Johnsons' Journey

Well… I guess that since we’ve been home for 3 days now, it’s time to update the old blog. I’ve finally got all the posts I wrote while we were camping, up. I was waiting on Flickr, as I wanted to add pictures to the posts. All day yesterday I was trying to get the pictures uploaded, but Flickr was being a pain in the other side of my lap. Finally, this morning I skipped one picture, and the rest went and uploaded… Wish I would have tried that yesterday! … I have no idea why the one picture wouldn’t upload to Flickr, but I am glad that the rest are finally being posted.

Anyway, back to Prineville, as I never wrote about the last day.

I got up at around 7:00 and went and took a shower in the camp showers… Turns out that 7:00 is a bad time, as everyone and their mother is taking a shower. *lol* … But I managed to get a mostly hot shower, which is better than no shower at all.

When I got back to the campsite, Joe and the kids were all up. So we had a simple breakfast of toast and/or cereal, and then I sent Joe and the kids to take a shower while I did the dishes. Once they were back, I did the girls’ hair and off we went. I wanted to do our “homeschool portraits”, so they had all dressed in nicer clothes… We went to 3 different areas and I snapped a bunch of photos of them. When we got home, the hard part came when I had to choose the pictures to be the “official” school pictures. *lol*

After I was done taking pictures, we headed back to the trailer and got ready to go. I think it was around 12:30 when we were pulling out of the campsite.

Joe had called 511 again, and it sounded like parts of hwy 126 (the Santiam Pass) was possibly closed due to the forest fire, so we decided not to chance trying to go home that way… Wouldn’t want to try to make a u-turn while pulling a 26 foot trailer with our little Durango. So instead we drove north west and went on the pass by Mt. Hood… I have no idea what that pass is called. *lol*

The kids were quite impressed by how close to Mt. Hood we got, but I didn’t bother to take any pictures. The top half of the mountain was hidden in clouds.

There were some delays on hwy 26 though, as they were doing the “Hood to Coast Relay” … While Joe drove, the kids and I watched all the runners… I would have watched more closely, had I known our friend, Erika, was running in it! … Joe and I used to work with Erika at PayLess, and I found out today, on facebook, that she ran in it for the first time… Pretty cool!

We made it into Sandy, Oregon by 3:30, by which time we were all pretty hungry. So we stopped at McDonald’s for a late lunch, and then headed home… I think we were home sometime between 5:00 and 5:30… We spent the next hour and a half, to two hours, unloading the trailer, unpacking, cleaning up after the cats (you WOULD NOT believe the mess two little kittens can make in the bathroom!!!), etc.

The first thing the boys did when they got home was to run into their rooms, grab out their bowling balls, and kiss them. *lol* … Going 7 days without bowling about killed them.

The boys wanted to go bowling as soon as everything was put away, and Joe thought it would be easier to just take all the laundry to one of the laundry mats in town and get it washed all at once, instead of having me spend all weekend doing it.

Joe thought we should go to the newer laundry mat, as it was nicer, but I am now wondering if it would have been better going to the old one… The washing machines cost $2.00 a piece to run them! The ones in Redmond were $1.50 to use… When you have 11 loads of laundry, that can really add up! … Plus, while the dryers cost the same as in Redmond, they didn’t dry as well so you had to run them longer, which meant that they really didn’t cost the same. … So 2 hours and $29 later, all the laundry was washed and folded.

While I was at the laundry mat with Amanda, Joe and the other kids went to the bowling alley and bowled 3 games… The boys were sure happy about that!

On Saturday, Josh and the girls had a Bible Day Camp to go to, with their Sunday School class. Like they did in June, we dropped them off at the church at 11:00 and they were bussed to Feyrer Park. Then we had to meet them back at the church at 3:00… They had a lot of fun, got to have a BBQ, play games, and came home with lots of little goodies.

While they were doing that, Joe, Jared, and I went to the bowling alley again, as a treat for Jared, now that he is in the youth group and didn’t go to the Bible camp… Jared talked me into bowling too, and he was thrilled to have us both to himself. We had lunch there too, since the others were having the BBQ.

As for the rest of the evening, we didn’t do much of ANYTHING. Just sat around on our rears, watching movies and bumming… And I’m sure that Joe got some naps in.

Oh wait! … I forgot… Joe, Alicia, and I did go to Walmart on Saturday, to get some groceries for the week. We left the other kids at home, but Alicia needed new shoes, so she came with us… We had to buy her size FIVE! She can fit perfectly into size 4s, but we wanted to give her some growing room.

She sure is growing up in a hurry! *sigh*

Since Sunday was the last day of his vacation, Joe wanted to be bad and skip church. He wanted to sleep in and get a lazy day in, since he won’t get another vacation until March… So that’s what we did… We did do a little bit of housework, but mainly we just bummed.

As for today, Joe is back to work, and the kids and I got some housework done… I’m also doing some laundry, as Mondays are my usual laundry days (along with Thursdays)… Well, the dryer just stopped, so I better run! … Catch ya on the flip side!

Just wanted to drop by and let ya’ll know that I won’t be around for the next week. Joe is on vacation as soon as he gets off work tomorrow (Friday), and as soon as he gets home, we’re heading out on a week long camping trip. We’ll be back on Friday the 27th, but it may be a day or two after that before I get a chance to blog… I’ll probably be writing up blog posts throughout the week, but I will want to post the pictures onto Flickr before blogging, and who knows how long that will take.

There hasn’t been too much going on around here… A whole lot of bowling is all! *lol* … But as of this afternoon, all the summer leagues are officially over. Last night was the last night for the Have-A-Ball league (The Johnson Boys came in 2nd place for the league!), and today was the last day for the kids summer free league… Jared was excited because he got to bowl against the Hartrampfs today, who pretty much make up the dream team of bowling.   Jared’s team beat them on all three games! … Of course, it’s because they have a higher handicap. The other team actually knocked down more pins, but our team was bowling above their averages, which brought the pin count higher because of their handicap score.

I spent a good portion of yesterday baking cookies for a couple birthdays, and for our camping trip. For the first time I made peanut butter chocolate chip (I used mini chocolate chips), and I think they turned out pretty yummy! … I also made a bunch of regular chocolate chip cookies.

You want to hear something funny though… I put a bunch of cookies in a ziplock bag, to take to the bowling alley for the employees. I gave the bag to Teri (one of the owners), and she took the bag home and didn’t share a single cookie! Next time I will have to give her a bag, and then put one on the counter for everyone else!

I am just about ready for school to start… We’re going to start on September 6th… I now have all the lesson plans done for all four kids, for the entire school year. The only thing left to do is to print out the lesson plans and get the kids’ binders ready for the year. But right now I am out of ink, so it’s going to have to wait until we’re home from vacation. Once we’re home, we’ll have one full week of vacation left, and then it’s time to hit the books.

I CAN NOT believe how fast the summer went by! *sigh*

August is flying by at an even faster pace than the rest of the summer! It’s insane that it’s already the middle of the month! … In a couple 2-3 weeks I won’t be a lady of leasure anymore, as school is almost upon us.

Wow!

We’ve been keeping busy, as usual… When we’re not out and about (read: at the bowling alley), then I’ve been busy working on lesson plans for this coming school year, and also working on my heritage blog. I finished typing out Mom’s Memoirs, and by the next day I had 3 or 4 comments from people who had gone to the same school in India that Mom went to. How amazing is that?! I forwarded all the comments to my Mom, and she sent Emails to all of them. One of them wrote her back the same day, and even sent Mom pictures of the school and surrounding area. My Mom was THRILLED, to say the least!

