Well, we did it!!

Well, we went and got a dog! I'm not sure on her age (they thought 5 or 6 years old). She's really quiet--the only time she barked was when we took her outside, she saw Sam in the house, and she wanted to come in. She's a very gentle dog (borders on the lazy side!!) She is fat, too. So, is she fat because she's lazy? Or, is she lazy because she's fat??

Andrew has been taking her for walks, and she seems to enjoy it. She is getting spoiled rotten!! The boys feed her by hand, and bring her food and water dishes to her.

She could be missing her other home, and they also had 3 other dogs. Maybe she's just homesick. Or, she's just mellow. I wouldn't have gotten any of the other dogs, as they were horrible!! They jumped all over Sam, kept trying to knock him down, and he was so scared!

I know why I don't take the boys grocery shopping!

Now I know why I don't take the boys shopping with me--I spend WAY too much when they are with. Mom, how about this, how about that? Aside from buying some junk type stuff, I also bought lots of fruits, so that's not so bad, right?? I'm going for mom of the year! Ha, ha!

On the way to the store, Sam was in the back, saying, "Mom--buddies???" Yes, Sam, we are buddies. Are you my buddy?? He answers in the affirmative, and then says, "Mom---Shake???" He loves a chocolate shake.

Then, shortly after that, a little hot rod red car passed us. Sam got all excited, "MOM!!!!! McQueen!!!!" (as in Lightening McQueen in "Cars") It wasn't but he sure thought it was.

Did you know I'm going to be a grandma again?? Siah & Sarah are having baby #2. Jeremiah will turn 1 on January 5th. The new baby is due January 23rd. Exciting times!!

Well, I am going to close off for now. Oh, and yes, Sam did get his chocolate shake. ;)

Many firsts for me

So much has been happening! I have been doing some things I thought I would never do.

First of all, I got a fishing license! I don't like to eat fish, so I never fished. We were going out in our pedal boat with some friends, and I decided to get a license, so I could fish, too (everybody else would be fishing). I caught the first fish. ;)

I also wore my first pair of capris!! I had talked to dh, about going in the pedal boat (the gals would be pedaling, and the guys would be trolling in the back of the boat) It's not exactly modest to be wearing a skirt, pedaling. So, I got some capris. Honestly, wearing them for the first time, I felt naked. I got a tan line from where the capris ended. I was the smart one, and was feeling the hot sun, and decided after a while to put on some sun block. I was telling the rest of them, they should put on the sun block, too, but they wouldn't listen. So, I got the nice tan, they got a nice burn.

We got a dog! I should have named the post "Here today, gone. . .Today!" The dog ran away about 10 minutes after we got him home. The boys couldn't believe I actually gave in, and got a dog. He was a little Yorkie. The boys loved on him, and held him. Then, we put him down, and let him explore his new home. He needed to do his business, so we took him outside, and he did the business, and took off like a rocket. We searched for 2 hours that night, and again the following day. No sign of doggie. We have now named him "Bolt", because that is what he does.

Jon, Becca and Dan are all up at Bible Camp this week. This is so weird--I only have Andrew, Sam and Matthew home.

On Monday, we did a bunch of church work--not too fun for the boys. However, we did get to eat out at Pete's Pizza for lunch, and Sonic for supper. I don't think they were complaining about the church stuff after that! We have 39 children signed up for Sports Camp (VBS) this year. Lots of new children! I ordered 50 shirts, and we picked up the iron on transfers (Josiah & Sarah are making the design for the shirts). We changed the church sign, to announce the Sports Camp, and I also worked on the church calendar. How's that for busy??

We are enjoying our pool! However, they are a lot of work! Every time I am in the pool, I am skimming it. Even though we have a lot of trees gone in the back yard, we still get pine needles and leaves in the pool. But, because the trees are gone, this is the warmest the pool has EVER been!! Then, it rains, and cools it down a bit. I might have gotten too much sun on my back yesterday, though. Should have used the sun screen. I was even vacuuming the pool out, and cleaning the filter. Yes, the pools are a lot of work! Add to that, the testing of the water, and adding chemicals. But, I have been enjoying it.

Ben is coming home for a visit!!!!! He will come home the night of August 6 and leaves the morning of the 9th! It will be good to have him home. We are trying to plan out what to do while he is here--he wants to go fishing, and he wants to grill out.

Well, I should go. Still need to come up with some sports drills for the children to work on (for the VBS).

So tired. . .

I really need to discipline myself to get to bed earlier. Right now, I am dragging. Plus a headache. I so want to go take a nap. But, we are having nasty weather. We have had nasty weather a lot this week! 3 storms on Wednesday, then on Friday, and again today.

So, back to the nap. I crawled in bed, and Andrew comes in, and says, "You can't take a nap!!!" He doesn't care for the tornado watches/warnings. Then, he is begging me to take us all to Madison. (Aside from the fact that he adores Ben, who lives down there, he also checked Weather.com, and found out they aren't having the tornado watches.) I told him that I wasn't going to drive through this weather to get down to Ben's, and--Ben isn't there today, he's in Milwaukee video taping a wedding. He still tells me I can't take a nap, and what if a tornado comes?? I told him, that if I go during a nap, I won't know what hit me.

Had a busy day today. Went to the last graduation party for this year, and then over to a benefit to a relation of someone that goes to our church.

