At the park

The Zoo

Fun family trip to the zoo!!

Grandma Great

Grandma great move into a retirement home right near our church building. We go visit her every Sunday after church. It has been a lot of fun spending more time with grandma great.

Kate's Kart

Kate's Kart is a non-profit organization in Fort Wayne that is based on a little girl that passed away in the hospital.  Her family began this organization in her name and in her honor.  They collect new books and take them to hospitals on karts to share with sick children.  They are a current customer of Simplx, and we have gotten to know the owner and mother pretty well.  We have donated to their cause in books (by the kids) and through monetary donations from Simplx.  The organization had a huge ice cream social event for which we sponsored.  The kids loved it.  There was so much to do for the kids.  There were kiddie rides, free ice cream for everyone, and music.  The kids especially enjoyed the rides and inflatable activities.  We were glad to have such an enjoyable time with Grandma & Grandpa at the festivities, and also to help sponsor such a neat cause.

IPFW Basketball Camp

Cooper participated in an IPFW Basketball camp on the IPFW college campus.  The facility was really neat, and the camp was superb.  The actual IPFW basketball team were the coaches and leaders for the day camp, so the kids got instruction straight from the players.  Cooper was really excited to go each day and be a part of such a neat organization.  He did drills, scrimmages, activities, and got to experience the college campus a little bit.  His friend from school, Jackson, happened to be in the camp as well. So that was fun for him to have a friend there that he already knew. 

IPFWs mascot is the mastadon.  It's actually a meaningful mascot to the Routsong family.  Bill Routsongs relative (either a cousin or an uncle) happened to find bones in his fields.  He had the IPFW geology and archeology department come out to look at the bones to see if they were of any importance.  He thought they could be dinosaur bones.  They turned out to be the skeleton of a mastadon.  The archeology department took the bones to study, and the mascot of the college became the Mastadons.  Somewhere on campus there is a dedication to Mr. Routsong from whose lands the mastadon had been discovered.  Pretty cool story!

One of the camp days, the Fort Wayne news channel came to do a story on the IPFW basketball team and share a little bit about the camp they put on for the community.  Cooper got in the background of one of the interviews and we saw him on TV!!  He was thrilled about this of course.  It was a great experience for him and he plans to be a part of the camp again next summer.

Preschool: Father's Theme

At Preschool we did a "Fathers" theme.  We talked all about fathers and what they do for us. The kids got to try on a tie, just like their daddies, and try on some of daddy's big button up shirts and long shoes.  The highlight was trying out shaving just like we see our dads do every morning.  The kids took shaving cream and rubbed it all over their chins and used a popsicle stick to try to "shave."  They wanted to do this over and over and over again.  They made gifts for Father's day to save until next month.  It was a lot of fun honoring our dads together!

Cousin Asher

Our nephew, Asher, got to come stay with us for a week.  The kids loved having him, their cousin, all week.  We had a lot of fun with him.  He joined right in with the big boys, his birthday being in between them.  They all got along pretty well.  They actually acted a lot like brothers, playing spies around the house, legos upstairs, bad guys & good guys, dress up, and running races outside.  Then they'd fight like brothers too.  They definitely bonded.  It is so much fun to watch these little boys grow up and spend time together.  I'm grateful for the fun and memories the kids created together this week.

Nathan 10 months

Nathan is 10 months old!!!!!!  Here are some fun things about Nathan at 10/11 months old:

1. New top middle tooth and right top tooth are growing in.  So he looks lopsided because only one side of top teeth are growing in.  It's adorable!

2. He stood up on his own on June 24.  

3. Focuses with tunnel vision.  He doesn't stop until his goal is reached.  Usually it is a goal like getting to mom's phone.  He keeps his eyes ahead and doesn't move his eyes till he gets there.  Its cute to see that nothing will distract him from his goal.  

Dawson's snowman

Dawson is obsessed with snowmen!  He loves them!  He always gets excited when he sees them and he always wants to make them.  He has made all different sorts of snowmen with paper, cotton, chalk, using different sized balls, using grapes, and anything else he can think up.  If I am sketching one for him, he will remind me of all the parts so that I don't forget anything.  It must have stick arms, hands, buttons, a carrot, a hat, and sometimes he will request mittens.  He is very particular about his snowmen.  So on this day he actually attempted a snowman all by himself.  This is his first snowman sketch.  He was so proud of this, it had to be preserved.  Love you Dawson!