Big Day!

Had a busy day yesterday. Started off with a meeting with Gavin's teacher and guidance counselor to discuss an intervention plan (just in case). When we got done with that, I dropped Stacie off and picked up Gavin to run some errands. We headed back in to the school to help Nana with a computer problem, got gas, and went to the eye doctor to set up an appointment for me. Then we headed over to the Bewards where we met up with Stacie, Malin, Darin, Mam-Maw and Thea for lunch from the OIP. Stacie has had a bit of a wheeze ever since we got home from vacation, and she seemed particularly bad at lunch. I wasn't sure I wanted her to drive back home, but she did and made it, but went straight for a breathing treatment. By early afternoon, she was so bad that she called the doctor and got in at 3:00. They gave her a shot of steroids and four prescriptions. Things went down hill fast after that. By dinner time she was so bad that she couldn't even sit up in bed without getting short of breath. It's the worst I've ever seen her asthma since we've been a couple. Beth stopped by on her way home from work, so I sent Darin with her before heading to Malin's soccer game with Gavin. Malin played a super game. She had minutes as goalkeeper and as defender. Gavin stuck with me on the sideline for pretty much the entire game, so I got to watch - something I'm not used to! Returned home to find Stacie not improved much, but Mam-Maw had come over to help out. Between us we got Malin and Gavin bathed and in bed. Stacie did manage to get out of bed a bit after that and stayed up until Beth brought Darin back over after 9, but I could tell she was still really weak.

Malin was up early today for her first day of school (too excited to sleep). Of course, Gavin still wasn't up at 7:20 (any other morning, he'd be up before 7). Stacie was feeling well enough to help get them around (still, no stairs, and no picking up Darin). We were worried about Gavin, but he was very excited to go. He was dressed and had his backpack on waiting for the bus first, despite being the last one up. Mam-Maw brought the Holderman girls over, and Beth and Thea stopped by too, so we had quite a crowd to see them get on the bus. Stacie took lots of pictures (which of course I haven't gotten off the camera yet). Then Stacie headed in to the school to take even more pictures (of the whole school - it's customarily the Home & School president's duty to take first day of school pictures for the yearbook). After that we had a nice quiet morning with Darin, which was good because Stacie had tuckered herself out. I made some job related phone calls, and had to call all my soccer parents because the opposing coach of our first game canceled. Got a little bit of housework done too, and the kids were home before we knew it! Both had great days. Malin said that her teacher is AWESOME!. Gavin's teacher called home to say that he was a model student - helping pass out papers, staying at his seat, and faithfully raising his hand. She even said he was good at lunch. (When we unpacked his stuff after he got home, we found his lunch box completely empty. Stacie thought that she had over-packed to make sure that he had enough, but he ate it all! Must have been hungry!) Stacie had made cupcakes for them to celebrate their first day, so we spent the rest of the afternoon decorating and eating them while the kids told us about their day. Then Nana stopped over (she had a rough first day) to get in on the story-telling action. Everyone was pretty tired (and I am getting a touch of whatever Stacie has) and cooperative during the whole bath/bed time routine. Then I fell asleep while tucking Gavin in until being woken by Malin, who needed a drink, at 11:30. Down here for a few rounds of poker (up another $100K tonight) while blogging, then heading to bed myself soon.

Exciting Week...

Wow, it's really amazing how you can go a few nights without blogging without even realizing it. I was thinking I was maybe a day or two behind - turns out it's been nearly a week! Let's see if I can remember everything from last week...

Tuesday morning we all headed over to Beth's house to put up some corn for the winter. Mee-Maw, Mam-Maw, Beth, Stacie, me, and the kids. I took a break in the middle to pick up Pappy at Regesters and lunch from BK. Did 18 dozen ears and were all cleaned up by abotu 2:00. Then Malin had soccer that night, so the boys and I headed to Lewistown to pick up some things from Lowes while Malin and Stacie were at soccer.

