Wed., Jul. 2 - Wed., Jul 9

Catching up on a whole week! (How did THAT happen???)

[Loved ones who have children age 6-11, even if you don't read this whole, long, crazy post, I request your input, please regarding my last paragraph of this post.]

Last Wednesday while the children played outside and played dress-up in their two tents they have built in their bedroom (his/hers), I had a long phone call with Jeremy's sis, Jennifer, with whom we hadn't spoken in weeks and weeks. (sigh) I spent a good amount of time making more forward progress on both some computer work AND updating my coupons for The Grocery Game!!! [I'd been basically 'taking some time off' during the move, so it's requiring some attention now.] Around every corner is another little pleasant surprise about this congregation. A congregational effort at collecting coupons -for who wants them- is the little bonus that makes it into this paragraph! Note: It's NOT a "little" bonus for me >> It's huge ... because of TGG. I also called Friend Tammy that day to, sadly, cancel our lunch that was scheduled for Thursday, because of the transportation pickle. She and Tyler (husband) provided an amazing solution through the weekend, which was to loan us their Tahoe from Wednesday evening through Sunday evening!!!!! WHAT AN AMAZING HELP THAT WAS!!!!! ... and WHAT AN AMAZING VEHICLE THAT IS!!!!!! lol (& .. sigh)

Thursday was a big, fun day. It didn't hurt that I was driving the Tahoe!! lol Unfortunately, N & I accomplished the day in spite of suffering from some symptoms of a cold. :( We got to have lunch with Tammy at her house. Only Jacob (3 1/2) was awake during the hours we were there, but he, N, & J enjoyed great play time together, both inside and outside on that gorgeous day. Then, when it was time to eat, we sat on their back deck and had fresh fruits & veggies, chips & salsa, and homemade turkey & cheese panini sandwiches on --catch this-- homemade crusty French bread, made by Tammy, resident Amaaaazing, professional Baker/Homemaker!! -- I *have* to say that because she reads my blog now ... and then. ;) lol I wish we could have stayed all day, but ... busy-busy, we had a lot of other things to do! After picking up Jeremy from work, we hustled over to the movie theater where we were able to take in a practically-private (matine) showing of The Hulk, which we all enjoyed greatly. We ran errands into the evening (including Lowe's for tomato cages, pepper/broccoli/cauliflower plants, and petunias), and had supper out! We didn't get home until bedtime!

Friday was the 4th. Since our plans to be in NE were cancelled when the car broke down and we had to shell out our 4th $ for towing (gr), we'd just planned to grill some nice steaks & stuffed mushrooms. NOT a bad way to celebrate. Instead, Jeremy woke me with the news that he'd invited over two church families of friends! There was a tentative plan for us to spend the day with them, but because of Jeremy dragging his feet(!), he didn't nail down the plan until 2 1/2 hours before they were supposed to come over. I did NOT feel ready for company, so I was actually thankful when some schedule complications on their end made them late! lol No worries, we had plenty of time to enjoy the day. :)

A much-appreciated financial gift from a couple months ago was used this month to purchase these two fun summertime outside activities for the children!!



Here are Jared & Stacy; their little guy, Enoch, is shown in a later photo.



Here are Robert & Lyndsay with their littlest one, Taylor.



Another shot of Taylor:



Foooooood! lol



The children played in the water a lot, but did eventually come out and start drying off. lol Brandon (age 6) and Dylan (age 3 1/2) belong to Robert & Lyndsay. Ssssssssso sweet, those two little boys. Mm!



While they warmed up after getting dressed, they played Chutes & Ladders. I hope you can see why I think Brandon and Justus are tough to tell apart from the back/sides at a quick glance! lol



After the game, they spent some time reading:





A second round of watermelon came out later in the day when our kiddos had gone back into the pool.



We just relaxed through the evening - played cards. In the evening we all piled into cars to go watch a fireworks show that was NOT worth the drive. We could have continued to enjoy each other's company just as well, and probably seen just as many fireworks, if we'd stayed at our house. gr

Saturday, as it turned out, was the day Robert could come over in the morning while Lyndsay was at work, and 'fix' Elaine's car. My contribution to the effort was to watch their children. There was a possibility it was just the timing belt, "Should take about an hour." Well, Lyndsay ended up coming over when she got off work, and ... they didn't leave until 8:30 p.m.!! lol The timing belt was NOT the solution, I'm sad to announce. :**( It's the engine. And it totalled out the car, for sure.




Sssssso, as if Jeremy hadn't already gotten enough automobile education that morning, on timing belts, engines, etc., his education continued when Robert offered to go ahead and stay to help Jeremy take the car apart as much as possible, in order to get the biggest possible return on all the parts. (blink, blink) THAT was interesting work....



