Up and Down, Up and Down....

This is what we did today! We drove all over "God's green acre" and it sure was beautiful!!

First, we drove up and over a nearby mountain to go visit the town that my grandfather (who is now deceased) grew up in. Actually, on a recent quest, my mother went in search of the actual house he grew up in, and believe it or not, she found it. She really found it about 3 months ago, when she took my grandmother with her to try to find it. My mom had done lots of research and then went to the town and spoke with a couple of real estate agents and was able to find it. Anyway, today she took us over to the town to see the house, my grandfather's high school (which is now an elementary school), and the hospital where my great-grandmother worked as a nurse. It was really neat to see those places and the town is so cute. It was a long drive, though, lasting about an hour and a half, one way.

After we saw all that, we left that town, drove back up the mountain and got on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We took that for about 40 miles. That was a lot of fun. We stopped at a bunch of overlooks for the kids to see the view. They were thoroughly impressed, as was I. Not that I hadn't seen it all before, but I get up there so rarely that it's always like new to me. Anyway, as we were driving up the parkway toward the top of the mountains, we saw lots of very low clouds. The kids were amazed that the clouds were so close to us and when we finally got up into the clouds, I rolled down my window so they could stick their hands out the window so they could say they'd touched a cloud. It was funny and they all laughed. Finally we got up to a lookout that was sooo cloudy that we couldn't see anything at all looking down. There was a visitor center and a ranger, who we spoke to about the weather and the clouds....oh, and a gift shop. So fun. The kids ran around the empty parking lot saying they were running in the clouds. They were so excited and we took lots of pictures....and it was like 65 degrees! That's such a treat at the end of July! It seemed like we were in the middle of winter! The kids also were really impressed with the tunnels cut out of the rock. Really neat.

Finally we started heading down the mountain, and I kept thinking they were all gonna get sick because I kept trying not to use the brakes too much, but thankfully no one got sick. Whew! Once we got down the mountain and back into town, we got more gas....needed that after so long on the road today.... we went to a local family owned restaurant for dinner. It was a really neat 50's style diner and the food was good, too.

I think we left my mom's house at about 10 or 10:30 this morning and after going to the grocery store after dinner, we got home at about 8 pm. Wow! That was a long day and even though everyone had fun and got to touch some family roots, we were all glad to get back home and out of the car. I've taken lots of pictures during this trip, as always, so once I get back home, I'll try to get some on here so you can see everything. From what I hear, Nicky's been working hard on the tile in our living room. I'm very excited about that! He's been working on that tile for 4 years....yes, it's true. But, it's very hard for him to work on tile when we're all there all the time. And, once you lay some tile, you can't walk on it for 24 hours, and our house is never empty for 24 hours! SO, he's had a very difficult time finding time to actually work on it. And, I'm very happy he's been working on it while we've been gone. I can't wait to see what he's finished!!

Well, I guess that's it for now. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! :-)

Happy 7th Birthday, Indy!!

Wow! My big boy! I can't believe it's already been 7 years since my precious boy was born. Amazing! Indy is such a joy to us and we are so proud of him and the young man he is becoming. Six is such a sweet age to me, but when they turn 7 it seems their "babyhood" is finally behind them. That makes me a little sad, because I know the years of my gentle and sensitive little lover boy are dwindling quickly. But, I also know that we have many years of wonderful adventures ahead of us. I look forward to seeing the man he will become and the blessing he will be to our family.

Indy, you are a special gift given to us straight from God and I am so grateful for that gift. You have made our lives so wonderful just by being in them. I'm so excited for you that you are 7 now and growing up, loving Jesus. Thanks for being such a great son! We love you very much!

Happy Birthday!!!

He was so funny yesterday! He was literally counting the hours until he turned 7. At 12 noon, he said, "Oooo! Only 12 hours til I'm 7!!" We love you, baby!!

Having Fun....

We arrived here safe and sound, but very tired after a loooong day of traveling on Friday. We had some minor car trouble, which caused a 14-hour trip to turn into an 18-hour trip...ugh. Nevertheless, we did arrive safely and with the car intact....whew! :-) God is good.

