Yep, we're still here . . .

Not sure where the past week and a half have gone - wow! For the past week, I've been playing catch-up - and I'm not sure what I've been catching up FROM! All of the sudden I was WAY behind on everything - house cleaning, laundry, ironing, grocery shopping, misc. errands, bill paying, the checkbook, my committee work . . . uggh! Anyway, here's what else we've been up to:

• Last weekend, went to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation banquet in Spearfish that my "little" brother chaired - it was actually really fun and I was a very proud big sister. :) (Way to go, Josh!) It was huge and he put on quite the event!


• Got the bunk beds! Then got the bedrooms all re-arranged and re-organized and the kids are happy with their new digs. Maybe that's why I was so behind with everything else . . .
(Talking on the phone to Grandma and Grandpa)


• Jack and Noah finished memorizing the books of the Old Testament - no small feat, people. Whew.


• Mark moved his office in the bank (from 1st floor to 2nd floor);


• Nursed Jack through a "sprained" ankle (and let me tell you, did he MAXIMIZE that injury. I, of course, bought some of his drama hook line and sinker, but Mark could see through it. Little stinker. He's got an Oscar waiting for him.);


• Now nursing Jack (and myself) through a nasty, yucky cold (are we almost done with this season yet???)


• Re-financed the house, so that put Mark in a better mood! Ya-hoo! There's ONE good thing about this stupid economy.


• Got the deal of the century on a new camper. Or shall I say summer vacation home. We plan on spending A LOT of time in it this summer. In fact, we may be unreachable for 3 months. Be forewarned.

God has provided us some comic relief in Jack and Noah lately. We find ourselves laughing at them every day - they are always coming up with something new. Noah has taken to calling Obama "FTJ" (that would be "fruity-tooty-juicy." Remember. He's in 1st grade and 1st grade boys are totally into "toots" and all other bodily functions. Except in this house they are called "blasties." Anyway. Yes, I know, a lesson or two is in order about respecting our president. But it's so dang funny when he looks at the TV and rolls his eyes and says oh, there's FTJ.)

Jack, meanwhile, is into calling me Sweet Lips. NO IDEA where this came from. No, Mark does not call me that. Again, I realize some correction is needed here, but I can't help but laugh when he does it because it always catches me totally off guard.

And one night, Noah prayed that Jack would "stop complimenting me." ?? Turns out, he's been misunderstanding me - I'll often say "stop commenting on each other!!" - well, Noah thinks I said compliment. It was one of the cutest prayers ever.

This weekend, we are entertaining Grandma Rayne (LaRayne) and Grandpa Paul from Willmar. The kids are off-the-wall excited - had at least a million things to SHOW them when they got here. In fact, they are so entertained, I may just leave for the weekend. Go into hiding and recover from my cold. Why can't moms get time off when we're sick??? Where's MY bailout? :)