Back to a Normal Routine--Whatever That Is

I feel like summer has just gotten started good and it is basically over for me. I have to return to work tomorrow. It seems like it was just last week that we were getting ready for company and Vacation Bible School. Jenna still has one more month of summer though.

AUNT MAR is doing a lot better though she tires easily. She was sent home from the hospital on Thursday and will see the doctor on Wednesday to find out what the next course of action will be. Again, thank you for your prayers.

PAULINE had cataract surgery on her right eye on Thursday morning. She came through the operation just fine and then went home and baked a cake that afternoon. Her eye must be doing really well as she has commented on several things she is seeing better.

THE COUSINS ARE HERE. The cake that Pauline made was her son's favorite: strawberry. Of course she wanted to have it ready for when Will, Darice, Cameron and Zachary arrived on Friday. They were here through the weekend and left for home this morning. All the cousins had a great time playing together. Ben and Zachary were inseparable Cameron really took up with Nate. Jenna often took some time out from the boys and hung out with the adults. It has to be hard being the only girl.

We all went swimming together one afternoon. We also played croquet brought out the competitive spirit between Will and Vicki. Last night we all celebrated the Fourth with a cookout and fireworks. Mom, aunt Mar, Aunt Linda and Uncle Bob came over for the show.

WIND DAMAGE. We had a storm to blow through yesterday afternoon. It packed some high winds along with it. Our house must have been on the northern edge of the thing as we didn't get that much damage. Aunt Mar's yard; however, looks just about as bad as it did after the ice storm of 1994. Her yard is covered with twigs and small limbs but she also had a number of large tree limbs to fall as well. The top of one large tree was even broken off. Part of the top is on the ground and part is still dangling way up in the air. This tree needs to be felled now but it will be a dangerous job without a cherry picker.

K-D Orchard suffered some damage to their old chicken house (that they now use to sell blackberries and peaches from) and a good bit of their peach crop is on the ground. Steve Freelend's tobacco suffered a lot of damage as well. Another neighbor lost the roof to one of his barns.

NEW SKILLS. Nate has picked up several new skills over the last few weeks. He knows how to climb on and off the couch now (and he knows what it feels like to fall off well). He also understands several words. Just mention the word "go" to him and he will head for the door. He is very quick to find his shoes when you tell him to. And if he is tired and you ask him if he is sleepy he will rub his eyes.

Nate gave us a good laugh at lunch the other day. Ben had some strawberries on his plate and was wanting to leave the table without eating them. Vicki, in making the "you've got to eat that before you leave" routine fun said, "I think I hear the Big Hungry Bear coming for your strawberry!" He sort of giggled at this so I growled at him which broke his tension and made him pop a strawberry in his mouth. What made us all totally lose it were the small growls coming from the direction of the highchair.

THE Y CHROMOSOME IN ACTION. The other night Vicki was watching Tennessee Crossroads (a locally produced human interest magazine show on PBS) and the kids were playing in the floor next to her. One story they ran was about a local sculptor who carves his art out of logs with a chainsaw. What was funny was the scene where the artist started up his saw. On hearing this both boys stopped what they were doing and watched TV. Jenna, on the other hand, paid no attention to the cool noise and was frustrated that her brothers were no longer playing with her.

FUN AND GAMES. One thing we like to do before going to bed is play a game. If you look in on us around 7-8 pm you might catch us playing Monopoly Jr. or Mouse Trap (Ben calls it "Mouse the Trap") or some other game. In Monopoly Jr. the $5 bill is the highest denomination of money (it's pink). Ben gets really concerned for you if you run out of pink money. So much so that if you spend your last $5 you'll need to make change with the bank if you can.

Joe