So, What Did You Do All Day?

One of these days I need to do a "Day In The Life" post for the WTM board. But today is not that day.

So.. what did I do all day?

Braden and I did school. Colson and I worked on potty-training. I kept trying to tidy the kitchen and living room. (losing battle, that.) I made my bed and folded 2 loads of laundry left from Marc's trip. I vaccuumed the basement (the carpet guys installed today and our basement is DONE!!). I washed the windows and dusted the basement as well. I watched a little tv, and snuggled with some small boys. Braden and I played Parcheesi. Somehow during the day, I was able to bake 5 loaves of lemon and poppy seed pound cake and 10 loaves of banana bread. All but 2 loaves are wrapped and labelled for the freezer.

It wasn't terribly exciting, but it's a nice feeling to get to the end of the day and see how productive you've been.

Brogan and Braden have discovered the joys of playing "Age of Empires" on the computers. We have them both set up side-by-side in the office, and they play different games and talk as they conquer. Brogan plays like me - he just likes to build happy, productive little villages. Braden likes to invade and conquer others.

Colson has taken to pretending he's a kitty. Usually he likes to play this when he's sleepy or feels in need of some snuggling. He'll crawl up into my lap and meow while I pet him. I love hearing his tiny voice meow. He won't be wanting to play this for long. Brogan has already started saying, "Just one kiss, Mom. That's it." Sigh.....

I'm going to enjoy this little kitty for as long as I can.

Picture Day!

"Exhausted" is the only word that can describe us right now. When M. gets home I will sleep for days.

Today the boys and I trooped to the mall to have their pictures taken. We've never gone to this studio before, and were not sure what to expect, really. The photographer we had was fantastic. Very good with the boys, got them to smile and was able to avoid those cheesy I'm-smiling-with-my-mouth-but-that's-it kind of smiles. She set up 6 poses, and was lightning-quick at moving things along. We were done in 30 minutes - half the time of where we've normally gone.

At the end, she tells me the photos will be done in 1 hour, and I was shocked. One hour?! I don't have to wait for 3-4 weeks and then show up at my appointed time with ny receipt? Nope! They print them there. You come back in an hour and choose the photos and poses from the pictures they've printed up.

So we found ourselves with an hour to kill in the mall while wearing matching outfits. We learned that grandma-types who walk the mall during the day love the matching outfits.

We stopped by Subway for a snack, and then walked through Dillard's to look at Christmas decorations. That was fun, seeing all of the trees.

Braden was mildly embarrassed by the display of women's undergarments that, I swear, seemed to be on display on every major aisle in that store. It was the first time I've noticed him turn slightly red and avert his eyes. Poor guy. Today he simply called out, "Eyes right!" and discussed the items we saw on the other side of the aisle as we passed by the unmentionables.

After an hour of wandering the aisles, we went back and sorted through all of the photos and sizes to select what we wanted. We were tired, and hungry, and hot (sweater-vests are HOT! Did you know that??), and by the time we left we'd spent 3 hours there!

Most of our family will be getting copies of these for Christmas, so I won't spoil the gifts. But here's one of the pictures as a freebie.

My Favorite Card So Far

This was sent by my college roomie, Dana. I laughed long and hard at this cartoon. Dana, you're hilarious! Thank you!

And thanks to all of you who were kind enough to send birthday wishes!

Blah, Blah Blog.

Sorry! I was going to post pictures, however some tall person around here has mislaid my camera cord. So pictures will have to wait.

I will say that the basement is nearly finished, and the painting is done. I think I made a serious error in judgement when I picked the paint color for one room. Every time I walk in I think of "The Shining." But it looked so good on the paint chip!! Maybe once the trim is up and the carpet is in it'll look more like what I envisioned.

Today we tried to take our Christmas photos, but I was so angry at the changes that our Sears portrait studios have made that I walked out of the session. I went to the competing studio in our area and booked appointments.

Then we drove to chuck E. Cheese and spent a couple of hours there. We rarely go, but when we do I love to go on a weekday during naptime. The place is empty, and I can let my kids roam free and still see them at all times. We had a coupon for 100 tokens, and I let the boys spend about half before we stopped and went home for naptime.

Today is my birthday. I'd forgotten about it until my Mom called this morning to sing to me. In honor of my birthday, here's a fun clip that reminds me I need to:

a) Stop by Starbucks more often, and
b) Choose a new theme song for this new stage of my life. (Think "Ally McBeal")

Any suggestions?

