We haven’t gotten as much rain this week, and things have begun to dry out a bit. We were finally able to mow the yards by Tuesday. Pauline’s yard looks like a hay field. We had a little more rain move through this weekend. I don’t want to complain. The memory of the drought two summers ago is still fresh on my mind.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM. Mom celebrated her birthday on Tuesday. She said a lot of people called her which really made her day. We all went out to Cracker Barrel to eat that evening and then came back to their house for dessert. We had two pies: chocolate and strawberry.
CONGRATULATIONS. While we’re celebrating milestones I want to congratulate my cousin, Sarah Yergler. She graduated Saturday from Baylor University with a degree in Education. Way to go Sarah!
WAR STORIES. Friday I was invited to speak about Dad’s service in World War II to the 5th grade at East Robertson Elementary. In retrospect I think I need to trim my presentation a bit. We started at 1:00 and I was shocked when the question and answer time was over and it was 2:30. Either the subject was really interesting or they are a good bunch of kids because they sat there well and asked a lot of questions at the end.
The 5th grade teachers and I had worked this out at the beginning of the school year so this has been on my mind since then. This has helped me work toward a goal I have wanted to accomplish. I have always wanted to somehow record what I’ve learned about Dad’s service in the war, basically all the things I wanted to know when I was growing up but never had anyone to ask. For the last few months I have been working on this on my web site. I’ve gotten a lot of information online now, but it is far from complete and parts of it need a second pass of proofreading. You can find it at www.cygnuschronicles.com.
LOCK-IN. If all the boys at church can have a camp out the girls can have a lock-in. This happened Friday night. I think there were about 40 girls and moms there, including Vicki and Jenna. The boys and I wound up being their pizza delivery service (this comes with being married to the Children’s Minister), and when we made our delivery we walked in to a sea of pink (and a chorus of, “Ewww, boys!”). It was enough to make your knees buckle.
While we were there I got a really good laugh from Sherree Totten. Sherree is a mother of two boys, but a mother of three girls insisted she come to the lock-in to help out. Being the only woman in her home I think Sherree was having a bit of culture shock with all the girly stuff. She pulled me aside and said, “One little girl just said, ‘Hey Mrs. Sheree, look at my make-up!’ and held up this big make-up kit.” Then Sherree’s eyes got really big and she added, “This six year old has more make-up than I do!” I just smiled and said, “Better you than me.”
From the report I heard yesterday it sounded like all the girls had a great time. They kicked the evening off with a manicure/pedicure session which helped prepare them for their fashion show. They also enjoyed a “Do You Know Your Mother/Daughter?” game (a take on The Newlywed Game), a scrapbooking time, and a late night movie. In the morning they had a devotion and were out the door by 8:15.
Saturday afternoon, when Vicki was waking up from her nap, Jenna and I joined her on the bed. After they filled me in on the previous evening something was said to make me start play kissing on Vicki. She, in turn, played at screaming in alarm calling for Jenna to rescue her. Jenna simply said, “If you’re going to have a husband you need to be prepared for things like that.”
WHOOPEE CUSHION. So the kids are all over at Pauline’s house for a little while on Saturday. Jenna is laying on the couch watching TV when Nate jumps on her. As is sometimes the case for anyone, this made Jenna pass a little gas. Of course, Nate jumped on her again hoping for more! When Jenna told me and Vicki about the incident all we could say is, “If you’re going to have a brother....”
HUZZAH! That’s how you cheer at a jousting tournament. Yesterday after church we drove down to the Tennessee Renaissance Festival in Triune. This event is in its 24th year and is open every weekend in May. The focus in on life as it was roughly when Elizabeth I was Queen of England. While there we walked around and looked in a lot of the shops (the boys bought two wooden swords), and took in a juggling/knife throwing show as well as listening to two pirates sing some sailing songs. And then there was the jousting which was pretty exciting even if neither knight unhorsed the other.
As memorable as the excursion was I think the thing that will always stick out in my mind happened about 20 minutes after we left the house. That’s when we heard Jenna say, “Nate, don’t pick your nose. You’re playing with my iPod!”
Joe