On Saturday, we had a visit from my cousin and his wife and their two little boys. They were taking our girls for a couple days, because our girls just loved them when they lived near us years ago, and they've really missed them. The girls wanted to spend some time with them while we were up here. And, they have a little boy who's the same age as Indy, so he stayed with us for those days. Both sets of kids had a ball, but I think they were both ready to get back to their own families. :-) Anyway, Saturday afternoon, we took the boys to the little playground in town. Right next to it, there is a "splash pad", which is a little water play area with water shooting up. They had a blast and cooled down after the playground. That night we ordered pizza for dinner. The next morning we took them to a couple historical sites nearby, which the boys loved! Then we went to a town up the mountain where we saw some more cool stuff. Finally, we came home and they played for the rest of the afternoon. Then we had hot dogs for dinner.

On Monday, we took those 2 boys, plus my other cousin's little boy, who's also the same age, to Charlotte to The Discovery Place, which is a really cool children's museum. They're under renovation, so we didn't get to see as much as usual, but it was still fun and we did get to see an IMAX movie called Under the Sea, which was just soooo cool! Just imagine 4 little boys all running around a children's museum! Next time I'm putting them all in matching shirts!! lol No, actually, they did fine and they were all good listeners, so we had a great time. Oh, they also had a shipwreck and pirates exhibit on display, which they all were fascinated with. But, I think their favorite thing of all was the pirate gift shop!!! lol I think we spent more time there than anywhere else. lol After that, we met my cousin and his wife for dinner and traded kids back. It was a really nice time, but I was glad to have my own 4 kids back!

Today we didn't do too much. I went with my mom this morning to do some shopping for Indy, whose birthday is tomorrow. I can't believe he'll be 7!!! Then we went to the grocery store. It was funny, actually, because she got a call when we got there, that she had to go to her office. (That wasn't the funny part.) So, she left me at the grocery store with the list to do the shopping. I did the shopping and finally headed out to the car. When I got to the car, I looked across the street to my mom's office, and happened to see my mom unlocking her car, about 100 yards away! I waved at her and she waved back. (That's the funny part!) It struck me as so "small-townish" that I could see her across the way and wave to her. You can't really do that in South Florida. I think mostly because everyone is always in such a hurry that no one ever takes time to look around. Everyone kinda lives in their own little world. So, I thought it was really cool that that happened.

And, finally (at last!!) tonight I took my grandmother out for the evening. We had a lot of fun, too. We went out to dinner and to Toys R Us and to the Christian book store and to the Dollar Store, which she loved! We ended up staying at the dollar store for almost an hour!! It was so funny. But, we did have a really nice time and I am always so happy to get yet another chance to spend time with her.

Well, that's all for now. I'll try to check in again in a couple days. Have a great week!

The Bold and the Busy

The Busy:
Today I traded vehicles with Nicky so I could use his truck to take loads to the dump and pick up a dresser for the girls. Man, was it hot today!! I had Savannah and Juan (and the boys, of course) help with 3 dump runs and then pick up the dresser. We bought a $30 dresser from a thrift shop nearby. I was so happy to find a cheap, decent quality dresser. We washed it down then sanded it and finally painted it. Savannah is so happy to have a place to keep her clothes!

I'm not sure why I posted this, but I felt very accomplished today. It took most of the day and I was glad I hadn't planned on doing anything else major today. I usually try to plan on too many jobs in too short a time, so it was good today. I have a list for tomorrow and a list for Thursday to get ready for the trip. I'm pooped just thinking about.

The Bold:
Remember Savannah had received a modeling contract last month? She has 2 months to get her photo cards made and return them with her signed contract. We've put it off because the cards cost a little bit of money. Well, I decided that we needed to get the cards made before we left for the trip so we can return the contract as soon as we return. So, yesterday I asked her about the contract. She said she couldn't find it. She said she'd been keeping it in a specific location to keep it safe, but now it was gone. Nicky even said he'd seen it just the day before, but again, didn't know where it was now. Bummer. I searched her room last night. Then I searched the multiple garbage bags she filled with her room contents and put in the garbage cans. I searched the rest of the house. Finally, I gave up. I decided to pray about it. Not only pray, but taking lessons learned from my friend, Linda, I prayed boldly and with confidence. I specifically asked God to help us find it before 5pm today (Tuesday). I told Savannah and Juan that I was going to send an email to the company asking for another copy, but not until after 5pm. They asked why and I told them. Then, today, we found it. In a box in the corner of her room. At 1:30pm. Wow! What an awesome lesson for the kids to have been a part of, seeing God's faithfulness in such minor details. It showed them that praying boldly and specifically makes a difference. I was thrilled.....and so relieved....too.

