Johnsons' Journey

After finally getting all my pictures off my camera, and the files renamed, I was too lazy/tired to write last night, so I went to bed instead, *lol* … So I thought that I would give you the 411 on yesterday while the kids are still asleep and Joe is off taking a shower (which he was too tired to do last night).

Joe decided that he wanted to take advantage of being on vacation and he wanted to sleep in, as he never gets to do that anymore. So I think it was 9:00 before any of us climbed out of bed on Sunday morning. While it was the day we left Silver Falls to go to the Prineville Reservoir, check out time isn’t until 1:00, so we weren’t in a hurry… Mainly because Joe thought it would only take a couple hours to drive to Prineville… He was so very wrong about that, by the way.

Anyway, we got up at 9:00-ish, and after the kids got dressed we sent them outside while we cleaned up the trailer, made beds, etc. Then we called them back in for an easy breakfast of either leftovers from Saturday, cereal, or something easy like that. Then Joe and the kids left again while I did the dishes, took a shower, and got the inside of the trailer ready for the drive to Prineville.

When I was done, I went over to Bev and Joe’s campsite (Bev is Joe’s Dad’s cousin) and Joe came back to get the trailer unhooked and ready to go. Then we stood around and chatted for a while… It was 1:00 before we were finally pulling out of the campsite… Though we didn’t get to leave right then, because we had to go to the dump station first.

The drive to, and through, the Santiam Pass was a lot longer than we anticipated.

We did make a pit-stop at 3:30-ish, at a view point to see Mt. Washington and Suttle Lake. I wanted to take some pictures… Also, that area had been burned by a severe forest fire sometime, and Josh was quite interested to learn more about that. You could see miles and miles of burned timber. The trees were no longer black, but had turned white-ish, and it had been long enough that small trees and undergrowth had come in under the burned trees… The signs said that the fire had burned for aprox 90,000 acres… Suttle Lake seemed to be on the edge of where the fire ended… Once we have internet service again, Josh and I will have to google it, and see if we can figure out when the fire was (the signs didn’t say).

From what I could see from the highway, it looks like there is a pretty nice government campground on the east side of Suttle Lake… I wouldn’t mind going camping there sometime, as it’s very beautiful!

We made it into Sisters sometime between 4:00-4:15, and we stopped for some gas and to grab a (very) late lunch at McDonald’s. Then we were on our way again … On a side note, Sisters is a very beautiful town! It would be fun to go back there, when there was more time to look around town.

We had wanted to hit the Walmart in Redmond when we drove through, but it wasn’t on the main drag going through town, and we didn’t want to go looking for it while we were pulling the trailer. So we just kept on driving and FINALLY made it to Prineville Reservoir @ 6:15 pm.

The first thing we did was to visit the restroom and then set up camp… Joe and I decided to actually try and use the awning… Normally we only use it when Joe’s parents are there to help, as we don’t seem to have a knack for getting it out and then back in… But we decided to live on the edge and give it a go… And it was a rather interesting time. … It took us a while, and passer-bys were giving us odd looks, but we did finally manage to get it out. I’m glad too, because it gives the campsite a homier look to it.

By 7:30 we were finally able to go on a walk… Which felt really nice after being cooped up in the Durango all day! We walked down to the reservoir and took some pictures… And I kept thinking about how much better those pictures would be, if only I had my Cannon Digital Rebel! *lol* … I also need to get better about holding the camera straight while on uneven ground… It felt straight, but the horizon line is QUITE off in some of the pictures. *sigh* … Thank goodness I can fix that in Photoshop Elements when I am scrapping the photos!

We went to the amphitheater at 8:30 to see the show that the rangers were putting on. They do them on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays… Unfortunately, we missed the ones on coyotes (Friday night) and cougars (Saturday night). The one we saw last night was on the different owls in the area. It was actually pretty interesting.

When it was over Joe and the boys took us girls back to the trailer, and then they went to the day use area where the rangers have a big telescope. They got to get a close look at the moon, and see some of the constellations. The boys really enjoyed that… Maybe tonight the girls and I will have to go down too.

