Busy, busy, busy

Mike and I have been busy searching for cars, driving to look at cars, and test driving cars. All of this car shopping isn't for us. Our two oldest daughters are both car shopping. Their price range is similar enough that they are often considering the same vehicles. So far, we haven't had any problems. Both girls are trying to sound out each other before they make arrangements to go see a possibility. Neither girl has had any success yet, but we are persevering.

My mom is having her last chemotherapy session tomorrow. This chemo series appears to have been successful. Her lumps are gone and her energy has remained fairly high. I'm so thankful that she hasn't gone through as many problems this time as she has had on her previous chemo sessions.

I forced asked all the children to go letterboxing with me a few days ago. Steve spent most of his time trying to be irritating. Unfortunately for him, I find his antics humorous. We successfully located two boxes before the heat and mosquitoes forced us to quit for the day. We haven't been able to do much boxing this summer. The heat has been prohibitive and sharing my SUV with 2 other drivers has left me home-bound. A dear friend and I are going letterboxing on this Thursday and my kids have volunteered to go boxing with me all day on Saturday for my birthday. Okay, I bribed them by promising them pizza from our all-time favorite pizza place in our former town. I hate to think of the calories, but it will be my birthday, so they don't count.

Our family begins our annual organize, throw out, and clean the house job in August. Mike has offered to take care of the basement, which really needs a thorough sorting. I'll be culling through books and resources for school, deep cleaning my bedroom, and working in all the shared jobs. The kids will all be tackling their bedrooms. Everyone (except Mike) will be organizing the kitchen, family room, linen closets, craft areas, living room, and dining room. I'm planning on getting it all finished by the end of August. It's so relaxing to start the new school year organized in a very clean house.

Amy helped me make artist cards today. She's not a paper-craft person, so it was especially nice of her to bond with me this afternoon while embossing paper for me. She has been really tired. It's been weeks since she had a day off of work and she's working 9:00 am until midnight 5-6 days a week, between her two jobs. The lack of sleep was causing her to be pretty silly this afternoon. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. I'm really enjoying my children right now. They are such interesting people with such distinct personalities. It's nice to be beyond the point where all my time is spent on crowd control and cleaning.

Paige and Allie have been learning cheers from one of their neighborhood friends. The neighbor's sister will be a cheerleader next year and taught her sister some of the cheers. Paige and Allie entered the family room when everyone was watching Doctor Who and began to do some cheerleading routines, including towers and throwing each other into the air. It was quite a show.

Joe has developed a huge interest in playing volleyball. I thought that he interest would wane after a week or two. He is still constantly looking for volleyball players. It's been fun getting outside and playing with him. Several of our neighbors come out to watch us whenever we play. I would gladly not have an audience, but will put up with it for Joe's sake.