We're off!

Well folks,
I'm taking a little break from the computer. We leave tomorrow to go camping for a week. Hopefully we'll enjoy some nice weather (although we could use the rain) and relaxation. I should have some pictures when we get back. Until then.......

Yard clean-up

It was time for lawn mowing again this morning. Dave asked me yesterday if I would have time to get some of it done. I've kind of been putting it off to see if he would do it, but alas, he has been kind of busy too. So before we leave for camping, I should get the lawn taken care of. So I spent 3 hours out there mowing in the heat and come in to take a nice shower. What do I find ?- We have no electricity! What a disgusting feeling. So I ended up jumping into the pool to at least feel better. As you can see, our electricity did come back on but that's the 2nd time this morning that it's gone off. It better stay on for good now.

Chicago

Chelsea and I went to Chicago yesterday for her dr. appt. I could not believe all the construction - everywhere. I know that there is always construction once you hit Chicago but this started out about 30 minutes into our drive. We could at least go 45 through that section. After we exited the skyway onto the Dan Ryan - it was bumper to bumper. I think they were working on the local lanes, so everybody had to take the express. It took us about 40 minutes to get to the loop circle and exit to the west suburbs. After arriving right on time, we got called into the room 15 minutes later. The appt. time was 9:30 and we finally saw the first dr. at 10:15. Meanwhile, my parking ticket is going up!!! Both doctors were very pleased with how she is looking - so that was good news. We get to go back next summer. We finally walked out around 11:00 their time. We called Brenda - our reported friend from Chicago - to meet for lunch. We met at a little sub shop - it was a lot like Quiznos. We got to spend about 1/2 together because she had to pick her husband up from a meeting. But it was still fun seeing her again. For those of you who don't know - she is pregnant and due any day. So hopefully next year, she'll have both kids with her. We left - after looking at the gas prices there - 3.79 a gallon!!! I guess we can't complain too much. We got back on the Dan Ryan again and what usually takes 10 minutes again took about 35 minutes. We did make better time back home - although I felt bad for those heading west on 94. They were bumper to bumper with cars and semi's. I know there was construction but we didn't have it that bad on the way there.
We got back to pick up Shaelyn from Ann's house. She had a good time sleeping over there and I guess Ann enjoyed it too! The night turned out well. I still had energy to play softball. We ended up winning against a team of "youngsters" which I thought was great.

Katelyn's poison ivy

You know that I wrote that Katelyn ended up at the doctor on Saturday. Here are some pictures to show the reason why. Her arms and legs were just covered with poison ivy.
She puts bandaids on all her fingers to try to cover up all the little bumps. The other picture of her back shows what happened to her Saturday before we went to the dr. She was on the swing outside and it broke on her. She fell down hard and immediately had that purple bruise. She is starting to do better now that she is on steroids to dry up the poison ivy although her back is still sore. She did manage to go into work for part of the day. I hope that she remembers from now on to stay away from the woods as much as she likes it.

Fathers Day

It's Fathers Day! I started my day at 6:15 with an ice compress on my eye. I believe I have a stye and my eye was swollen up. I had to play flute in church this morning and didn't really want to be seen with my eye like that. So I spent an hour with ice on it. It did take the swelling down so that people didn't notice but it's coming back again. Hopefully, it will be improved by tomorrow! Chelsea also had to be to church early because she was singing in praise team. So that left Katelyn to get there with Shaelyn. Dave had to work at the nursing home this morning. Katelyn wasn't feeling too great either because she has a bad case of poison ivy. I ended up taking her to the dr. yesterday to get some medicine. But she had to teach the 2-3 year old class so she had to be there this morning too. Dad came to church with Ann this morning so Shaelyn sat with them until she left for Sonshine Worship. Ann wanted to pick her up after church too. I think Grandpa liked that! She said she sat on her lap and was good as gold. That's not exactly what Katelyn said, but I'll just go along with Ann's thoughts. Grandpa They then took her to Ann's house for cookies before coming over to mine for dinner. So we enjoyed dinner together and giving Dad his gifts.
We ended up doing gifts for Dave after supper tonight. Katelyn gave Dave a nice fold-up step stool that he can use for camping. Chelsea gave him some sausage and cheese and of course a candy bar. Shaelyn had lots of pictures to give plus a Nemo magnet that Katelyn had given to her from Florida. She said it kept falling so she didn't need it anymore. Isn't that thoughtful! She also wrapped up her "cutie-pie" kitty that she didn't need . Don't you just love how she recycles gifts? It's the thought that counts! Thanks Dave for being a great Dad!

Chelsea's joy

Check out this first picture. Can you see any difference between it and the second one?








It was a very exciting day yesterday. After 4 long years, Chelsea finally got her braces off. Too bad I don't have a picture of before they were put on. He did show us a mold of her teeth before and there has been a drastic improvement. Now all she has to wear is a retainer. No more 6 weeks visits!!

Tagged

I've just been tagged by Katie. So here goes....

