Pumpkins and friends

Our friend Jessica came over for dinner last night. She brought the boys some pumpkins. Can you tell they are excited to get them. They have been asking for pumpkins for weeks, and I keep telling them we are going to wait until closer to Halloween. We are still going to wait until a little closer to Halloween to carve them. They have already chosen the designs they want to carve.

Today, I only worked about 3 hours. I came home and got the laundry started. I need to make out a grocery list and get the shopping done. I don't know what the weekend has in store. It has been raining off and on today. If that continues we may just have a boring weekend in the house. There is a circus in town this weekend, but we haven't decided for sure if we need to go. John mentioned going hiking. I am sure the weather will be the deciding factor on that plan.

John took Joshua's fundraiser candy to work today. When I talked to him a little while ago he had already sold 21. He works with some great people. Joshua will be so excited when he gets home.

I guess that is all I need to ramble about for now. Have a good weekend.

Country Life

This silly squirrel spent all night on my front porch. I went out the front door this morning to give it some water. That was all it took to scare it away. Hopefully, it found a tree to climb instead of the bricks on the front of the house.Joshua found a turtle shell on his adventures yesterday. He is pretty proud of it, and he plans to take it to school to share with his Venture class tomorrow.Last night I told Joshua to go outside and tell his brother to come in and get cleaned up for dinner. Next thing I know I am looking out the window to see Joshua running through the sprinklers. Just for the record, the only sprinklers in our yard are part of the septic system. Needless to say, he had to have a shower before dinner. The picture is post shower. I am not sure how he translated get cleaned up for dinner into run through the septic system sprinkler.

Our world is getting back to normal today. John has been in South Carolina since Sunday. He came home for a minute this afternoon to drop off his bag. He then went to work for a little while, but he should be home for dinner. I am glad he doesn't travel often.

The boys brought home their first nine weeks report cards today so I have to brag a little. They are both doing really well. The grading system seems odd to me. 95-100 is an A, 85-94 is a B and so on. Joshua got all A's. This is the first year he has gotten actual number grades. Always before it has been either an N for needs improvement, S for satisfactory, or E for excellent. Jacob's report card has letters and two number grades. The letters are all S and he got one A and one B on the graded part. His one B is a 94 so I think he is doing great. We are at that critical time right now of learning to read and write. He is getting there.

Lazy Day Part 2

We started on the front flower beds after lunch. Our squirrel was still hanging out on the front porch.The flower beds were covered in leaves.

I know it is a pointless job, and they will just be covered with leaves again tomorrow. I am hoping that if we clean them out periodically throughout the fall then they won't be as bad in the spring.

We are done with our outside jobs for now. I need to get started cleaning the inside of the house. I may give in and let the kids play some video games. They have done a good job of helping out today.

Our Lazy Day Thus Far

We started slow this morning, but it turned out to be a productive morning. Apparently, my cat doesn't believe in sleeping in. Around 5 this morning she found a ball and started batting it from one side of the room to the other. The kids were up before 7 so we started our day about then. I made muffins for the kids, and mini quiche for myself. The quiche didn't look very good, but they were. It looks like a lot, but it was only two eggs. They really puffed up while they cooked. I got the new muffin pan yesterday. It was from one of the kids school fundraisers. I really like it. The muffins and quiche didn't stick to it at all.

After breakfast, the cat and dog needed a nap and the kids made a mess doing projects.

We finally got dressed around ten. Can you tell Joshua chose his own clothes? We then ventured outside to vacuum the pool and get all the leaves from the patio and deck.

The boys were good helpers. Now that the job is done we are taking a break for lunch. We will start on the front yard after lunch.
I almost forgot, at one point during the morning cleanup the boys took a short break to go play out front. When they went around the house this little squirrel was trying desperately to escape their notice. He sort of ran into the corner and then he didn't know where to go. Poor baby. I know the boys can be a little intimidating.

Cub Scouts

Tuesday night is cub scout night for us. I got all the patches sewn on their uniforms last week, so we were ready. The boys are out of school tomorrow, so I took the day off work. I have way too many things that need to get done, but chances are good they won't. I think we may just have a lazy day.