Well, that's it for now. I'm not sure I'll have time to post again before I go, so if not, I'll catch you on the flip side. See ya! :-)

Menu Plan Monday

Here's this week's menu, even though it's a day late. Sorry about that.

Sunday- Creamy Chicken Alfredo

Monday- Roast Chicken

Tuesday- Steak & Mushrooms

Wednesday- Turkey Breast

Thursday- Baked Ziti

Friday- Tater Tot Casserole

I'm leaving Friday morning, so the menu is short this week. I'm putting the tater tot casserole in the crock pot in the morning before I leave so it can be cooked for Nicky's dinner. The next Menu Plan Monday won't be posted until Monday, August 10 or so, assuming my mind can function at that point. We'll see. Otherwise it will be the following Monday. See ya when I get back!

Tooth Update

Well, about 11:30 this morning, Nicky called from work and asked about Levi. I told him about the band-aid incident and he felt bad for poor Levi. He told me to call the dentist anyway, even if Levi didn't want me to. He then spoke to Levi on the phone, probably lecturing about being a good boy for the dentist. So, I called the dentist and they told me to come in.

After taking an x-ray, they decided that the cavity had just gotten too close to the nerve and now he would need more extensive work on that tooth. And, since he wouldn't sit still last time, they really didn't want to try again. They decided to just put a "tooth band-aid" on it, you know, some of that hard white stuff to fill it in and keep it protected until he gets to the sedation dentist next month. Of course, he screamed, and all they did was put a cotton roll in and put in the white stuff. Afterwards, we asked if it hurt and he said "No." They did give me a prescription for an antibiotic, just to ward off any infections, and told me to keep giving him the motrin until the pain subsided. Apparently, when this happens, the pain gets worse and worse for a couple days and then begins to subside. That's when the nerve is actually dead. She said his pain should be bad for a few more days and then start getting better. We'll see. I just hope it's better before we leave for vacation next Friday!

Now, we just have to see how long that tooth band-aid will actually stay in there!!

Need Tooth Advice

I need some help and you guys are so great at giving helpful advice, so please comment with whatever helpful hints you have.

A few weeks ago we took Levi in to the dentist and she fixed two of his teeth. He got one crown and one filling. He did great that day. The next week I took him in for round two, but he completely freaked out and they couldn't do a single thing. I took him to a sedation dentist to see if they could help and how much it would cost. Turns out there's good and bad news: The bad news is that my dental insurance is almost used up for this year, so we're going to have to pay a lot out of pocket. The good news is that my medical insurance will cover 80% of the sedation fee, which is also a lot, so what's left for us is not much. However, we can't get into the sedation dentist until August 21. We have that appointment scheduled.

By the time we had gotten to our initial visit at the sedation dentist, Levi's one complete cavity was broken, leaving a big hole where the filling was. Ugh. He's had no pain, so I haven't really worried about it. Last week, when I took Indy for a cleaning and check up, I asked the dentist about the broken filling and something about the crown. He still had no pain, but she confirmed that the filling had fallen out or broken or something.

A couple days ago, Levi woke up in the middle of the night with a lot of pain in his tooth. He's had it ever since Wednesday night and this is Friday morning. And, this morning, I caught him with the bandaids, trying to put one in his mouth on the cavity. Poor baby. I've been giving him Motrin at bedtime, just so he can sleep, which has helped some. But, during the daytime, I don't know what to do for his tooth pain. I've tried vanilla and he hates it. I've tried Ambisol, and he hates it. He won't let me put either one of those back in his mouth. I don't really want to keep giving him Tylenol or Motrin, but he's starting to not eat, which is a very bad sign for him. He's choosing not to eat, saying he's not hungry. When I ask, he confirms that it's really because his tooth hurts. And, now he's getting really cranky, like a little evil child. I know that's not him and I know what an awful pain a toothache is. No wonder he's cranky, but we've got 5 weeks until his sedation appt. So, do you know of anything I can do to help his tooth pain? A tea, poultice, something? Please leave comments with your ideas and I'll report back if any of it helps. And, if you think of it, please, please pray for relief for his pain, especially since we're going on vacation next Friday. I would really hate for my family in NC, who hardly ever see him, see him as a little monster.

