Howdy Pard'ner

"Well, the corn ain't as high as an elephant's eye 'round here. We need some rain!"

Daddy teaches Jacob the finer points of video gaming.

Daddy and Micah work on a special project.

This week has been so hot and dry we've been spending lots of time inside. The 4th of July was a good day to just relax and work on projects like the one above. It involved melting crayon wax on a canvas and turned out pretty neat-looking! There were no fireworks because we're under a burn ban right now. But we did enjoy some watermelon and we talked about why we have this holiday. Both boys have been a bit under the weather. Micah's recovering from an ear infection and sore throat and Jacob's got some kind of fever virus since he woke up last night with a fever of 103. Sigh. It just seems like this year has been a tough one as far as illness goes. I hope they are both feeling better soon and that Dan and I can dodge this one. But it's hard to avoid all those sweet, sloppy kisses :-) Dan has been working on the kitchen, painting the trim and fixing little things that have been bothering us for some time. Micah become interested in the Exodus and keeps asking us to tell that story (starting with Joseph and the coat of many colors and ending with Moses and the 10 Commandments. When you think about it, it is one of the best stories of all time--Joseph's brothers selling him to slavery, his rise to power, the dreams, the plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, manna, the burning bush and the commandments. Lots of exciting moments in there. I wonder if he understands that the same God that held back an entire body of water to save his people is the God that we say prayers to every day. I'm not sure that's really sunk in for me yet some days.