Standiford Family

Summer is coming to an end.  Next week school starts.  We filled our day with all kinds of activities.  This morning we had to go to Meg’s new school because somehow they didn’t have her in the system at all.  Then they made a schedule for her only to have it be for a 5th grader and not 6th.  She now has the right schedule.  Today was the last day my kids would get to play with our little friend Finn, since they’ll be in school when he comes over.  They played on the trampoline, the neighbors’ playset, and blew bubbles.

We had lunch, dropped Finn at his house, and went swimming with our friends in green water.  (I forgot the camera.  I’m sure it would have made an interesting picture.)  We spent two hours at the pool and headed home.  I had some girlfriends coming over and Mickey decided to take the kids out for the evening.  They went to dinner and then watched Shrek Forever After.  They came home and went to bed after getting the mandatory snack.

I chatted with my friends until we were all very tired.  (I also found out that I might have poison ivy.  No idea where I got it from.)  Then I posted this lovely bit of news and now I’m heading to bed so I can start another busy day.

The kids aren’t the only ones around here getting new clothes.  Since Mickey has joined the “suit club” at church he had to go out and find a few suits.  We went to Kohl’s this week and found him two.  One on clearance and the other on sale.  Can’t beat that.

This morning after cleaning the church the kids went home with Grandma and Grandpa.  Mickey and I did a little shopping and came home.  To a quiet house.  After we had lunch we couldn’t decide what we wanted to do.  Go see a movie?  Pull weeds in the yard/garden?  What?  We finally decided to go on a bike ride.

We had a great time.  We both got pretty sweaty and could feel the achy muscles in the end but it was worth it.  (I loved that I could beat him going down hills.)  We ended up going 5 miles.  I can’t wait to do it again.

This evening we got to go out.  Alone.  My mom came over while Mickey and I went to a 70’s-80’s dance at church (for the youth).  We both dressed the part.  Mickey in 70’s and me in 80’s.  The dance wasn’t all that fun but for once I really enjoyed dressing up and going out.  If we ever get a picture I’ll attach it.

Are you or someone you know into Pokemon?  Our three kids are.  Meg is the one that started it all a few years ago.  Mickey has tried to understand and play some games with her.  I, on the other hand, cannot seem to grasp the purpose of a world with weird creatures that evolve into different forms.  Which is odd because I like sci-fi/paranormal stuff.  Anyway.

Somehow big sister Megan has influenced the reds and they all have Pokemon paraphernalia laying around.  There are even fights (can you believe it?) over what card belongs to who.  Very common occurrence.  When we go to the library Meg almost always gets Pokemon movies, if one is in.  I swear she’s probably watched all of them 10 times already.  It makes her happy.  So that’s the potd.  A Pokemon movie.

Meg and Grace have known each other since Meg was just over a year and Grace was just a few months old.  They grew up together.  Played together countless times.  Over the years they have remained friends without getting together all that often.  It’s so sad that Grace is moving away.  That’s life living here.

This morning Mickey was called as the Second Counselor in the Bishopric.  Our lives are going to change.  I know we will be blessed, but that doesn’t mean life will be easy.

That was the theme of the day but the potd doesn’t reflect that at all.  First about the pool.  The girls were invited to a birthday/farewell party for their friend Grace.  The party was way south of town so I decided Kade and I could spend some quality time with my sister-in-law and her kids that live close by.  Everyone had a lot of fun.  The girls did not want to leave when I went to pick them up.  They somehow managed to get an extra 30 minutes of swimming out of me.

We made the ride home dropping off a few friends along the way.  We ate dinner and had Family Home Evening.  Meg had the activity for the night.  She picked a bike ride.  Mickey and I didn’t know how this would work since Mat doesn’t really want to ride her bike and Kade’s bike no longer has training wheels and didn’t want to do the whole ride being held.  Long story short, we made it around a huge block without anyone getting hurt.  (That’s a big improvement from our last attempt at a family bike ride.)  When we came home I noticed a butterfly fluttering around the butterfly bush we have out front.  I ran for the camera because I have been waiting for an opportunity to shoot one.  Here it is.

