Nothing like having so much to do that you do something else to further distract yourself. :) I'm due in Em's class in a few min, so no time to do any REAL work--so I'll blog a bit. My church gals are taking me out for lunch today...looking forward to that. I always miss my mom during the week of our birthdays. Mom's was one day before mine and we always celebrated together. I don't miss the crazy years of taking doughnuts to the nursing home and watching Mom pick crumbs off the floor---why can't I forget that celebration and remember only all the 2 layer cakes with my name in frosting, after home made fried chicken, orange tapioca salad, etc.....We enjoyed celebrating our special days together and that will always be with me.
It's been busy this past month. I was out of town at least once a week, working my business or playing or both. I was in Searcy twice--working and visiting Jess. We were able to fit the Homecoming play in our plans. It was "The Wizard of Oz" and so GOOD! I wished I had brought the little girls. (Not H since she saw "Wicked" in Chicago last week without me lol). I hit Indep for a haircut and took H to the ortho. We go back in Dec to get her braces off and she's THRILLED---I was thrilled to make the LAST payment :) for that mouth---2 down, 3 to go.
Last week I took the younger 3 to Silver Dollar City. It was perfect weather, lots of people in the park, but mostly senior citizens and they weren't riding the rides, so we rode and rode and rode. The lights were wonderful, hanging out with my favorite SDC pal, Joy, was good medicine for this gal. The girls got along really well and we couldn't have had a nicer time.
Lots to do to finish up Nov. We have a couple sets of company coming, so that means cleaning. In all my years of being a mom, I don't think I have ever gotten out the vacuum without someone asking "Who's coming over?" Like we can live without terminal crumbs when company comes. Anyway, I got the drawers changed over in the girls room, not mine....a huge job when you know where your stuff is, even bigger when you still have cardboard decor.:) I have a couple shows to do---yay! We'll get to see the folks next week in Jackson, plus our Dallas pals, Dale and Lesa, plus their five hopefully and some more company here after that. Jess gets in this Fri and I have big plans to have good help around here. :)
Time to head to the first grade. Em's teacher lets me read with the kids--LOVE IT!!
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Bahama mama returns, yah, man!
Here I am back in blogland again. Too many events to keep up. We like to back our events up on top of each other so when they're over, we're so tired we can't miss the fun that's now over. Two weekends ago Mark did a Marriage Retreat for our JC church friends. He did it last year with our friend, Mark and that led to us getting our new job. Crazy how the Lord works things out without any help from us. :) It was great fun to visit with some old friends, new friends and youngster couples of our friends. The JC group holds a special place in my heart b/c it's been "home" for so long and they are so dear. I miss being a part of them regularly, but enjoy every moment I can when I'm with them. We were so tickled to get to hang with our neighbor kids, Matt and Gina. They've grown into such wise, wonderful examples and we're so proud of their walk. Plus they are still as much fun as ever and we delight in each other. The young couples of our friends are so fun to watch, newlyweds, parents-to-be, parents of younguns, all so dear!! What a treat to get to see them all, especially fun to have Scott and Joy K there too. M's little sis and little bro-in-law.
We returned on Sun pm and left on Wed am for our trip to Atlantis. My sister, Pat, came in on the plane on Tues, helped me pack and took us to the airport. Everything was so crazy getting everything ready to leave, Mark and I didn't have time to get excited until the taxi delivered us to the hotel. We are rookies at this vacation stuff, never having been on a "real" vacation (Warchestin camp doesn't count as vacation with the ac duct-taped to the tent.) with or without the kids. We should have arrived earlier in the day like my pals, but we were on the beach within 10 min of seeing our hotel room. The resort was BEAUTIFUL!! We stayed in the Cove, a new hotel, just opened in May. So gorgeous!! We were the only ones on the beach each night when we went out, and the next am too. The water park with the mile long lazy river with rapids and slides was just outside the Cove too. We only had one Arbonne function to attend, nice to have that to be able to call the whole event "work." Arbonne gave us breakfast vouchers and dinner allowance too. We managed to make it on 2 huge meals a day. :) We spent lots of time on the beach, on the lazy river, did a bit of shopping, went to the big island of Nassau to shop, ate at some amazing restaurants, loved every glimpse of the ocean. We were so sad to have to leave early on Sun. The rookies should have had a later leave time, our friends stayed until 6 pm and hung out at the pool all day. Rats!! It couldn't have been a nicer time, such good memories, can't wait to return with the kids someday.
It was weird to live without our cell phones for a few days. We got used to not talking to the girls, but needed them to talk to each other on the island. We were at Bobby Flay's restaurant when we could have been eating free at the reception, but it worked out ok. We had the best steak of our lives the last night we were there, plus good Haagen Das!! :) We were glad to turn our phones on and hear from the girls once we were in Miami. All our travels went smoothly and that's huge in this world of airline woes.
