Family game morning, procrastinating, giggles

1. We played a game of Risk this morning. My middlest daughter didn't want to play, but she found ways to keep herself entertained.
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. I spent the early afternoon calling people I needed to call to check on various bills and paperwork. I had been procrastinating, but everything worked out. Once again, it proves that worrying and procrastinating is not a good idea.
   
   
3. The girls are playing paper dolls this afternoon and getting along. It's nice to hear them laughing and giggling.
   

Vacation, green, hibiscus

1. It's our last full week of vacation with all three girls at home. I'm enjoying the chance just to take it easy. Can you believe it's almost August already?
   
   
2. Everything is so nice and green again after the rains last week. I love the views from my windows.
   
   
3. The hibiscus are really in bloom now. The hummingbirds are very happy.
   

Youth choir, cucumber man, eggplant

1. The girls sounded great tonight when the youth choir sang at church.
   
   
2. The man at church with the really good cucumbers gave us another cucumber and more yellow squash.
   
   
3. Eggplant parmesan for lunch
   

Hummingbirds and butterflies, piano, Mom

1. The flowers that are supposed to attract hummingbirds and butterflies are doing their jobs. I've seen lots of butterflies, and my hummingbirds were flitting all around this morning, also.
   
   
2. The girls are practicing the piano again after a short break this summer. It's nice to have more piano music in the house again.
   
   
3. And on this special day for my mom, I would like to send out a big "Thank you!" to my mom for sending me to piano lessons. You've made an incredible difference in my life and in the life of my girls. (And thank you for the hummingbird and butterfly garden, too.)
   

New scrapbook, no laundry, squash

1. I'm making good progress on my latest scrapbook (pictures from the USA from 2006). If I can get this done in the next couple of weeks, I will be in good shape with my pictures. Not that I'll be completely caught up because I'm still need to finish the baby books for the girls, and a few other project I have planned, like a scrapbook of my trip to Japan back in the late 1990's.
   
   
2. In spite of all the scrapbooking, the house is still fairly picked-up and clean, including the kitchen. I'm behind on the laundry, but feeling completely **not** guilty about it because it's been too wet to hang out the wet clothes.
   
   
3. Our friend Gayle gave us some squash, and I've been having a blast coming up with new recipes for it. And the kids are eating it and liking it.
   

Water in the creek, sunflowers, pink

1. There was enough rain after the past two days of thunderstorms that there was water in the creek. The twins spent several hours playing in the creek this morning.
   
   
2. My sunflowers are still standing, even after two days of thunderstorms.
   
   
3. The sky this evening was cloudy with high puffy clouds. When the sun went down, the entire sky was pink. So beautiful.
   

Wordless Wednesday #25

Rain, scrapbook, pizza

1. Rain this evening put some water in our creek.
   
   
2. I finished my scrapbook of our last days in Virginia (through May 2005). Hooray!
   
   
3. I learned how to use my husband's pizza cooker, and we had pizza for lunch.
   

Mammogram, no bug bites, new flower garden

1. I had my first mammogram today, and it was relatively easy. The hardest part was finding the diagnostic center. The actual picture-taking was better than I had been led to believe it would be. I'm glad it's over with so I don't have to dread it anymore.
   
   
2. I was outside pulling grass out of the flower beds (it was cloudy, a storm is coming), and I realized that I can be outside during the day and not have to worry about bugs. At our former house in Virginia, 15 minutes outside meant 30 mosquito bites.
   
   
3. My flowers look really nice. The seeds were a gift from my parents at my last birthday, and so I think I'm feeling a bit more invested in the new flowerbed. I suppose I feel like I owe it to my parents to keep the flowers going. So far, my determination is working.
   

Rattatouille, scrapbooking, "best dog-gone dog in the West"

1. I did it! I made rattatouille. I really liked it. The rest of the family wasn't so excited. But I made a really nice lunch of Poulet de France and rattatouille, and I was very proud of myself.
   
   
2. My husband ran errands in the afternoon, and that gave me more time to scrapbook today instead of driving the kids around. Hooray!
   
   
3. We watched Old Yeller this evening with the girls. It's amazing how time changes things. I liked that movie as a kid, but now, all I can think about is how much that youngest kid really needs a good spanking. The mom keeps threatening to do something about him, but she never does. The kid is just so annoying! But it was nice to see the movie again. My husband was walking around the house singing, "best dog-gone dog in the West," and it really was the song from Old Yeller. The man can't remember what he had for supper last night, or the names of his cousins, but somehow he remembered that song from his childhood. It was really amazing.
   

Scrapbooking, "cool" bike crash, mountains

1. After my husband left for work, I was able to do some scrapbooking. I'm close to being finished with one book, and I'm really excited.
   
