Because he's still so cute!

Here's what's wrong with customer service today. They have cats answering the phones! T and I had just talked about the time we slept in A's room and I opened my eyes and Deisel was hanging from her curtains. Then he tipped the lamp over. Then I looked over and he was laying on the phone and the voice was saying, "If you'd like to make a call please hang up and try your call again. If you'd like to make a call...." Diesel thought he'd really done something great! Brings whole new meaning to the term, on the phone. Diesel was literally on the phone.

Do you have a caption for this pic? Some of ours were, customer service, can I help you? and Operator, can you connect me with Fred's fish market?

Because he's so cute!

Hello! Do you come here often? You're kind of cute.

Would you care to dance?

Oh, they're playing the Tango!

Ha cha cha!!

And dip!

Thanks for the dance! Glowing in the limelight.

Picture Post

I had an optical migraine this morning. Bright flashy zig-zag lights across my field of vision. It's all gone now. No more flashy lights. I don't know why I get them, have gotten them since I was pregnant with R. But I'm so glad I get the aura without the headache rather than the headache without the aura!

We have never had cable or satellite and just use an antena with converter box. Now J has discovered netflix thru the wii. He is a happy camper! Oh, speaking of camp, he did really well at camp last week and would like to go again next year. woot!

Let's back up a bit though. Here is J getting ready to fish at my uncle's pond in WI. He can't believe I made him bait his own hook. I must say I am much better at it than he is. I don't like to take the fish off the hook but I do bait my own hook.

The cousins.

We caught some little bitty guys and threw them back in as bait. Then we caught some bigger ones. For J it's all about the experience and what an experience it was! Thanks Uncle G!

My dad cleaned the fish and my mom fried them the next morning for breakfast. Don't you love her "apron"?

My cousin and her daughter getting ready to make pancakes to go with the fish. Thanks to my cousin and her family for putting up with J and I.

The wedding is the real reason we made the trip. We were happy for the fishing, kringle, cheese curds and chocolate cheese, and the rhubarb (thanks uncle K!!) but the important thing was family.

My dad and another cousin comparing their "belly bumps". Cousin has since given birth to a baby boy. Dad still has his belly bump.

Water ski shooters. Hey, it was WI.

T got the deck done while I was gone. Saturday morning he finished the steps and decided to get the doors in. J and I pulled the trim off the window.

We cut the sheetrock off and removed the insulation that I had stapled in there over 8 years ago. 8 years. Where does the time go?!

The window is out!

Ok. Here is where blogger messed up. This is supposed to be the last pic.

Getting ready to put the doors in.

Cutting off the last board on the bottom and then ready for the doors (which you've already seen-thanks blogger.)

We are still, still here

We are here. J and I took a quick trip to WI with my parents for a family wedding. A and T stayed here to hold down the fort, work and finish a deck. We got back and hit the ground running.

J and I had a good time in WI. We got to fish in my uncle's pond and caught some big (big to us) fish which my mom fried up the next day. Good stuff. We also got kringle, chocolate cheese, and cheese curds. Yummy.

I got to see some family members. The wedding was beautiful. J got to skip the wedding reception and have a Luau party at my cousin's house with her kids and some other cousins, thanks to their grandma. Thanks Grandma S and Grandpa H!

J got on the bus Monday morning to go to camp. I could tell he was nervous and excited. This is huge for all of us. That he would ask to go to camp and spend his time away from us really something. He has not wanted to be away at all so far and T and I have only had short spurts of time alone together since J came home nearly 2 years ago. The first (and only so far) report I got was that he was having a good time. He met up with a buddy from school and since the son of the lady who watches him in the summer had to come home from camp sick on the first day (poor M!) I'm glad J found his friend from school.  I also have another friend who went as a volunteer so she is watching out for him too.

T and I have enjoyed our time together so far. A is here but she is gone a lot. We both worked Monday and Tuesday but the evenings have been nice. We listened to a special speaker at church last night and he was so funny. We really enjoyed him.

Diesel has a nasty upper respiratory infection. He sounds awful! But it hasn't slowed him down much so he must not feel too bad. He just can't breathe. This is his second URI in only 4 months of life. I hope and pray he's not prone to them and that this is just a fluke. I feel bad for him.

I will post pics of the trip and the deck when I have more time. I have no idea when that will be. I'm off to shop between raindrops!

We're still here

Sorry it's been kind of quiet here. We are busy, busy, busy. J and I are getting ready to head up to WI tomorrow with my parents. We are hanging with the cousins and going to a wedding. I will also be shopping for kringle and cheese curds. J heads to camp the day after we get back from WI.

I was helping J pack earlier and we had shorts and t-shirts and swimsuits laid out. Then I decided to check the weather for the next few days. 60's for highs?!? That's our lows. We had to re-pack.

T is working on the deck now that his time isn't consumed with fixing cars. He's getting a lot done on it each evening.

A is working a lot and we just about have everything she needs turned in for college. Whew! I'll be glad when she's signed up for classes and this is behind us. So far, she is loving her car.