Ok, that's it. Thanks in advance for your help.
Mylinda :-)

Bubbles!

You're probably wondering why I would write a post about bubbles. Well, actually, I'm fascinated by them. If you have ever worked with little kids, you know that they love bubbles. But, the fascinating thing is that God invented them. Why would God ever invent such a thing?? Have you ever wondered that? I have. As far as I know, they don't have any usefulness, except entertainment. They float, which we can't do. They sparkle and have little tiny rainbows inside, making them look colorful. And, they can be mesmerizing, which is probably why the kids love them. You can blow bubbles for kids and they'll let you do it until you pass out! They never seem to tire of them. What a cool idea God had to invent bubbles. And, the funny thing is that bubbles seem to be enjoyed by most everyone, even older people.

It just strikes me as a little "wink" God is giving us by giving us bubbles. It's one of those seemingly useless things that give such delight and pleasure. Wow. How sweet of God to put these little gifts into creation just for our enjoyment. If you take a look around, I bet you can find many of these surprise gifts God gives us. Think of a child's laughter, of a precious friendship, of butterflies, and so many other things (not all of which are useless, mind you). Slow down a little bit and take a look. I know you can find some!

The Birthday Boys

We will be on our trip to NC during the week of both boys' birthdays. Nicky realized this last week, and since he'll be staying home instead of going with us, he was disappointed he would miss their birthdays. So, to rectify this, we decided to do a "family" birthday celebration before we left for NC and before Ashton left for camp. We planned to do it on Saturday, but since Nicky had to work on Saturday, we changed it to Sunday. That became a VERY busy day.

After church on Sunday morning, we came home and I had ordered pizza online to be ready for us to pick up after church. (Man, that ordering online stuff is great!!) Before I went to get it, we decided to end the boys' torture and let them open their gifts. Levi opened this one first and just look at how excited he was!!
The funny thing is that he had no idea what it was, but he was really excited!! lol It was an insulated lunch bag, full of matching water bottle, snack container, sandwich box, and ice pack, all individually wrapped. Indy got one, too, with a different pattern. These are for our classes we'll be taking at the zoo this coming fall and spring. Indy wasn't nearly as excited. lol

Indy was excited about this electronic Connect Four game. He played it all day long. It'll be great for our 14 hour trip to NC!!

He was also excited about this XBox game. It's Lego Indiana Jones. He couldn't play it today because Daddy had control of the tv, so he's got it set right next to the XBox so he can play it when he gets up. lol

This was a "bump truck" (monster truck) toy Levi had wanted. It's this rugged ramp race thing where the trucks sit on top and race down. He was VERY excited about this one....even more excited than he was about the lunch bag!! lol

Indy got a Star Wars Lego toy, which I think he was the most excited about. He kept playing with it all day long. Here he is building it again.

And, here's Levi playing with the race ramp in his room. He just got a real kick out of it. And, it's really cool because it can fold up and store 6 bump trucks AND it needs no batteries! When was the last time you bought a toy you could just open and play with that needed no batteries?? Awesome!

After presents and pizza, we took all the kids to the movies to see Ice Age 3. It was really good; much better than I anticipated. I was pleasantly surprised. Everyone enjoyed that. Then we came home and I quickly made tacos so Ashton could eat before we took her to church for camp. After she ate, we sang Happy Birthday to the boys and had cake. Now, mind you, I'm dealing with baking in a toaster oven, so I decided the safest way to make a cake for them was to use the bundt pan. The boys hadn't seen the cake. When I opened it up so we could sing, Levi said, "Hey! A big donut!" We all cracked up because it did look like a big donut!!