On Wednesday Stacie went shopping with Beth and Thea, so the kids were at home with me all day. Luckily, Charshe came over for a good part of the day to play games and hang out with the kids while I got some stuff done around the house. Stacie home just in time to help with the bedtime routine, with lots of good deals, and plenty of back-to-school stuff for Malin and Gavin.

Thursday - I can't think of what we did on Thursday. Gavin and I had soccer in the evening. We scrimmaged for the first time, and it was utter chaos. I was worn out afterwards after my week off!

Friday morning we had Gavin's Kindergarten orientation. Also Friday morning I had a half-hour phone call with a contact at the GE plant in Lewistown. He talked up the projects and the company pretty good, and then before he let me go he checked his email, where he found a message from the hiring manager that said I wasn't a good match for any of their openings. :-( Soccer again Friday evening where we scrimmaged again. Didn't go any better -- the kids were not at all interested in soccer for some reason. Looked more like rugby, so I just ran them.

Had a fun morning on Saturday. The five of us and Mam-Maw made the annual trek up the mountain to gather plants for the kids fair terrariums. Spent a good hour or so hiking up the road collecting moss, ground pine, acorns, strawberries, ferns, even a couple of wild strawberry plants. After we were done, I had never been the whole way over the mountain before, so that's what we did. Through the Hower Gap and in to the Lewistown area, then back up the narrows home. Got the terrariums all fixed up when we got home.

Most of Sunday was spent preparing for Beth's birthday party, which we hosted. I did burgers and wieners on the grill, Stacie made a good pasta salad and some spicy shrimp, Mee-Maw brought pickled eggs, grapes, cantaloupe; Nick made ice cream, Beth made apple dumplings, Christie brought a layer dip...I am sure there was other food too, but I ate so much that I am having trouble remembering. Got cleaned up from that and got the kids to bed and then I worked in the basement until about 1 this morning.

Didn't do much today. I made some phone calls on job leads, but mostly just left messages. Darin wore underpants all day today and managed to keep them dry, even through his nap! Stacie in bad shape with a chest cold, all the kids and I in various stages of sickness, but not quite as bad off as she is. Scrimmaged the entire practice tonight, and it went much better.

Vacation Pictures

Ringing Rocks

Museum of Indian Culture

Phillipsburg, NJ Steam Train Ride

Roadside America

Home sweet home

Gosh, lots to catch up on since the last post...

Spent Saturday of our vacation at the Da Vinci Science Center in Allentown. We had heard that it was small, so only to plan on two or three hours max there, so naturally, our kids weren't ready to leave yet at 4:00 (we got there at 9:30 when they opened). I thought it was really nicely put together. Most of the stuff was over Darin's head, but there was enough open space for him to run around and a pre-school area that we kept him entertained, while the older two went through the exhibits more or less on their own. We had planned on doing something else in the afternoon, but since they were having so much fun, we just stayed there all day, and headed back to the hotel around dinnertime. I took the older two swimming at the hotel pool while Stacie laid Darin down for a quick nap. After swimming, we had Pizza Hut deliver for dinner, and then had a pretty easy night getting everyone settled.

Sunday morning we had planned a tour of the Indian Culture Museum near Allentown. Unfortunately, it didn't open until noon, so we weren't sure what to do to keep things moving on Sunday morning. We thought about doing mini-golf, but couldn't find anything open (Plus it was too darn hot), so we ended up swimming again. We had also found out that the museum was hosting a 'Pow-Wow' and 'Corn Cob Festival', starting at 10:30. We got there a little after 11, and the kids had a good time checking out all the handmade trinkets. Unfortunately, because of the Pow-Wow, the museum itself wasn't open, but there was a lot of living history type things set up, and a lot of Native Americans in regalia. It was really neat, but didn't really move fast enough to keep the kids interested, especially with the heat. We stuck around for lunch and to watch a couple of tribal dances, then loaded up to head to Phillipsburg, New Jersey.