The kids did well without us, all glad to see us, especially Pat. :) Has taken a day or two to recover the laundry and the routine. Fall weather is coming to SL tomorrow, will be sad to put away my flip flops that have had such a fun adventure this week. :)
We returned on Sun pm and left on Wed am for our trip to Atlantis. My sister, Pat, came in on the plane on Tues, helped me pack and took us to the airport. Everything was so crazy getting everything ready to leave, Mark and I didn't have time to get excited until the taxi delivered us to the hotel. We are rookies at this vacation stuff, never having been on a "real" vacation (Warchestin camp doesn't count as vacation with the ac duct-taped to the tent.) with or without the kids. We should have arrived earlier in the day like my pals, but we were on the beach within 10 min of seeing our hotel room. The resort was BEAUTIFUL!! We stayed in the Cove, a new hotel, just opened in May. So gorgeous!! We were the only ones on the beach each night when we went out, and the next am too. The water park with the mile long lazy river with rapids and slides was just outside the Cove too. We only had one Arbonne function to attend, nice to have that to be able to call the whole event "work." Arbonne gave us breakfast vouchers and dinner allowance too. We managed to make it on 2 huge meals a day. :) We spent lots of time on the beach, on the lazy river, did a bit of shopping, went to the big island of Nassau to shop, ate at some amazing restaurants, loved every glimpse of the ocean. We were so sad to have to leave early on Sun. The rookies should have had a later leave time, our friends stayed until 6 pm and hung out at the pool all day. Rats!! It couldn't have been a nicer time, such good memories, can't wait to return with the kids someday.
It was weird to live without our cell phones for a few days. We got used to not talking to the girls, but needed them to talk to each other on the island. We were at Bobby Flay's restaurant when we could have been eating free at the reception, but it worked out ok. We had the best steak of our lives the last night we were there, plus good Haagen Das!! :) We were glad to turn our phones on and hear from the girls once we were in Miami. All our travels went smoothly and that's huge in this world of airline woes.
The kids did well without us, all glad to see us, especially Pat. :) Has taken a day or two to recover the laundry and the routine. Fall weather is coming to SL tomorrow, will be sad to put away my flip flops that have had such a fun adventure this week. :)
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Hitting the Target
Today H and I got up early and drove to Indep for her ortho appt. She planned to eat lunch at THS with her pals while I got my hair cut etc...My appt fell thru and I can't go on with this Kunta Kinte (story of Roots) much longer, so that's another musing.... So by the grace of a friendly attendance clerk who used to like Mark and felt sorry for our demise at IPS, H got in and had a lovely visit. I got to do the retail therapy that one's favorite stores can provide especially at the 70% rack. Don't know what I was thinking shopping alone, I can never tell if anything looks good, always looks bad to me....but I did pick up several things for M and me to add to our beach collection which happens 2 weeks from today! Woo hoo!
Anyway, H and I chatted most of I70 about how weird it was to be in Indep doing what we used to do and not being a part of all of it anymore. I know from leaving JC that it's rough being a visitor where you used to be a part of a group. At first it's easier to stay away than go thru the pain. Then it gets a bit easier, and more so if you're trying to move forward. I tried to help H get thru this rough patch, but I'm about in the same boat. I have 3 Targets and a Kohl's 2 huge Malls and all the box stores anyone needs, but I shopped where it was easy. Didn't have to wander around looking for the sale racks, already knew where they were. Moving forward will have to include learning the new stores. Lucky for me we have a new Kohl's opening next month by our shopping center. :)
I did have a fun lunch with a couple friends and they are also going to be here in SL to worship with us--good times. New friends meet the old, all good.
H will recover quickly. She gets to go to Chicago with the LHS band and has a date to Homecoming. Not bad for a kid who's been here a month. Kat has had a head full of pollen and now a sinus infection. I did find a nice dr's office on my end of the county. Was very pleased about finding them. Little does she know that having us for patients is like walking into a new retirement account. :)
Off to rest my I-70 bones. Think Mission Impossible is upstairs, a man with a remote and he's not afraid to use it.
Anyway, H and I chatted most of I70 about how weird it was to be in Indep doing what we used to do and not being a part of all of it anymore. I know from leaving JC that it's rough being a visitor where you used to be a part of a group. At first it's easier to stay away than go thru the pain. Then it gets a bit easier, and more so if you're trying to move forward. I tried to help H get thru this rough patch, but I'm about in the same boat. I have 3 Targets and a Kohl's 2 huge Malls and all the box stores anyone needs, but I shopped where it was easy. Didn't have to wander around looking for the sale racks, already knew where they were. Moving forward will have to include learning the new stores. Lucky for me we have a new Kohl's opening next month by our shopping center. :)
I did have a fun lunch with a couple friends and they are also going to be here in SL to worship with us--good times. New friends meet the old, all good.
