for children ever written. "You are a cowboy riding around the range. Suddenly Bad-Nose Bill comes up behind you with a gun. He says, 'Would you like me to shoot a hole in your head?' What do you say, dear?.... No thank you. " What Do You Say Dear by Sesyle Joslin, check it out sometime. I can't read through it without laughing until I cry.

The highly talented Leah has discovered another of her gifts this summer, cooking. She makes a mean rice pilaf with fish. I am not really a food person but I can tell you this, she will make some lucky guy very happy some day! Boys, the 97-page applications can be picked up in person after you have contributed a minimum of 100 Canaan Farm service hours...

Becca put together a day care yesterday. Let's just say they had a blast! Well, that is it for this time. Thanks for stopping by!!

Just Burn It

The back of the red barn has been falling in for years. Yesterday the kids tore it off and burned it in the pit. Regretfully, I did not get any pictures of the tear down, but got some of the fire afterwards.

For those of your familiar with the red barn, this is what it looks like now.

When I was a little girl this part of the barn was off limits because the roof was not stable. I felt just a little bit giddy walking around on the foundation. Juvenile I know, but for once I could be there and not feel guilty... :)

They found some cool things in the back room they tore off. Side note: The handsaw is Dad's, they did not find it back there and if you are reading this Dad, I am sure they put it away...

Leah headed up the tear down crew and thus earned the coveted position of chief pyromaniac, I mean fire starter.

She got a good blaze going in no time. The kids hauled in some branches from the yard which she also threw on the pile.

It was a pyromaniac's dream in no time at all.



Please ignore or laugh at my highly unintelligent commentary.

Feeding the ever hungry flames.

Fire is fascinating to watch, especially when it is contained and burning something we wanted it to burn. One major perk to the fire was all the smoke drove the mosquitoes off for several hours.




From a different angle. Once again, the commentary was neither scripted nor even, shall we say, thought out...

"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our 'God is a consuming fire.'"

Fremont Lakes

With the full onslaught of summer weather I have been dreaming about water. Going swimming a few times with the Compass kids increased the incidence of my dreams until some point last week when I knew it was time to make those dreams a reality.

The Fremont Lakes are a wonderful place to enjoy the water for several reasons. Number one, it is free to get in.

Number two, even if you don't have a boat or a jet ski, everyone else there does and makes waves for you. If they happen to be the amusable type or a boat load of guys showing off, they might even go out of their way to make big waves really close.

Number three, it provides a good excuse for John to get way more than his normal amount of piggy-backs.

Number four, there is nothing quite like taking a dip on a 100 degree day!

Number five, the drop off is gradual enough for the little kids to wade while the bigger kids swim.

Repeat reason number five.

Number six, even if you end up with more sand than you in your swimming suit, it is a total blast.

Number seven. It is conveniently located just a few minutes from $.50 ice cream cones.

Sigh, it was awesome, Fremont Lakes, an experience we are already dreaming about repeating.

Painting the Town with Katie and Laura

Trina and Laura turned 18 in the last few days. Leah decided a few months ago that this would be cause for celebration.

She conspired with Big Trina and arraigned for all 5 of us to take a day trip to Omaha. Trina and Laura were kept out of the planning and surprised on Saturday with the announcement. That is the nice way of saying we blindfolded Trina and drove her to the Wattermann's before telling her what we were going to do. She was a good sport and decided she liked the idea....

We thrift shopped until we literally dropped. But made many amazing bargains and added to our wardrobes.

We also discovered an awesome Chinese place. It is always good to find places to get amazing Chinese food at affordable prices!

Then we hit Claire's for the real fun.

Trying on sunglasses and every other accessory of ultimate fashion...

And finding our personal styles...

:D

And pretty much just having way too much fun with awesome friends.

I have been craving Ted and Wally's for months. This time we made it happen. I personally believe this is the best ice cream in Omaha but anyone wishing to prove me wrong is welcome to bring me evidence to support their case.

Double scoop of chocolate in a sugar cone. Yep, I am my Daddy's girl. :D

Thanks girls for being such a good sport about being whisked away for your birthdays! And thanks to Leah for making it all happen and Katie for taking time off of school and letting me drive your car. It has more get up and go than I gave it credit for which now we and those two boys in that Chrysler know...