Important Note

If you notice on the list I posted a couple of days ago, there is no NASCAR driver listed for Rachel. That is because she has decided that she is not going to continue cheering for Dale Jr. when he switches next season. She has not at this time decided which driver is going to be "hers" but she is up in the air for now. So no more #8's and no #88's in this house at this time.

Catch up

Ok. Here's a post to try to get everyone caught up on our family.
I think most of you have probably heard that Rachel ended up with a hospital stay around mid-Nov. She had had abdominal pain for 4 days and we had made an ER visit the first day because it hurt so bad she couldn't sleep. So after 4 days, we went to our regular doctors office who ordered a second ultrasound. That came back normal and they just wanted us to go home and call back the next day but we pushed and said we wanted more done. So she was admitted through the ER to have a CT scan done and more blood work. It was rather funny when she was talking to our doctor that the doctor asked if there was anything that helped make it feel better and Rachel's response was "morphine". The doctor meant a certain position but all Rachel could think of was the morphine they had given her in the ER. After 2 days and numerous tests, the best educated guess was a virus. Basically, they said that instead of getting a cold that affects your sinuses or the flu that makes your joints all achy this virus went to her organs (kidneys, bladder, etc.). She is fine now and back at school trying to make up all the work she missed.
We were able to make a short trip up to Lake Ann. Mark had a "Camp Captain's Retreat" while the kids had time off from school so we all went and made it a work weekend. The kids and I pulled nails out of boards that were being taken out of a house they were tearing down while Mark was in his retreat. It was rather tiresome work but we got a lot done. What was rather interesting was that the maintenance supervisor told us as we were leaving that we had saved the camp between $3-$4 for each board that we had cleared.
We spent Thanksgiving at Mark's family in Detroit. We went over on Wednesday after Mark got out of work and then came home Friday afternoon. It was nice. We hadn't seen some of them in a couple of years. Mark & our kids did a lot of the cooking which is what they wanted to do. Rachel would have been most disappointed if she hadn't gotten to help bake the apple pies.
Before we came home on Friday, Mark & I & his sister spent the morning shopping. We were out of the house about 4:30 a.m. We knew we were crazy but it was fun too! What was really interesting was the number of times that we ended up with the last one of the items we were looking for. I think it happened at least 4 times that we managed to get the last one off the shelf! There was only 1 item that we wanted that was actually sold out before we got there. Not a bad average.
We came home Friday afternoon because we had free tickets to a GR Griffens hockey game that evening. The Griffens have a program that by reading the kids can get free tickets for certain games. Because there are only certain games you can get the tickets for, this was about the only date left that would work for us. 2 of the dates in Dec. are for Wednesday evenings. Even if we weren't already busy at church on Wednesdays, I wouldn't let my kids go to a hockey game on a school night. That would be way to late for them.
We spent much of the rest of the weekend cleaning up and Rachel working on homework. It would be hard to get out any Christmas decorations with all the mess in this house.
Also during all this, a friend of ours from church brought over his radon tester. He does home inspections for a living and so he thought we should have this checked (especially with all the illness in this family). Turns out that the EPA recommends taking action if your radon level is at a 4 and ours was at a 5.8. So we have got to have some work done around here. We are going to have to clean out the basement and then paint it with some type of special paint. We will retest after that and see if more is needed to be done. The EPA says that the only proven harm of radon gas is that it significantly increases the risk of lung cancer. There is no proof that it causes any other illnesses but I definitely don't like what has been going on in my family's health lately.
The latest being that Joshua has been complaining of headaches regularly. Then over the holiday, he started complaining that his neck hurt. I checked it out and there is was a spot that was tender to the touch. It then formed a lump right behind his ear, most of the length of his neck. By Sunday evening, there was the start of a lump at the same location on the other side of his neck.
I took him to the doctor then yesterday. She believes that his lymph nodes are enlarged due to a virus. She doesn't think that the headaches are necessarily related to the lumps. She ordered some blood work and said that it was possible that he still may come down with a cold or something in the next day or so. Well, by yesterday afternoon, he was not acting himself. He just spent the day on the couch and didn't look like he felt very good.
Today he is still home complaining that his stomach doesn't feel good but he looks quite a bit better. I hope that he can go back to school by tomorrow. He is only slightly sniffly and doesn't have a fever so maybe. The lumps are still there but the doctor said that they could last a while. She actually wants to see him back in 2 weeks and said if they aren't gone completely in a month she is sending us to an ENT.
We still only have 1 vehicle but friends of ours have loaned us their van because 1 of them has been laid up due to surgery. He goes back to work on Dec. 11 and we'll have to give it back before then but it has been a great help. We have seen some different vehicles for sale but haven't tried for anything because of trying to get out from under some debts and not sure about making payments right now. Christmas and birthdays don't help with these things at all for sure.
I know this is long but that about does it I believe. Back to work caring for Joshua, cleaning, and doing laundry.

