New Year’s Resolutions

Some people make them; some people don't….what is your stance on New Year's Resolutions? Do you believe that making a new year resolution means you need to change on January 1^st or bust? Do you believe that a new year resolution means that you will change by the end of the year?

Personally, I make resolutions all the time and try hard to make them work. Timing this year works out for a New Year's Resolution. I'm joining a Biggest Loser contest, and the first weigh-in is January 2^nd. Therefore, I resolve to work hard to lose weight for at least 10 weeks…LOL.

Seriously, it is my intention to give up soda and sports drinks. I need to drink more water. That's my goal for this year. Jeff laughed at me, "first coffee, now Pepsi?" Well, yes. I gave up coffee in 2009, but that wasn't planned, it just happened. Let's not forget that I quit smoking 3 years ago too. Slowly, slowly I am becoming a healthier person. Yay!

So, what are your resolutions???????

Thank You!

Thank you, Maureen and Mac. You are two very generous people, after you left I was crying again, darn it! J

I can't thank you enough! May God continue to bless you, and may you have a fabulous Christmas and New Year!

It’s Not How You Feel, It’s How You Behave

When I left the house this afternoon to do some shopping, I knew I didn't feel like being very friendly. However, it was foremost in my mind that our behavior shouldn't be determined by how we feel. Somewhere in the past couple weeks (I'm thinking the pastor said something his sermon) I got the message that worship is not necessarily about how we feel. We may not feel like being obedient, but we must still obey. We may not feel like being friendly, but we must still behave in a Christian manner. We may not feel joyful, but we must still give thanks and praise. I am glad that was in the front of my thoughts, because stores this time of year can be madhouses, and I was able to respond with smiles and "that's alright" when I was cut off in aisles or bumped into by kids, rather than being grumpy.

This morning Jeff took the older 2 boys with him to run some errands. Tyler went out to the car, and then came running back in the house yelling that somebody had stolen his bike. Jeff, Travis, and Tyler all went out to look all around the yard, but the truth was somebody had indeed stolen Tyler's bike. It's 3 days before Christmas, we have nothing under our tree, and the boy's bike is gone.

Tyler bucked up as best he could and went with his Dad and brother. I called Rainbow to cry on her shoulder, figuratively. I also told Rainbow about the incident that took place Sunday morning…when I stayed home from church because of a sore throat. Tommy and I dozed on the couch until about 11, when I woke up suddenly with the thought that I needed to lock the backdoor. I always have the doors locked, even when we're home. Jeff and the older boys hadn't locked it behind them when they left for church, so I went ahead and locked it. Somewhere between 11:30 and noon the doorknob rattled like somebody was opening the door. Tommy ran for the door yelling "Daddy, Daddy" with the intention of opening the door. I knew it wasn't time for Jeff to be back, so swept Tommy up and looked out the window by the door. There was nobody there, no car in the driveway but ours. Whoever had been trying to open the door was gone. Thank you, Lord, for telling me to lock the door. What would've happened if they had walked in and there had been a confrontation? Do they know our routine, and fully expect us to be gone to church? Who were they and what did they want?

After talking to Rainbow, I sat down and sobbed. Part of me feels an enormous amount of grief over the losses we've had this year. It's been a financially and emotionally draining year for us. Materialistically things have been horrible. Emotionally, well, let's say family members have shown their true colors. It's just been rough. I was feeling vulnerable, scared, and like there's no sense of security here. Then I remembered I was told to lock the door, I remembered that God provided this home when we needed it, I remembered that He has provided for us all along and that He has things under control. After having a good cry, I went to the computer where I sent out an e-mail with a prayer request and posted to Facebook my frustrations and request for prayer.

Jeff and the boys came home, we did our chores, and then I took the boys to meet friends at the roller rink. I began to count our blessings, not material blessings, but relationships: Friends from school that I haven't seen in almost 20 years but still bring smiles or tears; friends from church who know they can rely on me if they need me and whom I know I can rely on also; friends from scouts who are becoming friends away from scouts; friends from friends; and family who are truly friends as well. I have enjoyed the company of many people these past couple months who probably don't know how much I really appreciated their time, even though I tried to tell them.

Shari, a friend, was a sponsor for Kitsap Mortgage Team's client appreciation event tonight. They rented Olympic Cinemas and showed The Princess and the Frog in all the theatres. There were goodie bags, door prizes, etc... Travis, Tyler, and I went to that tonight. We had great seats smack dab in the middle of the theatre. Shari's mother-in-law sat with us, and that was nice…a good sense of belonging and sense of past. After all, Carol has known me for 26 years, since her son and my brother were good friends back at Manchester Elementary. She sat next to Travis, and I took a moment to appreciate that he is friends with her grandson….what a wonderful village we have at times.

