BUSY!

What a whirlwind the last three weeks have been! We are so grateful for all of the help we had moving! Poor dad really had a work out I think. Mom and Dad and Marilyn came over for the weekend. Dad and Marilyn helped move a lot of stuff and Mom got our kitchen put together. Matt, Tim and Amy also helped unload. I have to say though, Mom I just found a missing piece to my food chopper.  I am guessing it was more me than you, but I have been looking for it about a week now.  We are down to just a few boxes of books and files. We also have some pictures left to hang but we aren't completely ready to start poking holes in the walls.  I do have to say that mowing our lawn is a real pain in the a$$!!  Without trying to come across as arrogant - it is just to damn big.  The first time I mowed it was still smokey out, made it through a little over 1/2 of the front yard and had to use my inhaler and was beginning to think I am really out of shape.  Tonight was the 3rd time I mowed the front. Gary helped do the edging. I think I have him convinced that we need to have a riding mower! Or we really are out of shape or just getting old.  I don't even know how to describe it but it is definitely a workout.  The boys take care of the back and all the trimming.  It is definitely going to be a family effort.

 

School is back in full swing and it is hard to believe both boys are in high school now.  Anthony is driving to school and from what I hear makes a dead sprint to his car when school is out so that he can get out of the parking lot before the chaos begins.  He has only had to bring Adrian home one day so far and was trying to get Adrian to bring his homework to the cafeteria at lunchtime so that Anthony could put it in the car (Adrian can't leave school grounds), and then proceeded to tell Adrian he would have to run to the car when school was out.  If Adrian didn't want to do that then Anthony would be in the church parking lot across the street from the school and Adrian would just have to meet him there.  It was pretty funny listening to the process.  Evidently that parking lot is a mess at the end of the day.  To Anthony's credit I have had a few mom's say that they won't go in the parking lot at the end of the day either.  They will park across the street too.

 

I don't know if I had posted anything about Anthony having his first job.  He ended up painting for our neighbors for about a month - something we should have thought about in May.  He needs to let them know what he can work once he gets his school load figured out, but they should be able to use him Saturday's during the school year as they typically finish their day by 3 during the week.  He really enjoyed it.  Our neighbor, his boss, Mike, is really into the booming bass stereos right now.  He has been buidling speaker boxes and was constantly working on his stereo.  One day Anth came  home and proceeded to tell us how Mike turned up the stereo and they drove down the rode with MC Hammer You Can't Touch This thumping.  Anthony thought it was pretty funny.  He said everything was vibrating and thumping.

 

Caitlin & Brandon came over for Labor Day weekend.  We went to the Spirit of Boise Balloon Night Glow and to Merritts for dinner/breakfast afterward.  Only one of my pictures turned out very well.  I think Caitlin will be posting a few more.  Merritts is one of those dive type restaurants but has awesome food.  The boys weren't to excited at first but really enjoyed their food. 

In her attempt to get a good picture Adrian offered for Caitlin to sit on his shoulders.  Of course then Gary & Anthony had to try and they about landed in a lady's lap who was sitting on a scooter/cart behind them.  Needless to say she didn't give them a very pleasant look!   

 



 

Adrian has had 3 football games so far.  His first two were back to back.  They won the first one but lost the second poorly.  There were a lot of coaching mistakes on the 2nd game and I think the kids just tuned out.  The first game started at 4:30 and by the time we got home it was 10.  No one had had dinner and other than the granola bar and string cheese the coach gave the kids at 3 none of them had eaten since lunch @ 11:30.  Factor in a full 2nd day of school and I am sure they were just done.  Adrian plays first string center.  Since there is 85 kids on the freshman team they do rotate in and out pretty good.  Of course every parent wants and thinks their kid should be out on the field the whole time but it just isn't possible.  The picture below I took was just before the game started on Thursday.  They played and beat Vallivue High which is in Caldwell.  It was a 30 minute drive on the interstate from our house to the school.  Felt like we might as well gone on to Oregon.

 

Our/Gary's biggest project this past week has been the garage.  Gary had ordered some Craftsman cabinets and they came in last Friday.  Gary, Brandon, and Anthony spent a good part of Saturday getting them put together and organized.  We are able to park all three cars in the garage and still have plenty of room to move around.  I am so excited!!!  I haven't parked in a garage in 5 years!  It is the little things in life.....I won't be scrapping windows at 6 a.m this winter.

 

 

One of our purchases for our house was a projector.  Both Marilyn and I didn't really see the need for a projector and thought a tv would suffice just fine but the guys were convinced.  Needless to say once they got it hooked up we were convinced too.  The picture and size is absolutely amazing.  We have watched a lot of movies and this will be our entertainment for the next several months.  I took the pictures below tonight and it is kind of hard to get a good idea of the picture it projects.  We don't have a screen because the picture that is projected was bigger than the screen we initially bought so we decided to go without.  You can't see the texture on the wall unless you are up close and looking at a white part of the image.  

They had me take a picture with Anthony standing next to the picture so that you would be able to get an idea of the size.  Anth is now 6 ft tall.

 

Well that is about all.  Oh no wait I just rememered one thing I was going to write about.  Earlier today I went to the library and when I checked out I said I needed to get new library cards since we now live in Meridian rather than Boise.  The lady was helping me update the kids' cards and I said we can just go ahead and delete Caitlin's since she hasn't lived here for 3 years.  The response I got.......Sorry we can't delete her account because she has an $8 fine from April 2009!!  I couldn't believe it.  I called to tell her and she just laughed.  She says mom you should just be happy that I like to read unlike Adrian who I don't think has read a book since the 4th grade.  She also went on to say that it was ok because at least she is consistent.  She has a library fine in Logan too!