R and JT are planning a trip here in July. I hope it works out because I'd really like to see them. They will leave the cats at home this time. At least that's the change, subject to plan.

Diesel is loving being outside. We still make him stay in at night but his choice is outside as much as we will let him. He made a hole in the screen door and thinks that it's his own kitty door. The problem is when the inside door is closed. Hahaha.

Elvis has left the building

If you've been reading this blog for any amount of time you know that we name our cars. It started as sort of a fluke a few years ago and some names have really stuck and some not so much. The little black geo prizm that "shaked, rattled and rolled" down the road was immediately named Elvis and it really stuck. Not long after we got him I was backing up and one of the girls said, "Don't hit Elvis!" like he was a living being.

We were trying to figure out how to pack some stuff one time and one of the girls said, "That's not all gonna fit in Elvis's butt!" (referring to the trunk). Elvis was part of our lives for three years. We paid very little for him and he gave us way more than our money's worth but I am sad to report that Elvis gave up the ghost about a month ago. Sniff, sniff.

T worked on him for a couple weeks but just couldn't get him going and parts were going to be more than he was worth. Financially worth, that is. A wrecker picked him up yesterday and I'm glad I was at work because it was kind of sad.

A is now the owner (well, she will be when she pays us off-hope it's still running well then, lol) of another older car. This one is white. It's a bit sportier than Elvis. I'm just glad I don't have to share Vanna Blue anymore. Although, I told her she should write a song about driving her mama's mini van. What shall we call it? We have a cat named Diesel so there's no telling what name the car will get.

Summer mode

Well, we are officially in summer mode. School is out. It's hot, hot, hot. Daily dips in the pool are a must and anytime we can get to the lake is a bonus.

We made our first trip to the lake yesterday. We all got a little sunburned (except J-;) ) but not too bad. A pretty much got the hang of skiing. She tried several times last summer but she actually got the feel for it yesterday. Her boyfriend tried it for the first time and did very well. He's so funny but he always pulled up on the rope and then fell backwards. His first hard fall he said, "Oh, I feel the 'g-string force' of that one!" and the second time he fell he said, "I'm afraid to poot!"

The lake was great. The waterfall was gorgeous. The boat ran. We skied and tubed and swam. My family wouldn't let me ski but I ended up hurting my wrist trying to save my dad's boat from hitting the dock. What was he thinking? I was just reacting. The boat was saved and my wrist is ok. But I'm going to try skiing next time.

The pool was opened the latest that we've ever opened it but it was very clean and it's been so hot that we pretty much got right in. That doesn't happen very often. Woot!

J's baseball team are neck in neck with another team. They have each won 4 games against each other so now they have another "play off" game tomorrow night. Diesel is supposed to be nuetered tomorrow and I work. T will do what he can to help pull all that off and we still have great child care in place this summer thanks to Mrs. G. That always helps.

J is planning on going to camp for a week in June. We are all very excited about that.

A is thoroughly enjoying her job and loves to work. If she loves to work, can anyone explain her room to me then? We are still trying to get all her college stuff lined up. Sigh...she had dual enrollment so we have to get those credits to transfer plus her transcripts.

T is working today because of some server issues. Sigh...he still hasn't gotten Elvis running for A either. Or the deck done nor the patio. Think he's feeling a bit stressed?

I've been watering my tomato plants every morning along with the flowers by the house. Yep. Hot, baseball, pools, the lake, watering plants. We are definitely in summer mode.

It's gonna be a long summer...

Between the kid and the kitten, I'm doomed. Deisel has decided that he likes to go outside. It hasn't been a problem so far. Until today. I let him out and did a few things inside and then went out to do some things. I heard Diesel crying but couldn't locate him. I finally looked up and there he was in a tree.

I had made J turn the tv off so he came outside about the time I discovered Diesel in the tree. He decided to "save" the kitten. I warned him that the branches weren't big enough to hold him and that the cat would figure out how to get down. He climbed the tree anyway. I told him to grab the kitten by the scruff of the neck but he thought I meant around his neck. He grabbed him around the middle so as not to strangle the kitten. Then he lowered him down some and dropped him. Diesel was fine. J's descent was a little more abrupt than he planned too because the branches really weren't big enough to hold him. Sigh...scared me half to death. He has scrapes and a cut.

I decided to clean out my closet. J found my boot from my last stress fracture and wore it around the house. He was clomping around saying, "Arghghgh, Mateys!!" Then he found the eye patch. He asked me if it was magic because if he looked into it, it looked like the tv when the antenna box isn't on. He cracks me up.

Then he added a cowboy hat, robe and sword to his ensemble. Someone commented that the toilet in the background is a nice touch, too.

He played for a while with the kitten and then asked, "Do dis cat know how to play dead?" He played for a while more and then informed me that cats don't make good pirates. It's going to be a long summer. Someone suggested day camps, put him in the pool and just don't let him take the cat with him. Lol!!!