Shopped 'Till We Dropped

Today M. had the day off, so we piled in the car and drove to the big mall in the big city.

Wow! That place was fun! We got all of our Christmas shopping done, except for what we'll do for the boys. We don't hit the mall very often, and we'd never been to this particular one, so it was pretty exciting for the boys. (And me too!)

We walked, and purchased, and window-shopped until we were exhausted. The music was kind of fun, though at times they played tunes that reminded me of cartoon soundtracks. I felt like I was shopping in a Wallace and Gromit movie.

**Side Note** Speaking of Wallace and Gromit, we took the boys to see the movie this weekend. Very fun! We all enjoyed it and had a great time. Even Colson, on which most of the humor was lost, got the basic idea of the movie. 10 thumbs up from us!

We ate lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. It was pretty deserted on a weekday, so the boys had the run of the place, with a waitress giving them the grand tour. We'd never eaten at this place before. The is the first restaurant where we didn't have to entertain the boys while we waited for our food. M. and I actually got to talk a bit!

When we returned home, we found the builders had primed our basement and painted the family room, hallway, and storage room. There's not much left for them to finish. Linoleum comes this week, carpet the next. Doors and woodwork are ready to go on. It feels like we're in the home stretch!

Easy Pee-sy

The van’s been acting a little odd, so we decided to stay close to home today. Since we didn’t have to be anywhere in particular, it was just as easy to stay home than to tempt fate with a trip out.

With the whole day stretching out before us, I thought, “Hey, why not work on potty-training Colson?”

Yes, this is a potty-training blog entry. Feel free to leave now if this is not a topic you relish reading about.

I figured we’d spend the morning getting the whole idea of using the potty down, break for nap, and then spend the afternoon practicing. So this morning, we got out the training pants, the mini-potty, the special juice, and the reward candy. After a big building-up of what we were about to learn, and with his big brothers cheering him on (they get a piece of candy as incentive every time Colson uses the potty), Colson sat on the potty.

Nothing happened.

Oh well, that’s okay. He drank some more juice, and then I had him sit down again 15 minutes later. When the other boys were little, it had worked best to ask them to try to use the potty every 15 minutes, so that’s what I started out with today.

Nothing happened.

Colson drank some more juice and ran off to play. After about 10 minutes, Colson ran into the room, sat down on the potty, peed, and then put his pants back on, and ran off to play.

That was that. We had a couple of minor dribbles, but all morning long he used the potty like he was a pro. No warnings, no reminders, no fear of this kid soiling our carpet. Other than the time he flashed the salesman at the front door, the day was remarkably without incident.

Colson has by far been the easiest child. He slept through the night at 5 weeks. He has always been a baby that I could just lay in his crib awake and he’d drift off to sleep. He weaned himself off the pacifier painlessly. Now this. I am impressed. We can hardly wait to see what he’ll surprise us with next!

So, I'm thinking I should maybe fold the clean laundry.




Someone posted the following quote on the Well Trained Mind forums this summer. I've no idea who originally wrote it or posted it; I wish I could give them credit. It's a send up of a speech by Aragorn in "Return of the King, " but it applies so accurately to my laundry pile this week.

"I see in your eyes the same mountain that would take the heart of me. A day may come when this laundry pile of mine overwhelms me. When I forsake clean towels and break all scoops of soap. But it is not this day. An hour of soiled shirts and dirty pants; when the laundry room comes crashing down. But it is not this day. Today, I fold! For all of the children in my house, and for my dear husband too, I tell you I will sit, and fold my laundry!"

Basement Updating

The drywall guys come tomorrow for what will, hopefully, be the last time. They are great guys, and they work very quickly, but we're eager for them to be done so we can move on with the basement. Once they got the drywall hung we were finally able to imagine what the basement will look like when it's finished and we're very excited!

We haven't been able to invite anyone over to our house while this project is going on, because there's no safe place for the kids to play down there. We're looking forward to having people over again.

Here's the west wall of the family room and the entrance to the hallway. This wall is under the kitchen and living room.


The first door down the hallway is the bathroom. Here's our shower so far.


Further on down the hall is a room that we'll use as an office/guest bedroom. There's also a very large closet. Or a very tiny, windowless bedroom. It's all in your perspective, really.

