Oh, I DEFINITELY believe you :P

I've decided that next year for 4H, I'm going to do arts and crafts and upcycling still, with Danielle.. and then gardening (probably, if kids want it) and I'm going to do paper crafting, which I'm actually super excited about?!

And cake decorating, if the other person doesn't want to do it again :P

Oh that sounds like fun stuff for them to choose! What kind of paper crafts do you mean?

We're going to do a card each month using a different technique, and then also paper flowers, etc. Hopefully we'll have time, there's only 45 minutes.

If not.. lots of cards, and we'll just do paper flowers later on in the year LOL. The summer 90 minute ones!

Oh that sounds fun :) 90 minute ones? Do you mean 90 minute meetings in summer?

[edit] 7am Decided to treat myself to IHOP for breakfast. I am home alone until sometime Monday, when both boys should be back home.

To Do List : IHOP for breakfast ;) Grocery shopping Take excess food (Colliers - the little market, had a $10 deal last night) to Wesley's mom/dad Clean up and vacuum living room vacuum or wash my comforter (silly cat has shed all over it again!) wash my clothes and prepare work outfits for next week (I like to do that, I don't always remember to do so....) take the trash off clean up the side yard by the house and move all the junk (that I've asked the boys to move multiple times), and weed-eat the super tall grass that is now there, and trim any tree-like things as well (which I've asked the boys to do also....) finish washing dishes/pots & pans

Yeah, 90 minute meetings in summer haha.

Oooh man, I LOVE IHOP! We don't have any around here, though. :(

Watch out for snakes!!!

LOL That is so funny you said that. When I came back from shopping I saw a baby one slither across the porch. So I took a picture and asked Ryan to verify it was a non-harmful one. It was the size of a worm LOL Its a black snake so its fine. But yes, when I get into really bad brushy stuff I'll be careful, that is more around the back house than up here....I was surprised there was a baby snake on the porch! The stuff by the house is weedy tall crap, not thick bushy grass. Just junky looking.

Ooh and my baby girl surprised me!! When I went to take the excess groceries, she ran out!! :D They were up for a birthday party of one of their friends, so she came and hung out with me for a few hours while Wesley was sleeping.

Yeah, when you're moving stuff in the tall grass, they like to hang out under things!

We saw a pretty big garter snake today, but I was just glad it was hopefully eating all the freaking wolf spiders I hate them so much.

Awwww that's nice that you got to spend some time with katie! What a great surprise!

Today is freshman orientation day for El at college.. which is crazy to me!

Oh my. Yes. Crazy. She will love it tho! Katie and I talked about our colleges a bit. She didn't seem to have gotten a Pell grant this year so I explained what went on with me and told her to go in and talk to someone in financial aid at her school. I think they used both parental incomes even tho she only had to claim one of ours since we were separated. But like for me, when you use the IRS retrieval tool, it put in both incomes. So hopefully she can fix that for herself. And who knows, maybe even get more than she did before, like I did!!

I have not gotten much of anything on my list done lol it got so hot so fast I don't want to do anything outside. Maybe later this evening. I have to take the trash off, its open til 7 tho. I did pick up a wagon full of stuff from beside the house but didn't go put it in the back area yet

705pm Well now I've vacuumed the floor, twice. And cleaned out the vacuum with the air compressor as well. I've ate dinner. I took the trash off.

At least I got some things accomplished 9pm Since it cooled down I got the lawn mower and the truck bed liner and finished the side yard. It's all still sitting in the truck bed liner tho but the side yard is tidy except one tarp, still good, three bricks, and the dead riding lawn mower that we can't move. Will see if Ryan can hook it up to the xterra and maybe pull it to the back I've also loaded the dishwasher. Still have more dishes (pots and pans mostly) to wash.

Oh wow, so you did end up doing a lot then!

Today we had an outside church service, followed by a potluck. Then Lily finally! came home, and we dropped her off at home to take a nap and Alex, Iz and I went to the orchard. It's the butterflies and blooms festival, so Iz and I checked out the butterflies.. but mostly we just rode the wagon and train around, picked some veggies (greenbeans and green tomatoes, and some basil and dill :P) and caught poliwags on pokemon go haha.

But it was still a good time!

Then we had fried green tomatoes, green beans with garilc and green onions, and steaks for dinner when we got home. Very yummy!

Sounds like a good dinner. I went and got KFC.

I did finish up a lot more than I thought I would. Today I did 4 loads of laundry (whites, towels, mine, boys). I also mowed my yard, and the neighbors backyard, not the new one but the one on the other side. But I guess really I also mowed part of the new neighbors lawn....out of habit lol. Part of the way up front area is hers, but when I mow up there I do all the way to the driveway, even tho about 1/3 of the grassy area is hers. I snapped the runner line off, Ryan had used an extension rod, and I accidentally caught the runner line cable with the steering wheel of the lawn mower, (it hangs low and I have to go under it or else go alllllll the way down and around it) .. so anyway I had to untangle the cable from the lawn mower and get Ryan to get a new tension rod and come fix the runner line. Thankfully it was easy and neither me or the dog got hurt when it snapped off. I also unloaded the dishwasher and loaded it again, but it's not full quite yet.

