Good times!

Like much of the eastern half of the country, we just came through a very warm weekend. Well, forget about warm. It was downright hot. Temps went from the low 70's on Thursday straight to the 90's for the weekend. The 80's never even made an appearance. Sounds like a perfect weekend to spend at the lake! When we lived in Nashville, we were moments away from Old Hickory Lake. We had a boat and spent nearly every weekend on the lake swimming, fishing, and even did a little tubing even though the kids were all really small and we had to pull them very slowly. It was a lot of fun. We had to get rid of that boat when we left there and moved to northern Virginia. There was nowhere to use the boat up there that was close enough to make it worth keeping it. So we sold it and missed it for 3 years. Then we came back south where there are lakes galore, and we knew as soon as we got here that a boat would be in our very near future. Within 6 weeks of moving down here, we were at a boat show. We left the show with a sizable stack of business cards from salesmen, 2 bags full of brochures of different models of boats, and stars in our eyes. Oh yes, a boat was in the very near future! After a few months of shopping around, a near disaster with "boat selling" scam artist, and another boat show, we finally found the boat for us. Everyone has been outfitted with life jackets and new swimsuits. We've stocked up on beach towels and sunscreen. We got a tube and a wake board. The only thing we needed was some warm weather to bring up the temperature of the water. Then the heat wave hit, and we hit the lake!

The little kids were excited about the tube, though they were also a little nervous. Everyone wanted Mommy to ride the tube with them. The big kids were excited about the wake board. We watched a tutorial video on YouTube and read lots of articles on how to get up on the board. We thought we were prepared. The first disaster happened when I got on the tube with Erin and Landon. They are not very tall, so all their weight was at the front of the tube, along with half of mine. As soon as the boat took off, the front of the tube submerged and we were knocked off. Unfortunately, we had not told the kids that they should let go of the handles in the event of a fall. I let go and watched the tube pull Landon and Erin ahead of me as it tried to flip over. They both went under water, but popped right back up with their life vests on, screaming and crying. We knew they were okay because there was no choking and gagging, just a lot of crying. We put them right back on and I sat upright in the middle of the tube to control the weight distribution. They were not happy. Even at 4mph, they wanted off that tube. NOW. It wasn't long before Landon calmed down and began to enjoy the ride. Erin was a different story. She did stop crying, but she never got around to enjoying the ride. It'll happen. We have an entire summer ahead of us. She will get over the trauma of her first tubing experience in time. Carrie was the one we were actually worried about with the tube. She was pretty afraid. But she got on with Alec and Haley and though she was scared at first, she eventually came to love the thrill of the speed, the water in her face, the bouncing over the wake of the boat, and she even enjoyed being slung off the tube on a tight turn! She surprised us all. Success! It was short-lived, however. Because next we got out the wake board. And as prepared as we thought we were, nobody could get up on that thing! I tried, Roger tried, Alec tried and *almost* got up, Haley tried. Then something bad happened. Nobody got hurt...we couldn't even get out of the water! But something else didn't get out of the water when it should have, and that was the tow rope. Our boat is a "jet boat" - it's like a jet ski all grown up. There are 2 engines that propel the boat by forcing water through them. The tow rope went under the boat and was sucked up into both engines, cutting off all power to the boat. After about 45 minutes of working to untangle the rope, we had one engine free and were able to slowly crawl back to the ramp, pull the boat out, and take it home. There, Roger was able to untangle the rope quite easily.

Sunday after church we went back out for a repeat performance. Little kids on the tube...not yet a success, but they managed to ride for about 10 minutes without freaking out. Big kids rode the tube together until they got slung off. Haley was ready to call it quits then, so Roger got on with Alec and Carrie and they had a blast. Then we did a second take with the wake board. This time Alec went first and wasn't able to get up. Then Haley went, and she got up! She rode for about 3 or 4 seconds then fell. Then I went, and I got up! I stayed up for maybe 10 seconds then felt some turbulence under my feet and decided I was going to go down gracefully rather than fall on my face, so I let go of the rope. It was a ton of fun. Roger was sore from hanging on to the tube the day before and from trying to get up on the wake board, and had decided he was going to lay low and not try the wake board that day. But after seeing Haley's and my small victories, he changed his mind and gave it a go. He did better than either of us girls. He was able to stay up for maybe 30 seconds at a time before falling off. And once, the front of the board dipped under the water causing it to stop immediately. Roger didn't stop immediately. He was pulled out of the bindings, went airborne, and was able to let go of the rope and turn his head before hitting the water. Talk about saving face! I think we were going about 30mph when that happened. A face plant at that speed would have really hurt! He did lose a contact lens, and it wasn't a painless fall, but at least he had time to realize what was about to happen before it happened. That ended the wake boarding for the day. We let the kids swim for a few minutes, then it was time to head home. What a wonderful weekend! Here are some pics...

