We love coming to Lakeside Bible Camp as a family and are definitely missing Than’s presence here. Logan told me today that it isn’t as fun without Dad here because they don’t get to do as much fun stuff. They have actually done everything on the camp in the last two days. But I will agree that even though we are doing the same things, without him it just isn’t as fun. Than brings fun to everything he does. Just his presence is fun to be around. I think he could make watching paint dry an adventure.

That said, I’ll recap our day for you all. Starting with our annual picture.

First as I stated in the last post, we started off the day in the best way possible…talking to Than. He caught us before we went down to breakfast so we were in our cabin where it was much quieter so that was nice.

The speaker today challenged us to think about our relationship with material things. The quote that really stuck with me was “Materialism isn’t about how much stuff you have but the relationship you have with that stuff. Is it interfering with your relationship with the Lord?”. It really confirmed for me what Than and I have been feeling after reading the book Radical together. I would highly recommend the book and maybe I’ll write about it sometime.

Now after a rainy day yesterday, we were thrilled to see the sun this morning. That meant we could play in the water. I snapped a few pictures of the kids (sans Teagan as we left to go crawdad hunting with buddies).

We have some sweet friends that we see at camp every year, the Smith’s. Their oldest two boys, James and Gabe, have been willing to do some of the things with the kids that I just can’t with a newborn attached to me. Today that included rough housing, tossing Declan in the air, and going for a canoe ride.

Then James and Declan did a little hanging out on the dock. I would have loved to hear what they were chatting about as they sat there for a good twenty minutes or so.

The kids also hit the BMX bike track. Another dear friend Joe Korf took them up there for me while I took the little ones for a nap. Rowan put on a helmet and chest guard and they ran around the track together. Then Joe ran around the track again holding onto Logan’s bike. (Big bikes and a fast track). He definitely got a workout in but the girls both felt great for having accomplished it. Teagan needed no help and rode the track four times. The last time resulted in a nice big scrape on his elbow. He said he went a little too high on one burm and fell over. Than would have been proud!!

Here are two pictures of how lonely Dresdan is whenever I put him down.

Add in the adults oogling him the rest of the day and I think he is doing just fine. Well fine other then the cheesecake I ate last night. It did not agree with him this evening. He is doing great now after a fussy couple hours. Glad we got it out before bedtime. And by the way, the cheesecake was really tasty:-).

I caught a better picture of him smiling. He is getting better at smiling everyday and I am getting better at catching it with the camera.

Ok just one more story to tell. Tonight was campfire and s’more night. It started while Dresdan was feeling yucky so I wasn’t sure how I was going to help the little ones roast their marshmallows. Sweet Chris Lynn stepped in to help them. She is such a sweet, loving woman and they were happy to have her help. Rowan told her she didn’t like her marshmallows burnt, she liked them silver. After a few moments we realized she meant golden. Haha. All precious metals are the dame to her.

After getting the kids showered tonight (that was quite a feat but went pretty well all in all), I’m going to try and get some sleep. Than is you are reading this, I love you!!!

(from left, Logan holding Dresdan, Rowan, Declan, Teagan)

I figured I would start this post with a picture of my five wonderful kids. That’s right I said five. I think I may have written on here about being pregnant but if not…ta-da. Our newest little guy was born July 4th. His arrival is a whole post in and of its self but as I said in my last post, that will have to wait.

Today is actually Dresdan’s 7 week birthday. Time has flown by. Here is a picture of him almost smiling. He has been working on it the last few days.

Now back to the title. Lakeside Bible Camp and Sudan. The only way these two fit together is that they both have part of the Nap Clan visiting. We will start with Sudan.

As if last night around 8:00 our time, Than was on board a small plane flying into southern Sudan. The plane is small enough that only half the group went yesterday and the other half go tonight. I got to talk with Than before he left the guesthouse in Kampala, Uganda. In the final information packet, it said no news back home is good news. So with that in mind, I am stating that Than has arrived safely at the compound in Sudan. He and a group of seven other men from Calvary Chapel North Bend headed there to serve with Far Reaching Ministries . FRM is an amazing ministry and Than is very excited to be serving them.

