Johnsons' Journey

Here’s coming to you live (well, at least for now) from Silver Falls State Park. I thought I should check in from here at least once, before we head over to the Prineville Reservoir tomorrow.

Anyhoo…

Yesterday was a busy day… It was Joe’s last day of work, before his vacation, and I was busy getting ready for our camping trip. We had been out late on Thursday, so I didn’t get much of a head start. Also, we had invited the twins to come with us to Silver Falls, since the Johnson Reunion was today, They spent the one night with us here, and then went home with Scott and Debbie this evening… So we had a couple extra kids in the house while I was trying to get things ready.

I was up and into the shower by 6:30, and I just kept on going… I had to make the cupcakes for Amanda’s birthday party (which was today, after the reunion), wash a ton of laundry, fold it all, and put it away. I had to pack for all 6 of us, clean the kitchen, get the kitties set for the week, and load the trailer. It doesn’t sound like much, but I was going from 6:30 until around 3:30, when Joe finally got home and started hooking the trailer to the Durango, etc. I only stopped long enough for some breakfast at around 10 o’clock.

By that point I was too pooped to pop! *lol*

Andrea asked about the cats… Only Cuddles was allowed full run of the house. At 6 years old, she is very well trained, and just too lazy to get into mischief. *lol* We left her one of the litter boxes in the laundry room, a casserole dish full of water, and a round cake pan filled with food. (We have someone coming by on Tuesday to check on the cats and make sure they still have enough food and water.) … As for Buddy, he is spending the week in the kids’ bathroom. I’m sure he’s not happy in there, but we can’t trust him in the house unsupervised, and there is no way we’re leaving him outside, day and night, for a week. He probably wouldn’t survive that, not with coyotes and cougars running around. Anyway, we put a litter box in there, gave him a bed, and he had the same amount of water and food as Cuddles, though he doesn’t eat as much as she does. *lol* … As for Tootsie and CeeCee, we put the both of them in our bathroom, with a litter box and twice the amount of food and water as the other two got. We also made sure they had some toys to play with, since they are still extremely playful… I took every last thing out of the bathroom, so they wouldn’t break anything. *lol*

On a side note… Speaking of cougars, Joe actually saw the cougar on Friday morning!!!!! Turns out that there must be more than one. The one that friends of ours has seen is full grown, but the one Joe saw was only about half grown. It was about a half mile down the road, and was running along side the street. Joe said it’s paws were huge!

Scary stuff!

Anyway, back to our vacation… I think it was sometime after 4:00 when we were finally able to leave the house… Since the kids and I hadn’t eaten since breakfast, we made a quick run to Mickey D’s for a burger, before heading out to Silver Creek Falls.

I’m not sure what time it was when we got here… Maybe 6-ish??? … Once we were in our site, the kids ran off to play in Grandma and Grandpa’s campsite, while Joe and I got our campsite ready to go. Then we grabbed our chairs and moseyed over there. We pretty much spent the evening chatting with the relatives around the campfire, being too tired to do anything else. *lol*

Sleeping two extra people in the trailer was an interesting feat! There is a triple bunk bed in the back of the trailer. Jared sleeps on the top, Josh in the middle, and Alicia used to sleep on the bottom (but now I use it to hold the kids’ duffle bags with their clothes). Anyway, we had Jacob sleep in the bottom bunk… Now Jacob is a big kid… And that bed never looked so small, until Jacob climbed into it! I don’t know how he did it! I would have been way too claustrophobic! He never complained and said he slept well, but MAN! *lol* … While we’ve never done it before last night, the table turns into a bed, and that is where Alicia and Amanda slept. It was quite roomy enough for them, and they were very happy there… The couch turns into a bed as well (it’s where the girls usually sleep), and that is where we put Jamie. She is too tall for the table/bed, so this was the best option for her… But the funny thing was, she is so tall that her feet hung over the end of the bed. Every time I came out to use the bathroom at night, I would accidentally run into her feet.

Since we had gotten to bed late, we ended up sleeping in until around 8 o’clock. We had the kids get dressed real quick, and then sent them outside… There was no way I could cook breakfast with that many bodies in the trailer. It just isn’t humanly possible. As soon as they were out, Joe and I turned the beds back into the table and couch, and picked up the trailer. Then I made biscuits and gravy for breakfast… After we ate, I did the dishes and took a shower.

It was 11:30 before I was done. *lol*

I was able to kick back for half an hour, and then back to the trailer I went. The potluck was at 1 o’clock, and I needed to make the spaghetti that I planned on taking.

After lunch, and after the kids played a game of “Apples to Apples” with their cousins, Joe and I decided that we wanted to go on a walk to the South Falls. So we, along with our nephew, Shandon, took off… From our campsite, it is probably 3/4th to a mile walk to the top of the falls. It was a nice walk. It wasn’t too hot, and it’s really pretty around Silver Creek… But MAN, was the park busy! … When we got to the top of the falls, we stopped to take some pictures, then we turned around and came back. There is a nice trail down to the bottom of the falls, but while it’s nice going down, the trek back up makes me literally feel like I am going to have a heart attack. *lol* I have some more weight to lose before I try that again!

Actually, there is an even longer hike down there… the short hike takes you behind South Falls, and then down to the bottom and back up. There is also a 7 mile hike that takes you on the “Trail of 10 Falls” … Someday, when I am closer to my goal weight, and when Amanda gets old enough to handle that long of a walk, I want to go on that hike and see all the water falls.

When we got back to camp, we let Amanda open her birthday presents… She had been bugging me about it All. Day. Long! I was so glad that I no longer had to listen to it! *lol*

She got some nice things… Joe and I got her a Hannah Montana fleece blanket, a Hannah Montana beach towel, and two Tinkerbell DVDs. Josh got her a Hannah Montana shirt, and Jared got her some Hannah Montana jeans to go with the shirt Josh bought. Alicia gave her some Hannah Montana headphones and a Hannah Montana mini purse thing, that is meant to carry cell phones or mp3 players. Grandma and Grandpa gave her an outfit with a 3 pack of socks and a Hannah Montana place mat. Gene and Dorothy gave her a Hannah Montana sticker book, a Hannah Montana bag thing, with a mini notebook and pen, as well as a shirt. Bob and DeeDee gave her $15, and Scott and Debbie gave her a Hannah Montana bike helmet and a couple of those fuzzy posters that you can color with markers.

She is one spoiled girl!

After roasting hotdogs for dinner, and getting into the cupcakes, I took the girls down to the showers… I had wanted them to just bathe in the trailer, but they begged to be able to go down to the showers… But I swear, they will be using the trailer from now on! (and I think they agree with me!) … As soon as we got in there, a huge group of teenagers came in, and the girls had to hurry to make sure they got hot water. Also, the water pressure was so hard, they were extra loud about their complaints. It was embarrassing! I was glad to leave and get back to the trailer.

