The last day...

Every good thing must have an end at some point so that some new good things can come your way too.  Today is our last day with our Chaunster. WE have had a LOT of fun with him this last few months! okay.. who's coming next to stay?

We took chaun to the Cheesecake factory for lunch.  Tanner was extremely well behaved as chaun had shared his i-pod so tanner could play games while we waited for our food.  It's also our second to last day of summer vacation.. school starts on monday morning.  WE met our teachers on Friday and Tanner has a nice seat right next to the bins filled with all kind of toys, only a few inches away.  Kindergarten is all day long, everyday here in TX. So this will be the first time in 9 years I will have my house to myself.  I think it will be very very quiet. too quiet. I will also get more cleaning and cooking done.  One of my favorite poems says
" Children grow up while we're not looking
There will be years ahead for cleaning and cooking
so cobwebs be quiet and dust go to sleep
my baby is sleeping, and babies don't keep"
although my kiddos are hardly ever sleeping, I am very glad for all the time I DO get to spend with them - not getting other things done. I guess now I will have time to sweep the cobwebs and work on my projects :)

 Brooklyn has been trialing rice! and doing very well so far (2 weeks) It was so fun today to be able to have her eat with us at the restaurant!!!!  She has been wearing her backpack (feeding tube) all day long for the last week and loving it.. she doesn't have to choose whether to eat the rice (which she wants) or drink her formula (which she needs) this way she does both, and as long as she is chewing and swallowing "something" it doesn't need to be her yucky drink.  We are sure praying hard that rice stays good for her!

This is what goes on when Chaun babysits... HAHA!

The rest of July!

So once again, I don't have any super cute photos to share... sorry, but hopefully soon!
In the last few weeks we:.....
Got my new pressure Canner! Thanks so much everyone for contributing!!! I have canned two quarts of my Chili and 2 quarts of chicken.  I am SO excited to be able to add safe foods to my food storage :) It is thrilling and terrifying at the same time to use it!

THen we took Chaunster to the aquarium to see the sharks.  I don't think he was dissapointed! My kids have been there before, but just like watching a favorite movie- it is is stil just as much fun again and again.  We pet stingrays and baby sharks. drove through a tunnel of sharks on a train, and ate lunch with some 200 lb groupers watching us.  They have a HUGE white Tiger behind a flimsy glass wall. you are only about an inch away from the tigers jaws, as he paces up and down watching you.  Okay maybe it isn't so flimsy, but when I saw the tiger jump on the glass wall in front of tanner when he put his palms up on the glass, my momma bear instincts kicked and I grabbed him.  Tanner wasn't so happy with me, but lived to tell the tale. The girls were still brave and rode the lighthouse drop ride, chaun was too scared to go. 

Then Cristine turned 9!! WOW! She is getting so grown up!  Ty got her an I-POD shuffle, declaring she was now big enough to appreciate it and care for it.  He was right and it showed on her face when she opened it! She squealed with joy at finally being deemed "old enough".  Then she got to have a princess birthday party with another friend.  THey played "pin the kiss on the frog", "The Princess and the pea bed roll" and a princess challenge where they had to make a modest princess dress out of toilet paper, balance books on their head, wear high heels an drace across the kitchen.  The girls were so good at the games, we ended up getting done quite early!  Cristine is such a sweet girl, how we love her to pieces!

I got a "mini claw" like grandpa westovers to weed the garden. Then I braved the 100 degree temps and set out to weed my yard that had turned into a tropical jungle during our vacation.  I found that if I  turned on the sprinkler on top of me so I stayed wet- it was bearable! The kids had a blast until we uncovered a monster fire ant pile under one of my bushes. thousands swarmed all over- so I had to take the fire ant killer to it- then wait it out until they were gone, unfortunatly they just moved and tanners foot found them later and got bit 11 times. Ouch! but I finally got rid of them and my yard is now weed and ant free!

Ty and Chaun are both doing good at work, and they are both very very busy.  Chaun gets covered in a gooey "Mud" and has to change clothes at work and then clean them later at home.  He has a picture with him covered in the gooey mess - you have to ask him for it. Ty worked on some cool circuit boards for gramma and grampa earls bat caves.  It amazes me to see him put the tiny parts together, and do all the designing.  He is also very very close to being done with his ultimate bike computer.  He has the boards nearly done and is working on getting the outer cases made.  Amazing!

We hope y'all are surviving the summer heat!