The internet sure makes the world a whole lot smaller, doesn’t it?

One thing that’s going to be nice about homeschool starting up again, is that means the neighborhood kids will all be at school too. It seems like our house has become Grand Central Station! Every time I turn around, another kid is knocking on the door, wanting to play… And they ALL want to play inside (though I don’t always let them). The girls even talked me into letting Darian spend not only Thursday night here, but Friday as well… And, along with Darian, Hunter was over playing with Josh all day on Friday as well. They even want to eat meals with us, and don’t seem to need to ask their parents’ permission either… Darian and Hunter are good kids, but they can both be jabber-jaws, and I get enough talking from Jared, thank-you-very-much. … Sometimes I have to make the kids play outside, just to get some peace and quiet!

We even took Darian and Hunter to the bowling alley with us on Friday. Hunter was THRILLED, and even brought his own bowling ball… Darian had fun, but she did drive me more than a little crazy, with her asking for soda, slushies, and money for the vending machines. She doesn’t seem to understand that no means NO, and that it also means to STOP ASKING BECAUSE THE ANSWER IS STILL GOING TO BE NO!

Hunter wanted to spend the night on Friday as well, but Josh whispered to me that he really didn’t want him to sleep over. So I let Josh make me be the “bad guy” and he told Hunter that only one friend could sleep over at a time, and since Darian was already staying, he couldn’t stay… I felt bad for Hunter, but I can’t force Josh to have a friend sleep over, can I? *lol*

On Saturday, after making hashbrowns (etc) for breakfast, we sent Darian home and got to work. All 6 of us teamed up and got the house cleaned. We did bathrooms, floors, kitchen, bedrooms, etc… Oh, and I gave Joe and the kids hair cuts too, before we started cleaning… We were done by around 3-ish, and then (after I took a shower) we headed out the door.

Amanda had wanted to eat dinner at McDonald’s for her birthday, but her birthday falls on a Monday this year. Joe works late on Mondays, and is too tired to do much of anything when he gets home… So we took her (and the rest of the kids) to the McDonald’s in Oregon City, as she wanted to go to one with a playland, and the one in Molalla doesn’t have one. She was quite happy with her Happy Meal, and the play time in the play-place.

After leaving McDonald’s, we went to Kmart… I had finished going through the kids’ clothes, and had a small list of things they need for the winter… Jared needed some underclothes, Josh needed a couple more pairs of jeans and a couple more t-shirts (we had to buy him smalls from the mens’ department!!!!!), Alicia needed a couple pairs of pajamas, and some summer sandles (as her’s fell apart), and Amanda needed some socks and 2 pairs of jeans.

Amanda was THRILLED, because she found some jeans with sparkles on them.

I was a little put out with the pajamas though… We had to go to the junior section and bought 2 pairs in a size small… But once we got them home, and the tags off, I noticed that while the shirts are both small, the bottoms were not. One was a medium and one was a large! They are HUGE on her, and had to be pinned so they wouldn’t fall off. (Well, the mediums weren’t as bad as the large ones, obviously.) … It doesn’t seem to bother Alicia though, and she says that they are very comfy, which is highly important to her. *lol* … I’m going to get my needle and thread out and sew up the sides, so she won’t have to have the safety pins on them.

When we got home, I wanted to color my hair… You know the grays are starting to show when you’re 10 year old asks you when you plan on dying your hair again. … Anyway, I usually do it in the bathroom. I like to lock the door and strip down to my underclothes, so I won’t get dye on my clothes. It also makes it easier to rinse it out of my hair, as I just jump into the shower when it’s time. But, since my hair has to sit for 45 minutes before I rinse, it can get a little boring in there. *lol* Normally I take a book in (and a chair), and read for 45 minutes, but this time I wasn’t in the mood. So I took in my portable DVD player and watched 2 episodes of “Mad About You” while I waited… That sure made the time go by faster!

Today (Sunday) we had the Lane Family Reunion to go to… They had it at Eagle Fern Park again, which is where they had it last year… But for some odd reason, they had it on a Sunday this year, instead of on Saturday, like they normally do… Since it started at 2:00, we had to go straight there from church. We stopped by the Thriftway in Estacada and got some chicken, since I didn’t have time to cook anything (since we went to church) for the potluck.

The funny thing about the Lane Reunions, is that we rarely talk to anyone, except for Joe’s immediate family. We all put our chairs out together, and stick together. Joe parents do mingle, but the rest of us don’t do much of that. (Though we did talk to Jean for a while… She is one of the daughters of Charlie and Nellie, who owned the house we rented in Sandy back in ’06.)

They had some games and prizes for the kids, and they all seemed to have a good time.

To help pay for renting the area for the reunion, they were selling disks with pictures from the Lane heritage on them, for $15. Since I love that sort of thing, we picked one up… OMWord, are they unorganized! What a mess of photos on that disk! The scans are poor (a lot of “extra” around the sides of the photos, and no touch ups done to the pictures themselves), and some of them are not even labeled as to who the people are! I copied the pictures to my computer, and will be sorting and editing them the best I can… I hope I can find out who everyone is in the unmarked pictures. Geesh!

We had to leave there at 4:30, to make sure we got to the bowling alley on time… Tonight was the last night for the “Some-R-Kids” bowling league, so they were having awards and a pizza party.

All four of the kids got trophies (all the kids get them). Jared got one for “Most Improved Average” … He improved his average from 105 (from the fall league) to 140. Coach Mick said that it was a huge improvement, and very impressive. Josh got one for “2nd Most Improved Average” for bringing up his average from 91 to 117 … Sad thing is, in his other two leagues his average is in the 130s, so he’s actually brought it up higher… But for some reason, he doesn’t bowl well on Sunday nights. *lol* … Since Alicia and Amanda were in a bumper league, they didn’t get trophies for anything special. They just put their high game and high series on their trophies… But that didn’t bother the girls at all, they were just thrilled to get trophies at all!

The summer leagues are just about over. Like I said, tonight was the last night for the “Some-R-Kids” league. Then this Wednesday is the last night for the “Have-A-Ball” league, and Thursday is the last day for the “Summer Kids” free league. There is a free kids tournament on the 26th, but we can’t make it as we’ll be camping in Prineville.

The fall leagues start next month… All four kids will join the kids league on Saturday (Amanda will be on the bumper league, while the other three will be on the Molalla Nuggets). Then Joe has decided to join the Sunday night adult/junior league with Jared, Josh, and Alicia… It’s going to be a stretch, money wise, but this is something that Joe and the kids really enjoy doing together. With Joe’s insane work schedule, he doesn’t get much bonding time with the kids, and this is their thing now…. I don’t think the boys even know that he’s decided to do it yet (he just decided tonight, but then the boys went home with the Mewings to spend the night), and they are going to be THRILLED when they find out. … They love bowling on a league with their Daddy.

Jared and Josh got quite the compliment… There is a family of bowlers (who actually live in our neighborhood), called the Hartrampfs. Anyway, the entire family bowls really well, and they are all always going all over the state (and beyond) to different bowling tournaments. They’ve even got to Las Vagas for a huge, important tournament. I think it’s mainly the boys (Craig, 18, Austin, 16, and Jared, 14) who do the tournaments… They are a really nice family. They are fellow believers, and Karen even homeschools them… Anyway, Karen was telling me that her Jared has an eye on the boys. He says they are really good, and in a couple years (when they are a little older), he’s going to recruit them into the special “Molalla Boys” bowling team that goes all over doing the tournaments… My Jared couldn’t be more thrilled, and can not stop thinking about it. It’s something he really wants to do… He has one more year in the “Molalla Nuggets” (bowlers up to age 12) before he goes into the “Teen Olympians” on the main fall league, and he has set himself a personal goal to get his average up to 180 before he enters the Teen Olympians… He started bowling 13 months ago, with scores in the 20s and 30s, and now he usually gets 140 to 180 … So I think he may just have a chance to do it, if he tries hard enough… And trust me, he will try.

