What we've been up to...

The days turn into a week, and then two, and I realize I have not updated the blog. We have been extremely busy, with every weekend of July and the first two of August packed with activities. Let's backtrack a little bit.

July 12 we took a mini-trip to Richmond to meet Granny, Pop and cousin Ethan at the Metro Richmond Zoo. Do not be confused by the name...this zoo is not in Richmond, but on the Chesterfield-Amelia county border. We chose a rather steamy day to go to the zoo, but despite the heat, the boys had a blast. They loved seeing all the animals, and of course spending time with Granny, Pop, and Ethan. Hunter and Ethan were joined at the hip it seemed, running off to see everything as quickly as possible. Garrett took a slower approach and actually stopped to look at the animals. Ethan really liked the penguins and the turtles. Garrett LOVED the monkeys (he knows a kindred spirit) and Hunter loved...well, let me give you a quote. "Pygmy marmoset...I have ALWAYS wanted to see a pygmy marmoset!" For anyone with a toddler who watches Go, Diego, Go! you probably are familiar with the marmoset. But anyone else has no idea about such creatures. But, one of his life's goals was to see a pygmy marmoset, so Hunter's day was made.

After lunch, we headed back to the zoo, and the boys decided they wanted to climb The Coconut Climb. We really did not expect that Hunter would be able to climb much, and we thought Garrett would scale the tree in no time at all. Keep in mind, this tree is about 25 feet high. I'll let the pictures tell the tale..

Yep, Hunter got to the top! Garrett did not get all the way to the top, but the attendant said Garrett got higher than any other child his size...that made Garrett proud. Take a look...

The next weekend, my women's Bible Study group rallied together to have a yard sale. We were raising money to support a family at our church who are missionaries with the group Allow the Children. They set up orphanages in such countries as Nepal and Thailand. This was a lot of fun working together...and we have raised over $400! We still have a lot of clothing left that was in new or nearly new condition, so we are going to try to sell them to consignment shops to raise even more funds. We are hopeful for $500 total!

This past weekend we went to Family Fun Day at Thousand Trails Camp Ground. This was a carnival put on by B and W (Brian's employer)...there were rides, bouncy houses, carnival games, raffles, and food. Lots of food...all you can eat! I was in heaven! It was really warm, but not as hot as in years past. At least we had a breeze.

Yesterday, we went to a pool party with our drama team. That was just a fun time of great food and fellowship. The boys had a blast swimming. Hunter decided to be brave and jump off the diving board without his arm floats on. He is getting to be a decent swimmer.

I am trying to get Hunter ready for his first day of school in three weeks from today! I overcame my biggest hurdle of finding him some uniform shirts. A family at our church was selling their sons' shirts, so I contacted them to find out how many shirts they had and how much they wanted for them. They had 13 shirts (long and short sleeved polos, size medium and large) and only wanted $30 for the lot! These shirts retail new for $15-17 each! I am so incredibly grateful for this!

It doesn't seem like I did much during the weekdays, and then I recalled why...I had some ugly virus that started out as an ordinary cold (sore throat, congestion) that quickly turned into a sinus infection. To top it all off, then I lost my voice for about a week. It was not a fun time, but I think the boys didn't mind my voice being gone. But, too bad for them, I have my voice back now!!! Well, that is about it. I will post again after our trip to visit Uncle Paul and Aunt Tammy at their lake house!

Let the countdown(s) begin...

August 18th will be here before you know it (and probably before I am ready!). In case you are wondering that is the day Hunter starts at Timberlake Christian School (TCS). So, as a cost conscious, frugal, deal-seeking mom, I was forced to partake of the school supply sale at WalMart. Please keep in mind, I detest going to WalMart, no matter how cheap something is. I think this is largely because their Great Value/Sam's Choice brands of EVERYTHING either contain or are processed with one of the following:soybeans, peanuts, tree nuts or ALL OF THE ABOVE! I get a bit aggravated by that, but I digress...I could not help myself, I had to go today. What was so important that I would dare take my delightful (read unruly) boys to WalMart...$.05 notebooks, $.22 crayons, glue sticks and glue bottles. Hunter now has 10 spiral notebooks for school (I don't know if he needs them or not, but he has them nonetheless), 2 bottles of glue, 2 glue sticks, at least one box of crayons (3 more will stay at home...Garrett likes to color!), markers and colored pencils. ALL of this was less than $4. To the boys' credit, they were very well behaved at WalMart, and the store in Bedford is always so nice (by WalMart standards) that I had an enjoyable trip.

So here is the countdown...
39 days before Hunter starts school!
30 days before our trip to Myrtle Beach! (so really 30 days left to prepare for back-to-school)
31 days before my 12th wedding anniversary!

This is overwhelming me right at the moment!