I have been putting this off too long and thought I'd get it taken care of today.
Due to our tight financial situation, Tony and I decided that it was best if I didn't go to the Women's Retreat next weekend in Boise. I'm feeling sad about not seeing you all, but relieved too because I need to stay home and continue the process of settling in to our new digs. We are still planning on bringing the boys to Awana camp in McCall next July. Tony has assured me that that will definitely happen. In the meantime I've been feeling guilty about not updating my blog but I know that you all don't care about perfection. So here it is! I'll jump right in where I am and we can fill in the blanks later.
I'm really starting to enjoy the house. The "old" side is 50% livable. We have a very lovely new carpet, new paint library where we do some school, a dining/eating area where we eat and do the rest of school, a living room that is home to some of Sarah's kitchen toys and the old icky refrigerator, and the kitchen. I have mixed feelings about the kitchen. Thank you Kathy for the idea of putting clear vinyl from Walmart over the majority of the needs-to-be-steam-cleaned 4" tile countertop. We have a large breakfast bar that looks into the dining area and it is my favorite thing of all time. There's something about the layout and the breakfast bar that just invites you to create in the kitchen. I've made Italian bread twice and yesterday the boys and I made Lamingtons which are Australian yellow angel food cake squares dipped in chocolate icing and shredded coconut. Yummy! The boys are studying Eastern Hemisphere in school and just finished Australia. I've always wanted to tie cooking with homeschool and this was the first time we actually did! The boys really balked the first time in Boise when I suggested we make a traditional Incan meal. (We have guinea pigs. LOL!)
Tomorrow we are going to Scottsdale for a big family birthday bash. Tony's grandpa, Tony and Alex all have birthdays this month that haven't been celebrated properly. Grandpa has a nephew flying in from Cleveland. There should be 15-20 of us there. My job is to make Kathy Blank's delicious Italian Creme Cake for the party. I had to buy new cake pans because mine are hopelessly buried in a box in our "rec" room formerly known as the school room. It never was a school room - more like a storage facility. Anyways, I hope the family finds my cake as wonderful as we have all found Kathy's cake to be over the last few years.
We celebrated Brian (Tony's cousin and Papa Murphy business partner) and Ryan's birthdays earlier this month with a pool party at our place. Here are the birthday boys with their Chocolate Chip Cookie M&M cake:
Notice the candles. After packing and transporting them carefully to AZ in the middle of August, the tote they were in got left outside the side door for two days in the direct afternoon sun. Now they are a great conversation piece!I'm rather impressed with my celebratory spirit. In fact let me share some shocking news with you... This year we celebrated my husband's birthday! For those of you who don't know, it's been a twisted family joke about how I never remember, let alone celebrate Tony's birthday. But this year, on his actual birth day I invited over his uncle and aunt, cooked dinner, baked homemade bread, provided green mint choc chip ice cream (Tony's request instead of cake) and the kids and I bought not one, not two, but 5 presents! To say Tony was surprised and pleased would be an understatement. I was pretty happy about the day too. (This was not an official party as there were less than 12 people in attendance!)
Sarah's present to Dad - new jeans:
Ryan's present to Dad - Wii rechargable batteries:
My present to Tony:
Yes, that is Becoming Jane. Tony is the one who got me hooked on the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice and on Jane Austin.Alex's gift to Dad. IronMan!
The family gift. Drumroll please....
WiiFit!!!!! No pressure there Honey!
The WiiFit has been quite a hit in our house. I highly recommend it. It's a little pricey but I figure it is paid for in three months by not signing up for homeschool PE and I have never found anything to get my couch potato kids and husband (even my couch potato self) up and moving like this thing can.
And last but not least -
My baby lost her first tooth:
Since this blog is already long, here's one more story. That tooth that Sarah lost was not pushed out by the adult tooth. It was pushed out by her extra tooth. Yes, Sarah has an extra tooth positioned right in the middle of her baby and adult front teeth. We found out after we dropped our dental insurance of course. However Ryan's orthodontist was guardedly optimistic that the extra tooth would erupt and we would not have to see the oral surgeon to the tune of $1500! Sarah has been praying every night for her front teeth to fall out for the last 5 months and here it is. God's answered prayer! God is so very good!
And God has been very, very good to us in Tucson! The only thing I lack is seeing all of you. But I am loving the emails that everyone has been sending, the online chats we have and seeing the blogsites some of you have. They have been real pick-me-ups. I'm attempting to get better about staying in touch and I'm sure that's one of the lessons I'm supposed to learn here. Thanks for hanging in there with me and especially for all your prayers. I covey those the most. May God bless you all!!!