After the movie I got to spend a few moments with Shari, to thank her for inviting us. I haven't spent any time with her in over a year, and realized today how very much I miss her. The boys went for a short drive and stopped at the grocery store. I asked Tyler if he'd had a good day, and he said "yes" with no hesitation, no sense of loss. I'm not foolish enough to think he's over his bike, but I was relieved to know that he seems to have his priorities in line. As much as we have lost materialistically this year, we have gained in time spent with loved ones. We have learned some life lessons, and we are probably a stronger family unit because of it. It is amazing to me how in one day I can go from grieving my losses to celebrating my blessings. God is truly good.

Merry Christmas Everyone! Remember the meaning of the holiday has nothing to do with what is under the tree, filling the stockings, or cooking in the kitchen—it's all about what's in your heart! God Bless!

Potato Condo

About.com: http://www.gardenfreshliving.com/2009/06/the-building-of-a-potato-condo.html

Melissa,

I saw this and thought of you, not sure why. I so want to grow my own potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, etc...

Hmmmmm…

I sat down to blog, because I had something to say………….then I got sidetracked. I have no idea what I thought might be halfway interesting enough to blog about.

Things have been pretty much normal around here. We had a good Thanksgiving with family. The house is clean, school has gone well, and Scouts has been fun. We put up a tree in the living room and a few other decorations around the house, but nothing too exciting this year, we just don't have the room for it.

I think Tyler is coming down with something, he's just not acting quite himself, and he took a nap this evening.

Tommy might be prepping for potty training, for the last 2 days he has pulled his diaper off and peed on the floor. Today I taught him how to use the toilet, and he's been running in there every few minutes to try. He's having fun with it and I'm not pressuring him. I do hope he'll stop peeing on the floor though.

Maybe I'll think of whatever I was going to say. If I do, I'll blog later.

Rough Day

It really was hard getting these boys going on school day today. They just didn't want to do it and it was irritating me that they weren't the least bit inspired to learn today. Meanwhile, 2-year old Tommy was getting into everything and adding to the frustration. He kept taking their papers, their pencils, climbing on the table, running off with their books, dumping out crayons, putting a little toy shark in the fish tank….he was into everything and it was driving me crazy!!! No, the irony of the situation wasn't lost on me; I was irritated with the oldest 2 for not being inquisitive enough, and frustrated by the little one for being too inquisitive. Isn't there a happy medium?

Tyler struggled for hours learning a new math skill. He just wasn't focusing, and we went over it a dozen different ways with different manipulatives and different strategies. In the end, he finally figured it out. I'm hoping it sticks with him for tomorrow's assignment.

Next week is Thanksgiving, and it looks like we're having the usual company. How we're all going to fit in this tiny little place still has me puzzled, but I'm sure we'll work it out somehow. The first Sunday of Advent is right after Thanksgiving, so I'll have to go dig my Christmas stuff out of storage. The tradition in our home is to decorate the day after Thanksgiving, sometimes starting on Thanksgiving evening if we're in the mood. I still haven't figured out where we're going to put anything.

My poor Scarebear has taken a beating this year by Tommy. I had him in the window for a few weeks, and occasionally on the table, but this last week he has landed on the kitchen counter and stayed there. I've probably left him there because he hasn't been on the floor as much this way. I love autumn, and am not in a hurry to see it go.

Things are going well. I'm enjoying my Wednesday night Bible study group. The scout groups are moving right along, Travis is going bowling on Saturday with his troop. This coming Sunday at church is the congregational Thanksgiving dinner, we're looking forward to that. Also on Sunday, I'm going to see that new Blind Side movie with some ladies from scouts; I'm looking forward to that too.

Have fun everyone!

I have been so busy….

I have been so busy; I had to come to the conclusion that I had spread myself too thin. I had to make a decision about which activities I was going to continue with, and which is I was going to give up. I gave up my position as nursery coordinator at church. I'm not sure everybody understands why, and I am sure it has caused some controversy, but I had to do what was best for my family and me.

Things got crazy busy with the start of the new school year and new program year. Scouts has kept us especially busy this year, or at least kept me especially busy. There was one stretch where I had something scout related to do every day for 2 weeks straight. Between popcorn sales, regular scout meetings, Boy Scout Committee meetings, Cub Scout Committee meetings, a parents meeting, a merit badge activity, and Boards of Review we managed to fit in youth group on Wednesday and have one Friday off.