My Favorite Invention

The "goings-on in the House" posts are temporarily on hold. I could write about what what's going on here...like the mold and tick post...but there are only so many of those that can be done without pictures. And I have no pictures. My camera was knocked off the kitchen counter TWICE. Yep, twice! First Carrie knocked it off and broke the flash cover. Super glue is a good invention, but it's not my favorite invention. It doesn't work as well as it claims it does on plastic. So, the following week when Haley knocked the camera off the kitchen counter, the already weakened flash cover was completely wrecked. The mechanics involved in lifting the flash into position were compromised before. Now they are collapsed. There are little wires in there that used to be connected to something. Now they're connected to nothing. Trying to use the flash completely locks up the camera. Not using the flash isn't the best choice for many of the pictures I take. I have been wanting a new camera for a while now. But I didn't need one. Sure, I can get my old one fixed. But I don't think I will. I have had it for 6 years and for the first 5 of those years it has had to be repaired at least once a year. I can say with a certain degree of certainty that the two drops have probably affected more than just the flash and that the camera is probably headed for more expensive repairs. So I'm considering replacing it. And I'm considering other things as well. Like inventions. If super glue isn't my favorite, what is? Computers are a great invention. They have spawned the inventions of countless other devices. And right now my favorite one is the DVR. I seriously don't know how I ever got along without one. Football season would be a complete bust for me because I would always have to watch Alabama games instead of South Carolina games. Because of the DVR, I can watch both! I can record my favorite reality shows to watch when my kids are in bed. I love to watch The Biggest Loser, Survivor, and Deadliest Catch. But you never know what real people are going to say on their reality shows. Or even what contrived characters are going to be scripted to say. Even the stuff that doesn't get bleeped by the censors isn't always suitable for little ears. So I just record those shows and watch them later. Shows that Roger and I like to watch together we save to watch when we are able to both be in the same place at the same time with enough free time to watch them. Like Heroes. I have a whole season saved for future entertainment. In the summer when reruns are on and reality TV season is over, I will have something to watch. When I want to watch something at 8:00, I can pause it until the little ones are all bathed, read to, and tucked in. I remember when Haley was little and I wanted to watch Friends at 8:00 on Thursdays. I would put her to bed half an hour early just for that "must-see TV." With one kid that's easy. With 5, you have sports practices, dance classes, scout meetings, etc. Those usually happen near dinner time. Dinner is a little later on those nights. Bedtime is usually later on those nights. But now my shows will wait! And they wait for me if there is an emergency in the middle of the show. Like a blown out night-light. Or a phone call. Or a cat throwing up on the carpet. Believe it or not, all 3 of those things happened during The Biggest Loser tonight. But I didn't miss a moment of the action...on TV or in the House. Yep, I think the DVR is my favorite invention. What's yours?

By the way, I do realize the kitchen counter is not the best place to keep an expensive camera. It doesn't live there. I had been using the camera and had put it down momentarily. I know someone would have something to say about that, so I thought I had better clear it up!

Who wants to come visit??

