JUNE! - June, where did you go?

Hello!

From the hints of my husband, that my blog "is way overdue a new post" - decided to stop, sit down and write a post today.

How are you? Enjoying the summer - despite the hot conditions? Hope so! Can't believe that the month of June is gone!

I've posted some pics of our events from June - we've been mainly staying inside during the hot hours... swimming & relaxing the rest of the time! The BEST thing about the summer (for us) is keeping a light agenda - staying at home is the main priority!

There has been some things accomplished over this summer - both of the boys closets and drawers have been sorted; hand-me-downs are either packed or given away! Need to paint... but with the heat - I'm afraid the paint will dry too fast! May wait until early fall (procrastination at it's best, huh!) - would like to finish painting the bathroom (KV started 6 mo. ago), hallway, kitchen and spot- paint nail holes... Anyone up for a Paint Party?!?! Then to rearrange the living and den furniture... The heat just zaps your energy - need some motivation! LOL!

VBS has came and went! We were the leaders for the 5th/6th grade class (that's Aric's group)! We had an excellent group! Our church's VBS theme was "Dive In" - each station had a Bible story that included WATER - we had record attendance this year. Our group won the "Best Class Beach Ball" - Monday night! VBS was a success!

KV headed down south to be with his dad - he had open heart surgery on the on the 22nd of June; recovery is going well. KV is back down there again - "Dad sitting!" Just someone there to watch and make sure everything is okay at the homestead! The boys and I will head down there when KV feels that his dad's up to a more "lengthy and active" visit!

The "girls" are doing fine - our corgi dogs - Roxie & Molly! (7 mo. old now!)

They both had a PROCEDURE while we were at the lake. We have a wonderful vet in town - actually "the girls" were born at the vet's office - so everyone knows them well! They are staying inside a lot - due to the heat. Can I say - "Spoiled Rotten"!

Did you know that Childress has been OVER a 100 degrees now for 38 days - ARGH! With NO RAIN... it's been sooooo hot. No grass to mow - plants, trees, shrubs are all looking soooo bad. Our poor farmers are already claiming on their insurance because of "no growth" and the fire hazards have been high. Most of Texas celebrated with NO FIREWORKS on the 4th - Our church has plans of going to a church camp in New Mexico at Pine Springs - but due to fires around the area... it's still pending if we can go on Sunday - would be nice to see mountains and have weather conditions in the 60-70s!

In June, we had another Card Swap - this month's challenge was: something blue, Thank You theme, 2 stamps and a decorated envie... Here's my card for the swap!

It's a "Swing (Flip-flop)

Card" - here's a link for the instructions, template and video for this cute technique.

Here's also my June church birthday card. For the kids' birthday - I've been giving out mini Hershey bars - but they've been melting down before delivery - so I've switched to "Blow

Pop" suckers for the summer months! The kids haven't minded one bit! For VBS, I made "awesome labels" attached to candy bars to award the kids that were able to recite their memory verses!

Here's some July cards - classic "red, white & blue" star cards!

I can only work in my studio (aka - the garage!) early in the morning or late at night - so my projects have been limited!

We did complete 2 4-H Record Books in June

- they were due July 1; district is July 8.

If you've ever been in 4-H - record books are the HARDEST, most frustrating thing to complete of the year - that's my opinion, of course - but this year, I only had one major "melt down" (thinking I lost a 4-H story after 3 1/2 hours of revamping... finally found it - argh!) 4-H Record Books are done. (Oh Jayma... you feel my pain, huh! BTW - Happy Birthday! Love You)

We've tried some new recipes - one of our favorite things to do is watch the Food Channel during the summer on TV (never have time during the school year!). Here's some links to recipes that we've saved for repeats - "Paula Deen's Okra Fritters", "Paula Deen's Red Velvet Cup Cakes", "Rachel Ray's Honey Mustard Pork Cutlets" and "Pioneer Woman's Iced Coffee" - I won't mention the rejects! LOL!

So, KV bought me a KINDLE

- but who's reading on it the most? LOL!

We've all got a book on there - and of course, games! It's been worth the $$ - no matter who is reading it! KV has really enjoyed it - reading at the hospital with no books to carry!

What will my grandkids read from... hmmmmm!

Here's the books that I've read this summer so far...

Tick Tock - James Patterson (Awesome - this is #3 in the Michael Bennet series; really like this character), read the free chapters of TOYS by James Patterson (Boo! passed on the rest of the book), Death Reckoning by Charlaine Harris (Good; #11 in the Sookie Stackhouse series) just for the record - the book is so DIFFERENT from the TV series - all the TV series is Vampire Porn - HATE it..., "I, Spy" by Kate Johnson (Funny; #1 in the Sophie Green series), "Hilda the Wicked Witch" (Ugh! - skip this; it was free...); "Still life with Murder" by P.B. Ryan (Enjoyed this... #1 in the Gilded Age Mystery ), "Sizzling Sixteen" by Janet Evanovich (Love it! laugh outloud kind of book" - #16 of Stephanie Plum series) and reading "Hearse of a Different Color" by Tim Cockey (Good; #2 Hitch Series) & "200 Pomegranates - Audience of One" (VERY inspirational/christian study book) Highly recommend it so far!

Can ya tell that I'm getting use of the KINDLE? LOL! KV is reading "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett - it's coming out in movie form this fall; Alex is reading the 2nd book in the James Patterson teen series "Maximum Drive - School's Out Forever" and Aric is in the middle of "Lemonade Wars" by Jacqueline Davies. NOW! You know how we beat the heat, by laying around reading - inside, under the fan! Gotta love the summer time - we do!

So, that was June for the Vannoy Family - in a nutshell (or a very long blog post)! So, if you're still reading - you are a very good friend and I thank you! Hope you are enjoying the summer the way you like! Thanks so much for stopping by!

I'm trying to post more often (due to avoiding long post, like this one and hints from the hubby!) Remember to HUG the ones you love the most (wish I could hug Andy Hayes... MISS YOU!) - until next time...!