We got to Phillipsburg just in time to catch the 2:00 train on the steam train operated by a local historical society. The ride was a little over an hour down the Delaware River. It was really neat, but very hot. The first part of the ride was narrated, and there were a bunch of volunteers staffing the cars who were eager to share their knowledge with the passengers. Stops from the train included a corn maze and a mine tour, but the kids were past their limit with the heat, so we opted just for the train ride. Headed back to the hotel and had leftover Pizza Hut for dinner and turned in early for our last night at the hotel.

Monday morning I took the kids for a last dip in the pool while Stacie got the bags packed and carried to the car. We hung out in the room a bit watching TV and getting the last of our things packed, and then checked out about 11. The first thing we did once we were on the road was get stuck in a huge traffic jam. It took us about an hour to go the first two miles, and after that, things went much smoother, but it threw our schedule off a bit. We ended up stopping at a Cracker Barrel for lunch because the kids hadn't eaten since breakfast. After that, we went to the Cabela's store in Hamburg. The kids were convinced that it was going to be really boring, but went in anyway and said afterwards that they thought it was neat. There was all kinds of mounted animals from small little birds, to actual elephants and hippos. There was a shooting gallery where Malin proved that she's a pretty good shot. There's also a pretty big aquarium there, which we somehow missed.

After Cabela's, we jumped back in the car for a short trip to Roadside America a little hole-in-the-wall place we had seen on the way to Allentown from home. Again, the kids were skeptical, but it turned out to be really interesting. It was a huge (over 300 buildings) miniature town hand carved by two brothers in the 50's and 60's. It just seemed to go on forever. It was difficult to see everything there was to see and keep all three kids together, but still worth the stop. We stayed for the 'night scene', then got back in the Burby, gassed up, and headed for home.

Ended our trip the same way we started it, with a meal from Sheetz. Pulled in the driveway about 5, got unpacked, and had the Holdermans and the Leisters over for a debrief before winding down ourselves.

This post is running long, so I'll start a new one with some pictures...

The Kints go on vacation

Okay, so here I am on night two of vacation, here's a quick recap.

Stacie had done a good bit of the getting ready process on Wednesday night, so although there was some stuff for me to do Thursday morning, I mostly cleaned the house (I hate coming home to a mess). Malin had dance again until 11, so we weren't really planning on leaving until afternoon anyway. My Dad and Stepmom stopped over for about an hour to say their goodbyes since they are heading back to Florida before we get home. Got so busy getting around and loading the car that 1:00 rolled around (Our 'scheduled' departure time) before we knew it. We were all ready to go, but we hadn't gotten lunch for the kids. So we loaded in the car, hit Sheetz for subs in the car, got gas, went to the bank, and were on the road about 1:20.
The drive here was easy. No wrong turns, very little traffic...pulled in to the hotel at about 3:10. Got checked in and settled, and the first order of business was to take the kids swimming at the hotel's pool. We must have spent at least an hour swimming, then got cleaned up for dinner. Stacie went through the hotel directory and narrowed our choices down to two restaurants. We asked the front desk, and of the two, they recommended the 'Allentown Brewworks', so that's where we went. We had to drive in to Allentown, so we got to see a lot of the town's architecture. The downtown is very odd - one high rise right in the middle of town (The PP&L building) with nothing else higher than 5 or 6 stories. Anyway, I intentionally parked a handful of blocks away, so we got a nice walk in also. The restaurant was pretty nice, and very reasonably priced. The five of us ate for $50, including an appetizer and a beer for me. Took an indirect route back to the hotel to see more of the town, and then started the whole winding down process. Had a little bit of stress getting three co-located kids to bed at the same time, but all-in-all, not too bad. I fell asleep on the floor next to Darin's crib and my back was all screwed up when I woke up, that's why I didn't blog last night. Just crawled right in to bed.
Today started pretty early considering the kids were up late, but we long ago found out that's a losing battle with our kids (forcing them to sleep in - only takes 1 to disrupt the whole process) so we got started. Had breakfast at the hotel, a very nice buffet for the price of it (free with the room!), and then headed to Easton to the Crayola 'factory'. Turns out it's not so much a factory as a hands-on house full of Crayola stuff. I was a bit disappointed by that, but the kids thought it was great. I didn't think it cost much, and we came home with loads of stuff. Also included with admission was a ticket to a canal museum, located in the same building. They had several neat water tables, which were Gavin's favorite part of the day. Malin said that her favorite activity was the 'hot wax' paint -- They had a station full of melted crayons that you could use as 'paint'. All the kids had a minor melt down at one point or another, but we made it through the day without any major issues, and we even got Darin to nap in his stroller. After everyone had their fill of that, we decided to do something a little different - we headed to the 'Ringing Rocks'. This was about a 1/2 hour drive out in to the middle of nowhere. It's just a big field of rocks that have so much iron in them that if you hit them with a hammer, about a third of them ring like a bell. We weren't really prepared with footwear - there was no path or anything through the rocks - but I had thought to grab a little hammer out of one of the kids tool boxes, and that worked neat. Darin was really too little to be climbing around, but the other two had a good time. It was a good way to get the last of their energy out of them.
Stopped at a Lone Star on the way home for dinner, and had excellent behavior from the kiddos. (although we did bribe them for dessert). Back to the hotel for baths, and another only fairly easy time getting everyone settled (Gavin is sleeping on the floor right now!) I'm heading to bed momentarily. Tomorrow we have planned the DaVinci Science Center...

