Riverview Community Church Soccer Camp!

During the week of June 20th our church had its 14th annual soccer camp. I love that we are able to do this for our community and the best part is it's absolutely free! There were over 120 kids that participated this year! 

On the first day the kids all get their green soccer camp shirts. We also separate the kids into age brackets and assigned them to teams using colored bracelets. For example the girls that were ages 5-6 were the pink team and the boys ages 9-10 were red. It made it super easy for the coaches to know which kids were their responsibility! 

I was signed up to work the registration table which I did at the beginning of camp, but then I had to fill in for Michael. He was supposed to work on one of the fields. Michael wasn't able to help out on the first day because his background check hadn't come through yet. Darn terrorist that use the name Michael Martin as an alias! Thankfully by the second day of camp Michael was able to help out! 

The night before soccer camp started Jack asked me if I'd ask Jacob's Dad if he could come to camp too. It was such a last minute thing, but it totally worked out. In fact Jacob's whole family came and his older sister even got to participate in the soccer portion as well! 

My responsibilities on the field were to hand out the pennies....that's the name of the orange vests if you didn't know....I for one did not know that! It was so gross after the first group rotated through because they were all sweaty. I felt really bad for the next group that had to wear them. Ewww! The kids didn't seem to mind though and they did have their soccer shirt on underneath the vest so it wasn't like someone else's sweat was actually touching their skin. 

Ella wanted Kendra to come and this was even more last minute....a text to Rachael at 7am on the day of soccer camp! Thankfully it was able to work out! Kendra actually got to come to our house for all 3 days of soccer camp at 3:30 so her and Ella got play time before we headed out for camp. 

The first day Ella and Kendra were on the same team, but the second day they got split up. There were a lot of girls ages 5-6! 

Owen has hilarious! He is not really a team player per se. He likes to hang sole so it was no surprise to me to see him hanging back while all the other boys were at the other end of the field battling it out! 

His favorite job was goalie! 

At the end of the first two days of soccer camp they gathered the kids around and talked for just a few minutes and then it was time for Popsicles!!!!

This year was the first time....that I know of....that we had soccer camp for 3 days. The third day was different then the first two. We had all the kids come into the auditorium and they were each given a ticket. They drew tickets for gift cards to Toys R Us and there was silly guy that performed for the kids and even spoke about Jesus a little bit. It was fun and the kids loved it. 

After the speaker the kids got to get in line to get their very own soccer ball to take home and then it was outside for hot dogs, chips and lemonade for the whole family. The kids ate and then they got some time to go play around on the big field with their soccer balls.

I love that our church loves our community! We want to serve families and we want them to know that the church is a place where families are loved and welcome. Those are the main things that Jesus asks us to do....love and serve others and I feel so blessed that I get to be part of it! 

Daddy's Day!

Michael's Father's Day started off nice with the kids delivering their homemade gifts to him in bed. I made breakfast and then it was off to church. 

At church they had all the Dads come up to the front and they were given a little gift. It was a small soda bottle filled with Crush flavored jelly beans. The little note said, "Thanks for everything Pop!" or something to that effect...I might have gotten the wording a little wrong, but the main point was the word Pop! It was cute! 

After church things went a little down hill. I was stressed and grumpy because our house was covered with drywall dust from all the work we had done the day before. I was trying to at least clean up a little bit so we wouldn't be living in filth for 2 weeks. We sent the kids outside and within a few minutes we heard crying coming from the backyard. Michael got up to investigate since I was busy cleaning. When it was all said and done, Owen got spanked, Jack's candy from church got thrown in the garage and Ella got spanked as well. Nice Father's Day right!!! 

Let's just say our kids have been not getting along lately. They have not been kind to each other. There have been lots of harsh words being said, not treating others the way you'd like to be treated, blowing small things out of proportion and just all around not being nice people. So now there will be no electronics at our house until at least after they get back from spending a week at Ga-Ga & Pa's. There will also be no treats like Popsicle or ice cream because kids that treat each other nicely are kids that get treats! Oh boy.....summer fun here we come!

