Life Comes at You Fast...

Has it been a week already? Wow! Time is flying by and I can barely remember what I've been doing. I knew I had something going on every day of last week, but I actually had to look at my calendar to remember what it all was.






Last week I sent out a proposal for redecorating the church nursery. I've been asking around, and not getting much response, so last week I sent the proposal to everybody I could think of who could help, which included the church elders, the church treasurers, the Children's Ministry director, and the wife of the head elder. Guess what! I got approval! Yay! The wife was a big help too. We had an e-mail discussion going, and everytime somebody through out a road-block, she cleared the path. I am so excited.



Today I sent my budget to the treasurer for approval, and my curriculum pick to the Elder for the Christian Education committee. I need to sit down with the lady whose going to head up the painting still, so we can set a work-party date and do our planning. I'm sure that won't be happening until after Easter, probably not until May.

You can see from the picture above that it's a little blah in there. I want to paint a farm mural on the walls, with a blue sky, clouds, etc... a friend suggested a 3-D tree and brought me some pics from a church where she recently went to a seminar. I'm thinking a 3-D sun and clouds might be fun also. It'll be awhile, but I will post before and after pics when the time comes.

Let's see, what else....oh, we decided to move to Bremerton. I'm going to send notice tomorrow along with our rent check. We're moving into my grandparent's house with my grandpa. It's a win-win situation. We'll all save some $. The house is bigger than where we are now, and we'll be closer to many of our activities, including Jeff's work. Grandpa will have help with housework and household repairs, which are getting harder for him to do. It will be an adjustment for everybody, but I really feel it's where God is leading us to go.

At the Boy Scout committee meeting on Thursday, I was officially removed from office as the Advancement Chairperson, and we all cheered. I'm certain that the lady who has taken over will have more time to dedicate to the position, making sure it gets the attention the boys deserve.

Tyler and I are all signed up and paid up for Mom & Me camp. We'll be going the 25th-26th of April. I've never been, but hear it is a lot of fun.

Travis was at a camp-out this last weekend, it rained, but he mostly had fun.

True confession: I had a horrible moment on Saturday when I realized what an irresponsible parent I had been. I actually lost my child for more than an hour, and didn't even realize it. I was so tired, that I was napping on the couch while Tyler and his friends were playing out front. Tommy was sleeping, Jeff was sleeping, and Travis was gone. My friend Desiree stopped by and chatted for a few minutes, then she and her 3 kids left and Tyler walked out the door behind them, with the next-door neighbor kids. I fell back asleep for about 30 minutes, then got up and was playing with Tommy and talking to Jeff. After awhile, Tyler walked back in the house. The thing was, Desiree's son walked in with him. I was just about to ask if he'd been here the whole time, when it dawned on me that Tyler had left with them to go to the Lowe's building workshop. My son had left and I didn't even realize it! Isn't that awful? At least he had my permission to go with them, I'd told him he could several days in advance. Silly me.

On Sunday I was officially welcomed as a member of Lincoln Ave. Bible Church. I wish I'd been forewarned, as I wore jeans to church for the first time in ages....oh well. It was a typical Sunday around here. Josh is here for Spring Break, or at least until he goes to his mom's house for Spring Break. Didn't Spring Break use to coincide with Easter?

I managed to tick off my sister-in-law, again. I'm not sure we will ever manage to be good friends, just sisters-in-law. We are from 2 different worlds.

On Monday we didn't have Scouts. I wasn't feeling well though, and spent most of the day down with a headache and yucky tummy. I watched the house fall apart around me. Oh well.

Tonight my mom took the older boys (all 3) to a presentation about Puget Sound and the environment. It sounds like they all enjoyed themselves, and learned a bit. I hope it sticks in their minds, that they will remember to protect the world we live in. Tyler is very excited. He signed up to be a volunteer for the Stream Team, and wants to go on a 5-day sailing school adventure when he gets a little older.

Tomorrow Noah is going to WOW! with us, and spending the night. Thursday his older brother, Mark, is spending the night. Friday I think I will declare a family night, so I can regroup. Saturday we are going to an Easter egg hunt at the church and over to Grandpa's to walk through the house and help make some decisions. Sunday will probably be pretty normal, with brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and Josh coming over after church, then we start our normal week again. Breathe.

I'll have to make a point of scheduling packing time, won't I? Yikes! Okay, off to bed I go. Good Night.