???

Two nights in a row I had the 'create post' window open, and two nights in a row I got distracted by other things. Lets see what all has happened. Monday morning I headed to State College to do the last of my PICCC sessions. So now I guess I have no excuse for not doing the job search stuff more in earnest. Monday was a bit of a lazy day. Malin had dance in the morning, I got to watch a good bit of the race in the afternoon, and I built a fort with the kids using the great room furniture and some blankets, and got some small things done around the house. Pap-Pap and Mom-Mom came over just as I was taking Malin and Gavin to soccer practice, so they came and watched a bit of practice before a big thunderstorm chased us out. Mom-Mom helped get Darin to bed, and they checked out all the wedding pictures that Stacie had take on Saturday while I got the other two settled. Had a nice chat with them before they headed home.
Tuesday --- Hmm. Seems like I did something useful on Tuesday, but I can't seem to think of what it was right now. It was hot. Had soccer practice in the evening - the kids were all wound up...Well, if I think of it, I'll come back to it.
Today was another hot day. Malin had dance again in the morning, and while she was there Stacie took a trip to find some corn. We had planned on picking it at the Aughey farm, but couldn't get anyone to answer the phone. So anyway, she bought 6 dozen ears from some Amish down the road, and we got started on that right away. Gavin and Darin stuck in a good long time helping to husk, and I did the silking while Stacie worked the kitchen end. Eventually she had to quit and pick up Malin, and get the kids stuff around for their trip. They went to Kenobel's Grove with Nana and Pappy Tom. After they left we laid Darin down for a nap and finished the corn. I think we got 18 quarts, so not a bad effort. We'll probably have to do one more go to get us through the winter. After that, I spend most of the rest of the day cleaning out the Suburban for our road trip this weekend. I shop-vac'ed it, and re-ran some wires for all the tech stuff I have in there. I finally got Darin his own movie screen. He was 'helping' me in the car and was so excited when I finally got it working. He got mad when I turned it off after testing it, but he'll have plenty of time to watch tomorrow!
After working in the car in the sun all afternoon, I was a sweaty mess, so I took a quick shower before heading off to soccer. Stacie had her first home & school meeting of the year, so Mam-Maw came over to watch Darin, and I did soccer solo. Luckily, I had a couple of parents step in, which was a big help. Unfortunately, the league organizer interrupted practice with a fundraiser hand-out and uniforms, and things were so disrupted after that that I just called it a night. It was 7:10, but I had only really done about 20 minutes of soccer stuff with them. I kind of thought it looked like a storm, but it went around. Hopefully none of the parents are too torqued about it.
Got home just ahead of the older two, got them calmed down and to bed and Stacie has been doing the packing with me gathering up some little things to help out where I can (I've found it's best not to interfere once she's on a packing 'mission'). Thought I'd blog a bit before I went to bed.
Oh, had an interesting job development today, but I need to make a phone call in the morning before I dish out any details.
Might be a few days until the next post, as we're headed out on vacation tomorrow morning. Perhaps we'll take the computer along and try to do something from on the road!