We sold popcorn at Fred Meyers for 3 weekends in a row (Sept. 25-Oct. 11), a total of 7 days. The boys did very well, Tyler more than made the goal set for the boys in his pack, and Travis made enough to qualify for the camp scholarship from his troop. They should get their prizes at their respective Christmas parties in December.

We had one weekend off from popcorn (Oct. 16-18), and then went on a camp-out (Oct. 23-25). The Boy Scout troop invited the Webelos from the Cub Scout Pack on a weekend camp-out at Camp Parsons. The Webelos needed to have a parent/guardian attend with them, and as Jeff had to work that left me. So Travis, Tyler, and I packed our gear and went camping. It was actually a whole lot of fun, except for the part where we froze at night. I have decided to purchase fleece sleeping bag liners before the next camp-out.

The day after the camp-out we had a Pack meeting, which means awards. As the advancement chair it is my responsible to see to it that all of the awards are purchased and well organized. It has also fallen on me for the last 2 months to present the awards…yikes! Not really my thing, but I'm doing my best. I spent a bit of time on Tuesday and Wednesday this week creating new report forms for the den leaders to use each month and turn into me, trying to simplify things for everybody.

Last Wednesday Tyler's WOW! Church group went on a field trip to a local Bremerton fire station. Friday we carved pumpkins. Saturday was Halloween, so we were busy. Actually, I had Scout leader training that morning from 10:30-3:30. Travis worked the carnival at the church from 4:30-9:30. We took Tyler and Tommy to the carnival for a couple hours, then took them trick-or-treating in a friend's neighborhood. We only hit 5 houses in an hour because we kept running into people we knew and visiting with them. Oh well, it was a fun time.

Sunday we went to church, and then out to dinner at Scott and Amanda's house. Yes, I got them to invite us to dinner for a change. I hinted around about it for a month or two, and then finally was very bold. Amanda asked if she could borrow my tostado bowl maker and I told her we'd be glad to bring it if she'd just tell us what time to be there for dinner. That prompted her to set a date and time. She was obviously very nervous about having the in-laws over for dinner for the first time, and it didn't go off without a hitch, but it did go well. I just figured they have lived out here for 3 or 4 years now, eat dinners at my house 2-4 times each month, and it should be their turn. Anyway, it went well.

On Monday the Cub Scouts had a tour of a fire station in Port Orchard…the theme for the month, I guess. On Monday evening the Cub Scout Committee had a meeting while the Boy Scouts had their regular troop meeting. Tyler got to stay home, because the field trip took the place of a den meeting. The new secretary didn't show up, so I took the minutes and typed them up on Tuesday. On Tuesday the Boy Scouts had Boards of Review, I sat in on a couple of those. On Wednesday we all had our individual church activities. Tonight I went to the Boy Scout Committee meeting; I am the secretary so I took the minutes and will probably type them up tomorrow.

Somewhere in all my spare time we managed to take turns being sick for almost 2 weeks, do schoolwork, try to maintain the house, spend time with Jeff and Tommy, and find time to talk to Rainbow and chat online with Melissa. I realize that I have not blogged at all during this time, but I do hope you understand why.

This coming Monday is Tyler's birthday. We have scouts, so will probably take cookies for him to share with his den. He thinks we're going to have cake and ice cream Sunday evening after church, with just the immediate family. What he doesn't know is that I've arranged for his best buddy to come over on Saturday for a sleep-over. We'll go swimming at the pool in the early afternoon, and come home to a surprise party…cake, ice cream, pizza, balloons, presents…and then we'll do something in the evening (mini-golf, a movie….don't know yet, but we'll do something). I think he'll like that.

I'll post pictures soon. Take care everybody, and good night!

Popcorn!

Popcorn! Popcorn! Popcorn! Our scout troop and pack are selling popcorn. You'll likely see scouts all around town. This is a great way to support scouting. The popcorn is yummy too! I can tell you how to order online, place an order with one of my boys, or when and where to buy it in person. You also have the option of donating popcorn to our military troops. Give it some thought, and let me know!

Tommy Turns Two!

Tyler decorated the cake.

I think he did a great job!

They grow up too fast.

Celebrating!

Blowing out the candles.

Last Day of Summer Break

It has been a busy week, since I last wrote. I collected my boys Friday afternoon, and when we got home we made pizza. On Saturday, Scott and his crew came over. Amanda and I went to Costco, and Jeff tossed some burgers and chicken on the grill in the evening. On Sunday I subbed in the nursery for a missing volunteer, there was only one other child in there besides Tommy. Labor Day weekend had many of our regulars out of town.