Anybody up for a road trip? Or for my local friends, who wants to come over and hang out? I'm sure you'd find the House a most welcoming place right now. We have a fantastic guest room. It even has its own bathroom. It's nice and cozy with a queen size bed, there is a TV and video games, there's a dresser you can put your clothes in during your stay. Or, if you prefer, there's even a nice little closet for you. And in that nice little closet, you will find a nice, big, black, smelly mold-stained wall!! That's right, MOLD. Seems that when the guys who did the trim work in the House got to the closet in the guest room, they found what they thought was a stud and nailed right into it. Only it wasn't a stud. It was a big ol' plumbing pipe. So for the last 9 months that pipe has been leaking right onto the wall. The wall in the closet in a room that is rarely used. Which means the door is always closed. Which means it is dark in there. I didn't need a degree in math to realize that wet + dark = MOLD. We called the builder right away who arrived bright and early Wednesday morning to rip out the molded wall. The insulation seemed fine, the wood framing seemed fine, but the wall was a complete wreck. And my 8th grade yearbook was a complete wreck. 2 days later I'm still wiping the pages down with bleach. Tomorrow is Field Day at the elementary school and I'm supposed to go there and help out. But our dear friend Sergio (the builder's right hand man) is coming back to the House yet again in the morning to work on the wall. He's always late, though. Today he was supposed to be here at 8:30. He got here at 9:00. He was supposed to come back at 4:00. He rolled in at 4:40. Maybe I'll see him by noon tomorrow. This morning when he was late, I had to leave him in the House alone while I drove my kids plus a friend's kid to elementary school, then I had to drive the preschool carpool. When I got back I had to grab the dog and go to the vet. As if the mold isn't bad enough, we also have ticks. Well, Dash has ticks, but he's a sweet dog and he will share them. 2 days ago I pulled 13 ticks off my dog. As long as we've had Dash we have never had any flea or tick problems, but we have lived in northern Virginia where there are no bugs. You people who live up there and think there are bugs there, you are wrong. Come down here sometime and you will see how good you have it up there. Compared to the south, there are no bugs up there. So...I get the ticks off the dog and call the vet the next day to get him started on Frontline. The appointment was this morning, so after I dropped off the little guys at preschool, I went back home and checked on Sergio, who was still working away, spraying bleach on everything left in the closet. Talked to Mike, the builder, for a few minutes, then realized it was 10:05. Luckily we live in a small town and the vet is only 3 minutes away. I cruise in there, still unshowered (and I ran this morning! P-U!), hadn't brushed my teeth, hadn't eaten breakfast yet, 10 minutes late. Dash gets his yearly checkup, shots, and heart worm test. Everything looks good. They load me down with Heartguard (which is also something you don't need in Northern Virginia, especially if your dog is mostly indoors like Dash is) and Advantix. We went with Advantix for the ticks rather than Frontline because they had some special deal going on and I got 2 free applications. Just when we think we are all set to go, the vet comes in and tells me Dash is positive for Lyme Disease. Wow. That was like a punch in the gut. He hasn't even shown any symptoms yet. He just got the ticks a couple of days ago! Fortunately, it is not as bad in dogs as it is in humans and in a month, he should be fine. He has to take antibiotics twice a day for 30 days. Finally the vet gave us our walking papers, I paid the bill, then I picked myself back up off the floor and went home. Sergio was gone. I finally got my shower. By then it was time to start picking kids up from school. Today was early release for the elementary school. I go get my kids and my friend's kid, come home, grab a quick sandwich, then head out to pick up the preschoolers. One of those was our friend's other kid, so he came back home with us. We had just a few minutes before it was time to pick up Haley. The kids were going crazy while I started to clean up the kitchen. Then my friend showed up to pick up her kids. We decided she would stay at the House with all the kids while I went to get Haley so they could play. They stayed for about an hour after I got back with Haley. It was great sitting and talking with Robin while the kids ran all over the place and the kitchen didn't get cleaned, the beds never got made, etc. And that's real...no sarcasm at all. Robin is a wonderful new friend for me and I'm glad I got to spend time with her today. Even though the House was a wreck and she cleans houses to make some extra cash, so she probably was thinking I needed to hire her. When they left, we had to go to the grocery store to get something quick for dinner because we had dance class and youth group later on and Sergio was also coming back, so I had to have something that could be prepared quickly and kept warm while I operated my taxi service. We got back in just enough time to have the kids start their chores while I made spaghetti sauce. Still no daily cleaning done and I've had 7 kids playing here today. Sergio showed up just as we were leaving for dance class. He was here just long enough for me to drop Carrie off. He was coming out as we were coming back in. He said he'd see me in the morning about 9:00. We'll see about that.

So, who's coming over? We have mold, ticks, and a dirty House to offer you. If that's not enough, I do make some darn good iced tea!