When we got back, I settled the girls into bed with the portable DVD player and one of Amanda’s new Tinkerbell movies, while Joe and the boys went to take their shower… It was late when they got back, so everyone, expect for me, went to bed… But I am about to head there in a couple minutes! *lol* … I’ll check in with you next from Prineville! (I sure hope our phones get service there, as they don’t here… I haven’t been able to post on face book!)

Since we’re on Summer vacation, and now that the wedding album is complete, it’s time to get to some of those extra projects that I don’t really have time for during the school year. (I am not one of those super moms who can homeschool 4 kids, and do everything else too. )

The first project I tackled was the master bedroom and closet… While the rest of the house tends to stay picked up and tidy, our room always seems to become the “dumping grounds” for stuff we don’t know what to do with. … So (on Saturday, the 3rd) I completely cleaned and reorganized our rather large walk-in closet, and cleaned our room from top to bottom. I even managed to get Joe to clean the windows… They are thinner than they should be, and tend to get moldy. I can never seem to scrub them clean, so I get Joe to do them.

Anyway, it’s really nice to have our room back to tip-top shape… And I hope we can stick with NO MORE DUMPING. *lol*

My next room to tackle will be the laundry room… Today I worked in their for a while, but what it really needs is new paint. I am hoping to buy some next payday, and get that taken care of…

Another summer project, that I do every year, is homeschool lesson plans… Every year I tell myself that I will get them done early, and every year it’s half way through August before I even start, and then I am in a panic, trying to get 4 sets of lesson plans done before school starts. … But not this year! I have already started working on them… Luckily, for Josh and the girls, I just have to pull up an old set from that grade and change the dates, since we use the same curriculum. But with Jared, I always have to start from scratch.

The first subject I worked on (since I don’t have them all yet) is Math… We just got it in the mail, and when I opened it, Jared about had a heart attack… The 7th grade math text book is about twice as thick as the 6th grade one! Each lesson has around 50 questions on it! … Yikes!… Math is one subject that Jared really doesn’t care for, and he IS NOT looking forward to that book!

When I showed it to Josh, and told him that he would someday be using it, he said, “Can I go back to kindergarten?!”

Summer seems to have FINALLY arrived in Molalla! … In fact, we’re going through our first heat wave. … It even got up to 93 yesterday… And no, I am NOT compaining! I am so happy to see the sunshine, that I don’t care about the heat. *lol*

While I admit that our house is nice and cool, I have been out in it too, and I promise that I didn’t complain about it being hot. I just enjoyed it.

Speaking of air conditioning… We have central air in our house. Mostly I like it, but what I don’t like is the location of the vent in the classroom… There is only one place in the classroom that my desk will fit into, thanks to the air hockey table… And the heater/air conditioning vent is right where my feet go… Now in the winter, when the heater is running, I LOVE IT… I tend to get cold easy, and I love having the heater right there, keeping my tootsies warm. … But I DO NOT LIKE having the AC right at my feet… Half the time it’s in the 90s outside, and I am FREEZING inside, thanks to that vent. I keep it at 75-76 degrees, so that it’s comfortable in the rest of the house, but it’s just too darn cold at my desk. *lol* … So here I sit, with the temps in the 90s, snuggled under a blanket at my desk. *lol* (Oh well, at least everyone else in the house is comfortable )

Jared and Josh are gone right now… They are spending Wednesday through Saturday with Jamie and Jacob… They usually spend Wednesday night over there, so that they can go to the free kids summer league on Thursdays (Joe doesn’t get off work in time to take them)… Well, tonight the girls are having a slumber party, and the boys didn’t want to be here, so we made plans for them to spend the night with them tonight too… Well, Josh didn’t think there would be any use coming home on Thursday, just to go back over on Friday. *lol* … So, since Debbie didn’t mind, they made plans to spend all three nights, much to the delight of Jamie and Jacob.

I sure miss them, but I know that they are having a good time.

We did get to see the boys on Thursday though! … We wanted to go into town on Thursday… Joe wanted to take his 3 girls out to dinner, and we wanted to let the girls each pick out a movie to rent for their slumber party… The best place in town to eat is the bowling alley, so we went there for dinner and to let Alicia bowl (she really, really wanted to bowl her free games).

Anyway, when we got there, the league was just finishing up. So we got to see the boys! Yay! … I went to give them a kiss on their heads, and was a bit grossed out by how sweaty poor Josh was. *lol* … There is no AC at the bowling alley. While I was OK, the boys were bowling, which made them even hotter. Poor kids!

Josh bowled a new high during his league! He got a 174!!!

I have to tell you that it was REALLY STRANGE to go order food for the girls and us, and not for the boys! We felt so bad about it, we asked if they at least wanted french fries, but they had eaten before they came and weren’t hungry.

Today is the day that Alicia and Amanda have been waiting for, for a few weeks now… The day of their very first slumber party! … We have 5 little guests confirmed, and they should be here between 4 and 5 o’clock…. They day is going by quite slowly for the girls!

We spent the morning getting ready for it… Getting the house all cleaned, etc… Now they just wait.

Buddy and Tootsie are friends and playmates now. … Cuddles still stands alone and won’t have anything to do with any other feline in the house, so it’s really nice to see Buddy and Tootsie playing.

We also have one LAST addition to the family… One more stray kitten has been rescued from the streets… Amanda told Daddy that she didn’t have her own kitty, like her brothers and sister do, and that she really, really wanted her own kitty… So Joe gave in… He never can say no to his girls.

So let me introduce you to Cotton Candy… Doesn’t she look like a big fluff of cotton candy??? … Anyway, we call her “CeeCee” for short.

And yes, CeeCee makes FOUR!

I CAN NOT believe we have four cats! … It’s a good thing we’ve run out of kids to sucker Daddy into saying yes! If we get anymore cats, people are going to start calling us those “crazy cat people”.

So now… Cuddles is Jared’s cat, Buddy is Josh’s cat, Tootsie is Alicia’s cat, and CeeCee is Amanda’s cat. (Though Amanda usually calls her Cotton Candy, instead of CeeCee like the rest of us.)

Cuddles and Buddy haven’t given CeeCee so much as a second glance. I guess they figure, “What’s one more of the little rugrats?” … As for Tootsie, he is ONE HAPPY KITTY! … Another kitty to play with! They were instant friends… Though Tootsie tends to play harder than CeeCee likes, and she meows at him a lot… But I noticed that she meows a lot in general. She’s a cute little whiney thing. *lol*

She looks bigger and older than she is, because she is very fluffy. She’s 7 1/2 weeks old (while Tootsie is now 10 1/2 weeks old)… I am thinking that she had still been nursing, because she always climbs onto my shoulder and starts rooting around at my neck, under my hair… Which totally tickles and makes me laugh. *lol* She gives up after a minute, and then ends up perched on my shoulder, fast asleep.