Lists

I know that I owe you all a real post on what's happening here but let me do this first. I emailed this list to Mark's family and thought I would post it here for anyone else interested.


Here's what the kids are really into & you could get most anything that has to do with them and they would be pleased:

Rachel:
Hannah Montana
High School Musical
Jonas Brothers
Ernie Haase & Signature Sound (This is a gospel group that travels with the Gaithers.)
She wears an Adult Medium or Large depending on the cut

Stephen:
Home Depot - Tony Stewart
Pittsburgh Steelers
Football Cards (but not baseball)
Cars (the movie)
He has also recently been reading Hardy Boys and lots of Calvin & Hobbs
Wears a size 12-14 (Pants should be slims if possible.)

Joshua:
Go Diego Go!
Jeff Gordon
Webkinz - He would especially like a Chihuahua but would be happy with any.
Cars (the movie)
Anything doing with cars & trucks
Wears a size 6-8

All the kids also really like the show from Disney channel called "The Suite Life of Zach and Cody." They also all have Build-A-Bears that they like to get new clothes or accessories for.

Here's some DVD's that the kids would like that we don't have:
Ratatouille
Night at the Museum
Santa Clause 3
Meet the Robinsons
Firehouse Dog
Herbie Fully Loaded
Jump In

The kids also really like it when we can go to activities together as a family so tickets to see the Grand Rapids Griffins, West Michigan Whitecaps, or races at Berlin Raceway would be a big hit too.
I just like to give lots of choices for you to pick from. Email me directly if you have any specific questions. Rachel reads my posts regularly so more info is not secret here.

CT Scan

Stephen must have been jealous that Joshua had a procedure that he hadn't had because now he has had a CT Scan. (Not really...but the timing is really something.)
What happened is that Stephen was running around the AWANA circle last night when he lost balance and ended up hitting the wall with his head. There was an instant goose egg. I ran to get him some ice while Mark sat with him. One of the other leaders told me that her husband was helping with the Cubbies and he is an ambulance worker. So then I ran the 2 flights up to get him and back down. (Where fortunate I didn't need help by then.) He checked Stephen out and said he should be all right.
We had Stephen sit in with Mark for the rest of the evening but by the end he was starting to feel nauseous. Our friend checked him over again and recommended we take him in to have it checked out. So we ran Rachel & Joshua home and took a trip to the ER. Hadn't been there since June so it was about that time!
At first they thought they wouldn't do any extra tests but as Stephen complained of nausea everytime he moved much, they decided to do a CT Scan. The scan only took a couple of minutes but we asked the tech how long before the results and she told us an hour. Not what I wanted to hear when it was after 10p.m. by the time they took the CT. But it was really only 10-15 minutes before they came in and said that the scan was all clear. They officially called it a concussion and sent us home.
This morning, Stephen is doing rather well. I can't believe how much the swelling has gone down already. He also was really late going to bed but was still the first one awake. He wasn't moving very fast this morning but that is his usual speed in the morning.
It might have had something to do with today being Grandparent/VIP day at school. Since grandparents weren't available, Stephen invited one of our pastors who was very happy to be asked. Joshua has his Sparks leaders coming to see his classroom today.
So that was our excitement for last night. We have now had 2 hospital visits in 2 days. That should be our fill for a while again, I hope!

