Monday

Aaron swapped batteries on the mower so now we have one of three that works. He and Mike have been out mowing this afternoon because Mike went and bought some gas.

I gave girls haircuts and layered Jason's a little bit.

We had leftovers of sorts for lunch; we were supposed to have pancakes for breakfast, but I slept until 10:00. Yipes! For supper I have a pizza planned.

I had a good birthday Saturday. I have a picture. I'll have to see how it turned out and post it.

Tomorrow Laura has a dentist appointment, and then Mike wants to go scouting for blueberries.

Jason's 11th Birthday

A couple of the Bionicles from Kim.

Usually the gifts from Kim are the highlights of my kids' birthdays, but this year I think this one from Grandma and Grandpa tied for 1st place.

I had to post this one because you can actually walk across the floor!

We had BLTB's for lunch.

He had a birthday cake in Brainerd when we were down so we made birthday s'mores.

(Just for the record...I DO provide my children with their own beds; they just choose to sleep elsewhere!) :)

Friday

I can't believe it's Friday already! Wednesday I took Tracy over to Lake Bronson for soccer camp, and she'll be done tomorrow. The end of the week went quickly.

We had track last night then hit the pool for a while. It's closing soon for the annual cleaning so I'll either have to not go or be happy with the outdoor pool. :) For some reason, my swimsuit keeps pulling lower at the chest (as the baby gets bigger and bigger.) He/she has really been bouncing around the last few hours; maybe it appreciated the fact that I turned the air conditioner on for a while. It's still 75 in here but feels much better.

I just remembered I didn't put Jason's birthday pictures on here so I'll see if I can pull them from the archives. Have a great weekend!

Monday

Today Mike started his "first four" for his work schedule. Aaron and Jason had a play date, and they got to shoot air-soft guns and play on an X-Box. They left here around 9, and Mike picked them up when he got off work at 4. I had taken Jason to an orthodontist appointment so that broke up the day for him; I thought he'd want to come home, but he went back!

Emily is home; I can tell because all I hear is, "Now what can I do?"

It was terribly humid today so I'm glad it wasn't too hot. It did get up to 82 on one of our thermometers, but going by the one I trust, it was only 78. :)

I finished sewing another of my shirts but am having problems with the sleeve on the last shirt so I just set it aside for a while.

I never got Jason's birthday pictures on here. :( Another day... :)

Sunday

Hooray! I get my girls home today; it's been a long and quiet week. A rest was nice, but 5 1/2 days without them was a L-O-N-G time! Last night Mike, Tracy, Jason, Laura, and I went swimming. Aaron stayed home and made some bread dough for us; we had fry bread when we got home. It's supposed to be a "scorcher" today; I hope the air conditioner in the car works well.

I've been working on sewing myself two more shirts. I'm down to the sleeves for the last thing, but I seem to be hung up on them. They don't look like they'll match up to the shirt correctly (I had tried to alter the pattern so it fit better around the neck.) We'll see, I guess.

Not a lot is new at this point; Tracy's very excited for Wednesday because she gets to go to soccer camp.

The cow manure is really helping in the garden, but because of what cows eat, I've had more weeds in the garden than I've ever had before!!! :)

Tuesday

First a couple facts from yesterday I forgot to include:
When we were at the pool, Laura jumped in the water to me, and I let her go under a bit. She came up sputtering, wiped her eyes, shook out her ears, and declared, "I jumped too high!"
After we came out and were rounding the corner in the car, I noticed the sun looked funny, and there was a rainbow ring around it.

Today is Jason's birthday (more on that with pictures hopefully tomorrow,) and my parents came up. They brought him a washing machine and a refrigerator. :) When they left, they took Emily and Melissa with them so it's been quiet here--Emily because she causes a lot of the problems and Melissa because she's the one that is so happy and joyful most of the time. Laura and I took a nap, and we went to the pool tonight after we hit the library. Now it's time for "Signing Time" and French toast for a very late supper.

Have a great evening.

Monday

Last night the kids and I hit the pool, and because Mike is on nights, we'll probably go each evening this week. Melissa was looking for a toy, and I spotted it under the benches. The lifeguard helped her get it out and also pointed out a quarter for her to keep. Later Aaron was in the hot tub and found two quarters that he got to keep. I guess we should have stuck around longer to see if the doubling would have continued. :) Emily and I have found money at the bottom of the pool in the past also...

The baby has been moving a lot lately; it must be enjoying all the treats we had over the weekend.

We went to Bemidji Friday evening and got in on a game of volleyball with friends. Saturday Tracy went "touring" with some friends, and my mom cooked us a yummy chicken dinner with ice cream and toppings for dessert.