Anyway, I told the girls NOT TO BEING ANYMORE KITTENS INTO THE HOUSE! I am sorry about the other stray kittens, but Daddy and I DON’T WANT ANYMORE! … They each have one now, so that’s more than enough!

Well, better go make the final preparations for the slumber party… It’s almost time!

(And look! Two posts in one week! I am on a roll!!!)

So… Today is supposed to be the first day of summer… Well, you could have fooled me! *sigh*

Oh, we’ve had a few nice days, scattered here and there… But mainly it’s been cool and wet. It’s more like April weather than June weather… I’m wondering if we’re EVER going to get summer this year!

So… What’s been going on since my last post?

Last Wednesday evening was spent at the bowling alley. At 6:30 was Joe and the boys’ new “Have-A-Ball” Bowling league… That’s the one where they will get the new bowling ball at the end of the 10 weeks… Anyway, we decided to go early so Joe and the kids could bowl their two free games. When we got there and were checking in, I noticed that they had posted the results from the PBA Pro-Am tournament that the kids were in on the 11th…

I was more than a little surprised by the results.

For the 10 and under age group, Alicia came in first place! … She actually didn’t even bowl that well, since she wasn’t using the bumpers, but her handicap pushed her over the top… But I feel bad for Josh, because he bowled well over his average and should have came in 1st place, but Alicia pushed him down to 2nd… Anyway, they will both be getting trophies for it, so that’s exciting.

For the 11-15 age group, Jared came in 12th place… So no trophies for him… He didn’t bowl as good as he normally does, and he was up against some TOUGH competition in that age group… Most of them have been bowling for years, while Jared’s only been bowling for 11 months.

Anyway… Joe and the boys enjoyed the “Have-A-Ball” league… They already got to pick out their ball, but Shawn hasn’t ordered them yet. There was a paper a picture of the ball on it, in (I think) 7 different color choices. Jared picked out a blue/silver one, Josh picked out one that was more green, and Joe picked one out that was red/silver-ish (I think). I’m not sure when they will get the balls. I had assumed that it would be after the league was over, but who knows.

Alicia was wishing that she could join, but there are only 3 people allowed per team, and no one else to be on a team with her. … So she was a little disappointed over that (but didn’t cause a fuss or anything). We do plan on getting her a new ball and bag for her birthday though, so we don’t have to worry about her not having a ball… Though there was a pink one on the list she would have loved. *lol*

As for Amanda, she was happy sitting with me and coloring, and playing with the toy dog she had brought… I think she would rather go back to ballet, and not worry about bowling anymore.

On Thursday I made some more birthday cookies… Two of Joe’s sisters, DeeDee and Debbie, both have birthdays this week… Since Debbie and her family are in Utah all this week (visiting Scott’s Dad, who moved there in March), I decided to make the cookies early. So I gave them to Debbie on Thursday evening, and on Friday Debbie gave some of them to DeeDee… They both work together at Papa Murphy’s in Oregon City.

While I was working on the cookies, two of the girls’ little friends came in. Destiny and Gracie are sisters. They are adorable, and very sweet… But Destiny sure can talk. *lol* She’s not shy either. She asks a million and one questions, including if she and her sister would be able to have a couple cookies when I was done making them. … Alicia and Amanda sure love playing with them, but Jared and Josh find Destiny annoying… Jared was annoyed because Destiny kept going into his room and messing with things (he told me this later, so the next time they come over I will ask the girls to respect the boys’ privacy). Josh, on the other hand, was annoyed because Destiny wouldn’t ever put Tootsie down, even when Tootsie would meow to get down… After I was done with the cookies, Josh managed to get Tootsie from them, and brought him to me to watch, so Destiny would leave him alone.

Anyway, after we dropped the cookies off at Debbie’s place, we went to the bowling alley again, to let the kids (and Joe) bowl their two free games from kidsbowlfree.com … I’m thinking we should just have our mail forwarded to Molalla Bowl. *rofl*

On Friday we didn’t do too much… I was working on my digi-scrapping for a lot of the day, and the kids played inside and out… Joe worked later than normal, so we didn’t go do anything interesting… Which is perfectly fine with me!

That night Alicia finished reading her first novel! I think she did awesome, considering she is only 8 years old! I am a huge book lover, but I didn’t read my first novel until I was 9 years old (I read the classic version of Pinocchio)… Anyway, she read the first book in the High Hurdles series by Lauraine Snelling, and she has already started the 2nd book. She likes to read in bed for a while before she goes to sleep, just like Jared does (and just like I did when I was younger … You know, before I shared a bed with Joe and the light would keep him awake ). Jared reads faster than she does, but that’s because he is 4 years older than she is.

I am quite proud of her!

We had a time getting Buddy to come in on Friday night… He is still sulky about us adopting Tootsie… Though he’s not quite as angry with us as he was… Anyway, Joe and the kids (except Amanda) finally went outside at around midnight, to track him down and bring him home. Thankfully they were able to find him… So far he hasn’t given us any more scares like that, and I hope he doesn’t do it again… This neighborhood isn’t too safe for housecats after dark. Too many predators around, like coyotes, bobcats, and the cougar, who would like to have Buddy over for dinner… And we don’t want Buddy to be the main course!

While neither Cuddles or Buddy is very happy with Tootsie at the moment, Tootsie is thriving… Barely over a week ago, he was terrified of all of us. Now he romps around the house like the energizer bunny, playing with everything that moves (as well as a lot of things that don’t! ). He loves attention, and he LOVES to snuggle. This afternoon the kids were all outside playing, and he came to me and cried to get up, and slept in my lap for quite a while, while I watched a show on iTunes. He’s just the cutest little thing… And he became housebroken a LOT faster than both Cuddles and Buddy. He seems really smart… We are all quite smitten with him.

Saturday was a housecleaning day… I made a worklist for all 6 of us, and we got to work. We straightened every room, did a bunch of dusting, laundry, sweeping and mopping, etc. I think we were finished at around 2 or 3 o’clock. Then we just kicked back for the rest of the day, after I made dinner.

I did manage to get the wedding album, that I have been working on, finished and ordered! I am SO GLAD that it’s done! It ended up being something like 137 pages long, which is quite longer than I planned. … But I couldn’t convince myself to delete any of the pages… I had originally wanted to print it with Shutterfly, but since it was over 100 pages, I had to use mypictales… I’ve never used them before, so I am nervous about the outcome! … But one nice thing is that out of the blue I got a newsletter from them, and it had a 25% off coupon for orders over $100, so I was able to save $42!!! That was nice! … Sure hope it turns out good!

