The surprise for my Dad (his 60th + six months b-day) went well. Again, it was hot, but the shade from Dad's trees and an occasional breeze made it bearable. My sister and her family, two sets of uncle/aunts, my Granny and my step-brother and his wife were in attendance. It was fun to see everyone and catch up. I hadn't seen some of them in 7 years. Sad isn't it? I guess that is how it is though when we live this far away. Dad loved the album I made for him. It was so quick and simple to put together since taking the Big Picture class. I made it using a slip in style photo album. I like how it turned out and was pleased that he like it as well. I had included several pictures made from our childhood slides and they prompted many stories from Dad. That in itself was well worth the time to make the album.
The party was on Sunday. We spent the next several days indoors mostly because of the unbearible heat, but found fun things to occupy our time. Hannah and Sharon (my Dad's wife) spend most of the time sewing on antique machines (which seem to run much nicer than our newer ones). They made doll clothes, some quilting things and Sharon worked on pillows for the kids (with a bit of help from Emma). Jot watched TV and ventured outside for a few minutes at a time to play in the fort and wander through the barn. Tim and I set up croquet which usually draws the kids outside, but even Emma said it was too hot to play and went back in. Obviously the air conditioning spoiled them :) . Tim managed OK with the cats and his allergies weren't too bad...stuffy but OK. He went to Andy's and spent some good time with him and also stopped by to see his Dad. Tim and I took Quiton out to his Dad's for a few hours and had a nice visit. It was a shame that everyone wasn't able to get together and I think Dad B. would have enjoyed it, but it just wasn't planned this time. I felt a bit bad about it but realized that there was just no more we could have done to plan something from out here. We tried, but it seemed to come to nothing, so we made the best of the time we had. Dad B. seems to be doing well, or as well as can be expected, since Mom's death. He is playing music more often and has friends that he gets together with regularly... all that seems helpful. He did offer us their china, which we happily accepted. It was interesting packing it all to get it home, but everything fit (barely) and made the trip unscathed. It is a 12 place setting of Noritake "Bessie". Dad bought it in Japan and had it shipped home. It really is lovely and I'm so glad to have it. He also gave us the old Singer sewing machine which I'm thrilled to have! It was another interesting item to get back in the van, but we managed.
I love this picture I took of my Dad's neighbors bees. They have an orchard and along the back are several rows of bee hives (or whatever the box things are called). The kids thought they were fascinating to watch; I did too :) I'm not exactly sure why I like the picture so much other than it is just interesting to look at with all the angles and colors.Tim and I took Quin out to the mall one afternoon. Nothing too exciting really, but he needed new pajamas, so we found some on sale at The Children's Place. Nothing at Target or Wal-Mart was big enough for him. I still wanted sleeper type jamzies (as Emma calls them) with zips (which is what Faith calls them...just zips). We found what we needed and stopped at Guitar Center to get new strings for Tim's guitar. Exciting stuff isn't it? Well, maybe not, but it was nice to have a few days without a ton to do.
Wedensday evening we drove up to Julie and Paul's house in Columbus. We got there in time for a snack and got everyone settled in bed. On Thursday we took the kids to the Waterpark... came home in a torrential downpour and then returned when it stopped. The kids, as always, had a great time.
Here is one of the pictures I took before the rain began. Emma and Faith were obviously elsewhere, but there is Jot, Alex, Megan and Hannah. I ended up not returning after the rain as Quin was napping (finally) so I stayed with him and read a book while he slept. He hadn't been feeling well and was just exhausted. It all turned out fine though.We left early Friday and made good time getting home. It was a busy week and took me that long to get caught back up on laundry. I had good intentions of starting school, but that just fizzled when the week began to play out as it did.
Tim was asked to do a sight survey for the sound system at Calvary Chapel of Chester Springs. We've known the pastor and his wife since before the church and before kids, so it turned into an all family event. The kids and I stayed and swam at their place while Tim went to work at the building. We stayed for church and drove home late that night (it is about 2 hours away). They gave Tim a generous honoriarium, which was very appreicated (and helpful). That was Wednesday. Thursday we went to the Carbon County Fair for the day which was fun for all, though by that evening we were completely exhausted. We rested up on Friday and headed to a birthday party on Saturday and then another after church on Sunday. Needless to say, we were worn out and have been playing catch up this week.
Yesterday Jot saw a new opthomologist for some issues that resurfaced with his left eye. Everyone went to Wilkes-Barre and we got some necessary shopping done while there for the appointment. With gas over $3 a gallon, we're trying to group our shots! Tim had to do an emergency repair on the hot water heater that began leaking 45 minutes before we left... but thankfully was able to get a replacement part for $5 and take care of it last night. We discovered a broken seal on the refrigerator too...ugh. It never ends does it? Tim planned to finished Jot's room today (yes, it still isn't complete... the black hole of home repair is what we have here), but was offered two or more days work doing some network wiring and set-up at the O'tooles new office (drywall business... friends from Philly who moved up here a couple of years before us). So the work is appreciated and needed, so Jot's room will wait.
I'm trying to get scrapworld cleaned up and the house in some kind of order. We emptied my scrap closet to hang the shelves and it is still all over everywhere. I'd like to get some scrapping done, but working in the mess is just impossible... so I must clean first. The entryway still needs major attention too. I moved the cedar chest out of the closet to put the china in (since I don't have a china hutch) and need to pick up/sort/throw out all the junk that was being stored there. This post was intended to be a break from cleaning. Sorry it is so long, hopefully it makes up for the lack of any posts lately :)
by the way.... 23 ladies are signed up for our Book Study. While I'm totally excited to have that many ladies interested, I'm going to have to find another group leader. Leading a discussion group of 23, 24 including me, seems like too much for little ol' me. I continue to pray that this book is as powerful for them as it was for me when I first read the book. Yikes though, 23 people!