Need to get ready for church tomorrow.

Catch up

Well, it seems that I have been too busy to post on here. Not too much has been happening. I found out that if you are going to set an alarm, you really need to check the time on the clock, first. Either you will be late, or very early. I was up very early. I wanted to get up at 4:40, so I could babysit. I ended up getting up at 3:40. That day dragged on. . .

I have been battling an ear infection. Not fun!! If any of you wonder why small children cry when they have one, I will tell you--they hurt! I had lost the hearing in my good ear, and they put me on strong antibiotics, to cure the ear infection. Right now, I am hearing at about 75%--which is better than it was a couple days ago. Conversations around the house have been interesting!!

We bought a small pool, and I am trying new chemicals for it. We shall see how it goes. Thought I'd put a picture on here of Sam. He got himself dressed in his swimsuit. ;) So, here is the latest in swimwear fashion.

Oops!

I forgot to mention on the 4th, we also did go to see the fireworks! I also found out I am the worst mother in history, as I "broke tradition"!!! I didn't know that I "always buy sparklers, and stuff for s'mores". Well, this year I didn't. The child who said that I broke tradition, said that it didn't feel like the 4th without it, and that they didn't want to go see the fireworks. The child opted to go see the fireworks. His options were 1) see the fireworks, and have fun, or 2) stay home and go directly to bed. :D He chose the first option.

I was a good mother, and made up a bunch of popcorn to take along, as well as caramel popcorn.

Knapp does put on a very nice show, for it being a little town. And, I enjoy the closeness!

On the way home, one of the cars in front of us hit a family of 3 skunks. Whew!! We missed them, but Jon was behind us, and he thought his car was higher off the ground.

Off to study my lesson. Have a wonderful day!

Update

Well, let's see. A lot has happened since I last wrote. We got our lawn mower back, and it has worked one time (haven't tried it after that--so this week's mowing will tell for sure). I helped mow, we had both mowers going, the rider and the push mower. I learned a lesson. Don't wear fairly new shoes while push mowing. I have worn the shoes to church, but apparently, I didn't walk in them much. So, I got a blister, so I kicked them off. Now, I know you are not supposed to do that, and I am all for showing safety first to my children. I guess it should have been my cue to quit mowing. I'm a slow learner. So, dh wasn't too happy that I was mowing barefoot. I know I shouldn't have, but that meant shutting off the mower, and I can't restart it by myself. It also meant putting a shoe on an already burst blister. I was careful, though, and only got very green feet. The good news is--I got to soak my feet afterwards. :)

Sunday was filled with church, and then most of the family came over. My sister, brother-in-law, and their family came over, as well as my parents, and Siah & Sarah. Dad is weak, but we all enjoyed having him over. We grilled out brats & dogs, and had some wonderful salads and desserts.

I thought everyone would stay later, and I also had planned a smoked chicken & cheesy hash brown potatoes. I tried a new recipe for the smoked chicken, and it was delish!

Yesterday, we celebrated Siah's birthday. I guess I didn't hear the infomercial on not telling the crew at Los Cabos that it was Siah's birthday. So, I told our waitress, and she brought Siah a fried ice cream--along with a whole bunch of others, singing, and playing guitars. They put a huge Mexican hat on Siah, and at the end of the song, smeared whipped cream on his face. I felt bad--I had no clue they would put the whipped cream on his face. But, it was all fun. Wish I had my camera with. Some of the others got pictures with their cell phones. We had a nice group of us there--Siah & Sarah & Jeremiah, Josh & Brittany, Jon, Rick and myself.

Oh, I should explain why I didn't hear the statement to not tell about Siah's birthday. I can not hear much out of my left ear, and now my right ear is really plugged up. I miss a lot of the conversations.

After Los Cabos, Siah & Sarah, Jon, Rick and I went bowling. And, we had an unexpected blessing, that it was only $1 to rent shoes, and $1 per game!! I think the cheapness of the night reflected on my game--ha ha! We also found out that on Thursday nights, rental and game are only 50 cents! It's been so long since we've been bowling, my husband has his own ball & carry bag, we couldn't get the zipper to open!!! So, he was knocked down to our level, and had to use one of the lanes balls. He didn't bowl his normal great game.

My hubby is a Jerry Lewis fan. He found a website that will email you when a favorite movie is on. So, he put in a Jerry Lewis movie, and it's been telling him that it is on tonight at 5, and on which channel. Already have it set up to tape. I'm a good wife. ;)

I need to get going. Have to study my lesson for tonight's ladies meeting. We are starting a new study book, Crazy Love.

Matthew & Andrew cutting a log

Here they are, during intermission, cutting the log, with help. They got a certificate, and later got it autographed, along with a chunk of wood.

Pole climbing

Here are the 2 young guys climbing the 60 foot poles. Our team won!

Apparently my pictures are too big

Ok, So, I will post the pictures one at a time. . . Here is a picture of the log rolling.

Lumberjack Show

Today, we took the day to go to the Lumberjack show in Hayward. It was a wonderful time! We had so much fun, and had beautiful weather to go. I think our favorites were the log rolling, and also when the men ran up the 60 foot poles. During the intermission, they had the children come up, and got to use the 2 handled saw (with help, of course!) So, Andrew & Matthew got in on the action, too. They also got a certificate, as well, as after the show, they could come up and get the autographs on the certificate, or a wood chip.