Speaking of bowling, Josh has tried out a new kind of bowling… Bandaid Bowling.

The boys have done so much bowling this summer that they keep getting blisters on their thumbs. Josh had one on Friday, but only wanted a small bandaid. He was worried that a bigger bandaid would make it hard to get his thumb into the thumb hole on the bowling ball. So anyway, after bowling a couple frames, he noticed that his bandaid had fallen off into his bowling ball hole, and then been deposited a few feet up the lane. I told him to tell either Coach Mick or Terry (the maintenance guy) about it, so they could get the bandaid off the lane… But the next thing I knew, a ball ran over the bandaid and took it more than halfway up the lane… Then the next ball grabbed the bandaid and took it the rest of the way. ops” Oops! … Some day Terry is going to be working on the machinery at the end of the lane, and wonder how on earth a bandaid got down there!

The kittens are doing well… But… Clueless Cassie strikes again!

I swear, sometimes I don’t think that CeeCee is playing with a full deck of cards! *lol* … One thing that Tootsie and CeeCee are bad about, is getting onto tables. We have trained Cuddles and Buddy to stay off, but the kittens are there quite yet. Anyway, I got tired of getting up to get them off the table, so I put a spray bottle next to my desk, for use in their training. Sure enough, not long after getting it, Tootsie got on the table. I gave him one squirt, and he hopped off the table, lickety-split… A little while later, CeeCee tried it… Now, it was laundry day, so I had an empty laundry basket sitting on the table (I always fold the clothes on the table). So when I gave CeeCee a squirt, she ran around the basket, trying to get away from the water. So when she came back around, I would squirt her again… So here is this kitten, running circles around this laundry basket, getting squirted with water with every loop around. You’d think she’d get a clue and GET OFF THE TABLE! … I had to get up and remove her myself, because she just kept running around and around that basket! … Then she seemed happy to see me, so I think she thought I was rescuing her from the water.

She is so clueless!

Tootsie, on the other hand, is the best kitty ever! Other than the occasional hop on the table (which is getting less often, thanks to my water bottle ), he is so well behaved! And he’s so patient and so sweet! All you have to do is touch him once, and he’s purring. He’s just so loveable! … He’s 16 weeks old now (CeeCee is 13 weeks old), and he’s starting to get so big! He seems heavy for his age too, and I am wondering if he’s going to be a big, sturdy cat when he’s finished growing. He’s a LOT heavier than CeeCee, who’s quite delicate.

Well, I suppose I’ve bored you long enough. See ya on the flip side!

Since it’s the beginning of yet ANOTHER week, I thought I’d  better check in with ya’ll … Though, other than a whole lot of bowling (what else would we be doing?! ), there isn’t much else going on.

We’ve been to the bowling alley every day from Wednesday through last night. The kids wanted to go last Tuesday too, but Joe was super tired and couldn’t talk himself into it… What are those kids going to do when school starts back up and we won’t be able to go even half as much as we do now? They are going to go through some serious bowling withdrawals! … But maybe then we can stay home and I can actually get some work done on some of my projects, instead of spending half my time at the bowling alley.

At the Wednesday’s “Have-A-Ball” league, Josh bowled yet another new high game! His high game is now 209! Amazing! He seems to bowl best at the Wednesday league, for some unknown reason.

On Saturday we finished paying for, and got, the new bowling balls from the Have-A-Ball league… We had wanted to do it on Friday, but the lanes were CRAZY BUSY, and Shawn (the owner) just didn’t have time to drill the balls. He said he would be in at 5:00 on Saturday, so we went in there, planning on having dinner there as well (we’re eating at the bowling alley WAY TOO MUCH).

The boys, including Joe, were SO EXCITED about getting their new balls… They are nothing fancy. Just plain balls, unlike the ones we bought the boys for Christmas, which are reactive (will curve, if you hook them right), these are just for straight bowling… But that didn’t stop them from being excited. *lol* … In fact, when we got there and were climbing out of the Durango, Jared says, “Getting a new bowling ball is more exciting than having a new baby!”

I beg to differ!

Bet he’ll change his mind once he grows up and becomes a Daddy himself.

Josh… being Josh… has named his balls. His reactive ball is called “Hulk”, because it’s the same colors as the Incredible Hulk. His new ball, which is green and black, is named, “Josh Johnson Jr”, because Josh’s name is on the box the ball came in.

Anyway, Joe… being Joe… had to name his ball too. His ball is patriotic colors, so he named it “Betsy”, after Betsy Ross… OMWord, it’s been a while since I’ve seen Joe this excited about getting something new. He was teasing me that I would have to sit in the back seat with the girls, because Betsy needed to be buckled into the front seat, next to him… Then, in the middle of the night, he was busy tooting in bed. I was getting annoyed, so I woke him up and told him that to either go to the bathroom, or at least aim his rear in the other direction. He just looks over at me and says, “You’re just jealous because I got a new bowling ball!”

I swear, 99% of the time he acts like one of the kids!

Amanda’s been bowling a little more than normal… Of course, when Shelby is there (Shawn, the owner’s daughter) she doesn’t want to bowl, because she would rather play with Shelby. But on both Saturday and Sunday she bowled her free games… In fact, on Saturday she ended up bowling 5 games, which she has never done before… She didn’t bowl on Friday though. She decided she wanted to color instead. She wanted to draw me something…

Amanda: “What’s your 2nd favorite animal, Mama?”
Mama: “A cougar.”
Amanda: “But I can’t draw a cougar.”
Mama: “Well, what can you draw?”
Amanda: “Butterflies!”
Mama: “Then that’s my favorite animal.”

So she drew me a picture of some butterflies.

The girls finally got their league shirts on Sunday. We paid for them in April, when the league first started, and Coach Mick ordered them from USBC right away… But MAN, are they slow! Alicia’s been rather impatiently waiting for them since then, and was SO EXCITED when they finally came… Just in time for our last summer league night next Sunday. *lol* … But at least they will have them for the fall league.

It’s weird to think that all the summer bowling leagues are just about over. There is only one more Sunday night “Some-R-Kids” league, two more of the Wednesday night “Have-A-Ball” leagues, and two more of the free kids league on Thursday… The fall league starts up again on September 18th.

Let’s see… What else is going on…

Oh, I know… Jared FINALLY lose another tooth. It had been almost 3 years since he lost his last one. This was tooth #9… So yes, he’s 12 1/2 years old and still has all his baby molars. *lol* … It came out faster than it probably should have… About a week ago it was barely loose. But then he accidentally wiggled it too hard. He heard a cracking sound, and his tooth was painfully much looser. Then, when he lost it, he was wiggling it and accidentally pushed it out, when he meant to push it down. He said it hurt, and it was bleeding a bit. Poor guy! … But at least it’s out!

Our newest kitten, CeeCee is SUCH a baby! … You know how some babies like to be walked, and the moment you sit down, they start to cry, and you have to get up and walk until you feel like your feet and arms are going to fall off? … Well, we never had that issue with any of our kids, but CeeCee is Just. Like. That… Seriously! She always wants to be held by whoever is standing. As soon as you sit down, she’s off and running to find someone else who’s standing/walking around. It is so funny! She will perch herself up over the shoulder, and stay there… As long as said person is upright and moving.

