July 1-
Hooray for Tues AM yoga. Amy is also teaching a class Tues morning. It's a good thing I went bc there's no class on Fri, due to America's bday. :)
July 2-
We went to Terra Studios today. What an amazing place! It was really fun to see all the different art works being shown there. I took plenty of pictures. (Again, great weather!)
July 3-
Today I'm grateful for beautiful weather, going for a motorcycle ride, & learning how to make pupusas. (This was a RS activity where we also learned how to do family indexing.)
July 4-
Happy birthday America! I LOVE flag holidays! They make my heart happy. Curtis & I had a day date @ The Egg & I, then went for a bike ride. Our family found a place to watch Fireworks across from Orchards Park. (Near Crystal Bridges)
July 5-
Sat, we attended an 'after the 4th' party at the Crums home. (Curtis co-workers) Our family went. The girls got to swim, we had good food, and were able to enjoy more fireworks. I'm grateful for good family time.
July 6-
Today I'm grateful that E & M are willing to be a part of ward choir. It's one thing to sing with a group, it's another when singing in a foreign language. (Spanish)
July 7-
Grocery shopping complete! E & M were reminding me that we were out of food. Now, our fridge is restocked. I'm grateful Curtis has a good job to support our family.
July 8-
Tues AM yoga with Amy Weir and a good busy day. I took the girls to the library & did a taste test survey at 2. Got to Skype with mom & dad. :) We were dog sitting Furby for the Kosters while they were on vacation. Princess & Furby had a great time together. (Furby went home today & now Princess seems depressed. Aw.) I'm grateful that we could help the Kosters.
July 9-
Wibbit Wed at the pool. After getting stuff done around the house, I took the girls to the pool at 7. There is an inflatable obstacle course called a Wibbit. E said it was hard but she did it a few times. They had a good time. N liked playing in the kiddie pool. Afterwards, we stopped at Jayme's Paradise Ice & had snow cones. Yummy!
July 10-
It rained today, but that didn't ruin any plans. I took the girls to a 2pm magic show at the library. It was too loud for N & C. E & M enjoyed it. Later there was a Sugar Creek RS activity at Sis. Deursch's home. It was SO nice to talk to sisters! (In English)
July 11-
After a great hot morning yoga, I was able to mow the backyard. Chik-fil-A was having cow appreciation day. We all dressed up like cows & had free food for dinner. E made the spots & signs for us. I think we had a good time. Hooray for free food & family time. When we got home, I got Jackie and we went for a bike ride to Eureka. It was so fun!! I truly enjoy motorcycle riding. It's rather therapeutic and helps me be happy. :)
July 12-
Good day. Good weather too. I took E to art lessons & M to the library. I was able to do some more de-cluttering as well. After the girls went to bed Curtis & I went to a movie. We saw 'Blended'. It was a super cute movie with Drew Barrymore & Adam Sandler.
July 13-
Church, choir, farewell 'open house' for the Dragovich's, and Curtis took E & M to visit g'ma and g'pa Chandler in Muldrow. I am NOT grateful the Dragovich family is moving. However, I am grateful he was able to find a job to support his family. I am also grateful for the chance Roxanne and I had to serve together and be friends. Curtis is my hero! He left after 7 to take the Sr. Duo to Muldrow. He didn't get home til WAY late. (he said it was after 2am) Bless his heart!
July 14-
Wow! What a difference E & M being gone makes. So much less contention. And I'm able to have more energy to get stuff done. I LOVE all my girls, all the time. However, I do not love the contention. For FHE that evening, we took a little family walk around the block, after Curtis got some work done on the fence. (He's working on replacing part of the fence that broke)
July 15-
Tabitha Koster came here and had a good time playing with Clara. It was helpful b/c I was able to get dinner (and a cheesecake) ready for the missionaries. It was Elder Arroyo's b'day and he was going home on Thursday. Wendy also lent me her springform pan for the cheesecake. She's a lifesaver! I'm grateful we could have the missionaries here for dinner.
July 16-
Wendy was so kind to let Clara stay and play with Tabs while I went to Muldrow to get E & M. N slept for part of the way and I listened to an audio book. I'm grateful for good friends and audio books! I'm also grateful that my drive to and from Muldrow (Where G'ma and G'pa live) was safe. All that driving does wear me out. E & M said they had a good visit with G'ma and G'pa Chandler. What a blessing for the girls. :)
July 17-
It was "Take your kids to work day" at P&G. Curtis took E and M to work with him. :) It was almost like an 'extra' vacation day for me. (sneaky grin) Curtis said that the girls had a good time. I was able to take some time and read some library books to Clara. I LOVE being with Clara and Nancy. I'm grateful for how uplifting they can be.
July 18 -
My body and mind need yoga like I need air to live! I missed yoga Tues morning and so going Friday seemed better than ususal. Hopefully, I can work out kid swapping with someone so I can attend yoga when kids go back to school. After yoga I mowed the lawn! (Hooray for lawn mowing!) So thankful that my body is such that I'm able to help Curtis by mowing the lawn. Plus, I enjoy doing it anyway. Memorial pool had Floats n'flicks starting after 8. I took all the girls to that. It was much too cool to be in the water but they (the girls) seemed to enjoy it anyway. Especially E and M.
