A week in Review

A little recap of my week. I have been a little busier than usual. My niece and nephew are staying with us for one month. No reason...just for fun. Now...just to clarify...my niece is 9 and my nephew is 19. He will be working with a landscape company for the month while he's here. He's too old for a free ride...and his Momma said he needs to get a job during the summer! (He is a college student) Well, I very much agree! The kids are having so much fun together! (the 19 year old is having fun too!) They've been playing in the creek, looking for little critters to put in their clear plastic bug boxes, playing Bakugan, Chess, running after the chickens, driving remote control cars up and down the driveway, hiking,lighting up the night sky with colorful sparklers....stuff like that!

My house is taking somewhat of a toll with the extra people living here. Lots of extra laundry...the kids are in and out of the creek and want to change clothes all the time. I am trying to curtail this by telling them to wear their swim suits every time they go in, but oh no...that would be too easy! The dirty dishes seem to be endless...


but that is to be expected as every meal is cooked at home. There seems to be 100 pairs of shoes around this house, coming out of every which direction. There are tennis shoes, (otherwise known as sneakers, but I have always called them tennis shoes even though we don't actually play tennis)...and there are lots of flip flops and Crocs. Oh, and my son's hiking boots that he wears to Boy Scouts...I just found those in the mix too. I have been trying to keep the flip flops and Crocs at the back door on a mat...


and the tennis shoes at the front door on a mat.



SOOO...THIS IS WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE IF I HAD FOUR KIDS! Oh my gosh...to those of you with four or more children...my hats off to you...bless you...you are one busy Mom!!

I'm not really complaining about all the extra mess because I am glad that the kids will have these memories when they grow up..."Remember the time....when our cousins were at our house for a whole month in the summer.....and we did this....and we did that....and then you scraped your knee....and then I got stung by a bee....and then the time we went to the pool...." and so on and so on. I have such fond memories of playing with my cousins as a child. They were over every Sunday and we have SO many stories. Stories that are brought up time and again by my sister and I or if we are lucky enough to see our cousins as everyone is scattered across the United States. Now we are on Facebook and the stories are coming out again, and some old photos have been posted as well. Good times! Good memories!

Well, it's almost lunch time, so I need to go rassle up some food and make some more Kool-Aid. After I conquer the tiny mountain of dishes in my sink, we are going to the public library today. Believe it or not, my niece and nephew have NEVER been to a public library!! How is that possible!?! They say they have been to the library at school, of course, but never the public library. Well, I am about to introduce them to this wonderful world of FREE BOOKS, FREE CD'S, FREE MOVIES!! Well, you know what I mean by free, of course you have to bring these wonderful free books BACK! Anyhow, I really hope they will continue to go to the public library when they get back home. To me, it's just about the most wonderful place you can go!