Early August

Yay! Our deck is in! One more down and several to go on our list of things to do to sell the house. Here is a pic of Dean knocking down the old one:We also had a leak in our water meter fixed. Here’s the deal. We noticed our water meter in the front yard had sprung a pretty serious leak. We called the water company. It turns out that if the leak was on the street side of the meter the city would be responsible. However since it was on the house side of the meter, we are responsible. So, we called the plumbers. THREE guys showed up. They looked at it and said the trip fee would be $40 and the repair would be $210!!! They assured me, though, that we weren’t paying for all three guys. They must have been training one or something. So they dug a big hole in the yard and went to work. There was quite a view. A little while later I looked out the window and this is what I saw: In case you can’t tell, two of the guys are sitting on a bench under the tree and the 3rd guy was in the truck with air conditioning running, music playing and smoking a cigarette. They remained like this for over 15 minutes. Finally, they all went over and looked in the hole. They turned the water on, looked again, and walked away with my check for $250. Now, in all fairness, they were probably waiting for some sealant to dry or something. But they were only there for a total of 45 minutes, at least 15 of which they were doing nothing. AND the part they replaced was PVC pipe. What they heck was I paying $210 for?

Last Friday we went to Carowinds for the day. We spent half the day at the water park and rode a few rides. When we left, we met Amy & Family for dinner in Charlotte then went on to Raleigh to visit the grandparents. Saturday the kids went fishing with Grandpa and had a great time.Grandpa realized that the first fish ever caught by Grammy, me and my 2 sisters, and the five grandkids were all caught with him. That was pretty cool to think about. Sunday we went to church with Andrea and Jerry. Monday on the way back home we went to Durham to show the kids where Dean went to college at Duke. Kai and Alyssa thought it was so cool. Kai said he wanted to go to Duke. Alyssa said, “Now I want to try harder to get good grades!” So all in all, I’d say that was a successful visit!

I would like to add that while we were in Raleigh, dad showed me some prints they had had converted from some old slides that belonged to my grandmother. They were of my parents during their college days! They’re awesome! Here are 3 of my favorites:
ROAN QUOTE: “Did you know that I didn’t exist a billion years ago?”

CULTURE QUOTE: "There was a time in American television when parents and children alike would gather in front of the TV to watch Leave It to Beaver or even The Cosby Show, programs that ... reminded us that loving parents can guide their children through even the worst of childhood's problems. Those days are long gone, baby, as viewers were reminded last week when Living Lohan and Denise Richards: It's Complicated made their debut. Gone is the notion that parents are problem-solvers, or that parents—in the plural—are even the norm. In their place Hollywood now offers the new 'reality' of divorced mothers who, while claiming to love their kids, actually cause the majority of their problems in life. ... These shows, we're told by Hollywood, are 'reality programs' reflecting 'normal' families. They are, network executives would have us believe, more accurate depictions of the American family than fictional families of old: the Cleavers, the Bradys, the Huxtables, even the Simpsons. But when did any of our realities include buying a $9,000 grill like Denise Richards, or sitting down with our youngest daughter to watch a porn tape possibly starring our oldest child?" —Kansas homeschooling mom and blogger Katherine Berry [pajamasmedia.com, 6/02/08]

Some Stuff

I don’t have much to write about right now, and no pictures, but I’ll do my best! Last Friday, we went to Palmetto Falls. If you’ve never been there, you should go! It is a small water park at Fort Jackson and it was a LOT of fun! It’s not as big as a regular water park, but then neither is the price. It is only $9.50 per person. Check it out. We had a blast.

These days I’m just doing all the normal ‘end of summer break’ activities such as making doctor appointments, registering for kindergarten and middle school, getting ready to go school shopping, and scheduling a last minute weekend at the grandparents as well a day trip to Folly Beach. We are also still working slowly but surely on fixing up the house to sell. This weekend we are replacing the deck.

Extended family news includes:

~Amy & family have moved to Charlotte, NC
~Andrea just turned 30
~Andrea is pregnant! Whoo Hoo!

Roan Quote: While we were in the car the other day, Roan told me out of the blue that South Carolina is better than Florida. I laughed and said, “Oh? Who told you that?” He answered without hesitation, “Jesus.”

Psyche!

I LOVE this show! Here's why:

Time for Another Post....

Kai and Alyssa had a great time at camp. They went on different weeks this year since Alyssa was bumped up to the older camp.

Roan wasn’t very happy with his YMCA camp experience. Just to give you an idea, they told me to supply him with $10 for the week for him to go to canteen at snack times, but he was taken to canteen only once out of the five days. I spoke to several different people throughout the week always being assured that they would work it out. Finally when camp was over I said I at least want my $8 back. They took a message and said someone would call me. They never did. Roan was also bored the whole week. They went swimming every day but only for 45 minutes. We were both very disappointed. He will NOT be going back next year. Fortunately, next summer he will be old enough to go to Camp Bethel where Kai and Alyssa go.