When we’re not at the bowling alley, I’ve been continuing to work on my heritage blog. I am currently working on typing out my Mom’s story she wrote, that is pretty long. I think it’s already over 7000 words long, and I still have some more to type out… I’ve also been googling places she mentions and getting pictures to go with it. Those pictures will go into the heritage book I am making.

Speaking of heritage books, the other day I sent an Email out to all the family on the Andersen side, asking if people would be willing to write some short stories about current families… But so far, no one has replied. I have no idea if anyone is willing to do it or not. *sigh* … Maybe they are just waiting to get it typed out, and then they will Email me?!?! … But it sure would be nice if they sent something that said they would get back to me, or that they would rather not… Whatever…. It just would be nice to know one way or the other.

I’ve also been working on lesson plans… The school year is sneaking up on us fast! … I now have the entire years lessons done for Josh, Alicia, and Amanda. I still have to finish Jared’s. I am about half way done… Then, all I will have to do to get ready for school is to get their binders ready to go, and print out the lesson plans… Need to buy ink for that first though.

Well… I suppose I’ve bored you long enough! See ya on the flip side!

I can’t believe it’s August already! … This is our last month of summer vacation. … The summer just FLEW by, faster than they normally do. Probably because we were busier this summer, than we normally are. I will be so sad to see the summer turn into a wet, Oregon fall, filled with school work and rain. *lol*

I measured and weighed the kids yesterday. I try to do it a couple times a year, but it seems I haven’t done it since last December. Ooops! … But I also noticed that I had done it last August too, almost to the day. So it was fun to be able to see exactly what they’ve grown in the last year.

Jared is now 4 ‘ 10.5″ and weighs 70.4 lbs. In the last year he has gained 3.25 inches and 8.6 pounds.
Josh is now 4′ 9.5″ and weighs 82.8 lbs. In the last year he has gained 2.5 inches and 11.2 pounds.
Alicia is now 4′ 7″ and weighs 70 lbs. In the last year she has gained 3 inches and 12 pounds.
Amanda is now 3′ 10″ and weighs 38.8 lbs. In the last year she has gained 2 inches and 2.6 pounds.

Jared is now only 1 1/2 inches shorter than I am, and is LOVING the fact that he is almost as tall as I am. Of course, he also loves the fact that he is a full inch taller than Josh, for a change… But Josh wasn’t impressed with that. He wants to be taller than Jared. (At least he still outweighs Jared by a good 12 pounds! )

On Saturday, I planned on doing some work in the classroom. I was hoping to get some work done in there, and then asking Joe if we could hit Kmart in the evening… So I got a lazy start to my morning, and didn’t really start my morning chores until 10:30, figuring I had lots of time.

Not so much.

Joe calls me from work at 11 o’clock, saying that his sister had invited us over to their house for a BBQ at 2:00, and that after that we would be going bowling.

So much for my plans.

So I finished cleaning the kitchen, did my workout (45  minutes), and took a shower… At around 1:45 we left to go to the Mewings.

I was thinking that we would be eating at 2:00… But they wanted to watch some Brooks and Dunn special that they had recorded off TV. I usually eat lunch at 1:00, as my little bowl of instant oatmeal from breakfast is long gone by then. So I was pretty much starving when we got there, and Scott didn’t even start BBQing until 4 o’clock. *sigh* If I had known they were going to wait so long, I would have eaten lunch as soon as I was out of the shower.

By the time we got to the bowling alley, I pretty much just wanted to go home. I was tired, and my feet were complaining about the shoes. I was glad when it was time to come home. *lol*

We had to be up early on Sunday, so we could get to church on time. I’ve started getting the kids up at 7:30, instead of 8:00, and we’ve managed not to be late the last 3 weeks. Yay! *lol*

It was communion Sunday, and since we had already talked about the meaning behind communion, and Jared’s been born again since he was 5, Jared took his first communion. I was so proud! He is growing up to be such a wonderful young man, and it makes my heart happy that he’s made the decision to follow Christ. … After the service was over, we went up front and I took a couple pictures. They didn’t turn out the greatest, as both Jared and I felt weird doing it, but I am still glad that I got what I did. I needed a picture to commemorate the day.

After church, Joe took us to Pizza Hut, in Oregon City, for lunch. (Yum!) Then we went to Kmart, since we weren’t able to go on Saturday… I thought it was sweet that Joe would give up his Sunday afternoon, which is his only lazy day, so we could hit Kmart.

We needed to get the kids fall/winter clothes on layaway, and Alicia has been dying to go get her first training bra. *lol*

And boy, is she happy with those bras! … At first she went to look at the ones with the A cups, and I had to tell her that she is not ready for those yet. So I found her a 2-pack of simple, cotton training bras. I wasn’t to get another set, but it was the only one in her size, in every brand… Anyway, they sure make them a lot softer and more comfy looking than my first bra! … And thankfully, the set came with a white one and a pink one. She had really wanted a pink one! … We’ll have to look at Walmart this weekend and see if we can find her a couple more, since Kmart didn’t have anymore in stock.

By the time we got back to Molalla it was 3:30, but we didn’t have to be at the bowling alley (for the kids’ league) until 5 o’clock. Joe didn’t want to go all the way home (we live 7 miles outside of town), so we just stopped by the small park in town to kill some time. The girls played on the playground, and the boys tried to learn how to play with their hacky-sack… without much luck. *lol*

At around 4:30-ish we headed to the bowling alley… The league doesn’t start until 6:00, but we figured that the kids could bowl their two free games before the league started. Normally we get two lanes, but this time we had Alicia and the boys share one lane, just to drag things out a little. *lol*

By the time they were done with the league, Joe and I were more than ready to go home. *lol* … I was thankful that Joe works late on Mondays, and I knew I wouldn’t have to go anywhere!

As for Monday, besides doing some housework and laundry, I decided to get some work done in the classroom. I had finally bought some banker boxes, so I packed up last year’s work and put that in our closet. Then I got the new workbooks put away in the kids’ cubbies, and I also put all the 7th grade stuff on the shelf. I also got the 7th grade teacher binder ready to go.

All that’s left, to get ready for school, is to finish the lesson plans and get the kids’ binders done… I have ordered those from Walmart.com (as they never seem to have enough at Walmart when we go), so I will finish that as soon as they get here.

Joe ended up working late yesterday, and he was feeling too tired to drive, so he ended up crashing at his sister’s house, which is a LOT closer to his work than we are (he has about an hour commute, one way). I was teasing him about having a sleep-over with Gene, since his sister is spending the summer at the farm, working for the Toepfers. *lol* … Turns out that Joe didn’t get much sleep at all, and while he was glad that he didn’t have the extra driving, he would have gotten more sleep at home… So he’ll be home tonight.

Well… Guess that’s all… It’s been nice boring you, but I should run! … See ya on the flip side!

Quote of the Day:

Amanda: “Daddy, can you get me a baby sister, please?”
Daddy went pale after that… I think she almost gave him a heart attack!

It seems unreal that I have been blogging for 8 years now… EIGHT YEARS! … Amazing! Who would have thought back then, that I would still be going strong 8 years later. Though, I admit, I probably would have thought that I would be getting more visitors/comments than I do now. *lol* Funny thing is, most of my loyal readers from back in those days no longer blog/blog hop (and I’ve lost contact with most of them), but I always seem to pick up new readers along the way… Crystal, I think you are the only person who has been reading since day 1, and is still here… But you’re stuck, since you’re family.