Saturday evening Mike's mom in Brainerd cooked us sloppy joes for supper, and Sunday after church there was a special service for the 10th anniversary of the church. They had a BBQ afterwards with a keg of rootbeer. Even though it had caffeine and I normally don't drink pop, I drank my fair share that afternoon/evening. :)

Today we worked on getting stuff put away, and Mike put on our new toilet seats and put up the new mailbox he bought. He bought a white one so the snowplow can't see to hit it. Both times we've bought a new mailbox, the plow has hit it with the first plowing. :(

Home Again

We made it home. :)

Leaving

We're packing today to head to Bemidji tonight and Brainerd tomorrow night. Mike is at work; his department is behind so he was able to work overtime yesterday and Wednesday. This morning I ran to town to get his check, stop at the bank, get some more chocolate milk (which is cheaper than white milk this week,) and vacuum the van. A lot of times I vacuum the van at home with the vacuum cleaner, but for 50 cents, I think the suction is worth it in town because it only takes five minutes versus an hour. :) Have a great weekend!

Bonfire

Well, today was the day... I got my permit yesterday, called today, and then lit the match to the big pile of sticks in our fire circle. We have some huge tree logs next to it that started burning also so I just put the hose to them since Mike wants them cut up for the fireplace. I sent the kids out with a package of hot dogs and one of marshmallows for a "treat," and all the marshmallows went. I think that is a first! I suppose it does help now that we have kids that know how to roast them instead of setting fire to them (although that was done on purpose too!) :) Now we're going to eat some chicken for supper and head to the pool.

Another Day

Wow, the weekend flew quickly by! We had fun in Warroad and spent around 12 hours there for the 4th of July. The kids signed up for the nickle registration and got ice cream cones, we did the races (all of us who were in the 3-legged race placed either 1st, 2nd, or 3rd!) and bought some cotton candy with our winnings, attended the paper plate drop (and came home with 6--could have been 8, but Someone was nice and shared two,) attended the parade, Mike ate eight different types of chili at the chili cook-off, and then we waited around for the fireworks. There was a lighted boat parade, but Tracy said there were only three boats (I only saw one.)

Today the kids and I went to town and mowed at the church building, went to the outdoor pool (and got POURED on,) went to the library, and did a couple other errands. We barely beat Mike home from work, and then I made some steak and mashed potatoes for supper. I can't remember the last time we had potatoes!!! I'm sure we have more in Bemidji at a friend's house, but it wasn't worth the drive down. :)

Tomorrow Tracy has a violin lesson, and then I'm not sure what we'll do. A few of the kids have been doing some "summer school" stuff.

That's it; I need to see if I can get Laura to sleep. She likes to stay up late and sleep late in the morning.

Pictures

Alright, here's a recent picture of the garden. I think I got a "dead" package of carrots because I'm not seeing anything. I did read on the package today that it takes a few weeks to germinate so maybe I'll give them more time before trying to plant something else. Also, I think something got four of my onions even though I have the fence. It doesn't always get closed with so many little helpers... My strawberries (not in this picture) actually have berries on them; I couldn't bear to pluck the flowers off! :) I noticed earlier the lettuce can start to be picked so we may have to have a salad Sunday.



Here's a picture of me in my new shirt. I wore it two days in a row because it was so cool. For some reason, I think it makes me look pregnant. :) I couldn't get the red eye out either. :(

*Look at that beautifully organized bookcase!* LOL--You should see the one in the living room--a BIG contrast...

Prenatal Appointment

I had a prenatal appointment yesterday, and everything is looking really well. The baby's heartbeat was at 168 again, and I measured 28 cm. We have a seven-week range of when this baby could be due, but I would guess I'm around 24 weeks. Time will tell...

We went to town yesterday afternoon, and the kids took bikes, rollerblades, and the stroller on the bike trail while I did a couple errands. We met up at the outdoor pool. It was quite chilly, but they built mini pools and the water warmed enough to play in. We had free dilly bar coupons from the library so used those afterwards and headed home.

It smelled SOOOOOOOOOOOO good when I walked in the door. Before we left, I threw some chicken breasts and bacon into the crockpot so we had those for supper with green beans, applesauce, and something else, I think. (That was too long ago to remember.) I'm awake now because I have heartburn; I'm hoping it's from the greasy bacon and not the pregnancy! :)

Sewing

Tracy and I were busy yesterday evening. We made three pairs of shorts, and I'm working on a shirt for myself. I think I only have the sleeves left. I remember telling someone once that a pair of shorts took about ten minutes to sew. However, I will have to amend that statement to, "It takes about ten minutes to sew a child's-size pair of shorts."

I have a prenatal appointment later today, and we plan to spend time in town this afternoon. The kids want to bring bikes/rollerblades on the bike path so we'll see what we can do. I have some small errands I can run also.

I'll have to post a picture of my shirt and one of the garden later today or tomorrow or whenever I get to it. :)