Jeff went to work Sunday evening. The boys and I rented a couple movies and threw a frozen casserole in the oven. It wasn't fancy, but it did the trick.

Yesterday Jeff's mom, Scott, Amanda, and Josh were all here. I was totally anti-social and spent most of the time typing up last week's Committee meeting minutes and prepping for the nursery volunteers meeting at the church. I was nervous, but didn't need to be. The idea of running a meeting with a room full of people was intimidating, but when I realized that each of those people is a person I am comfortable with one-on-one it made it a whole lot easier.

This afternoon we went to Lowes to get a mailbox to replace the rusted out mailbox out front (the door fell off a couple weeks ago). Yes, most of our mail goes to our PO Box, but I would like to get the grocery store ads. The mailman said he won't deliver to the old mailbox, it was in sad shape…and it housed a bees nest earlier this year and spiders today.

The boys are looking forward to school starting tomorrow, they even told me so. There's some excitement about the science….we'll see how it goes. To wrap up our last day of summer break we went for a walk this evening. We needed to return the movies we'd rented from Red Box, and I wanted to check the mail. We made it a loop, almost a 3-mile loop. The boys did great. These hills over here are hard to push a stroller up though. I know if we keep at it we will build endurance.

Half-way down the hill as we left our house we ran into a friend who used to go to our church. That was nice, to stop and visit with her. She threw Tommy's baby shower two years ago, and left the church shortly after. It turns out she lives right down the hill from us, small world. She said she thought she'd seen Travis the other day. At the post office we took the time to open a few items of mail before continuing on. We stopped at Red Apple for drinks before finishing our route home. It was a nice walk.

Rainbow, I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to call you back tonight. Tomorrow I have a Cub Scout meeting at 6:00 in Port Orchard. Hopefully I will have time after school but before the meeting to call you. If not, I'll try when I get home from the meeting. Mom, are you reading this? Can you babysit at 5:30?

Good Night Everybody!

Committee Meeting Tonight…

…and I'm losing another kid. Travis is off to spend a night in Port Orchard with friends. When I get home, it'll be just Tommy and me. I'll drop Travis off on the way to my meeting. In the meantime, I'm busy printing out the information we're going to review tonight, and putting the agenda into a format that is more minutes-friendly for me.

Tyler went to lunch camp with his friend, and will go again tomorrow. I'm interested in hearing his take on it, I've heard all about it from the friend's family.

Jeff just left for work, and Tommy is starting to settle down, headed up to nap time. Maybe some peace and quiet for mom?

Last Week of Summer Break

I realize that many people around the country have started school already, but I just can't bring myself to start before Labor Day. We've decided to do what SK is doing, and start on the 9^th, the first Wednesday after Labor Day weekend. Tyler has gone to spend the next two nights with a buddy in Port Orchard, and Travis has a friend coming here for the night tonight.

Bremerton schools started today, so I imagine we may get a few odd looks from the neighbors…but that comes with the territory. It struck me today that we are the weird new neighbors. Ah well….I filled out my declaration of intent to homeschool and will mail it tomorrow. It's due by the 15^th.

The family that Tyler is staying with schooled through the summer. I sent a 4^th grade workbook with him, pages marked, so he can participate and not be a distraction while they school. It'll be a good warm-up for him. I need to go to storage this weekend to pull out the parts of our curriculum that aren't here. I did get our science curriculum in the mail on Monday. I'm looking forward to doing it, it looks fun.

Tough Night for Dreams

Last night I had a series of short dreams set in different locations and with different people: home, church, scouts, shopping, friends' houses, etc… Each dream had a different person telling me what I screw-up I am in different areas of my life. Ugh!

Tommy's fingernail finally fell off today. It had been hanging on by a small section of skin for the last couple days, and every time he bumped it, it hurt him. Now we are in the final stages of healing, seeing if a new nail grows in okay. He has another doctor appt. next Friday, the 11^th.

I finally finished typing committee meeting notes from last month, just in time for this month's meeting on Thursday. This month's agenda isn't even half as long as last month's, so maybe the minutes will be faster.

I had to wade through 300+ e-mails today. I've been on the computer off-and-on all day. Travis had a leader meeting at Scouts tonight, so I took him to that. There's nothing on the calendar for tomorrow. Wednesday Travis has youth group, and Thursday I have a committee meeting.

I'm having trouble connecting with Rainbow on the phone…..call me back when you get the time.