A Good Day

Wow! What a blessed day! The kids did their school work without much trouble, dinner was easy, and I got a break. Yep, I got a break. My friend Desiree called me this afternoon. It started typical: Hello? Hello. Hi. How are you? I'm fine how are you?...but then it changed. You don't sound fine. I'm coming over. In fact, I'm coming over and taking care of your three kids for a couple hours this afternoon so you can do whatever what you want to....huh?

I reminded her I had a meeting tonight and my mom was coming to watch the kids, she said that was fine and she could stay until my mom got here. I asked her why she was doing this, she said because God told her to. Really? Yes really, during bible study this morning. He told her to give Lori a break today. She even argued with him, after all she's taking the two older boys out for awhile Thursday afternoon. No, Lori needs a break today, it can't wait until Thursday. End of argument, on her part and mine. Let's face it, I needed a break.

I didn't know what to do, so I spent some time on the phone (uninterrupted by children). I spent some time playing a mindless game on my computer. I went for a mile + walk and got some fresh air. It was nice. Oh, she also brought me some macadamia & white chocolate chip cookies and the sweetest, most encouraging card. What a wonderful friend. At the end, I felt very refreshed, and the walk worked some of the kinks out of my neck and shoulders.

The meeting at church tonight went well. It was basically an informational meeting about how the new children's church program will run. Then we grown-ups sat around talking for awhile. It was nice.

Mom gave Thomas his bath tonight, and watched the boys on the trampoline for awhile. The house was still clean when I got home. Thank you, Mom, we'll see you on Thursday. The committee meeting is scheduled for 7:00, but I'll need time to stop for a mocha.

The Woman's retreat...well, Jeff was working weekends. I even had a lady drop out who offered me her place at the retreat, all expenses paid. I just couldn't make it. I was also scheduled to work the nursery that weekend, but that was the last snowy weekend (9 days ago).

Life is Good. I'm even almost on time for bed. Good Night!

A rare picture.

Travis not hiding from the camera.

I just think he's cute.

I think he's cute too.

Getting recognition.

The Bear Den's Cars

Aren't they cool?

Putting up the Trampoline.

They look related.

People think I have 4 sons when I go out with all of them.

Painting Derby Cars

He Holds the Pen Right!!!

My Handsome Family

Our Jell-O desserts.

I just re-read last night's blog. It reads like I was telling Rainbow and Melissa to get over it and get on with life. LOL. It's a good thing they know better, I was talking about me.

The pinewood derby went well. Tyler took 3rd place for the Bear den, his buddy Noah took 2nd. We also had a pizza party, and awarded rank to the boys who had earned it, which included 2 boys in the Bear den. Go Bears!

Travis didn't go to Scouts tonight. He woke up with a headache, and was generally not well most of the day. Tyler did the same thing last Thursday, and ended up being yucky sick later in the day. We have been blessed to have missed most of the nasty flu stuff going around. I know several families who have been down for a week or more in the last month.

I spoke with the Scoutmaster tonight, who informed me that Travis is now the official Patrol Leader for his Scout Patrol. Yay Travis! That's cool, we have confidence that he will learn and grow and this will be a good thing for him. Now he has to go to leadership meetings with the other Patrol Leaders and the adult leadership. That should be a good experience for him.

I am starting to burn-out. I'm not a super mom, I'm super crazy sometimes. I haven't been taking any me time lately, and it's starting to wear on me. It might be fun to get together, but I'm actually quite socially awkward and shy...

I like cake decorating, it's a lot of fun when you can find the time. I really like to do big, fancy cakes but never have the time for that. I made Rainbow a snowy cake with penguins for her birthday 12 years ago. I remember the year, because it was 3 days before Travis was born. I've made a few wedding cakes, and once I made a cake that looked just like a giant taco. That was cool, it was for the Blue & Gold Banquet when Travis was a Tiger Scout, 5 years ago. Discovering the fun of cupcakes this last year has been a good thing.

Alright, the pictures are uploaded, finally. I can sign off and go to bed. Good night everybody!

My Feet Hurt….

….it is so nice to off them for awhile. What a whirlwind couple of days. It's been a week's worth of stuff packed into a weekend.

I don't even remember Friday, that's how crazy busy it's been. It seems to me that Friday was busy also. I know that Tyler finally had his friend sleep over. Oh, now that I type that I do remember Friday. We cleaned house, it was a busy day. We went through the closets and dressers of Travis and Tyler, pulling out stuff that no longer fit them or they don't like to wear. We also cleaned their rooms, and rearranged their furniture to make things a little easier. The whole house got vacuumed. Yep, Friday was busy.

