The Rest of July

After we got back from house sitting for the Pilkertons, we had to deal with Josh's jaw surgery. Thankfully, he did not have to have his jaw wired shut. They were able to put a plate and screws in to secure his jaw so it could heal properly. His recovery time was also considerably less - 2-3 weeks versus 6-8 weeks. He came through the surgery well and has minimal soreness. He is still eating soft foods, but should be back to complete health by next week.

We finally got all of Cody's boxes shipped and have the kiddos' rooms almost completely set up and functional. I still have to work on switching the closets around, but they finally have bedding and decor on the walls. I am so thankful that we had mostly everything we needed for Kari's room. We are still waiting on curtains for both rooms and some more decor for Noah's room. They love having their own space and seem to be sleeping better.

Our bedroom still needs some work and the biggest problem right now is getting the bathroom operable. Once we get the toilet fixed, we can paint and set everything up in there. It will be nice to have another bathroom (or toilet, at least) since we all seem to need to be in the bathroom at the exact same time, especially in the morning. Plus, I will appreciate not having to run all the way downstairs to pee in the middle of the night.    

The kiddos finished up a week of marathon VBS last week. They attended our church's VBS in the morning and another church's VBS at night. They thoroughly enjoyed both and it gave Rick and me a chance to have some alone time together. We especially enjoyed being able to have dinner on Thursday night to celebrate our 11th anniversary. The kiddos were in the musical production on Friday night, but Kari requested that we not videotape her performance. I think Rick did get a few pictures, though.

This week we are having a few swim play dates now that the weather has cooled off a bit. It was in the 100s every day last week and we didn't have any AC in the van and Rick's car was in the shop. His car is still not fixed, but the van's AC got fixed today. Thank you, Jesus!

We are planning to be in VA for a bit next week and are looking forward to spending time at Holly's, the beach and with the Lamarres. We were hoping to make it to SC to see the Hersheys this summer as well, but are probably going to have to postpone that trip.

I can not believe that school starts in less than a month! This summer has really flown by!  

A Few Days Away

We've been at the Pilkerton abode for the last few days housesitting and duck/chickensitting. We came up on Tuesday night and will be heading home some time today. It has been nice to be away from the normal every day routine of being home, that lately has consisted of cleaning, purging, dump and Goodwill runs. The kiddos have been able to swim, I have been able to nap and Rick was able to get some schoolwork finished. We also celebrated Noah's 7th birthday and had dinner at Cracker Barrel. But, not on his birthday. No, on his birthday Noah wanted Costco's pizza for dinner =)

I have also done something while we've been here that I never expected to do - I picked up a chicken, more than once even. Yeah, it has been good to get away and do somethings a little different.

4th of July 2011

Rick had a DJing gig on the 4th that allowed us to go to the Inner Harbor in Baltimore and watch the fireworks on a tour boat. It was a really neat experience for all of us. It was so nice to be able to spend time with the kiddos, making memories and celebrating the country's birthday!

   When we got to the Harbor, Rick loaded the DJ equipment on the boat and then we went and had dinner. We made it back to the back for one of their 45 minute tours of the Harbor. It was really neat to see the old buildings and hear about the history of the port. After we were done with the tour it was time for the fireworks  tour to start. It was a bit long for the kiddos, as we had already been on the boat for an hour, but they did really well. There was an air conditioned lower deck where we hung out until the fireworks display began. It was nice to just be able to hang out with the kiddos. And Rick did a great job DJing. People were singing and dancing. It was a really great evening even though we had a few snafus at the end of the night when we were trying to leave.

*The picture of the motorcycle and the guy with the motorcycle shows the ticket he was given for parking his bike on the pier and him coming back to find the ticket.  

Field Day 2011

Rick and I had off on the day the kiddos had Field Day (it was Rick's birthday, too). Noah's class went first. It was so neat to watch him doing all the relay races. I think the water relay was his favorite.

Kari's class started their games after lunch and it was really hot! She was doing really well with the games, but said she didn't wanted to stay. After a few more games, she changed her mind, but wanted us to go home. We decided to go to Costco until it was time to pick them up from school. We didn't even make it into Costco and the school nurse called saying Kari had a fever and needed to be picked up right away from school. So, we headed back to school, picked up Kari and Noah and ended the day with a few Slurpees.