This Week At Home,2013, No. 31

Little notes written in order to remember each precious one with pictures from the birthday parties...

Monday, the 22nd...

Today was the last day in the 90's for awhile.  We found ourselves quite exhausted from our busy birthday weekend.  This was our last day of watching our neighbor dog, too.  She misses her people.  Trevor and I took her on a walk.  Otherwise today was typical, except for one thing, that being Jeff was offered a job an hour and fifteen minutes south of here.  He had already turned them down, but on Friday they asked him what would it take to get him.  Well, today he told them.

Tuesday, the 23rd...

What a day.  I took Ryan across town to his great grandparents' home so that he could help them back up their computer.  I then went back across town to meet a sweet friend for coffee.  We chatted for 2 hours, then I went back to pick up Ryan.  During this time, I get a text from Jeff saying the latest job offer was too good to pass up.  All sorts of emotions flooded my mind.  Was I prepared to move?   I picked up Ryan and then we went to a music store so he could try out electric guitars.  (He is saving for one.)  I was impressed with his knowledge of all the different types.  He tried several, even one that was $1000!  Thankfully, he knows that is a little out of his price range if he wants it by Christmas.  After the music store, we stoppedat Chick fil A, turning this into a nice mother/son date.  A quick stop at the pet store for food and then home.  Whew! Things are happening a little too fast for my liking.  I didn't sleep too well tonight.

Wednesday, the 24th...

Jeff accepts the job in Columbus, IN and gives his notice.  He also informs our landlord, not asking for an early out, but just letting him know. Our landlord comes back with surprising news, we can go when this house is leased again.  That is great news, but I was really thinking we'd stay through the school year.  Trying not to panic, we decide that actually we don't have to move all the way to Columbus, but we could move half way to Greenwood, IN, another very nice city.  Greenwood would allow us to commute to church in 30 minutes and he would have about a 40 minute commute to Columbus, plus houses are affordable in Greenwood.  So, we decided to go check out a park in Greenwood that has a disc golf course.  We also stopped at a music store so that Ryan could show Jeff his guitar ideas.  The park was fantastic, too.  On the way home, we drove around the area and liked what we saw.

Thursday, the 25th...

By the way, the weather has cooled off, making life a lot more pleasant. But, my head is spinning and I am trying not to freak out.  Moving is such an ordeal.  Not knowing when or where is trying on my nerves.  Today, Grace and I went to Target and then we went to Costco and Trader Joe in the evening.  Not too much to report on this day.

Friday, the 26th...

Boy, this cool air is really making the nights easier to sleep!  Today we will make a short trip to the library so that Trevor can collect his library reading program prizes.  And after that I will work in the garage for awhile, purging.  Otherwise it will be a quiet day, I hope!  It is tempting to want to go play disc golf tonight, if the forecasted rain holds off.

Thanks for stopping by!
~Jenn

This Week At Home, 2013, No. 30

Little notes written in order to remember these precious, fleeting days!  

Dorothy asleep is an angel.  

Let's begin with Sunday, July 13th...

After church, Trevor rode up all the way to Appleton, Wisconsin with his grandparents. It was his turn to accompany them on a business trip.  Yay for Trevor, boo for us.  The house is always so quiet when he is away.  I enjoyed texting with he and Mom occasionally to get reports of their progress.  The rest of this day was a blur.  I did not take good notes, obviously! VBS recovery was still necessary.

Trevor enjoying the hotel pool. 

Monday, July 14th...

Grandma came down to visit.  She took us to a noodle restaurant.  Then we took her to the library's DIY time for teens.  Ryan and Grace enjoyed making "Shrinky Dink" tangrams.  Then we went to a candy store.  Grace had earned a free slushy for the library reading program.  On the way home, we stopped to buy sweet corn and cherries.  How I love the produce this time of the year.  It was a hot day, the beginning of a heat wave.  We closed our windows and turned on the A/C.  It helps with the humidity, but doesn't do the greatest job cooling 2 of the 3 levels of this house.  We grilled hamburgers for dinner.

My precious boy, always wonderful! 

Tuesday, July 15th...

Grandma left early so she could go golfing.  Today was the first official day we were over 90 degrees.  It is so muggy.  We did not do too much today, other than the usual stuff that needs to get done.  I spent a lot of time catching up the laundry.  In the evening, I went to my bunco group and Trevor came home.  Hooray!  He had a really great time.

Our herb garden, a hot mess!  

Wednesday, July 16th...

Heatwave continued.  We wanted to go swimming, but those plans did not work out.  And, Trevor was tired from his travels, so a quiet day at home was in order.  Grace finished the library's voracious reader program, 5000 pages!  I spent some time working on our homeschool plans for the fall.  I also cleaned out the dresser in the learning room.  All the school supplies are in good order.