The little bike ride had left me wanting a longer one.  I put Kade to bed after he and Mickey finished putting my new dresser together and went for a ride around the neighborhood.  It was so much fun.  There are all kinds of hills and curvy roads to drive on.  I think a third of the ride I got to coast but I really had to work to get up the next hill.  The only way it could have been better is if Mickey had come with me.  Maybe next time.

Kade was a little bummed he didn’t get much at IKEA over the weekend.  We did find him something at Target though, but ordered it on line.  It arrived today instead of next Monday like the order confirmation said.  Kade was whooping and jumping around with excitement.  He and Mickey had a project to work on together.

In the meantime, we had a rather busy day.  This morning Joey and Evie (my nephew and niece) came over to play for a few hours.  Then we went out with our Virginia cousins to see “How to Train Your Dragon“.  The movie was much better than the book.  Probably because the screen writers only used bits and piece of the book.  Then we decided to do a child swap.  Meg went to spend the night with Abby while Emma came to spend the night with Mat.  We’ll meet back up to swap again sometime tomorrow.  I’m sure we’ll have some tired girls tomorrow.

Back to the apprenticeship…whenever Mickey is working on some project that requires tools Kade gets as involved as he can.  Today he helped put his headboard together.  Tomorrow they’ll do the nightstand.

I’m sure these hands will have loads of experience by the time he’s a teenager.  Especially with the way we buy furniture requiring assembly.

Added the next morning.  Kade:  ”Mom, sleeping in my new bed was awesome.  And I didn’t fall out.”

Our yard has some landscaping that I’m sure was done when the house was built.  There is a nice garden area that has strawberry plants and I think some parsley growing in it.  There are also a few scraggly shrubs, a rose bush, a few unwanted mulberry trees, and lots of weeds.  (The neighbor said the previous owner didn’t do much with the garden.  Big surprise.)  I went out sometime last month and picked a garbage bag full of weeds.  I guess weeds grow faster than anything because now the garden is very overgrown.  Mickey spent some time out there this afternoon.  Kade was assisting, handing him the shovel or loppers.

Meanwhile I tackled some bushes before Mickey could use electric trimmers on them.  (I didn’t want them hacked up.)  I pruned until my thumb was numb.

This morning I took off all the wallpaper in the kids’ bathroom.  I can’t wait to paint!  It’s going to be a fun bathroom.

As I mentioned yesterday I took the kids shopping to spend their hard earned cash.  We spent about an hour and a half at Target this morning.  We looked at all kinds of things.  We all picked up some clothes and the kids found something to spend their money on.  Mattey got a Bella Sara horse.  Megan bought a Pokemon book.  Kade found an action figure from Mighty World.  (I just ran back to Target and got four different MW sets.  They are great little play sets and they were on clearance!)

This afternoon Tia came to play with the kids while Mickey and I spent about an hour in the BMV getting new driver’s licenses.  The sad part was we waited over 30 minutes in line just to check in.  Once we were seated we were out in about 20 minutes.  One more joy of moving.

Our friends, the Stones, invited us to their pool for a party.  They have a son Meg’s age and a son Kade’s age.  I took the camera thinking I would get at least one good picture for today.  Well, I couldn’t decide so there are four.  Eventually when I learn how to edit photos (I have a free class waiting for me to take) I will put all four together to make one.  Since I’m tired and clueless right now they’re all be separate.

Here we have a flying man.

Kade looks like he’s glowing since he’s in the sunlight.  (He was so pale compared to all the other kids.)

Meg diving.  If you look closely you can see she’s taking a big breath.  In the next shot her cheeks were all puffed out with air.

Mattey, actually happy in the water.  Check out those cute freckles.

As for me, I stayed dry and took pictures.  I got some chatting in too.