Saturday, August 29, 2009

VISIT WITH FRIENDS!

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Yesterday Miss Micky, Grant, and Mara came to visit us. We had a nice talk while the kids played. (Miss Micky's been a friend since she worked in the childrens library when the boys were little)


Took a walk to the thrift store--the kids are trying to get trucks to blow their air horns!


We stopped at the firehouse along the way to see the trucks!



This girls doesn't stop! It's just full speed ahead!



Yesterday it was barely 70, so the pool was out. But it was still fun to play in a little bit of water! The money we parents spend to make our kids happy -- or so we think! An old dish basin does the trick here!

Still working on purging and organizing scrapbook supplies. It's been hard to stay focused without Jackie here. It's so easy for me to get distracted with the day-to-day little things.

Until next time...

blessings, joie

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Sunday, August 23, 2009

THE PARTY WENT WELL!

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We had Terri's party yesterday. Everything went well. There was good food and good conversation! I think Terri was happy! Jim couldn't make it because he works every Saturday. But he took the time to call Terri (while driving) and kidded with her! I have many more pictures than these 4, but I wanted to post some of my favorites quickly. Terri's friend, Rob from work was there with his wife and two children. His baby girl is almost 4 weeks old. My children didn't ask ME if they could hold this tiny infant, but I walked in to the den to see this picture of Jared and then Nathan! It's precious! I wouldn't let Owen because he's too little. He was not happy! At least he got to play with Randy who's not quite 2!

Jared with Lita (not sure of spelling)


Nathan with Lita


Jared & Aunt Terri


The famous chocolate fountain!
The kids had fun!

It doesn't look so nice because I took a bunch of chocolate out to put in cups for those who wanted to sit at the table and dip and visit! Oh well, it worked fine and tasted delicious!

More pictures coming in the next day or so!

blessings, joie
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Friday, August 21, 2009

WHAT'S NEW?

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As I mentioned in my last post, I've been de-cluttering! I've gotten a lot accomplished, thanks to Jackie! Yes, we're still friends, and I'm pretty sure she's done with me. ;o( She just got a new job and will start next week! God always amazes me how he works things out. If Jackie was still working at her old job, she wouldn't have been able to bless me with her help (crackin' the whip) AND her friendship and fellowship! She really wanted this new job, and He timed it so that she could help me for a couple of weeks. I hope that I can stay motivated and stick with it. I have MUCH more to throw away or give away! But we made a big impression on the office/scrapbook nook. Back to it on Monday! 12 13-gal. (kitchen) garbage bags-full of STUFF to the local thrift store AND 8+ leaf-size garbage bags to the dump! And it's still a work in progress.
Tomorrow we celebrate my sister Terri's 50th birthday! She's not thrilled about turning 50, so we want to celebrate it with her with a "50 and FABULOUS!" theme. I hope she enjoys herself. Spent the day at Donna's helping her get ready. She was very glad to see us all go! I hope to get lots of pictures tomorrow!
Enjoy it when Nathan makes dinner! Tonight he grilled burgers--old, cheap grill, NOT a simple gas grill! {Sorry, Jan!} They were yummy! And huge! I made them yesterday, and I made them really big because they usually shrink so much. We also usually use bread, since we don't usually keep hamburger rolls on hand. Jim got hamburger rolls yesterday, and they're small! So this is how the burger looked with the bun. The boys cut around their hamburger so it would fit in the bun!
Huge burgers!

Owen borrowing Nathan's (size 9) sandals! It made me laugh!

Nathan's photography. He's going to use it for a card for his Aunt Terri.


Homeschool shelves...a work in progress.
Hopefully, next week, I'll have pictures of Terri's party!!
Until then...
blessings, joie
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Wednesday, August 12, 2009

POOL FUN & PURGING!

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Jared had a blast yesterday jumping in the pool! I don't know who had more fun, him jumping or me catching him in mid air on "film"! This pool is so small, but they've had so much fun in the last week staying cool!