Here's the family room again, looking at the east wall and windows that look out onto our backyard.

A Long and Rambling Post

I confess we are fans of reality tv in this house. That's something you won't often hear people admit, but I felt that this needed to be shared.

We don't watch much- there's a lot of junk out there. But we've become fans of certain shows:

The Biggest Loser- It's motivating, and while it's on we talk about working hard, setting goals, etc.
The Amazing Race - We love seeing people travel around the world. It's also good to watch and discuss different character traits. (Both the good ones and the bad ones.)
Survivor - Again with the travel and the character traits.
On occasion, Wife Swap - We enjoy watching this because it gives my family perspective. I'm sure that there are people out there who think that I am an extreme person. (No, no, it's true. There are those who think that.) Sometimes the men in my family think I go a bit overboard in some areas. (Cleanliness IS next to godliness, you know.) But the women on this show let them know that I'm not too bad!

"You think I like to clean, get a load of this lady?"
"You think a messy house is no big deal? Look at this place!"

Anyway, after watching tonight's episode of "The Amazing Race", it cemented in my head why you will never see me on reality tv. During the race, one of the moms is talking to her children about the area in which they find themselves. They're driving acroos the long bridge over Lake Pontchartrain into New Orleans, and she tells them, "This is one of the 5 Great Lakes."

Even Braden laughed at that.

And I'm sure that this mom is shrinking into her easy chair in shame, knowing that that error made it onto national tv.

But that would be me. I could never go on reality tv because I know I would say something ridiculous and it would not end up on the editing room floor. They'd probably replay it in slow motion. Multiple times. And I'd give them plenty of material too. I can imagine the camera crew checking into their hotel at night saying, "Oh geez, did you hear what she said today??"

Every tantrum thrown by my children. Every embarrassing romance novel on my bookshelf. The preprogrammed channels on my radio. And somehow, of course, it would have to come up that there's a Milli Vanilli cassette in my tape deck right now. All these things would find ways to make it onto the small screen and mock me.

I feel really sorry for that mom on tonight's show. We all say dumb things, but thankfully we don't have it broadcast across several time zones. We don't have to hear our friends or complete strangers repeating them to us the following day. (I'll bet that mom knows the names of all 5 Great Lakes now. In alphabetical order.)

But then I think of our boys, and the things they hear me say. What are the words that they will hear in slow motion over and over in their own minds? What is it that we'll have said that may echo? Years from now, when they gather together at holidays and reminisce, what will they remember us saying?

Now that Colson is becoming much more adept at speaking, he's a constant reminder to me to watch my words and guard my tongue. Not just to avoid the possibility of them remembering the idiocy that so often spews forth from my mouth, but to fill their heads and their hearts with words that I want them to carry with them as they grow.

The First "Real" Meet

Braden's first "REAL" swim meet was this weekend. 6 clubs from around the area (the team with the longest drive drove for 3 hours) joined us at our pool for the meet. This spanned 3 days, included several teams, and involved judges, timers, and the cool touch-pads at the ends of the lanes for the kids to hit as they finish.

We did this one mostly for the experience. Braden has learned a lot over the summer, but needed to get a bit used to competition. It was a little nerve-racking at times, but he did very well.

He swam the 100 yd. Freestyle and 100 yd. Backstroke for the first time ever. He placed 3rd in his heat in the backstroke! He also swam the 50 yd. freesyle and shaved 10 seconds off of his time from July. He swam another 50 freestyle in his age group 200 IM relay, and they placed 4th.

He was scheduled for 2 other races, but because of time changes we were not able to attend. He was disappointed, because his best and favorite stroke is the backstroke, and that was one of the races we missed. But I think this weekend whet his appetite for these meets, which add more excitement to the endless laps done in practices.

A Little Catch-Up

I need to do a photo-blog about our recent trip north.

What? What did you say?

No. Sorry, I'm not going to post more photos from the SPAM Museum. (Was that just a sigh of relief I heard? Stop it.)

No, I have more pictures of fun from our trip.

We celebrated Braden's birthday before we left. It's hard to believe that he's 10. He shows glimpses, but still is very much a little boy. Here's a couple of pictures from the family celebration.