We made yummy Jell-O desserts for Friday, and went grocery shopping for a kid-friendly dinner for our guest. We ended up with hot dogs. The boys played video games, watched a movie, and camped out in the living room. I was okay with that because I wanted Tommy to sleep well.

Saturday, poor Jeff got sucked into my schedule. He decided I have entirely too much going on in my life. First, we had a yummy breakfast of bacon, eggs, and hash browns. Then I had to go over to the Scout shop to pick up some Boy Scout stuff and decided to let Tyler and his buddy, Noah, look at the derby car stuff while we were there. That took about an hour or so. While we were doing that, Jeff stayed home to meet Noah's mom who was dropping off her other two kids for a few hours while she ran some errands. Jeff helped them with their pinewood derby cars; he cut out the shapes that the boys designed so the boys could sand, paint, etc…. That was very, very helpful of Jeff and he did a great job.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that my friend had left the makings for pbjs, pudding, and fruit to make lunch for the boy crew very easy. She had also brought over a selection of paints and brushes, which was very useful.

Just after we got home from the Scout shop, Jeff's mom popped in to visit. Cool. After we got home, Jeff's sister called and then she and her husband popped over to drop off a generator that I think Jeff is going to fix for them. As soon as Linda and Dale left (sister and brother-in-law) Jeff had to run out to take Travis to Josh's birthday party at Josh's mom's house. (Jeff had to take our oldest son, Travis, to Jeff's brother's ex-wife's house for Jeff's brother's son's birthday party.) Jeff was supposed to be back by about 3:00 to meet the Cub Scout Committee Chairperson who was coming over to pick up the pinewood derby track that we've been storing in our attic for the last year, but was delayed because he was conversing with the ex-sister-in-law and her twin, who were Jeff's childhood friends. That worked out okay; the track was picked up and should be ready to go for the pinewood derby on Monday. Did I mention Jeff's brother, Scott, called not 10 minutes after Jeff had driven away?

While Jeff was gone, I had the 5 boys playing video games, painting cars, running around in the beautiful outside weather, and harassing my mil. It was all good.

We decided that the boys needed more time to work on painting their cars and playing together. It takes time for the paint to dry between coats. So, we had a taco bar and invited our friends and their parents to join us. That was a lot of fun. The cars got painted, the boys had fun, and so did the adults. It was, all in all, a good day.

When Jeff went back to pick Travis up, he asked if I minded if Josh came back too, just in case they asked. I had no problem with it. They asked. I'm flattered that Josh chose to come over here for his birthday. He was very polite and helpful this time….he's growing up, Mr. 15 year-old.

There was drama with the sister-in-law vs. ex-sister-in-law, but I won't go into that.

Sunday, started out extremely normal. I drove into Sunday School with the older 3 boys. Jeff met us for church with Tommy. I opened up the nursery and got involved in a craft project for the Easter egg hunt. Josh and Travis played pool and flirted with the girls. Tyler went to his Science in Sunday School class.

After church, my car went to Costco and Jeff's truck came home. After Costco, I ran out to pick up BBQ supplies and Josh's birthday present, while Jeff stayed home with his mom and the kids. Tyler went out to the park and out to dinner with the next-door neighbors to celebrate his friend's birthday. Travis and Josh put up the trampoline. They really took advantage of my saying they could set it up in the spring. Scott & Amanda got here, bearing cupcakes, and we BBQed burgers. They were yummy. I made mashed potatoes and green beans to round out the meal. A few other friends dropped in, some of us played Josh's present with him (Rummikub), and around 9:00 everybody went home.

Then I checked my e-mail. Rainbow, Melissa, I have to confess that this time I did not take time to mull things over. I reacted, and whatever the consequences are, they are. I'm tired, and I don't like Tyler worrying about me because mommy's been crying lately. Whatever issues I need to work out, I need to work out. Get over it and get on with life.

Monday we have a Cub Scout Pizza Party and Pinewood Derby. Travis has a pack inspection for his Boy Scout troop; he's going on a campout next weekend. Tuesday I have a planning mtg. at the church. Wednesday we'll be at the church. Thursday I have a Boy Scout Committee mtg. Friday Travis leaves for his campout.

I signed the boys up for baseball. The coach of the church softball team got a non-committal commitment from me today. We're looking ahead to our spring/summer activities. Scout camping, church stuff, sports, hunter safety class, exploring our state…it could be fun. Life is good right now, God is great always!

Goodnight All! I do have pics to post, soon I hope.

