Thu. Mar. 6 - Tue., Mar. 11

Thursday.

• I spent much time working on the computer, and edited more recipes.
• I called Mom and we got all caught up. ;)
• We spent much time working together to get the house picked up.
• In the afternoon I prepared a Breakfast Supper to take to the Balderramas for what was most likely our final Thursday Bible study with them before their move. :*(

Friday.

• Puppet Show by N & J. N made these puppets.

• Since a before-bed Bible Time has been largely crowded out of our schedule the past few months (we were down to maybe two per week), we adjusted and have worked a Bible study time into our day. We started this last Friday. Much better.
• The children played outside a lot; it has been sssssso beautiful.
• I researched Lime Oil and learned quite a lot. It might be the most versatile oil I've purchased so far!

Saturday.

• Jeremy spent most of the day at the office. The morning started with a meeting at the church building which was attended by three men who normally don't attend meetings, and even three women who were all determined to hear in their own ears the reason we feel Jeremy has to look for employment elsewhere. The meeting held no surprises, and revealed the information necessary without any ungodly behavior, so >> GOOD.
• This was Justus's day to choose things he is ready to be rid of for the garage sale. He was a trooper!
• I did MUCH laundry on Saturday. Five loads. (blink, blink) It was one of those days when the 'stars all align perfectly' (lol) and there is a full load of every different kind of laundry. No complaints, though; it means that for a number of days previous to that I'd not had any full loads, so didn't do any laundry! :)
• Thursday at Big K by the Balderrama's house, instead of buying tilapia filets, which is what I expected Jeremy to pick up, the fish on sale that week was catfish! I've never done catfish before, so it required a little fancy footwork as far as supper preparation for Saturday. I researched what I needed in order to do fried catfish, and had to make a run to the store to round out the meal. N came along.
• While I built supper, Natasha had her first experiences using a calling card to make a long-distance call; she called my Mom and they talked for a long while.
• The catfish was awesome. We also had hush puppies. Woah, yum. Good thing we don't do that too often! ;) Except ... Jeremy invited over the Koenigs for the same supper this coming Saturday!! That will be very fun. I've decided to make the meal Jeremy had at Baby Kay's in Phoenix a couple months ago. Fried Catfish smothered in Etouffe; the Koenigs claim to like Cajun food, so we'll 'go there' together.

Over the past few days I have taken the following pictures of N's & J's magnet letter dudes.

These guys, N said, are 'cousins' walking their dogs.

Sunday.

• I was rrrrreally proud of Justus. Instead of 'coloring' during the sermon (drawing), he chose to practice his writing by copying what was displayed from the PowerPoint projector! He did a BUNCH of writing that day!! Since the Pew Bibles the church ordered arrived a couple weeks ago, this was the first week that Jeremy got to include page numbers beside each scripture reference. (Interestingly, though not surprisingly, it was OBVIOUS that it made a nice, significant difference for a number of people throughout the auditorium - attendance 89 - because folks who don't usually use a Bible were staying right with everyone else!! Awesome!) Justus was showing me that he even wrote the page number, which was enclosed in parenthesis. He whispered, "Mom, I made the cage!"
• Elaine bought us lunch at Olive Garden (Again. Olive Garden two Sundays in a row. hm) Justus told me, "I wanted to eat home food today." And, as appreciative as I am of Elaine's generosity and the break from kitchen work, I shared Justus's sentiment. That's a good clue that it's time to start eating at home more often!! Amen!
• We napped in the afternoon, everyone but Elaine, who beaded.
• There was a Ladies' Day Meeting after the evening service; it is hard to believe Ladies' Day is only a week and a half away!
• When we got home we played Guitar Hero as a family - 'battling'/challenging. It's fun. Justus is getting really good!! It did take him longer than the rest of us get the hang of it ... you know, that hand/eye coordination thing! :) But he is making great strides!
  