MRI

Well, everyone is home safe & sound and getting back into the routine of everyday life. The entire trip was wonderful! I hope to post some pictures when I can. Mark also had a great time in Austin and learned a lot for his new job!
Some of you know but not everyone so I thought it time to fill you all in. Joshua has been having trouble with controlling bowel movements. For quite a while we just brushed it aside as immaturity but this summer it became apparent that it was something more. We went to the pediatrician who did xrays and sent us to a pediatric gastro specialist. Fortunately, we were able to be on a cancellation list or else we would still be waiting for our initial appointment with them. We are told that he truly has lost sensation in his pelvic area but the question is why.
Yesterday, we took him in for an MRI to try to find out some answers.
Well, no answers yet but I have to tell you that Joshua did awesome! He was able to hold still enough that they didn't need to sedate him. Instead he was able to watch a movie while in the MRI machine. We were planning for them to sedate him but after the nurse talked to him a bit and mentioned possibly watching a video he wanted to try it without going to sleep. They gave it a try and it worked just fine. We could hardly believe it! Joshua isn't usually very still but he did for the test!
We are told that it will probably take a week before we hear from the doctor. Hopefully though this will give us some answers. I'll keep you all informed as we find out more.

Travelling

I just have a minute for an update here. I have been travelling with Mom and a group of "seniors" from our church since Sunday morning. Mom wanted to go on this trip and having me as a travelling companion wasn't going to be much more expensive then travelling alone so she invited me to join her and boy am I glad she did!
Sunday we travelled to Niagara Falls through Canada and stayed on the Canadian side. We saw the Falls twice. We just had to go back and see them after dark when they light them up. Monday we travelled to PA. We thought we were going to see the Flight 93 Memorial but there were no signs on the highway to get to it. We were told later there isn't much of a memorial yet so we didn't miss much. It was then on to Lancaster. Wednesday we went to Gettysburg in the morning and then to the Sights & Sound Presentation at the Millenium Theatre. We saw their presentation of "In the Beginning". It was really spectacular! They had angels wearing "Heelies" so that they could glide down the aisles and across the stage. They also use real animals and robotic ones. It is really had to describe the awesomeness of this production!
Today we head back to Niagara Falls and view them from the American side. We will spend the night back on the Canadian side then head back to GR tomorrow.
To add to the normal confussion before a trip, Mark has spent this week in Austin, TX. He had to have 4 days of training there for his new job. Friends of ours from church have had the 3 kids this week. It sounds like things are going well there. I even got an email from Stephen's teacher saying he is doing fine this week. Only 2 more days to go so hopefully it will keep going.
The weather & scenery has been nicer than we dared hope for. We even started on this "Creation Extravaganza" with a deer running in front of our bus less than a 1/2 mile from the church. We didn't get near hitting it but it was really something to see running along the road.
Well, the bus is starting to load and we don't want to be the last ones. (That has only been once.) I'll get this posted so we can get on there.

Last Day!

Today is Mark's last day to work at Camp & Cruise! He starts at URS on Monday! The last 2 weeks at C&C have been rather interesting. His boss has been pressuring him to stay, at least longer than the 2 weeks notice he had given. She even made him a rather substanial counter-offer but it wasn't worth continuing to work there. We really felt that Mark couldn't turn down the chance at URS.
It is amazing how quickly Mark came back to being himself as soon as he saw an end in sight to working at C&C. It is good to hear him laugh again and have him back to clowning around with the kids again. He is still taking the antidepressant but is sleeping just fine without any meds.
It has added some complications around here though. Mark will have to dress much nicer then the jeans & tshirts he wore at C&C. We went shopping and had to get him some more dress slacks. Of course, this also adds to my schedule as I get to hem them to the right length for him. I'll also have to do more ironing again. (I think I remember how.)
The kids are all doing well in school. Rachel has even qualified for the Midwest Academic Talent Search. They achieve this by getting a score of 95% or higher on a standardized computer test in the areas of reading, language usage, science, or math. She qualified last year but we didn't do anything about it. We're going to look more into it this year and see what all our options are. She probably qualified in the math area as she is actually doing 8th grade math this year while in the 7th grade. The Talent Search is only for middle schoolers or else we would probably have 2 qualified. Through testing they have determined Stephen is able to read as high as a 10th grade level! Not too shabby for a 5th grader! Joshua is loving school! His teacher says that he is doing very well and is really easy-going and happy all the time.
I am doing lunch duties on Mondays. I am also headed to Klackles Orchard with Joshua on Tuesday. Then they were short moms to help with the popcorn fundraiser for the 5th grade trip to Greenfield Village and Henry Ford Museum so I'm probably going to help with that 1 Friday per month.
The schedule is rather crazy to keep up with especially with 1 car and we did make a mistake this week. I let Mark take the car on Thurs. because he had a 4:15 appt. I thought I told him to get the kids from school and then pick me up when he dropped them off. Somehow we goofed and he didn't leave C&C until 4 and the kids were still at school. I ended up taking him to his appt. then going to get the kids (over 1 hr late), dropped the kids at home then went back to pick him up!
I'm rather hoping that it won't take him long and maybe he can find someone at the new office to carpool with. Even if we have to give them some money every week it would be easier than all the driving. Keep praying that God will provide another vehicle soon.
Well, I have to get moving around here. Somehow, I haven't been able to blog while the kids are at school. Maybe I can soon.