H will recover quickly. She gets to go to Chicago with the LHS band and has a date to Homecoming. Not bad for a kid who's been here a month. Kat has had a head full of pollen and now a sinus infection. I did find a nice dr's office on my end of the county. Was very pleased about finding them. Little does she know that having us for patients is like walking into a new retirement account. :)
Off to rest my I-70 bones. Think Mission Impossible is upstairs, a man with a remote and he's not afraid to use it.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Weekend update
Just checked all my regular blogs I read. So happy to hear good news, like new babies and birthdays, so will update just a bit. Need to get on my power walk before the weather gets too warm. Altho it was CHILLY here this w/e. More on that later. Glad for the warm days to return, can't find long pants for the peeps yet. :)
We had a wonderful weekend with Jess and Josh. They got here about 10 on Friday nite and we stayed up late visiting and laughing. Josh hadn't seen the Stinnett girls (just us 3 big uns) carry on and be GOOFY! Thought he might take to the nearest highway, but he stayed and enjoyed the banter. Mark and I took J & J to the Cards game on Sat. We thought we had tickets for the early game but found out at the gate that they were for the night game. We wandered around downtown SL, found a Macy's and tried to buy hoodies. Found M some shirts on sale, but no hoodies that were cheaper than parking. We went home for warm clothes went out to eat and back to the game. We were pros at the driving downtown, and parking, so easy coming and going. The seats were good. They honored the 87 World Series team, very cool to see those familiar players. Jess and Josh were both born in 87, nice touch. We had to watch the scoreboard to keep Josh from seeing the Razorback score before we got home. We teased him all night about what we knew and he didn't. The Cards WON!! The Razorbacks lost in the last 8 sec after coming back big in the 4 qt. Poor Josh, he was so bummed as he stayed up and watched the game on the DVR.
We all went to church, of course. We are having a gospel meeting, so M didn't preach. Some girls from JC were there. So fun to see them. Also a family from Green Pines Elem that Emily knew were visiting, very nice. The congregation had a Welcome the Stinnetts Potluck at Ed and Lisa's afterward. It was so nice to sit and visit with everyone. So many people got to meet Jess and Josh who were both troopers to smile and visit with people. They left about 3, both have tests and stuff to do.
The big revelation this w/e was how FUN it is to have big kids on a new level. We thoroughly enjoyed our day with J & J. (The other girls were well entertained--not to worry about them). It's weird to us to have a young man as part of Jess's life, and it's weird that it's not that weird, more natural than we imagined this part would be....a new parenting chapter for us. Another chapter in my book "Parenting for Dummies", watch for me on Oprah someday. :) Tickets to the show will be available. :)
Lots to do, a power walk now. A busy week ahead. For today, we're GOOD!
We had a wonderful weekend with Jess and Josh. They got here about 10 on Friday nite and we stayed up late visiting and laughing. Josh hadn't seen the Stinnett girls (just us 3 big uns) carry on and be GOOFY! Thought he might take to the nearest highway, but he stayed and enjoyed the banter. Mark and I took J & J to the Cards game on Sat. We thought we had tickets for the early game but found out at the gate that they were for the night game. We wandered around downtown SL, found a Macy's and tried to buy hoodies. Found M some shirts on sale, but no hoodies that were cheaper than parking. We went home for warm clothes went out to eat and back to the game. We were pros at the driving downtown, and parking, so easy coming and going. The seats were good. They honored the 87 World Series team, very cool to see those familiar players. Jess and Josh were both born in 87, nice touch. We had to watch the scoreboard to keep Josh from seeing the Razorback score before we got home. We teased him all night about what we knew and he didn't. The Cards WON!! The Razorbacks lost in the last 8 sec after coming back big in the 4 qt. Poor Josh, he was so bummed as he stayed up and watched the game on the DVR.
We all went to church, of course. We are having a gospel meeting, so M didn't preach. Some girls from JC were there. So fun to see them. Also a family from Green Pines Elem that Emily knew were visiting, very nice. The congregation had a Welcome the Stinnetts Potluck at Ed and Lisa's afterward. It was so nice to sit and visit with everyone. So many people got to meet Jess and Josh who were both troopers to smile and visit with people. They left about 3, both have tests and stuff to do.
The big revelation this w/e was how FUN it is to have big kids on a new level. We thoroughly enjoyed our day with J & J. (The other girls were well entertained--not to worry about them). It's weird to us to have a young man as part of Jess's life, and it's weird that it's not that weird, more natural than we imagined this part would be....a new parenting chapter for us. Another chapter in my book "Parenting for Dummies", watch for me on Oprah someday. :) Tickets to the show will be available. :)
Lots to do, a power walk now. A busy week ahead. For today, we're GOOD!
Friday, September 14, 2007
Go Cards!