Our life has not been terribly exciting this week. I forgot to mention that Jacob pulled another tooth this past weekend. He always waits until they are so loose that you don't know how they are still hanging on. He gets a little dramatic and his daddy usually winds up pulling them.

Right now the boys are in their rooms reading. They are getting to stay up a little later than usual since tomorrow is a school holiday. I am really glad they both like to read.

They're Sweet while they Sleep

Last night we had the pleasure of traveling to Yazoo City for a church dinner. It is a little over an hour drive from our house. Our friends June and Larry picked us up so we could all make the trek together. The boys were a little tuckered out from our camping the night before. They enjoyed a little nap on the way.
The dinner was wonderful. Mr. Albert and his wife Mrs. Francis were the chefs. They served up some delicious fried fish. Mrs. Rosa led a time of devotion. Our hosts were Mr. Buddy and Mrs. Eloise. The dinner was to show appreciation for those who serve in the area of Christian education.
Today after church we had a quick lunch and then parted ways for the afternoon. John had work to do, and I had a ladies group to attend. My boys went and stayed with their newest babysitter, Ms. Chelsea. They had fun playing at the park and I enjoyed a wonderful afternoon with some dear friends. It has been a good weekend, but I am tired.
Luckily, I am off work tomorrow for Columbus Day. The kids have school so I will still have to get up and moving early. The kids will be out of school on Wednesday this week for a staff development day. That means I will be off work on Wednesday too. This will be an odd week.

Joshua is selling chocolate bars and chocolate covered almonds for a school fundraiser. He brought home 50. Last night June and Larry bought 2, so all we had left was 48. Joshua took 13 to church this morning and sold out pretty quickly. Of course, June and Larry bought 5 more. He has them wrapped around his little finger.

I know I have mentioned June and Larry several times, so I should probably give a little of our history. Last year on the first Sunday in December we attended church at the Madison First Church of God. The church has since completed construction on a new building and changed names. It is now Olde Towne Community Church and is in Ridgeland, MS. We were searching for a church home since we had just moved to the area. It was the second church we had visited. June and Larry took us out to lunch after church. Their son and daughter-in-law and two grandchildren joined us. That night June and her daughter-in-law, Dana, invited me to a ladies group at church. From that moment on she has been a dear friend. She and Larry treat my kids like their own grand kids and they treat John and I like their kids. They live about 2 miles from us and we try to get together pretty often. She keeps telling John and I we need to leave our kids overnight with her on some Friday, but we haven't taken her up on it yet. Her youngest granddaughter, who is six, spends the night with them often on the weekends. We are thinking we may have to take her up on the offer soon.

It is such a blessing to have friends you can depend on. Since this journey has taken us so far from family, I am so thankful God has placed such dear friends in our lives.

Another Fun Filled Weekend

We decided to camp in the backyard last night. John has been telling the boys we would for a while, but we have had trouble finding a free weekend. Last night was the night. The boys and I put up the tent before John got home from work.

As soon as John got home it was time to start the bonfire. We cooked dinner on the grill and ate on the patio.
Jacob was asleep long before time to get in the tent and go to sleep. It was really nice just to sit by the fire and do nothing.

We got up this morning and did a little shopping. We stopped at a garage sale on our way out and I bought this lovely purse. I don't know why. After that we ran by Kohl's and got the kids some jeans. Then we went to Stein Mart. They were having a sale and the first 50 or so customers through the door got a $10 gift card. John and I both got a card. We didn't really find any clothes we were wild about so we each got an umbrella. They were $10.99 each. So with tax and after using the gift cards we paid $3.58 cents for two Nautica umbrellas. Since we actually needed umbrellas it was a pretty good deal.

We filled up on the way home. Gas was only $2.86 a gallon. I really didn't think it would drop below $3 a gallon.

Tonight we are going to an appreciation dinner for all the children's workers at church. Our friends June and Larry are picking us up and we are all going to ride together. It should be fun.