In chemistry we've been studying molecules. We did an experiment last week to demonstrate the effects of heat and cold on the movements of molecules. This was a very fun, simple experiment (food coloring in glasses of icy or boiling water), and we had to repeat it a couple of times just for fun. We both loved the patterns the blue food coloring made as it moved through the icy water.



After doing another chemistry experiment, we ran out of a couple of things we'd need to repeat the experiment. I wasn't sure where to get them, so I called the local university's chemistry department and left a message explaining what I needed. A woman from that department called me back a couple of days later, and was interested in talking with me. She was very excited to share her knowledge with a homeschooler, and wanted to know about our experiments.

The one we'd just done (and ran out of the chemicals for) was one she does with her students, but they do it backwards - in other words, they're given the chemicals already mixed, and have to deduce what they are simply by observing the reaction. ( Mixing methylene blue with dextrose and sodium hydroxide in a test tube, for you chemistry geeks out there. Can you guess what the reaction was?) I loved this idea of working the experiment backwards. It's waaaaaay beyond our level now, but won't be someday. I've already filed this gem of an idea away for the high school years. Anyway, she also put me in touch with a professor who coordinates chemistry programs for younger students. He has his college aged- kids guide smaller children through simple experiments. Very fun! I'm excited about organizing something for this winter.

Here are 2 pictures from our loooong drive. Brogie took a long nap in the car, and at some point his head slipped back into this awkward position.


Colson kept himself occupied by reading. We were surprised how long this book kept him occupied! Yet another testimony to the power of Calvin and Hobbes.


The boys cousins joined us at Grandma and Grandpa's house for the weekend. The kids played a lot at parks and we took them to the local "mini-zoo" to look at the animals. At the petting area, a goat walked over to Colson and stood next to him unashamedly begging to be petted. Colson dropped down to a squat and started this low-voiced, disturbing goat-whispering kind of chanting. In the picture it looks like he's hanging onto a fence, but that's just the shadow. He's really waggling his fingers as he's talking to the goat. We had no idea what he was saying, but he clearly had a purpose. Eventually the goat wandered away to a new group of admirers, and Colson stood up, clearly very proud of himself.

The Goat-Whisperer:


Toward the end of the visit, we drove to the little town where we used to live, nestled in the bluffs along the Mississippi River. It was a beautiful area and as we spent the evening there we realized that we were just a little homesick. We took the kids to our favorite park, along the lake in the center of town (sort of.... it's hard to describe.)

The last time we were here Colson was just 5 months old. He visited the park in a baby carrier or a sling. This time he played on all the equipment, even the giant slide. He's growing up so fast!


Brogan was afraid of the giant 2-story metal slide there. This time he slid down it without hesitation.


Braden, not content with merely sliding down the slides.


Here are shots we took as we walked along the path by the lake. (That is Grandma in the picture with the boys.)

Too Much Information

I saw this at Laney's blog and thought it sounded like a fun idea. She called it her "guilt list."

Here are the directions:
Bold all those that you ever were guilty of doing. When you are done, add one thing that is true about yourself to the end, then post the list to your blog.

Leave a comment or a link here to your blog.