We are having a taste of lovely fall weather here in ST Lou. It makes running the errands and the kids so much more enjoyable. No home football tonight but will get to enjoy an outdoor outside tomorrow at the Cubs and CARDS game! One of our church families has season tickets so we have excellent seats and are taking Josh and Jess. The new stadium is so lovely!! As you look out around you the SL skyline plus the Arch are looking back at you. The traffic is worrisome. We haven't been to downtown by ourselves yet in YEARS! Lets hope we don't end up in Ill like we used to do. There is a professional bike race across MO that ends downtown tomorrow, plus a Rams game, a NHL game and a balloon race in Forest Park, so it's a traffic mess! A BUSY day here in SL. Let's hope our Cards are ready to WIN!!!
Going to finish the housework and head to the grocery before everything gets too wild. We are all looking forward to having Jess and Josh here. Can't wait to hug, hug, hug that girl of ours.
Going to finish the housework and head to the grocery before everything gets too wild. We are all looking forward to having Jess and Josh here. Can't wait to hug, hug, hug that girl of ours.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Comforts of home
We are trying to make this new place feel like home. Sat I made banana bread--had to run to the store for baking powder and soda--pantry not fully functioning yet. Yesterday we had our first roast dinner and a Chiefs game. The roast dinner was a huge success, unlike the Chiefs, but that is also familiar--Chiefs losing. :)
Hannah had a big drumline competition on Sat at our HS. It rained and had to be held in the gym--so it was LOUD!! I was bummed to have to sit alone as I know no one everywhere I go, so I was surprised to hear someone shouting "Kristin, Kristin" as I walked thru the gym. I turned and found Mrs. Rhea the girls 2nd and 3rd grade teacher from Belair in JC! Her daughter is H's age and is the 1st girl on the snareline in 20 years at JCHS. We were delighted to chat between bands and she was thrilled to get to see H. Our percussion group did really well, but of course, Jeff City won the event and I was happy to stand and cheer with them. Once a Jay, Always a JAY!! I'll look forward to seeing the JC band at other competitions this fall.
The house is coming along. I need to finish up my room and bathroom then work on decorating the girls rooms one at a time. Plus we have umpteen boxes in the garage and basement to wrangle. Would love to park in the garage by the time snow flies.
Busy days ahead, like always. Looking forward to Jess and Josh coming this weekend. The church is having the official "Welcome to the Stinnetts" Potluck on Sun and Jess is coming. We are ready to see her as we didn't get enough of her over the 6 days she was home this summer. Lots of standing around and smiling at people for all of us. It's all good. It's all good.....
Hannah had a big drumline competition on Sat at our HS. It rained and had to be held in the gym--so it was LOUD!! I was bummed to have to sit alone as I know no one everywhere I go, so I was surprised to hear someone shouting "Kristin, Kristin" as I walked thru the gym. I turned and found Mrs. Rhea the girls 2nd and 3rd grade teacher from Belair in JC! Her daughter is H's age and is the 1st girl on the snareline in 20 years at JCHS. We were delighted to chat between bands and she was thrilled to get to see H. Our percussion group did really well, but of course, Jeff City won the event and I was happy to stand and cheer with them. Once a Jay, Always a JAY!! I'll look forward to seeing the JC band at other competitions this fall.
The house is coming along. I need to finish up my room and bathroom then work on decorating the girls rooms one at a time. Plus we have umpteen boxes in the garage and basement to wrangle. Would love to park in the garage by the time snow flies.
Busy days ahead, like always. Looking forward to Jess and Josh coming this weekend. The church is having the official "Welcome to the Stinnetts" Potluck on Sun and Jess is coming. We are ready to see her as we didn't get enough of her over the 6 days she was home this summer. Lots of standing around and smiling at people for all of us. It's all good. It's all good.....
Monday, September 03, 2007
Labor Day is here again and again and again
As I clicked to update my sorry old news blog, I realized how funny it was to call it a Labor Day update. We have labored and labored for it seems like months to reclaim our lives, but alas it was not to be. We have started a new one, similar to Mark's little sister, Amy, who gave birth to our handsome nephew, Joshua, on Labor Day 2005. That was a FUN day. Today is more relaxing most days that we have had lately. Think we are all in low gear so far. Still have my goal of being "box free" in our main level living areas by bedtime tonight. Still doable and I do work better under pressure.
For the few faithful readers who may not have current details, I'll summarize the last month quickly and consisely (as is my habit). lol. We left KC on July 14 and made our base camp at Mark's folks in SE MO. Their house is 2 hrs from the new job, rather than 4 from KC. The girls did camps, VBS x 2, hung out with cousins, made new friends etc.... I took them to Branson for a wonderful week of parks and shows completements of our Wheeler Entertainment Network (if you get to Branson go see the 12 Irish Tenors---so GOOD!). We did lots of trips back and forth to worship in Ellisville (learn this name--our new church home and employer). The first weekend in Aug we were able to move into a condo of one of the church members who lives in Hong Kong--NICE!!! It was good to be in one place with all our stuff and not to drive back and forth so much. Hannah and I rode the train to KC to pick up Jessica and her car. We got to visit with Jess about 6 days before she returned to HU. She had an amazing summer school in Florence and points beyond. It was so fun to hear all her stories and see the pictures.