Don't they look so sweet next to their big donut cake?

Well, they lost it after that first picture. They were raring to go!

Now, look who's sneaking a finger full of icing!! Not Levi. lol He's looking like such a little angel....yeah! We just didn't get him on film! lol

So we sang Happy Birthday and what do you do after that? They blow out the candles, of course! Unfortunately, I didn't have any candles, so I made them pretend to blow out candles. lol I'm so weird. lol Anyway, here they are being good sports for their odd mama and pretending to blow out candles. lol

After cake, we went to church to take Ashton for camp. When I went to find Levi to get his shoes on to go to church, I found him in the bathtub doing "tricks" with his bump trucks. He was having a ball! I guess the tub is good for more than one thing, huh??

Overall, it was a fun and memorable day. And better yet, they are still going to celebrate their birthdays in NC with the rest of the family!! Lucky ducks!!

Happy Birthday, my big boys!! We love you!!

Youth Camp

Ashton left for youth camp tonight (I'm writing this on Sunday evening). Here she is as we unloaded the car with all her stuff. She couldn't believe I was taking a picture!! lol She should know I would be!

Here she is on the bus, with a friend, ready to head out. They are going to the mountains of NC, only about half an hour from Mamo. So, Mamo will be picking her up next Saturday and then she'll stay at Mamo's house for a week, until me, Savannah, and the boys get there, in two weeks from this weekend. She's going to have a lot of fun. But, if you think of it, please pray for her. That she'll be able to really grow spiritually during this week of camp and especially, that the church bus will make it up to camp without incident. It loves to lose the a/c, but it's been fixed, just this week, so let's hope it continues to work.

Mamo has a lot of plans for the week Ashton is there and they're both very excited. If you add the week of camp, the week at Mamo's, and then the two weeks we're there ourselves, Ashton will be gone from home for a whole month. She's been very excited, but I know she'll be very happy to get home again in a few weeks. We were all sad to see her go, but I know she'll have fun. Boy, if it's hard to say goodbye for two weeks, what's it going to be like when she grows up and actually moves out!! Yikes!!

Have fun, baby. We'll miss you!! :-)

Menu Plan Monday

Well, here's this week's menu...

Sunday- Tacos

Monday- Lasagna

Tuesday- Roast, mashed potatoes & gravy, baked mac & cheese

Wednesday- Chicken Tetrazzini

Thursday- Taco Casserole

Friday- Pesto Chicken & Pasta

Saturday- Sloppy Joes

Pesto Chicken & Pasta

1-16 oz. corkscrew pasta (or bowtie)

3/4 cup prepared pesto

1/2 cup chicken broth

3 cups cubed chicken

1 cup chopped roasted red peppers

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1 Tbsp. chopped basil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a 13x9 pan with Pam. Cook & drain pasta. Combine pesto & chicken broth in large bowl; mix well. Add pasta & coat well. Stir chicken & roasted red pepper into pasta mixture until combined. Spoon mixture into prepared pan; top with parmesan. Bake casserole until thoroughly heated & cheese begins to melt, 20-30 minutes. Sprinkle with basil.

Enjoy!

4th of July Party

Last Saturday, we had our July 4th Party. It's an annual tradition around here and the kids LOVE it! It actually started about 10 years ago when my cousin was living with us. His birthday is on July 4th, so we started this party thing. Then we found out that our neighbor's birthday is on July 4th, too. So, we started a joint party, which just grew from there. The neighbor has a band, so they come and set up and play for us and everyone brings their fireworks and noisemakers. We have one friend who actually built his own mini cannon that makes a really big boom, but shoots out nothing. The kids love it! Unfortunately, that friend was visiting his mom in Virginia over the holiday weekend, so we didn't get to enjoy his big banging!! lol

Anyway, here's some of the kids chowing down. Yummy! We always barbeque some venison and hot dogs (for the kids) and the neighbors cook up some ribs and chicken. Then, all the guests bring their own chairs and side dishes to share. It's a lot of fun.

Kids playing.....
Kids doing fireworks....even big kids!! lol No, seriously, Nicky always does the fireworks with the kids. I think he has as much fun as the kids do! lol

My little warriors....