HE GOT IT!!!!!!!!

Mark had his second interview this morning at URS Corp. They offered him the job on the spot and he accepted it! We had already talked through all the pros and cons most of the weekend so he didn't need to think more about it, he took it. The pay isn't a lot more then currently but the benefits are better and so is the chance for advancement. We are really thrilled!
By the way, Nate, is EG&G who you work for? That is a part of URS Corp and they have military work at Hill AFB.
Mark is also rather nervous about the next 2 weeks at Camp & Cruise though. He doesn't expect his boss to take the news very gently. We did up his letter of resignation before he went in this morning. He plans to start at URS on October 1 so he had to give notice today. Mark has seen his current boss try to hold people's last pay check and other things just to try to be bothersome when someone is leaving so we are expecting some struggles. The good thing is that we know that his time there is coming to a close. I think he will miss the people that he works with but not the frustrations that he has there.
Well, busy day ahead as I have lunch duty on Mondays and I have been doing shopping on Monday plus I have catalogs to get out. I just had to share our good news though!

Interviews

Good news! Mark had an interview on Friday with a huge company called URS Corp. They then contacted him later in the day for another interview on Monday morning. It is for a position called a project accountant. It wouldn't be a giant jump in pay but it would be some also the benefits are better then where he is now. It would also be a place where he might possibly be able to move up in the future. It would also be straight 8-5, no evenings or weekends.
He is told that it is a rather high pressure position but we feel that it would be a "better" type of pressure then where he is now. Some of his problems where he is now is that one boss basically has made him a "whipping boy". It doesn't matter whose mistake/problem it is, Mark is to blame.
This company is so big, that the employment application asked if we were willing to move internationally. Then it went on to list 8-12 different companies where they have offices. There are at least 6-8 different offices right here in the state of MI.
Things are basically improving here. We are sort of settling into a routine now that we have 2 weeks of school under our belt. Mark's deppression seems to be improving. Either the antidepressant is working or by using the sleeping med to get better sleep, he is better controlling the depression. His counsellor was even a great confidence booster for him prior to his interview. He has a lot of experience with human resources in companies and offered some great tips.
Last night we went out to the Berlin Raceway and got to see some more school bus races. Stephen & Joshua had free tickets for completing the library reading program this summer and then we were able to get 1/2 price tickets for the rest of us through their school. We absolutely FROZE but it was fun!
We are in that tough time of year where it is in the 80's one day and then in the 60's the next. It is hard to know what to where from one day to the next. Yesterday's high was 61 but that was at 7 a.m. and it dropped after that and the wind was bitter. I have to get more warm clothes out for the kids this weekend.
Rachel went rafting with the 7th graders on Thursday. It was quite an experience. Maybe I'll try to get her to write about it. Some parents were an example of a practical joke gone too far and crossing the line.
Well, I have to keep moving around here. Kids don't like doing chores when they think I'm just playing around on the computer. I'll let you know about the job as soon as we know more.

School's IN!!!!!!!!

Well, the children are all off to their first day of a new school year! This will be the first year that they are ALL in school ALL day! Now I just have to figure out where to start at. Note that I didn't say "What to do with myself". I have plenty to do. It is just what order to do it all in. I'm also trying to arrange my priorities so that on days I don't have to pick up kids, I don't need the car. That will save on gas as well as time. Getting this family around with 1 vehicle is a real trick sometimes.
Rachel has her first "real" babysitting job starting tonight. It will be every other Tuesday evening for a little 6 yr. old girl and 3 yr. old boy. They are niece & nephew of some good friends of ours. It is only a few blocks from home and the kids will actually be in bed almost half of the time she is there. She is really excited about it.
I made her start "weening" herself off the crutches starting on Sunday. Her ankle is much better but did start bothering her when we did some last minute school shopping yesterday afternoon. She was able to start school without them today, except she did wrap her ankle for a little support. I think she rather likes the extra attention she gets with it.
Well, today is only a half day so I better get busy and not waste this time. But I also had to take a minute and enjoy the peace and quiet.

