Hello again. Well my husband and I have now known each other for 20 years. I started college 20 years ago this week and we met on the first day. My nephew started college this week. Where or where does the time go?! We've been busy. Erin has dance 4 nights a week. She really likes her new teacher and is excited about starting back at talented art. Joe has started football practice and cello. Joe's team is the Tigers. Purple and gold. Sigh. I am going to have to overcome my lifelong dislike of Tiger teams. He adds Cub Scouts next week. He really seems to like his new teachers, but has quite a bit of homework. Anna has a new tooth and has started a creeping/crawl...2 hands, one foot up and drag the backside. She can get anywhere and when placed on the stairs, climbs right up. She is quite the picky eater...my punishment I suppose.

Except for last weekend, I've done pretty good at cooking for my family. Monday, we had a Macaroni Grill chicken mix and canned green beans. Last night we had crunchy pork chops, gravy, mac & cheese, and fresh green beans. Tonight we are going to have slow-cooker BBQ pork sandwiches and cole slaw. Hopefully, we'll have leftovers tommorow night.

My foot is healing nicely. No real pain anymore, but it is still not completely closed and is tender.

Life is good.

Josie

Busy month

It's been a busy, busy month. I took the kids to Audubon's Insectarium on the Tuesday before school started. Anna really didn't understand what was going on...surprise! Joe and Erin really loved it. I was again amazed at how diverse the world is...so many types of beetles. I really like that they mentioned divine design, bugs are a bit to complex and varied to have just evolved. Anyhoo. Erin had dental and doctor visits on Wednesday to replace an old filling and treat an ear infection. Anna went to the doctor too. The ear tugging is probably related to all the new teeth trying to make their way out of her gums. School started on 8/8/08. Joe has Mrs. Marino and Mrs. Todd. Erin has Mrs. Breaux. They seemed to like their teachers. We went to Saturday night church and the next morning, Iwent to Adult Bible Fellowship (aka, Sunday School) and then sang for Kidstuf...I bombed one song. Perfect in practice almost always equals bomb during performance. Aargh. Erin had dance 4 nights this week. Joe had football evals on Thursday and Friday. My meal plans worked pretty well. We had pork chops, meat loaf and brisket. Pretty yummy week. I had foot surgery on Wednesday. Ouch, ouch, ouch. Craig was a dear and stayed home with me that day. He did laundry and dishes and whatever needed to be done for the rest of this week too. And, he finished school for this session this afternoon. Happy, Happy face! Joe got his first degree level 3 black belt today. He was very happy. Erin stayed home and worked on a Brownie scrapbook. I did housework this morning then decided to rest most of the rest of the day because of mild foot swelling. My foot is just not comfortable. Walking funny is bothering my right ankle and making my left leg tired. My back doesn't like it either, but it is not in spasms as it was last week. This will pass. Anna loves to stand and has crawled for her Daddy and sister, but not me. She does manage to move herself about 2 feet scooting on her bottom. Her upper teeth are about to erupt. She is just precious. She's so happy. Life is good.

8/8/88-my wonderful grandfather passed from this world to the next. Happy, healthy again, and handsome. I was 17, about 2 weeks from starting college and imagining where I would be in 20 years; very sad, but still so hopeful about my future.
8/8/08-my son started 5th grade, my daughter, 3rd. My baby was 8 months and 1 day old. Happy, healthy, handsome and beautiful. I was 37, married to a great guy I met on the first day of college, living in a beautiful home in a wonderful town. "God's gifts put man's best dreams to shame." Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Enjoying God's gifts,

Josie

Long time since...

Well, it's been a long time since I blogged. I guess I just got so wrapped up in the everyday that I never sat down to write. Writing is not my strong point. My older kids finished a week of cooking camp July 11. Joe took Tae Kwon Do pictures on the 12th. I managed to get quite a "honey-do" list from my honey that afternoon! I got my new permanent dental bridge on the 16th. We travelled to Lake Placid, NY for Craig's Ironman race on the 17th. We took a cool bobsled ride and visited the Olympic ski jump facility on the 18th. We visited the North Pole (actually North Pole, NY) on the 19th. Craig started his Ironman Lake Placid race at 7am on the 20th and he finished at 9:45 pm that night. He finished 6 minutes faster than his last race and did it with 13 hours of rough rain and a smile. The kids and I saw him at 11:45, 3:45, and 9:45. His 1/2 marathon time never registered, and was I ever glad to see him at the finish line. I try hard not to worry, but I was worried then. I kept checking my phone for messages and the computer for times. I had other people checking the computer too. Anyway, that's something for me to work on. Monday we drove up to the peak of Whiteface mountain (over 4000 feet above sea level) and then took an awe-inspiring and frightening gondola ride on another side of Whiteface. I worked very hard not to show my fear to the kids. It is really a beautiful place. Going back to the hotel, we stopped at High Falls Gorge...just gorgeous (no pun intended). I got some really cool pictures. On the way home, we saw a boulder in the falling rock zone of the highway. It amazes me how trees grow on the side of the rock walls. The next day we did the touristy shopping thing. I'm sure the Lake Placid commerce department was happy.:) We came home on Wednesday. Anna did really well on the flights. The last one was the worst.



Erin went the ballet on Thursday. I had girl scout training that night.
We tried out Saturday night church.
Mom and Melody came for a visit! We had a really great time. We went shopping on Sunday afternoon. I had Kidstuf practice that evening. I hated being away from them, but I think it gave them a good time to spend with the kids. We went to brunch the next morning at The Broken Egg Cafe. Yummy!
Joe started football agility clinics on Tuesday. Craig went to Cincinnati on Wednesday for business. I picked out 6 month portraits for Anna on Wednesday as well. It has rained almost every day this week. I have done innumerable loads of laundry and dishes. Whoever said the only things certain in life are death and taxes must not have been a housewife.
A new month has started and I'll try to blog more frequently.

Favorite quotes and thoughts:

"Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength."
Corrie Ten Boom

Until next time,
Josie