A Great Week

Good Sunday evening to you. The past week seems to have passed by in a blur. Here's a partial list of what's been happening in our lives.

On Monday, we attended Kaitlyn's wedding shower at church and it was so nice. Games, gifts, good food, and great friends made it very special.

Kaitlyn finished packing up all of her belongings this week. Alan rented a U-haul trailer and they drove to Missouri yesterday. Today they moved it all into the apartment. I will look forward to their return tomorrow evening. I don't envy their 10-hour drive.
Here's a picture that Kaitlyn sent to me from the road yesterday. ☻

Yesterday I volunteered at Bryan's band festival. I worked an intersection with a barricade, blocking traffic from entering the parade route. I only encountered one rude person - a teenager who was pretty ticked off when he couldn't get his truck through. He left in a huff, squealing the tires of his truck all the way. Ha! ☻The festival was good. Fifteen great bands all in one place = great fun.

Yesterday evening we attended a friend's birthday party/BBQ. It was a lot of fun. Jadyn and I felt so tired at bedtime. I don't even think she moved much after she hit the pillow.

We've had two evenings within the last week or so when we've played a board game with the family. We're so glad we've had time to do this, before Kaitlyn moves away. It's something our family enjoys a lot.

We're still getting things accomplished for the wedding. Phone calls, errands, etc. The wedding is less than 2 weeks away now. I am so excited!

There seems to be a constant stream of laundry. There's not too much more than usual, but Bryan's activities keep me busy. Wash Arby's uniform, wash marching band T-shirts, socks, gloves, repeat, on pretty much a daily basis. Band season will soon be over. Just 1 more parade. Whew!
Here's a special picture. Jadyn picked this up in Kaitlyn's room and decided to put it on her head. They sent this to my phone. Wow. Here's Bryan, outside the restaurant we went to a week ago. I wish I was this agile.

Parade Fun

Our weekend has been nice. Alan and I went on a date last night, which was wonderful. Thank you, to Lauryn and Aaron for watching Jadyn for us! Having 3 hours of alone time and uninterrupted conversation was very nice.

Today, I did some errands and then this evening we went to a band festival in a small town about 45 minutes away. It was really good and so enjoyable to see 15 marching bands.

We did not take the camera along today, but I do want to share the photos we took at a parade recently. This parade probably tops the list of parades we've been to. It was a really great small town parade, and had so much variety. We loved it.

The theme of this parade was Back To The 1960's. Check out this sampling of photos. Oh yes, and please check out the band photos of our son. He is the whole reason we go to these parades after all. ☺

What do you think of these painted horses?

Kaitlyn and Jadyn, enjoying the parade.

Bryan's band

Bryan is 3rd from the left in both of these photos.

We thought these girls' outfits were so cool!

Too cute.

Favorite Photo Friday

Silliness!

Can't even believe I'm posting the first two photos. Jadyn and I took these awhile back. I like them, even though they probably aren't the most flattering photos. We had fun that night. ☺

Here is Lexi, getting a big hug from a monkey. Oh, the things that cats sometimes endure. Why is it so tempting to mess with them? ☺

I have other things I'd like to post about and pictures I need to download from our camera. Maybe this weekend I will have time to do this.

We're off to a pool party with playgroup friends today. Fun!

Bryan has 3 more parades coming up this weekend. We went to one last night too. We go to as many as we can and it's fun. Some are as far as 2 hours away and we don't always go to those. I will share some photos soon. Can't wait to share the ones of the painted horses. Crazy.

Wordless Wednesday - All Dressed Up With No Place To Go

Shopping, Sewing, & Silliness

Hello everyone!

The past week has been great. We received almost 2 inches of rain, which was badly needed. We've had several rainy, misty, cloudy days. I don't mind at all really.

We've done a little shopping over the past few days. We needed a new kitchen table. We found one we liked and also a rug for underneath. Kaitlyn will take our old kitchen table with her when she moves. I'm glad our table will have a good home. ☺ You know, there really are lots of memories of good times spent at that table.

We've continued doing things for the wedding. Kaitlyn and Chris' wedding is 1 month from tomorrow! I've been working on Kaitlyn's veil, adding bling. Currently, I am sewing sequins on the edge, then I will add crystals. Here are some photos of us working on wedding things.

Kaitlyn is tying ribbon on bubble tubes. I am sewing sequins on the veil. Jadyn is "helping".

