Good evening.

 

We have had several days of very hot weather.  It has finally been what we call here in Texas, “summer”, which means hot, humid and over 100’F.  In an effort to keep cool, Tyler and Ben made small fans from mini motors from broken toys,  popsicle sticks, and  AA batteries.  Ben even wired in an old controller from a wire-controlled car so he could turn it on an off with a switch and change the fan direction.  Very “cool”. 

 

A couple of weekends ago Tyler, Ben and Tim went for a Cub Scout weekend at Space Camp Houston.  They were able to stay in the NASA Space Lab over night and then take a tour in the morning.  They came home tired but excited to show off all the new science experiments they learned.  Their favorite was putting a marshmallow in a vacuum and watching all the air get sucked out and they adding air and watching it grow huge.  BTW, if you put a marshmallow in the microwave it will grow huge and explode in about 15 seconds.  Just something a mom of boys learns through experience unfortunately and feels the need to pass along.   

 

While I was at my mother’s house recently, I decided to play a little practical joke.  She had a grocery list she was making out, so I added one item in the middle of the list.  Written in my best mother-signed-this-sick-note-handwriting, I added ENEMAS.  Needless to say the next day I get a message on my cell phone from my mother,  “Jennifer, did you write enemas on my list? I asked Graeme and he said he didn’t put them on my list.  Did you write enemas on my list?  I know you did.  Do you think I need an enema?”   I saved the message and laughed for days.   Funny how much one word can make life hilarious.  No offense intended to anyone who needed an enema this week, however. 

 

We started school this week.  We started off with a bang…literally.  As a surprise, I purchased a bottle of diet soda and some Mentos.  We went outside and placed the Mentos in the soda and bang it squirted up close to 10 feet high.  It was a fun way to start off our year. For our first days of school, things are going well.  It always is a challenge to round up the posse and get them all going in the same direction.  But by the end of the week (with the cattle prod I borrowed from my neighbor) they should be very compliant.  Just kidding!  LOL 

 

Tyler, Ben and I got up at 4:15am on Tuesday morning to watch the complete lunar eclipse.  We snuggled up on the outdoor bench with our blankets and watched as the moon slowly turned dark red.  It was a memory to tuck away.  Something I hope they will remember fondly when their older and say, “I remember my mom got up with us in the middle of the night to watch the moon.”  That’s the kind of mom I want to be.

 

Good night. J

~J

Wow, I can hardly believe that I have not come here for months.  It's been a different summer for sure.  It rained here for 3 months with every pond, lake, creek and river overflowing.  If you ask the kids it was the worst summer ever.  But we found some other things to do.  I painted every room in the house.  Tyler put together a large model and read all 7 Harry Potter books.  Ben put together numerous Lego models.  And we all put together a 1000 piece puzzle that is now mounted in our homeschool room. 

 

Tyler and Ben each attended Cub Scout camps this summer.  Tim took his Webelos group and I helped with Ben's camp.  Fortunately the few days of camp were the few days that it was dry; however, the mosquitoes were horrid.  Tyler looked like he had measles when he came home from camp. Ugh.  Fun was had by all and new friends were made.

 

Benjamin played baseball early in the summer and made the All Star team.  He is quite the little athlete and never struck out all season.  Yes, he hit EVERYTIME he was up to bat.  Amazing.  His favorite part of playing was that he could run fast and catch fly balls.  I can't wait until next season when they can steal bases....watch out, because he is lightening fast!

 

I mentioned earlier that Tyler read all of the 7 Harry Potter books this summer.  It took him from July 21 to August 11 to read all 7.  For those of you who don't know about these books, they are LONG.  The last 4 average about 800 pages each.  The kid loves to read what can I say, and it helps that the books are very exciting.  I was/am reading along with him.  I'm only up to book 5.  I keep telling him not to give any secrets away.  He's trying.  Tyler has also volunteered at our town library.  It's been fun for him to help out at a place that has his favorite pastime...reading.  BTW, he just picked up a copy of Moby Dick.  I'll let you know how long that takes.  It's a bit more difficult than Harry.

 

Ryan as been a happy fellow for the summer, except the fact that he likes to "dough" (GO) all the time.  With all the rain, we didn't "dough" very much.  We did "dough" to a nearby indoor water park, which he loved.  It had a place just for little kids (no big kids allowed) that he could splash and play without worry.  Another place he liked to "dough" this summer was to see the water coming over our lake's spillway.  It was quite possibly a once-in-a-lifetime event.  We also got to view the flood gates completely open as well.  It was amazing to watch. 

 

Tim had a hard time working at his second job with all the rain.  It makes tree service just a mess.  But now that the rain has finally subsided, he is very busy. He's glad for the business. 

 

Like I mentioned before, I painted the house this summer.  I'm now working on window treatments and decorating.  My dad helped a great deal with the painting (thanks dad) and I would still be painting had he not helped.  I am very happy with all the colors and now the house is starting to feel more like home. 

 

Well, I could go on and on about our summer.  But this is a catch up post.  I'm going to try to be better (again) about blogging.  Check out the other pages; I've updated them as well. For now here's a family pic from Independence Day.