I like to go back and read through old posts. It’s like watching the kids grow up again. You don’t know how thankful I am, that I have taken the time to journal for so many years. So many memories, saved forever. Things I would have forgotten.

My plan is to put all my journaling into book form, by way of Blurb. I am working on the first book… You can add up to 440 pages, and I am on page 328. This first book actually contains pre-blog journaling (which I have also added to my blog), dating (so far) from May 1992 to April 2000. I didn’t write as often back pre-blog, so I can fit more years into the book… Though, I would fit a LOT more if I stuck with just journaling. But, you know me! I have to add pictures too! They enhance the journaling, don’t you think?!

Speaking of Blurb books, I have another one in the works as well. It’s for my family, and my Mom’s side of the family. It’s called “Passage to India … and Beyond” … It’s a heritage book on my Mom’s side of the family. I am adding family lines, photos, and stories (etc) that I have collected over the years. It’s turning out really cool so far, if I do say so myself! … When it’s done, I will buy myself and my Mom a copy, and then let anyone else who wants a copy, buy one. (Sadly, I can’t afford to buy all the Andersen relatives a copy myself.)

Another thing I’ve been working on this week is lesson plans… Every year I wait until half way through August, and then PANIC, because I start running out of time. But this year will be different. No end of summer rush to get ready for the school year. *lol* … Our summer vacation goes through Labor Day, and we start school then.

I am almost done buying the things we need for the school year. I just need more ink and paper for the printer, and I need 3 more 3″ binders. I think I need a 2″ binder too, but I am not 100%. I can’t remember if I bought one with the rest of the school supplies or not. *lol* I will have to look tomorrow, when I do some work in the classroom… I finally bought some banker boxes, so I can pack up last year’s work and put the new workbooks into the kids’ school cubbies. That’s my Saturday project for this weekend.

Another thing I would like to do tomorrow, if we have time, is make a trip to Kmart… A few weeks back Alicia wore a shirt that was a little smaller than she normally does, and I noticed that we need to start thinking of getting her some training bras. I figured we still had a few more months, and I also thought that Alicia would not be impressed with having to wear one… But I was wrong! … When I told her, she got all excited. She wants a pink one! And she wants them NOW! … She’s been bugging us about it ever since, and is DYING to go to the store to buy some.

Who knew?!

We also need to buy the kids some fall/winter clothes… They’ve been wearing short this summer, so you don’t notice how much they grow… This morning, Amanda came out with a pair of jeans on. Now the last time she wore them, they fit perfect. She came to me, asking me to button them… But they wouldn’t even come close to buttoning, and were an inch or more too short. … I told her to put some shorts on… Time to move her up into size 6 clothes! (Just in time for her 7th birthday! *lol* … I can’t believe she’ll only be in size 6, when she’s 7 years old… She sure is tiny!)

We, of course, have spent a lot of time at the bowling alley this week… One thing is for sure, all this free bowling, thanks to kidsbowlfree.com, has been great practice for the boys! … On thier Sunday league, Jared got 5 strikes in a row, and ended up with a 199! It’s not his high game, which is 203, but it’s his high league game. We thought that come this Sunday, Jared would probably win the blockbuster award for highest-over-average game… That is, until Wednesday… When Josh bowled a 206 at the Have-A-Ball League!!!! TWO-OH-SIX!!!! … How awesome is that! It’s his highest game ever, and he even beat out Jared’s high by 3 pins! … That kid was on cloud 9, trust me.

We didn’t do too much else this week… Jared and Josh spent Wednesday night with the twins, and then the twins came here on Thursday night… Oh, and tonight Scott, Debbie, and the twins stopped by, after we all went bowling, because Joe was giving Scott some yard stuff… So we bought some ice cream and visited for a while.

Well… Not much else going on. Think I’ll run for now! See ya on the flip side!

Man, was Saturday ever a busy day!

We left the house at around 10 o’clock to head to Clark Park in town… Molalla Communications, where we get our internet service, was having their annual customer appreciation picnic… Though we’ve been a customer of MC since 2007, this is the first time we’ve ever made it to one of these picnics. It seems like usually they fall on the same day as a reunion, or some other plans we have going on.

So anyway, we got there by 10:30-ish, and went and registered. We were given a ticket for the door prizes, and a list of activities, etc. Then we went to the tent for the meeting, which ran from 11:00 to 12:00… That was the boring part. *lol* … But if you want to do the fun stuff, and have a chance at the door prizes (which were really nice), then you have to deal with the boring meeting.

Sadly, we didn’t win a door prize… I would have been happy with any of them. There was so many cool things. A Nintendo Wii, a large digital frame, a digital camera with memory card and case, a 1 TB external hard-drive… Stuff like that… But what I REALLY wanted was the iPod touch, and we came SO CLOSE! Our last two digits were 82, and it was 76 that got it. Boooooo! We came close to a couple of the other items too, as 86 and 87 were called.

At noon we went out to enjoy the activities… There were a few of those huge blow-up things for the kids, face painting, a DJ, stuff like that. They were also feeding us for free too! We got hotdogs, chips, cookies, soda, and water. As much as we wanted. It’s was a pretty good deal, and the kids enjoyed themselves.

We had one scary moment though… Alicia stuck her finger inside her pop-can, for some unknown reason, and ended up cutting her finger. The cut itself wasn’t bad, but it was bleeding pretty good. So we went and found a napkin and got to bleeding stopped. Then we went to stand in the Molalla Communications booth, so that we could spin the wheel and try to win a MC shirt… Anyway, we were standing in line when Alicia told me that she felt like she was going to be sick. So I put my arm around her shoulder… The next thing I knew, she was falling to the ground. I called her name, and tried to catch her, but no luck (she’s getting heavy). She fell against Amanda, and on top of the feet of the guy behind us… Her eyes were open and staring into space. I kept calling her name, but she wouldn’t respond. She had passed out!!!!! … I was about into panic mode, but Joe kept his head on. He had a little water left in his bottle, so he poured it over the top of her face, and that woke her up. She looked at Joe funny and said, “What did you do that for, Daddy?” … Which made us laugh a little, though we were still worried… Anyway, I sent Jared for a bottle of water for her, and Joe carried her to the shade (the temps were in the low 90s). She ended up drinking a bottle and a half of water, and after resting for a bit, she seemed fine.

I never want to do that again!!!

While Alicia rested (Amanda and I stayed with her), Joe and Josh went to go spin the wheel, and Jared went to get Alicia an animal balloon, since she didn’t get one when Amanda did, and wanted a horse one. (Isn’t Jared the sweetest! He was worried for his sister, and was doing all sorts of things for her. So sweet!) … Then, since her face painting got messed up when Joe poured the water on her, we took the girls back to the face painting booth for another painting. When that was done, we headed out.

After leaving Clark Park, we headed to Feyrer Park, so that the kids could go swimming in the Molalla River… Josh has been DESPERATE to go, and I don’t think we really had an option! *lol*

At that point in the river, the water only comes up to the boys’ shoulders, and the current isn’t very fast, so it’s a good place to play. The only downfall is that the bank is covered in rocks, which makes it hard to walk around… One nice thing about the rocks though, is that someone made a couple circles of rocks along the edge of the river, which made a perfect place for Amanda to play. We just told her that she had to play in the circle. She was content to do so, and we didn’t have to worry about her going out too far. Win-win!

The three older kids had fun swimming, while Amanda amused herself with catching tiny polywogs along the edge…  We stayed there for about an hour, and then headed home.

And we stayed home just long enough for the kids to change into dry clothes and grab their bowling balls.

