This is the way it should be!

Well, my family is back together. This is the way it should be. The Gang (our dear children) had a great week at Camp Grandma/Grandpa. And Mr. Handsome said Grandma and Grandpa were pretty tired but had a great time. My week was a whirlwind of activity, which you will actually see in some photos. And Taylor even sent some photos of the children, too!! My week began, of course on Sunday in church!!

On Monday, the children were beside themselves with excitement. We did get to eat lunch at IHOP with Dorothy and the cousins and Aunt Erin which was fun. I finally had their funnel cake which was eh! I thought it would be better but it was OK. Should have gone with crepes. They tasted like they were microwaved. Then we went home and finished packing. Mr. Handsomes' parents arrived and it was bedlam!!! They were back on the road within forty minutes and my house was quiet. At this juncture, one would think that it would be wise to take a nap. Not ME!! I began feverishly cleaning Beatrice and Lindsay's room. It took me 1.5 hours!! Can you believe it? If I did that while the Gang was home, it would take me three weeks!!! I found lots of "lost" stuff that belonged to Maddie, Robert, and Beaker! Their room looks great now. And I think it's set up so it will be a lot easier to keep neat.

Next was Maddie's room. She did all the difficult stuff. So her room took about 2 hours, I guess. I remember when we first realized she was a hoarder. It was so difficult for me to even imagine a child, A CHILD, hoarder!! Taylor sat her down and talked with her and explained to her that we don't save candy wrappers, empty tissue boxes, pencil erasers that have been chewed off, oh add any imaginable thing that is trash here and she probably had it. She was just devastated and begged and pleaded for us to keep her "stuff". Well, Mr. Handsome prayed with her and we asked the Lord to help her overcome this stumbling block. And He blessed her!!! She was very distressed when we cleaned her room after the Talk but we have really tried to give her the leeway to decide what is trash and she has come downstairs when she does a deep cleaning carrying about 2-3 trash bags sometimes!!! This time I had three but I found drawers filled with stuff she just didn't feel like throwing out. And she loves her room now. She gets this penchant honest - from me. But by the grace of God, I have gotten soooooo much better!!! And as a homeschooler, I can tell you, it's really hard not to save EVERY little scrap of something!!

Mr. Handsome and I went to Andy's for dinner. Tuesday was a fun day, too. VERY busy!! I got to go to my favorite fabric store, Mill Outlet Village, and walk around by myself!! I even bought some fabric because I could. We ate at home Tuesday night then I got to go out on visitation with Mr. Handsome and what a blessing that was!!!

Wednesday was the BIIIIIIGGGGGG day!! Yup, BIG, I mean really BIG. We started painting my friends' daughter's room. Her room is the same color as my kitchen!! I painted for about an hour or so, then headed to the nursing home. My friends' husband left us oil based paint = HUGE fumes!!! And we didn't know so we kept the door and window shut while we painted. Needless to say, we were feeling fine for a couple of hours. When we realized what happened, we immediately opened the windows!! And my southern accent was better than a Southerner!! Ha ha ha ha ha!!! :) Anyway, I had a great time at the nursing home but the residents really missed the Gang. After that I went back to said friend's house and we put the green paint on the walls. I then skittered out to another friend who had a catherization in the morning and brought her and her husband some dinner. They are such a sweet couple. I have known her for about 14 years. We had a great talk about the Bible and the Lord gave me the opportunity to talk with her husband about Scriptural inerrancy. What a blessing that was!!! I love to talk about my Bible. Anyway, after church, Mr. Handsome took me to Oreti Cicchetti - say that five times fast!! It was fabuloso!! I had, for an appetizer, sheep's milk cheese with apricot preserves and for dinner I had butternut squash ravioli with sage and browned butter. Yummo, as Rachel Ray would say!!

On Thursday morning we finished the second coat of green paint, all of us went home, got washed up, ate lunch, and then we headed out to visit a dear friend bringing a basket-o-goodies!! It was a great time of visiting. After that I headed home and started putting the binding on Beatrice's quilt. I did not know what I was doing so the first side is wingy. Mr. Handsome came home and we went to Indochine. It was good but not as good as Bento Box. I had a vegetarian dish with crunchy noodles. Too much sauce on it really.

Friday was my shopping day. I didn't get any extraneous stuff!!! Wee heeee.... AND my last full "free" day. Mr. Handsome set out to get the Gang. They arrived home happily and safely Saturday evening. Here are the photos, in no particular order because I was too lazy to put them in order!!

Here is Taylor's cousin (Holding dog), his Mom behind his left shoulder, our niece, to his left, and Mr. Handsome's mom, in black tank top.

Here they are again sans mother-in-law!

Here is the Gang at Taylors' aunt's ice cream stand an produce stand. Homemade ice cream, anyone?

Some people forget that they are not big Norges!!! We worked very hard on my friend's daughter's room.

Here is our friend's cat, being naughty. He was showing us his trapeze skills!! His name is Paul Anka. Not kidding. I would have at least named him Glenn Miller or Tommy Dorsey or something!!! He is a very cute cat though. And very friendly. He even obeys!!

Mr. Handsome at Indochine

Me, in one of my Sunday afternoon skirts - wich you can't see because the table is in the way.

A little bib-ito I made. They were fun so i went on a rampage and made six for some of the babies I know!!! They are going to be stylin'!!! :)

My Sunday afternoon skirt Number 3. I whip it up in an afternoon!!!! I know ou want one.

Skirt number two. I gave skirt Numer one away because it was too big.

A little bib-ito for one of the baby girls in our life!

Thsi is my grumpy old man bib but I gave it to the baby girl. It just didn't look boyish enough.

Flames and planes for one of the boys.

Pinwheel flames and planes.

Beaker trying out for Toddlers and Tiaras - NOT!!!

Skirt number four. This is my favorite but my most frustrating. Ruffles were supposed to be the trim but it did not work out that way. I picked a fabric that had texture, so the trim is just plain. I'm just as glad  - could you see me in ruffles? Seriously. Think about that for a minute before you laugh out loud!!!