This has been a fairly busy week in the McCracken Camp. Alan has completed 2 of the six wells has contracted for one developer and several more jobs have lined up to be done hopefully before Christmas! I found out that I am really not a very good camper even with a fully equipped travel trailer. Big surprise there! It rained and was cold most of the time we were in Norwood so we spent a lot of time indoors reading & playing. Alan had to come back down in valley Wednesday night to gather supplies so the little ones and I came with him and got to stay home!!! Yah for me.
I have been spending the last few days catching up on housework and doing business books. Figured out we had enough money in the business to give ourselves a paycheck. That is always a nice thing to discover.
Stupid horses got out last night. Looks like one of them cut his leg badly and tore some ligaments so it will have to be put down this fall. It took myself and aproximately 10 neighbors and mom & dad McCracken about 45 minutes to get them pinned back up. Anybody want a horse?
Dravin & Krista Mc are supposed to be around sometime this weekend. I hope that works out. It will be nice to see them again. Their kids are so much fun and my boys have a blast with them.
Alans family on the McCracken/Pfister side are having a family reunion this weekend so I need to make some things to take to it. Probably brownies and sandwiches as that is the easiest. You all know what a gourmet chef I am.
Mom mc & Cendie are going to Wash next week for the Beach Party. Wish I could go too. But that is highly unlikely. Do I sound jealous? Perhaps this winter we will make it that direction.
I should probably get off of here and make some lunch as Alan & the boys are on their way home. Love you all please leave and comment and let me know you visited.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Learning to Speak Spanglish
This year as I have said, I will be homeschooling Tyler & Mason. One of the things we all want to accomplish is to learn how to speak Spanish. I purchased from Rosetta Stone Spanish (Latin America) levels 1 & 2. It arrived last night and I have been messing around with it since. This morning Alex says "Mama I want to learn to speak English too." So I guess that is my next job. To teach Alex how to speak English!
On a different note. We have been extremely busy with our well drilling business this summer. We are supposed to go to Norwood and drill 10 wells for a developer there. So we will be borrowing a camp trailer to live in for a couple of weeks and we will stay up there until the jobs are done. I am not very outdoorsy, but I will be a trouper and report back to everyone my survival tips. Some of you are old hands at this so any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I got to meet Sis. Laurie & Family this last weekend. That was very nice. I guess I didn't meet the whole family as I beleive she has a bunch of boys, but did meet Raine and the dad.
On a different note. We have been extremely busy with our well drilling business this summer. We are supposed to go to Norwood and drill 10 wells for a developer there. So we will be borrowing a camp trailer to live in for a couple of weeks and we will stay up there until the jobs are done. I am not very outdoorsy, but I will be a trouper and report back to everyone my survival tips. Some of you are old hands at this so any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I got to meet Sis. Laurie & Family this last weekend. That was very nice. I guess I didn't meet the whole family as I beleive she has a bunch of boys, but did meet Raine and the dad.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Day Trip to Ouray, Colorado
Today I took the kids(except Tyler) up to the hot springs pool in Ouray. For those of you who do not live around here it is pronounced U-Ray. We had the best time. Alex & Amy wore water wings and floated everywhere. Of course Alex, being the brave little man, decided after about 5 minutes that he did not need those silly things and took them off! I guess having a pool here at the house has really helped in that area because he was swimming pretty well without them.
It amazes me how social my kids are sometimes. Alex and Emily both had no problem finding a little buddy to hang out with while we were there. Amy & Mason hung out with me. Mason had to do the lap test to go in the deep water (AGAIN)! He couldn't remember the name of the guy who gave him the test 2 years ago so they made him do it over. He can swim pretty well, but it is a hard test (I dont know if I could pass it!) Thankfully once you are over 13 Yrs you don't have to take it at all! He was pretty slow but he passed. I told the lifegaurd the reason he was so slow on the back stroke was because his arm is crokked (sp) from a break he had when he was 6, he passed anyway, I was pretty pleased with him for sticking with it.
My Dad showed up after we had been there 3 hours. He is in town (ouray) for a week at a small family reunion with some of his brothers. They have rented a lodge 10,000 square feet for a week! It is pretty neat inside. I stopped by and took a look at it on the way out of town. I think dad is going to stay with us a couple of weeks this summer. It should be fun. He does seem kind of lost without mom though. It feels weird that she is not here too. This was a trip she was very excited about taking, and when it came to the end, she told him he better go himself!! So he did.
Alan's business is really taking off this summer. (Thanks for all the prayers). In this line of work it is either feast or famine. So if I'm fat when you see me next you will know we had a good year! On the other hand, I do like being skinny!
It amazes me how social my kids are sometimes. Alex and Emily both had no problem finding a little buddy to hang out with while we were there. Amy & Mason hung out with me. Mason had to do the lap test to go in the deep water (AGAIN)! He couldn't remember the name of the guy who gave him the test 2 years ago so they made him do it over. He can swim pretty well, but it is a hard test (I dont know if I could pass it!) Thankfully once you are over 13 Yrs you don't have to take it at all! He was pretty slow but he passed. I told the lifegaurd the reason he was so slow on the back stroke was because his arm is crokked (sp) from a break he had when he was 6, he passed anyway, I was pretty pleased with him for sticking with it.
My Dad showed up after we had been there 3 hours. He is in town (ouray) for a week at a small family reunion with some of his brothers. They have rented a lodge 10,000 square feet for a week! It is pretty neat inside. I stopped by and took a look at it on the way out of town. I think dad is going to stay with us a couple of weeks this summer. It should be fun. He does seem kind of lost without mom though. It feels weird that she is not here too. This was a trip she was very excited about taking, and when it came to the end, she told him he better go himself!! So he did.
Alan's business is really taking off this summer. (Thanks for all the prayers). In this line of work it is either feast or famine. So if I'm fat when you see me next you will know we had a good year! On the other hand, I do like being skinny!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
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!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
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!
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!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
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.
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.
Monday, June 9, 2008
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.
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.
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