By 10:00 we were settled down in front of the campfire. We roasted some hotdogs, and Amanda got the roasted marshmallow that she had been whining for since we left home on Friday. *lol* … While it was nice kicking back by the fire, we were all pretty tired. So after eating a SUPER late dinner (the hotdogs), we decided to call it a night… I brought the girls into the trailer to take a bath while Joe and the boys watched the fire burn down.

We were in bed by 11:45… Late for Joe and the kids, but not so much for me! *lol* … Actually, I was up later than that, getting the pictures off the camera and getting them renamed.

Well, it sounds like the kids are starting to wake up, and Joe is back from the shower, so I shall let you go… I looked the weather forecast up on my phone, and it’s only going to be 77 today (and get hotter throughout the week), so today we’re going into town. We want to go to Bend, to visit the High Desert Museum. Then we want to see the Dee Write Observatory in the McKenzie Pass, and have lunch/dinner at the Black Bear Diner in Madras… I also want to visit the laundry mat and also get some groceries at Walmart… Should be a busy day!

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!)

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!

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!

I’ve been working on my heritage blog a lot lately, typing out stories that older family members have sent me, about my great grandparents and their lives on farms in India, as well as their work in the mission field. There are also stories on my grandparents and their siblings… When talking about my Grandpa Andersen, everyone says the same thing about him… That he was a very “clever and creative” man. My mom’s cousin, Joan, even said that he should have been an engineer, as talented as he was at things… I guess if he were alive today, he could take advantage of things like CAD drawings… But, as it were, he went to school for a degree in agriculture.

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!

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!!!)

I told myself that I wasn’t going to go an entire week without posting again… But you can see how well I listen to myself. … So I guess we’ll have another long, boring post about the goings on about the last week… Hopefully someday I’ll be able to pull myself out of this blogging slump I have been in.

Now let’s see if I can actually remember what we’ve been up to since last Monday (besides bowling, that is ).

Oh… Last Monday (after I posted) I got a shipment from MyPicTales… Remember that wedding album I’ve been working on? Well, it ended up being 138 layouts, so I couldn’t use shutterfly to print it, as they only go up to 100 pages. This is the first time I’ve used MyPicTales… I am mostly happy with the album. The colors seem good, and it’s well bound. BUT… I wasn’t happy with the cover… My friend, Deb, mentioned that they didn’t center it very well, so I decided not to design my own cover (like she did, and like I normally do), and used one of their layout/template things instead… But that didn’t help. The picture on the cover is STILL off centered, and you know me… It’s driving me BATTY. *lol*

The only other thing that is bugging me, is that there was a little glue or something on the bottom corner, and a few of the pages were stuck together. When I forced them apart, it left a little tear mark on the corner… It’s not bad, but still annoying… (you can’t really see it well in this picture, thanks to the flash.)

But other than those two things, I am happy with the book. It looks nice! … Wish I c0uld go back and redo mine and Joe’s wedding pictures. *lol*

The main thing we’ve been doing… Of course… Is bowling. Joe and the kids are really taking advantage of the free bowling coupons from kidsbowlfree.com. They’ve bowled the last 6 days in a row!?! … Well, the boys have. They went on Thursday with the Mewings, while the girls and I were at home (the boys stayed the night on Wednesday). Joe picked them up on his way home from work… So they bowled their Wednesday night “Have-a-Ball” league, then the boys bowled on the free kids league on Thursday. On Friday we met the Mewings there for dinner, and then bowled. On Saturday we went after church and bowled 2 games. Then we went after the parade and BBQ on Sunday… Then again with the Mewings yesterday… But we have NO PLANS to go today! *rofl*

The boys are really getting better! All this bowling is getting them some great practice in. Jared never bowls below a 100 anymore, and it’s usually 140 or above… And Josh is almost up where Jared is… And on Friday, Josh got his first hambone… or 4-bagger, as some people call it… That is, he bowled 4 strikes in a row! How awesome is that?!