This is a cake my friend, Linda, and her daughter made for the party. It's red, white, and blue!

Pretty cool, huh?? And look! A rare photo of me! Someone absconded with my camera and snapped this picture.

It was a fun and relaxed party. We met some new people and had a great time. Hope you all had a great 4th too! Happy Birthday, America! :-)

Before and After

Well, I'm finally posting the before and after pictures of my back room. I've only been working on this room for about a month now, and finally finished it sometime last week. Ahhh.....

I'm beginning the tour with the least noticeable change. This is the game shelf. Oh, by the way, some of the original pictures were taken with the camera turned longways, except I forgot that on Blogger, I can't rotate the pictures. Bummer. That means that some of the pictures, you'll have to turn your head to get a good view. Anyway, back to the game shelf. This was the first place I worked, mostly because it was bothering me the most. This was actually on my list for last summer's jobs, but unfortunately, I didn't get to it. So, here I was, again this summer, facing the game shelf. So, I began here and the very first day, I got rid of at least 12 games that were missing enough pieces so we couldn't actually play the game. A couple of them were games that were mostly in tact, but we never, ever played them. Thus, out they went. I filled a construction grade, 30 or larger (I'm not sure) gallon bag with games and out it went into the trash. Here is the before and after. It doesn't look much different, but believe me, it is.

Ok, actually, these two pictures are the after photo first and the before photo second...did I do that on all of them???

Yep, I did. Argh. Anyway, here is the kid book shelf. Unfortunately, the little table is in the way, but compared to the before picture, you can see the difference. I did take a bunch of books off and gave them away, and I even threw some falling-apart ones away. Hey, that's big for me!! lol I also organized the shelf and notice the top of the shelf. BTW, the big blue bins to the left are the kids' school boxes. Each homeschooled kid gets a box to keep all their books, supplies, notebooks, etc. in. It helps keep the overall room organized, even though the bins are big and ugly. Oh well, you can't have it all.

Now, this one has a HUGE difference. Ahhh.... I just love this one! This is the bookshelves I have along the back of the room, under the windows. They have just kept getting stuff piled on top and on the shelves. As a matter of fact, it was getting so loaded that we were starting to cover up the windows!!

After.....

Before.... Isn't that just amazing???
This is the final one. This is a bookshelf I have on the left side of the room and the small shelves along the back windows. I've had it turned sideways, but a friend suggested I turn it forward. Here it is sideways, piled with way too much stuff that's been collected for years. I completely emptied the shelf and cleaned it (as I did the others), then threw out a ton of stuff and gathered enough giveaway books to fill a whole box. I was happy to find many friends who wanted all the books and didn't have to throw one of the good ones away.

Before.....


After...hey, I got this one in the right order!! lol

I am completely amazed at the transformation in my back room! It looks sooo much bigger and is so decluttered it's really exciting! We have room to move around and it's all organized. I love being in there now! I found a new place for my scrapbook stuff (in another, less obtrusive location within the same room) and I will be able to get to it easier, as needed. Even though it was very difficult and frustrating working on it (and actually starting to work on it), I'm so happy it's done and so pleased with the outcome. I knew I would be when I finished, but it was just that darn getting started that was killing me.

I still haven't gotten to some of my other summer projects, like the garden, cleaning the windows, doing some scrapbooking, weeding the front flower beds, but the big one is done and these others are mostly small enough that I can do them in spurts, as I have time. So, overall, I'm very happy. I can't wait for you to come and see it sometime!!

Menu Plan Monday

Ok, as promised, here's my menu for this week.

Sunday: Leftovers

Monday: Quick Manicotti

Tuesday: Swiss Steak

Wednesday: Santa Fe Chicken

Thursday: Stuffed Green Peppers

Friday: Creamy Chicken Alfredo

Saturday: Order Pizza

On Saturday, we're going to do a family outing for both the boys' birthdays, since we'll be on vacation during their birthdays. Nicky wants to celebrate with them, too, so we're going to go to the movies, have a cake and order pizza. They don't know, so it'll be fun!

