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ANYTHING.

Camp St. Isadore 2009

Here is the first night at camp... Team "Explosive Rockets" Team "Shark Tooth" Team "The Carpenters"
The older children took a raft trip with Pop and Dan. The river was too high for canoes. The younger children took a trip to the Circle S Ranch and had a great time too.
We did a service project...weeded and spread mulch in the Marian Grotto at the Family Center...in the rain. Nick caught this large mouth bass afterwards. Everyone was really excited...Ben cooked it for dinner and it was yummy! Building animal traps and a trapping contest was a part of the week. However, although rabbits and baby racoons were sighted, none were caught.
The kids did a bee project, researching, drawing, observing and then a presentation on the final night.


Here is a shot of the final family cookout...s'mores and more s'mores!

Future camper!

WE had a great time!

Family Lessons

We had fun visiting, too. We all, but Luke especially, are looking forward to the Cooks' visit in a couple weeks! Luke may defensively tattoo himself, but he likes the commotion, at least after the fact. On Wednesday afternoon, he asked where the Duffys were, and I said they were probably almost back to their house in Indiana, and he said, "When they get there, we should call them to see if they want to come back here for supper."

We did have a great time with the Duffys. The only household scars: a broken plant and a broken Little People bin. But we got a Bionicle and a rubber frog ring out of the deal, so I think it was a fair exchange. We also got the effects of older cousin influence... here are some recent (i.e. since the D's left) quotes by Luke, all of which have been followed with a goofy (or maybe sly?) smile and the phrase: "That is what one of my cousins said." (I like how he doesn't implicate anyone in particular... although I have guesses about which lines are from which cousins.)

* With my IP Troop Direction Finder, we will never be lost! Oops!

* Maybe this horse will go poop and then it will fall off of it into the pool!

* With my IP34A Finder, we will never be lost! Oops!

* I've got a bite. An itchy bitchy bug bite!

* Don't go there, that's an explosion. You will die.

* My IP34BEA will never be lost! Oops!

Thanks, Duffys! :)

And now, an ad:
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Enjoy our newly installed movie lounger.

We treat our guests well.

Come, enjoy the finer things with us.


As I said, we'll treachya right.

Outta there

Well, all of our junk is on a big truck heading for storage somewhere. Our house is cleaner than it has ever been and empty. The plants I carefully chose a couple of years ago are probably going to die or be replaced. All my kids cried to sleep the other night. We're now homeless and on the road. Looking forward to seeing everyone! Sorry if I fall asleep at the dinner table. The last month was a little rough.

Happy summer

As you all know, we spent a few days with the Tharps on Caddo Lake and had the opportunity to do some fishing in the cypress swamp. Here is a view of one of the scary fish that are found there. We did not get pictures of the cotton mouth snakes that were plentiful!
I wish that I had a picture of Dan and David from kindergarten to better illustrate the significance of this picture....a testimony to the truth that friendships can endure separation, differences in religious sentiments and politcal persuasions, the passage of time and the onset of grey hair !
We had a great time but I am not certain that Uncertain, Texas is a place that I want to revisit.

Music Movies

Just finished watching August Rush with the kids, even though I initially told them we were only going to watch 30 mins and then go to bed, because they stayed up late watching Willow last night. When Daddy's away...

Anyway, what does anyone make of this movie? While watching it, I kept having flashbacks to this confrontation Lebo had in the Blockbuster in our old neighborhood in Dallas with a couple of effetes who were checking out Mr. Holland's Opus, which she promptly derided as Mr. Holland's Doofus. So she stood and argued with them about the de-merits of this movie, which she claimed was overly sentimental, canned, predictable, etc, while Nate, Dan and I stepped out of the store to avoid engaging. Same comments could be made of August Rush: adolescent acting, manipulative emotional scenes, a love affair built on a couple of upclose eye-locks. Robin Williams is a cheesy rehash of Fagan, supposedly threatening, but really laughable, who spouts a bunch of neo-platonic hoohah about the music of the spheres to the kid musicians he's hiding in an old theater. And the ending is predictable. And even though it took Annie awhile to figure out who August's parents turn out to be, everyone else knows as soon as the movie starts. I did fastforward a little of the romance at the beginning: it goes from a rooftop kiss, to the lovers waking on the roof, all clothed, but spooning.

But at the same time that I'm going through this argument in my head, after fast forwarding the scenes where the girl cellist's father tries to break them up and the rock star renounces his music, we started watching when August is at the boys' home and learns to whistle. And I got sucked in, as did all the kids. I tried telling myself that I appreciated the movie's message about the power of the arts to lead to transcendence. And it had a good message about faith. And a warning about falling in with suspicious characters. The choreographed grand finale was almost too obvious to enjoy, and yet I enjoyed it. I let myself be manipulated. And I hope my kids are now more interested in music.

In other news, our inspection seemed to go well today: no electrical, plumbing, roof, or foundation problems. We don't have the final report of what we'll have to fix, but most of the repairs the inspector noticed are minimal - biggest is getting the wrought iron railing resoldered and the bricks that it's anchored to replaced. And getting a window in the stairwell replaced with tempered glass, which is apparently now the code. To celebrate the inspection being over, I let the boys get down the little GI Joes from the attic, where I've stashed a bunch of toys. Next step: the appraisal. Happily a house similar to ours just sold, and it compares favorably to ours. St. Joseph, we're not quite ready to dig you up yet and have a feast in your honor. but we're starting to think about it. Keep petitioning for us!

Wild Ride

Joe wanted to share this photo with you all from our trip to Busch Gardens. We had a great time on the coasters before getting drenched on our way out by a downpour. Even Claire rode some rides, and Ben agreed to ride the Big Bad Wolf because John was riding it again. Busch Gardens has a great deal for military: Four free passes. Then Dan was able to sweet talk our cashier into letting all 8 of us in for free. Double sweet. This gift, value about $350, is a slight consolation for the $$ we stand to lose on our house if it doesn't sell soon. Still entertaining lookers, which means the house is cleaner than it has ever been.

Hope all the moms in the fam had a great Mother's Day. We had fun with Dan's brothers and cousins and Grandma and beautiful weather in Lancaster. Dan's aunt and uncle's neighborhood had a garage sale Saturday morning which was the busiest garage sale I have ever seen. Amish were everywhere on their scooters and bikes with trailers. There was even a buggy with a red radio flyer wagon hitched on the back for all the loot. Policemen were at the end of the road directing traffic. Mikko and I cased a few sales, and I regretfully walked away from a pretty cherry end table for $35. Annie bought a first Communion dress for her American Girl doll, James bought a stuffed animal, and Joe wanted to buy what he thought was dynamite, but it turned out to be road flares. Disappointing. Not disappointing: for Mother's Day, my kids and husby gave me a pink ipod, the fancy kind that plays movies. We downloaded a bunch of stuff from Brian, but now it is formatted for a Mac, and we have a Dell. Well, I guess I'll watch Ironman, Pixar shorts, and Muppets Christmas Carol a few times before reformatting and reloading.

Dan received an honor today: For his end of tour award he was given a meritorious service medal which is about as high a medal as you can get without being in battle. But then Claire rudely told him he looked scary. I guess camo makes anyone look a little dangerous.