Our pods were delivered to our new house on the hottest day of the summer here in SL. We had lots of good help and finished in just a few hours. We got another load delivered the next weekend, then we brought back the last load from our storage unit last weekend. So all our "treasure" is here with us. We are trying to find new homes and trash bins for it all. :)
We have MANY good meals delivered to us and have been asked out a bunch. I cooked for the first time yesterday and M grilled and we had chips. :) M's little sister, Joy K and Scott and girls surprised us at services. They drove up to hear M preach and do the zoo. Too bad we had a guest speaker from S Africa, but they will come back to hear M again. So nice to see familiar faces, even tho we know everyone at church now. Was more homesick than I knew.
The girls have been in school since Aug 15. We all whined about the early start and are so happy to be in a routine now. The schools are all really close to us, H could walk to school in 5 min if she wasn't so cool. lol. The other 3 take a bus and have short rides. All have made friends and like their teachers. I went to PTO night and missed seeing my school friends, so have to get in there and volunteer to make some new relationships. Think we are going to like it here so much!
Our church family couldn't be more welcoming and patient as we have been in transition. I have had tons of good help getting settled, meals, directions to good shopping and even some fun. Mark is LOVING his side of this move, spends hours studying at the building and as gotten some projects done to help get us settled. Somedays I say I'm in the movie "Groundhog's Day" b/c everyday is like the other, more boxes, more mess to sort out. It was like this packing up, every closet in the house being dumped on the floor and you have to deal with it all. That's the story of unpacking too. Hope to get more done each day....and the current stuff, laundry, kid patrol, etc....
All the details of our Labor Day to date. Think I'll go find some people to eat some lunch. H went out with some friends. (will detail her transition later), Kat spent the night with a church pal, Abby was playing down the street in a sprinkler fest, Em had fallen asleep in her room and M was reading Harry Potter 7. Yep, it's rough around here. Have to keep up with my young blogger buds so will update again soon. Grins!!
For the few faithful readers who may not have current details, I'll summarize the last month quickly and consisely (as is my habit). lol. We left KC on July 14 and made our base camp at Mark's folks in SE MO. Their house is 2 hrs from the new job, rather than 4 from KC. The girls did camps, VBS x 2, hung out with cousins, made new friends etc.... I took them to Branson for a wonderful week of parks and shows completements of our Wheeler Entertainment Network (if you get to Branson go see the 12 Irish Tenors---so GOOD!). We did lots of trips back and forth to worship in Ellisville (learn this name--our new church home and employer). The first weekend in Aug we were able to move into a condo of one of the church members who lives in Hong Kong--NICE!!! It was good to be in one place with all our stuff and not to drive back and forth so much. Hannah and I rode the train to KC to pick up Jessica and her car. We got to visit with Jess about 6 days before she returned to HU. She had an amazing summer school in Florence and points beyond. It was so fun to hear all her stories and see the pictures.
Our pods were delivered to our new house on the hottest day of the summer here in SL. We had lots of good help and finished in just a few hours. We got another load delivered the next weekend, then we brought back the last load from our storage unit last weekend. So all our "treasure" is here with us. We are trying to find new homes and trash bins for it all. :)
We have MANY good meals delivered to us and have been asked out a bunch. I cooked for the first time yesterday and M grilled and we had chips. :) M's little sister, Joy K and Scott and girls surprised us at services. They drove up to hear M preach and do the zoo. Too bad we had a guest speaker from S Africa, but they will come back to hear M again. So nice to see familiar faces, even tho we know everyone at church now. Was more homesick than I knew.
The girls have been in school since Aug 15. We all whined about the early start and are so happy to be in a routine now. The schools are all really close to us, H could walk to school in 5 min if she wasn't so cool. lol. The other 3 take a bus and have short rides. All have made friends and like their teachers. I went to PTO night and missed seeing my school friends, so have to get in there and volunteer to make some new relationships. Think we are going to like it here so much!
Our church family couldn't be more welcoming and patient as we have been in transition. I have had tons of good help getting settled, meals, directions to good shopping and even some fun. Mark is LOVING his side of this move, spends hours studying at the building and as gotten some projects done to help get us settled. Somedays I say I'm in the movie "Groundhog's Day" b/c everyday is like the other, more boxes, more mess to sort out. It was like this packing up, every closet in the house being dumped on the floor and you have to deal with it all. That's the story of unpacking too. Hope to get more done each day....and the current stuff, laundry, kid patrol, etc....
All the details of our Labor Day to date. Think I'll go find some people to eat some lunch. H went out with some friends. (will detail her transition later), Kat spent the night with a church pal, Abby was playing down the street in a sprinkler fest, Em had fallen asleep in her room and M was reading Harry Potter 7. Yep, it's rough around here. Have to keep up with my young blogger buds so will update again soon. Grins!!