While Alyssa was at camp, the boys and I did some fun things. We went to Chuck E. Cheese, which they love. I just grin and bear it! Roan went to work with Dad for a day, so I took Kai to the movie ‘Iron Man’. We also went to the zoo. All three of us brought cameras. Roan was especially tickled that he got to have his own camera (he borrowed Alyssa’s) and could take as many pictures as he wanted of anything he wanted! Kai borrowed Dad’s camera. Here is one of Kai's pics:

Here is one of Roan's:And here are a few of mine:

I put a couple more on my photo blog, too.

On the 4th of July we went to the pool for a few hours. That evening we went to Fort Jackson. What is more appropriate than celebrating the 4th with our troops?

Unfortunately, a severe thunderstorm came through and we were evacuated to our cars.

Everyone seemed to be leaving so we did too. It turns out that they still had the fireworks after the storm passed, so we missed them. Hmph.

Saturday morning we picked up Alyssa from camp. That evening we went out to Lake Murray for one more chance to see fireworks. They were far away, but it was fun.

Last Friday we all went to see the movie ‘Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D’. It was fun. It was in the same vein as the Spy Kids movies, National Treasure, & Night at the Museum in that they are all quality family fare.

This past weekend my sister and her family moved to Charlotte, NC. I drove up and picked up her kids. They stayed with us for the weekend so Brad & Amy could get stuff done. The kids all had a great time.

Yesterday, I took the kids to see ‘Meet Dave’. As kids go, it was cute, better that I thought it would be. My kids loved it. But, it’s hard to imagine adults going to this movie without kids.

Finally, I've been growing cherry tomatoes this summer. This is the first time I've ever grown anything edible! Here are the 'first fruits' of the crop:They were DELICIOUS!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a ‘Roan Quote’, so here you go:

ROAN QUOTE: Dean recently fell while running and scraped up his knee pretty badly. It took a while to heal and apparently occasionally commented to the kids about it. So, Roan came up to me one day and asked me, “Mommy, What is suppurating pus?”

June Recap

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May Summary

I really have no excuses. I just haven’t felt like blogging. I’ll try to catch you up. May started off with a bang as Dean and Alyssa participated in the last FamJam of the season. It was a lot of fun, and they did a great job.

Alyssa got her spring pictures back. I don’t always buy these, since I always get the fall ones, but this time, her picture turned out so good, I had to get it:

Alyssa had her spring concert for honor choir. This was her last one. She will no longer be in honor choir. After this year they won’t even be taking 6th graders any more. Unfortunately, she won’t be taking choir in 7th grade either. Not enough elective choices, especially when PE is mandatory, but counts as an elective. I don’t think that’s right. She enjoys choir, but Art is her first love and it always comes first! So, maybe we’ll squeeze choir back in another year.

May 10th was my birthday. Dean and Alyssa made breakfast for me, yum! Then we all went strawberry picking. Dean had the right idea. While the kids picked, Dean ate!

That evening we went to dinner and a movie. The next day was Mother’s Day. Dean normally makes breakfast for me on Mother’s Day, but this time I was singing in the worship team for all three services which meant I had to get up really early so I told him not to worry about it. He did it anyway! He got up when I did, made me breakfast, then went back to bed. Sweet! About 4pm, Dean and the kids took me to Yamatos!

This month was Kai and Alyssa’s Tae Kwon Do tournament. Kai was excited because he was on the sword team and they had to create their own routine and perform it. He did great! Alyssa was excited because she was finally done! She had decided about half way through the year that she didn’t want to do it anymore but we made her finish out the year. Here is Kai sparring. He is the one with the orange belt:

The last couple of weeks Dean has been working like crazy on deadlines. He’s stayed late (anywhere from 9pm to midnight) almost every night. He’s even been going in on the weekends, Memorial Day, our anniversary and his birthday! Those last two celebrations have been postponed.

Roan is officially out of school. (preschool) Friday was his last day. He’s excited that next time he goes to school, it will be kindergarten.

Last Saturday was our scheduled family YARD DAY. We all worked in the yard, trying to pretty it up. We hope to try to sell the house soon, so we’re working down our list of ‘things to do to sell the house’.

If you get a chance, you should check out Stuff Christians Like. (a play on 'Stuff White People Like, obviously) The cousin of a friend of mine writes this blog. It is a humorous look at the Christian subculture. It's is a good opportunity to laugh at ourselves, not take ourselves too seriously and ocassionally gain a little insight. I really enjoy reading it. I suggest starting at number one as he often refers to older posts.

Well, that’s about it for May so far. Hope you’ve had a great one!

Carowinds Choral Festival

Saturday, I went with Alyssa and our neighbor, Naomi, to Carowinds with the Honor Choir for the Carowinds Choral Festival.

We had a lot of fun (except for the hour long line at one of the rides!). They did a fantastic job singing. An eighth grade chorus went on before them and were not nearly as good as our choir of 4th – 6th graders! They rated a superior! Great job, girls!

Alyssa and Naomi with Choir Director Elise Helms

Culture Quote: Teens with televisions in their bedrooms eat worse, exercise less and get lower grades than their peers who aren't as tuned in, according to a recent study from the University of Minnesota. Researchers found that the 62% of teens who have a TV in their bedrooms watch it four to five hours more per week than the 38% who don't. "It really clearly points out that there's some merit to not allowing your child to have a TV in the bedroom," says Daheia Barr-Anderson, one of the study's researchers. [Reuters, 4/7/08 stats, c&e]