Late!

Okay, so apparently I have not yet come to terms with the fact that the kids will be up by 7 no matter what time I go to bed. Not a lot to blog about today. Lots of rain this morning, so I thought it would be a good day to pressure wash the front of the house. I got started with that right after Stacie got home from church. Although it was rainy and cool when I started, it didn't take long to warm up. By the time I was done it was 85 degrees and 77% humidity (that was out back in the shade of the gazebo). I was standing in the sun in pressure washer mist. So I was a mess. But between Stacie and I, we got the front porch and all the sidewalks out front done, and also the camper and Pappy's truck. After Darin woke up from his nap, we went to Nana's and hit the pool all evening - I think we all needed it. Frosty's from Wendy's on the way home topped off our cool-off evening. No trouble getting the kids to bed, and then I worked in the basement for a few hours before plopping in front of the computer to play Texas Hold-em poker on Facebook. I've come to the conclusion that either A) The people playing on Facebook don't know how to play or B) I'm pretty good at it. I started out with $100 in chips that someone 'gifted' me, and every night I've played, I've ended up with more chips than I started with. As of tonight, I'm up to almost $400,000. Too bad it's not real money!

Wedding!

Stacie and I had a really nice day at my step-sister's wedding today. We took our time getting around this morning, and then Mam-Maw came to watch the kids at about 10:30. We headed over for the ceremony and got to visit with a lot of my step-family, which we don't get to see that often. The ceremony was very nice, and short, which was good considering the heat. Had to stop for a card between the church and the reception, and while in transit, I put the windows up to turn on the A/C, and crushed Stacie's hand in the window. OOPS! She was pretty mad, but thank goodness she yelled before I broke anything. After getting the card thing out of the way, we headed to the reception. Good food, good visiting, and they had a live band for entertainment, which is always good for me. Had to leave sooner than I wanted so that we could rescue the babysitter, and got home to a couple (well, one in particular) grumpy kids. Got dinner, and got them all to bed early, although I just heard Darin fussing a couple of minutes ago. Anyway, the day kind of snuck past me, but here are a few highlights from the wedding...

Whew!

Well, we've finished of our third or so day straight of mid-to-high 80's weather. At least it's getting down in to the 60's overnight, so there is some relief. I got started with another landscaping project mid-morning, and finished it up right around 11, a sweaty mess. Just as I was getting dried out, my Dad stopped by for about an hour. Along with visiting, he did some good 'consulting' work for me on various parts of my ongoing basement remodel, and even read some stories to Darin before his nap. (That would be Darin's nap, not Pap-Pap's). Stacie spent the morning getting caught up on housework, and then ran some errands and took care of some banking stuff that we had wanted to get straightened out for a while now. We got the kids a late lunch and before we knew it, it was time for Malin to head off to her first soccer practice. I am sure it was a hot one for her, but she still said that she had fun. After soccer, we picked up a friend of Malin's and headed to the swimming pool. Ordered Fox's pizza and ate that pool side before taking a tired bunch of kids home and getting them to bed. Nothing new on the job front today. Hoping for an offer from the interviews Monday soon, then time to concentrate on the ARL jobs. Oh, yeah -- pictures. I guess there's no excuse tonight...I don't know the story behind these pictures, but based on the perspective, I'd say the kids had some time on their hands and then got a hold of the camera!