Oh no! But I'm glad it was an easy fix, and Ryan was available for you! AND no one got hurt!

It's cooler, finally! I turned the AC off upstairs yesterday afternoon, and today I think I'm going to clean out under/on my desk.. basically, my whole craft area needs to get cleaned up, and I'm going to start that today.

... I hope. :P

Cooler. Ha! It's getting hotter here. In the 90s all week. With chance of rain by the weekend. Fun.

[edit] 430pm So Nathan said earlier that "we're" just sitting for a bit....and that if I got "home before Jackson leaves" don't park by his truck... So anyway, I got home to a whole crew, not just Nathan and Jackson LOL Haven't had a full house like that since Katie :) Was kind of nice, but a small surprise LOL

510 And now I've got him agreed and set up on the stalker app :P LOL That is what I call it. Life 360. Katie is who introduced me to it, she used to tell me - "Wesley left his house" "Wesleys at Walmart" "Wesley's at Williams house" - I'm like, how do you know, he didnt call or text.... "oh i have this app"... YOU ARE STALKING YOUR BOYFRIEND!!! :P LOL And now I am stalking my son. I explained that I wanted it because then I would worry less about if he got to school every day, because I know he won't text me and tell me, and this way it just notifies me that he is there.

[edit] 350pm Aug 1st FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL HELP ME lol ok so really it wasn't horrible, but. We have several very stubborn children, who do NOT want to listen or follow directions whatsoever - refused to come sit on the carpet for stories, kept going into the kitchen or other play centers. Screamed and cried when we made them stop playing because it isn't' fair to the ones who ARE sitting if someone else keeps playing. One child more so than others kept doing it, we could get all but that 1 to sit, but as soon as two or three others saw him run off to play they'd go join in instead of staying where we asked. Then that of course set off two or three more who ran off too. sigh I know I know. Its just the first day. But to be honest, with this one child....I do NOT believe it will get better. Not much. He is very much like his VERY MUCH older brothers. I didn't even realize he was related to them until open house. I had one brother in kindergarten and - well - as the brother said "yea, they kicked me out" - I was trying to be nice and tell him how I remembered him and how much he'd grown, and that was his comment. Sooooo that tells you a bit.

525pm Guyyyyssss...there is no better pick me up. So the one little girl we have, that we had her brother years ago (2019!) her mama has been texting me....and it just melts my heart. She sent me a video of the BOY from 2019, and then the video she got today of the girl, of me walking them out to get in the car on their first day of PreK awwww That little boy was just the sweetest fella EVEERRRR I so wish I could have a classroom full of HIM!! <3 and his sister seems very sweet too. I "oops" told the mama that the boy was always one of my favorites (you aren't supposed to have those lol) and she said he just gets to everyones heart....and that she hopes the sister will too... I told her the sister already has my heart. I always love all my kids (well, almost all? I love all of them at least a little anyway, some more than others? :P LOL) But I can tell she'll do really well and will probably be a sweetheart, if not quite so sweet as her brother. I already know I love this girl too.

Awww. It's going to be 70s all week! So Nathan is back, just in time for school?!

Awww. i think there will always be favorites!

Alex had to work some OT today (three hours!), and I was already running out to pick up some milk, so I made a roasted pork loin, with garlic parm broccoli and some parm crusted roasted baby potatoes.

Yes. Nathan got home yesterday, and school started today. I wasn't really thrilled with the timing of it, but eh. They forgot to reserve the campground back in July, so this is the time frame they had. I didn't want to say he couldn't go. He did good, getting up (well, I woke him before I left....) and not falling back asleep I guess anyway. The stalker app told me he got to school about 835ish, which is fine, because even though I THOUGHT classes started at 830, they start at 845.

yessssss there is always favorites. And not quite favorites. And occasionally kids you would really prefer to not see again... I felt ok telling his mama that, because hey, he isn't in MY class anymore ;) He can be my favorite now hahahah!

Ooh OT is nice. I was told by the other para that we WILL get $2000 like the teachers are, from Kemp its just being paras and not certified teachers we didn't have to fill out the form (Kemp is Georgias governor, and he evidently promised a 2k bonus/raise something or other to us somehow? I guess I missed whatever it was, I don't do the news). But hey, I will NOT turn down $ right? She said we get it starting in Sept divided up on our paychecks this year. It was mentioned to us in our PreK training session as well, from the BFTS lady (Bright from the Start), so I know the $ is real, but I guess I have my doubts if we'll actually GET it? We will see in Sept. I will be quite happy if we do. Any extra is GREAT for me!

We had potroast, cornbread, I had mac&cheese (Nathan doesn't eat it often), and canned veg. I put the roast in the crockpot before I left because I knew I didn't want to be bothered with really cooking anything tonight. I honestly don't think I'll want to all week :P Need to decide something for tomorrow. Maybe bbq chicken. Can toss it in the oven when I get home and let it cook.

