Summer is officially over and it sure doesn't feel like it.  It's supposed to be about 87 deg today.  I don't think we've had any frost yet either.  It's been such a strange year. 

School is going pretty well for the kids.  Noah had a rough time Monday because he wanted to stay with me but now he goes right in and does fine.  I got his first fingerpainting yesterday and it's pretty cute.  I took a picture but I haven't uploaded it yet so I can't share it.  Ben tells me every day that he wants to stay home instead of going to school but he enjoys his class and has some friends he plays Pokeman with at recess.  Nicole is doing well and I can already see a difference from last year in her responsibility.  I hope that lasts because about mid-year things start getting to the point that I really have to be on her case a lot.  I don't enjoy it and I know she doesn't either.  We still have the problem where we argue just about every morning.  We joke about it at night now..."goodnight babe...I love you...see you in the morning when we can argue some more".  It's just a given that we are not morning people and we can't get along until we've woken up.  I wish I could fix it though...it's a bad way to start any day.

Things should start getting a bit less busy around here soon.  I hope so anyway.  Photography club started out great and we are planning our first outing for mid-october.  I already went down to the fish-ladder in Grand Rapids for pictures and I brought Nicole and Trudy (she plays handbells and she's 16...I really admire her...she's like an old soul...very smart...good sense of humor...I just like her alot...plus she takes awesome pictures!)   Larry's drive-in is done (WHEW) but we have the street picnic coming up where we have to organize things.  I also need to make time for my little sister Kimmy.  I can't tell you how much I love that  girl and I can't believe that in just one year she'll be leaving for college.  She's 15 years younger than I am and I remember taking her everywhere with me when I first started driving.  I am so proud of her because she is just such a strong and amazing person.  She's having a rough time lately (you remember being 17 right?) and I really want her to know that she's doing great and that I'm here for her.  Living 30 miles away makes it harder but I have to make the effort.  So we're going to get together soon and do some sisterly bonding .  What else is going on?  Handbells started last night!  WOOOOHOOOO.  I missed it so much.   GEMS starts in 2 weeks.  The Heritage Hill Home Tour is coming up.  Mike just told me last night he wants to go camping...where that came from I don't know.  So I guess it's still busy but it doesn't feel as busy.  That Larry's Drive-in was a major thing...I don't know why though because I didn't have to do much...I guess it was just the WORRY about getting things done.  It actually went really well and I think most everyone had a good time.  You all (who don't live here) are probably wondering what Larry's Drive-in is.  It's basically an event where our Highschool Youth Group (Crosstrainers) serves food to everyone outside for donations and then we have games for the kids/families.  Outreach was in charge of the games and Crosstrainers handles the food.   Last year we got those big inflatable things (bouncers & stuff) and it rained and it was cold and miserable.  This year it was perfect weather and we did "carnival-type" games.   We also had a bunch of classic cars.  We were going to do an outdoor movie but that didn't end up working out.  Hopefully we can do that next summer or something when we don't have to worry so much about school night/darkness etc.   Let me tell you, the best "game" we had was the wet sponge throw.  We had a big board with a hole for someone's head and we had people throw wet sponges at whoever was there.  Our Pastor was a great target   But it was funny because a bunch of little kids WANTED to have their face in there.  According to Pastor Curt the water was a bit dirty...he kept getting grit in his teeth.  I told him to just consider it his 6 month cleaning so he could skip the dentist. 

Well, I promised the boys a garage sale so I'd better get going.

Kris, I think I've got the comments thing fixed.  We'll see.