Slipping already?

Alright, so I'm just getting this blog back on track, and now it would seem as though I'm already slipping in to a pattern of infrequent updates. Anyway...not too much exciting happened yesterday. I hung around the house with the kids and for some reason had a difficult time staying awake. I had promised the kids I would take them mini-golfing, and was just thinking about doing that when my dad called (he is up visiting from Florida). So we nixed the mini-golf trip, and did some power-cleaning. All three kids wanted to ride along to pick up their Pap-Pap, and we all had a good visit, although I think it might have tuckered Pap-Pap out. For his visit, Stacie cooked up quite a feast. We had shrimp, chicken, steak, veggies, bread, and applesauce. She even whipped up some chocolate chip cookies, although I'm pretty sure that everyone was too full to eat them. Took Pap-Pap home and got the kids to bed, and turned in fairly early.

Today was a busy day all around. I had to run to State College for another appointment with my outplacement service. As all the kids were up in plenty of time to get them ready to leave by 8:00, we decided to all go. They dropped me off right on time at 9, and my three-hour session went really fast (we went over interviewing strategies). While I was doing that, Stacie took the kids to the book store and to the mall. They picked me up about 12:15, and we headed over to TGIFriday's for lunch. They were slow (as usual), so it was close to 1:30 by the time we left there. Next stop was Dick's to pick up new shin guards for Malin and a new soccer ball for Gavin. Then to Target to check out the deals there. By then all the kids were past their limit, so I took them to the car while Stacie finished up her shopping. Darin fell asleep in the parking lot, and slept all the way to Meyer Dairy, where we got milk for the week and ice cream for dessert. Malin had a big melt down in the car, and we had to pull off 322 at Reedsville and nearly left her there! She managed to calm down enough to make it home and then spent some quiet time in her room until she had herself back together. By then it was time for Stacie and I to head out to our second soccer practice. Mam-Maw came over to stay with Malin and Darin so that it wouldn't be such a late night for them too. I picked up two new players - I'm up to 15 now (which is probably enough to break in to two teams) but one of the new kids' parents stepped in to help, and he's really good. I am starting to figure out how long things take and what works with kids that age. Hopefully they are learning and having fun. Stacie and I watched a movie based on the Robert Hanssen story before she retired to bed and I set down to blog. Looks like another late night early morning for me, so I'll end here!

Day...whatever

Okay, okay, so I promised to be more diligent in updating this, and now I've missed a few days. But I had a good excuse - I was away! Here's the scoop:

Sunday - Didn't really do a lot on Sunday. Hung out with the kids, did some housework, got my suitcase around for my trip. Left for Harrisburg about a quarter till three for a 5:00 flight. Called my Aunt Karen on the way, figuring that I could stop in and say hi to her and my Grandparents (up visiting from Florida) on the way. While I was there, she offered to drive me to the airport, and I figured that would be easier and maybe safer than parking at the airport, I took her up on the offer. She dropped me off, I had no problem with lines or security, and got to the gate about 20 minutes before boarding. The flight was uneventful, although taking a jet is so much smoother and quieter. Unfortunately I guess the Dash-8 turboprops will be the norm until the Harrisburg-Boston route gets busier. The flight was about 90% full, and I had a nice conversation with a Harriburg area woman who was flying to Boston for a week for a convention.
Landed a little early at about 6:30, and forgot that the car rentals are not AT the airport in Boston. Had to wait around for a shuttle bus and then take a bit of a ride before picking up my rental car (I went with a Malibu - it had New Mexico plates on it, and 17000 miles). Got through the Sumner tunnel and on to I93. Didn't take me long to realize how much I DON'T miss the Boston area traffic. It only took about 25 minutes to drive to my hotel from the airport. I called Brian just as I was getting off my exit (I had asked him to meet me at the hotel, and was worried I might have kept him waiting), to find that he was about 5 minutes behind me. The timing couldn't have been more perfect. I parked at the hotel, checked in, took my luggage to my room, and got back down to the lobby just as he and Robin were getting there. We went to a Chili's about 5 miles away, and had a nice two hour chat catching up eating way too much over a couple of beers. It was near 10 until they dropped me back of at the hotel, and I called home and then pretty much went straight to bed.