My 4 favorite jobs:
Mom and wife
Babysitting when I was younger
Working mailroom at an Insurance Co.
Planting celery - does this really count? It's the only other job I've had

My 4 favorite local places:
Chr. Reformed Conference Grounds for camping! It's got a pool and Lake Michigan for
swimming
Cold Stone for Ice Cream
Target - I can always find something to buy there
Dollar store - great finds for great prices

My 4 favorite foods:
Pizza
Chinese - it's the best!!
Logan's restaurant rolls
Fresh corn on the cob

My 4 favorite international spots:
China - of course. Shaelyn comes from there
The Bahama's
I haven't been anywhere else but I'd like to go to:
Korea - we had an exchange student from there
Australia

The 4 people I am tagging are:
Cheri
Mari
Laura
Heather

Future florist

Laura,
I think you might have some competition. Shaelyn picked these flowers and put them into this arrangement. Do you notice the greenery put into the background? And there is just a few subtle purple type flowers amid the beautiful yellow ones. One open flower and two ready to emerge. She might have a future in this. What do you think?

Boyne Mountain

Here are some pictures of our adventure to Boyne Mountain this past weekend. The kids had a lot of fun at the water park. We had to listen to a "Sales" promotion to go there otherwise we wouldn't have paid to do this. Here is a picture of one of the main areas. Notice the pink slide - this was Shaelyn's favorite. The other one shows them in our room. Chelsea wanted Dave to scratch her back so Shaelyn decided to join in too.








Here is Shaelyn coming down the slide in the kids section and...











Chelsea in the hot tub. Whoa - was that hot - 100 degrees but it was warm in the whole park so I stayed away from the hot tub.






















Here are Chelsea and Dave racing together. I think Chelsea won this one. I always seemed to be the fastest when I raced! They had a timer at the finish line and announced the winner.


















The big blue circle is called the funnel slide. You go through some dark tubes and come out in this circle. You swirl around until the momentum catches you and you head down the funnel. Shaelyn loved all of these. She had to go down this one and one that went outside with an adult but she had no fear! The pink slide I showed earlier was one that she could go on all by herself. And did she - I think at one point, she went down that about 12-15 times continually. The lady working up at it just laughed as she would come down and run right back up again!

Happiness!

Note to family: This is a repeat of Cheri's blog but for those of you who I am not related to - my Dad is getting married!
Let me explain the background of my story. My Mom passed away in 2003 from a heart attack. It was quite sudden but she had not been in perfect health because she had a stroke in 1994. So my Dad has been alone for 4 years. He is very capable of taking care of the house and everything. He bakes and cans applesauce - you name it and he can do it. But there is the matter of loneliness. I hated the thought of him all alone at night. Well, he met Ann through bowling which he does 2-3 times a week. She is a wonderful lady that actually goes to my church and she has a granddaughter from China. Do you see a common denominator? They have been "friends" for over a year now. Well, we came home Saturday from the water park and Dad called me later to tell me I had to talk to "Ann" at church tomorrow. She had something to show me. He proceeded on to say that she would be moving in with him - his way of saying they were getting married - when he gets his house cleaned up! HaHa . My family is very happy about this. He will be able to do all the things he loves again. My Mom and him used to take a lot of bus trips all over and I know he misses that. So I found Ann at church and she has a beautiful ring. It was fun watching her show her ring to other friends! So we are just waiting to find out when the big day is going to be.
On a side note: We had a good time at the water park and I will be posting pictures of that in the next couple days but I had to share this exciting news first!

Chelsea's last school day

Chelsea made it through her last day as a freshman (we hope she passed :) Here she is with the traditional pose of holding her cat on the last day. She said her exams today were very easy. After school, all of her friends walked to one of their houses and her dad took them to McDonalds for lunch. Then they headed to another one's house to hang out for a while. Now we are officially into summer break. We leave tomorrow to go to Boyne Mountain and the water park. So I'll be gone probably until next Monday, when I'll hopefully have some more pictures of vacation!

Double trouble

Halle and Shaelyn wanted to try out the new sprinkler on Friday. So what started out as sprinkler fun - of course - turned into something else. For some reason they found some of the dead spots on our grass and decided to start cooking. As Mari was leaving, they told her they were making chocolate soup. They took sticks and were digging deeper into the lawn. They they searched for sticks and grass cuttings and added those to that as well. Dave's mowing the lawn today. I wonder what he found. And can you see Shaelyn's swimsuit bottom? Why does this happen? It's sagging all over the place. When she puts it on and it's dry, it fits perfectly. But when it gets wet, it sags. Now I do believe that swimsuits are meant to get wet (At least when you're this age) Thank goodness that she's got a different one for when we go to the water hotel this week. (By the way Cheri, I've got Halle's suit and towel and your shoes. They were in my van to be returned to you at Andy's open house but we forgot them) Catch you later!

Andy's graduation

Last night, my nephew Andy graduated from high school. He has loved airplanes and anything to do with them ever since he was young. Because of this, he wanted to pursue some sort of occupation involving airplanes. He has decided to join the army with the goal of being some sort of mechanic of planes and helicopters. I can't say how proud we are of him being willing to serve our country to protect us and our freedoms. We love our military men and women. It does seems rather strange to say "men" when we're used to thinking of our kids and nephews as children. What can we say except that we love you and are very proud that you are willing to serve!