For the past 2 days, my friend Jackie has been helping me purge and organize. It's not been fun for me. The conversation has been great, but the letting go is hard for me. It's emotionally draining. Does that make sense! I have a long way to go, but we're making progress. She's getting good at crackin' the whip! Don't know if we'll be friends when we're done! (just kidding, Jackie!!) I've gotten so bad at saving everything. What can I say: I'm a scrapbooker! Where do you think the word "scrapbook" came from!!!!
I don't feel liberated yet, but when I see the office area and my scrapbook area neat and organized, I will. Much of that is up to me. Jackie can't come here forever! She has a life! I told her that if she got other clients--or patients--she could do this for a living! Which means she could join the ranks of Dave Ramsey and Jenny Craig by helping people, and having work for the rest of her life! Somehow, with all the TV shows about the subject, I don't think I'm a rarity here! Hanging on to things is a common problem! But I prefer the term "Clutter Bug" over "Pack Rat". That term sounds so harsh!
I know that the organization and neatness will help put order in our day. It will help in our homeschool efforts -- it will help me to not be distracted and stressed. The boys will know right where to find things. They lose their stuff as much as I do!
Jackie gave me "homework" to have done before she comes back on Friday! I don't want to do it! I think I'll head to bed early--11pm is early for me--and wake up rested and rarin' to go! Yeah, I think I'll do that!
If I have time tomorrow, I'll post again and add a few more pictures that my MIL sent me of Jim and the boys at a lock. They're cool!
Until next time...
blessings, joie


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Friday, August 7, 2009

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Owen, as most of you know, will be 5 next month. We've had this smaller pool since he was born--last year was the first year we did not put it up--we had our 12' Intex pool up last year. But he hasn't been able to go under the water ever. He's prayed and tried, but he hasn't been able to make himself do it! This summer I bought the boys goggles. So the other day--Thurs.--he finally did it! He went under. (the pool only went up Wed.) At least his face is totally in the water! Not sure if he has actually been submersed yet! He's so proud of himself! And I'm just tickled for him! Jim and I think it was the goggles that really helped him. I think it gave him a sense of security--they also cover his nose. That's a biggie! He's such a cutie!
*Nathan informed me last night that Owen did, in fact, go all the way under the water--while they did repairs on some vessel under the water!!





bagels and "bagel cream"

This has been such a beautiful week! The boys enjoyed the sun, and I enjoyed the shade of the porch! In fact, there were times when the breeze made it down right cool!

Yesterday I finished Home Educating With Confidence by Rick & Marilyn Boyer. It's an excellent book , which I'm glad I own. I'll refer back to it time and again! I'm back to reading Home Sweet Home-School by Sue Maakestad. I started it a while back and stopped to read a couple of library books. I still have SO MUCH to read! There's always something to learn!

Until next time...

blessings, joie

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Wednesday, August 5, 2009

SUMMER'S STILL HERE

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"It's SOOOOOOO hot, Mommy! Can we put up the little pool at least??" I agreed, because it fits into the back corner of our driveway (small parking lot). So they figured out how to use Daddy's air compressor, and work began...






Remember, it was SOOOOO hot?!
They filled it with the hose --nice, cold well water.


They're wearing their shirts in the water, AND the pots you see next to the pool were filled up (multiple times) with hot water from the house. And it was still SOOOOOOOOO cold!!
blessings, joie

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Monday, August 3, 2009

ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL SUMMER DAY!

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Spent a few hours today reading on the back porch again -- beautiful day! In fact, there is no rain in the 7-day forecast! That's a first for this summer, I think!

It's like pulling teeth to get my boys to stay outside on beautiful days! I don't get it! Foolishly, I let them watch the NASCAR race at noon--it was rained out yesterday. Their guy didn't even win! I won't do that again. I've got to limit race car watching to the last 1/2 hour to an hour! Its crazy to watch it for 3 or 4 hours. Their guy may be in the lead for the first 30 laps, then lose miserably. And they get all worked up! It's not worth it -- unless Jim wants to watch it.

I'm really enjoying this book by Rick & Marilyn Boyer. They've written several homeschool books, but this is my first. Our library system doesn't carry their books, but maybe the church library does.

Owen played in water for several hours this afternoon. I love the pretend play!

I love it when I don't have to make dinner! Nathan made homemade pizza! He even made the dough! He loves to cook and bake! It's a break I really love to have once a week of so! I tell him "chicks dig a guy who cooks!"



love this!


What do you get when you cross a "big bumpy pickle" (Goliath from Veggie Tales' Dave & the Giant Pickle) with a T-Rex?


This!

MMMM!

blessings, joie

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Saturday, August 1, 2009

SPRINKLER FUN!

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So fun to see the boys in the sprinkler! We aren't going to be putting up our Intex pool this year. :o( The only level place to put it -- other than the driveway -- is down the hill next to the trampoline. And since it's rained SO MUCH this summer, there's always standing water down there! Maybe next year..




Jared


My little boy -- almost 5
Until next time...
blessings, joie
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