Monday - Got up in plenty of time to check out the hotel's free breakfast buffet. They had it all - eggs, bacon, sausage, a belgian waffle maker...I ended up having oatmeal because I didn't want to be belching through all my interviews. Didn't have any trouble finding the Raytheon building (The bright red Raytheon sign shined in my hotel window all night - it was literally right across the street), and got started with my interviews right on time. I interviewed with the Systems Engineering department in the morning - a different department than what I worked at when I was there before - so I was less familiar with the people doing the interviews. But they all said that my reputation preceded me, and the whole process was a little strange because I already knew the project/acronyms and even still knew ( or am good friends with) a lot of the people in the higher level positions. I finished up with the interviews for that position at noon, and met a group of old friends for lunch. I was thinking maybe there would be a larger group, but it was just the right size to be able to talk to and catch up with everyone who was there, without feeling like I was repeating myself or neglecting anyone. After lunch I got started with the 'interviews' for the software engineering department, which is where I was working when I left five years ago. I put 'interviews' in quotations, because it really felt like more than a formality. But I did the best that I could and at least tried to ask a few intelligent questions. That process finished up around 3, and since my flight didn't leave until 7, Roberto agreed to escort me around the facility to see who I might run in to. I got to see a lot of old faces, and had some longer chats with some people. I didn't get to see everyone that I wanted to, so to any of you who might be following this, sorry I missed you! Finally dropped off my visitor badge at about 5:40 and headed back to the airport. I found a little-used bathroom at the airport and changed out of my suit, and still had about 40 minutes before my plane boarded, so I took advantage of the 'Legal Seafood' restaurant near my gate and had a nice big bowl of their famous clam chowder. The plane took almost no time to board (I think there were 6 of us on the plane - the stewardess asked that we all sit towards the back to help with the weight balance), and we got going nearly a half-hour early. Still, Aunt Karen was on the ball picking me up, and pulled in right as I walked out to the curb. Visited with her and my grandparents for a few minutes, mostly talking about my interviews, before heading back up the road. So much had happened since the day before that I could hardly believe it had only been a day since I left!

Tuesday - Another lazy day for me winding down from my trip. Stacie spent most of the day at a home and school meeting (she's the president), and Malin spent the day at Mam-Maw's working on some crafts to enter in the fair. So I played with the boys all day, and spent a little bit of time preparing for my evening - first soccer practice of the year. I agreed to be the head coach for Gavin's team this year, and since I've never coached before wanted to make sure I was prepared for being in charge of 13 four and five year olds for an hour. In the end, I though things went pretty well, and I'm actually looking forward to the next practice! Headed to Mam-Maw's to pick up Malin after practice and visited there for a bit, so it was a bit of a late night for the kids. Then I had a whole bunch of chores to catch up on, and wanted to make sure I blogged a bit, and now here it is past midnight, and I'm still messing around on the computer. Oh well, I guess that gets you up to date, but again, I'm too tired for pictures. Maybe tomorrow...

Day 6

Stacie and I got an early start with some landscaping this morning - dug up a flower bed and planted grass. Got that done by noon, which was good considering the hot muggy weather. Got all three kids to take a nap today - can't remember the last time that happened, then spent a few hours at the playground this afternoon, before heading to the drive-ins to see Ice Age and Night at the Museum. The boys both made it through the first movie, but not the second. Malin made it through both movies, and just got settled moments ago. I am thinking that probably means a rough day for her tomorrow! Nothing new on the job front today. I am sure more happened, but it's late and I am exhausted, so no pictures tonight.