Anyway, if you want to see the book, here is a link to the pages in my Flickr gallery…

Sunday was, of course, Father’s Day… Joe had to work in the morning, so we couldn’t do any of the breakfast in bed things… Usually Sunday mornings are a rush, and Joe only has time to quickly change and eat a quick breakfast before we rush off to church… and we’re ALWAYS a few minutes late to Sunday School, which is highly annoying, but there doesn’t seem to be anything we can do about that.

We hadn’t been to our own church for like 4 weeks, due to camping, the family reunion at the farm, and then going to our old church last week, so it was a little embarrassing going back and dealing with all the “where have you been” questions. Glad that’s over!

Since it was Father’s Day, the kids’ Sunday night bowling league was cancelled, but the kids still wanted to bowl. So we went to the bowling alley as soon as church was over. We ate lunch there (they have yummy food!), and then used up their free passes for the day, plus they all bowled an extra game… Joe was convinced that, since it was Father’s Day, the boys should let him win at bowling… Too bad it didn’t turn out that way! *rofl*

While we were at the bowling alley, I happened to mention to Joe that in a few months we’ll probably have to buy Alicia a couple training bras… Poor Joe… I don’t think he was ready to hear that! He was so flustered that he ended up throwing a gutter ball, and then he didn’t want to discuss it AT ALL…. Guess he’s not ready for his little girl to grow up! *lol* … Of course, I have almost the same reaction when I think about how close Jared is to shaving and a drivers license! *sigh*

Well… I suppose I’ve rambled on long enough. I’ll catch ya on the flip side!

Sunday… church… bowling

A good Wednesday morning to all my blogging buddies out there! Hope you’re all having a great week! … There’s not too much going on in Johnsonland,  but I thought I would check in anyway.

Tootsie is doing well. He’s adapting to his new living arrangements with flying colors. By Sunday you wouldn’t even have thought he was a stray that had never been handled by people before. He’s loving all the attention, and is purring all the time… And he’s beyond sweet and adorable. … So far Cuddles and Buddy aren’t too happy that he’s around, but I am hoping/praying that Buddy will come around in a week or so… Cuddles has never accepted Buddy as a friend (though Buddy has no issues with Cuddles, and would be friends if she let him). Cuddles tolerates Buddy, as long as he doesn’t get too close. She seems to be doing the same with Tootsie. She watches him, but only gets upset if he gets too close.

Last night Josh actually got all three of them together on his bed… But he had to “trick” them… Cuddles didn’t seem to know that Buddy was there (though she was keeping an eye on Tootsie, to make sure he didn’t get too close), and Buddy had no idea that Tootsie was on the other side of Josh… Tootsie, on the other hand, didn’t care who else was on the bed. *lol* … I sure hope that they can all be friends someday…

Anyway, on Sunday afternoon I gave Tootsie a bath, and he was so good! You take your life into your own hands when you try to bathe Buddy (Cuddles has always been easy, as long as Jared is the one bathing her). Tootsie, on the other hand, didn’t even meow. He just stood there while I washed him. I also sprayed him with some flea spray (that is OK for kittens), and he didn’t freak over that either… I just wanted to make sure to kill the fleas before they got to Cuddles and Buddy. It seems to have worked too, as I haven’t seen any more on Tootsie. I got this stuff from bugspray.com, and it works better than anything you can buy in the stores. It even works better than Advantage.

Hmmm… What else has been going on?

This last weekend, Joe’s Grandma Johnson (his step-grandma) was in town with her daughter, Linda, and Linda’s husband, Russ. They live in Eureka, South Dakota. They moved there in 2006 and we hadn’t seen them since then… Anyway, we tried to set up a thing with Joe’s family to go see Grandma, but nothing seemed to work out.

Anyway, Grandma, Linda, and Russ were staying with Jerie Gracie, who is the church secretary of Lifegate Baptist Church, where we went when we lived in Portland. That’s where Luellen (Joe’s Grandma), Linda, and Russ went too. We knew that they would be going to church at Lifegate, so we decided to go there for church on Sunday too, to surprise Grandma.

It was good to see them… It was also good to see some of our old friends from Lifegate… Though MAN, there isn’t many people who still go there… There was a lot of issues that went down after we left the church (when we moved to Molalla), and a lot of people left the church. Pastor Clark retired too… Anyway, during services there were only around 30 people (including the 6 of us) in the congregation… It was really sad… The only reason the church is staying afloat is that two other churches used the building. A Mexican church uses the old sanctuary, and I guess there is an Asian church that hold services there too.

Anyway, we did get to see the Gainers and the Wilsons, and Leonard Janes still goes there. Oh, and the Peytons were still there. It was really nice to see them all… We didn’t get to see Jerie Gracie though, as she was sick and didn’t come to church.

Sunday evening took us back to Molalla Bowl for the kids’ junior league… We went early so they could bowl their two free games, and this time Craig didn’t mess anything up. *lol* … Also, he didn’t even charge Joe and Alicia for their shoe rentals.

While they were bowling, Jacob got it in his head that the boys needed to spend the night, so they made all these plans with Scott and Debbie, and forgot to ask us. *lol* … Later, Josh comes over and says something about sleeping over, and Joe and I are like, what? … So I go over to Debbie and said, “The boys seem to think they are spending the night, do you know anything about this?” *lol* … So the boys ended up going home with them… I hope this doesn’t go on all summer long!

I didn’t do much on Monday… Just some laundry and housework… Oh, and I am still working my rear off on that wedding album. (I have over 100 layouts done so far. When I am finished I am going to need a scrapping break. *lol*) … As for the boys, Joe picked them up on his way home from work. I was glad they were home.

Last night Alicia had her first (non related) friend over for a sleepover. Darian, who is the same age as Alicia, spent the night. The girls (including Amanda) had a lot of fun, and were well behaved… Just giggly. *lol* … There was one mishap though… They wanted some popcorn, which Alicia has made a LOT. But this time, for some unknown reason, Alicia thought Josh told her to nuke the popcorn for FOUR minutes, instead of just hitting the button that says “Popcorn”. She SCORCHED the popcorn… OMWord, but did the house ever smell! I had Jared take the garbage out right away, and we opened some windows, but even this morning it still stinks in here. *sigh*

Oh! I almost forgot! … Amanda lost another tooth yesterday! It’s been quite loose for a while now, and yesterday it just sort of popped out. She wasn’t even trying at the time. *lol* She was just walking down the hallway when it came out. I guesss it just fell out of her mouth and landed on her shirt.   She stopped in surprise and then ran back to me with it, all excited. … The other top tooth is loose too, but it’s not quite as wiggly, so it will probably be a week or so before it comes out.

Well, I suppose I should eat some breakfast and get my morning chores done… See ya on the flip side!