When we got back to town we hit McDonald’s for dinner and an ice cream cone, and then went to bowl their two free games at Molalla Bowl… By that point we were all so tired, that when we got home, we VEGGED for the rest of the night.

Jared had a good time at the Youth Movie Night at church on Friday. I guess they watched a movie called, “Glory Road”, which is a basketball movie… Basketball is one of Jared’s passions, so he was quite impressed.

This coming Friday the youth group is having a bonfire/bbq, which I think he wants to go to as well.

Tonight was the kids bowling league night… We went in an hour early, so that the kids could bowl their two free games, and then they bowled their three league games… Anyway, Jared did very well tonight. His scores were; Free games = 146 & 141 (Josh’s were 166 and 120, and Alicia’s were 102 and 88), and Jared’s league games were = 129, 199, and 164 (Josh’s were 127, 157, and 114 and Alicia’s were 93, 86, and 106). On the 199 game, he bowled 5 strikes in a row!!! How awesome is that?!

All the kids have really improved their bowling skills this summer. The kidsbowlfree.com was the perfect program for them, for being able to practice all summer long. They are going to have a marked improvement when they get to the official league this fall.

I can’t believe how fast summer seems to be zooming by! … Those long, lazy days of summer have come to an end. We’re always so busy now… Mainly with the bowling alley, that it makes the days seem to go by faster. *sigh* … The next thing we know, it will be time for school to start up again.

Speaking of school, UPS brought the rest of Jared’s homeschool books yesterday. It looks like math, literature, and life science are going to be his tough classes this year. The other subjects seem like there are less lessons, which isn’t hurting Jared’s feelings… And the fact that there is one less subject isn’t bothering him either. *lol* … This year his subjects will be; Bible, Math, Literature, Writing and Grammar, Vocabulary, World Studies, and Life Science… Jared’s looking forward to the chapters on wildlife in his science book. Those are always his favorite.

Now that the rest of the books are here, I need to finish up the lesson plans for the year. I also need to write the letter to the school board, telling them of our intent to homeschool. You have to do that every year.

Last Sunday we had our picture taken at church… They have this board in the church, with pictures of everyone who attends. It’s like a church directory, only without addresses and phone numbers. *lol* … Anyway, one of the deacons, Lee Christopherson, took us back into one of the Sunday School rooms (which doesn’t seemed to be used… The congregation is much smaller than the church building *lol*) that has this background set up, for taking these pictures… Well anyway, when he was done I gave him my Email address and asked if he would Email me copies of the pictures he took. I wasn’t expecting too much, as his camera looked kind of sad… But I was hoping for better than we got… I don’t know if he resized the photos, or if his camera just doesn’t take them in larger resolution, but these are so small you wouldn’t even get a decent printing in a 4X6. *sigh* … Oh well… I looked so round anyway, that it pretty much ruined the picture anyway.

Did I mention that our dishwasher is on the fritz? It’s been broken for a little over a week now… It’s amazing how dependent you become on an appliance. *lol* … I’ve so not been enjoying having to wash the dishes by hand all the time. … We’re hoping to get Joe’s BIL, Gene, over sometime soon to look at it… Gene is the family handyman.

The kittens are still doing well… And are as cute as ever! … But CeeCee is still being whiney. … Even though she was almost 8 weeks old when we got her, I think she wasn’t ready to leave mama kitty yet. She still wants to nurse a lot… She’s learning that she isn’t going to get what she wants from us but, unfortunately, Tootsie is a very mellow kitty. When he’s laying down to get a snooze, CeeCee will go try to nurse on him… And he just lays there and lets her. We’ve tried pulling CeeCee away from Tootsie, but she cries so pitifully that we give in… I told the kids that it was like when they were toddlers and sucked their thumbs for comfort.

We, of course, did a lot of bowling this week … Well, they did. Amanda and I didn’t bowl. … Joe got off work early enough on Tuesday to go, which made the boys very happy. That morning Jared had come to me and told me that his hand was starting to act up, as he was going through bowling withdrawals. *lol* … Then Wednesday they bowled their two free games, and the Have-A-Ball league. Thursday was the kids free league, and today we went just to bowl their free games.

Jared’s been really doing well this week, most of his games being 150 to 194! … He was really going wild on Thursday, and ended up bowling EIGHT games! In a row! … And he probably would have kept on bowling, had Joe let him.

Joe and Alicia both have new high games this week… On Wednesday (during practice, not during the league) Joe bowled a 194 and Alicia bowled a 103… Alicia was flying HIGH with happiness, and Joe was pretty much in shock.

Lately, when we go to the bowling alley, the owners, Shawn and Teri, are both there and they bring their kids, Blake and Shelby… Amanda and Shelby just LOVE to play together, and call each other their best friend. It’s so cute, and they are adorable together. … Anyway, when we go there, we don’t see much of Amanda. As soon as we get there, those two are off and running (all the workers there know us well, and help watch over both the girls). Their favorite place to play is by the lockers, for some reason… Shelby was sure disappointed when we had to leave today. Poor sweetie!

I do know one thing… We’ve GOT to stop eating dinner at the bowling alley! We ate there on both Wednesday and today. *sigh* … If we keep eating there, and I keep getting hamburgers and jojos, then I won’t be losing weight very quickly. *sigh* I’m going to need a weight loss dietary supplement if we keep it up. … I’m down 53 lbs now, but I seem to be stuck here… I hope I lose another pound soon, so I don’t get discouraged!

We had to make sure to leave the bowling alley by 6:50-ish, because tonight Jared had his very first youth group outing at church… Well, it wasn’t really an outing, but you know what I mean. *lol* … Anyway, they had a Youth Group Movie Night. I don’t know what they are watching, but I do know that they will be having pizza and other snack items to munch on during the movie… They were allowed to bring a friend, so we invited Jamie and Jacob to go with him. They seemed pretty excited about it. … Since we live 7 miles out of town, Debbie offered to pick the kids up when it was over, and just take Jared home with them to spend the night. Jared LOVED that idea, because for the first time since he was a toddler, he will have both Jamie and Jacob all to himself.

Both Joe and Debbie were worried about Josh’s reaction to everything… Joe thought Josh would be upset about missing movie night, and even wanted to ask Boone (the youth pastor) if Josh could stay anyway. As for Debbie, she was worried that Josh would cry if Jared got to spend the night there, and he didn’t… But I held firm. I told them that Josh needed to learn that Jared, as the oldest, sometimes would get to do things he wasn’t old enough for yet (like getting his own cell phone)… I didn’t think it would be fair to Jared, if Josh got to do a youth group thing, when he wasn’t in the youth group… But there was no need to worry… Josh wasn’t upset at all. He did say it was weird to have Jared gone for the night, when he was home, but other than that, nothing… I knew that Josh would take it like a man. He’s a good kid!

One of our neighbors had told Joe that there was another park in Molalla, called Wilhoit Springs. So, after dropping Jared and the twins off at the church, we decided to drive out there really quick, to see what it was like… We had found it odd that no one seemed to know about this park… Well, now we know… It isn’t much of a park. … It was more like a semi-big field with a few trees and picnic tables. There was a path to the “springs”, but the springs weren’t much to speak off. Pretty small, actually. There wasn’t a playground, and the parking lot held a grand total of 3 cars.

It was pretty though, and would be a nice place to go take pictures of the kids. I got this really cute one of the girls that I just love.

Oh.. One more thing before I sign off for the night…

Alicia lost another tooth today! This is tooth #8… She has now officially lost more teeth than Josh, and the same amount as Jared. … Yes, Jared, who is 12 1/2 years old, has only lost his 8 front teeth. Josh has lost 7, though #8 is loose. (Amanda has lost 6.)