Those kids of mine sure love to bowl (well, except maybe for Amanda).

Amanda only ever bowls on her league night (the Sunday night “Some-R-Kids” league) … Other than that, she would rather color or something. She is especially happy if the owners have their daughter, Shelby, there… She and Shelby get along great. They are soooo cute. … But when Shelby is there, you never know where Amanda will end up. *lol* Shelby has the run of the bowling alley. Her parents, Shawn and Terri, are usually working. Shawn runs the counter, and other things around the alley, while Terri is usually working the food counter thing. So Shelby is left to her own devices, and plays to her heart’s content. She has some toys in the office, that sort of thing. So Amanda and Shelby are off playing together… Usually they either end up in the game room, or by the lockers.

Alicia is getting a little better too, though she sure was having a bad day yesterday. She has been getting anywhere from 60 to 80, but yesterday she came in a lot lower. She just kept getting gutterballs. I could tell she was getting discouraged, especially when she didn’t play a 3rd game. If she’s bowling well, she doesn’t want to stop… I hope she does better next time, for her sake.

Oh, but you should see the drawings she’s been doing! On Friday, in-between bowling, she was coloring up a storm, making us all pictures for Independence Day. She has so much creativity! Just look at the picture she drew for me! It has an eagle in front of an American flag! I think she did an awesome job on it, don’t you?! She did 6 different pictures, but this one is my favorite. I think I am going to put it on the wall next to my desk, where I have a little collage of pictures and things going on.

Oh… On Friday night, Amanda came to give me a hug goodnight. While she was there, she showed me her loose tooth… It was more than loose! *lol* It was barely hanging on, and was bleeding a little too. So I told her that she couldn’t go to bed until the tooth was out, as I didn’t want her to swallow it or something. She tried to tell me that she couldn’t get it out, but I made her sit down anyway. I told her to twist it, and sure enough, it came right out… And I think that surprised her. *lol* … So now she is missing bother her top front teeth… Well, the new ones are there, but barely… She is the only one of my kids who were missing both at the same time, and it’s soooo cute! She even has a bit of a lisp.

I’ve been bit by the genealogy bug again! … I started working on my heritage blog again, and getting pictures posted to my heritage flickr. (I want to try to work on it, once every 2-3 days…) Anyway, I was getting annoyed with myself, because all the original photos and documents weren’t very organized. They are perfectly organized on the computer, but I needed the originals organized as well. So I bought one of those file folder things, and I labeled with the last names from both my side and Joe’s side. Then I put all the hard copies of stories, the documents, and old photos from each family into the right folder. It’s awesome, and works great! Now everything is in one place, and you don’t have to go digging through the stash for something specific. I love it!

Since the 4th fell on a Sunday, our church held services on Saturday evening instead, and 6 o’clock. So we went to church on Saturday, which was a little odd…. But also nice, not to have to rush in the morning. *lol* … They also had these shirts made that say “grace church” on them. They gave the kids one free, and Joe and I paid $5 each for ours. They are nice. … We wore them to the parade on Sunday.

As you know, this weekend was Independence Day. … Our town has the famous “Molalla Buckeroo“, which is a pro rodeo that comes every year during the week of Independence Day. Part of the celebration is the “Molalla Giant Street Parade”, as well as a carnival after the parade. They even have a kiddie parade on the 2nd. … Anyway, every year we say we’re going to go to the Buckeroo, but we never can seem to afford to go. … Maybe next year… We never go to the carnival anymore either. It’s just WAY TOO EXPENSIVE, what with having four kids to put on rides. The prices are just through the roof! … So this year we just did the parade.

The parade route is near Joe’s sister’s house, so we went to her place at 8 am and parked there… Which made it nice, as it’s usually hard to find parking around the parade route… Then we walked to where the route was and waited for the parade. It didn’t officially start until 9:30, but it was almost 10:30 before it got to us (we were somewhere between 1/2 was and 3/4 way through the parade route).