Mr. Cool  

Thursday, July 17th...

Still hot.  The weather people are promising us a cool down is coming.  Rain is also supposed to be on its way.  Today we started dog sitting for our neighbor.  Princess, is a sweet dog.  I feel sorry for her, because she likes to be with people and will be lonely for the next 5 days.  I would have Princess here at the house, but DOROTHY hates, hates, hates dogs.  She is a nutty nut.  Sigh.  Grace and I baked homemade cupcakes for her slumber party tomorrow.  Jeff and I went grocery shopping in the evening.

Dorothy awake is a handful!  

Friday, July 18th...

Today is all about getting ready for Grace's slumber party tonight.  4 girls will be joining us for food, fun, and not a lot of sleeping.  Grace's actual birthday is Sunday.  We will be having a family party for her then.  I cannot believe she is 14.  Trevor finished his summer reading program today.

So there is a quick look at our week.  Thanks for reading.
~Jenn

This Week At Home, 2013, No. 29 VBS Week

Because nothing else happened this week, I am just posting some random phone shots of our week of vacation Bible school.  Yeehaw!

This Week At Home, 2013, No. 28

Little notes written in order to remember each precious day... with more pictures from last week's camping.

Monday, July 1st...
Thankfully, we were not feeling very tired from our weekend. We must have found the right balance between work and rest.  As usual, the camp laundry is piled high.  We can't hang out blankets, which is a shame.  The weather is going to be stormy this week and a bit cooler.


Tuesday, July 2nd...
It is a cool, cloudy day.  We were to have cousins over for dinner,so we went to the store to pick up a few essentials and worked on the house.  Then we got the call that they could not join us after all.  Bummer.  So, we ate the peach ice cream.  It rained all evening.

Wednesday, July 3rd...
Fog this morning,which seems strange.  Today our task is to prepare for our family cook out tomorrow.  It's been a nice week so far, weather wise, if you like cooler, wetter weather, and I do.  The windows have been open, too.

Thursday, July 4th...
Happy Independence Day!  Jeff is off today and we have family coming for a cook out. Jeff is a great grill master.  We will have chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs and sides.  Mom made us a fantastic pound cake with strawberries and cream on top.  Divine.  We played Pit.  Have you ever played that game?  It is a riot when you have 7 people all talking at once.  After dark, we watched some local fireworks.  I missed being up at the lake, though.  There is nothing like watching fireworks shot off a big barge.  The local ones are just ho-hum.  Next year, Lord willing, we will be back at the lake since the 4th is on a Friday.  Hooray!

Friday, July 5th...
A bit of a let down day, but that is OK.  Jeff was planning to have today off, but really there was too much to do at the office.  That is a good thing, really.  We are thankful for his job.  The kids and I will have a quiet day at home.  Tonight we will have yummy left overs.  I will keep up with the laundry and dishes.

Weekending...
Saturday, Jeff and Grace are going to work on a project together, making a new tree swing.  She really enjoys her tree swing and the old one broke, twice.  Sunday is prep for VBS day.  I will be working in the 6th grade along side Ryan, his first year working.  Grace is working in the 3 year old room.  Trevor will be our only attender.  Sigh.  We are old!

Happy weekend to you all and thank you again for stopping by.
~Jenn

Busy At Home, 2013, No. 27

Little notes written in order to remember each precious day... with pictures from our most recent camping trip.

Monday, June 24th...

Summer is certainly showing itself!  It was 73 degrees for our low, which means it is muggy and uncomfortable.  Grandma comes down today.  We are going to pick up our ceramics and have lunch with Daddy.  Lovely day!

Tuesday, June 25th...

Today is our quiet day at home.  Need to get laundry caught up.  Jeff and Ryan went to play disc golf after dinner.  I wish I liked hot muggy weather.

Wednesday, June 26th...

Rained over night.  We were going to try to swim this morning, but it was too cold!  Ha.  It's been so warm and now it is cloudy and too cool to swim.  That's OK.  We worked on planning our camp menu and getting ready to camp, plus lots of reading time.  Jeff and I went grocery shopping after dinner.

Thursday, June 27th...

Mom and I went to visit Grandma.  It was a lovely visit.  She was all smiles and is eating well, so wonderful to see.  Mom spoiled me with lunch at Panera and a cold coffee drink from Starbuck's.  That evening, after dinner, we packed the camper.

Friday, June 28th...

Lots to do before we take off this evening.  First, as always happens, a book I wanted became available and so we had to go to the library.  We also met Mom at a new healthy grocery store that opened by the library. We then went to get the cats their wet food before lunch with Daddy back at home.  He went back to work and we spent the afternoon packing the van and making the house ready.  Ryan went to stay the weekend with grandparents.  Jeff got home and we hooked up the camper and away we went.  It only took one hour to get to the park, too.  Setting up went well.  The park is full, but with mostly families, so the atmosphere was friendly.  You never know, going to a new park. Of course it rained in the evening, so we played Uno in the camper until time for bed.

