Evie is So Cute

Evie is so cute. She overheard Jeff talking to his mom about the funeral arrangements, and it was mentioned that it would be too hard for all of us to fly in for three days , plus the kids would miss their first days of school.

So Grandma said maybe after things calm down she would like to make a trip here to visit the kids. Well that was all Evie needed to hear, she ran up stairs to her room and made sure it was clean and then made her bed so her grandma could come and stay in her bed. She lined all her stuff animals against her closet door so her bed would have plenty of room.

I came home from work and of course had to take a picture and e-mail it to grandma and let her know that her bed would be ready. (HAHAHA)

Family Sadness

At 11:05 pm Michigan time (8:05 California) Jeff got the phone call that his father had past away. Apparently he had a heart attack yesterday and was moved to a hospice care facility where he suffered another attack this evening. Jeff and his sisters will be flying in to be with his mother. Unfortunately, the kids first day of school is Tuesday, so we will not be flying in with him.

Registration has Begun

Yesterday was registraion for Lizzy and Allard. They got their class schedules and locker assignments. They saw their friends and got to see who has who in what classes to look forward too. We are still waiting to see who Evie will be getting. We expect the letter in the mail by Monday or Tuesday at the latest. But they still have time because school starts here on Sept. 2nd.

Lizzy had an practice swim meet yesterday. The girls split into two teams and raced against each other. She swam in the 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle relay, and the 400 freestyle relay. She did pretty good and her team won the meet. She is 2 seconds from making the State Division meet requirement. Which means if she gets two seconds faster and stays there she could go to the state meet in December.

This morning the team is getting together for a breakfast and then they are going to pass out flyers for their can drive. I volunteered to help drive the girls around. And then the kids want to go sign up for a fall league at the bowling alley, so we will probably be doing that too.

Slowly we are filling up our time with activities for the kids again.

Evie's 8

Well here we are again. Evie had to have a birthday again, I told her to stop growing, but you know kids. They never listen. So we went to Chuck E Cheese and she got to see a few of her friends from her class. She has been playing outside every chance she gets, but she is playing with the neighbor kids and not her friends from school. They have been as busy as her I guess.

She was really excited because she got 4 new WebKinz plus a cute webkinz purse and trading cards. Of course Allard was felling bad because the girls already had more webkinz then him. So I told him that he could write on his invitation when his birthday comes around that he only wants webkinz. So after thinking about this for a few minutes he asked me if he invited 20 childs to his party did that mean he could get 20 webkinz.

Well Allard has been pardoned today. We have been having someone come to tutor him with his violin for the summer, and he really acted up on Monday. So he got grounded and lost all privileges for the week. Yesterday's lesson was better and so he got back one privilege for the weekend until his next lesson.

He will be getting ready to go to camp at the end of this week. Quite time for us. Lizzy starts swim team for two weeks and Evie will be starting the bowling team. The kids will be busy for the rest of the summer until school starts.

We have been in the new house for three months now and I am finally getting the kids rooms set up. You know how it is at first, you set up their beds and things enough to get by for a while and then you unpack the rest of their stuff after the other rooms are done. Well, we unpacked enough to get by on the day to day things but that is where I stopped. I also had to work on most of these days and with my schedule being so weird I didn't always have the time or energy after a long day on my feet to unpack anything. So I have Evie and Allard's rooms completely done this week and Lizzy's room is the project to work on Monday after I do the yard work.

Of course that leaves the rest of the unpacking for other days off. And then there is always the garage to set up. It is a never ending job just to get done. I know I will be glad when it is all done, plus as I am going through things I am making the garage sale pile bigger, but the way I am going it will be next spring before I will have everything done so to have a garage sale.

Lizzy and I have been taking mile walks three and four days a week, this is to help me lose a few pounds and also to help her. None of the teachers could set aside the time to use the whole summer this year for swim practice. I suggested that she join me to keep her legs in shape. We couldn't afford to let her join her friends at the local club swim practices, but I also want her to be able to make the team in August.

Schools Out

Well the first day off and of course the weather was yucky for the kids. But it gave them time to clean their rooms. And of course you know that the rooms really don't get cleaned right unless you are standing over them.

Lizzy and I have been doing a lot of walking in the neighborhood lately, her because I can't afford to send her to the swim club here. She was suppose to have swim practice during the summer but the teachers had other commitments so those that could afford it were going to join a club for the summer. I just need to start losing the weight and this seems to give us some time together just the two of us. But tonight Allard and Evie are going with us. They have been bugging me to let them go with us so tonight I told them they could come as long as they didn't whine when we walked to far.

The kids got to have the whole day to themselves today but of course I had to go to work. I will get to spend the whole day with them on Monday. Oh well, what can you do.

Of course it is also tea time around here, to bad I am the only one that likes ice tea. I can get Evie to drink it when she is thirsty, but that is it. The other kids won't try it.

Jeff still hasn't found a job yet, but we hope it won't be too much longer.