We have the stalker app, too :P

Lily got to go with Connor to the carnival last night, it was the first time they've been allowed more than 5 miles in his car LOL. It was kind of nervewracking, she DID make sure she got home by curfew though (which is currently 830 LOL).

Arghhhh I'm so frustrated. So I have this fitness tracker that I really liked, but they cancelled it. So I bought a new one, but it won't charge at all. And so I wanted to exchange it, but it won't let me. And I could get a refund and then rebuy it.. for $40 more than I spent the first time. But it didn't even work!

So now I'm just saying screw it, but I'm awfully annoyed at the entire system behind everything LOL.

Oh no. That's annoying to get something and it doesn't work. I'm so tired. Very long day. This is going to be freaking awful. With Nathan getting out at 315, they aren't actually dismissing car riders there til 325 and there is a freaking long line. I can't sit in that mess and have my car overheat. Guess I will just have to sit here at work bored out of my mind for an extra 15-20min a day.

It was 340 before he texted me that it was cleared out. I went over there and turned around at 325ish. Sheesh. Then we stopped at the DMV but dingbat child didn't have his license with him so we have to stop again tomorrow. sigh Just need to renew his learners. But she said we had to fill out an application online? I"m like UHHH? WHY? Its just a renewal, but whatever. I'll have him do it. AND then go in and show them his current one/give it? I dunno. She asked if we had it, we didn't, so we left, and she handed us that paper before we left, saying do an online application ...

I'm home and its now 410. I'm so HOOOOT. I have sweated my butt off yesterday and today, it gets SOOOO HOT in those rooms with the kids in there. When we have no kids I get cold LOL I want a shower, but I like getting showers in the mornings because I often sweat at night too. Plus if he sticks to it, Nathan will want to go drive this evening and I already drove around once in my pajamas because he asked after I changed lol Not that it really matters, but I'd prefer to be dressed, not in pjs if we are going to drive.

[Edit] 8-4 140pm Omg y'all. A day from h-e-double hockey sticks Kids ignoring us left and right. Screaming and crying about not getting whatever toy get wanted. Or not getting ice cream because their mama didn't send a dollar. One fell asleep, woke up used the bathroom, we could tell she wasn't feeling well. Ended up throwing up in the bathroom. She went home. Her older brother was sick too. Another had poop explosion (dropped/splattered) all over her shoes when she tried to clean up from potty accident in pants. No shoes now. Can't get a hold of mom. Third got taken out of the room and had a poop accident while with the behavior specialist. So. Yea. Omg day.

Oh lord Kat, that IS a day!

And that's super crazy, I can't believe there's that many accidents in one day!

Sorry, I thought I replied the other day but then I deleted most of the stuff that I had to say and then I just checked yours instead but apparently I deleted it ALL so.. sorry. :(

The app glitched all day yesterday.... I think because Nathan uses battery saver at school? It kept doing notifications that he left home, left school, arrived home, arrived at school ... I got like 8 notifications? Twice I opened the app after seeing them and it showed him at home, but when I checked it again 5-10m later it showed him at school. Shane was home and just from curiosity I asked him, I didn't think Nathan was home and he wasn't even tho it showed him home. Unless my boys are lying. But I didn't get a robo call either saying he was absent 😝 Not sure they have that set up yet anyway.

Well goodness why are you deleting things? Lol I do that too, sometimes. I'll write and then go, naaah that's sharing too much....or I've already written a bunch don't add on ... and delete what I wrote

Remember that tbone I got way back the first time I went to Colliers (the little market)? It was a 2pk, we cooked one on my birthday and - lol well - Nathan cooked the 2nd one up for his birthday dinner on the 3rd. Shane cooked pork chops last night. Today Nathan is actually going to cook pork ribs (slab) (which I don't like, but he wants for his birthday party) - since its now actually a party, he has invited about 8 people. Who knows how many will show up tho. I hope enough to eat the ribs. :P

Oh yeah, maybe battery saver. Mine was glitching when I wouldn't let it use location all the time because of battery saver, too.

Ahhhh, because I decided not to complain LOL. Or try to explain it all. I'll just say, I stepped down and won't be leading 4H next year. :P

How many people showed up for Nathans party?!

Aww I know you enjoyed it. But I understand. I miss my youth group but am happier not being involved anymore.

3. But two others are over here now instead lol. It's a couple and she couldn't come last night, dunno why. But he was at work. Was supposed to come after work but didn't ... But they are here now and have been since around noonish.

Edit 6pm Meh. My phone case was cracked (for several months now) but it finally broke today. So of course Walmart doesn't have any of my kind. Neither did Verizon. T-Mobile was closed Walmart online can't ship for two weeks (free shipping) or will charge me $8 in shipping a different case that will be here in 2 days .....sheeeeesh. I ended up on Amazon, same phone case I liked cost less and shipping was $6. Sigh Well at least it was less than it would have been at Verizon, if not as cheap as it would have been at Walmart in store has they had a basic one