Archive for category: Family Activities

Max finally found a pencil sharpener.
So he sharpened the sparkly silver pencil.
Then he wanted to write a letter.
So he wrote to cousin Trevor on a mission in South Korea.
It was very short, sweet, and to the point.
He was proud of his efforts.
We found an envelope that he licked with great care.
We wrote the long address and put two stamps on it.
Then Hannah wanted to write a letter to the missionaries.
Then Truman wanted to write a letter to the missionaries…in his own words.
Then Max wrote to Jim and colored it quite colorful.

So what happens if you give a boy a pencil sharpener.
You will soon have a score of letters to cousins Jim & Trevor,
two missionaries serving the Lord!

Today our neighborhood hosted an HOA yardsale… meaning they did the advertising in hopes oodles of folks would come wander around the neighborhood to all the yard sales. We were going to sell a few things, but opted out since I didn’t take the time to get everything ready this past week. But we did decide to sell snow cones instead. Hurray! We stayed up last night mixing the concentrates. Eighteen 32 oz snow cone syrup containers require a bucket load of sugar… literally.

We bought a new machine this year since our small Vittorio machine from last year barely hung on until the end of last summer. This one is the smallest Snowie found on Costco.com, comes with concentrates and syrups, and was $160 (normally $250). If we wanted snow cones, I knew we’d have to make up the cost of that machine by selling them. So… here we are. We sold about 85 snow cones, which paid for half of the machine. (last summer we averaged about 50 per snowcone adventure). Hurray! So we still have a few weeks left to make up for expenses.

Hannah did the syrups & Abe did the ice. We reviewed cleanliness, customer service (as in … don’t fight with each other in front of customers), and the basic how-to.

Max wanted to be the menu guy… but soon realized that people would just read the menu instead. He sure was a happy trooper helping to set everything up though. Love that! He had Tiger’s Blood and a rootbeer.

Tru was the roly-poly collector. He liked his white snow cone of Pina Colada.

Liza sat in her pink camping chair and enjoyed the people coming and going (mostly she liked the babies! especially Julia). She also liked her pink snow cone! The banana minion one was fun too.

This was Jimmy’s first time doing snowcone shop with us. He did all the helping that I usually do. Plus, it helped to have his muscles setting up the tent, table, and picnic table. He doesn’t like snow cones though! I know, right! Too much sugar for him.

I do have to say that I was very strong and didn’t even have a snow cone, though my tummy quite desired one. I did have a small bite of Hannah’s pomegranate to try the flavor. Here are the flavors for 2014! The most popular today was root beer, both cotton candy flavors, and blue raspberry.

Okey-dokey. Here’s the tale.
First of the week, I asked Jimmy if he was taking the boys to the campout.
Said he’d think about it.
Tuesday, Wednesday I was sick.

Thursday 1 a.m. – 6 a.m. = Truman barfed every hour.
High fever and half-way passed out all day.
2 long naps later… 5 p.m.
He ate dinner and wanted to jump on the tramp.
Quickie flu bug for him.

Friday: Max said his stomach hurts.
His stomach always hurts… like really… every day
(which might have something to do with the fact that
sometimes he nibbles on non-food items like paper plates or string-cheese wrappers!).
But he came home from school and laid on the couch.
We gave him the sick treatment in case all he needed was some TLC.
As soon as we mentioned the father/son campout, he was off that couch in a flash.
Figured it wasn’t anything major.

I wondered if it was a good idea to take the boys camping in the wilderness
as i feared someone might come down with the runs or the barfs.
But we figured the boys were all well enough.

Jimmy decided Friday afternoon to take the boys.
Rush-rush to get ready.
I was so tired getting them packed up and off… imagine how I’d be moving in a month or so. Wow.

Got the boys off… girls went to run errands & get dinner.
Movie night for girls …
boys had s’mores, played frisby, and
got settled in their tent @ Five-Mile Pass near Eagle Mountain.

To bed.

I slept great. Hoped that Jimmy and boys did too.

Not so. Why am I taking forever writing this out?

Anyhoo… got a text from Jimmy at 7 a.m. that Max had barfed all night.

NOOOOOOOOOOO!

Long night for the boys. But by golly… Jimmy had taken the boys and they were going to see it through.

Saturday morning. Cleaning up from camping.
Jimmy hosed out the barfo bin of blankets.

Washed the campfire clothes… washed the barfo blankets… washed the rest of the laundry. Phew!

Abe & I cleaned the van out thoroughly. Phew – it’s so clean! Love that!

Then what did Jimmy do… no, not rest. That man mowed and edged the yard.
(ummmm, I took a nap… so tired from morning of work!)
Then what did he do… no, not rest.
Shower and run to Walmart to return the lousy sleeping bag and to buy a boat-load of groceries.
He knew if he stopped, he’d crash. So, he didn’t stop.
That man works so long and hard.

Jimmy and I went on a date to Texas Roadhouse.
Salmon & steak, delicious hot rolls, and frozen strawberry-lemonade.
A nice treat for a guy who worked non-stop.
And a nice treat for a gal who hadn’t left the house most of the week.
Big thanks to Miss Hannah for watching all the tots and getting them dinner
(plus, she did get leftover rolls!)

p.s. I think Jimmy is already in bed. It’s 8:37.

p.p.s. Jimmy emailed me some pictures with the subject FSO. Hannah and I could not figure out what it was. So I thought maybe it was some new lingo… so I looked it up on google. The only thing we came up with was FSO: Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych, a Polish automotive company. That just made us laugh.

p.p.p.s. This is our life with Liza. She’s had a rough month. She wants to do everything herself. For some reason she cries about everything.  Her favorite snack is COOKIE BUTTER. Really, 2-year-old girl. Cookie Butter? She eats it like her mother… by the spoonful. Not good. What am I teaching this girl? Sigh… One thing I know, is that I did not teach her to walk the way she does… she puts her arms straight down, puts her hands flared out, and twists her hips. Oh heavens child. Cute as can be, but I think 3 is looking more challenging than 2 with her. Oh – as for the no pants. She is into getting dressed and undressed herself. Which means undies and pants are found all over the house. How to keep this one clothed? … at least with undies on! As for potty training. I’ve had a hard time being tough. She’s figured out pull-ups are way easier. Need to crack down soon!

p.p.p.s. Jimmy said Tru adjusted the best of all the boys to camping. What?! Tantrums at home in normal life… but cool even with the unknown and transitions galore. So interesting. He came home and told me all about it. Had a blast, he did!