You are probably wondering why we haven’t posted in a while.  Well, up until recently, we haven’t had much to say.  June was an incredibly busy month, but it was mostly because every weekend we had projects to complete.  This is all in preparation for Andy’s 40^th birthday party or at least that is the excuse I’m using, because it’s better than admitting we just have found other things to do! 

• Finish the garden – It looks great and is growing fast now.  Soon we will have fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, squash, and jalapeno pepper.  We also planted brussel sprouts, but I’m not so sure about those.
• Add new mulch to the front planting beds – It took 9 bags to remulch.  I had no idea so much had washed away in just a year’s time.
• Clean the outside of the house – Ask Andy about the house wash that he found at Home Depot for only $8/bottle.  Spray it on, let it sit for 5 minutes, and rinse it off.  All the mold GONE.
• Clean the deck – We used the deck wash from the same company that made the house wash.  Our deck is amazingly clean.  It had a lot of mold on it and it’s gone now!  Of course, the actual cleaning process was a lot of scrubbing and hard work, but it looks great now!
• Change up some pictures in certain rooms
• Etc., etc., etc.

For the Fourth of July this year, we had people over to enjoy the day.  The Lowery Family and Jeremy came over to enjoy dinner with us and later on in the evening our neighbors, The Hendersons, joined us to watch the fireworks.  For dinner, we had smoked pork roast, French fries, and grilled Corn on the Cob.  We ate great food and then Andy, B, and Jeremy proceeded to blow up a LOT of fireworks.  Laura already loves fireworks, but we discovered that John loved them too.  He kept saying, “Bang!  Bang!” or “More Bang!”  Andy has the attitude of “that’s my boy!”  Laura, John, and Alia also had lots of fun with the snap pops.  They very much enjoyed throwing those on the concrete and making them pop.  We saved a few boxes for throughout the year.  John finally gave up and I put him to bed at 9:15.  He cried all the way into his bedroom, but as soon as I laid him down he covered himself up and was instantly asleep.  Laura gave up and fell asleep on my lap while I was sitting in a lawn chair in the driveway about 10:30.  Jeremy went to carry her to bed and she woke up long enough to say, “I’m not tired!”  B and Jeremy left our house around 11 or so and Jenna left a bit after that.  Andy and I watched other people’s fireworks for a bit and then headed to bed.  All in all, it was a great time with great friends!

On July 5^th, B came over and watched Laura and John while John was napping so that Andy and I could take a trip to Slumberland Furniture.  I’ve been wanting to get Andy a new recliner for a while, but he never really seemed to warm up to the idea.  B and I had gone to Slumberland a couple of weeks before to look at recliners and I almost bought one then, but I stopped myself.  Taking B’s advice, I wanted Andy to sit in them and pick it out.  I mentioned to Andy a few days before July 4th that Slumberland was having their big furniture sale.  He shocked me on the 4^th when he said, “So when am I getting my new recliner?”  If Slumberland had been open, I would have gone right then!  Long story short, we will soon have a new La-Z-Boy recliner parked in our Family Room.  We got a great deal on a chair that had been a special order.  The leather is one of the highest grades and the chair just feels great!  We are waiting for them to switch out the base so that the chair doesn’t swivel.  We hope to pick it up this week!

This past weekend, we had the kids’ birthday party.  We did a combined party because we couldn’t really fit in two parties this year.  Not only that, but it makes it easier for the grandparents to come.  Laura picked out her own cake this year.  She had Mickey and Minnie Mouse on her cake.  She also insisted on chocolate cake.  John’s cake was called the “Construction Dig” cake.  It had two construction vehicles on it and really was quite impressive.  Hy-Vee creates two fantastic cakes again!  The kids had seven of their friends over and got to play for nearly two solid hours.  Laura’s presents were mostly Barbies and John’s presents were mostly cars.  Their big birthday presents from Mom and Dad were Buzz Lightyear.  Laura has been wanting a Buzz Lightyear that could talk, had a light up laser and wings that pop out when pushing a button.  Andy and I had decided that we would get her that, but I also got John one.  If I hadn’t John would take hers all the time!  When Laura opened her Buzz, she was so very excited and screamed, “I got Buzz Lightyear!”  Andy got it all on video!  All in all, it was a great party and a great time though it took me nearly 45 minutes to pick up the kids’ room!

On July 23, my wonderful husband turns 40.  We’ll be spending the day together either going to Hermann, MO or just hanging around Columbia.  It really depends on who arrives in town and when they get here.  I’m looking forward to a wonderful weekend with great family and friends celebrating the day with Andy.