Later on to try to get out of our family funk Michael decided we should go to the park. We drove down toward the water from our house so we could get some fresh air. Michael threw a baseball around with Jack...he's doing so good catching an overhand throw. He also played with Owen for a bit as well. 

All the kids had fun playing on the play toy and they were getting along so well! Praying this is the start of a new trend! 

After playing Michael came over to the shade to rest and that's when everyone decided they needed to lay next to Daddy! 

It took some coaxing.....I like the sun, but I eventually joined Michael in the shade as well.

Of course Ella didn't want to hug Daddy, but then once Mama was hugging him she just HAD to be all over to Daddy! A little bit of the sun was sneaking through so that was nice! 

Cute little stinker! 

After the park we used up the last of our entertainment money for the month by getting a dinner for Michael and I to split from Circo Circo and we also were able to get the kids chicken nuggets from MCD's. I guess they did get a little treat after all! 

Demo Day!!!

A couple of weeks ago Michael decided that we should try to get as much done in regards to demoing the bathroom prior to the kids going away for the week. So Saturday the 18th turned into Demo Day!!! 

Aunt Stephie and Uncle Ry got Jack a tool kit for his birthday so he was all ready to get to work! 

The garage was a crazy mess so I knew the first thing the kids and I needed to tackle was cleaning that out. Bad idea to start a project when your work site is already destroyed! 

The kids were such good helpers! They helped by moving all their bikes, scooters, Power Wheels, wagon and camp chairs down to the basement. 

Here is the area we were going to start working on in the garage. That portion of the wall that sticks out is a laundry shoot from our master bedroom to the bathroom downstairs. The previous homeowners built this and it honestly was quite silly. You would have to take your clothes from your hamper put them down the laundry shoot, then come down to the bathroom, take the clothes out of the laundry shoot and then walk them out of the bathroom and over to the laundry closet. Annoying! I never used it as a laundry shoot it was just used for storage. The first order of demo was to rip that laundry shoot out and make way for where the washer and dryer's new home was going to be. That meant ripping out that utility sink as well....we never really used it anyway! 

But first let's have some before pictures! 

View from our dining room looking at the laundry closet....soon to be the new cubby location for all the kids backpacks, coats and shoes. Perfect location because the door on the left is to the garage and that's the door we always come in through. 

Inside of the laundry closet! 

Looking at the entryway from the dining room. This is the cubbies current location, and the bathroom door is just beyond them.

Looking at the entry way from the living room. We are actually moving the bathroom door to be right in the middle of where the cubbies are at. No more sitting on my couch and looking to the right and seeing some kid using the restroom because they didn't shut the door! 

View of the bathroom from the entryway! That brown cabinet straight ahead is the laundry shoot. The lower section is where the clothes would come out if I used it for that. The top portion is just shelving that I used for more storage. 

View of the inside of the bathroom! 

While the kids and I were cleaning up the garage Michael was emptying out the bathroom. 

Here's a look inside the laundry shoot cabinet. I had the kids help me move all the extra toilet paper and paper towels. This was also where I stored their swimsuits and beach towels. 

What do you do with an empty cabinet.....shove 4 kiddos inside of course! 

And shut the door! 

We're "scared" mom! 

Michael also cleared out the cubbie the best he could....you can't actually take out the other baskets until it's moved because the cabinet is bigger than the opening. 

So where does all this lovely stuff go! 

EVERYWHERE! 

There are piles of things all around my house now. 

It's only for a couple of weeks...I just have to keep telling myself that! 

Michael got everything moved that was around the laundry shoot and then unhooked and took out the utility sink. 

The it was hammer time! Singing it with me...nananana na na na na....hammer time! 

Jack with his cute little real hammer! 

This was the part I really wanted the kids to be involved with. Who wouldn't want to hammer a hole in their house and actually have their parents encouraging them to do so! 

Ella gave it a good shot...she dented the drywall! 

Zeke tapped! 

Even I got in on the action! 

Owen absolutely LOVE swinging the hammer!

Daddy came in and made a big hole! 

Then he made it bigger! 

Then he started ripping the drywall off! 

Daddy let the kids have a few more swings! 

He was ready to get the show on the road though! 

Once bigger chunks started to get ripped off Ella helped me load them into the truck. 