We're here, honest

I know it has been forever since I have blogged any. Rest assured we are all home and doing ok. It has been a rather rough summer though and sometimes Mom says I focus too much on the negative when I blog. I guess I was looking for positive to write about.
Stephen & Rachel both spent a week at Gramma's in Alpena. Whether they show it much or not, they really enjoy it. Rachel experienced the Brown Trout Festival this year and she had quite a bike adventure with Aunt Bette. Stephen was there for the car show again as well as getting to watch Watkins Glen at Aunt Marlene's.
Rachel then had another good time with Gramma going on vacation with her to Ohio. They stayed at Pete & Deb's for a couple of days then went over to see Mark & Barb. Tony & Angie were home as well & it was at Seth's court hearing so it was all quite exciting. Every now and then she still has new stories to tell of things they did down there.
Now it is back to school for them on Tuesday. Rachel will be in 7th grade, except she is taking 8th grade math, Stephen is in 5th grade, and Joshua starts 1st grade. We have met all their teachers and are pretty much all set. Joshua was a little disappointed before he met his teacher because it is the "new" teacher at school. But now that he has met her, he seems fine with it.
One of the big struggles this summer has been Mark's health. He had bronchitis just after the 4th of July. After that, he had a sinus infection. Throughout those times and continuing since then he hasn't been able to sleep. This makes life miserable. He also has a feeling in his throat as though something is stuck. We've made numerous trips to several doctors. The hardest thing has been not knowing if the lack of sleep has been causing different symptoms or if the symptoms were causing the lack of sleep.
Finally last week, he was listening to a radio program and called me and said this is describing exactly what he has been feeling. If you go to www.familylifetoday.org, you can listen to or get transcripts of the programs on Monday and Tuesday that talk to Pastor Tommy Nelson and his wife about his battle with depression, including an explanation of the biological causes of depression. This week Wednesday we got Mark to a counsellor and he confirmed that Mark is in moderate depression. It has been brought on by lots of different stress factors around here but I think not knowing what was happening to his body was adding on even more stress. His PCP had mentioned needing to deal with his stress and had even prescribed an anti-depressant but hadn't actually called it depression. Mark didn't like the way the anti-depressant was making him feel so he stopped after 2 weeks. Now that he understands all of it more, he is trying a different anti-depressant and is going to be working with the counsellor too. He is also using a sleep med that his starting to help. He was very fearful of using it to begin with for fear of addiction but now knows that it is needed to get him started back to getting better.
A lot of the stress here was probably caused by money problems. They aren't all gone and we still face some hurdles but we are making it through and God is providing in some amazing ways. Totally out of the blue, a family from our church said they wanted to buy the kids' school supplies this year. Not only did they buy them, the lady took each of the kids out individually to spend a day shopping together. She did her best to fulfill all their wishes for supplies including some extras that they hadn't even considered. Another family just handed Mark some cash after a morning service. We have had checks (refunds) show up just when needed and even some reward programs give us just a bit of encouragement when we needed a ray of hope. Mark was able to get a raise which is his first in 3 years. It wasn't much but every bit helps. He also had a man offer some accounting work that he needed done on the side. Once Mark gets the system up and running like the guy wants it, I'll be able to do most of the inputting to keep it going. It will bring in a little bit more each week.
One major hurdle we have yet is that we are down to one vehicle. The van didn't completely die but the best way to describe it is that it is in critical condition and we are being advised to "pull the plug" and that advise if from our friend who does the work on it for us. The latest thing that we believe to be wrong is the water pump and/or (lost it now). Anyway it is something right in the engine which isn't too bad on most vehicles but in a van like ours you almost have to pull the whole engine to get to it. Otherwise, you have try to work both inside and outside the van at the same time with very little top clearance. The van is out at Mark's work right now and we need to figure the best way to dispose of it. We will probably get $100 from a company that will tow it away for recycling.
So that is where we are and what we have been up to. Mark is working today so we didn't go anywhere for the holiday. I may take the kids to a park for a while this morning. Oh, forgot to mention that Rachel is currently on crutches with a sprained ankle. Hopefully, we will start getting her off of them today. She slipped off a curve last Friday playing kickball in the rain. I waited till the dr. was in on Mon and since it was still swollen took her in. After the xrays confirmed it just a sprain, she said to do RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, & Elevate) so it has been an interesting week.

