Sunday, April 10, 2011

Some highlights from the past few months...  Last time you got the pictures, here read the stories...

*Wanna know how long it takes to get to FL from Boston?  26 hrs, stopping only for gas/potty breaks and once for dinner (at Chick-Fil-A, with a playground).

*The day after we arrived in FL was the memorial service for my grandfather.  Mom and I had haircuts that morning and then went to the service.  I sat down, looked at the program, and saw I was giving one of the eulogies!  It was the first time the kids met my dad.  Mary drove a golf cart with my aunt, her speed giving my mom a heart attack, and my aunt a case of the giggles.

*We went down and visited Nathan's sister's family for a few days in Melbourne.  The kids LOVE Uncle Brian... and everyone else down there, too.  They got to play Wii.  And go to the beach.  And go "off roading!" in the Jeep.  And play with the dogs.  And explore the "jungle."  And did I mention Wii?

*We had a meeting with my aunt and cousin to sort through my grandmother's jewelry. Everyone took something, and everyone ultimately wanted something Mary had taken.  ("I think Aunt Roberta is trying to get my blue necklace from me.")

*While we were there I decided I need to start a club--or join it if it already exists.  Yarn-oholics Anonymous.  Oh my word!!  I forbade my sister from allowing me into store that sells yarn unless I leave my wallet at home.  Cotton.  Wool.  Sock Yarn.  Clearance baby yarn.  Let's just say it took some doing when I got home to organize everything in a such a way so that it doesn't look like I did what I did while unattended by my husband in FL.  :)

*My mom and both sisters had vacation during the week of March 14th.  That's when the fun began.  Gatorland on Saturday.  Fix the printer in prep for picture scanning on Sunday.  Disney on Monday (thanks to two cousins who work there and gave us tickets).  Tuesday was a recovery day--we went to my grandparents' house and sorted through pictures.  (See some of those to come on Remembering Railman.)  Wednesday I seem to have forgotten completely. (Bert what did we do?)  Thursday was the family picture and errand running.  Friday we met my aunt, cousin, and her kids at a playground and the kids tore around until it got too hot.  We also finished scanning pictures and I sewed shopping cart covers and my mom reorganized her garage.  (Yup, power tools.)  Saturday and Sunday were Stake Conference.  Then Mom and Roberta and Stacy all had to go back to work... and the kids returned to school work.

*Another visit to Melbourne followed.  This one fun, too.  It included a movie, the playground, and the pool everyday.  Everyday.  :)  The best part, though, was Friday night, Daddy came home!!!  We spent all morning Saturday at the beach and all afternoon at the pool.  (Can you imagine how hard it was to convince the kids that it really was still winter in MA?  Joseph is still asking to wear shorts.)

*We returned to my mom's Sunday for Charlie's birthday party and so my aunt Audree could see Nathan again--she's always asking. 

*We left Mon morning and returned home to MA on Tues night.  (Daddy isn't a straight-through driver.)  Wed all the boys got haircuts.  Yay!!  Thursday we went to the library--they were happy to see us again, and told us, seriously, that their circuculation numbers were way down last month.

*During the whole of our time in FL, my sister was fighting with a crazy woman about her car.  The woman hit Roberta's car, promised to pay, stalled, talked down to Roberta, and was generally rotten.  Roberta finally gave up and filed a claim with the woman's insurance co.  Instant contrition, but too little too late.  The whole mess is finally over and Roberta has a nice new, hole-free bumper again.

Don't you just love a happy ending?


Here is what I'm working on now.  Can you tell that it is a pair of toddler socks, two at time on one big long needle?  No?  Oh, well, if they turn out, I'll post a finished picture.  I'm having a lot of fun and have a lot of plans.  These socks are top down.  I'm next going to try toe up and then try with two circular needles.  (Okay, I confess, I bought needles as well as yarn in FL.)


We did a ton of de-junking yesterday.  Yup, adios to mucho stuff--including the rat cage, the train table, and the evil canner which made peaches a misery two years ago (I haven't used it since.  Okay, so way overdoing it in the picking probably didn't help, but it was all the broken jars that broke my spirit.).  Craigslist took care of the above stuff--it's amazing how fast things go in the "free" section.  LISTEN will get the rest--clothes, toys, and general stuff.  The library already got the books.

In my mania, I also got rid of Nathan's ancient mattress, replacing it with Charlie's brand new last week mattress.  It was too crowded in there with 3 twins on the floor.  Now Charlie has a crib sized mattress and I can breathe in there again.  :)  It was too big for him anyway.

I love the feeling of clutter clearing.  LOVE IT!

The kids bought some fish for an aquarium Nathan picked up at a yard sale last year.  They have a Betta and two catfish.  They did have a frog, but he died.  We exchanged him for another.  He died, too.  Very sad, they were cute little suckers.  Joseph wanted a goldfish, so we got a separate bowl and put his fish in the kitchen.  He named it Fishy.  At least for today.

Umm... I think I need to go now.  My birthday cake is probably burning, we need to eat lunch, and go to church!

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