Deal of the Day

A little later this summer, we will spend two weeks at two cottages.  The first week will be in Michigan City with the Baker side, and the second week will be at Morrison Lake with the Ippel side.  I am very much looking forward to these upcoming two weeks.  Since both cottages are on lakes, and since I don't have any appropriate floatation devices for Anelise, I thought I'd check out what Meijer had to offer, during my weekly shopping trip.  I found a very nice, appropriately sized, neoprene life jacket that fit Anelise really well (and once I tried it on her, she didn't want to take it off!).  Unfortunately, it didn't have any tags, and there weren't any other ones like it.  There were some other brand name neoprene jackets on sale for 44.99.  I was hoping not to spend that much, and I figured since it was an off-brand, it would be cheaper.  So at the checkout, another associate took the jacket back to the sporting department to figure out a price while I got the rest of my groceries checked out.  It took her a long time (which didn't surprise me, as I already knew there weren't any others like it), but finally she called my checkout person to give him a price.  I was hoping for something around $30.  Guess what they charged me?

$10.49!!! 

I am so pleased.  I know life-jackets are important, but it's hard to spend money on something you know will likely only fit your child for one season.  This jacket goes up to 30 lbs, so it's possible she could still wear it next year, but that's unlikely.  But we're going to really enjoy it this summer!

Production

Ok, apparently I was really crabby when I wrote that last post.  Yes, we all have days like that.  But we don't all have to broadcast them.  Sorry.

I have actually had a very productive day, despite the lack of grocery shopping.  I did three loads of laundry.  I cleaned up the family room and the kitchen, including clutter that had been accumulating for a month or two.  I wanted to dust the family room, but I still can't find my Pledge.  It's on the shopping list for tomorrow.  I also cleaned out the van (but haven't vacuumed).  And now I'm working on chicken skewers and rice for a late dinner.  We had other plans for dinner that fell through, so I'm scrounging.  Since both boys are very tired from their days at camp and the Children's Museum, and since Anelise didn't take a long enough nap to counteract the late night we had watching the Fishers Freedom Festival fireworks, I'm hoping for bed time to come shortly after dinner.  Sadly, my hubby won't be joining me for dinner OR the ensuing post-bed time relaxation.  He's working late tonight, and then playing softball.  If he can leave work on time.

Monday

It's definitely Monday around here.  Typically Mondays are good days, but today, we're struggling.  And to make matters worse, I had already typed a bunch of this post when Anelise decided to turn off the computer by pressing the power button multiple times.  She received a time out, which is a new thing for her.  She's learning how to say "sorry, Mommy." 

Ethan started Springhill day camp today.  It's all week, every day, from 9 am until 4 pm.  And Caleb is at the Children's Museum with Mom Baker, who is in town for a bit.  So my plan WAS to get my grocery shopping done today.  However, Anelise's constant crying and need for attention has shown me that shopping is not a good idea.  I guess it can wait until tomorrow.  Shopping with 2 kids is still so much easier than with 3, right? 

With Kids Camp last week (it went really well!), things on the home front took a back seat, so I have plenty of things to occupy my time at home.  But I'm having a hard time getting motivated to start.  I HAVE started a load of laundry, but I have dishes that need doing, not to mention just picking up clutter that has landed in various places around the house.  And speaking of dishes, our dishwasher is no longer being used.  It was stalling between the wash cycle and dry cycle.  For awhile I was able to stop it, let it rest for an hour or two, and then restart it.  But now it won't finish.  Ever.  I researched online for a new one, chose the one I wanted, went to Lowes, and discovered that it's a special order, which means it may be up to two weeks before it arrives.  In the meantime, I've had dishes piling up for the last two days that need to be dealt with.

Oh, and in addition to buying a new dishwasher, we also bought a new lawnmower last week.  This month is going to be an ugly one on the budget.  Sigh.

High Water

Today was Day 1 of Pandamania!   Kids Camp (AKA VBS) at Faith Church started off with a bang.  As in lots of thunder and torrential rain that lasted for hours.  I must be exaggerating, right?

Nope.  Not exaggerating.  Our church is located right under the period of 6.25".  Our house is under the " of the same label.  Folks, that's a LOT of rain.  Now, I know it's June, but just for fun, I looked up a conversion of rain to snow.  If our temps were in the 20s, we'd have 5+ FEET of snow, just from this morning.  (Wouldn't that be fun?!)

Fortunately, I was at church super early to print name tags and get things set up.  So I missed the worst of it.  For many families, it took over an hour to get to church, when it would normally be 15 minutes.  Roads were closed due to high water.  The roads that WERE open were packed with people trying to get to work on a dreary Monday morning.  Ugh.

The registration tables for Pandamania were buzzing!  So many kids (162, to be exact, not counting babies) came through, some registering for the first time.  Yesterday I worked on registration stuff from 2 pm until 11 pm.  And when I went to bed, so much was flying through my brain, I wasn't able to fall asleep until after 1:30 am.  I was pretty stressed out this morning, not knowing if the labels I'd spent so much time on would actually print once I got to church.  And if they hadn't, what a mess we would have had!  So when everything went smoothly, I was extremely relieved.  The rest of the week will be a breeze in comparison with today (for me).  I still spent probably 2 hours working on stuff for tomorrow.  But each successive day SHOULD mean less work.  And you'd think I'd get faster at it too.