When am I going to learn to blog a little more often? I remember the days when blogging daily was the thing to do… Guess those days are past. *lol* … Maybe they will be back someday. Maybe I am just on a semi-blogging-break? Who knows… Guess time will tell.

We’ve been keeping busy. In face, May seems to be flying by at lightning speed. It’s really insane! I want things to slow down, so we don’t “miss” summer vacation.

On Thursday, after Joe got home from work, we took the kids to the pool again. This time the Mewings didn’t meet us there, because Debbie had to get Jacob fitted for his tux*.. Anyway, Joe and the kids still had a good time, but I admit I got a little bored sitting there on the bleachers by myself (usually I have Debbie to talk to). I was wishing that I had brought my book along… After about an hour and a half, my back was starting to ache from sitting there with no back support. So I ended up grabbing the keys from Joe’s swim bag and waiting for them out in the Durango.

*Both Jacob and Jamie were invited to be a part of the wedding… Not one of my kids got such an invitation… I admit that Joe and I were a bit hurt that they had both of the twins in their wedding, and didn’t ask so much as even Amanda to be a flower girl. (They didn’t have a flower girl at all) … *sigh*

We didn’t do much on Friday… Just kicked back at home. It was a nice, quiet evening. … We love quiet evenings!

On Saturday morning, after Joe came home from work, I cut everyone’s hair, so they would look all nifty for the wedding. Then we kicked back until 2:30… The wedding didn’t start until 4:00, but it was in Portland, so we wanted to make sure we gave ourselves long enough to get there… And it’s a good thing we did too, because traffic on 205 was TERRIBLE. Thankfully, we made it there with about 10-15 minutes to spare.

The wedding was at some ritsy golf/country club… And let me tell you, we were MORE than a little uncomfortable being there. They even have a DRESS CODE posted by the door… Since we weren’t members and didn’t belong to the club, they weren’t totally strict about it with us. (Like you aren’t supposed to wear denim of ANY kind there, but a lot of people, including Joe, me, and the boys) were wearing it, and they didn’t say anything… BUT… I guess Bob tried to go into the bar to buy a “shot” for Kyle (the groom), and he was refused service because he was wearing jeans. They also made Randy (Joe’s cousins’ husband, who was taking photos of the wedding) tuck his shirt in… When Joe heard that, he quickly went into the bathroom and tucked his own shirt in. *rofl*

The wedding itself was nice. Both Kyle and Leann looked so happy… Though, it was pretty warm in there, and poor Kyle was sweating up a storm in that tux. *lol* He kept having to wipe the sweat off his forhead. Poor Kyle! … Also, Leann’s maid-of-honor has a toddler son, who she should have found a babysitter for. She did have a friend holding him in the audience (she was sitting right behind Amanda), but for half the ceremony, he was screaming his head off. I guess he kept kicking during his tantrum, and kicked Amanda on more than one occasion. Then, she put him down and he made a bee-line to his Mom up front, and was then trying to get into everything. Mackenna was constantly messing with him… I kinda thought it was rude of her… Her friend should have at least had the decency to take him out when he started crying, so he wouldn’t disturb the ceremony. I felt bad for Kyle and Leann.

One thing was funny though, and that was that Leann put the ring on Kyle’s RIGHT hand, instead of his left one! *rofl* … I didn’t even notice. Joe’s sister, Debbie, pointed it out to me later. *lol* … Oh well, at least they will have something to laugh about later.

The reception was long and loud, but (almost) everyone seemed to have a really good time. (I don’t think Joe’s Grandma and his two uncles, who live on a farm, were too impressed with the country club thing, nor all the LOUD music… Don’t get me wrong. I liked 99% of the songs, they just played them LOUDLY.) … They had a big buffet thing set up (Gene paid $17 a head for that meal!), so everyone ate first. Then the DJ went up and had Kyle and Leann dance to the first song, which was “Then” by Brad Paisley. Then Leann danced to “I Loved Her First” by Heartland with her dad, Gene. And then Kyle and his mom, Cyna, danced to “Because You loved Me” be Celine Dion…

After that, it was an open floor, and there was dancing for the rest of the evening… You should have seen Amanda. She was in HEAVEN. She danced, and danced, and danced. *lol* She was even dancing with Kyle’s mom and dad. It was pretty cute… The nieces and nephews were all dancing silly together, and even Jared joined in with that. (Josh and Alicia would have NOTHING to do with that. *lol*) I got a lot of it on video. Wish I could get it off the camera to show you, but it’s on a VHS-C tape. (OLD video camera *lol*)

We didn’t leave until close to 9 pm… On the way home, we had this conversation:

Julie: “I’m not one to cry at weddings, but I did tear up when Gene and Leann danced to “I Loved Her First”.”
Joe: “Ya, that’s a great song!”
Josh: “I cried too… When my cake was gone!”

… Silly boy!

There hadn’t been much food there that Josh, Amanda, and I would actually eat, so we ended up hitting Taco Bell on the way home (I was really hungry)… It turned out to be a bit of a mistake though, since the Diet Pepsi there isn’t caffeine free… Drinking caffeine that late at night is NOT a good idea! I wasn’t able to get to sleep until almost 3:30 in the morning! Ack! … I was SO TIRED in church the next morning. *lol* … I was mostly able to pay attention.

I think I mentioned that Joe’s cousin-in-law, Randy, was the one to take pictures of the wedding… Joe’s family has always considered him a bit of a photographer, so they always ask him to do things like this… Anyway, the last time I saw his was in February of ’09 at Joe’s Grandma Toepfer’s 90th birthday party. At the time we were talking pictures/cameras, since we are both camera-happy… I told him that I was dreaming of the Canon Digital Rebel, and he said he was too.

Well… He has one now! *green with envy*

OMWord, what an AWESOME camera! I can’t wait to see how the wedding pictures turn out! (He told me that he took over 1000!) I was seriously drooling over that camera. *rofl* … Funny thing is, Joe told me that I should set rewards for myself when I first started the weight loss journey. When he said it, I asked him if I could get a new camera when I get 50% to my goal, and he agreed instantly. I later showed him a Canon camera at Walmart (not a rebel) and told him that I would get that one, because even at $400, it’s much cheaper than a Rebel… Anyway, when we were coming home after the wedding, I was telling Joe how Randy and I had been talking about how we both wanted a Rebel, and that I was drooling over the one he has now… And Joe says, “Maybe we should just break down and get you one with tax returns next year.”… REALLY?!?!?! … I am *thinking* that I will be 50% to my goal sometime this fall, maybe a little sooner if I keep losing as quickly as I am now (trying not to hope too much about that )… But I am willing to wait until February, if that means I get a Rebel!!! … Anyway, if I remember correctly, his was silver like this picture I found. I don’t know if I’ll get a silver one, or a black one… He did have a fancier lense on his, but you can buy all sorts of different lenses for it. His was probably one he bought and switched out… That’s something I would have to learn about later, because I know NOTHING about that!