Alicia’s top teeth are coming in pretty crooked. I have a bad feeling that she will be ending up with braces, as they don’t look like they are going to straighten out on their own, like Jared’s did… I’m NOT looking forward to paying for those, especially since Josh may end up with them too. *sigh*

Well… I think I may go grab one of my 100 calorie bags of popcorn and watch an episode of Smallville… Catch ya’ll on the flip side!

I’m sorry I haven’t checked in sooner… I’ve been working on my heritage blog, and couldn’t pull myself away from that to post here on my real blog. … You know me… When I get lost in a project, I tend to lose sight of everything else. … But I told myself that I wasn’t allowed back there until I had posted here and caught up on my blog hopping.

The new kitten is doing great. … CeeCee has stolen my heart. She is just so cute and sweet, and she always comes and wants to snuggle with me. … Of course, she isn’t a lap cat. She’s a shoulder cat. *lol* Every time I pick her up, straight to my shoulder she goes. She either perches up there and looks around, or she snuggles in and takes a nap.

She is also the whiniest cat EVER. She meows over EVERY THING. You so much as shift her a centimeter, when you’re holding her, and she meows. She meows when she eats, plays, and even when she’s using the litter box. *lol* … There is a gospel singer called “CeCe Winans” … Well, we’ve taken to calling CeeCee, “CeeCee Whiners”.

She is also NOT the brightest color in the box… When you’re holding her and she decides that she is hungry, she will start rooting around your neck, like she is wanting to nurse. So I put her on the floor, so she can go eat… Only she just keeps crying and wanting up. I actually have to pick her up and take her to the food bowl, so she can eat. *lol* … I am beginning to think that CeeCee should stand for “Clueless Cassie”, instead of “Cotton Candy”.

It’s a good thing she’s sweet and adorable!

Last Sunday we spent the day cleaning and organizing our two sheds. It took us something like 5 hours, but they look great now! … We still have a big pile of things to go to the GoodWill, and a big pile of things to go to the dump, but other than that, that’s two more things checked off my summer worklist.

We’re still going to the bowling alley all the time. … The kids are going to go into bowling withdrawals when summer ends and they no longer get all the free bowling coupons from kidsbowlfree.com. *lol* … But all this practice is really helping their bowling skills! … This last week, Joe and both the boys have bowled new high games! … Last Wednesday, during their free games, Joe bowled a 177. Funny thing is, the game started out just awful, for the first  6 frames, and then on the last 4 frames he got SIX STRIKES IN A ROW!!! (He got 3 strikes in the last frame.) … If he had bowled better in the first 6 frames, his score would have been much better… I think he was in shock for the rest of the evening. It took a while for it to sink in.

Then, that same night, during the Have-A-Ball league, Josh bowled a 182! … Guess he didn’t like that Joe had beat his top score during practice, so he had to make sure to beat Daddy’s game.

The next day, while playing the free games (after the free summer kids’ league), Jared bowled a 203!!!!!!! … And it was almost a clean game too! … A clean game is where you don’t leave any pins standing (no open frames). If you get all strikes and spares, then they consider it a clean game… Well, he got strikes and spared on all 10 frames (more spares than strikes), but when he bowled his last ball, after the spare on the 10th frame, he only got 8 pins down. Scott says that it doesn’t count, and that it’s still considered a clean game… But there was 2 pins left standing… So I don’t know… *lol* … But a 203! How awesome is that?!

Oh… And last Sunday (the 11th), Josh and Alicia got their trophies for the Pro-Am game they bowled in June… Josh had bowled AWESOME that night, and got 2nd place for the kids 10 and under… As for Alicia, we’re a little confused… She actually didn’t bowl well at all. Her average (on the bumper league) was in the upper 70s, but she didn’t get to use bumpers during the tournament. So she was only bowling in the 40s, which was UNDER her average… I know she has a really high handicap, but that usually only helps if you bowl over your average (which Josh did… He bowled WELL over his average!)… Anyway, Alicia won 1st place for the 10 and under kids, and bumped Josh to 2nd place… It makes no sense. *lol* … I am happy for Alicia, but I think that Josh deserved the 1st place trophy… And Alicia thinks so too!

On Monday the boys got to go to the farm again… Their cousin, Leann, was going for the day and she came and picked them up and took them with her… Leann’s mom, Dorothy (Joe’s sister), is staying there for the summer, helping out with things around the farm… Dorothy is a teacher, and has summer vacation off work… Anyway, she is doing things like painting their house, and helping with the garden, etc… Jared and Josh helped in the garden some too, and that evening they all took a walk to the top of Black Tail (a big hill on the property). They also played some board games… They seemed to have a good time.

I am annoyed by one thing this week… Our dishwasher is acting up! … It only runs for a couple minutes, and then it stops. It stays on, and the heating element stays hot, but there is no water running… Josh had loaded it on Tuesday night, and when we opened it on Wednesday, we thought that Josh had forgotten to run it. So we turned it on again, and dirtied up more dishes when we ate breakfast… By Wednesday afternoon we had figured out that it was broken, and that I would have to wash everything by hand… By then there was 2 loads of dirty dishes! *sigh* … So after spending FOREVER washing all the dishes and cleaning the kitchen, I couldn’t convince myself to make dinner and mess the kitchen up again… So we ended up eating dinner at the bowling alley, before they bowed the Have-A-Ball league.

So… Until Gene (Joe’s BIL) has a chance to come out and look at the dishwasher, we’re having to do all the dishes by hand… And trust me, these kids go through a LOT of dishes!

We found out on Saturday that there was another cougar sighting in the neighborhood!!! That makes 3 in 10 months. *sigh* … I am beginning to wish we had a place in town, instead of out here in the boonies… No matter how much I like the quiet! … Anyway, this one was seen running along the tree line, out past the houses. Not too close, but close enough!

Now I have to keep Alicia and Amanda closer to home… They like to run around the neighborhood with their little friends, but now they have to stay in the yard. They are not liking that too much. But it’s better to be safe, than sorry… Especially since the kids love to play in the field… The tree line is just a few hundred feet from the field, with just a small fence between them.

Since I finally got a few assignments from PayU2Blog, I actually got $50 from them on Friday… So I transferred it to our checking account, and on Saturday Joe and I went to Walmart to buy some school supplies for this year… So, I now almost have everything we need for the school year… I need four 3-inch binders (to put the kids worksheets, lesson plans, tests, grades, etc in for the year), and they only had 1 in stock. So I still need 3 more of those. But we have everything else we need. … Now that I got the banker boxes, I can pack up last year’s workbooks, etc and get this year’s set up… I also need to finish up this year’s lesson plans… I have Josh’s done, and Jared’s 1/2 done.

When we went shopping, we left the kids at home with Jared. Joe and I went to the GoodWill first, and then stopped by Taco Bell for a late lunch/early dinner. It was nice having some time for just the two of us… … It sure is a lot cheaper to eat out with just the two of us, instead of paying for all 6 of us!

We found the coolest “art cart” at the GoodWill (a local thrift store) …. It was $20, which seemed like a good deal to me! …  We picked it up for Alicia, and now I have all her craft things all organized in the cart… She loves it! It’s perfect for her things.

On Sunday, Jared made another step in his journey to adult hood… He is now an official member of the youth group… Our church doesn’t have a separate junior high group and high school group, as there aren’t enough teens. So the youth group is 7th to 12th grade… Anyway, Jared has been telling me that Sunday School is getting boring, because he keeps hearing the same stories over and over, and since he will be in 7th grade in a couple months, I decided it was time he moved up… He wasn’t too impressed at first, but I think he was just scared about trying something new. Once class was over, he told me that it was fun and that he was sorry for being a baby about it.