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Moving Day
We have packed and pitched and flung and recycled until we can't see straight. Our friends and packers are coming today. We have trashed the subdivision with 2 PackRat Pods and a big trailer all week. Now we can load. The PackRats will be stored until we have a SL place to unload them. Our email will be the same in SL, but I'll be on our yahoo one. stinnett7@yahoo.com until we locate.
Hannah and Katherine are both headed to camp. One here in KC, one in SE MO. We also have a week in SW MO planned, so we're ok.
More news later.
Hannah and Katherine are both headed to camp. One here in KC, one in SE MO. We also have a week in SW MO planned, so we're ok.
More news later.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Da Scoop
Well, the plan changes about every few hours, not just daily. A few days ago I would have blogged that everything was smoothly planned out and we were set to close on each house and move all within 4 days---sweet! BUT, the lender for the SL house wants 3-5 WEEKS to process our OFFER!! Yikes!! This is not within our preferred time frame. So now we wonder and ponder, do we wait for this house, a great deal in a great neighborhood, or try to find another? Do we try to rent our KC house back for a couple weeks, or rent a POD and have to move twice and live like gypsys? So many ?, we'll find out in time.
In the meantime, I had a helper friend come and pack the kitchen with me yesterday. I was reminded how long it takes to pack EVERYTHING and how much we have to do. I wanted to get to Branson to let the girls use some free WhiteWater tickets, but not sure if that can happen. The little girls are going to VBS this week here in town. H has ortho and Abby has softball pictures tomorrow. We are all planning on hearing Mark in his debut sermon on Sunday. So much to do...
Today my big girl is 20!! How can this be? I woke up about a half hour before her birth time this am. I sent her an email last night reminding her how happy we were 20 years ago and how happy she still makes us. She called this am and was thrilled to have a MOMemail waiting for her when she got up in Florence. She got to tell me all about the free travel adventures. So fun! We're so pleased that she is having this big adventure and she's doing so well--still has all her stuff and is loving every (mostly) minute. She loved Austria, then she loved Germany--more than she expected, then she loved Switerland--did some "canyoning" ? in Interlochen, Switzerland or Germany? Glad to hear about it "after the fact". Some of the hostels they stayed in were pretty primitive, a bit scary, others were great. Happy she had a young man along to make her feel safe. They had a GREAT time!!! Also happy that they are not going to Spain on the next free travel so Josh could "run with the bulls". I KNEW he really was an "honors student" afterall. Jess can't wait to get to France.
Mark and I have opened a Pandora's box accidentally. We are the last 2 in the world to discover "24". We have heard so many people carry on about this show for years, even Mark's mom got off the phone with him on a Mon nite so she wouldn't miss an episode recently. So funny. So I got Mark Season one for Father's Day and we were immediately HOOKED! We stayed up last several nights last week and helped Jack fight the terrorists. Now we are in Season Two and are limiting ourselves to one episode per night. A stressful diversion from our regular life. :)
Time to do some real work while I can. Computer time is hard to come by around here and we have a mini Mac lab. Wish us luck on the planning and replanning!!
In the meantime, I had a helper friend come and pack the kitchen with me yesterday. I was reminded how long it takes to pack EVERYTHING and how much we have to do. I wanted to get to Branson to let the girls use some free WhiteWater tickets, but not sure if that can happen. The little girls are going to VBS this week here in town. H has ortho and Abby has softball pictures tomorrow. We are all planning on hearing Mark in his debut sermon on Sunday. So much to do...
Today my big girl is 20!! How can this be? I woke up about a half hour before her birth time this am. I sent her an email last night reminding her how happy we were 20 years ago and how happy she still makes us. She called this am and was thrilled to have a MOMemail waiting for her when she got up in Florence. She got to tell me all about the free travel adventures. So fun! We're so pleased that she is having this big adventure and she's doing so well--still has all her stuff and is loving every (mostly) minute. She loved Austria, then she loved Germany--more than she expected, then she loved Switerland--did some "canyoning" ? in Interlochen, Switzerland or Germany? Glad to hear about it "after the fact". Some of the hostels they stayed in were pretty primitive, a bit scary, others were great. Happy she had a young man along to make her feel safe. They had a GREAT time!!! Also happy that they are not going to Spain on the next free travel so Josh could "run with the bulls". I KNEW he really was an "honors student" afterall. Jess can't wait to get to France.
Mark and I have opened a Pandora's box accidentally. We are the last 2 in the world to discover "24". We have heard so many people carry on about this show for years, even Mark's mom got off the phone with him on a Mon nite so she wouldn't miss an episode recently. So funny. So I got Mark Season one for Father's Day and we were immediately HOOKED! We stayed up last several nights last week and helped Jack fight the terrorists. Now we are in Season Two and are limiting ourselves to one episode per night. A stressful diversion from our regular life. :)
Time to do some real work while I can. Computer time is hard to come by around here and we have a mini Mac lab. Wish us luck on the planning and replanning!!