Sunday was a quiet day… Other than church in the morning, we didn’t do anything (even though it was Mother’s Day) … The boys did volunteer to do the lunch dishes for me though, since it was Mother’s Day… But other than that, they were off playing, and Joe was in bed sleeping the afternoon away. I just ended up watching movies and scanning old slides… What I really wanted to do was work on Kyle and Leann’s album, but I have to wait until Randy and Dorothy get their photos to me… And I am feeling QUITE impatient about that! *rofl* … I guess it does take time to go through an edit over 1000 pictures. (I just REALLY want to work on that album, while the memories of the day are still fresh in my mind.)

The kids were supposed to bowl in their league on Sunday, but we get a message from Mick that it had been cancelled for the day, because Mick hasn’t been feeling well… He’s been down for 2-3 weeks now… I don’t know what’s wrong, but I sure hope it’s nothing serious… He was complaining of chest pains, but that was like 3 weeks ago… I am assuming he’s been to the doctor, but I don’t really know anything else.

Our summer reading program seems to be going well… We had planned on donig it Monday-Friday, but we never seem to get around to it on Mondays and Thursdays, which are the days I do laundry. *lol* … So we have done it 3 times a week for a couple weeks now… Before we started, I told Joe that Jared was really excited about the program, and Joe told me that Jared was “just excited to please me”. … Joe doesn’t like to read, and he’s always called me a “sick woman” for reading as much as I do. So he completely doesn’t understand the any of our kids would actually like and want to read… Anyway, Jared (who doesn’t know Joe said that) has proved him wrong. He’s been reading extra and has already finished 3 books. *lol* … If he keeps this up, I’m going to have to find him another set of books to read, and fast! … I wish I had more boy-type adventure stories already on hand, but all my junior readers are more for girls, since they were mine. *lol* (and trust me, Joe never had any )

You know… Joe has NEVER read a novel from cover to cover, not even for school. If he needed to read one for school (even in high school), his MOM WOULD READ IT TO HIM. Good grief!

Hmmm… Anything else going on? … Oh! Yesterday was our kitty’s birthday. Cuddles is now 6 years old. She was happy to celebrate her birthday with a can of soft cat food, which is a rare treat… We made sure to give Buddy a can too, and half way through the meal, they switched bowls. *lol* … They always do that. It’s so funny! (And no, they still don’t get along. Cuddles HATES Buddy with a passion! But that doesn’t stop her from wanting to sample his treats! )

Well, it’s time to eat some breakfast and start my day! Catch ya on the flip side!

Whew! It’s SO NICE to be back online, and with my computer! I was lost without it! *lol*

Joe took it to work with him early Saturday morning (before I woke up), and I was figuring that Thomas would work on it on Saturday evening, and I would get it back on Sunday, when Joe came home from work.

You should have seen me pouting when Joe came home empty handed. (And I even looked worse on Monday evening. *lol*)

I guess it takes two hours alone, just to take the laptop apart, to be able to get to the fan… So on Sunday evening he took it apart, and saw that the fan was really dirty. He figured that was the reason it was making the noise, so he cleaned it off and put the computer back together (which took another 2 hours)… Then he turned the computer on, and it was still making the noise… When Joe called him yesterday, Thomas told Joe that he hadn’t had a chance to take it apart again, and he wouldn’t be able to until this weekend… Joe knew I would never last that long. so he told him that he would just come pick it up. *lol*

I will be getting a new desktop computer in February (with tax returns), so Joe just wants to wait until then and have Thomas look at it after that… Then we’ll be giving it to Alicia.

I’d already decided that I would never buy enough laptop (and Joe agrees), but Thomas did tell Joe that laptops aren’t meant to be used as much as I use mine. *lol* … So a desktop it is for me!

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I’m not sure what I think about the church…

The sermon was really good, though it wasn’t the real pastor who was speaking. Turns out the regular pastor was on vacation, so we didn’t even see him, much less hear him speak.

It seems to have a large congregation. The church was started (by the same pastor) 11 years ago with 30 people, and now it has to have multi services to house the over 800 people who attend the church.

For which reason I am thinking that it is just too big for us… You know, not ONE person came over to Joe and I and introduced themselves to us. Not one person.

You see, Joe and I used to go to a similar church, when Jared was tiny… I actually went longer than Joe, because when Joe was still working Sundays with PayLess, my brother and his wife would pick me up for church (when I was pregnant with Jared)… Anyway, Joe and I went to Good Shepherd Community Church (in Boring, Oregon) from.. Oh, I guess around March of ’98 until January of 2001, so almost 3 years. In that time we never even met the pastor, much less made any friends. The church is just too big. They had smaller home-based “growth groups”, but with Joe’s schedule, things like that aren’t really an option…

So, in January ’01, Joe and I tried the church where his grandma went (Lifegate Baptist in Portland), and we were making friends the first Sunday we went.

That’s what we’re looking for I guess.

BUT… One thing about Lifegate, is that not many people want to help out, and soon they were taking advantage of people like us. By the time we moved to Molalla (and had to leave Lifegate), we were doing the following:

• Joe was a deacon (which still shocks the heck out of me. Joe is NOT deacon material)
• Joe was an Awana leader
• We both taught Sunday School
• I helped in the nursery every Sunday
• I had done a year of being church treasurer
• I had been on the budget committee
• Joe spent every Saturday for 6 months of the year (for a couple years) mowing the HUGE church lawn

All this on top of Joe working 2 jobs, and me raising (and homeschooling) 4 small kids.

It was overwhelming, and when we moved to Molalla, I have to be honest here… We really didn’t want to look for a church right away. *sigh*

So… While I want a church that is smaller, and has a family feeling, I don’t want to “serve” THAT much… Which makes me feel guilty, of course.

Anyway, Joe and I want to try 2 or 3 more churches in Molalla, and then we’ll just pick the one we like the best.

As for the kids, they would be happy to stay at Foothills… I guess Foothills doesn’t really do Sunday School over the summer (Don’t think I like that). The kids were all together, and it sounds like all they did was silly stuff… They had some kind of marshmallow eating contest, and watched some kind of movie, and learned what Jared called a list of “useless information”… They had a blast, but you go to Sunday School to learn about Jesus, not to see who can eat the most marshmallows…

We also have one other thing to consider…

Joe’s sister, Debbie (and her husband Scott), want us to find the right church, and then they want to come to church with us… This is HUGE (and thrills me to no end… PLEASE, help me in praying for Scott, Debbie, and the twins’ salvation!). So we want to find a church that would be good for THEM.

