I cannot believe it has been 4 months since I last posted.

We have done lots in that short amount of time.

Here we are at our favorite pumpkin patch. These are always the best pictures!

My oldest 2 blowing bubbles for their Uncle's wedding. The photographer was great!

Most recently, we visited the Lego Castle Exhibit, it's amazing what people can do with those little bricks.

what a week...

Seems like forever since I've been on here, but wow, it's been one of those weeks. I've been in a fog for weeks, anticipating Drama Queen's surgery, my sister's wedding, my brother's shower, toy sorting, summer cleaning, etc. So, here's how my last couple weeks have gone:

Thursday, June 25th: finished two cakes, one for my brother's shower,

one for my sister's wedding:

Then, off to my brother's shower, an hour away in a rain storm on a Thursday evening... But it was a beautiful shower:

Friday, June 26th, on the road at 9 am headed to St. Joseph Mi with my drama dames and a weekends worth of clothes. Arrived at noon to meet my sister's in-laws who were fantastic! Wedding at the Courthouse, short and sweet, dinner with 11 other people, simple and fun, then pics on Silver Beach in the sunset:

Home on Sunday, June 28th, time to clean the house in preparation for DQ's surgery,

Monday, June 29th, more cleaning, followed by a very sad phone call from a friend, her mother's cancer had come back and she was dying. Thank goodness Hubby was on the east side and able to stop by the hospital and say good-bye to her... Barb was a wonderful lady, she treated my daughters like they were her grandkids. She was DQ's first babysitter, the first time anyone ever watched any of our kids. We'll miss summer swims at her house and her beautiful smile.

Tuesday, June 30th, arrived at Children's Hospital at 9 am, surgery is scheduled for 10:45, wait in the waiting room until 12:30 to get called back. Surgery is done by 3:30. The 3 cm cyst in DQ's right lung turned out to be a kiwi sized lymph node!!! Of course, panic sets in as we wait for pathology results... Despite the unexpected size of the mass, DQ is out of the hospital in great spirits less than 24 hours later.

Wednesday, July 1st, home by 12:30, thanks to great friends who came to visit as we were getting discharged. Slept for a few hours...

Thursday, July 2nd, Barb passes away...

Friday, July 3rd and Saturday, July 4th, Hubby and I clean the house like it has never been cleaned before then have a bbq with more friends.

Sunday July 5th, exhaustion sets in, napped then took the kids to the park...

Monday July 6th, attended Barb's funeral where we reconnected with old friends and shed some tears. I'm ready to get off this roller coaster...

Ignoring the man in the orange shirt (my brother) you can see the clutter, I mean toys, and the green carpet that occupied my front room before we moved things around.

I'm so looking forward to this remodel being finished!

The dining room is coming along.

We always wondered why there was a difference in the floor in our front room, now we know it's because there was a layer of subfloor and tile from the front door into the kitchen. We're gonna keep it, and update it with the kitchen floor, but no idea when...

This is what the floors under the carpet look like, I can't believe they covered them up. I also can't believe we waited 6 1/2 years to uncover them. Lesson learned :)

My dining room table with it's tablecloth and a real centerpiece, designed by my girls

Now when you walk in, instead of seeing a toy explosion, you see my desk/buffet and my fave pics of my girls. Got those lamps for $25 for the set!!!! Gotta love clearance shopping!

bowling fun with the girls

So this great bowling alley gives kids 2 free games EVERY DAY all summer long!!! Of course, after lunch and shoe rental, my free bowling cost me a pantload of money. It was worth it, but next time we're eating before we go :)

What a relief..

So I have too many scrapbook bags to count, but I noticed one of them was missing last month and I've been frantic about it. I called all my friends to see if they grabbed it by mistake or if I left it at their house. The bag had not one, but two family albums in it!!! I've prayed and prayed for it to be found, everyday thinking of another place it could possibly be. TODAY, my DH takes the girls out in our 1977 Monte Carlo, pops the trunk to look for a chair and FINALLY we found it! I'm so thankful!

And on another "what a relief" note, I have to share the missing cell phone story. One Monday morning as I was rushing around to get ready for work, I grabbed my cell phone and a pair of socks and rushed down the stairs to deal with some child-based catastrophe (we can call these cbc's for short). Minutes later when I was looking for my phone and socks, they were nowhere to be found. After 7 days of turning the house upside down, it was the following Monday morning with still no phone. As I was getting out of the shower, another cbc was taking place. I grabbed my robe and rushed out of my room, only to feel a familiar object in THE POCKET OF MY ROBE which had been hanging in my room ALL WEEK. Of course, in the other pocket were the socks. What a relief...

Have you had any major relief in your life lately?

Why is it that in May we are all saying "I can't wait till school is over" "I can't wait for summer vacation" then 2 hours after school has let out for the last time, we send them to their rooms cuz they're too noisy...

Let the Drama Begin...

Hi all,
Brand new to the blogging world (thanks Mimi). I'm looking forward to sharing my life with all of you. With 4 very dramatic daughters there's always something to talk about.
Heather