Ahhhhhh

Life is too hectic to keep a consistent blog!!!

This past weekend Reid, Zach, Kira and I drove to Vicksburg, Mississippi to meet my mom. The drive there was good except for the last 30 minutes that Kira screamed her head off. And the drive back was as easy as could be. We didn't even stop. We made it home in 5 hrs and 40 minutes. I didn't even drive that fast. 77 in mostly 70mph zones.

Our visit was great. We stayed at a decent little hotel right off I-20. They served breakfast and it was pretty decent. The value of a free breakfast can't be overlooked when there are teenage boys to feed. :)

We spent Saturday afternoon at the Vicksburg outlet mall. We drove around a good bit on some scenic routes and through downtown. There are lots of casinos on the river.

On Sunday we had planned to do our outdoor activities: seeing a Civil War battlefield memorial, walking through a downtown landscaped garden, and going to a great local playground. However, the freak weather storm came and made those things a bit difficult. We were fortunate not to see any snow (well, there were a few flurries at one point), but it was 39 degrees outside, so we decided to go to the local Coca-Cola museum. A guy in Vicksburg was the first person to bottle Coca-Cola. That was fascinating. The museum was tiny, but interesting. We went to Walmart and the Dollar Tree (Zach's favorite store of all time) and then went and ate a late lunch at Cracker Barrel. Then we went back to the hotel and watched TV for 7 hours straight! :) Hey... it's a vacation. We're allowed.

A nice trip overall. Mom and I are planning on trying to meet twice a year. Once more in Vicksburg, but then maybe other places after that so we can explore other towns.

Changes, Plans, Projects... LIFE!

I don't think life ever "settles". Something is always causing trouble: illness, hormones, projects, sports, you name it...

I've spent the past couple of days trying to catch up on some projects around the house. I got the last two bookcases put up in the living room. I took off the baseboards for those (because the other bookcases on the other side of the fireplace required that) only to learn that there's a little more room over on this newest side and I didn't need to do that. So I put the baseboards back on. The bookcases led me to clean out some things from our downstairs TV room. I got some of our games that have lived in that closet out and emptied a bookcase that was in that room, and moved them out to the new bookcase.

And so then I thought, "I'd really like to get my canning jars out of the TV room closet." But that required that I finally get up the second wire shelf in the laundry room. So I did that, moved the canning jars over, moved the TV room bookcase (now empty) into the hallway and basically just made a mess of everything. :)

So today I've been trying to get it all put back together. And I don't have a choice because Shawn (my nephew) is bringing over my dad's old couch tonight. A big sectional couch. I've got to have things ready for that.

Oh... and I finally pulled up the carpet in a spot where the cat peed repeatedly. Stupid cat. It's soaked into the plywood, so we're going to have to cut that out and replace it. Stupid cat. I've got some laminate to put down in it's place. And if the cat finds another pee spot somewhere, he'll be finding new owners I'm afraid.

So during all of this, I think, "It'll be nice when we're back to normal." And then I laugh at myself.

Normal.

Like that exists!

Especially when there's a teething 16.5 month old in the house!!!

Revolving Door

Our house should have a revolving door. On any given day we:

Take Reid to seminary

Pick Reid up from seminary

Take Reid to school

Pick Zach up from track practice

Pick Reid up from water polo practice

That's right. Water Polo. He finished wrestling on a Friday and started Water Polo the next Monday. Several boys from church are playing, so Reid opted for that instead of track. I think he's having a good time. He says they have a game this weekend, but he doesn't know where or when. :) Gotta love communicating with teenage boys.

Zach started track last week. He was running the 400, but switched to discus. He says he's pretty good at it. They have a practice meet today at McKinney North High School. Hopefully he'll do well.

Those two keep us busy.

And so does their baby sister. She keeps us as busy inside the house and Reid and Zach do outside the house.

Jacob and Cole are the calmness in the house. They go to gymnastics once a week and Cole has piano once a week, but other than that, they are pretty easy.