July 19 -
After I took E to art lessons, I did a little grocery shopping. N went with me. I'm grateful E has the chance to take art lessons. She seems to enjoy it. Later, I had a little nap (love a nap!) and went for a bike ride. (to be read as, motorcycle ride) This has not been typical July weather, but I'm not complaining. It was a good evening for a ride. :)
July 20-
Despite it's difficulty, I am thankful for my callings in R2nd, where we are currently attending. It's continued proof that we need to always trust God. We don't always know why, but that's not the point. If we follow the guidance of the spirit, we might have the chance to learn the answer of why we serve where we do. (maybe not always, but I am grateful for the bits of insight and wisdom that I glean from callings and opportunities to serve.)
July 21-
Kirsten Johnston is running for school board position and had a meeting about that. It was a nice day and afterwards, she invited our kids to swim. I'm thankful for the opportunity to know Kirsten. She's such a good example in so many ways.
July 22-
Amy Weir was out of town and so Brittany filled in for her. Its interesting to experience the different ways that yoga teachers teach a class. Each yogi brings a different mood or style to it. :) Curtis had a safe flight to Cincinati after work. (He's there for another interview) I took E and M to activity days for R2nd ward. They had a good time. I'm SO grateful God is aware of each of us and our needs.
July 23-
Ah. A good day indeed! We went to see the Museum of Native American History. In all the time we've lived here, we'd never seen it until today. The girls seemed to enjoy it more than I thought they would. :) Later I had much needed chiro appt with Dr. Sands. I'm grateful we have a new medical debit card! I also had an appt with Dr. Debbie. It was great b/c I took the bike! Motorcycle riding makes me so happy. It's also therapeutic. I appreciate Dr. Debbie and others in her profession. She has been very helpful!
July 24-
Hey! Another good day! I took C & N to the splash park in the AM, and in the afternoon, we all went to the Rogers Historic museum in downtown Rogers. The girls really seemed to enjoy that as well. (Perhaps b/c it's small and we were almost the only ones there?) Hooray! Curtis made it home later than expected, but that's ok.
July 25-
A VERY productive day. In addition to fabulous morning yoga, and mowing the lawn, Mer and I worked together to make homemade lemonade for her lemonade stand. She sold cups of lemonade and snickerdoodle cookies for 25 cents each. It was rather warm out, but I think it went well. We had some kind friends and neighbors come and buy treats from Mer. Despite all the work, it was worth doing. :) I'm grateful for these times and experiences to make memories with my children.
July 26-
We went on family vacation to St.Louis after E's art lesson. I'm grateful that we could travel safely & that Blue (Durango) is working properly.
July 27-
As evidenced by my husbands photos that were posted on FB, we had a good Sunday. We attended church in the O'Fallon ward, where Aubrie Ellis Carpenter attends with her family. It was really good to see her and visit with her family. E and M especially enjoyed it b/c they got to play with Zoe. (Aubrie's daughter) We had dinner with her family and afterwards we visited the Temple grounds. Even though we didn't go in, it was very peaceful just to be there. I'm grateful for Temples. :)
July 28-
We went to the zoo today. E and M liked it. C wanted to ride in the stroller mostly and N wanted to run around. The zoo (an other animal exhibits) gives me the chance to appreciate all the different animals God created. Whether they were meant to be in zoos or not is another matter. We can view Gods creativity in various ways. I also think that watching animals in their 'element' helps me appreciate my own body and how it functions. (Ex: we don't have long noses like elephants or crazy long necks like giraffes or ostriches, etc.) After the zoo and a little down time at the hotel, we had dinner at Cracker Barrel with Michelle and Abby. :) It was so good to see them both!
July 29-
Today we saw the magnificent Gateway to the West, aka The St. Louis Arch. It's been a while since I've seen the arch and it seems that with time, I appreciate it more. Or maybe gain new perspective about it. I'm grateful for the vision of those who created it and their ability to fulfill it.
We also visited the ever popular (and memorable) Magic House. It was so much fun taking the girls to a place that I enjoyed when I was their age. (Well, probably 8 or 9) Curtis and I divided and conquered. E & M were with me and Curtis took C and N. Good times! Good memories! I learned that the Magic House is 35 yrs old. wow! (very close to my age)
July 30-
Today, before heading home, we visited another memorable place from my childhood. We went to Grant's Farm. There were quite a few things about it that I didn't remember. (parking, tram ride, standing in line just to get in) But, there were plenty of other things there that were worth seeing. We saw an elephant show and an animal excursion show. E and M liked the animal shows. Not so sure C and N were interested. Considering differences in age, I'll take the 50% of my kids that enjoyed it as a plus. :) Mer especially liked the clydesdale horses. They really are impressive.
Curtis' sister Loretta invited us for dinner. We stopped at their place on our way home. It's so good to have time to visit with family and friends.
July 31-.
Home again home again. We got in late last night. We had safe travels. I'm grateful my husband is so great! He did all the driving. And was up even later after we got home. He's such an excellent care taker and provider for our family. How did I get to be so blessed to be married to him? Another reason he's so great (reason # 256) is that he insisted on taking this little vacation, despite the shortage of funds. We can make more money, but we can't buy memories with our children and family. :)
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