Happy Tuesday!

Melissa, I forgot to post my schedule this week, sorry. Here it is: Monday was Scouts, Tuesday is stay-home day, Wednesday is Wow, Thursday I have a woman's circle meeting, Friday is sleep-over night.

I've spent the last 2 days sorting through Tommy clothes, I'm getting rid of about 1/2 of them. He's set for the next couple years. It's a blessing, but a lot of work to sort through.

I have pictures to post, when I get some time. I'm glad everybody is doing well.

Hooray!

What a beautiful day! Rainbow, you're back! I love Jurnee's neckerchief. I've never seen two-tone like that before.

Right now, Tommy and Travis are in their beds asleep. Tyler is sleeping over at the neighbor's house. Jeff is at work. Yep! He's back on his regular shift, and....................he's in Bremerton. Jeff's boss decided he doesn't want to lose him to Tacoma, and isn't letting him go???? I'm not sure entirely how they worked that out, but I'm not complaining and neither is Jeff.

This means that Jeff's doctor gave him a clean bill of health yesterday. He said everything looks good. I'm a little concerned about Jeff going back to work only because all those old habits will come flooding back at him. I tried to tell him that, just so he'd be on guard or somewhat prepared for it, but I don't think he believed me. It's just that he hasn't driven his fuel truck since before Christmas. Well before Christmas, because we had those 2 weeks of insane snow. Back then he was still smoking, still drowning himself in caffeinated coffee, and still eating junk. He'll have to create new habits to combat the old ones. I'm praying for him.

It really was a beautiful day today. I even got out and did some yard work while Tommy worked on learning his boundaries. I'm thinking of hosting a yard work party next Sunday. I figure we'll provide burgers and dogs, potato salad, veggies...you know, feed everybody. In exchange, they can provide some labor to clean up the yard and get it ready for Easter and spring barbecues, etc.... I need to check the 10-day weather forecast.

Tyler was disappointed because his play date for today was cancelled due to illness. However, he perked up when his neighborhood buddies starting showing up. Travis went over to a friend's house for a few hours this afternoon.

Last night I went to a membership meeting at the church, so I guess I am now officially a member. I was walking out with another lady, we stopped to admire the new paint colors in the downstairs entryway. At precisely the same time, we both expressed our thoughts that we wondered what my grandma would say about the changes. That was nice, to know that I am not the only person wandering around that building who still thinks of her presence there.

Alright, I've rambled enough for tonight. I need to get some sleep myself. We're going to a little play at the church tomorrow.

Good Night!

Just a Quick Hello

I need to start remembering to take my camera places. There were some great photo ops at our Scout Engineering Night last night. One day I will learn.

Rainbow....BLOG! Even if it's just to post a pic of the kids or to say Boo! We need to know you're still out there.

Okay, no time...gotta run. Good Night!

Staying Busy

I had a fairly good, somewhat productive week. At Scouts Monday we made some decisions about camping dates and financing the Pack newsletter. On Wednesday I got sit to in on a 2^nd interview for an interim pastor (that was interesting). On Friday we got hang out with other families from our church and make plans for future get-togethers.

On the home front, the kids have new inspiration to do their chores and pick up after themselves. They have a terrible habit of not putting away DVDs, Play Station CDs, music CDs, Game Cube disks, etc… I ended up with stacks of disks sitting around, so I took them all away. (Rainbow, you gotta love that. You can tell Jurnee just how mean I really am.) The boys think I threw them all away, but I am a little more $ conscience than that. The only disks they have any access to are the ones that had been put in their cases. (I took away at least 100 disks, and they are left with almost none.) We do have easy cases to put these away in. We have a kids movie case/binder, a music case/binder, a Play Station storage system….you get the idea. Anyway, I boxed up all these disks that were just lying around, and have it safely tucked away. The boys have been told that if they do their chores all week, pick up after themselves, and keep their rooms clean, they may each ask for one disk back each week. They will have to build a new habit of taking care of that one disk properly, and may s-l-o-w-l-y earn back their movies, etc… Jeff also said that the boys will not get to go through the disks and pick one out; they will need to think of one they're missing and ask for it. I like that idea.

We also had a chance to revisit our schooling habits. That was fun, Monday was a challenge for Tyler, and he actually ended up having to stay home from Scouts because he hadn't finished his schoolwork yet. The rest of the week went smoothly.