Inside, the children, Lyndsay, and I were just going through a pretty typical Saturday, getting stuff accomplished. :) Mid-way through three cooking tasks I was working through that afternoon, I was super-surprised when I got a call from Texas, ON THE DAY OF the Free family reunion. *THAT* was a first! Marcia was sweet to call me during the singing time so I could hear at least a few minutes of that gorgeousness in the background. It turns out ... it was my year to win the QUILLLLLLLLLLT!!!!!!!!! That is a HUGE big deal because out of my (How many?) ... thirty-eight(?) first cousins on that side of the family, we all get a chance to win it once, and there are now only seven more grandkids who haven't yet won their quilt. I am VERY excited to receive it in the mail. OH, you KNOW there'll be pictures posted of THAT! I called Mom and Sydni, both, with that news! lol The picture below was taken at the children's request, right after Natasha said (with outspread arms, boys all hiding behind the huge green gown), "Never fear, the Superheroes are here!" at which moment she pulled her arms down and the boys all took a Superhero pose.



I HAD to get those bedding plants in the dirt! Elaine treated everyone to a HyVee fried chicken dinner, so while she, Lyndsay, and Taylor were gone, I took advantage of that hour to work in the garden. Dylan was my little HELPER, boy howdy. N took this picture of me from the deck, stinky girlie. lol



The guys weren't quite finished up in the garage when it was time to eat, so this picture is of the "women and children" only.



Just as an aside, on my little desktop notepad on the computer, at the beginning of last week, for the first time ever, I typed out notes of how I EXPECTED that week to go down. It went NOTHING like that. Almost everything that was on there got deleted off. (head shake) It's official: That week went NOTHING like planned.

Sunday morning I woke up feeling absolutely awful. But, then, I wake up EVERY Sunday morning feeling absolutely awful. Well, maybe not ABSOLUTELY awful every single Sunday. I went ahead and got dressed, swallowed my supplements with a bit of water (all I could stomach), and got in the car, but actually had to ask Jeremy to pull over on the way there so I could leave my water and supplements at the base of the stop sign at that intersection. :( We were five blocks from the building, so we dropped off Jeremy and the children, and Elaine drove me back home. I slept straight through the next four hours, and woke feeling only a bit better. It was the flu and I had it for 24 hours. N got it that night, Jeremy & Elaine the next day. Justus hasn't had to have it!! That evening Jeremy returned the Tahoe to Tyler & Tammy, and we turned over a(NOTHER) new automobile leaf. A church friend, Bill, who is a Ford Master Mechanic (Robert is the congregation's other one!!) sold us an old, 2-door "beater" Topaz that he has re-built, both engine and transmission ... and (lol!) lots of other parts of that poor car. It is a trooper! Nothing fancy to look at, for sure, but it goes down the road! For pay he asked permission to take off/out of Elaine's Escort $200 worth of parts he needs for other projects. "Good trade".

On Monday I wrapped up the coupons I needed for that day, and then after Jeremy got home from work (to nap, since he - and Elaine, actually - were both sick that day!) the children and I hit a health food store (very exciting and pleasant, this time!), PetSmart, and HyVee and got home just in time for supper. Ahhh, a 'normal' day.

Tuesday was Jeremy's day to cook for the Sunbeams' ("young-at-hearts") monthly meeting! Last month he'd promised them Shrimp Etouffe; needless to say, he was the hit of the day! ;) lol Natasha began working on a new memory verse - yay! :) When Jeremy got home, I took the car to do the weekly grocery shopping, and while I was gone, he and the children helped me catch up from the craziness of last week by folding two loads of laundry!! Then, when I got home I made -to DIE for- Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches for the first time. BIG HIT. That was the third of four meals the July 4th steaks fed us for. lol And then, (gasp!!) last night I actually made.a.card. It was a thank-you card to some church friends who gave us a rather large amount of money on Sunday to help with the cars. (head shake) These PEOPLE!! (lump in the throat) Last night I finished The Kite Runner. "Haunting"; I agree. I learned a LOT about Afghanistan.

And ... today! Good grief, this is a long post. I'm boring myself! The children are back on the computer!!!!!!!! For the first time in two years! This is a major accomplishment which will be the big, new, fun thing for a while now.... lol I took care of some calls, did some gardening, and primped some. I have a new haircut I have to figure out, and I painted my toenails. N turned me down for some work on her toenails, preferring to computerize some more. lol So far it's Starfall, of course, but she is WAAAAY beyond that and I am already busy finding some Web sites that are on her level. Input, please??