I've run away from home.
I listen to political music.
I collect comic books.
I shut others out when I'm sad.
I open up to others easily.
I am keeping a secret from the world.
I watch the news.
I own over 5 rap CDs.
I own an ipod.
I own something from Hot Topic.
I love Disney movies.
I am a sucker for hair/eyes.
I don't kill bugs. (I kill anything that crawls)
I have x's in my screen name.
I've slipped out a "lol" in a real conversation.
I love Spam.
I bake well.
I would wear pajamas to school/work.
I own something from Abercrombie.
I have a job.
I love Martha Stewart.
I am in love with someone.
I am guilty of TyPInG lIkE tHiS.
I am self conscious.
I like to laugh.
I smoke a pack a day.
I loved Go Ask Alice.
I have cough drops when I'm not sick.
I can't swallow pills.
I quit smoking.
I have many scars.
I've been out of this country.
I believe in ghosts.
I can't sleep if there is a spider in the room.
I am really ticklish.
I love chocolate.
I bite my nails.
I am comfortable with being me.
I play computer games/video games when I'm bored.
Gotten lost in the city.
Saw a shooting star.
I have had 2 serious surgical procedures.
I have kissed a stranger.
Hugged a stranger.
Been in a fist fight with the same sex.
Been arrested.
Laughed and had milk/soda come out of your nose.
Pushed all the buttons on an elevator.
Made out in an elevator.
Sworn at my parents.
Kicked a guy where it hurts.
Been skydiving.
Been bungee jumping.
Broken a bone.
Played spin the bottle.
Gotten stitches.
Bitten someone.
Been to Niagara Falls.
Gotten the chicken pox.
Crashed into a car.
Been to Asia.
Ridden in a taxi.
Shoplifted.
Been fired.
Had feelings for someone who didn't have them back.
Had a crush on a teacher/coach.
Celebrated Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
Been to Europe.
Slept with a co-worker.
Been married.
Gotten divorced.
Saw someone dying.
Driven over 400 miles in one day.
Been to Canada.
Been on a plane.
Seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Thrown up in a bar.
Eaten Sushi.
Been snowboarding.
Been skiing.
Been ice skating.
Met someone in person from the internet.
Been to a car show.
Gone to college.
Done hard drugs.
Taken painkillers.
Met a celebrity.
I like playing practical jokes.
Seen all nine seasons of the X-Files.
Once swore Disco would never die.
Seen a ghost.
Attended a professional sporting event.
Attended a live rock concert.
Stayed up all night.
Lied about my name.
Thrown something at a spouse.
After a night out, have gone straight to work without going home.
I cut all the wires in my husband's car for spite.
I used to torture my sister by jumping on the teddy bear that she loved.(It was really funny at the time.)
Said something embarrassing to my husband when he put me on speakerphone at work. (I hate that! He doesn't do it anymore. )

Exciting, and Yet Very Humbling

Brogie has been doing preschool activities this year in school- cutting, pasting, coloring, tracing, that sort of thing. At the same time, I've been trying to get him ready for learning to read. He knows a couple of letters by sight, but that's about it.

Several weeks ago, a mom on the Well-Trained Mind message boards mentioned a video by LeapFrog that her kids loved. She'd said it introduced the letters of the alphabet and the sounds they make. That sounded like a fun way to introduce the idea of letters making sounds, so I put the movie in our netflix queue.

Last week it arrived, and Brogan and Colson did really enjoy watching it. So much so that one week later Brogan knows nearly all of his letters and the sounds they make. Colson knows a few of them.

One week.

On one hand, I'm terribly excited and proud of Brogan for making the connection. But on the other hand, I felt very humbled by the fact that I'd been replaced by a DVD. For months we've been reading books, and for many weeks we've been working on letters. I was sure it would take many more weeks of patience, planning, and practice for Brogan to master the letter sounds. But after only 7 days of intermittent video-watching, he's got 'em.

One week. Videos.

Maybe I should look closer at purchasing BJU HomeSat or A Beka Academy on DVD for the boys next year?

Lovely Spam! Wonderful Spam!

Would a trip to Minnesota be complete without a trip to the Spam Museum?

Well......yes, actually. It would. But nonetheless, we felt called to make our drive home even longer by stopping in Austin, Minnesota for a tour of the Spam Museum.

Marc's brother worked for Hormel several years ago, and we loved visiting his family in Austin. They have since moved away, and we haven't visited the city since. So it was with a small degree of nostalgia that we exited the interstate and followed the signs that promised a "spamtastic time."

The Spam Museum is free, and very well done. The Hormel company certainly has a great sense of humor about this product, and so the information and displays were informational, but the overall tone of the museum was light and fun. The kids had a great time, and I'm pretty sure we'll stop there again in the future.



When we first walked in, we were greeted by the mascot Spammy.


One of several helpful tour guides talked with the kids, and then asked if they'd seen the Giant Wall of Spam. "Only in a nightmare, "I thought. But the tour guide had the boys turn around, and pointed out the Wall of Spam over the front door.


There are over 3,500 cans of Spam on that wall, and the globe spins around displaying a large star over Austin, MN. We learned that if you ate one can a day, the wall of Spam would feed you for nearly 10 years!

The exhibits are all very visual and most have some sort of audio/visual component that helped to hold the little boys' attention. We found a "puppet" show hosted by a Gracie Allen sound alike. This show briefly highlighted the history of Spam.


Another display covered the history of the Hormel company itself. The kids enjoyed listening to a couple of mannequins that simulated a conversation between George Hormel and his son Jay.





The boys are exiting a giant simulated can of Spam (complete with key!!) that showed the progression of labels over the years.