Oh, Natasha made this super-hero helmet last week and modeled it for the camera. (Don't ask me!!?!! LOL)
She shared it with Justus, who wore it completely differently!! LOL

Here N is dressed up like a Bible character. I have forgotten what, exactly, she was doing.There is a new Lego competition N wants to enter (and ... no essay required - lol); the assignment is to make an animal that would be in a zoo. She chose ... a SPIDER!!!!!!!!, much to her mother's consternation. Of all the animals in the world.... Well, here she is, fresh out of a shower, with her spider creation. blech

Monday was a Monday.

• Coupons, Menu, Grocery List, Grocery shopping - with Natashie.
• Natasha had two firsts on Monday. 1.) She cared for the clean, freshly-dried clothes (WITH SUPERVISION!!); 2.) At Wal-Mart I let her do the card swipe at the check-out. Big excitement.
• In the evening we ate leftovers and spent about an hour relaxing while absorbing an episode each of Mythbusters and Dirty Jobs episode (ever heard of slime eels? eeeeeew).
• I did some research on the location of an open preaching position - from whom Jeremy has heard back some positive interest: Pottstown, PA. It's 30 miles from Philadelphia/Delaware River, and equal distance (maybe 2 hr. drive?) between Washington, D.C. and NYC. Do you suppose???? It would be a new and completely different experience, for sure! It might feel to me more like entering a mission field than anything else we've done, but what a DREAM for this homeschooling family, practically 0% of whose (even extended-)family members have had the opportunity to see all there is to see on the East Coast. Oh, man.... These THINGS!!!!! Yes, it's a zillion miles from 99.9% of those we know and love.... But for a seldom as we get to see everyone as it is, why not at least live in a location everybody we know would like to see sooner rather than later?? -hm-

Tuesday was today.

• I received two calls that made my DAY. First, from my cousin Bernita who has NEVER called me before; the purpose of the call was to verify our current address. She is one of my Free cousins who although we are first cousins, her oldest-few (of 10!) children are the ages of Sc & Sy. Bernita is a homeschooling hero of mine. (I am blessed to have quite a few!!) :) I would benefit from spending hours and hours at her feet. Annnnnnnnd, after having the opportunity to pick her brain for just a few minutes today, I have learned that our family's homeschooling philosophy is almost exactly what theirs has been these past 30 years!! Considering the outstanding success of their children in every way, I was absolutely GIDDY by the time she and I had to end our call. Then, not an hour later, Katheline called!! I think it's been a year since we talked on the phone, so it was awesome to catch up a little!! Her brother is getting married next month, so while they're in this part of the country they are hoping to be able to stop in and visit!! Wow!! SEEEE?? I TOLD you those calls made my day!
• We had a Ladies' C.A.R.E. Group meeting, after which Elaine bought us lunch at KFC (more eating out...). Lillian brought us home since Jeremy was at his Tuesday appointment with Jesse and Elaine had to go to work.
• The children and I walked the dogs today. I am determined to get the dogs walked more often, even if it means I take them myself. Especially with Chewie growing so big these days, if he is to be a pleasant member of the household, he has to get these walks.... Trick is, it's really starting to warm up in the day. Today it was nearly 80. uggh
• N wrote a book today. It is definitely her most sophisticated effort yet. She dedicated it to Jeremy. It is about a superhero who finds himself in a pickle because although (through an accident at his work) he gets amazing super powers, those very powers make it so he can't hold down his job. I might type it up for the blog later. Of course each page is illustrated. :) She hole-punched it and tied the pages together with yarn.
• We had enchiladas for supper, then Bible study, and then a short game of Boggle.
• Thanks to Sy, I'm starting to get edu-mu-cated about Google Reader, though I haven't worked out the glitches yet.... rrg I hate feeling like a technological retard. LOL (sigh) Oh well, it definitely keeps me humble, and gives me a better understanding of how some older people feel, trying to keep up with the times....

The following three pictures were taken by Jeremy mostly for Cecil to get an idea of how big Chewie is now. This is the cage that came with Jabba; it is adjustable, and Jabba fits into 1/4 of it. Chewie, at this point, fills it. He's almost set to graduate to Kiana's old one.