A camping family

We are buying a used pop up camper this weekend with the hope that it will get  used a lot in the next ten to fifteen years showing Wade our country. For his hundred wishes quilt my wish will partially be that he gets to visit all the National Parks!  Lisa talked me into some camping fabric a few trips back (she didn't have to do much arm twisting) and now I can complete the collection and start a camper quilt!  I even found this great National Park fabric I think I will use for the backing. 

My hope is that with a pop up all the stuff that I hate gathering up to get ready to camp will stay in the trailer ready to roll!

I can only imagine the smile we will get when he tastes his first s'more. Y'all want to come along?

Busy busy

You know it's been a long week when I forget it Friday and get to work in khakis and everyone else is in jeans. 

Wade has decided his new bedtime should be 9 instead of the normal 8:15. We get 45 minutes of him crying but Mommy is holding her ground!

The crane comes tomorrow to finally get the tree off the house!

This is how I found Wade this morning. Driving his truck around with his backpack on. I guess the extra weight called for a revision of his normal method. 

Storm Damage

I got an email from our renter...a tree had fallen on the house. At first I just saw the one in the yard. But two trees fell and one hit the roof dead on. Fortunately nobody hurt but it looks like we will have some major repairs needed to the rafters and roof. 

It's silly but seeing what I still consider as my house all banged up sent me into an emotional tailspin. It's a material object and insurance should restore it good as new, but it still holds so many memories for me. 

Signing with a builder to have it built was my first real adult act and for 17 years it hosted friends and family gatherings. 

So now we start a new unfamiliar journey. Navigating the insurance adjuster and finding contractors to get it restored. It will then be time to put it onto the market again and hopefully hand it off to a new family that can build their own memories there. 

Happy Birthday Explorer

When I bought my 2002 Explorer I ordered exactly what I wanted from Ford. I justified the cost by saying I would drive it until the wheels fell off. Still going strong at 200,000 although the gas mileage which was never great has slipped some. Happy Birthday and hope we get to celebrate 300,000 together. And sorry about all the Cheerios and milk residue that the newest member of the family leaves behind. 

An update on Levi

Remember this was the little boy that called our Wade brother in the orphanage. He has now travelled home to Tennessee and is with his new family....including his brother Wade!

Birthday, Bike Ride and a Graduation

It has been a very busy week. We celebrated my birthday by taking a short bike ride with the ski club...it was Wades first time in the trailer. He needs to keep moving and not run out of Cheerios to insure a good ride. We then ate Mexican and had birthday cake in the bed of the truck because Wade was getting too rowdy inside. 

I was able to celebrate Alden's 5th grade graduation. And since it was National Doughnut Day we included a visit to the store for a free hot glazed. 

Wade "helped" wash the car. He loved getting sprayed. Hope that means he will do well at the beach in a few weeks!

Rainy Sunday Afternoon

Mommy had just enough time during Wades nap to plant some potatoes before the rain came. Now it's been an afternoon of finding things to do inside. Laundry is almost caught up and dinner is in the oven.

 Wade had his first "horsey" ride with Daddy and we are trying to get him to not touch the tv when it's on. It's the Kindle Fires fault. He touches that screen to play the games and can't understand that the tv is different. We are trying to get him to sit in the chair to watch. If this over 100 year ok'd chair only had a seat belt.