I’m not sure when I will talk to him next but since he is in charge of the email updates and photos, I hope to be able to share some with you in the coming days. That is the hardest part honestly. Not knowing if or when I’ll talk to him in the next two weeks. He is my best friend and I am used to talking to him daily whenever I want. I will miss that greatly. Praise the Lord I am surrounded by awesome friends that are willing to chat whenever I need it.

What is he doing you may ask? I’m not really sure but the plan is construction/repair type projects. The main goal though is to be a testimony to Gods love and faithfullness. I’ll tell you about the specifics as I hear them.

Now onto the Lakeside Bible Camp part of the title. For the last three years, we have attended family camp at LBC. It is just like the summer camp you attended as a kid but for the whole family. It was a sacrifice for Than to miss it this year as he truly enjoys it. (Check out his video about his first year at camp on YouTube here.. It is worth the two minutes). Well the kids really wanted to still go. I waffled back and forth. Taking the big kids, no problem. But add a two year old and a newborn, I wasn’t so sure.

As you’ve probably guessed, we made it and are having a blast. Here are the highlights of the day…

Teagan and Logan faced off in the finals of the first carpet ball tournament. It was Nap Clan domination with Teagan winning the title. Then Teagan won the second tournament too. Apparently all the practice on the church lanes has paid off. Even Rowan won a few games. Declan just liked throwing the balls.

Teagan, Logan, and Rowan all tried the new climbing wall. It was fun to watch them try. Logan got about a third of the way up.

I did not have to cook or clean up any meals today. It may not be health food, but I’m willing to let it slide a week.

Lastly, Logan, Rowan, and Declan got to ring the dinner bell. See for yourself.

I love life learning.  First, because it is fun and flexible.  And second, because my kids are putting into practice the things they are learning.  No more “why do I have to learn this?” questions.  They don’t ask because the reason is obvious and even better they don’t even realize they are learning. 

Today, we had a perfect example of this in our kitchen.  We were making banana muffins which are Declan’s favorite food in the world right now.  Weird that he doesn’t like bananas though.  I’ll have to explore that later because I need to get back to the subject.  We had 6 bananas but the recipe only called for 4.  I had two options.  Option one, use four bananas and hope the other ones don’t get too brown to use for banana muffins when we make them again this weekend.  (As I said, Declan loves them.)  Or two, making a math lesson out of changing the recipe to use six bananas.  Well that seems like a no brainer to a homeschooler now doesn’t it?  We used 4 bananas.  I’m just kidding we decided to do a little math.

Teagan got pen and paper to make his conversions while Logan and Rowan brought out the stool to help.  Declan was sleeping which is good because he gets a little impatient about his muffins.  As Teagan figured out how much of a particular ingredient we would need, the girls would take turns “spilling” it into the bowl.  (Just thought I’d throw in a little Rowan lingo for you).   He did a great job figuring everything out with just occational help.  More for approval than questions.

Final product…a math lesson for Teagan, home ec for the girls, and a very happy little boy.

I am venturing into the realm of blogging not on my own but with my whole family.  Being the homeschool mom that I am, I am always looking for ways to educate my kids that are outside the box.  How can I teach my children to write without making writing a chore?  Blogging of course.   I want my kids to be able to communicate with others effectively.  People of all ages not just their own. 

Blogging encourages them to really think about what they are writing.  They are writing to others.  Not just for school or because I told them to.  Because they want to tell others about their lives. They are writing about themselves.  All about their days, their activities, the things they love.  It makes it more meaningful to them.  This isn’t something too abstact or too specific.  It is all child-led. 

The goal is for them to want to blog.  To want to tell others about their lives.  We’ll see if my theory is correct.  I’ll keep you posted as we see success or make changes to avoid failure.  You can check it out at http://family.napclan.com.