Photo Contests!

Angela over at Mommy Bytes mentioned not one but two different summer photo contests that I'm now entering! Thanks Angela! The photo that I'm entering is one of my son that I've had on here before of my son coming out of the pool. I just love how it captures the bliss and joy of being a kid during summer. He was trying to surprise me (which didn't work) but I think that I ended up surprising myself at the photo that I got.

The two contest can be found here at 5 Minute Moms and here at Write From Karen. If you would like to enter go on over!

Now my photo entry:

If you would like to see this photo bigger please go to this post and click on the picture there. For some reason I can't get blogger to work right on this one.

Freecycle

I think that Freecycle has become one of my best friends. Well, not really, but I've gotten some really nice things off of there lately from some very generous people out there. Here's a list:

Of course you know about the pool. We're still getting hours upon hours of fun with the pool.

I think I forgot to tell you about this one. At the same house that we got the pool there was the armoire sitting in her garage. They had previously sold it at a garage sale but the people (who had paid for it) never came back to pick it up. It had been several months with several phone calls to them. So needless to say they were ready to have it gone. I of course jumped at the opportunity to take it and put it in my craft room. It is wonderful!

There was a posting not to long ago of someone getting rid of a chair. I asked to see a photo of it and even though there is a tear on the front of it I got it and am using it in my craft room. I didn't have a place to sit in there until now. I'll make a cover for it sometime soon. Either that or drape a throw over it.

With the pending Youth Choir Tour that I am helping chaperon and taking Sam on I wanted to
get him something to keep him busy (read occupied) during those times that he needs to be quiet. I posted that I was looking for a Game Boy of some kind. In that same post I also posted that Sam was getting into Yu-Gi-Oh! cards and asked if there were any kids that have outgrown theirs. I got a response from a lovely lady that had a 15 year old boy that had over 300 cards along with a Game Boy Advance SP that he wanted to give to Sam. I was floored! Of course we still had to get games for the Game Boy. When we went to the Game Stop store here we found out that the Game Boy that we received was a limited edition made specifically for Japan. If those in the USA wanted this specific color they had to special order it. There were only 200 of this color made! Luckily the used games at Game Stop start at $2.99! I'm happy and now as you can see....He's VERY Happy!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

I've been busy around here and haven't had much time to not only visit my favorite blogs but also update my own.

The newest news, or at least it's news to Sam, is that we got a pool! I joined Freecycle and posted on several of the local groups that I had a son that loves to swim but we didn't have a pool. I had a lady that answered me and she had one that her daughter was getting rid of and it was mine! What I love about Freecycle is that it is free to join and everything must be free that you are giving away. So I now have an above ground pool that is 3 1/2 feet tall by 14 feet across, the ladder to get in it and the filter and hoses. This type of pool runs anywhere between $200 - $300 in the stores! Andy and I spent this last Friday and Saturday setting it up and Sam was in it late Saturday afternoon. As soon as we got home from church on Sunday he was back in it. And of course he was back in it yesterday. Here are a few pictures so far:
Starting to fill up the pool. Started on Friday evening and finished Saturday afternoon.
Sam checking out the progress of the pool. The wait was about to drive him (and us) crazy!
I asked Sam if he was excited about having a pool and you tell his answer by the look on his face.
Finally in the pool and enjoying himself. I know that I cut his head off in this photo and he's not centered but I still enjoy looking at the expression on his face. Pure happiness!
So far this is my favorite picture. In fact it is now the wallpaper on my computer.

I know that I'll be spending money on the upkeep of this pool but with the cost of gas now I know that I'll be coming out ahead in my pocketbook! Instead of having to drive to a pool or water park, which we still might do, I can walk out our backdoor and have a ton of fun in our own backyard.

Yesterday was Memorial Day and we had a wonderful dinner with two great friends, Beth and Bobby. They came over mid-afternoon and we had a lot of fun playing games, watching Sam swim in his pool, enjoying a wonderful dinner and of course friendship. I actually didn't take many pictures yesterday but do have some of my table and Beth's wonderful dessert.
Centerpiece was from a luncheon that was held at our church. I wasn't the "official" winner at the table I was sitting at but no one else really wanted it. I snatched it up and now have been putting it to use.
All that is missing now is the food!

Beth's dessert was sooooo good. And, Sam took this picture! He did a great job as the pictures I took of it didn't come out very good.

We had two milestones in Sam's life these past few weeks The first one is that Sam got his first Bible. He was very excited about receiving it and loves it. Of course, I had brought my camera with me to capture the moment but then realized that I had to go ring with one of the handbell choirs and couldn't take a picture then. So, I did the next best thing. I got a picture of him and our Senior Pastor after church.

Dear Sam,

I hope that one day you will look back on the day that you received your first Bible and know what a great day it was. I hope that your love of Jesus continues to grow and grow every day. I see you growing every day in your Christianity but probably don't tell you enough, I'll try to do better as you grow. I also wish for you that your children will learn as much from you as you do from them. I learn so much every day with you in my life. I thank God every day for putting you into our lives.

Love you,
Mom

The second milestone is that Sam has officially ranked as a Wolf in Cub Scouts. He had ranked quite earlier but we had the official ranking at our last Pack meeting. He's pretty proud of it and will now be a Bear next year.


I guess that's it for the updates now. I could go on and on with other things we have done but this is getting long enough. Counting today Sam only has 7 more days of school left and I don't know if he can contain his excitement about Summer Break starting. We are on our official countdown. We have a lot planned...but that's another post.