Debbie told us last night that she wants a church that she doesn’t have to dress up for. She wants to be able to wear jeans… And I can understand that. I haven’t worn a dress in more years than I can remember. *lol* … Well, Foothills is very casual. They have a “wear what makes you comfortable” policy. We saw some people in dresses and suits, and other people in shorts and tank tops…. And, like I said, you DID get “fed” during the service, which is very important…

But one needs the fellowship as well…

Oh, what to do, what to do.

Hmmm… What else is going on? …

The boys are gone right now… Debbie called last night and asked if the boys could come spend the night. I guess Jacob and Jamie (who’s last day of school was last Thursday) are already bored, complaining that they have nothing to do, so Debbie thought that the boys would keep them occupied. *lol* (I think she didn’t invite the girls, because having all 6 of the kids at one time… her two and my four… gets a little too much for her).

As for the girls, they didn’t mind at all. I told them they could have a movie/popcorn night and sleep in the living room, and they were beyond thrilled with that, so everyone was happy. (Except for Cuddles, who HATES it when Jared is gone. She’s been following me around, crying for him.)

I can tell the girls stayed up too late last night, during their little slumber party… It’s 10:16 and they are STILL sleeping. *lol*

The Tillamook Cheese Factory

It was still wet when we got up, so we decided not to waste any time… We were ready to come home. *lol* So we had a quick breakfast and then Joe started to break camp while I cleaned the trailer one last time.

We didn’t go straight home though. We decided to go north a bit and hit the Tillamook Cheese Factory (pictures/website)… Out of all the kids, Jared was the only one that had been there before, but that was when he was 16 months old (I was pregnant with Josh), and it’s not like he could remember it. *lol*

The place sure was crowded! I think Joe almost regretted going, but then he remembered the cheese samples (he loves cheese!) and the Tillamook ice cream and decided it was worth it.

The kids were very interested in seeing how the cheese was made, so we stayed up there for a while, watching the people work… But Alicia (who also LOVES cheese) was getting anxious to get to the cheese samples, and was begging us to go back downstairs. *lol*

Getting some cheese samples...

We headed straight to the sample line, and got our cheese, and then after visiting the gift shop, we went to get some ice cream. Tillamook ice cream is sooooooo good! … The kids were tickled to have so many flavors to choose from. I got cookies and cream, Joe got bubblegum, Jared got some kind of French chocolate, Josh got cookies and cream, Alicia got caramel butter cream, and Amanda got blackberry… Amanda never finishes her ice cream cones, and I think Joe was eyeing that blackberry ice cream… But she shocked us all by actually finishing it. (She loved that ice cream)

"Yay! I finished it!"

She sure has been eating a LOT this last week. I can’t decide if she’s going through a growth spurt, or if we’re making her extra hungry with all the running around and sight seeing we’ve been doing. *lol*

After we finished our ice cream Alicia wanted another cheese sample, so Joe and the kids went through the line again, and then we left.

On the way to the cheese factory the kids had been watching movies. Well, as we got closer to Tillamook the road started getting very windy, and Jared started feeling a little car sick. We told him to stop watching the movie and had him open his window (which helped). Well, as soon as Jared got to open his window, Amanda said that she was sick. We knew she was just saying it to get her window down too, so we rolled it down and just let it go.

Well, after we left the factory (and had gone a ways), Amanda once again started saying she was car sick. Both Joe and I figured she was faking it so that she could get her window down… She always wants to roll her window down, but when you’re driving on the highway it makes your ears hurt, so we ignored her.

That was a mistake.

The next thing we knew she threw up all over herself. *sigh* Poor Pixie!

Joe pulled over and I went back to the trailer to get her some clean clothes and the wipes and paper towels. Joe and I got her cleaned up and changed, then I gave her some water to drink… Then we told her NO MORE MOVIES ON WINDY ROADS! *lol*

Oh, and she got her window open too… We ALL opened our window, because it STUNK!

She sure seemed to feel better after that. She started singing and goofing off, and was back to her normal giggly self.

When we got to Woodburn we had lunch at Taco Bell, and then Joe ran into Wal*Mart to buy some groceries to get us through the rest of the week. I stayed in the Durango to keep an eye on the trailer (Joe didn’t trust that neighborhood), plus I still needed to finish my lunch (Joe inhaled his at lightning speed *lol*).

We were sure glad to get home. It was an awesome vacation, but it’ll be nice to sleep in our own beds and it will really be nice to be able to shower whenever I want to and be guaranteed a hot shower!

I had to use the restroom, so the first thing I did was to go in our bathroom, where Buddy was… Oh my word, he grew so much in one week! He’s a little taller, and a whole let heavier!… I gave both him and Cuddles the same about of food and he ate twice as much (at least) as she did (and she’s twice as big as him!)… I also noticed that he had scratched some fur off the top of both his ears… Do you think that was an anxiety thing with us being gone so long?

Both of the cats were VERY happy to see us. Cuddles cries every time Jared leaves her sight, and I don’t think Buddy has stopped purring since we got home. *lol*

Just two more days and we’ll be heading out on our vacation… We’ll be hooking up the trailer and heading out early Saturday morning. Can’t wait! … We’ll be gone until the following Saturday (though I probably won’t get a chance to blog until Sunday the 7th, because I’ll want to get the pictures onto Flickr before I post).

I was hoping that Joe would get the trailer brought down to the house by Wednesday, but he didn’t get it here until this evening (it’s been a LONG week for him, work wise). So tomorrow is going to be a busy day… Since it’s the first time we’ll take the trailer out this year, I have to clean the entire inside. Plus I need to get all the laundry washed, get our bags packed, and get the trailer packed… Joe wants to have the Durago hooked up to the trailer and everything ready so we can leave as soon as we can on Saturday.

Soooo… I don’t know if I’ll have a chance to post before we leave, but you can watch my sidebar —-> for twitter updates, as I’ll probably be able to at least post on there before shutting down the computer.

Just pray that the kids are feeling better, so they won’t be sick on vacation… All four of them have colds, and the boys both had a fever today. I gave them some Tylenol, and they both seem to be feeling better now… We’re making sure to bring both Tylenol and Pediacare with us on the trip.

Since we can’t trust Buddy in the house, he has to spend the week in our bathroom… But don’t worry, our bathroom is pretty big… This will be the longest time we’ve left Cuddles (and Buddy), and I was hoping that they would be able to keep each other company… But the way that they’ve been acting with each other lately, it’s probably best that they are separated. They’ve been fighting again, and Buddy chases poor Cuddles through the house, while Cuddles hisses and growls like crazy. All Buddy wants to do is play with her, but Cuddles won’t let him near her. *lol* … I have to admit that it’s funny to see her running from a cat that is half her size.