The wedding colors are the same same as the ribbon you see here.

Here are some photos of the girls out on the deck. I think they look sweet. I will miss these times. I know, I know, it's not like Kaitlyn and Jadyn won't ever do this kind of stuff together again. It is my last month to enjoy them together this way, before Kaitlyn is a married woman. ☺ I hope everyone isn't tiring of my whining yet. I can't promise it will be the last of it. This is just one of my ways of working through the final cutting of the apron strings.

Here's a photo of Jadyn that Alan took recently. Silly girl! This one certainly makes her ponytails look long.

Thursday Thoughts

What I've enjoyed this week:

•a slower pace

•planting flowers

•eating strawberries and peaches - Ah, delicious summer fruits!

•watching a movie with my husband

•cooking hotdogs over a fire with friends

•catching up with my mom by phone

•seeing baby ducks and geese in the pond

•a little shopping

What I have mixed feelings about:

•Kaitlyn has been going through lots of stuff in her room, keeping, tossing, and donating. I feel a pang or two of sadness, knowing that she will be moving out and marrying her love in just 5 weeks. Just 5 weeks, and she'll no longer be under our wing at all. Our bird insists on leaving the nest. Truly, we are happy for her and look forward to a glorious wedding day. At the same time, I don't like the thought of change.

I leaned against the doorway of her room yesterday and looked at the boxes. I told her that Mom has to work through some feelings. :) I'm still hoping I can fool myself into thinking she'll just be away at school in Missouri and not actually permanently living there. I'll let you know how that one works out for me.

•Bryan's last day of school is tomorrow. How wonderful that he's completed his junior year. The youngest of my big kids will be a senior.

What I'm looking forward to:

•Marching band season is in full swing. Bryan's parades start next week. Time for the fast pace of attending many parades. It's fun and we love to support our boy and his high school band. He has 9 parades in June alone. We'll go to as many as possible.

•A glorious wedding day in July

•rain - hoping it comes soon

I Love My Plumber

I love my plumber. I must confess this, because it's something that's been going on for a long time. I just can't keep it inside anymore. We have been carrying on for so long now, that we have 4 children together. Scandalous!

What about his wife? Oh, I really don't think she minds at all.

The wife is me! I am married to my plumber. Yes, we have been carrying on now for 26+ years. My husband is an electrical engineer by day, and on the weekends he does plumbing. He did lots of it this past weekend anyway.

We had new counter tops and a sink installed on Friday in our kitchen. Alan had the not-so-fun job of hooking up all of the plumbing to the new sink.

Let me back up a bit here. On Thursday night, we removed all of the old counter tops and sink ourselves. One large portion of the counter top and sink (since we could NOT get the sink out) took 4 of us to remove and carry out of the house. Fun times. Too bad we don't have that one on video.

So on Friday, the installers came and put in granite counter tops. It was all good, until they cut a hole they weren't supposed to cut. I came into the kitchen to check the progress, and the head guy said, "Uh, we've hit a little speed bump." I asked him what was wrong. He told me that the other guy had accidentally cut 3 holes for the faucet instead of 2. Oh.My.Goodness! When you cut an extra hole in a piece of rock in your kitchen, it's sort of Too Late to go back and undo it.

It was a pretty stressful couple of hours after that. It was a little tricky being normal and calm with the installers, when I really just wanted to shout, "You what?!" The company owner called me and assured me that we would work it all out. We could either have something extra installed in the extra hole, or they would cut a new piece of granite.

It has all been worked out. We decided to install an instant hot water dispenser in that hole. Alan installed it and the company will pay for it. It's a little bonus we weren't expecting.

Now back to the part about how I love my plumber. Alan spent much of his free time over the weekend, doing the plumbing. Attaching new drains, pipes, hot water dispenser, water filter, and reattaching the garbage disposal. It was one of those jobs, unfortunately. You know how it is, it turns into the never-ending project. It required multiple trips to Home Depot, fixing unexpected leaks, dealing with faulty parts, etc. I know he was way past ready for it to be finished.

So, my hat is off to my very special plumber today. I admit it, I love him very much. Oh, and I am oh so glad to have running water in my kitchen again.

New sink, faucet, etc. You can see the little hot water dispenser, now installed in the extra hole.
I'm certain that I could never figure out how to do all of this. Kudos to my plumber!