Originally, we had thought we'd go visit Rena this weekend and hang out in College Station during a home game which is always fun. As it got closer we realized we should probably stay home to get ready for our first pack meeting that Monday and then it looked like Rena wouldn't be there so we decided to nix the trip for a low-key weekend. Then John's friend Noel's mom passed away Thursday and the funeral was Saturday, so we were glad we decided not to go. She had fought cancer for the last few years and was to the point where they could do no more to help her. It was a long ordeal for her and the family. She will be missed, but she's no longer hurting so we are thankful for that. We went to the visitation and hung out with the family Friday night and then to the burial Saturday afternoon and hung out with the family again that evening. Keep them in your prayers.
Sunday was another busy day - we went to Blake's birthday for lunch after church & Sunday school and then to the appreciation dinner for those who helped at the Doss fish fry - long day! I was glad to not have to drive to Austin on Monday. I have to go Wed for training instead (on my birthday - boo!).
Our first pack meeting went OK. Some of the boys said it was a lot of fun, so I guess that's a good sign. The worst part was at the end when everyone was trying to get info and books and new people were signing up and we were trying to get shirt sizes - mass chaos! We survived mostly in one piece, but I was beat afterwards!
Saturday morning, we were surprised to see Colten choosing not to play the Wii and instead chose to hang out with the piggies and catch minnows in the tank outside - all on his own. I was impressed. That doesn't happen too often! We did get our third pig - it came all the way from Illinois or Iowa (can't remember which) so we decided to call it Yankee. It was having a hard time in the heat yesterday, but hopefully it'll get cooler again so it won't overheat or something.
Here's Colten catching minnows:
Friday night, Ashlyn spent the night with a friend and they went and "got their toes did" :) She now has sail boats on her big toes. We felt sorry for the guy who had to do it b/c she has some really smelly feet sometimes!! And now she has done something I never have - my toes have only ever been painted by me!
I finally got around to taking pictures of the kids' stock show piggies that we got Monday. So far we have two barrows that we will be showing in Mason and Kerrville this year. We are supposed to be getting another one for Ashlyn to show, but I'm not sure when. We also have two extras that are waiting for their owners to have somewhere to put them. One of ours is really small, but apparently we're not supposed to underestimate him. Their names are Spaz and Spunky this year - we ran out of pork related names finally!
This past weekend was a busy one. John & I attended Cub Scout Leader training in Llano Saturday morning and the kids hung out with Omie & Opie A. We learned a lot - maybe too much - this job is a little overwhelming. But things are little more laid back in Mason than other places, so hopefully we can handle it. We managed to get enough den leaders together and are having our first meeting Monday finally. Wish us luck with this - we are totally winging it!!! They taught us to use "the thin edge of the wedge" to get people to help with small tasks... we decided that somehow we got the whole wedge at once! Yes.. SUCKERS!!!
Saturday evening, there was yet another birthday gathering for Jayde (the last one) that we all went to. We played horseshoes and washers and I now have a win in horseshoes to hold over Tim for awhile :) We also played a game of Apples to Apples where we finally got Colten to join in and he loved it! He was even the closest to winning for awhile, but I snuck up from behind and won in the end. Lots of fun!
John is having his headaches again. He got one on the way to Jayde's birthday party, but thankfully it went away. I think he's gotten one every day since... poor guy! Hope they don't go on much longer - these things totally drain him.
Colten Quote of the Day: (holding one of the kittens the other day when it was a little chilly) "Here Mommy, you wanna hold the kitten - it warms your body and it warms your heart." AWWWWWW!
Wow, what a change in the weather. We get over 8 inches of rain in a week and now we have highs in the 80s! Maybe the end of 100 degree days is here... for this summer anyway! It's nice to see green grass again :)
This past weekend, Ashlyn was invited to her friend Jayde's birthday party and Connie asked me to come along too. The plan was to go to Fiesta Texas, but with the threat of rain and flooding, the plan changed and we ended up at Main Event in Austin. We had a lot of fun playing laser tag (where the team Connie & I were on beat the team the girls were on, yea!) and arcade games and the girls did some rock climbing, too. We never got around to bowling or glow in the dark golf - there's a lot to do there... might have to go check it out again sometime!
Here's a pic of Ashlyn and Jayde on the intermediate rock climbing wall. They didn't make it to the top much on this wall - after about 15 minutes of climbing, their arms were useless. Glad we only got 30 minutes of climbing for them!
While we were gone, Colten and John were going to go dove hunting with friends, but the rain kept them from doing that, too. So they just hung around the house and watched it rain. Sunday we had a nice visit from Mom & Dad - they stopped by on their way home from Colorado (see Mom's blog here for more on their trip). We decided they needed to go on vacation more often if it would rain like this every time they did!
We had a busy week before and Labor Day weekend. Since John is in the Doss VFD now, he was helping with the fish fry prep most days and we had to go to the Cub Scout Rally and the Cub Scout Roundtable meeting since we are now Cubmasters (there we found that we have a lot to do with selling popcorn, but really not sure what else we're in charge of - should be interesting). It was a pretty crazy week. Then, Saturday, Ashlyn went with her friend Jayde to sell drinks at the Apple Fest in Mason for Kids Against Cancer, John left early for the fish fry and I took Colten to his friend's house after lunch so I could go to the fish fry to help sell t-shirts and caps. Another crazy day! I was glad the kids had other people to hang out with b/c John & I were both so busy we didn't even get a chance to go through the line to eat! Luckily, we were able to snack on fish. It was amazing how many people come to the fish fry - I had never been there for the whole thing before, but people started showing about a little after 3 and they didn't start serving until 4:30! The line was pretty much always long and meandering through the parking area until 7:30 or 8. Thankfully it wasn't very hot that day :) We were all exhausted by the time we got home - then I had to go back and get John b/c old yeller wouldn't start for him. He ended up having to pick it up on a trailer to get it home. He's pretty bummed about that. Hopefully he can get it running again soon...
Sunday, we did pretty much nothing all day since we were all so tired from the day before and John wasn't feeling well - we were starting to worry he was getting pneumonia again, but he seems to be getting better now.
Monday, besides John getting the truck, we didn't do much either. We did have a couple of friends over that afternoon and were going to maybe do some target shooting, but I think John wasn't exactly up for it. We did have some yummy grilled fish (leftovers from the fish fry) and had a nice relaxing day.
No pictures to share this time... shocking, I know!