The only thing Jared doesn’t like, is the fact that he’s the youngest and smallest one there… He’s the only 7th grader, and he is VERY small for his age… But Jared is mature for his age, so I think he’s going to fit right in. He just needs to do some growing, physically.

Anyway, the youth pastor, Boone Noble, gave Jared a binder. They are working on something called “Setting You Free to Make RIGHT CHOICES”. It’s a 7 week course, with daily lessons/devotionals. I guess they started in 2 weeks ago, so Jared has to catch up on the last couple weeks. Last night, without anyone even having to say anything, Jared brought his binder to the table and started working on it… He’s going to do 3 days every day this week, so he will be caught up by next Sunday.

I’m glad he’s enjoying the class already. … And Boone is a great youth leader… He’s going to be going to the seminary this fall, as he wants to be a Pastor someday.

This Friday he has his first official youth outing. … They are having a “Youth Movie Night” on Friday, at 7 pm… They can bring friends, so Jared is going to take Jacob and Jamie… I think that Jared likes that Josh and the girls are too young to go, especially now that he will miss out on the children’s day camps. (Of course, even Josh and the girls will miss the next one of those, since we will be camping that weekend.)

Well, I need to eat breakfast, do my workout, shower, and start laundry… So I will get to the blog hopping some time this afternoon.

Conversation of the Day (after the party was over):

Julie: “I don’t know why they call them slumber parties, because I am quite certain that no one slumbers.”
Joe: “What does slumber mean, anyway?”

I say “annual”, because it will probably be at least a year before Joe and I are brave enough to do that again!

Besides Alicia and Amanda, the girls were; Destiny and her sister, Graycee. Gala, Darian, and Olivia… Olivia goes to the girls’ kids club at church, while the rest of the girls are from around the neighborhood.

But 4:00-4:15-ish, all the girls were at the house… I don’t think I’ve EVER seen Alicia’s room get so messy, so quickly! All the girls… Except for one… Had made a beeline for Alicia’s room. They were “making projects”, playing with stuffed animals, and packing around Tootsie and CeeCee… Destiny, on the other hand, just followed Joe and I around the house…

We had planned on waiting until 5 pm before heading to the bowling alley, but Destiny was driving us a little batty. She wouldn’t play with any of the girls, and kept bugging us to go bowling. So we ended up leaving the house with the girls at around 4:30-ish… We had to be creative with the seating, because the Durango only holds 7, and there were 9 of us all together. So Olivia and Alicia shared a seat belt and Darian and Gala shared a seat belt… The girls thought that was fun. (Amanda is the smallest, but she is also still in a booster seat, and couldn’t share a seat belt.)

We decided that we wanted to eat before we bowled, so Joe and I ordered the pizza and the girls ran off to the game room to play… Darian had brought some money, which she shared with Gala (they are best friends) and Alicia and Amanda both had a dollar each (Alicia shared with Olivia), so we gave Destiny and Graycee a dollar each too… But that wasn’t enough for Destiny. She pouted because Joe wouldn’t supply her with endless dollars, and she was also mad because Gala and Olivia weren’t her friends. *sigh* … Talk about a party pooper, because that was certainly what she was. She needs a shirt that says, “Doesn’t Play Well with Others”. *sigh* … When we got the pizza, she woudn’t even sit with the rest of us. She chose a table all by herself… Amanda saw her sitting alone and thought she was sad (when she was really pouting, over who-knows-what), so she went over to sit by her, and tried to cheer her up.

I think the girls mostly had fun bowling… The only problem was that it was REALLY hot in there. They don’t use AC in the bowling alley, so when you’re bowling, it’s pretty miserable. Most of the girls were complaining about how hot they were the entire time we were there… So we ended up only staying for one game… Once again, Destiny was a bit of a brat. She insisted on being the first to bowl, and when she got two gutter balls on the first frame (most of the girls refused to use bumpers, even though they rarely bowl), she threw herself on a chair with a pout and said that she didn’t want to play anymore… Though she ended up finishing the game… Gala and Graycee really tried hard, and you could tell that both of them had a talent for it, and would improve a lot with practice. … Once again I was annoyed with Destiny, because she kept taking the camera without asking, and taking pictures… None of my kids would EVER use my camera without asking me first! … And she doesn’t seem to care when you ask her not to do something. She just does what she wants anyway. *sigh*

Since the girls were so hot, we surprised them by going to Fox Memorial Park on the way home, since it has a splash pad. When we pulled into the parkinglot, and the girls realized that we were there, the cheers were deafening. *lol* As soon as the Durango stopped, all but Amanda were out the door, had their shoes off, and were in the water faster than Joe and I could get our seatbelts off. … Amanda didn’t want to play in the water. She said that she didn’t want to get her favorite shirt wet, but that was just an excuse… She always acts a little afraid of the splash pad and sprinklers… So she hung around the edge, but the other girls had a lot of fun… For around 15 minutes… We got there at around 7:15, and it turns out that it shuts off at 7:30. *sigh* … But at least they got cooled down!

Since we hadn’t been there that long, we let the girls play on the playground for a while… Which gave their clothes a chance to dry out a little. *lol* … Most of them had a BLAST… All except for our little party pooper, Destiny… She was mad because the ice cream truck came by, and Joe wouldn’t buy them ice cream (too expensive). She sat around pouting, and then was spitting on the ground near Joe… She even pulled a bunch of leaves off a bush and threw them at Joe… When Joe told her that she wouldn’t be invited to the next party, she started acting a little better… But it’s too late… Because she won’t be invited!

When we got home (at around 8:30), Destiny had seen the fingernail polish and asked if they could paint their nails… I didn’t see any harm in it, so I said that they could… That turned out to be a mistake! They made such a mess! They finished up all my nail polish remover, and half of a new bottle of polish (mine, not the girls… of course). They kept painting, removing, and painting again, and adding extra layouts of the glitter overlay stuff… Next slumber party… The nail polish will be HIDDEN WELL! … What really upset me was that one of them didn’t put the lid on one of the bottles very well, and when I went to pick them up by the handles, the bottle of bright pink nail polish fell and got all over the carpet in front of my desk. *sigh*

At 9 o’clock, I had them get into their pajamas and spread their sleeping bags. It was movie and popcorn time… Not that they really paid much attention to the movies… And OH MY WORD… Those girls devoured an entire package of cookies and FOUR bags of popcorn!!

I spent the next 5 hours, trying to keep the noise to a dull roar, because Joe had to work at 4:30 in the morning… It didn’t really help though… I was pretty lenient about it until around midnight, because I expected them to be hyper and all, but once midnight came, I thought they really should try to get some sleep… But they didn’t ended up crashing until almost 2 in the morning. By this point I was SOOO SLEEPY, and happily skipped off to bed!

I got up at around 6:30, so that I could get a shower in before they all woke up… When I went out, they all looked so cute and peaceful, sleeping all over the living room floor. Who knew that those angels were really devils in disguise.

When Joe got off work (and brought home eggs and sausage), I made pancakes for breakfast… After they ate, we had them pack their bags and sleeping bags up, and then sent them outside to play… Olivia’s mom didn’t pick her up until after 2:00, and we had been asked to watch Darian until after 3:00, as her parents were at a car show… But we pretty much told Gala, Destiny, and Graycee that it was time to go home… I needed some down time, to recover from the slumber party.