Our trip home from church was a bit interesting, since some of the roads we usually take were closed due to high water.  But we made it home in about 40 minutes.  Our house stayed dry, unlike many others in our city.  The yard, which already needed mowing badly, is now a swamp, and will have to wait even longer to get cut.  Sorry, anonymous neighbor.

(Thanks, Tina, for the graphic.)

Arnold

Last night, or early this morning, to be exact, I had a very vivid dream.  In it, Jonathan and I were at some sort of convention, though there weren't very many people there.  He and I were at a table, and Arnold Schwarzenegger came over to our table and sat down to talk with us.  He was running for president and talked at length about why we should support him.  When he was finished, I told him that I had some concerns about him.  I talked about the importance of the commitment to marriage, and how the breakdown of marriages and families in our country was something that needed to be addressed.  And that he couldn't be a good leader because he doesn't model that needed commitment. 

Then I woke up.  Because Ethan had had a bad dream and was calling for me.

Scheduled Busyness

How is it that now that it's summer, my calender is more full and crazy than ever?!  This is supposed to be time to relax!  I just looked at my calendar to see if it looks as crazy as I'm feeling.  There is ONE square in June that's empty: this coming Friday.  We spent the first weekend of June in Michigan for the wedding of Jonathan's cousin Jake.  This past weekend Dad Baker was in town.  This coming weekend we aren't going anywhere, or hosting any guests, but with baseball, a birthday party, a get-together with friends, Father's Day, and preparations for VBS, it's going to be a busy one.  VBS is getting me a little stressed out.  I don't think the stress is warranted, because although I will have a lot of work, I don't think it will take more than a few hours.  I'm in charge of registration.  The negative part is that since registration continues until VBS starts Monday morning (and will continue for the first couple days), most of the work, such as organizing the kids into groups and printing nametags (including group name) can't effectively be done until Sunday night.  The positive part is that I love all this organizational stuff, so I'm kind of looking forward to it. 

Ooh, I just realized that after tonight (Ethan's baseball game and small group get-together), we don't have other plans during the evening, all week!  That makes me happy.  Oh, except for Thursday.  Sigh. 

Scat

On Monday, after realizing that the water in our kiddie pool was like a hot tob, I decided to dump out most of the hot water and add fresh, cool water.  Not wanting to waste all that hot water, I thought I'd take it out by the bucketful and water some of the plants in my flower garden.  We'd been gone over the weekend, and I thought they could use some water anyway.  As I got closer to the garden, I began seeing some type of animal poop.  And it surprised me, because it was made up of large pellets.  I thought it looked like sheep droppings.  As I looked a little farther and discovered a very large PILE of said poop, suddenly I saw movement, and less than 5 feet away from me, out darted a tiny fawn!  Now I say tiny because I've never seen one so small, but it was probably the size of a medium-sized dog.  I gasped, "Oh!  Deer!" and ran away, losing my flipflop in the process.  The fawn ran, terrified I'm sure, through the lawn and behind our mini-barns.  I started getting worried, not because of the fawn, but because I figured its mother must be close by.  But upon further inspection of our yard, came up with nothing, and allowed the kids to play outside.  Though I did keep them on the deck for awhile. 

I've noticed that several of my hostas are half-eaten. 

Summer Lovin'

In the past couple of years we mostly stuck around home during the summer because I was either pregnant and tired, or Anelise was still needing multiple naps each day.  This year I have vowed to do more fun stuff with the kids.  I really liked my sister Julie's idea (which she implemented last year) of having an "activity jar" - a jar filled with slips of paper, each one showing an activity that Eva (my niece) could pick each day.  The activities were things like "go to such and such park" or "bake cookies" or "go to the library."  And while the idea is creative and fun, I haven't done it, mostly because I don't want to HAVE to do what gets pulled out if I don't feel like it.  (When I asked Julie about how she handled that last year, her response was, "Eva can't read.")  But even without an activity jar, we've stayed very busy.  In just over one full week of summer vacation, we have gone to the library (twice), gone to a splash park, played in the sprinkler and kiddie pool, gone to the zoo, and gone bowling. 

Today, we took the boys to the hugely anticipated Lego store at the mall.  It's new to the area, and on the first Tuesday of each month they give out a small lego set.  This month's set was a graduate.  We got there right when they opened, and then learned that the giveaway was only 5-7 pm.  But it had been advertised incorrectly, so they still gave the kids their sets AND let them each make a minifigure for free!  The boys both had birthday money from their great-Grandparents that they had saved.  So they each bought a Starwars lego set, and Caleb also bought a Hero Factory guy.  (It's okay if you have no idea what I'm talking about.)  We then stopped at Bath and Body Works for more hand soap, took a short detour to the play area where Anelise slid down the slide about a dozen times, and then headed out.  Our next stop was the library, where the boys both got signed up for the reading program, earned points for some books we were returning, and promptly cashed in many of their points for "flash pops" (both boys) and a paperback copy of Charlotte's Web (Ethan).  After the library, we went to Reynolds.  Reynolds is a farm implement dealership.  They also sell weed-whackers.  Which is what Jonathan is getting for Father's Day.  12 days early.  And yes, he knows he's getting it.  It's really not so much a Father's Day gift as it is a needed item, plus Jonathan didn't want anything for Father's Day anyway.  But now if anyone asks, I can say he's getting a weed-whacker and avoid the guilt about not getting him anything. 

Now we're home for the day.  Anelise is napping, and the boys are putting together "Plo Koon's Jedi Starfighter."