Good Night All and sweet dreams!

Home From Camp

We are finally home from camp. It was a long 4 days, but most of it was fun. The kids had a great time; there was not much time for relaxing. I have a few pictures to post, but not as many as last year. That means I have been on blogger for a year!

I'm getting ready to switch the laundry over (reboot) and start the second load in the wash. Boy, am I beat. I will try to post more later.

Divine Intervention?

This won't make sense to a lot of people, but to others, well……

My grandfather has tried to call me several times this week, but I have not actually been available to take the calls. Once he called while I was teaching VBS and my ringer was off, another time he called a when I was in a service dead zone, and yet another time he called when my son was on the phone and didn't tell me the call-waiting was beeping. He left a message, it was something Jeff could deal with, and Jeff called him back. This morning, when my phone rang and I saw it was him, I hesitated to answer. However, I did answer it—only to discover it was my brother calling from my grandfather's phone.

Okay, it probably doesn't mean much of anything at all; but I can't help feeling that I'm being protected. I'm counting my blessings this week.

I know I haven't blogged lately. I've been busy at the church and with my kids this last week. This coming weekend we are going camping with the Scout groups out at Dosewallips. If I find my camera charger, I'll have pics to post next week.

I'll try to find time to read everybody's blogs and catch up soon. In the meantime, Facebook seems to be the place to be. lol

It's Sunday

We're off to church. Jeff has already left to go drive the bus. I'm teaching children's church this morning. Jeff has to go work this evening. I want to find something for the boys and I to do. Summer is almost over and I feel like we haven't done much.

Happy Birthday

Kim!

Travis Tuesday

Travis has talked me into taking him to the drive-in tonight. He was disappointed that we didn't go on Sunday, because I wasn't feeling well. He loaded the car with blankets and pillows, changed Tommy, and was as helpful as he could be before he asked me to take him. When I called to get Jeff's opinion, he said he didn't think Tommy would want to sit at the drive-in through two movies, and offered to watch him. What??? Yep, he was on his way home from work with the night off, doesn't want to see those movies, and will stay home with Tommy.

So, what are we going to see? GI Joe and Transformers 2. Definitely Travis night at the movies.

I just placed a couple bids on EBay for the curriculum I want. $150.00 beats $450.00 for the core curriculum, even if it is used. Actually, $150 is my high bid; I'm only at $91.00 right now, and high bidder. I also found the corresponding Science curriculum and have bid on that. Wish us luck! If I can get this curriculum for 1/3 the price I will be ecstatic! I would only have to get the math curriculum to finish it up.

Oh, and that committee meeting, it's tomorrow night, not Thursday. Oops!

Getting ready for the drive-in now, bye!

I have a horrible sinus thing going on. Travis and Tyler had it last week. Ugh. About 4:00 a.m. I took some Nyquil and crashed on the couch. When Tommy got up he just wanted his momma's attention, but didn't get it. I had to wake Jeff and tell him that I was not able to take care of Tommy. That was a yucky feeling. I went back to bed, and Jeff made pancakes for the boys.

Tyler has gone off to Cle Elum for a few days with friends. That feels weird to me, I miss my boy. Our old neighbor called and invited Ty to come over and play on Saturday, which turned into a sleep-over, which turned into 4 days at the lake in Cle Elum. I talked to him today, he's having fun. Last night they went to a movie, today they made butter at the museum and went swimming at the pool. Tomorrow they're going on a hike in the Petrified Forest, and he's due home on Wednesday.

It's a shame I feel so yucky, or I could take advantage of some quality time with Travis. Maybe tomorrow I'll be feeling better, and we can do something. He likes it when we play board games and go on walks together, so maybe…

Right now I am missing my old neighborhood, missing the walks we used to go on, missing the semi-privacy of our yard, missing the summer the kids could've had: riding bikes with their friends, running through the house, playing tag, impromptu parties. I know that somehow, someway this is all going to work out for the best but I do still miss it all. It was weird seeing the neighborhood from the neighbor's house; it looked different from that perspective.

This week I have a Boy Scout Committee meeting on Thursday evening. Tyler's buddy, Noah, is probably spending the night on Thursday also. On Saturday we are going to an Eagle Court of Honor…it's a big deal in the Scouting world.

My brother-in-law, Scott, got tired of his car leaving him on the side of the road. When I picked them up Friday night, he offered me his car. On Saturday, he and Jeff went and got it. It's a pretty, purple Dodge Stratus. It runs great, when it runs. The problem is it dies for no apparent reason and with no warning. Jeff thinks we can fix it, and when it's free, why not?

