Frollicking in The Pool

The above are pictures of my kids playing in our pool. This has turned out to be a very wise investment. I do have to put pool shock in it once a week because it gets so much use, but we are all really enjoying this new toy! Alan hates to get in it because the water is still very cold and he is so skinny that he freezes instantly, unlike his wife whose abundance of personal insulation keeps her toasty (more or less) for 1/2 an hour. The kids swim in it for hours on end. Maybe Alan & I are just getting old!

Yeah For ME!

I need lots of atta girls for this one.

This morning I devoted all of the morning to finishing Arlenes Wedding Veil and guess what???I actually got it DONE.

When Cindie & Arlene went to pick out her wedding dress they so graciously invited Emily & I along. She ended up picking the dress that I loved the absolute most. It honestly looks like it was made just for her. Anyway when she put it on the final time at the shop the gal put a veil on her and she just looked incredibly beautiful, I actually started getting teary eyed over the whole thing. So I asked her if I could make her veil and she (being the trusting soul that she is)said I could.

Fast Forward to the last few weeks. I have been slowly but surely sewing the lace on and had the longest part of it complete and was stumped about how to do the top but this morning it kind of came to me (in a flash of brilliance no less) and I got it all sewed together. It looks lovely on her and really hope that she likes it. And yes, I did get all weepy all over again. Arlene was a junior bridesmaid in mine and Alans wedding and it is so sweet that Emily gets to be a flower girl in hers.

I will probably be bawl baby at the wedding, but thats alright cause thats what over emotional aunts are for. I must get this all out of my system before any of my own dear children decide to leap from the nest!

The very bad, horrible, no good morning!

Well I certainly am not going to win any mother of the year awards now!! Lets see where to begin.

First of all I spent most of yesterday in Grand Junction picking up clothes for the kids and a blouse for Mom McCracken to where to Arlenes wedding, then I picked up Wade & McKenzie from Vel's house to take them back to Grandma McCrackens, then I stopped by Tonya Wilsons to pay for mom & dads 50th Anniversary cake. So on the way through Delta I stopped at this convience store that sells milk for $6 for 2 gallons, which would be a very good deal if the milk we not spoiled!!!

I love birds as much as anyone, but they start singing LOUDLY at my bedroom window at 4:45 every morning! So of course I get up and shut the windows and try to get back to sleep. Dosen't work!
I didn't discover until late last night that the milk was bad (both gallons), I got up at 6:00 and drove to Olathe and bought a new gallon of milk. Driving home, due to my own failure to really look, I was almost T-Boned on my side of the van by a huge truck!! If he had hit me I wouldn't be writing this because I most certainly would be dead now. After that narrow miss I decided to drive more carefully.

Upon arriving at the house I discover that my teenager did not in fact load the dishwasher last night, after assuring me he would. So I was very unhappy about the sink full of dirty dishes. I loaded it then took care of the laudry. The proceed to make pancakes for Alan & Tyler. Tyler didn't eat his and instead got himself a Coffee cup full of cereal and milk. "Why didn't you eat a pancake?" "Well, I didn't have time." Grrrrrr. So he gets made and DUMPS his cereal and milk into the sink (that I had just cleaned out), my you we don't have a garbage disposal, then he makes a beline for the door!! Needless to say I have not been a very happy mom this morning. Thanks for listening to my rant!

On a different note I have decided to list things that I am looking forward to.

1) Pictures that I am sure someone will post of Ashleas wedding. Since I am unable to attend.

2) Getting Arlenes veil completely finished. It is looking pretty good but I think I need to add some more lace to it.

3) Getting through Arlenes wedding week and just enjoying her day.

4) Getting through Alfred & Minnies 50th anniversary party. So I can stop worrying about it and maybe get some sleep!

5) Going to Nicole Herrmanns wedding, where I have to do is watch!

6) My 40th birthday. It means I am still alive and kickin

7) Getting my house organized and my homeschooling finalized for next fall.

8) Tyler coming home so I can apologize for being such a jerk this morning.

Cleaning, Cleaning, Cleaning

Perhaps its because I have had such a cruddy year, or because it feels like the walls are closing in on me, I don't know which, but....I have started my yearly decluttering. Several people, neighbors, friends, family....have given me bags & bags and bags of hand me downs recently. That in its self is very nice, and now I have plenty of clothes for both Emily & Amy for school next year....buuuuttt... After the fifth large bag of clothes I start getting very picky with things. So today after going through all the bags and cleaning out one drawer in my own dresser, I took three very overstuffed bags of well stuff to the Salvation Army. I don't know where the mountains of clothing ends up but they happily take everything I want to dispose of.

This weekend the swamp cooler overflowed and leaked into my utility room. AAAAAAhhhh! I was not a very happy camper. All the sheets, tools, ect. had to be rewashed and the room smells terrible now. I have just about got caught up on the laundry. So, my goal for the week is to go through each of the kids' dressers and get rid of about half of the unused, too small, clothing so that the house cleaning will not take as much time. Lets see if I can do it.

I have also been diligently planning our February Hawaii cruise. That is not really work but it is what I spend a lot of time on. Our plane tickets are bought & paid for. Money to pay for the cruise itself is in the bank, so now I just need to save for activities and such. Alans dear cousin Stephanie & her sweet husband Jeramy have so graciously agreed to stay with our kids the week we are gone. Steph married my third cousin Jeremy Easter from Purcell Oklahoma. Always room for another Easter in the McCracken Clan. I need to get chore list and such done for the kids for while we are away. Another thing to add to the growing list.

Alex had a terrible flu last week. Poor little guy. He just doesn't do sick very well. He is feeling better now and went back to Summer School today. He is really enjoying that. There are only 5 kids to each teacher, so he is learning a bunch.

The kids are loving the new swimming pool. It is very cold water though so I don't manage to stay in very long. I don't think Alan has been in it at all. Hopefully it will get warmer soon so we can enjoy it.

I must go now and get busy with more cleaning. You all have a nice week.

DANGEROUS WITH A CREDIT CARD PART II

Today I made an executive decision. Given the high price of gas and the many childern I have and the fact that the temp is near 90 during the afternoon, I went to walmart and bought a POOL. Yep, thats me. Give me a credit card and a reason and I'll just whip that puppy out! It took us all afternoon and evening to set it up and it is still filling. I don't imagine it will be full until the wee hours. It is 18 feet diameter & 4 ft high. That is going to be one huge water bill. HMMMM. Maybe I should have thought about that little detail.

Anyway the kids are so excited about it and so is their momma.

I was sick Thurs, Fri, & Sat of last week with a flu so intense and a fever so high that I thought my head was going to pop off my shoulders! But I am feeling much better now. Had my dear husband quite worried though. I will try to post pictures soon of the childern frolicking in the pool!! I just love that word! Frolicking, Frolicking, Frolicking!