This summer has been exceptionally hot here in Ohio ... with record highs and the heat index often being in triple figures. Sometimes it really has been more pleasant to spend the day inside than out!! Apart from our butterflies and Abigail's swimming lessons, we've been up to other silliness and projects.
Inside ... Abigail is working on her first scrapbook project, putting our Disney photos together in an album that we picked up while we were down there in Florida and loving it! Interestingly she was super excited just flicking through the photos of us all, which we found amusing ... until we realised that she had never looked through a pile of photos of herself before, only clicked through them on a computer! Times are a-changing!!
We've also made an alphabet book with index cards and dividers (a great idea we found on Pinterest). Abigail is really enjoying finding things to stick in it. Sometimes she draws, sometimes she writes, sometimes she types it on a computer and then prints, cuts and sticks. It's something that we think will continue to grow and be added to for months to come!
There have been a few painting projects so far too! Normal painting ...
... and then painting a beautiful bird house for all our visiting bird friends who we feed in our garden. We have yet to actually get it outside but decorating it was lots of fun!
When it's been too hot outside ... the munchkins have been have lots of fun 'indoor camping'!
We've tried to be out a lot of the time too, whether it be doing shadow drawings and watching them move throughout the day! ...
... Visiting local playparks ...
... Or playing in the paddling pool and being very silly in the back garden!
Mark's fun is 'on hold' at the moment as his spare time is being taken up with study, given that his hours are almost completed in the hangar! He did get to spend the day at the Dayton Airshow (a couple of hours away) earlier this month with a couple of the other guys from the hangar. They were given some complimentary VIP tickets and had a good time ... even in the 107 degree weather!!
To compensate that the rest of us were left at home, we had lots of extra fun that day, including a pizza picnic on the living room floor with a movie. (Mummy was definitely in favour for that treat!!)
Jenny has been working on a quilt project that she started during a Friday Night Fling at the end of June during the big storm that came through.
She has also been getting our Beckwith's Big Adventure Facebook Page together. The idea is we can post hangar updates (that Mark is involved in), videos, blog entries, family updates, prayer requests, praises, updates as to how the transition time is working out practically etc all in one place ... we will still be sending out the quarterly blurbs and monthly prayer emails but those who 'like' our page (see also top right of our blog) will also be able to dip in and out to get more instant updates at their own convenience ... without having to bombard everyone with continuous emails. We have learnt the importance of being covered in prayer at all times and think this will just make that more accessible to those supporting us. We appreciate that not everyone is on Facebook but a large percentage of our supporters are ... sorry if you are somebody who isn't!
Of course we've been having 'down-time' as well in between times ... the snap below was a photo opportunity just waiting to happen. One Sunday afternoon recently, the temperature in the 100's and Abigail tucked herself up on the sofa with a copy of Better Homes and Gardens magazine!! It's a tough life!