Rainbow had an excellent time at the wedding: danced all night in the garage with the band and drank beer from the keg. She said the wedding was a beautiful Christian ceremony.

That's all for now, have a good week everybody.

Keeping Busy

We have just been keeping ourselves busy. We spent the hot part of Thursday afternoon/evening down at Bremerton Harborside Fountain Park. I decided that hot summer days are rather pleasant when you have a shady spot to sit and water source for cooling off.

Friday, I don't even remember Friday, really. I know that I took Josh, Travis, and Tyler to the hunter safety course in Silverdale that evening. That was interesting. I had asked them what the hours were last week, and was told 6-9 on Friday and 9-3 on Saturday. What they didn't tell me was it was for 3 Fridays. It will all work out just fine.

On Saturday Scott & Amanda came over to hang out. They ordered pizza. I hand-sewed a curtain for the front door window. I also got to talk with Melissa via Skype for awhile, that was fun.

Yesterday was Jeff's family reunion, which we went to as soon as Jeff got home from driving the church bus. On our way home, we stopped at Desiree's house and stayed there for about 4 ½ hours. They invited us for dinner, which was nice. The kids had a good time running around and even Jeff played some badminton. There was a water balloon war, and some time for the mom's to chat.

Today was a lazy day. Nothing planned for tomorrow either. That's okay, as I'm working on catching up laundry and stuff.

Travis was asked to participate in an Eagle Court of Honor, exciting stuff for him. Now, if he'll only get motivated to work on some Merit Badges.

Good Night all!

Tommy Update & Our Escape

Tommy saw the Dr. this morning, and we have wonderful news: he is expected to heal just fine. They did an ex-ray and saw no sign of a fracture and said that the cut was healing well. The fingernail will probably fall off when the new nail grows in. We need to keep a band-aid on it. He needs to stay on the antibiotics, keep his wound clean, and avoid prolonged time in water. Yay! What a difference from Monday's predictions, praise God!

We ran away to escape the heat yesterday, and it worked. My mom, brother, the kids, and I took off for cooler weather. We didn't find it at our stop in Shelton where the temperature was registering at 109°, but we did pick up some iced drinks there. Further down the road we dropped into the 70°s, and by Aberdeen we had dropped to the upper 60°s. What a relief. From there we took a scenic tour down 101 South to Long Beach, where we picked up snacks and played in the ocean. It was 62° there at about 7:00 p.m. We jumped back in the car and stayed on South 101 until we got into Oregon. That was a fun experience, crossing the Columbia River at the right time of day with just the right amount of fog and mist, it looked like we were driving into nothingness, and it was a little eerie. At the end, the bridge goes up, which reminded me slightly of a roller coaster. Rainbow, I thought of you, and how much you would've hated to be in the vehicle at that point. We didn't stay long in Astoria, pointed ourselves north and east, and headed for I-5 and home. It was a fun adventure, and we really did avoid much of the heat.

Now to deal with today…

Doctor Update

Tommy has an appointment for 9:15 tomorrow morning, which is supposed to be a good time because the surgeon will be there for a consultation if necessary. We're going out for most of the rest of today.

It’s Hot!

I realize that people in other parts of the country think we are whining about the heat, but when it gets over 100, it's hot! My house doesn't cool off at all, it stays over 90 through the night, and we just aren't used to this kind of heat, and we don't have air conditioning. I'm looking forward to some high temperatures in the 80s, soon, please.

I took Tyler and his friend over to Illahee State Park yesterday afternoon, to try to beat the heat. My mom brought Tommy and Travis to meet us. The kids had a good time cooling off in the water, but then it was time to get ready to go to Port Orchard. We all rode over in my mom's car (a/c) to drop Ty and his friend off for the night, and then we went to Manchester until sunset, still looking for a cool place to be.

We haven't figured out what we're doing today yet. We're still trying to get an appt. with the doctor for Tommy. They stressed at the emergency room how urgent it is that he see the doctor by today, but the doctor's office keeps saying they'll call us back, and haven't yet. Urgh! On the upside, Tommy ripped his bandage off yesterday and I saw that his finger actually resembles a finger again. I'm trying not to get my hopes up though, they were very skeptical at the ER. He is re-bandaged, and now he needs to be seen by a doctor. Hopefully, he'll get in this morning and they'll say it looks like its healing, and they'll send him home and we can find someplace to go to stay cool.

I truly believe in the power of prayer, so thank you all who have prayed. I'll post any updates.

