State Fair!

Austin was chosen to go to the Iowa State Fair for his communications day speech in July. He did a speech on Autism and received an award of excellence and advanced on. His homemade laundry soap that he made also advanced on to the State Fair. We headed there today sans triplets and Hannah thanks to Nicole!


First, of course, we had to have a little fun and try to enjoy some of the fair!

Iowa in the fun little grape thing at the
Iowa Grape Growers Association
(or something like that!).

Austin's turn - and as you can see,
not real thrilled about it!

Of course, Dad is always up for some fun!

Aidan in another one...

Austin getting really nervous - he couldn't
even eat his lunch!

Austin's name on the board outside
Presentation Room 1!!

Austin giving his speech - he did an awesome job!!!

Sitting down with the judge after the speech.
They immediately do a peer review and then also a
judge's interview. It was great to get instant feedback.

Austin and Aidan relaxing and having fun
while waiting for
the award's presentation.

Austin receives an award of merit - which is silver!!!

Austin received a blue ribbon on his homemade soap
at the State Fair!

Austin's first turkey leg!

No trip to the Iowa State Fair is ever complete without
a visit to the Butter Cow!

Aidan taking a bite of the giant turkey leg.

How tall is Austin in 2010?
Getting a lot taller!

As is Aidan!

And, once again, Dad has to join in the fun....
he's cheating, though.

Austin and Aidan riding the FFA rollercoaster.
(or are they???)

End of the day - time to run off a little steam
on the playground before heading home.

It was an exhausting day for Aidan!

Mission Trip!

Tomorrow morning, at 6 am, Austin and I are embarking on a mission trip with 10 other youth and 2 other adults (our pastor and youth pastor) from our community. We are going to Chicago and staying at the Dream Center. We will be doing neighbor restoration projects (painting, removing graffiti, mowing lawns, etc.), street drama, street evangelism in downtown Chicago, and other activities. We would greatly appreciate all prayers for travel mercies, safety while there, and that people we meet would see Christ through us and long to seek a relationship with Him. We will be gone through next Saturday (July 17).

WOW!

Well, I have been seriously neglecting my blog lately....but only because we have been cra-zy busy around here!! Since I know that without stressing over it and spending hours updating, I'm not going to...I'll flip in a few (ok, lots!) pictures here and there, but mostly this is going to be a list-update on what's been happening in the lives of the Calonder Crew!
Where to start???Hannah got her tube pulled!!!! On Good Friday (what an awesome day to have it happen?!?), we went in and Hannah was doing so well, we were allowed to pull the ng tube that day!! We were so excited and it has been going really well!Well, obviously you know from this post that the triplets have started preschool!! They went Fridays for three weeks towards the end of the year to get used to their new school that they will be attending in the "fall" (school begins for them August 18). During the summer they are attending a transitional preschool two days a week in Cedar Falls. It's been great for them! They also are attending VBS this week at our church with Aidan. They love it!! It's neat to see them as they get older, but hard also!

Ethan got glasses! Poor little dude couldn't see at all! I think he looks adorable, don't you agree???
Nathanial got another set of tubes and Hannah got her first set. We had no idea Hannah was having issues with fluid, but she had three ear infections in three months, so we did the referral and she had a ton of fluid. They both did awesome!Austin had his 8th grade field trip to the capital and Living History Farms. He loved it and got an awesome shot for fair of the dome!
Austin and Aidan found the tent in the back of the garage that hasn't been used in years and dug it out and had a little background camping! They had so much fun...I was positive they would be inside at some point (it got COLD), but they made it the whole night!There has been a lot of outdoor fun at our house lately...baseball playing in the backyard...
...slipping and sliding and spraying...
...bounce, bounce, bouncing good times in the bounce house....
After all those good times outside, sometimes we just like to relax inside....
...and sometimes we get hurt and have to get our first set of stitches. :-(

But don't relax too long, because if you do, Mom might redo a room on you!

Whew....that wore us out!
{and we're not done yet....watch for lots more updates soon!!!}

Wordless Wednesday

Guess what we've been up to lately...

{I am also fully aware that it has been a l-o-n-g time since I have posted anything...life's been crazy busy, but I'm planning on working on something this week!}

Wordless Wednesday - What's Different in These Two Pictures???

BIG changes at our house in the last several days....can you guess what they were? Here's two (fairly obvious) hints....stories to follow!!