I have reached the point where I am ready to get rid of just about all the "stuff" we aren't using. I had a chat with the boys about good stewardship, and how the Lord wants us to take proper care of what He has given us. We talked about not being able to enjoy our stuff, because it's too high maintenance right now. We talked about quality of life, about fairness, about helping each other, and about respect and kindness. We also established some new rules; including sleepovers are limited to two non-consecutive weekends per month. They are no longer allowed to go hang with their friends nor have friends over if their rooms aren't clean. Most impressively, this was all decided with calm, cool heads and it was unanimously declared fair.

Then, last night at dinner I did something I don't remember ever doing before. I announced that I had made dinner, and I had served dinner, but I would not be cleaning it up. Know what? I didn't. Well, mostly I didn't. I did end up washing the griddle and frying pan, but I didn't load the dishwasher or clear the table. Yay! With a little more practice I may not end up doing the pans.

After everybody had gone to bed, I got it into my head to clean the bathroom, and make sure the rest of the house was picked up and presentable. It didn't take long, and I felt the need to do it. This morning, before we left for church, I told everybody to make sure they picked up any messes because I wanted to come home to a clean house. Well, when we got home, my mother-in-law was just pulling up out front. My brother-in-law and his family came about 45 minutes later. It was sure nice to not be the least bit worried about how the house looked. So, there's a praise God! The boys all deserve a pat on the back, too.

Jeff is still not back on his normal shift. I'm not entirely sure when that will happen. He's been the night driver since Sept. 2003, so we're pretty used to that schedule. It's this day-shift he's been working since his heart attack that's thrown us off.

Thank you for your input on the driver's license issue. I have warned her that I'm going to give her a list. The thing is she's not slightest bit concerned about being entirely dependent on a man. In fact, I think she rather likes it. She's young.

Melissa and Rainbow, why is it that we can find the time to spend an hour + talking on the phone, but when we see each other in person we are way too busy to sit down and talk for more than a few minutes?

Kim and Maureen, enjoy your time together. That food sure looks yummy.

Mom, I need to know your city of birth, I'm filling out my passport application.

Have a great week everybody!

One of the two matching lamps I bought for our super-dim bedroom.

All ready to go out and play.

Cool new zebra. It bounces, it spins, it keeps him occupied.

I may need to get one for the church nursery.

Tyler playing cops & robbers.

You should see him dress up in his army/hunting clothes.

Looking For Opinions

Hey everybody! I'm looking to put together a "Top-10 Reasons to get a Driver's License" list. This is for a young woman in her 20's. She's married, has a teenage step-child living in the home, and doesn't live on a bus line or within walking distance to a store. Her husband works full time, yet she is entirely dependent on him for transportation.

Some reasons I have come up with:

What if there is an emergency in the middle of the day? Calling your nearest living relatives is not always a reasonable answer when they live 40 minutes away.

If you can drive, you can do the shopping while your husband is at work. This way you will have more time together when he gets home and on his days off, instead of having to do the shopping then.

If you can drive, you could get a part-time job.

If you can drive, your teenage step-son can participate in after-school activities or in his church youth group. Right now he comes straight home from school every day and does nothing but homework, TV, and video games.

If you can drive, you could join a club or participate in activities at the church or volunteer at the school.

If you can drive, you have the freedom to get out of your house and go where you want to go, when you want to go.

I know that you all must have some other ideas/opinions. Let me hear them!

Still Recuperating

I had an exhausting week last week, and am still recovering from it. Yikes! Thankfully, it is March and we get to go back to normal, almost. Jeff is still on days, at least for another week. He may move to nights in Tacoma next week, which will be our new norm.

This past week:

Monday = Cub Scouts Blue & Gold Banquet.

Tuesday = Paid the bills and filed internet advancement reports for Scouts, load up the kids, then went shopping at the Scout Shop for all the awards, got stuck in Bremerton during rush hour traffic so met up with hubby for dinner at Shari's.

Wednesday = WOW! Did my job as registrar, then helped paint the walls in the fireplace meeting room while hubby went off with the men to get lots of new furniture.

Thursday = Shopped for desserts for the Court of Honor and organized all the awards. Set up Court of Honor dessert room and laid out awards for leaders. Attended Court of Honor.

Friday = Down Day!!!! The kids went out to dinner at Red Lobster with friends; Jeff and I got a movie and ate dinner while watching it. Yay!

Melissa, I'm sorry I missed your calls this week. I know I said I'd be home on Tuesday, but that didn't work out. I should be home on Tuesday and Thursday this week. Monday = Scouts; Wednesday = WOW!; Friday = Family Fun Night.