Stephen @ Grandma's House

Stephen's trun to be @ Grandma's. He is having a lot of fun. Well that is what he said yesterday when they called. Not much is going on around here. On Tuesday I took Rachel and Joshua to the city pool. We stay for two whole hours. Rachel wanted to have Joshua try the big water slide at least once. So I took Joshua up to the top and he sat on my lap and we went do together. He thought that was awsome! So the next time he went up with Rachel and they asked the gaurd that the to tell the gaurd at the bottom to catch Joshua. He had so much fun that. He would not stop. All he did for the rest of the time was the water slide. He can't wait till next time that we get the time to go.
Well in two weeks, we get to go out to the school to meet the kids' new teachers for this year. Rachel got her science teacher from last year, Stephen got Rachel's 5th grade teacher who does half of the day and the other half of the day is a different teacher, and Joshua got a new teacher @ the school who just graduated last December. The resean that Stephen has two teachers is because they both have kids, but they still want to be teachers. So one teachs in the morning and gets time with her kids in the afternoon, it is just the oppiste with the other teachers. But by doing this they get paid, time with their kids, and save money on daycare.
Well have to go. I have to put in this order today!

Rachel's @ Gramma

I guess Gramma is keeping Rachel too busy to blog from Alpena. I thought maybe she would have time to tell tales of camp and Alpena from up there but she must be having too much fun! Although Rachel has been on the computer and you should no longer see the Campbell Soup boy wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving every time you get an email from Mom. Rachel is getting pretty good at technology and even learned to create powerpoint presentations last year at school. Now we just need a computer capable of keeping up with her abilities.
Well, I am staying busy with all the usual plus an Avon booth at the Berlin Fair. Van's overheating. We've been overheating too with the weather outside; although, this week isn't too bad. Gotta go.

Quiet 4th

We had a rather pleasant, & quiet 4th of July. We had to do Rachel's Advance Newspaper route and some shopping. We then did quite a bit of cleaning before we had a new family from church over. We spent a quiet (only intermittent neighborhood fireworks) evening getting to know this couple and their 4 kids. We had a simple picnic and lots of conversation. I feel a real easy friendship growing with this family. They are just 2 years moved down from the UP and he does accounting for Children's Bible Hour. They are a real blessing.
What I can't believe is how quickly camp week is flying by! I haven't gotten hardly anything done that I wanted to with only one child at home but I have had some offers for some babysitting of him today and tomorrow so I can get some work done. I just have to call and make arrangements.
We also plan to have the couple who "co-camp captain" with Mark on Friday evening. We do this each year to discuss the camp scholarship and other ideas for promoting camp. Then on Sunday, our church is having something called "F.I.S.H." (Fellowship in someone's home) in place of the normal Sunday evening service and we are hosting some other families here. I need to make contacts for that and plan out a menu. At least the house should stay fairly clean between the 3 different entertainment situations.
Saturday, Mark and I will be going to pick up the kids at camp and bring them all home. We have to be at camp at 9 a.m. so it means an early morning for us. Last year I didn't do pick up so this should be interesting. Now everyone should know the camp songs better then they did on the way up.
What Rachel failed to mention in her blogs is that we also have been to several park parties and she is also now a Red Cross certified babysitter. She spent a day taking the class with several of her friends and now even has a backpack full of supplies to take on babysitting jobs.
Well, I better get busy with phone calls.

Gone

Rachel & Stephen are off for the week to Lake Ann Camp. Mark & I took them and 25 other kids from church there yesterday. We will return to pick them up Saturday morning. If you would like to send them an email you can go to www.lakeanncamp.com. The emails are printed and given to them each day at lunch so Friday at 10 a.m. is the last chance to send them emails.
I have lots to do as we are still cleaning up from a yard sale last week and we have plans to have people over 3 times in the next week. Hopefully, though, I will have a chance for more blogging this week while I am down to just one child at home.

