Cell Phones and Family Visits

Last night I had a scare. Mike, I, and the kids went with Melanie and Nathan to Chuck E. Cheese's. Everything was going great until I realized my cell phone was missing. I had clipped my cell phone case to the top of my shorts before we left the house. Hannah looked under the table for it but didn't see it. We looked around where we were sitting but it was no where to be found. Mike and I searched the car and the house, thinking that maybe it either fell off there or I had left it at home. When I called them back, the manager on duty said nothing had been found but he would keep and eye out for it. Today while we were out running errands, we stopped by CEC's to see if it had been found. The cashier had it in a drawer up front. Someone had found it and turned it in. YEAH!!! I have 100 names and numbers in this baby and I dreaded having to remember which ones I had and try to put them into another phone.

Dick and Daphne arrived this evening to stay with us for a few days. They had been in Colorado Springs visiting Richard, Mike's half-brother, and his family along with Dick's sister June and her family. Yesterday, Dick and Daphne caught a military flight to a base outside St. Louis then drove down today. It is great getting to visit with them. The last time we were together was for New Year's.

Visiting and Celebrations

Today has been long. The kids and I rode into work with Mike this morning and dropped him off. We met my friend Susan and her two boys and spent the day with them. The local movie theater was showing "Alvin and the Chipmunks" for $2 each. We all really enjoyed it, even Andrew. He sat in my lap the whole time and didn't even act like he wanted down. I bought us each a Kiddie Combo which consisted of a small popcorn, a small coke and a package of Bottle Caps candy. Andrew ate about half of the popcorn before falling asleep. After the movie, we went back to Susan's house and spent the day visiting, playing with toys and playing in the pool. The kids didn't want to leave.

Mike is going to put another coat of paint on two walls tonight and then we are done painting the living room. YEAHHH!! I will post before, during and after pictures when we are done. The hall and entry way will be worked on after Mike's dad and step-mom leave. I don't want to tackle those projects while we have visitors.

Today Andrew is 18 months old. Man, how time flies!!! He is talking so much better and does it all the time. Today is also my friend Terri's birthday. I won't say how old she is but she just hit a landmark number. Happy birthday Terri!!! Love you girl!!!

Belated Birthday and Progress

My cousin, Cindy celebrated her birthday last Saturday and I forgot to post it. SORRY Cindy!!! She and her family are vacationing in Hot Springs this week, enjoying time away before school starts up again. Hope your birthday was a good one.

Slowly, but surely, we are getting the living room painted. The reason it is taking so long is we are doing it after the kids go to bed. The wall around the fireplace has been finished and the trim almost done. We have a few touch ups to complete and it will be one more thing to check off our list. Mike painted the wall behind our couch today while the kids and I headed to Chick-fil-a. He was painting the area around the door to our kitchen when we got back home. We need to put a second coat on the wall behind the couch, paint the rest of the wall behind our t.v. cabinet and the short wall opposite the fireplace. I think we are going to paint the entry hall the Merlot burgundy color and the hallway to the bedrooms the Gaucho brown color. I haven't even started tackling the wallpaper yet. The kids had started ripping it off a while back so I think I'll let them finish the job, after I score and spray it with wallpaper remover first. I can't wait until it is completed. It is starting to come together.

Mike's dad, Dick, called us Thursday night. He and Daphne are in Colorado Springs visiting Mike's half-brother Richard (Big Rich) and his family, along with Dick's sister June and her bunch. Since Dick is retired military, he likes to fly stand-by on military flights. They were bumped from their flight Monday and there was one flight out Tuesday. They were the only two people on the plane besides the crew. Their airplane was First Lady Laura Bush's plane!!! Isn't that just the neatest!!!! He said the crew was extremely nice. The seats were huge leather seats with telephones at each one. They reclined all the way back, not the four inches that commercial flights do. Someone took a picture of Dick and Daphne as they exited the plane and the person is suppose to post it online. When they do, Dick is going to let us know so we can see it.

Home Again

Hannah and Will came home today from their camping trip with Dad and Joan. They had a blast. Nathan's team finished their tournament games on Friday so, instead of going home with Melanie and Mom, Nathan stayed with Dad and Joan. The kids rode their bikes quite a bit. I'm not sure what all else they did but they had a lot of fun. Boy, was I glad to see them today! It seemed like they were gone more than four days.

Melanie and Nathan came over after we picked up the kids and ate lunch. At first, the three older kids went outside and played. Of course, after a little bit, they came inside and got their swimsuits on because they wanted to get wet. Later this afternoon, we went out front and they kids rode their bikes around the cove while Andrew took a nap. Hannah and I went to a Mother/Daughter bible study at church this evening while Mike stayed home with the boys.

Mike and I are painting the living room. I finally decided to paint the wall around the fireplace a Merlot burgundy and the three other walls a brownish color called Gaucho. The trim will be white. The hallway leading to the bedrooms and the entry hall will be the Gaucho color with the trim done in white. Mike was talking about putting a chair rail in the hallway. I'm wondering if we want to paint the top half of the wall the brown and the bottom half burgundy but I'm not sure how that would look in comparison to the Living room. But before we can do anything to the hall and entry hall, the wall paper has to come off. Joy of joys!! I have been taking pictures as we go along and will post them at a later date.