Joe’s sister, Debbie, is going to stop by and check on the cats… Though as skittish as Cuddles is, she’ll probably hide the entire time that Debbie is here. *lol*

Well, if I don’t get a chance to post before we leave, I hope everyone has an awesome week!… I’ll be taking the laptop with me and I draft up a post for each day’s activities, and will post them when the pictures are posted.

Catch ya on the flip side!

Alicia, our little toothless wonder!

On Thursday we took the kids back to the pool… While we were in route, we decided to call Debbie (Joe’s sister) and invite them to come join us, and they excepted (They live just a couple minutes from the aquatic center).

The kids were thrilled to have their cousins there to swim with, and all 6 of them had a great time… I don’t think they were ready to leave at 5 pm when all the kids started coming for their lessons.

It was nice for me too, because I got someone to talk to while Joe and the kids swam. *lol* Debbie and I sat on the bleachers and chatted while we watched them swim.

At 5 pm we bid them goodbye, and then buckled the kids into the Durango… We were all getting hungry, and trying to decided what to make for dinner. Both Joe and I decided that we would just eat out, because we hadn’t pulled anything out for dinner, and everyone was pretty hungry. We also decided just to grab something fast and take it home to eat it.

Now there isn’t much to choose from in Molalla, for fast food. You either have McDonald’s or Subway. Well, not a one of us wanted the golden arches, so Subway was decided and we headed over there… When we pulled into the parking lot, who should be there but Debbie and the kids! (Scott hadn’t come to the pool because he had still been at work when they left.) The kids all thought that was cool, and while I stayed in the car, they all went in with Joe to say hi to Jamie and Jacob while Joe got our dinner.

As you know, I spent the entire day on Friday painting Josh’s room, then I fell into bed exhausted by 9 pm…

Josh loves his wolf border!

On Saturday I got the wallpaper trim up in Josh’s room… I think it turned out pretty nice! I can tell that Josh loves it, if him kissing the wallpaper trim is any indication!

After Joe got home and I BBQd some chicken, potatoes, and corn-on-the-cobb for a late lunch, Joe and I got Josh’s furniture put back in his room. After the heavy stuff was in the room, Joe headed to the bed and his TV set, and Josh and I started getting his toys and things organized and put in his room… We only got around half of it done, because I was quickly getting out of the mood. *lol* … I convinced him that it would be a good time to settle in with a movie (by then it was around 8:30), and I ended up going to bed early on Saturday as well.

I woke up early on Mother’s Day, and turned on iTunes and vegged in front of an episode of “In Plain Sight” while waiting for the kids to wake up… Joe was at work, though he did send me a “Happy Mother’s Day” text.

After all the kids were awake, Josh and I got the rest of his things put away in his bedroom… I don’t have any pictures yet, because we haven’t had a chance to hang his pictures/posters yet… But as soon as we do (Joe always helps with that), I will be sure to take some and post them… I also need to make the valance for his window, and runners for the dresser and the bedstand we want to buy him (his old side table lost a leg *lol*).

Joe got off work at 8 am (he requested to get off early), and he went to Wal*Mart to pick up a few groceries (and a last minute Mother’s Day gift *lol*)… When we were last at Wal*Mart, I had pointed out a couple DVDs on the $5 rack that I wouldn’t mind having (Ever After and Aquamarine), so he picked those up along with Bedtime Stories for the kids to give me as a gift… I think he grabbed that one because he’s a big Adam Sandler fan. *lol* … But I did want to see that one too.

Debbie, Alicia, Amanda, and Jamie

At around noon we packed up the Durango and headed to Feyrer Park (a campground which is 5 miles from the house). We met Scott, Debbie, and the kids there for a Mother’s Day BBQ. We had a really nice time, just chatting and relaxing while the kids played to their hearts’ content.

You can tell that the kids are all growing up… It used to be that the 6 of them would spend a majority of their time on the playground equipment, but not anymore… Now only Alicia and Amanda are interested, while the boys and the twins would rather do things like volleyball… It’s kind of sad to see them leaving the joys of childhood behind… *sigh*

After a couple hours we put everything away in the SUVs and walked down to the Molalla River. We stayed there for a while, and let the kids play along the river bank, while we talked some more… We headed home at around 4:15.

There should be 5 candles. *lol*

Sunday was also Cuddles’ 5th birthday … It doesn’t seem possible that we’ve had her for almost 5 years now (we got her when she was 6 weeks old)! … As per tradition, we had to celebrate her birthday with a can of soft cat food and a singing of Happy Birthday. *lol* … The kids would be very upset if we forgot to celebrate her birthday… In fact, they had been telling her “Happy Birthday” all day long.

And yes, Buddy got a can of soft food too.

So far, Buddy hasn’t had anymore “spraying issues”, but we aren’t taking any chances. We’ve moved his “snip-snip” appointment from the 23rd to this coming Saturday… That will give us 2 weeks of observation before our vacation, to see if we’ve nipped the problem in the bud… Or he may be spending the week in the bathroom, which I really don’t want to do, but I will if we have to.

For now, he’s being watched All. The. Time… At all times one of the kids is on “Buddy Duty”, and if we’re all too busy to watch him, he goes in the kennel.

Here’s praying this ends soon!

In other (bad) news, we’re having troubles with the Durango… For a while now it’s been making some strange noises… Since we’ll be pulling the trailer quite a ways on our vacation, Joe wanted to get it looked at before we headed out, so last night he took it to a place in town. They messed around and told him it was his transmission. I guess where he took it don’t do transmissions or something, so they suggested a place in Sandy… When Joe went to leave Eriksons, the Durango started making a terrible noise… To make a long story short, the people from Canby had to have the Durango towed to their shop. *sigh*

What really sucks is that it’s going to cost $500 ALONE, just to have them take the transmission out and see what’s wrong. Plus we’ll have the cost of the repair on top of that. *sigh* … If our vacation wasn’t already reserved and paid for, we probably wouldn’t (shouldn’t) go… Mainly because the money for the car repair has to come out of our line of credit… It feels wrong to be going on vacation when we can’t afford to fix the car.

BUT… We haven’t had a “real” vacation since before the kids were born. We’ve gone on a lot of camping trips (4 days at the most, but usually just weekend trips), but this is the first time we’ll be gone for an entire week, and we had lots of things planned (which I will get into AFTER we come home, the internet being what it is)… The kids are REALLY looking forward to it, and we feel like we can’t cancel now… *sigh*

Pontiac Grand Am

Anyway, since our only vehicle got towed, Joe had to rent a car from Ericksons… I guess they were out of the $25 a night cheap cars, so Joe ended up with a red Pontiac Grand Am (for $35 a night)… When Joe got home the kids ran to the door to see what car Daddy had rented, and Amanda came back to me with a snicker in her voice…

“Daddy bought a girl’s car!”

Snicker