HOT!

It is sssooooooooooooooooooooooo hot here in MI!!!!!!! It has been 92 degrees outside!! HELP!!!

Well on Monday July 2, Stephen and I along with kids from church, will be going to Lake Ann Baptist Camp for a week. It is going to be alot of fun!!! Poor Joshua has to stay home:(!!!! Here is what he thinks he will do while we are gone.

The fisrt thing that I will do is probally go to the pool.
Joshua!!

The engilsh reading is "The first thing that I will do is probally go to the pool. Joshua!!" He is weird sometimes. Well maybe ALL the time.

TTYL (after camp)

Rachel

Summer

The things we have done so far this summer:

1. Went to the library
2. Got to see Grandma Joyce
3. Went to the park to do a LifeWalk
4. Had a birthday party for Stephen
5. Went to a WhiteCaps baseball game, which they lost 9 to 7
6. The only person who has gone swimming is me and only at youth group.

That is about it for this summer. I hope that we can have more fun this summer then what we have had. Will blog later.

Rachel

Upset

Our NASCAR fans here are most disappointed with the news about Dale, Jr. To be teammates with Jeff & Jimmy is not what was wanted here. I think they were all pulling for him to go to RCR instead. We'll have to see if Rachel sticks with Jr. after this year. She just may switch drivers. She was already bummed that he is no longer a Gillette Young Gun especially when they came out with the show Fast Cars & Superstars.
Well, I'll try to write more about what we are up to soon. Or maybe I can get the kids writing since they are on summer break now.

Where to start?

Here it is a holiday weekend and we have so much to do. House to clean, groceries to get, summer clothes to unpack, and companies coming. I also have to work this afternoon and the kids, especially Stephen, have homework to do. How's that sound for an exciting holiday? We have promised Stephen a round of frisbee golf down at the park but haven't decided when yet. The weather is cloudy and we had rain this morning. Hopefully that will help to get us busy working so when it clears we can have the fun.

All better

We seem to be finally mended around here. No ER visits in the last 5 days! Joshua even went back to school today!
Rachel & I went on the field trip to Mackinac Island last Thursday. Mom met up with us and we had a good time. The weather was beautiful--much warmer than I expected! Time just flew by and we had to leave much too soon.
Friday, Joshua had a follow up visit with our dr. and she gave him the "all clear" to get moving a bit more and told him "no more visits this summer". We'll have to wait and see if he listens to that instruction.
Saturday was booked solid with stuff and I really wasn't comfortable leaving Joshua with a teen babysitter since they might have to give him medications so Mark asked his mom to come and give us a hand. She came over Friday evening and stayed with the kids on Saturday then headed home as we left for church on Sunday morning.
I was registered for a table at a home business expo show at a local library on Saturday. I really didn't want to pull my Avon booth out of that. It was from 9:30-3 but we had to set up at 8 a.m. The day went rather slow because it was first year but not too bad either. It is still sort of a wait and see situation.
After the expo was done, I went straight to Meijer to work 4 hours decorating cakes. It was the first time I had been there in over a week. I guess rumors were starting to fly as to whether I had quit or been fired. They were really glad to see me.
Mark also had to work at Camp & Cruise on Saturday and he no more than got home when the guy he is doing work for on the side called and wanted to meet. So they met most of the time I was gone to Meijer.
Yesterday, it was rather a normal schedule as we had church in the morning, I worked at Meijer in the afternoon, and then back to church for evening service. Mark asked the photographer to bring her camera so I could still get a picture done even though it wasn't Mother's Day so we did that. Mark also borrowed a truck for the afternoon to go to Newaygo to pick up a snow blower from a guy he works with. This one is in better condition than ours which only starts part of the time. Rachel was also happy with this trip because she got to visit a little with Jackie.
I have lots to get caught up with around here. Fortunately, I don't have to worry about laundry as Mark's mom did that while she was here. Avon has suffered though and needs lots of attention.
I do have a cell phone again and with the same number as before. We checked everywhere for my phone that I lost last Monday and it didn't turn up and since that is the number I have on all my business info I couldn't be without it for long.
Joshua made it through his first day back to school today. He does have a bit of a headache this afternoon though. So it is a calm rest of the day now with plenty of rest again.