Saturday, June 29th...

Swimming in the rain can be fun?  Well, it can.  It rained off and on all day, but we didn't let that spoil our fun.  We went swimming, grilled out dinner, and enjoyed more Uno games than I can count.

Sunday, June 30th...

Took a quick drive to see Cataract Falls and then it was time to head back home.

That wraps up another week here at home.  Thank you for reading.
~Jenn

This Week At Home, 2013, No. 26

Little notes written in order to remember each precious day...

Monday the 17th...

It's been a muggy day at home.  I have decided to try really hard not to turn on the ineffective air conditioning.  I revisited this post and am going to work on keeping the house cooler, naturally.

All of our plants are so pretty right now.  Everything is green and lush.  I love this time of the year before the hot and dry weather comes to stay.

Tuesday the 18th...

Trevor and I woke up with sore throats.  Jeff had this rotten cold last week.  We spent most of the day resting.  Summer colds are discouraging.  But, it has been 6 months since any of us has been sick, so I say it was a good run!

Wednesday the 19th...

Went to the pool with Mom for a little while.  Trevor seems worse, but he still wanted to go.  I so enjoyed being outside.  It was good to be with Mom, and Mom's pool is guarded, so I feel a little more at ease letting the kids out of my sight a few moments here and there.

Thursday the 20th...

I feel worse today, but it is not keeping me totally down and out.  Trevor spent most of his day on the couch.  Jeff and I went grocery shopping after dinner.  I enjoy our time together no matter what we do.  Ryan went to spend the night with Nana.

Friday the 21st...

Happy first day of summer!  It's going to be another hot day.  So far I have managed to keep the house at least 10 degrees cooler than the outside temperature without air conditioning.  Night time is the only hard time.  The upstairs gets hot, but fans help.  It is still better than the stale air blowing around.

Tonight we host our small group. Thankfully, I am feeling lots better.  Trevor is a little better,too.

It's been a quiet week here at home.  I like quiet weeks.  This weekend will be quiet, as well.   (Sigh of contentment!)

~Jenn

Update: In full disclosure, I just turned on the air! With friends coming over tonight, I need to get the house clean, and it is miserable to clean in the high humidity. It will be back off tonight.  :)

This Week At Home, 2013, No. 25

Little notes written in order to remember each precious day...  

Grandma and Trevor.

Monday the 10th...

Grandma (Jeff's mom) came down to visit us.  She is so kind to take us to lunch, the ceramic shop, and we also stopped at the library to replenish our book supply.  We grilled a yummy dinner and enjoyed a lovely family evening at home. 

The three happy swimmers.

Tuesday the 11th...

Grandma left early.  Then the kids and I packed up and headed to Nana and Granddad's new neighborhood pool.  Truthfully, we did not do a whole lot more today, except the normal chores that must be done.  Blissful summer day!

Painting is fun, even for geeks.

Wednesday the 12th...

Hot and humid today, over 90 degrees!  We spent the day catching up on our reading and math.  I let the kids play extra Wii since it was too hot to be outside for long after noon.  In the evening, Jeff and I went to Costco and dropped Grace off at a church function for her youth group.  And just a side note, gas is still over $4 a gallon!  Ouch. 

Grandma and Grace.

Thursday the 13th...

Storms came through overnight. Woke us up a couple of times.  Decided to cancel our camping trip this weekend.  Jeff has a cold, and they are calling for more stormy weather Saturday night.  Grace and I went to Trader Joe's this morning.  We spent a little time cleaning up the house today.  Otherwise, it was a low key day. 

Nana likes to spoil them.  :-) That's her job. 

Friday the 14th...

This is the day I have been dreading.  This morning, I let foster cat Nikki have some time in the living room with open windows so she could see the birds on last time.  Then I packed her up and returned her to the shelter.  The foster coordinator asked me if I wanted to take home another cat, but I said not yet.  It was so hard to leave her there knowing she will be in a cage for months and months.  I cried all the way home.  Back at home, I cleaned up the room she had been spending most of her time in.  Ryan surprised me by being able to start the riding mower for the first time.  He took care of the yard again this week, giving Jeff another week off.  What a guy! 

The rider mower is conquered.

Weekending....

Playing basketball with Daddy. 

Saturday we took a day trip to a pool an hour south of us.  Saturday night big winds and lots of rain came through, so we were glad to be home safe home.  Sunday, after church, we got together with grandparents, two generations!

It was a lovely, but busy weekend. 

~Jenn