We found exhibits with old radio commercials (from the Burns and Allen days), a wall of screens that continuously played Spam television ads from over the years and from around the globe, another wall with giant print ads from over the years. There was a tribute to Spam's contibution to the World War 2 war effort. We liked the documentary on the Hormel Girls, a group of female musicians who travelled around the country promoting Hormel products.

Of course, my favorite was a "diner" with a large tv screen (held by a Viking, of course) that played the Monty Python's Spam skit. This was Braden's first chance to see it and hear the song. Click on the links in this paragraph and you can listen to the song. (The green link on top will download the song. The text is printed on the page.)


The area where the boys spent the most time was a large interactive display showing how SPam was made. Every step was detailed, there were clothes and helmets to try on, chain mail gloves to try out, and a game to teach you how to pack Spam yourself. The boys had to take an empty can, put Spam inside (a pink bean bag), add a lid, cook it, add a label, and stack it in a tray. Timers were available to compare yourself to an actual packer at the Austin plant.



The conveyer belt at the top of the photo wound through the entire museum and carried over 800 cans of Spam.

After we got home the kids begged to buy Spam from the store on our "refilling the cupboards" shopping trip. While the museum was definately a hit and was thoroughly enjoyed by all of us, the actual can of Spam was....... not. Everyone tried a bite, but only Colson ate all of his.

Baptism

This weekend we drove north to visit family and to have Braden baptized. I blogged about this last week, but I wanted to post pictures for those who were not able to be there.

This was a very special and emotional time for our family, filled with both grief and joy. It's been an .......interesting journey. One too long and somewhat painful to post here. We have been surprised by the opinions of fellow believers, and shocked by attitudes expressed that contradict the Bible. M. and I have spent time praying and searching the Scriptures in regards to this issue, and are confident that we are earnestly striving to be obedient in this matter.

Despite the issues at the beginning, this weekend's ceremony was nothing but joyful, simple, and sweet. I cannot express how happy and thankful we are that Braden is growing in his faith.


The pastor did an excellent job of explaining what would happen and the significance of each step. Braden tried very hard to answer questions precisely, thereby making the pastor work hard at phrasing his questions "just right".


Prayer before the baptism begins.


I don't have a picture of the actual "dunking," but my in-laws have some and I need to get copies made. Here are some before shots.








Afterwards, the families organized a small potluck. The fellowship afterwards was a lot of fun, and it was nice to catch up with family and friends that we hadn't seen for a while. There were about forty people there. The kids were among the first to commandeer a table and set up a "grownup free zone."


The following Sunday the church we visited had communion, and Braden was able to participate for the first time. Braden and M. spent time this weekend discussing the sacraments.

There was so much that happened this weekend that I'll have to post this in sections. Still to come: Spam!, Braden's birthday, our basement saga, and Kissing Cousins!

So Much to Blog, So Little Time.

We're back from our trip up north! We'd gone in search of cool weather and fall colors and were somewhat disappointed. The weather was warm and beautiful, but temps were in the high 80's, not the cool temperatures M. was hoping for. It didn't stop him from taking the boys hiking, though. The trees started changing this weekend and the bluffs along the Mississippi River were beautiful.

We came home to find that our part of town had been hit with heavy rains and several areas had serious flooding. We got somewhere between 6 and 14 inches of rain overnight. (The amount of rainfall seems to vary based on what part of the country you were measuring.) Our basement is dry, thankfully, and we're hoping that this means the odds of us ever having water problems are small. (If the basement could stand up to this, it could stand up to anything!!)



Work has started in our basement. We're hoping the work will all be done by the end of the month, and we can begin bringing things downstairs. I'm eager to get the tv out of the living room!

This morning guys came to hang drywall in our basement. They've been working steadily all morning,and it's been great fun listening to them. I just went down to peek, and was surprised to see that they're nearly done. They've managed to cover a bedroom, a 10x10 storage room, a bathroom, and a large family room in less than7 hours. It would have taken M. and I weeks to accomplish this. We've picked out flooring and ordered cabinets. It's all taking shape so quickly!

Yesterday we spent the day trying to recover from our trip: unpacking, laundering, answering phone messages and mail. The kids and I were all crabby, but today everyone seems pretty normal.

Sorry for the boring entry, but I felt the need to let everyone know that we were alive and dry. I'll post pictures from our trip soon.