Life as we know it

 Ok, so I've been gently reminded that I have been very negligent in posting.  I sometimes forget, I guess, that 95% of my family lives far away and doesn't have a clue what is going on in our lives.  I've become very bad about emailing, calling, and posting.  I shall try and improve this.  I blame Netflix.  Thank you Phil.

So last Tuesday evening was Matthew's first soccer game.  Since then we've played 3 games, tonight will be the 4th.  A week from Sunday will the the final game.  Rushed season.

These were from the 1st game. 

Matthew wore his overalls for the first time this fall.  Poppa surprised him with a pocket watch to wear in them.  It was so stinking cute.

 Last Friday we played his 2nd game.

I think he's starting to get into it.  A little.  I didn't get anything good from Sunday's game.  Maybe that's because a good friend of his was on the opposite team.  This meant zombie tag in the middle of

 of the game.  Why not right?

 

 

 Saturday we were so blessed with a visit from my Aunt Bobbie!  We just love her.  I wish we saw her more.

 I'd also like to mention the best KSU/OU game ever was played it night!

 It was a wonderful day.

 After supper we took a walk on the trail.  It was the first day of fall and beautiful.

Life is going ok.  Phil is waiting to see what will become of him again.  I found out a full time aide spot is opening up.  I'm waiting to see if it's worth making the move and working 5 hours less a week.  This fall just seems sortof unsettled.  I'm hoping it all falls into place very soon.

Greeting from Texas!

We were home for about 5 days and took back off for a road trip to TX.  This time Matthew did not throw up, yea!  We've been here for about 2 weeks and have had a lot of fun.  The boys have had fun boxing and bowling on the Wii.

 As well as mastering MarioKart.

 They really get into it.

 Here is Matthew's bedroom.  He wanted everyone to see it.  *photo by Matthew

 The second weekend we were here, they had lifeguard competitions. 

 Find Phil in this photo.  It's like "Where's Waldo."  I almost walked up to the wrong guy when we got there!

 We've been bowling for real.

 I'm sad to say that Matthew skunked me not once, but twice!  This was our first game.  Last night, he beat me by 10.  I was too ashamed to take a photo of that.

 We've canoodled with Isabelle.  We love her so much we bought her, her very own water fountain.

 Since our lawn is dead, we've tried watering it, which Matthew has loved playing in.

 All the old toys being available again, has been very fun for him.

 What a wild mustang he has!

 We've also been furniture shopping.  Here is what we are probably going to buy.  The boys seem to like it.  They "fell" asleep in it.  Phil fell in love with a massive entertainment center that's $2,500.  I believe that he'll be wanting that for awhile.

Today Matthew got to go to work with Phil.  Here they are walking out the door.  Matthew didn't get to swim because the chemicals were not right, but they watched an awesome movie, according to Matthew.

Last night Matthew really wanted to play MarioKart.  We said that we couldn't because his Dad had broke the disc in half, because he got so mad at the game, the night before.  Matthew said, "Did you really?"  "Yup" we said.  He got up, marched over to the Wii and pushed the eject button.  He crossed his arms like a parent and faintly tapped his foot.  When the disc came out whole, he turned around, looked at us sternly and said, "Does this look broken to you?"  That was it.  We died laughing.

In other news, we decided for me to keep my job with the school.  Matthew and I will be headed back home again in a few days to prepare for the 1st day of school, Aug 16th.  Our baby is growing up.  I may cry.  We've already done the back to school shopping here.  I wanted to take a photo, Phil vetoed it.  I suppose it's silly, but I wanted a visual record of it.

Camping and Reading

 Yesterday Matthew and I made a big purchase.  We finally bought a little non-fancy tent that we can erect in the yard.  It's rainfly can be left off the top, so you can sleep under the stars and still be inside mosquito netting.

Mamaw and Hershey came in to visit us.

We posed...

...and Hershey posed.

At 7 last night, we went to the summer reading programs kick off party, at the lake.  This year's theme is Dream Big! and has a strong astrological theme.  We made flour stars, moons, and Matthew creations on the road.

The obligatory shot in a rocket.

The kids played games.  Here they are showing how big the solar system is.  The guy in blue on the far left is the sun.  Matthew on the far right is Mars.

Now they are trying to rotate like the solar system.

Somehow the solar system compressed.  Must be a deep space thing.

Here they are playing blind man's buff with the kids making nocturnal animal noises.  Matthew is on the left, blindfolded.  We also got to look through telescopes.  We got to see the sun's spots, Mars, Saturn (and yes we could see the rings and 2 moons), and the moon.  It was fabulous!

Everyone was given glow bracelets so cars wouldn't run over anyone in the dark.

Here is Matthew's.  I thought it made a cool picture.

We ate s'mores, fire popped popcorn, drank lemonade and listened to scary stories around the campfire.  At 10:45, we finally got in the car and drove home.  We washed faces, brushed teeth and then it was lights out and into the sleeping bags.  I don't feel that air mattresses make for real camping, but after a night on the hard ground, I think I may finally be old enough I have to get one.  Matthew was worried about coyotes, but decided that Scamp would keep them at bay.  (Scamp did spend most of the night sleeping by the tent.)  Matthew slept the whole night in the tent.  I was proud of him.  We had the chance to camp at the lake for free, but I thought that for the first time out, our yard would be a better bet.  And it was.  And tons of fun!

Animals or their parts

Our old dog, that we thought we were going to lose, Simba, has really recovered! He hasn't been able to journey the trail for about a year, but is now well enough to do so. In getting there he got the muddiest feet! (The vet said his teeth were bad, but the reason he was so skinny was very old age. Well, we decided to do dental surgery anyway and lo and behold, he had all but 6 teeth pulled and had a raging infection. The "if you want to" surgery was actually a "necessary for life" surgery. He has packed back on the weight, has pep in his step, and is back to being the master of his domain.)

Probably a coyote skeleton right in the middle of the trail.

Turkey track. We'd never seen one before.

Owl on a sign coming home one night. He didn't like my flash and flew off after I got this shot.

Unusual track on the trail. I'm sure the animal is very common.

I thought I found egg halves until we looked closer. A tiny animal skull and pelvis. It was so fringy and delicate.

Interesting texture on the inside.

Geese have been feasting on fields, in large numbers, for about 3 weeks.

A herd of turkeys apparently wanders our trail too!