Blogging Slacker

I GIVE MYSELF THE WORST BLOGGER AWARD

for this month!!!!!!!!!

Not only do I have files of pictures on my computer for this month alone anticipating their grand entrance into the blogging world, but I have SO MUCH to write about. AND on top of that I only blogged twice in August. There were many, many times I sat down to blog only to find myself diverting the feeling until it passed. I have been keeping up with you all, which is the wonderful thing about blogging. You can go "underground" for awhile if you so desire while remaining connected with your blogger friends. Thankfully, there is no minimum in the world wide web, so I am not at a loss. I do apologize for those checking back having to look at the same picture everytime! So here is my attempt to bring you up to speed.

It's been a full month, although it's not like we went to DisneyWorld, or traveled abroad, or ran a marathon, or moved, or had a baby, or remodeled a classroom, or painted our kitchen, or any of those great accomplishments some of you can account for. But we certainly have had our share of "hometown" excitement. Thus the prompting to finally push aside the huge stack of books (mainly my exuberant cookbook collection) overcrowding the computer desk to sit down and record these ecclectic events:

Here is a list of things we have done this past month, in no particular order:

1. LAUREL LAKE
We found solace in frequent visits to a local lake & beach. We would pick up John after work with a van packed with towels, dinner & swimming gear for a wind-down night "away from it all" even if it were just for an hour. This is where we learned how much Jack LOVES the water, and are reminded how much Drew LOVES other kids. He spends his whole time making friends. He is definitely type A personality!

2. OUR 6th ANNIVERSARY!
John & I went out to eat. I know this doesn't sound too exciting. No remote, excuisite restaurant or classical performance of a violin trio afterwards. We just visited one our favorite locals, Applebees (for the Bruchetta Burger. It is so fabulous!!!). It was just so nice to sit, talk and really connect. We are learning how proactive we have to be to stay connected. It doesn't always just happen like it used to! I didn't even bring the camera (on purpose). I decided to just enjoy the evening!!!


3. OUR BASEMENT
We have had workers in our house on and off the whole month. I am amazed at how much this alters our daily routine. They are in the basement so we still have our normal territory, but the noise level did prevent Drew from taking many naps. (And I learned I am not yet ready for him to give this stage!!) BUT, our basement is looking amazing!!! I cannot believe how much has gotten done this week. I have been showering our workers with coffee in the morning & baked goodies because I am so, so thankful for all they are doing. I know, they are getting paid, its their job. But I feel like this whole project is a complete gift from the Lord and we are soooo thankful for every aspect.

down the stairs

laundry room to right, family room will be through the double doors

steel framing to keep it from warping

from family room looking into laundry room/furnace

storage area

look how off the floors were!

cracks that John had to patch

new electrical pannel

(the electrician basically said he's never seen a panel as old as ours was. we are thankful there were no fires!)

4. I WAS AN EYE-WITNESS
I was a witness for a neighborhood crime. I did not actually witness the crime, but I talked to the suspect at large before the "crime" happened. I thought I was just doing my citizenship duties when explaining the situation to our policeman, but I didn't realize how official this was going to be until the officer called and asked me to come down to the station to give a statement. It was the real deal! (but certainly not as intense as Jack Bauer!) I was taken to a remote white, cinder block room with no windows. The officer questioned me in all seriousness & I even had to do a line up, though it was just a photo line up. This was quite exciting for me and I even noticed my heartbeating more rapidly than noramal!!


5. JACK
Jack is 10 months old & has become one mean-eating-on-the-go machine!!! I can barely keep up. This is probably the uttmost reason why I have not been blogging much. I feel like ALL I have been doing is feeding & chasing this child!!! I had a nice little system down and now that one is as good as naught. I have had to do a lot of refiguring to keep the both of them happy, clean & fed simultaneously. Most days I feel "I need either a maid or eight hands!!!" I did have an "AHA moment" and pulled out the pack-n-play. I used that thing all the time when drew was that age for when I needed to keep him contained but happily playing. STATS: weighs in at 20 lbs. ~is a pro-straw drinker~LOVES yogurt~has 4 teeth~calls drew "gooo"~plays shy when meeting new people~has just started cuddling at night before bedtime~gets excited when I say "ready for your bath??"~is super, super ticklish~has no fear/is a daredevil~does not like hats on his head (they're off before we are out the door!)~is learning the DVD shelf is off-limit!! :)

the bumbo has been a life saver, but is short-lived.

jack is an expert escapee. I do LOVE the tray!!!

(left) someone needs a haircut!

(right) no-this picture doesn't need to be flipped. jack loves to hang upside down!!!

6. KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESES

We just returned from visiting John's sister Amber & her hubby, Brian for Labor day. We LOVE getting together with them & even though were about 2 hours away, we don't get to get together quite as much as we all would like! The guys (John, Brian & Brent---Brian's brother) got to do some serious outdoor climbing while Am & I took the boys to Chuck E Cheese and had fun hanging out. They also taught us a new game, Ladder Ball. It is soooooo cool (but forgot to take pics).

7. CHILDREN'S CIRCUS
In our area there is a circus camp for 3 weeks where kids attned to learn a variety of circus tricks. Then they put on a great performance, which the Neiners wanted to treat Drew to this year. Drew was in awe & I was quite impressed.

8. MARIONETTE SHOW
This was quite amazing. A family has been doing this for about 14 years. They started by going to the library and checking out a book on Marionette dolls and making their own. We made the last show of the summer. They performed Carnival of Animals, which was soooo great. They had about a dozen different animal marionettes and afterward let the kids play around with them.

9. BEAUTIFUL BLUES
My 5 dinky hydrangea plants I bought at Walmart 3 years ago on clearance for $2.99 each have blossomed into bushes that belong on Cape Cod!!! I am sooo thrilled. I thought I was going to have to move them because they weren't getting enough sun, but this year they proved me wrong. My mom said they just needed time to get established and they certainly must feel established because I had so many blooms this year, each one being anywhere from 8-12" wide!!!

10. 4-H FAIR
While tag saling we happened upon our local 4-H fair. This is something a bit out of our league but it was so fun to walk around at. Drew held his first bunny and both the boys were able to sit in a real firetruck!!!

11. MISCELLANEOUS
The rest fits in here, just our day-to-day living.

BEST BUDS

VISITING DADDY AT WORK

PETER PAN washing the van

FOGGY MORNING out our backyard

12. SICKNESS
You can pray for us as it's been kind of a rough summer health wise!
Drew has been sick almost every 3 weeks since May. His symptoms are a moderate-high fever for about 3-4 days. He just had some blood work done (which half way through he pronounced, "Mommy, I do not like this at all!!!!!!) and we are going to hopefully rule some things out through that. Drew said it best, "Mommy, it is NO FUN being sick!!!"


WELL, that was A LOT of blogging.
Maybe I'll take the rest of the month off! (JUST KIDDING!!!!)