Enjoying summer!

We are having a great summer!  Nicole's ear is officially healed and she can begin swimming and bathing without earplugs or headbands.  Yippee!

The house is looking AMAZING with everyone's help in our new cleaning routines.  Joseph, Nicole and I had a great time the other night - just being crazy and cleaning the playroom as fast as we could go!  I love it!  It is so relaxing to be able to enjoy your home and not stress over it.  And clean toilets and sinks, now there's something to cheer about.

We've had some fun game nights and movie nights too!  This movie night coming up I even got a fire pit (of sorts) and have all the supplies for campfire smores.  Yummy!  Loving all the desserts we've been having too, with all my extra time on my hands to make them.

Like I said, it's been a really great summer!

Here's a video of combined bowling from today and a shot of the scoreboard and the winner and her final scoreboard.




Nobody picked up any pins on the 2nd half of their 6th frame!

 
I purposely caught her off guard.  Funny expression for someone who loves winning and just won!

 
That was her actual total - 2nd place was me with 101 - NOT 0.  =)

We love weekends!

With Joe's new schedule, I had been very anxious all week and decided to take Friday off and get the weekend started early.  And we did, Thursday we ate out for dinner - Juke Box Diner - won't be going back there anymore - wait staff was okay - but management and kitchen staff SUCKED.  Anyways - I guess that was good in a way - because if you start off the weekend bad - it can't get much worse - RIGHT?!?!?!!?  =D

After dinner - we uncovered the pool...


Looked a lot worse than it was - but we knew it was gonna take all weekend and then some to get it clear!  Definitely need a new cover before Fall!


Almost Full!  (Important First Step)

Friday night ended up being an unscheduled Family Game Night - Joseph's choice - Mousetrap - and I was the first and only mouse trapped so I lost and Joseph won and Joe just kept landing on the space that sent you back to start (forfeit).


During the yard sale we had - I took a moment to film Joseph's wiggly tooth.




The first swimmer of the season!  Yeah Joseph!  Jaime was actually the first one to go underwater, but Joseph was pretty close!

We had to hurry out of the pool to attend Owen's 4th birthday party at the Putt-Putt place.  Everyone had a great time!


Here's Nicole just before we headed home, loving up on the Nathan's Dairy Bar cow.

Following dinner out again - this time - Golden Corral (much better dining experience), we had Family Movie Night - Jaime chose Courageous.  One of the best movies I have ever seen in my life.  Just awesome!  Both girls agreed!  We loved it!!!


 60 hours since opening.....




The littlest swimmer of the season was so excited to finally swim that she peed her pants!  =)

After 3 straight days of backwashing and shock and clarifier, still not quite perfect, but with forecasts of rain for the next three days, it may be a little while yet.

After taking the photo above, Joseph came up onto the pool deck to show me his loose tooth was bleeding.  I told him to have Sabrina get him a little salt water rinse and he turned to head toward the house.  I thought to myself "It's too bad that thing doesn't just fall out".  And sure enough - it did.  I saw him put his hand up to his mouth and turn back toward me "Mommy it fell out!!!"  I burst out with a chuckle and asked to see his tooth and altered grin.  Then I said go show Daddy, and as he ran through the back door he shouted to his sisters "I lost my tooth".  I have never seen them pause a youtube video faster so they could jump up and congratulate their brother.  =)



Thank you God for such a wonderfully enjoyable weekend!



I could go for having E.T. as a son-in-law...

This is the end of a 45 minute scene with Nicole very upset that she has lost her husband.  I have to say that I was a little freaked out wondering if there was possibly anything more to what she was saying.  I should mention that she had just watched E.T. for the second time in a week and wanted to keep watching it when I sent her and Joseph to bed.  I just don't see a link between Niki losing her husband who ends up being E.T. outside in a car, and the movie, but then again - I don't have the amazing fortune to view the world and it's movies through two-year-old eyes.

As the temperatures change, so do the days of our lives

The days that we have the girls each week are changing, anyways.  For almost a decade, we have had the girls on Mondays and Tuesdays, and as a result of Joe's last bid at work, that may never happen again.  Beginning Monday, May 14th, we will begin having the girls on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and of course every other weekend.  Joseph and Nicole's after-school/day care schedule will change as well.  Coming or staying home with Daddy on Thursdays and Fridays now.
This is going to be soooooo WEIRD.  I bet that it takes us 3 months to figure out what day it is!  I just pray no one gets forgotten or doesn't get picked up because of the change!!!  8-O

We loved something and we set them free,

And now we don't think they will ever come back.  Eleven ducklings.  Incredibly soft and unbelievablely cute.  They fell out of a tree, where their nest was, and straight into our hearts, Saturday afternoon.

Monday afternoon they waddled quickly away, keeping pace with 'mama', who gave the impression she knew exactly where they were headed.  To a safer place?  To join up with their Daddy and other duck families?  We don't really know.  We will never forget them though, that is for sure.  




It's going to be a busy day!

First off I need to find out what time I need to wake up the children so I can get them ready for us to go to church and I can serve in niki's room.  Then at some point during the day we have to go to walmart mainly for dog food and bottom dollar mainly for milk.  which would be best bought first thing after leaving church but I don't think niki's nap schedule is going to work with that.

I also wanna finish cleaning the dining room and get all the laundry done and put away and have dinner ready when joe gets home.  maybe it's not as bad as I think it is but I sure am tired already just looking at the list.  And I'm sure I've left something off the list.  oh well better get started or nothing will get done!  =)