Solidarity

For those of you who don't know the story, we have a little buddy Tyler who is in Minnesota for a bone marrow transplant. As part of his treatment, he is having chemo and his hair is starting to fall out. As an symbolic act of support, we had a little buzz-cut party tonight. Emma did get stung by a bee in the pool but we had a great time of conversation and prayer. God is good!

More Ball

More pics of J playing ball. Unfortunately the coach is an Angels fan. We can't have everything. We'll get some pics of Emma playing soon. She and the "Tornados" fell again tonight 16-8, though Emma had a sweet RBI triple and pitched another solid inning. She gave up a couple of tough runs but rung up another 3 strikeouts.

Heavy Metal

These pictures are actually a couple of days old but the driveway is now gone. The kids enjoyed watching the heavy equipment make short work of our concrete. Hopefully we will get a new drive poured this week 'cause right now we just have LOTS of dirt. It magically sticks to the feet of children.

Play Ball!

J-Man is playing "Smurf" league T-ball. They play for an hour, everyone bats, and they don't keep score. Normally he plays shortstop or 2nd-base but here he is trying out catcher. Emma is playing slow-pitch softball. She made her pitching debut on Saturday, striking out two in her inning of work. She also played some solid 1st-base and went 2-for-2 at the plate.

Sisters

No explanation needed.

Treat Time

While Laura and I installed the last pieces of the floor, Emma made us some shortcake for some tasty strawberry shortcake. A nice treat at the end of the day.

Floored

In addition to painting, we had a little family fun activity revolving around installing a new floor in the dining room. Everyone got involved and we got it all in. We're getting there!

Painting Party

We had a big painting party this weekend. Mom & Dad, Tim, and Johanna all stopped by for a little brushin' and rollin'. We got a lot done and we are beat!

Familiar?

Meg missed her nap on Tuesday and Wednesday and after swimming lessons she again fell asleep on the floor. She proceeded to sleep from around 6 'til the next morning. While she slept, the rest of us enjoyed Laura's tasty fruit bouquet that was given to her by some grateful parents of one of her students. Tasty.

Random Shots

A few random shots from the past few weeks that didn't make the original cut. Sort of like the extras on the DVD version. The first shot is from Memorial Day. Meg did run almost the entire mile of the family fun run but then fell asleep in the car on the way home. She woke up when we carried her in the house, but then fell asleep on the floor and proceeded to sleep the rest of the day and all night after we put her in bed. The next two shots are from J-Man's field trip to the tidepools. The final shot is from Emma and Jonathan's "Our Kids" concert.

Prep

We spent Saturday working on various projects around the house. Laura and I painted moulding, I painted eaves, and J-Man & I moved the woodpile from our alley to the back lawn so the stucco guys can get at the exterior walls. After moving this pile, I offered Emma and Jonathan a dime for each piece of wood if they would move our other wood pile by the garage to the back lawn. I figured there were about 50 pieces of wood so I thought it would cost me about $5. 234 pieces of wood later the kids were done and I was a bit poorer. Oh well, at least they were motivated. We finished the day by having a nice fire in our pit and making smores. Meg enjoyed hers immensely.

Progress

We've had a busy week on the house. Early in the week, we got our "scratch" coat of stucco which made an absolute mess of the yard. The pretty stuff gets put on after this layer cures. We've also had a nice methodical fella working on the interior walls. He has been patching, taping, and sanding, and hopefully he'll texture-coat this week. He also scraped all the popcorn off the ceilings in the bedrooms, so we will now have smooth ceilings in all rooms.

Towel Heads

Emma and Meg showered up and Meg wanted a towel on her head just like Emma. A dishtowel and some clips did nicely.