New Beginnings

Well, I'm back again, and for sure this time. lol So, even though today is Monday, and I should be posting a menu, I think I'll do a family update instead, since I've been gone so long. Maybe tomorrow I can post the menu for this week. But first, let me just say a big THANK YOU to those of you who are still faithfully checking this blog to see if I've updated it. I can't believe you're still hanging around, but I do appreciate it.

I'm going to list updates in no particular order, just as I think of them, so here goes: Savannah won her one year contract with the modeling agency. We have to pick her favorite picture from the photo shoot and have it put on these 5x7 and 8x10 cards for her to use at auditions. Once we return some of the cards and the signed contract to the company, she will get a password for their website/bulletin board where they post upcoming auditions. She can then go on there and pick which auditions she wants to participate in. The company does not take a commission from her until her contract is upgraded to the professional contract. Right now she is in the "development" stage and they want her to go for these small jobs so she can get experience and build her resume. Their aim is that after 9-12 months, she will be able to upgrade to the professional contract where she gets the "big" jobs. I think they liken this "development" time to a weeding out time, where the ones who are serious will really use this time to build their resume and those who aren't serious will sort of dissipate, ya know? I plan to let Savannah go which way she will. If she's serious, she will check the bulletin board and if not, she'll "forget". We'll see what happens.

Today I start school with the boys. Yes, I know it's July, but to tell the truth, I'm already behind by 2 weeks. I really wanted to start back on June 15 or 22, but it just didn't work out. Ugh. I was determined that I wouldn't start school until I had finished the back room, which I finally have! Whoo hoo! Well, mostly anyway. I took some before pictures, and after I finish getting the stuff put away from this weekend and our 4th of July party, I'll take some after pictures. I'll post those later this week. Anyway, back to school. So we're starting today. Indy is starting 2nd grade and Levi is starting kindergarten. This is going to be veeeerrry interesting. lol I do have a neat new curriculum I'm trying and it looks like it's going to be fun, yet "gentle learning", if you know what I mean. Not too high stress. I'll let you know how it works out.

Ashton is working this week at our church's children's camp. She's working 9-5 each day this week, Monday thru Friday. She worked one week in June also, and she was gone so much it was like she wasn't even in town. I really missed her. I will this week, too. Unfortunately (for me...lol) next week she'll be going to youth camp in NC with our youth group, so I'll miss her then, too, and she really won't be here. THEN, the following week, she'll be at my mom's house in NC for a week, all by herself with Mamo. She's going to have a lot of fun, but I will miss her. Somewhere around the 24th or so, the other kids and I will be going up to NC to spend a couple weeks with my mom and see my brother before he goes over to Iraq (or wherever they send him) again. Nicky's going to stay home and work, but he'll have 3 whole weekends to work on some stuff around the house. I think he knows what he wants to work on, but I don't know. It'll be a nice surprise for me when I get home. We'll see what he gets done. Fun, Fun!

Speaking of Ashton, as I was driving her to church this morning, we were talking about her going to school in the fall...well, next month, really. I am so sad thinking about her being gone off to school. I was like this before Savannah went, too, but once school starts and I ggt back into the swing of baseball, field trips, park group, school stuff, etc. I got over it and I was ok. I know it'll be the same with Ashton, but right now when I think of her going to school, I get sad. sniff, sniff! I know I'm really going to miss her.

And again, speaking of school, in case you didn't know, Savannah's going to be homeschooling again. She decided she was sick of all the drama and nonsense and time wasting that goes on in school. So, she's going to be continuing in the vet class/program at her school, while doing all her other classes at home. She's doing some of the classes online and some in books on her own. She's very excited and even made me get her geography assignments set up so she could start today, too. It's funny. She's still working on a class online from this past school year, but soon, she'll finish that one and starting the new ones. We've ordered her books for the other classes, so when we get back from NC, she will start on those, too. Oh, and she's doing great on her driving. She drives me almost everywhere now and she's getting much better. I'm very proud of her.

Well, I guess that's our updates for right now. I'll try to do the menu tomorrow and maybe the pictures of the back room on Wednesday or Thursday. Hope you all have a great week! And, thanks for hanging around!!

Happy Independence Day!

MyHotComments