Prayer Request

22 month-old Tommy got his finger slammed in a door.  At the emergency room they stitched him up, but have said he will more than likely lose the end of his finger (from the top knuckle up).  Tommy will see the doctor on Wednesday to see if the finger is healing at all.  Please pray for healing.  This is the pointer finger on his right hand.

 
 

Also, I would appreciate prayer for the young family friend who slammed the door.  He is feeling a huge amount of guilt. If Tommy ends up losing the end of his finger this child will feel horrible.

 

Lastly, please pray for me. It's the next morning, and while I was strong last night, all I want to do right now is cry. My poor baby.

Have a great day, everyone. Try to stay cool.

A Summer Day

Yesterday was Jeff's birthday. He took the day off work and we all went on a scenic drive around the Hood Canal and up to Lake Cushman. It was a beautiful day for it. We stopped at Dosewallips, where we'll be camping next month; at Lake Cushman; and at Hoodsport. Scott, Amanda, & Josh came over after we got home and we barbecued steak. It was a good day.

Josh stayed over last night. We got the household chores done this morning before it started to heat up outside. While the boys were out playing in the yard, Tyler got his first ever bee sting. Ouch! We got out the baking powder and liberally applied it to the sting, before long it was just a dot on his finger. Then I went to pick up Tara. After we got back, Josh got himself stung. Silly boy, don't chase bees! More baking powder and water, and an Aunt Lori lecture about not making them any madder because I don't want Tommy getting stung.

Then the kids decided they wanted to go swimming. Jeff ran Tara home to get her swim suit while the boys got ready here. Then off to the pool with all of them for a couple hours. It's good for them. Actually, I really like the pool being so close. They are running a summer special on Mon-Fri afternoons, $1 swim for an hour and a half. The timing works well for us, Jeff drops them off on his way to work and they walk home when they're done. Tommy's nap time has been falling about the same time, so I have a little bit of time to catch up on housework or play on the computer, some "me" time.

We're barbecuing again today, burgers. I'm trying to keep the heat outside. I made Jell-O with oranges, and we may have salad. I haven't decided yet.

Webelos Day Camp

The Sign Coming Into Camp

 
 

 
 

Their Den Flag

 
 

 
 

Taking Aim

 
 

 
 

Drawing a Diagram to Earn a Pin

 
 

 
 

BB Range

 
 

 
 

Rules to Follow

 
 

 
 

Taking Aim

 
 

 
 

Camp Buddies

 
 

 
 

Bullseye!

 
 

 
 

Cooking

 
 

 
 

On the Rope Bridge, Day 1

 
 

 
 

Crossing the Rope Bridge, Day 3

 
 

 
 

Dismount

 
 

 
 

Folding the U.S. Flag

 
 

 
 

Flag Ceremony

 
 

 
 

1^st Aid Kit

 
 

 
 

Practice

 
 

 
 

The neighboring fire department gave us all a treat on Thursday and Friday.

 
 

 
 

The boys loved it!

 
 

 
 

 

 

I took about 500 pictures at camp last week, so I can weed through them and hopefully find good shots of all 12 kids in the den. I'll send some on to the other parents, and then I would like to make a memory book for our Pack. I'm still thinking about how I want to do that.

Silly Quiz on Facebook

Just for fun, I took this silly quiz on Facebook, "What does your true best friend's name start with." The first question was about favorite colors, and I picked the answer "rainbow." Anyway, after answering the questions it came back and told me that my true best friend's name starts with a "K". Hmmmm….first name or middle name? Kalani Rainbow, or Melissa Kaye, or both!!!! Anyway, silly but cute.

I am surviving day camp. Thank you for all your help this week, Mom. I'll try to post pics this weekend.

Goodnight!

Blue Jackets Game

Travis and Tyler are on opposite sides of the dancing pictures.

Singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game"

It looks like everybody had a good time.
Tommy slept through most of it.
The Blue Jackets won!

July 9th

 

 

 

Tyler wasn't with us because he had spent the night with friends and gone to the movies that morning.

This was a fun day. I miss you guys! Didn't feel like we spent enough time together, but it never does, does it?

Goings on lately: Tyler's new bike was stolen Sunday morning. Tyler was crushed. Scott & Amanda said he can have Josh's old bike, which makes it a little better but doesn't do much about the person who thinks stealing a bike from a little kid is a cool thing to do.