   
2. My oldest daughter came back from checking the mail, and she was really excited. She said that she had crashed on her bike. The bike did a complete 360 degree flip. She didn't stay on the bike for the entire 360 degrees, but she landed relatively safely in some tall grass. She had holes in the back of her shirt and in the back of her bra, and blood all over the shirt and bra, but her bike helmet (including the turkey feather she has stuck into the top) was completely OK. I patched her up with five bandaids and lots of ointment. If it had been me, I would have been upset, but she was really genuinely happy to have had such a "cool" bike accident. (My husband and I are thinking about putting her on bike probation. We think that maybe she really did hit her head to be acting so strangely.)
   
   
3. We finished watching season 4 of "24", and we're still laughing about the mountains in Iowa.
   

Forms finished, Colordal, mountains of eastern Iowa

1. I mailed off the forms for the county so that we can homeschool again, legally. I also remembered to mail off the forms for our water company.
   
   
2. We found my niece's doll, Colordal, and yellow bear named Pinky, and we mailed those today, too. I know she's related to my brother to make up a name like Colordal.
   
   
3. We've been watching "24" on DVD, and they were having trouble tracking the bad guys because of the "mountainous terrain of eastern Iowa." We're way past eastern Iowa now in the show, but we just can't stop laughing about the thought. "Yes, we can't track these people by satellite because all we see is flat countryside, miles of open road, corn fields, and hog lots." And of course, they don't want to do any damage in Iowa, so it turns out to be the safest place in the country. I guess we should have moved there instead of Tennessee. :-)

New sandals, caffeine, clean floors

1. My oldest spent her gift card on some new denim shorts and camouflage flip-flop sandals. She used to think that her feet were too ugly to show off, but she's gradually come to see that though her feet aren't necessarily her best feature, she still has cute feet. She's now willing to show them off, but mostly to show off her new toe rings.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. I remembered to stop by Krogers last night for some Drop Red and Citrus Drop soda. I've been meaning to do that for ages. It's a nice change for me as I seek to get up my caffeine levels as I start back to work.
   
   
3. I vacuumed in our bedroom, the dining room, living room, and office. The house is looking really nice.
   

Wordless Wednesday #24

Break from work, couch potato, time for photos

1. My husband changes shifts starting tomorrow, so he spent the whole day with us today. It was a nice change to have him home (though I'm not saying he should quit his job, or anything like that).
   
   
2. We watched quite a bit of the series 24 (a.k.a. Jack's Bad Day) together, and also some Hogan's Heroes. I'm finally feeling rested up enough that I think I could start back to work.
   
   
3. The girls worked together on paper dolls while Darin took a nap. It gave me a chance to get my photos downloaded from my camera and start to work on getting them uploaded to the internet.

French braids, wildlife, names of trees

1. I got to braid my niece's hair so that the two red-heads would have matching hair-dos.
   
   
2. The hummingbirds, deer, and turkeys came out to put on a show for my mom and sister.
   
   
3. My brother took a tour around our yard and told us what kinds of trees we have.
   

Honor Star and Honor Friend Ceremony

Tonight my oldest and youngest girls were honored for all their hard work in their Missionettes clubs.

My youngest Honor Star


My first Honor Friend

Sweetness, free trip, Racko

1. My oldest girl was such a sweetie today, working very hard so that her cousin could have a great weekend. I'm so proud of her sweet spirit.
   
   
2. My middlest girl had a chance for a free trip to an amusement park for the day. She came home a bit sunburned, but happy.
   
   
3. My baby girl got to try out her new-found skills in Racko by playing against her mom and grandma, and later her uncle and aunt, too.
   

Pasta for my baby, family for the weekend, sisters

1. My baby came home from camp today. To celebrate, we had her favorite for supper: pasta with red sauce (in this particular case, lasagna pasta).
   
   
2. My mom, brother, sister, and niece arrived today to spend the weekend with us. My niece has wanted to visit our new house since we moved in last year, so she was very excited.
   
   
3. I was so stressed when my baby came home from camp with a letter about lice in the camp. I called my sister, and she was able to talk me through the problem and help me calm down. I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful sister. We didn't grow up together, but I'm so thankful that she married my brother so that I could finally have a sister.
   

Scrapbooking, clean house, flower garden

1. My older girls and I had a great day of scrapbooking today.
   
   
2. We also finished up most of the cleaning we needed to do today, in less than an hour.
   
   
3. The flowers planted outside my office window are really starting to bloom now. The zinnias are first, and I think there are daisies and sunflowers coming. They are so pretty.
   

Wordless Wednesday #23 (Pet chickens and bunnies)

Scrapbook Party with the girls

1. All day Tuesday
2. All day Wednesday
3. All day Thursday
   

Camp, shoes, chocolate

1. My baby made it off to camp successfully. One of her friend's little sister is going this year for the first time. She's a friend of mine, and she came to give me a hug good-bye. She really blessed my heart.
   
   
2. We found some white pumps that my oldest needs for the ceremony this coming weekend. They were even on sale for only $7. (As a bonus, we also found her favorite scent of deodorant that we'd had some trouble finding in recent weeks.)
   
