Trying to catch up!

Wow, I am so behind that I don't even know where to begin. Here is a hodge podge of pictures from the past few months.

Carter is playing flag football with the Bengals this year. He loves his team and so far they are undefeated!

We participated in the Every Village 5K Run for Radios. Carter ran in the race and Collins took advantage of the free face painting. She was so happy with her flamingo.

Communitas is the annual retreat for TCS 8th graders. Connor went this year and had a great time. Every student gets a special nickname from the faculty that chaperones the trip. Connor's nickname is Socks.

 Team building exercises at Communitas.

 My lovely little girl one morning at school.

 She is having such a great Pre-K year at TCS. We are once again so thankful for our school.

 Waiting in the pew for morning assembly.

 This is my funny boy. He does the craziest poses for almost every picture we take.

 First day of school for the 2016-2017 school year. Thank you God for these kids. Hunter is in 9th grade, Connor 8th, Carter 6th, Colton 4th and Collins is in Pre-K. Holden just runs around with me and usually asks, "Am I going to childcare today?" because we do the YMCA and Bible Study on school days.

 Ready for a TCS Cross Country meet. I guess Connor and the other TCS runners were getting motivated by their mascot, the owl.

 Once a quarter TCS hosts a Friday Forum for the upper school students. During this one Hunter made it to the finals of the Paper, Rock, Scissors battle.

 Carter made the weekly TCS memo with his exuberance.

Summer Fun

It's time to catch up on some blogging! Holden had a haircut and he always gets a sucker after he is done! He sits very still for the haircut.

Collins and Holden had fun at GBC this summer.

Dunking their feet in the baptismal.

Aaaaannnnddd..... the adventure of the summer! We rented an RV to drive to Missouri when we picked up the kids from Kanakuk. Here we are ready to leave Houston.

We camped at Roaring River State Park the night before Kanakuk closing ceremonies.

What a fun feeling it is to arrive in Missouri to pick up the boys after a month of Kamp! It was another tremendous summer for all of the Rapp boys. They love the weeks that they spend at Kanakuk. They grow stronger, braver, wiser and are inspired by the friends and counselors that they spend time with.

Delighted to see one another!

Everyone was happy to see Connor.

Hunter receiving his cabin awards from his counselors.

Runner-up to I'm Third. Way to go Hunter!

That evening we were at K-1 for Carter and Colton's closing ceremonies.

Carter was elected Cherokee Brave for 2017! Such a huge honor and he was very excited!

Following the Kamp festivities, we spent time with the Martin family. It was so fun to be with them and it gave our kids a chance to hang out with the little ones after a month apart.

Todd and Robert Hurley.

We left Branson on Saturday afternoon and headed for Kentucky. It was a full RV, but we were so happy to have our family back together once again.

Serving breakfast.

Just enough space for the whole gang.

In Kentucky we were joined by KK and Boompah, Chris, Brea, Finley, Cason and Maya. We spent the first day at the Creation Museum. Such a wonderful attraction that defends the authority of the Scriptures.

These kids are fun!

Holden and Collins have been taking swim lessons at the YMCA. Holden is in the red trunks. His teacher told me that when she asks him to practice different skills he often gets a really concerned look on his face and tells her, "I don't want to do that." But then he follows through and obeys her request.

Tonight Collins started talking about what it means to be married. Holden said, "I'm not getting married, I'm turning 15!" He then proceeded to give us a thumbs up and a smile. I had him recreate the thumbs up, but the first one and his quote were Holden originals. 

Collins couldn't wait to get outside when it started raining so that she could use her new umbrella.

 

Tea Party

With the big brothers gone, we get to focus lots more time on the little ones. Collins had been asking for a play date with her friends, so we planned a tea party. I wanted to make it special. Together we planned the menu, picked out party goodies, bought cupcakes, set the table and picked out what she would wear. She loved the details! We invited three of her little friends and each girl had their own place setting. Their place included plates from my china, eclectic tea cups, place settings cards and a specially chosen My Little Pony.

Our guests included Miss AnnaKate,

Miss Collins, Miss Rileigh,

and Miss Sarah.

The gals had lots of fun together. They played Play-Doh, painted fingernails, danced, dressed up in princess costumes, and had a lovely tea party. 

We did have a couple of little boys who kept things interesting during the tea party, but boy were they cute!