Then There Were Three...

Dad and Joan have taken Hannah and Will camping with them for the rest of the week. Joan picked up the kids today and was meeting Dad, who has their camper. The bunch of them are headed to Tupelo to see my nephew, Nathan, play in an All-Stars baseball tournament. My mom and Melanie are driving down early tomorrow morning. Nathan's first game is at 9 a.m. Due to a doctor's appointment with my Rheumatologist tomorrow afternoon, I can't go. Bummer!! Patti and I are the only ones in the family not going. Patti's son Matthew is also playing in an All-Stars Tournament this weekend but it is closer to home. Mike and I, along with Andrew, will be here too.

Me and My Big Mouth

You would think I would learn to keep my big mouth shut. But, unfortunately, it just won't stay that way. If you remember from the last post, I mentioned that the weather has been close to perfect: not too hot with the humidity actually being tolerable. Great weather for this time of year in this part of the South. Well, not anymore. The temperature today was between 94 and 96 with lots of humidity. Tomorrow, I think the weather man said it would be around 96 degrees outside and feel like it was well over 100. The dog days of summer are here. I should have never opened my mouth. Does anyone know where I can get a lock? Maybe if I put a lock on my mouth, I can keep it shut and not jinx anything. Duct tape doesn't work...I can get it off.

Happy Birthday America!!!

Happy Independence Day!!! Can you believe this wonderful place we call home and have been blessed to live in is 232 years old? Man, it just seems like yesterday, she was celebrating 200 years!!

I hope everyone has had a great day celebrating. Our friends Susan and Todd came over with their two boys, David and Michael. My mom, Melanie and Nathan rounded out the group. We ate our fill of barbecue, cole slaw, hot dogs, corn on the cob and baked beans. For dessert, Susan made some wonderful chocolate chip cookies that were delicious. The weather was awesome. Usually this time of year is so hot and humid that you don't want to spend any time outdoors. The sky was cloudy but the temperature was nice. The humidity was almost nonexistent. The kids stayed outside most of the day jumping on the trampoline, squirting each other with water guns and splashing in the pool. Occasionally they would hit the baseball around the yard or play with some of the other toys. After everyone came in and changed from swimsuits to their clothes, we watched a couple of episodes of "Phineas and Ferb."

Thank you God for allowing us to live with the freedom to worship You freely and to live in the greatest country in the world. May you always guide us and our leaders. Remind us of the freedom we have in you through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. AMEN!!

The Tooth Fairy's First Visit

Last night, Hannah lost her first tooth. For a few months now, her bottom front teeth have been loose. One has been really loose and driving Hannah crazy. Last night after the kids got ready for bed, Hannah asked Mike if he would just pull her tooth. He wiggled it a little bit and it popped right out. Mike and Hannah were both surprised!! Of course, we had to call all the grandparents and tell them. Before Hannah went to bed, we put her tooth in a small snack baggie and put it under her pillow. During the night, the Tooth Fairy came to visit and left $2 under Hannah's pillow. I don't know what time it was (I do know it was barely light outside), Hannah came rushing into our room to tell us what she got for her tooth. Joan and Dad gave her $5 for her first tooth. Of course, she had to go to the Dollar Tree to spend some of her money.

Andrew has been doing a little better without his cloths. He is talking A LOT more and a lot clearer. The downside is he has taken to chewing/sucking on his blankets at nap time and bedtime. He will start laughing then shove the blanket into his mouth. When he is fussy or gets frustrated, Andrew will try to get his blankets out of his crib. I try to limit when he can have them as I don't want him to use them as a crutch. Since Will likes to cuddle with his blankets, I can't see denying Andrew the use of his all the time.

Will had his hearing tested today by an Audiologist. When I took him in for his 5-year checkup, I asked the doctor to test his hearing. Some of the results were lower than normal so Dr. Ball recommended Will see an ENT. Today, Dr. Jones tested Will's hearing and said it was fine. Dr. Jones is going to leave the results with Dr. Colvin, the ENT, and see if we need to do a follow-up visit next week.

Hannah and the missing tooth

Hannah holding her missing tooth

Playing, Blueberries and Kids

Sorry it has been over a week since my last post. There hasn't been a lot going on around here. The kids have been playing in the backyard and in the house; I've been working on never-ending housework; and Mike has been working. Today the kids and I went to the Nesbit Blueberry Plantation and picked a gallon bucket of blueberries. We have been doing this every summer for the last five or six years. The kids enjoy eating the blueberries as much as they like to pick them. Sunday evening, Mike finished planting the bushes and flowers in the garden across the front of the house. Last year, due to the lack of rain and the abundance of ants, we lost all the bushes in the front garden. We have gotten rid of most of the ants (and have ant killer set out for the rest) and the rain has been plentiful this year.

Andrew on the trampoline

Andrew playing in the mud

Hannah and Will

Will and his makeshift train

Andrew while we are picking blueberries

Some of the berries we picked

Hannah and some of her fruit

The bucket of goodness

Will and his prize