Back to Normal

It's Monday, and my brother and his family are gone..... I miss them, already. They are on their traveling vacation. They are taking 13 days to drive one day and tour the next, so on and so forth. They're stopping in LasVegas, the Grand Canyon and other fun places on their way to NW US to catch their plane. I haven't heard from them, but don't expect to until they arrive and get settled in.

We used the weekend to get rested from their visit. We went and went while they were here[swimming at Northcrest Pool, Splashway, Joe barbequed and took it to my Grandmother's for a family dinner, adults night out, wives day shopping and manicures, while Kim and I went shopping the guys took the girls fishing, we sent to boys to work for Grandpa and went out in the evening for dinner with Jean and Joe, my husbands parents. I can't tell you how many times we ate out.....] When we weren't going, we were staying up late visiting. They were here for 4 full days. It was exhausting, but it was worth it. My Joe was so cute while they were here. He kept everyone laughing. You forget how charming a spouse can be sometimes. With day to day living and him being gone so much, we don't always get to do a lot of stuff together. We are lucky if we get to talk to each other every day. I miss the Joe that I used to date. We used to do things together, talk, laugh, and just have fun. Married life and children sure changes things...........

Family Visits

It has been nice having family here. Of course, the kids have completely been terrible. The boys discovering myspace and staying up at night to converse with girls and ask them about their sex life..... The older 2 girls are trying to desert my 5 year old. They left her at the park down the road, ran home and hid so she couldn't find them. Kaitlyn came home crying because she was scared at being deserted and hurt because they didn't want to play with her......... and this is just the first day! So the adults have laughed, consoled each other, sympathized with each other, and given each other advise on how to outsmart the kids........ I have full confidence that the children are doing the same! We have 2 days left, time is running out too fast.......

They're here!

My brother and his family came in today at about 3:30. I was just heading home from a makeup swimming lesson. Of course, I wasn't done with the house. I had been working hard on it. I had most of it done, sans the pool room and Ryan's room (where Paul and his wife were to sleep). I told myself that this time I would not work myself to death trying to make everything perfect. I usually totally stress out trying to get everything done, plus more....... I was very relaxed and it all worked out well. We visited, I cooked chicken spagetti for dinner, I did laundry, and really enjoyed the evening...... I didn't realize how much I missed them. My brother, Warren, is here, too. We have a full house. Paul's oldest is Ryan's age and his youngest is Madison's age. The kids play well together. Paul and Kim are very tired from getting ready to move. They had to sell everything- house, cars, furniture, etc..... They sent 3 shipments ahead to Okinowa of all the items that they kept and are living out of their suitcases until they leave at the end of the month. Poor babies! I will keep you updated........

My Girls

This is a picture of my girls, Kaitlyn and Madison, at Grandma's eating ice cream...... their favorite past time. Grandma spoils them rotten. Kaitlyn, the one in pink, is Grandpa's girl. She even calls him to talk as much as possible. She has known how to do this for a while. After I found out that she was calling him every day when I was not looking, I had to keep a closer eye on her and the phone..... even to the point that I disconnect all the phones in the house and carry the portable in my pocket.......

When she was 2 and I was away on a trip, she waited until Daddy was asleep to pick up the phone and hit redial to call me at 11pm in North Carolina. I think she has talked to all of my friends, at one time or another, by hitting redial when she could get away with it. We quickly learned to hang up the phone after a call, pick it up and punch..... I don't know...... maybe 1 and then putting it back down. This way redial would not reach anyone....... The only problem is that now she is getting older and she knows how to enter phone numbers.........

Summer

My temp job is finished and for a little while I get to stay at home with my children. I was definitely missing them. Along with missing the extra time to work on things around the house. I never thought I would miss housework, who knew?

The girls have swimming lessons for one more week (Monday thru Friday at 10:30am and 6:30pm). I need to sign Ryan up for Summer school, today. He has ADHD and we have been going through a rough patch, so we need to make up a few classes. This week is the week I have to work on the house and get ready for my brother's visit. He's in the marines and is coming to visit with his wife and children before he goes to China for 3 years. They're staying with us while they are here. That always makes for some wild times....... I will keep everyone updated.