   
3. We also bought chocolate for the week of scrapbooking!
   

No cooking, nap, almost party time

1. My husband has been doing most of the cooking for his whole time off from work. It's been a really nice break for me.
   
   
2. The kids had choir practice yesterday, and that meant I got a nice Sunday afternoon nap today.
   
   
3. I'm gathering supplies for a week of scrapbooking with my two oldest girls while my baby girl is at camp next week. Fun!
   

Lucky Day, shopping, no fussing

1. Today is the luckiest day of the century!
   
   
2. My husband and I went shopping today together. Besides going to the grocery store, we had a quite pleasant trip to Home Depot to buy me a ceiling fan for our bedroom. I'm really looking forward to having that installed.
   
   
3. While we were gone, the kids worked at cleaning their rooms, and there was a big improvement, without any help or fussing from me!
   

Date with dad, working at home, Munchie

1. My oldest planned a day together for just her and my husband. Since he's been working, and especially with all the weekends he's been putting in, he doesn't get so much time with the kids. She planned a day that they both would like, so she made a picnic lunch, and they went hiking and horseback riding.
   
   
2. Back at the ranch, the youngest two and I washed and dried two big loads of laundry, put away the tent, picked up the living room, and I finished uploading all the photos from vacation. We also watched 1776 and Signs. So we had a productive and fun day, too.
   
   
3. My middlest daughter has a "pet" rabbit. He's a wild rabbit named Munchie, and she leaves him carrot peelings in various places around the yard. She was taking pictures of him today from the house. He's not quite full-grown, so he's pretty cute.
   

Sleep, catching up, still alive and uninjured

1. We all slept in after a late night last night.
   
   
2. I uploaded about half of the photos that I need to upload to get caught up with my photos.
   
   
3. The husband and kids didn't kill themselves shooting off fireworks this evening.

Happy Birthday USA, fireworks, free concert in Nashville

1. I still cry when I hear our National Anthem. So much of the hurt from living in Europe has worn off with time, but I'm glad that being back in the States hasn't lost its wonder for me.
   
   
2. The fireworks in Nashville were incredible, as usual. The weather was cooler than last year, too, so that was nice. I love watching fireworks to live orchestra music, and we had a great spot to see everything.
   
   
3. The girls enjoyed the concert before the fireworks, too. This year they got to see Taylor Swift and Rodney Adkins.
   

Time with my husband, new glasses, turkey feathers

1. My husband and I spent the day in town going to the eye doctor and running other errands. It's nice to be able to do that and to leave the kids at home without worrying.
   
   
2. I did get new glasses, and while I can't quite see in them yet, the doctor tells me that eventually they will help. My eyes are actually getting better, and it takes longer to adjust to new glasses when your old glasses are too strong, she says. Our glasses were not completely free (unlike glasses for the kids) because we have more expensive lens due to extreme near-sightedness and astigmatism, but we still paid less than $40 for both pairs.
   
   
3. The turkeys were putting on quite a show this morning. The males had their tail feathers out. I think it was some kind of macho-who's-the-top-turkey contest.
   

Programmed weekly assignment forms, test scores, open windows

1. My oldest is going to a correspondence high school next year. We've been homeschooling for nine years now, but the amount of paper work and advice I'm getting now is completely overwhelming. I can't imagine going through this as a first-time homeschool teacher. But on the good side, I was going through a CD of forms that they sent me, and I realized that I could put my calendar and my assignment forms on the computer and simplify the entire assignment process for all three girls. I spent the day on the computer typing in every assignment for the entire year, and my husband thinks I'm crazy and obsessed. OK, I am crazy and obsessed, but not so much for this. I just wanted to see if it would work, and by the time I finished with one, it was fairly simple just to go ahead and finish it up. Now I don't have to worry about assignments for the rest of the year. I feel like this was a HUGE accomplishment.
   
   
2. We also got her achievement test scores back, and she is brilliant! We're very proud of all our girls, and we love seeing their test scores because it confirms what we've known all along!
   
   
3. The weather really cooled down tonight, so we've opened the windows again tonight. It looks like we are going to have really nice weather for the 4th also.
   

New job, choir practice, twins

1. My husband wanted to surprise me, but I dragged it out of him early. He had to go into work early today, but it was to test on the fork lifts for his new job! He now has a license to drive fork lifts and other machinery around the factory. He loves to drive, and I guess they were impressed at how quickly he learned. He's much happier now than he was before. I'm not sure exactly when the new pay kicks in (though there is not much difference), but once he's officially on this new job, they won't ask him to run the presses again. Hooray!
   
   
2. My youth started choir practice again today. Only 5 weeks until the big national competition.
   
   
3. My oldest and I wore matching clothes this afternoon, right down to our matching earrings and toe rings. I don't know if anyone noticed or not, but we had fun.