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Long story short
It's been a long time between blogs and too much has happened to go backward. Here's life in a short summary. It took forever to get our house on the market---not enough Magic Eraser available to clean up our world. The tile fell off our shower, the basement flooded, we filled a storage shed full of "treasure", we got new carpet, we learned to live clean, we straightened up for strangers and they didn't make an offer----but in the meanwhile other stuff was happening. I went to Las Vegas for an Arbonne marathon--so fun, the girls had an activity daily, EACH in May, H ran track, Kat, Ab and Em all play softball, 2 games/week for each of them plus practice. I got Jess back from HU and we sent her to Italy for summer school. Em graduated from Kindergarten, everyone had field trips and awards ceremonies. We said good bye to our friends at Blackburn Elementary and M said good bye to his career and is ready for his new one. We had a lovely good bye party with our church friends. So nice. We took one breath, then put H on a plane for Hawaii with the band, and got ready for our camping family reunion.
That leads us to the most recent events. We survived our annual AR camping trip. There are still about 15 loads of clothes to do--I'm not kidding. We had tons of fun. Nothing says roughing it like having an air conditioner duct taped to your tent. Actually it got so cold every night we had to turn it off. They kids had a great time riding bikes for hours with all the cousins, also swimming and playing kickball and card games etc....The grown ups played a lot of cards, got band aids, ate a lot and visited. I came back to KC and got H off the Hawaii trip and returned to camp so she could be jet lagged with us. She had a great time and is nearly recovered.
I talked to Miss J today, only the 2nd time all summer. She is doing well, has seen some amazing sights and is having so much fun! They took a class outing to the Isle of Capri and Pompeii last week. They have "free travel" this week, free meaning no classes, not free $$. :)
The big news is that we have a contract on our house and a date to be out! Woo Hoo! Now we will set our sites on SL and finding a place there. So much to do and this whole move thing is getting really REAL!! We still don't know all the details of how this will work, but know that the Lord is making this happen b/c we are so clueless right now and too TIRED to try to figure out all the details. :)
There---that's about as short as I can make it for now. It's late and I need to check the laundry one more time!! Father's Day is tomorrow. We are invited to our friends for grillin and chillin! Nice!!
That leads us to the most recent events. We survived our annual AR camping trip. There are still about 15 loads of clothes to do--I'm not kidding. We had tons of fun. Nothing says roughing it like having an air conditioner duct taped to your tent. Actually it got so cold every night we had to turn it off. They kids had a great time riding bikes for hours with all the cousins, also swimming and playing kickball and card games etc....The grown ups played a lot of cards, got band aids, ate a lot and visited. I came back to KC and got H off the Hawaii trip and returned to camp so she could be jet lagged with us. She had a great time and is nearly recovered.
I talked to Miss J today, only the 2nd time all summer. She is doing well, has seen some amazing sights and is having so much fun! They took a class outing to the Isle of Capri and Pompeii last week. They have "free travel" this week, free meaning no classes, not free $$. :)
The big news is that we have a contract on our house and a date to be out! Woo Hoo! Now we will set our sites on SL and finding a place there. So much to do and this whole move thing is getting really REAL!! We still don't know all the details of how this will work, but know that the Lord is making this happen b/c we are so clueless right now and too TIRED to try to figure out all the details. :)
There---that's about as short as I can make it for now. It's late and I need to check the laundry one more time!! Father's Day is tomorrow. We are invited to our friends for grillin and chillin! Nice!!
Thursday, April 19, 2007
A new record
My new goal is to see if I can successfully post in only 5 minutes!! It took 2 already to figure out my username and password. Hopefully the Firefox software will remember the password for me like it does on other sites.
I'm getting ready to do the Thursday nite shuffle. It's totally different than the Wed nite shuffle, which revolves around baths, homework, food, off to church, reverse and repeat....
The reason for the 5 min post is because H has to be at THS to meet the French club for their banquet downtown KC, where she prob won't eat ANYTHING that is served for which I paid big bucks. :) Abby is still at school eating a Happy Meal with her 1st grade reading buddy, needs to be picked up at 5:30. Kat and Ab both have practice at 6 in 2 different towns... yay! Em and I will grab another Happy Meal and wait to do the reverse of all this....Mark will appear somewhere, not looking for supper b/c I've trained him that "it's serve yourself" on nights like this.....CRAZY!!
I did pack some boxes today. Mark keeps saying, little by little and that's what I get accomplished--little.
We did meet with our local realtor. She says get with it and let's get it sold! I talked to our SL realtor. He's very nice and gave me permission to wake up in the night and change my mind at least 100 times.... WOW!! I like him already. We are meeting him this Sat to look at property. Maybe we really are doing this deed!
Time's up. If all goes well, clicking the post, I may make 5 min. AMAZING!!!
I'm getting ready to do the Thursday nite shuffle. It's totally different than the Wed nite shuffle, which revolves around baths, homework, food, off to church, reverse and repeat....