The parade was really nice… There were lots of horses, of course. It’s all about the horses, because of the Buckeroo… But a lot of local businesses and churches also made homemade floats, and some people really go all out. … What’s funny is how many people that we recognized in the parade! It seems like every 4th or 5th float had someone we knew on it. You can tell we live in a small town! *lol*

Even Molalla Bowl had an entry in the parade. (That’s Shawn Copeland, the owner) … His son, Blake, and the Hartrampf boys were passing out free bowling coupons, instead of candy. Blake and Jared Hartrampf gave the boys 20 coupons! (Guess it helps to be friends with the people passing out the freebies! *lol*)

Anyway, it was a great parade and lasted an hour and 15 minutes. (It’s been known to last 2 1/2 hours before, but that was a little too long *lol*)

After the parade we went back to Scott and Debbie’s place for a BBQ. Scott made burgers and hotdogs on the grill, and Joe’s mom, Elvina, made a really nice cake. … But I was good and didn’t have a piece. *lol* … We just hung out and chatted in the back yard (while the kids played with Jacob and Jamie) until around 3 0′clock… We wanted to get some bowling in too, and they were closing at 5 pm (because of the holiday).

We had fun bowling… Everyone, except for Amanda, bowled. Even me! And even BOTH of Joe’s parents! … We ended up getting 4 lanes, and all the guys bowled on one set of lanes, while us ladies bowled on the other set of lanes… I didn’t bowl that well (lots of gutter balls for me *lol*), but Joe’s mom sure did well! She even bowled a 126! She even surprised herself! *lol*

I did get my first ever strike though, so yay! *lol* I think I bowled a 72 and a 68.

The twins (Jacob and Jamie) ended up coming home with us on Sunday night, and spending the night… I didn’t see much of them though… I haven’t been sleeping well, because I can’t get comfortable enough (need new pillows, etc), so I was really, really tired. I ended up going to bed at 9 pm!! I think Joe is STILL in shock!

That’s why we went bowling on Monday… We met Scott and Debbie there, and then the twins went home with them.

Well, I think that about catched ya’ll up on the lives of us Johnsons… I’ll catch ya’ll next week!

Another week has gone by in between posts… I really need to stop that! I tell myself that I should post at least 2-3 times a week, but then I get wrapped up in some project or another, and well… There goes that!

Now that the wedding album is finished, I am taking a bit of a digi-scrapping break. That album was 138 layouts big, and that’s a lot of scrapping. … So the project I am currently focused on is getting old photos posted to Flickr and moving old blog posts over here… I will add a month’s worth of photos to Flickr, and then all that same month’s worth of posts to this blog. Then I can use the Flickr photos in the blog post… So now, all my old posts that didn’t have pictures on them, have photos now. (Well, if I took any photos that day ) … I just finished up June of 2005 yesterday. I still have July ’05 to April ’09 to go, then my entire 18 years of journaling will be in one place.

Tootsie is doing so well! … He’s turning out to be the best little kitty ever! He is really super sweet. He purrs all the time, even when he’s playing… And you should see him play! When he’s in a hyper mood, he bounces around the house, pouncing on anything that moves, and a lot of things that don’t. *lol* … And he LOVES to play with one of us. The more attention he gets, the happier he is. … And when he’s tired, he loves to be snuggled with and sleep in someones lap. … He was also the easiest cat to litter-box train… I thought it would be harder, since he had been outside (or under a house) since he was born, and never used a litter box before. But, we only had to show him the litter box one time, and he’s NEVER had a single accident. When he has to go, he just bounces off to the laundry room and hops into the box. (He bounces everywhere he goes… He’s a lot like Tigger and Roo from Pooh Bear. *lol* … In fact, I call him Tootsie-Roo all the time, because of the bouncing he does. *lol*)

The girls have been having lots of fun playing outside with their little friends, now that summer seems to have FINALLY arrived. Alicia hurries through her morning routine (shower, chores, breakfast), because the sooner she is done, the sooner she can go outside. Half the time the girls put their swim suits on under their clothes, and when it gets warm enough, they fill up their pool, or play with the hose… Alicia also spends half her time on her bike.

