Thank-You

Well, after four offers to replace my tv, I feel the need to tell you all of the demise of my bank account. It was also destroyed by the four little angels fluttering about my house. :D

Thank you all very much. My niece, who still lives at home with her parents and therefore has more money than she knows how to spend, recently bought herself a huge tv. Her parents were glad to unload the old one from her bedroom. And so, we have a tv to get us through until Jeff finally breaks down and buys one bigger than his niece's. It's very emasculating to think your 23 year old niece has a bigger tv than you do.

How We Spent Our Summer Vacation

Testosterone

My Rye is now in the double digits. He turned 10 this past week. Though we didn't have a party, we did allow him, and Adam, to invite a few friends to spend the night. They wanted to do a Playstation-a-thon all not long. The craziness in my house was out of control last night. Instead of the normal four little boys in the house, we had eight! Footballs were flying. Nerf guns were shooting. And the playstation was given a workout. Unfortunately, the testosterone was too much for the tv. It gave up at about three o'clock in the morning; a pop and puff of smoke and the tv is dead. I admire those people who can live without a tv but I am not one of them. We're substituting a portable 13 incher right now but I miss it in my bedroom. I guess we'll be tv shopping this week.

Body Building

It seems so long since we've done anything bookish. But way back then, when we were finishing up last year, we did an awesome project to wrap up our human body unit study. I actually stole the idea from my friend, Kris, and she even sent me her book when I couldn't find a copy to buy. Isn't that the sweetest thing ever? But I promised to post pics of the boys with their finished projects. And so... here they are... better late than never, right?

Good News - Bad News

Good News!
I found my fourth grade A Beka books. I've been hunting for the teacher's edition for 4th grade math for months.

Bad News!
Ryan just finished 4th grade and Evan is just starting 2nd. I really need a better system for storing books I want to save for the younger boys.

Good News!
We do not have a water leak!!

Bad News!
We actually used $160 worth of water last month. Our town keeps raising their rates and I'm ready to start digging a well. But I think we'll try shorter showers and less playing in the sprinkler first.

Good News!
We made over $100 at our yard sale on Saturday. That'll pay for Dollywood tickets when we go to Pigeon Forge in August.

Bad News!
There just ain't nothin' bad about $100. :)

Praise the Lord!

VBS was a huge success! Fifteen children accepted Jesus as their savior and seven of them were baptized this morning! One of those children was my niece!! My sister had asked me if she could drop K at my house before she went to work and then could I keep her for the afternoon and bring her to sis' work at closing time?? I so-o-o-o did not want to do all that! Drop off was 5:30 am! And gas prices are high for me to be driving all over town all day long. But I really felt like I should and so I did. And look what happened. Listen to that little voice, Christians! It's a Very Important Someone talking to you!

I am so happy for K! And also a little selfishly, happy for myself. It's a wonderful feeling when you see how God is using you. :)

:)

We're just back from our trip to South Carolina. We visited my parents for a few days and had lots of fun. We spent one day boating, fishing, and swimming at the lake. Another day was spent at the Riverbanks Zoo. They have four lion cubs. SO CUTE! The evening of July 4th, we were sitting in the neighbor's yard watching fireworks. It wasn't a huge municipal display, just a couple of neighbors chipping in to make some fun for the kids - and more fun for the big boys playing with fire! The fireworks weren't as impressive as a professional show, but the sense of community was more than made up for that... and we didn't have to fight any traffic. :)

This week we're in Bible School. Our theme is honor and I can already see it affecting the behaviour of my boys, especially Evan. He still whines a lot, but it's a lot less than it was. Maybe the end of the week, he'll be whine-free?? I'm co-teaching the kindergartners and 1st graders. We had 29 in that class today.

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love, honor one
another above yourselves. Romans 12:10 (NIV)