Michael borrowed his co-workers truck so we could make some trips to the dump. 

Ella loaded up things in style...look at those shoes! 

Making good progress! 

Sitting down on the job....slacker! :) 

Making more holes on the side of the laundry shoot! 

Jack was working on the other side and that's when we found....

a dead mouse! It was pretty fresh....Thank you DeCon for doing your job! 

After the outer layer of drywall was down it was time to take down the inner layer. 

This stuff was much harder....it's like the backing board of a bookshelf. Owen made a small hole though!

I thought it would be fun for the kids to go sit in the laundry shoot so I could take a picture of them looking through the hole! 

Owen feeling like the big man on campus! 

Peek-A-Boo! 

Michael was kind of done with all the fooling around and was ready to get going so he brought out the sledge hammer! 

Bam....2 x 4's were going down! 

As you can see it was loud! 

Safety first Jackson! 

Now were making real progress! 

Looking into the bathroom from the garage! 

New view from my bathroom! Michael was like....seriously more pictures! 

Then he measured and drew a line so he could cut the opening to the new width. 

Time to remove the excess drywall. This was about the time the kiddos got to go and have unlimited access to electronics so we really didn't see them much after this. You gotta do what you gotta do! 

Here is the wall all cut out... there will soon be a platform built and this will be the new home to my washer and dryer! 

Michael removed the sink and then after that Owen and I took a trip to the dump. It was so much fun going with Owen! He's at such a great age being able to help out and actually wanting to. At the dump they had signs everywhere saying children needed to remain in the vehicle, but I he was going to be my helper so I let him get out of the truck. One of the workers hollered that he needed to get back in the truck. I let her know that he was almost 10 years old and that he was going to help me. She was okay with it as long as he stayed inside the bed of the truck. She was just concerned for his safety....in her words..."We have folks that don't know how to drive forwards let along backwards!" 

When we got back I had a lot of work to do. Michael had removed almost all the drywall in the bathroom so I started loading all that in the truck. 

This is where the sink used to be! 

Looking in to the bathroom from the garage. 

Next up to demo was the cubbie area. Michael and I moved the cubbies out and then he started tearing out drywall while I loaded it in the truck. 

Moving right along! 

Next up was the laundry closet. Michael had to move out the laundry cabinet first...it's the cabinet on the left side of the above picture. Then he started removing the drywall that's behind the washer and dryer. Michael was in the process of checking wiring when I took this picture and the flash nearly made him "piss his pants"....those are his words exactly! 

Michael removed more drywall from the entryway side of the bathroom and now we can see all the way through from the entryway all the way to the garage. It also started pouring down rain so Michael had to back the truck up so the bed was in the garage. I didn't really feel like paying for soaking wet drywall at the dump. 

Jack got to go with me for my second trip to the dump and I didn't even try to have him help me since he's only 8 years old. Let's say it was much more tiring and time consuming doing all the work myself. In fact a worker came over and in a totally serious voice said, "I'm sorry ma'am, but you have exceeded your time limit!" I just laughed and said, "Yeah right!" He laughed too and I explained how the last time I had my almost 10 year old son with me to help. He said he knew because he had remembered seeing me earlier and when he noticed I didn't have a helper he thought it would be fun to give me a hard time! 

After leaving the dump Jack and I swung over to DQ so he could use some of his gift card from his birthday on a cookie dough blizzard! 

And here's where we are so far! This is the view from then entry way....it's quite strange being able to hear the garage door open so well from inside the house. 

Here's the wall in the bathroom where all the pipes are for the sink, toilet, washer and dryer. Michael's next big project is to get all of that moved so we can tear down that wall....I sound like President Reagan there! 

As for the garage we moved a bunch of stuff down to the basement, but now we are storing some stuff from inside out there as well. It still doesn't look too bad! 

Michael laid down a tarp going from the door inside out of the garage. This is the way we always leave our house and we were going to keep tracking drywall dust everywhere. Hopefully this helps cut down on that....so far so good!

We have a few busy days coming up and then Michael is doing some side work this Saturday so I'm not exactly sure when the next phase will begin....stay tuned!