The end is near, or Summer is finally here.

Finally after what has felt like forever, the end of the school year is near. The students were dismissed today at 1:00 and sometime tomorrow I will be dismissed for the summer. Normally I love teaching but for some reason the past two months have been very long. I need to summer break to recover and gear up for next year. Of course with school being out, comes the pushing of Sarah to get 4-H projects done. I have also signed the girls up for swimming lessons and joined the YWCA. It was cheaper to join the Y then just pay for swimming lessons. I have decided that this means that I am going to take some time for me. I plan on taking at least one class and maybe going swimming once or twice this summer. I am starting to relax, just thinking about this relaxing time that I plan on having. I also hope to get some scrapbooking done. Goal is to get Disney album and Sarah's albums done by next May.

Great America

On June 3rd Sarah and Kristen were scheduled to dance at Great America. This is the 5th year for Sarah and the second time for Kristen. We decided to leave after school on the 1st and make a weekend of it. Kurt took the day off from work so that he could get the car packed and ready to go. It was the last day of school for Sarah and Kristen and I still have a week to go but as soon as I got home we took off. The drive out on Friday was very interesting. Earlier in the day a severe storm had gone through the area. This storm caused tornado's to touch down both to the north and to the south of us. By the time we left it had already gone through, but just are luck we drove into it after about 45 minutes of driving. Finally we drove through the storm and we were able to stay just ahead of the storm for the rest of the trip. Just as we got into the hotel it started to pour. The next day we went to the park. I am not impressed with Great America anymore. they have become extremely expensive. We were able to go on several rides. Kristen who loves rides would always whine and cry about the ride and act scared. As soon as it started, she began to laugh and then wanted to go on the ride again. Around 5:30 or so we left the park and headed to Gurnee Mills Mall. This mall has a Disney outlet store that I wanted to visit and also a HUGE scrapbooking store. Archiver's is the name of the scrapbooking store. It is probably a good thing that I live at least 3 hours away from these stores. They are huge and have everything you could possibly want. They also offer some awesome classes. I would be broke and spending all of my free time there. Both Sarah and I purchased some supplies. After this we went to Cracker Barrel for supper. It has been a long time since we have eaten at Cracker Barrel. The food was so good. Once we got back to the hotel of course I had to play with my new computer. On Sunday we had to have the girls dressed and ready to dance no later than 10:50. They moved the show into an air conditioned theater with nice seats instead of bleachers. Of course are girls were the best there. So many of the studio's dressed even their little girls in costumes that were a little to revealing. They even had them shaking and dancing to music that no little girl should hear, let alone us adults in the audience. So many of the groups were also off and not dancing together. It is nice to see other groups dance, because then I appreciate our studio even more. If you want to see the girls dance, go to the family album, link on top of left side of page. Click on the first two pictures under Great America, they are video's of the two groups. We decided to leave around 2:30 and head for home. Remember I still have to teach for three days and Sarah has to be up early to catch the bus back to Great America with her band.

Memorial Day

Last year we had a few friends and family over for Memorial Day. It had been such a good time that we decided to do it again this year. Sarah helped me get everything ready to go the night before which meant that I was able to have a very nice and relaxing day. Kohl's was having a sale that day on shirts for junior girls, so I took Sarah out that morning to buy her some new tops. It is so hard to find tops for girls Sarah's age that are appropriate. They are either to short or cut to low or both. Anyway we were able to find 6 tops that she agreed to wear and I would allow her to wear. Kristen had insisted upon going with us. When we got home, our first guest had already arrived. This mystery guest was not on the original guest list as we had no idea that he would be home. Yes, it was Kurt's brother Duane. It has been almost three years since the girls and I had seen him, and Kurt hadn't seen him since Kristen was a baby. It was nice to have him come for a visit and play with the girls. My mom and brother Dan also came up along with Kurt's sister Ardith, her husband Carl and their boys Zach and Austin. We wanted Dan to meet Carl. Both had a career in the Military. We also had a few friends over for the day. We grilled out and everyone else brought a picnic type item to share. Basically everyone sat around and talked. Sarah took the kids to Whittier to play on the equipment. After they came back they played in the backyard for a while with everyone watching. We have been so busy lately that it was nice to have a day off and just sit around and talk to friends.

Bathroom Remodel Day 10

Good News the bathroom is now usable. We are able to start putting things away and using the sink and tub/shower. There is some work to be done. There is a small section on the wall that they had to finish putting drywall up and mud today. They will be back on Monday to finish painting. I am going to run to Davenport tomorrow morning to see if I can't find a curtain, rugs, shower curtain and a few accessories that I like to complete the look. Usually the girls complain when it is time to take their showers at night. Not today however, Kristen couldn't wait to get into the shower and Sarah quickly followed suit. Kurt wants to know why the youngest two are the first ones to use the shower. I told him it was because they needed to go to bed before we lost patience with them.

Bathroom Remodel Day 9

I was so excited today, hoping that when I got home, I would see our new bathroom finished. Plus we were all looking forward to taking a shower in the bathroom instead of downstairs in the temporary shower. When I called home to talk to Sarah, my hopes were dashed. Now I am hoping that tomorrow the bathroom will be finished. Using the bathroom to get ready on Sunday will be a wonderful Mother's Day gift. They did get the vanity and sink in today. They also put up white mop boards and white molding. I wasn't expecting the molding on the wall, but it really seemed to finish the paint job. It looks like all that is left is to install the medicine cabinet, register cover, shower curtain rod, and towel rods. In other words it looks like just the finishing touches. The plan is to try to find curtains and rugs on saturday. Check in tomorrow to see if we finally get to use the bathroom or not.

Bathroom Remodel Day 8

We are getting close. Today we were able to see the finished floor and also the paint job is helping to make it look closer to being done. It looks like all that is left is to finish installing the plumbing for the shower and then install the vanity and plumbing for the sink, put in the medicine cabinet and then install the shower curtain rod and the towel bars. I am hoping to find a curtain for the window and a rug for the floor on Saturday. The places I have looked at so far haven't had what I want. I think all of us are ready for this project to be completed. We have all had enough of showering in the basement, brushing teeth in the kitchen, no toilet one night and the messy house. For a while I tried to clean up the floors everynight but gave up. As soon as I would get done mopping the hallway floor, the dust and mortar would come back. I have told Sarah that tomorrow night we are going to clean. I know that she will be happy to be able to hang her clothes up in her closet again.

Bathroom Remodel Day 7

The best news today is that we have a toilet. Amazing how simple things in life will give you great pleasure. The morter was set by the time they workers arrived in the morning. They were able to put the grout on and then muddied the walls. I am surprised but happy to see that they textured the walls. The suround was also up. It will be so nice to have a shelf for everyone. Maybe this way we can keep little hands from using some of the things that don't belong to her. They were supposed to finish by May 9th which is tomorrow, but it looks like it will be another day so will have to wait for the 10th before the bathroom is done.