Yes...it's true!!! Post #2!!

We had what seemed like an eventful week . . . at least I felt busy! Austin finished track for the year and is going in for a physical so that he can do spring training for soccer at the high school. He's not too sad to have the running come to an end . . . but he is AWFULLY proud of the tan he now has (I keep reminding him that it doesn't look so beautiful when the shirt comes off!! HAHA)

Our butterflies hatched and we took them outside and set them free. We decided that it was for their own safety with Chloe around. Austin, Joslyn, Drew and I each got to hold one. Ellie didn't want to and we figured Chloe would mangle one if she got the chance. We will definitely be doing this on an annual basis! Especially when the catepillars get in "packages!"

My birthday was tuesday and I went to lunch with some friends and then we all ran my errands together and then I came home to clean the house and the big kids all went to the church for Activity Days and Scouts. My present came the next day . . . a wheat grinder!! It's been too hot to test out so I'm excited for some cooler weather to have some fun with it.

Ellie had her birthday on Saturday. She was so excited!! She has been asking for a "rainbow thing" forever and hoped that she would get it on her birthday. That night I asked her if she had a good birthday and she gave me a big hug and said, "thank you SOO much for all of my presents mom!" The next day we went to work and my "boss" Shelly asked her if she was 4 now and she said, "well I was on my birthday . . . but I don't know how old I am now." haha!

We have TCM free this month on our Dish and I am exposing the kids to my favorite old movies. In fact at this very moment we are watcing "Rear Window" . . . can you ASK for anything more?! True to form Drew is enjoying them. Actually we have ALL been enjoying them.

Scott finished up his last term of his first year teaching and it didn't come a day too soon! I think he's really looking forward to having a break teaching.

Ellie has been talking/questioning getting married and having babies lately and decided that she was going to marry Austin because he's the nicest boy. This was a few weeks ago. Now a couple of days ago there was a conversation that went like this:

Ellie: When is Drew going to have a baby?

Mom: Not for a looooong time! Not until after she's married.

Ellie to Drew: Drew you better find someone GOOD to marry because I'M going to marry Austin.

Austin hadn't heard that she had decided to marry him so he thought it was pretty funny.

Well here's to you and yours!

Love: Scott Julie, Austin, Joslyn, Drew, Ellie & Chloe

The First Edition

I think we are ready to enter the world of the bloggers. Maybe this will help keep me more up to date than my e-mail version has been!

Happy Mother's Day to all of you mother's out there! I think I overslept about an hour and a half this morning...or at least stayed in bed WAITING for my surprise! Joslyn and Drew cooked me their first omelet this morning (although it was taking a while and so they brought me an appetizer of toast), then they brought in a boiled egg as a second course. They all had fun presents for me and then we scrambled to get ready to get to church on time. In primary the kids filled out questionnaires about their moms and apparently I like to clean (WHATEVER!!!!!!!), and I am sad when the kids don't clean (hmmm could be some truth in that one).

Yesterday we worked on our back yard. We are moving our garden and putting up a little retainer wall around it. In the process of going in and out of the back yard we leashed up Sadie (the dog) and were in the front yard when her "best friend" Scooby Doo (a great dane) who lives next door came in the front yard as well and came galloping over to our yard and attacked Sadie. She was scalped on a little spot, but looked good otherwise and today we're hoping that she's just sore and doesn't have worse internal injuries. Poor puppy! We've never had so many birds in our yard before...they aren't afraid of the dog anymore!


Joslyn had her first tap recital yesterday at a Cinco de Mayo celebration here in town. She really loves dance right now. Drew used to do it, but decided it wasn't as much fun as she thought it would be. Ellie is going to start going this week...she turns 4 on Saturday and that is how old they need to be for classes. She's been wearing her tap shoes all the time and wondering if she can wear them out shopping and everything.

We got a butterfly habitat for Christmas and just sent away for our catepillars. They finally came and grew so fast it was amazing! They are almost all out of their chrysalides now. This is Ellie's first experience with the whole catepillar/butterfly world. After we had them for about a week she went and looked at them and exclaimed, "they are all in packages!!!" Funny story two: Ellie keeps wanting to have curly hair like me, finally one day she said, "Mom, you need to get your haircut. And tell her you want it flat like me." (Don't I WISH I could?!!)

Lately Ellie has been in the "let's play house" stage...I'm usually the maid who has to fold all of the clothes and do all of the cleaning (I don't think anyone would pay me to be their maid because it is never finished!) Chloe is in the "let's get into everything and climb onto everything" stage. As soon as you leave your chair she is on a baby-run to get there before you realize what you've done. We often hear the "beep" of the computer as she climbs up and pretends to be all grown-up typing on the computer. Chloe is so frightened of people that if you are in public and put her down she stands there frozen like a shadow. And if you are across the room and there are people between us she won't come to me because she has to walk by THEM!

Austin joined track this year at school and has enjoyed it a bit. He starts high school next year and I wanted him to try it out before he went to a more competitive market. He's also starting work on a bicycling merit badge in boy scouts and is riding his bike a lot...I think he'll be riding it to school for the rest of the year.

Scott has been very busy with the end of school. He'll be glad when finals are over and the final grades are all turned in! Then of course he'll go immediately on a trip. I'm anxious to see what our first academic summer is like! Will he REALLY be around more?!

I have been swamped with sick kids since January...it has been a very bad winter here for everyone! Drew topped out our family with a fever of 106, with Chloe coming in a close second at 105.2. I won't even go into it...but we've had it ALL!

Here's to another eventful week!
Love, Scott, Julie, Austin, Joslyn, Drew, Ellie & Chloe