We went to the drive-in Sunday evening. I posted on Facebook that we were going and ended up with 2 other families I know there. That was a lot of fun: 3 families with 3 boys each, all around the same ages. We were there early enough to let all the kids run around and play Frisbee and wear themselves out before the movies started. Another mom (we didn't know her) and her 12-year old son parked near us, and joined us for awhile. Jeff stayed home and watched a movie with Scott; I took Amanda with me and the boys. She had never been to a drive-in before.

This week….I am getting ready for this week. Tonight is a mandatory den guides meeting for Webelos Day Camp. As I am a den guide all 4 days, I need to be there. Simultaneously, the Boy Scout troop is having a family picnic at a different location. Okay. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday Tyler and I will be at camp from about 8 a.m. until about 4 p.m. Friday camp runs from 1:30 p.m. to about 7:30 p.m. I think my mom plans on watching the kids until I home. Right, Mom?

On Tuesday and Thursday the boys still have swimming. On Wednesday Travis has youth group. On Tuesday we are going to the Blue Jackets game also, for a friend's birthday, right after swimming. Does anybody see me being exhausted by the end of the week?

Okay, I think I'm going to go bake an apple crisp for Travis to take to the family picnic. Have a good week everybody!

Water Fun

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then these say a lot. Maureen, the kids had a blast playing at your house today. Kim, it was nice meeting you again. Rainbow, please don't kill me. That was a yummy salad, I want the recipe.

We went to the boys swimming lessons when we left this crazy fun. Travis freaked me out by showing me his newest skill….front flips off the diving board. Yikes!

Lori Bell, Seamstress….

…or maybe not. It is funny how things tend to snowball, however. The next door neighbor had a small personal crisis the other day. She's a part-time dancer, and she was not pleased to discover that her younger sister had absconded with her costume pants. She needed to have some for Saturday night, so she came down and asked me to help her make some. She had found a pattern on-line, she had the material, and she just needed somebody who knew what they were doing to turn the material and pattern into pants. I guess that was me. It took a couple hours, but I did in fact manage to make her costume pants.

Later that day, I posted on Facebook that I had made the neighbor some pants. The next thing I knew, I had a friend trying to convince me to become her new tailor, well, just for hems. So here I am trying to tell her I'm not experienced and not sure about this and she pops up with "I'll bring you my Goodwill jeans to start on and after you've gained some experience you can work on my good pants." Hmmmm…maybe.

To add to the situation, Rainbow brought me Jurnee's pants to hem the very next day. Yes, this was already planned, but still. Until Saturday I hadn't touched a sewing machine in at least a year, and then it was only for something small.

Today the neighbor told me the other dancers loved her pants. I was glad to hear they were a success.

Scouts tonight. I hope everybody is doing well…visiting family and all. Miss you Melissa!

Just Normal, Everyday Life

There isn't anything out of the ordinary going on right now. I've been playing around a bit on Facebook, which means I have too much time on my hands.

Tommy has learned how to climb out of his bed. This has been a challenge for the last two days, and I expect it to continue to be a challenge for about the next week. All you mom's out there probably know the drill: 1. Tuck child in for the night. 2. Child gets up and comes out to play. 3. Calmly put child back in bed. 4. Repeat from step 2 several times, until child stays in bed. It's exhausting.

I rented Mamma Mia today. I'm hoping to be able to watch it tonight after the kids go to bed. I am hoping to put the kids back on some sort of schedule in the next few days. Now that things have settled down a bit, they have too much unstructured time on their hands. I know they need free time to run, play, hang with friends, and be kids…but they do need to have some kind of a schedule and things to do to stay busy.

Rainbow and family should be here next week. Yay! We haven't seen them since November 2007. I hope Jurnee decides to come also, but I understand the whole visitation dilemma.

Well, there's not much to report. I posted pictures, as promised. Why is it that my kids never seem to have clean faces? Oh well. Take care everyone.

Catching Up With Those Pictures....

I know, it's about time I got some of these pictures posted.

 

Tyler's new bike, you can tell he loves it.

 

Tyler and I had our day at the zoo yesterday. We went to Point Defiance, and had a good time. It's nice to have some one-on-one time with kids every now and then.

The peacock that freely roams the zoo.

Meerkats

Lemurs

A Happy Tyler

Musk Ox

Puffin

Penguins

Silly Monkey

Tiger

Riding the Carousel

Lunch Time for the Humans

Budgie on a Stick

This was fun.

Point Defiance

So named because with guns on the Tacoma side, and guns on the Gig Harbor side, they would be able to defy the world.

Tacoma Narrows Bridges

Tommy at the park today.

We were playing while Tyler and Travis were in swimming.

The robin that Tommy was fascinated watching.