Sunday, September 30, 2012

IT was teacher appreciation week and so we put together caramel dip and apples for all our favorite teachers. 

Jacob worked hard and got his BEAR award in cubscouts.  He wasn't up there long enough for me to focus.....

cream cheese mixed with caramel, layer of caramel on top of that and then a crushed Heath bar on top of that!  Yummm.....


With cub scout day camp this summer he got so many belt loops!
His best smile.
 

Emily wanted to capture the beautiful sunset Weds. night after activity days.

She brought her friend Alyssa...Tara made them matching warm fuzzies

Two perfect sized bushes for hiding and popping up and surprising people coming out of church.
 
Gene had a good trip to Chicago...weather and planes cooperated well...nothing to report, which is good.  He had to skip out of the 5K for Saturday because his leg was bothering him so much.  He's been going to physical therapy.  It's not fun. 
Other than that, we are all good. 

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Happy and Sad

Happy is..... free popcorn and face painting....

Happy is......... clown making balloon swords and free slushies.

Happy is....... dinner out at a new restaurant (Cheddars).

Happy is ......decorating for Fall...and a newly painted front door.

Sad is........watching Gene go away again.  Airports are not my favorite. 

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Fair, Night Ranger, Girl's Ensemble, plant cell.

Gene surprised me one afternoon after I saw Night Ranger was going to be in town , by getting tickets.  I don't love the fair, but was willing to go to see the concert. He doesn't care about the band, but LOVES fair food.   So,  he was willing to sit through an hour concert of 80's rock and watch me be sillier than   I've been ..........in a while.
Polish sausage, onions and peppers.

  Funnel cake with cherries and a deep fried snickers bar (ok, so that one was mine!)
Axiously awaiting "Sing me away"  The people around us were super fans which made it fun for me, and not so fun for Gene. But, the lead guitarist used to play for Ozzy (so he played Crazy Train for fun).  And the lead singer used to be in Darn Yankees and so he played "Can you take me higher" which is my all time favorite song. 

We were 12th row, center stage.  In my mind for just a few minutes I was back in the 80's.  Those were some good/terrible  years.

I finally got a picture of Tara in front of her school.  She's doing great this year.  She just auditioned for girl's ensemble.  First of all, I couldn't believe she would want to go through an audition.  But, she and her friend Brooke did a great job.  She found out Weds. that she made it.  Only 20 girls from the school are in this group and all of them were returning 8th graders except 5 auditioning 7th graders!  And she was one of those five!

It's time for the cell project again.  Here's Jacob's plant cell.  We used a foam cover for a new pencil sharpener we just bought, filled the inside with elmer's glue and spray painted nuts and bolts.  The bolts and screws sank to the bottom, so we used the cat toy, some plastic bolt covers and safety pins and paperclips.  So glad this is the last one!
 
Also this week, after Gene bought all new inside parts for the upstairs toilet, it was still leaking so, we called the plumber.  They had to totally replaced the old toilet with a new one.  Then they found the sink upstairs was leaking, so they replaced the faucet, then checked under the house to move our "turn off valve" upstairs (because it's in the crawl space-and the main turn off is out at the road-an acre away).  While they were down there, they saw the  shower drain was leaking, so replaced that.  2 other toilets were "running" so, replaced the flappers.  Then just for fun, I guess they cleared out sludge in all the sinks and drains.  YUCK!  They were here ALL DAY.  But, hopefully our plumbing problems are all taken care of now. 
I painted the front door and decided that I could keep going on all the white trim, then the closet and bathroom door.  Everything needs a new coat of paint.  I was almost late picking up the kids from school because I was so distracted, lost in painting. 

Sunday, September 09, 2012

Labor Day (really laborious)

Jacob's breakfast (he asked if he could take a picture and put it on pinterest.)
We spent the weekend (and some) reorganizing everyone's room.  Here's Jacob's set up.  Mostly blue..nice arrangement of clouds we took pictures of one night off the deck.
 

Here's Tara's room.  We took the bunk beds apart.....and now there is  so much room. 


 She's arranged a wall, has room for her desk and doll house. 
We arranged some bookshelves to better organize our videos and books.

Emily is now upstairs.  We portioned off part of the room for storage.
Now she has her own desk, bed, reading knook, dresser and bathroom/closet.


Queen of the stairs...she loves having her own space. We had a few nights of adjustments, no sleep, missing our sister.  But, now it's good.