Amanda doesn’t spend quite as much time outside as Alicia does. A lot of the time, Amanda will come inside and play on Josh’s computer, while the rest of them are off doing other things. (Josh installed Alicia’s “Pony Love” game on his computer for Amanda, so Amanda likes to play that.   )

As for the boys, they like to go play basket ball, but not when the sun is the highest, because Josh gets hot and doesn’t want to play outside. So they will play in the mornings for a while, and then in the evenings for quite a long time… Jared would spend more time outside, if only Josh would come out with him more. (Unlike the girls, who have lots of friends, the boys haven’t made any close friends. There are a few boys they play basketball with, but then it ends there. … All the kids, that the boys enjoyed playing with, moved away.    )

We’ve been doing a LOT of bowling this week… For the first time ever, we were there 5 days in a row! … I am glad we have no plans to be there today or tomorrow. … Joe and the kids are really enjoying the free passes from kidsbowlfree.com. … … We originally weren’t planning on going on Friday, but (while I was giving Joe and the kids haircuts) Joe’s dad called and said that he had something for us. He and Elvina wanted to come watch the kids bowl and give us the thing… Joe and I really didn’t want to go anywhere, but the kids did… So, we went ahead and ate dinner there and the kids bowled… They even talked Grandma into bowling a game! She had only bowled once before in her entire life. She said that she bowled a 53 the first time, and on Friday she bowled a 70! I was impressed! … After they were done bowling, we all went to McDonald’s for some ice cream… Well, I didn’t have any, I had already been bad by eating a hamburger at the bowling alley, so I thought that I better not have ice cream too! (My weight loss journey is going well. I am down 46 pounds now. )

Jared, Josh, and Alicia all have new high bowling scores from this week!!! … On Thursday (the 24th), Jared bowled a 183!!! … On Saturday (the 26th), Alicia bowled a 87 with no bumpers, and even got 2 strikes in a row!!! … And yesterday, Josh bowled a 171! He was on fire! … Too bad none of those scores are league scores. *lol*

On Saturday the kids went to their first ever “Bible Camp” with the kids from church (Lifegate never did any Bible Camps)… This was actually a first for me, and kind of hard… For the first time EVER, we dropped the kids off at church, and they were bussed to Feyrer Park… Without us or a relative… We dropped them off at 11 o’clock, and then picked them back up at the church at 3 o’clock.

The kids had a BLAST. This was the first time that any of them have been on a bus, so that was a big highlight for them. … They got to have a scavenger hunt, they made buttons, played games, and had hamburger and hotdogs for lunch. There was also a Bible story… Oh, and they were all given yellow shorts that said “Grace Church Bible Camp” on them, but Josh’s really didn’t fit well. I wanted to get a picture of them all wearing them, but Amanda and the boys took them off as soon as we came with the Durango. *sigh* … I gave Josh a disposable camera (I didn’t want the kids to lose their digital cameras, and asked them not to take them), so he took a bunch of pictures for me… I just need to get them developed. *lol*

While they were doing the Bible Camp thing, Joe and I went out for lunch (Arctic Circle) and went to Walmart for groceries (and we stopped by the Goodwill too)… We thought 4 hours would be plenty of time, but it wasn’t! We were 5 minutes late getting back to the church to pick the kids up! So embarrassing! … If we had skipped the Goodwill we wouldn’t have run out of time, so if we do this again, we won’t do anything but lunch and Walmart. *lol*

We ended up missing church yesterday. … Joe is scheduled off at 8:30 on Sundays, so that we can go to church… But yesterday a couple guys switched shifts, and there was no one else who was trained on the register. So Joe was stuck at the gas station until 11 o’clock. *sigh* … Joe was NOT impressed! … The manager assured Joe that this wouldn’t happen again, so we won’t have to miss church again.

Well… I need to eat breakfast, do my morning chores, workout, shower, and get laundry going… So I best go for now! … See ya on the flip side!