Back to School

Time to get the kids back to School. What do you do with 5'7" twelve year old, with great fashion sense? Take her to Fashion Bug of course! She loved the graet looks, even though I spent twice the money as I do on the boys, and got half as much. An almost 13 year old with big bones has to fit in. Of course, do they sell size 12 shoes? Oh no, of course not. Nice of them to think of the larger fashion girl, but they don't think about the feet. Where do you find size 11.5 wide for a girl? We ended up with the plain ugly black shoes for her performances in 11W from Walmart. Her palazzos are so long and wide at the feet, no one will really see them anyway. I also found a pair of size 12 bobos in plain white canvas and got her a set of washable markers with which she can draw on them over and over again. But anything attractive? Sure they offer these things on line, but you can't try them on. And in the past, anything from a 9 WW to a size 12 has fit, and when we finally found sneaks, a men's 9 1/2 is what we had to settle for. I couldn't tell her they were men's shoes of course, she would freak out and not wear them. But she says they are the most comfortable sneakers she has ever had. They are a pretty lime green, one of the schools colors, and hopefully she'll not find out. The idea of showers with the other girls has got her freaked out. Me too, of course. Maybe they've stopped that heinous practice of making all the kids get naked and shower together. Can it cost all that much to invest in a few shower curtains for privacy's sake?

The thrills of selling your home!

So we are in the process of trying to fix our house up to get ready to sell. There's nothing too bad, but you know everything needs a new coat of paint, the backyard is atrocious, and the boiler is on it's last leg. We also damaged the linoleum when we put the furniture on it to put laminate floors on the rest of the house, so we will have to replace the linoleum. It needed replacing anyway, the wear is starting to show. It's amazing what you are willing to live with when it's your house, but isn't good enough for prospective buyers, especially in this market, I'm afraid we will be very lucky to get out of it what we owe. But we need more room, and a house in dd's school district, so this we must do. We had a contractor out for the boiler today. He said it probably wouldn't have lasted the winter, so staying or going we needed one anyway. $5016, 20% down, and no interest for a year. It'll be a good selling point to add to the ad. "new windows & AC 2007, new boiler, kitchen floor '08, fresh paint an landscaping" Did I mention the back yard? We put in a great patio last year, as well as a tree house and Hammock swings. Of course, under the hammock swings, is just dirt now. I am having another contractor on Friday to come and give me an estimate on what it would take to get the yard up to par. If I can get away with 2 grand to tear out and sod the backyard, I'll do it. Otherwise, well, I'll just see what they advise. I can't wait to get into a new house and get on with our lives! Of course, every time I find a house I really like, it gets sold right away. Wahh! I have to pray the perfect house will come available right when I find a buyer for mine!

Crazy Camp!

Man, was cub scout camp crazy! It was so much fun, a new activity every hour from Sunup to Sundown. I'm exhausted! The Boy Scouts working as guides were fantastic. My man Taylor handled Noah's initial determination not to join in way better than I was. He was great. We are still singing those "repeat after me" songs. In the pool twice a day. BB gun target practice, Arts & Crafts, speed boating, row boats and kayaks, fishing, it was all great. My little wolf boy fell asleep 3 times the first day, all that fresh air and hiking. What a great experience. One really scary moment, it was dark, we had a campfire going out in the fire ring, and my little wolfie was making his way around the camp and tripped over a log and went down on his arm and screamed bloody murder. My first thought was that he had fallen face first into the embers, I jumped up from the picnic table to rush to him, but Scoutmaster Tom had been much, much quicker.I had no idea he could move that fast! Picked him up and laid him on the picnic table, and we all stood there shining our flashlights on him trying to figure out what was wrong. checked his knees, his face, everything looked ok, but he was still crying. Finally he got out where it was he hurt, and it seems he sprained his wrist a little. He calmed down, and we went to bed. In no time at all he was talkative again, with a few ouches sprinkled in. In the morning, he still hurt a bit, so after breakfast I walked him over to the first aid center, where they gave him a bag of ice and winked over to me that he was fine, really. But he had had enough. He wanted to go home, so we packed up and came home early. He's been telling his war story ever since, to everyone he sees, how he "broke" his arm at camp. He's happy and feeling good now, but he's still milking it a little, and we've given him an arm brace, that he puts on and takes off as he wants, running in the house to get it to show his friends his broken arm, then pulling it back off to continue playing in the sand. Of course he had to take it to Grandma's with him. He's such a cutie!