The reason for the 5 min post is because H has to be at THS to meet the French club for their banquet downtown KC, where she prob won't eat ANYTHING that is served for which I paid big bucks. :) Abby is still at school eating a Happy Meal with her 1st grade reading buddy, needs to be picked up at 5:30. Kat and Ab both have practice at 6 in 2 different towns... yay! Em and I will grab another Happy Meal and wait to do the reverse of all this....Mark will appear somewhere, not looking for supper b/c I've trained him that "it's serve yourself" on nights like this.....CRAZY!!
I did pack some boxes today. Mark keeps saying, little by little and that's what I get accomplished--little.
We did meet with our local realtor. She says get with it and let's get it sold! I talked to our SL realtor. He's very nice and gave me permission to wake up in the night and change my mind at least 100 times.... WOW!! I like him already. We are meeting him this Sat to look at property. Maybe we really are doing this deed!
Time's up. If all goes well, clicking the post, I may make 5 min. AMAZING!!!
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
I'm BACK!!!!
Due to popular demand (requests from 4 of my 5 readers) I'm back on the blog world. I got caught in the Nov/Dec frenzy--plus some email snafus made it all too hard to log in especially when I never know my password etc...
Anyway I'm here in warm KC, MO. I've been up since 4:30 am. I woke up thinking about Jess's financial aid, FAFSA, that I need to finish. I tried the other day, but had missing PIN #s. (Am I the only one who sees a pattern here?) Anyway I got it done and she's good to go in debt some more in search of the greater goal of that BSN--go Jess!
I won't bore my small fan club with all the details of our life since last Nov. Most of you know the big news of our upcoming move to St Louis this summer. Our local realtor was here last night affirming our belief that we have too much junk and there is not enough Magic Eraser to get this house in a showable condition. ARGH!! Actually she was very nice and is hopeful we can get this house sold by July 1. We just have LOTS to do!!! (probably another reason my eyes were open at 4:30 am)
I can get a bunch done today. No big events in our world today. Hannah is running track for THS, but no meets this week. Em had her 1st T-ball practice last night. I heard her telling Mark that she figured out how "it works." She told him how she hit the ball and went to 1st base, then the next girl hit and Em went to 2nd base and "then you keep doing that until you get the end base." No one told them to do this, just expected them to know what to do and she figured it out. She's only been to a million games, but who thought to explain it to her. Glad she's bright, b/c we aren't . :)
Kat practices with her team tonight. Abby on Thurs nite, both are on the same teams as last year. Kat is trying out for catcher this year. She thinks she wants to catch, but did really well at first base last year. Abby is in "kid pitch" also called "walkathon" ball games.
Hannah's alarm keeps going off. Am going up to roust her out of bed. She needs $ for her French club banquet downtown KC. She has a new need for $20 everyday. :) We were proud of her efforts last week on the Relay for Life event. She was team captain and they raised over $1000. More funny stories on that later. Who knew it would snow in April and they'd be inside, but it turned out ok.
Glad to be back. I sent myself my password, so maybe I can blog again soon. :)
Anyway I'm here in warm KC, MO. I've been up since 4:30 am. I woke up thinking about Jess's financial aid, FAFSA, that I need to finish. I tried the other day, but had missing PIN #s. (Am I the only one who sees a pattern here?) Anyway I got it done and she's good to go in debt some more in search of the greater goal of that BSN--go Jess!
I won't bore my small fan club with all the details of our life since last Nov. Most of you know the big news of our upcoming move to St Louis this summer. Our local realtor was here last night affirming our belief that we have too much junk and there is not enough Magic Eraser to get this house in a showable condition. ARGH!! Actually she was very nice and is hopeful we can get this house sold by July 1. We just have LOTS to do!!! (probably another reason my eyes were open at 4:30 am)
I can get a bunch done today. No big events in our world today. Hannah is running track for THS, but no meets this week. Em had her 1st T-ball practice last night. I heard her telling Mark that she figured out how "it works." She told him how she hit the ball and went to 1st base, then the next girl hit and Em went to 2nd base and "then you keep doing that until you get the end base." No one told them to do this, just expected them to know what to do and she figured it out. She's only been to a million games, but who thought to explain it to her. Glad she's bright, b/c we aren't . :)
Kat practices with her team tonight. Abby on Thurs nite, both are on the same teams as last year. Kat is trying out for catcher this year. She thinks she wants to catch, but did really well at first base last year. Abby is in "kid pitch" also called "walkathon" ball games.
Hannah's alarm keeps going off. Am going up to roust her out of bed. She needs $ for her French club banquet downtown KC. She has a new need for $20 everyday. :) We were proud of her efforts last week on the Relay for Life event. She was team captain and they raised over $1000. More funny stories on that later. Who knew it would snow in April and they'd be inside, but it turned out ok.
Glad to be back. I sent myself my password, so maybe I can blog again soon. :)
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