Our own personal vending machine

A week or so ago, Preston got a box and made himself a vending machine.  It was the box they'd drug home from my mom's months ago for Nonnie's Kingdom, and I'd told them that since the cat never went in it, we needed to get rid of it.  Well, if the cat won't use it, Preston will!  He took all of the goods from his "shop" and put them in the box.  We made up a list of the items and the prices and he got out all of his change to use since he said you had to use real money!  Oh, and it's exact change only because it's too hard to see inside the box to make change!  Here's his vending machine.

As you can see, there's a wide variety of items in his store.  Kate pointed out that when you buy from his shop, the prices are MUCH higher.  I don't think I've ever walked away from his shop without dropping at least $500 for groceries!  But in the vending machine, you could get a water bottle or white milk for a penny!  He even has medicine in his shop- Christopher gives him his old medicine containers- so you could even get prescriptions on the cheap! 

When you wanted something, you'd check the list and tell the vending machine what you wanted.  Preston would stick his hand out and you'd give him the money.  You'd hear a rustling and then out it would come!  Oh, look!  Here comes my Honey Smacks!

Every 5 minutes or so, he'd come out of the box saying, "Oh, my neck!" from being curled up inside the box, but he'd get right back in and do it again!  We played vending machine MANY times!  We got a new computer chair Sunday that's still in the box and it's bigger than the current vending machine, and Preston's already asking if he can use the box for a new machine!

Putting her to work

Kate recently got an update to her bedroom.  It was still the bright blue we painted it to match her horse bedding when we bought the house, and it was starting to be a little too little girlish.  So we poured over paint swatches and settled on a nice grey that would allow her to be able to change the color scheme/bedding any time she liked.  This was her old room with everything moved away from the walls.

And what do you do with your 13 year old that's been BEGGING to paint he room for 6 months?  You put her to work!

You can bet that she had to help paint, and it wasn't as easy as she thought it would be.  It didn't take long for her to start in with, "My arm hurts," in true teenage fashion.  By the time we were done, she knew why I didn't just jump up and paint as soon as she first wanted it done.  It's hard work!  It took most of the day and two coats, and it looks nice.  Plus, she loves it, so that's what counts.

See that Union Jack clock?  That's the inspiration for her new room.  It's complete Brisith Invasion around here, and I wish I could say it was because I've done such a great job instilling a love for the Beatles in my daughter (I've got P hooked), but she's mad about Harry Potter.  Now we have to find some red/blue bedding that doesn't look little girlish or boyish.  Let me tell you, it's HARD!  My mother in law brought over 2 comforters last night after they went back to St. Louis to pick up the credit card they left there Friday, and neither one works.  Something will turn up and then I can do something with her windows.  I'm tired of them just having blinds. 

And just because he's so cute, I had to share what Nonnie did while we painted- he napped in the extra paint pan.

Sorry for the blindingly unedited picture- I've got better things to do right now.  See also the Harry Potter book in the corner and the peg board she swiped from Preston to make a witches hat from rubber bands.  I told you she's mad for HP!

Busy bees

This weekend has been a huge non-stop rush, and that means that the camera hasn't been touched.  I know, I'm sorry.  I really wish I'd taken it along last night- we had a really fun time!

Thursday morning they called to say that Preston's swim plugs were in.  I knew we didn't have time to go to Effingham to pick them up that day, so I told the kids we'd go the next morning, stop at the nature center and have a picnic, and then head to pick them up.  We had a quick picnic and went through the nature center and the kids really enjoyed it.  They had a new display this time that was pretty fun.  We can't wait to go back when it's cooler to do the walking trails- it's always so hot when we go.  After that we ran a few errands and then picked up the plugs- we didn't even have to see the audiologist this time to fit them!  I'm so glad we won't be having to wear the ear band anymore! 

Saturday morning Keith came back and he and Christopher finished our little deck.  It looks SO much nicer than our old one.  That thing was such an eyesore.  We had plans that evening to go out to eat for my dad's birthday.  We got there and were super surprised to see ALL of my dad's family there!  I had no idea my cousins from up north were going to be there with their kids!  There were 22 of us in all and we had a really fun time!  We had fun enjoying my nephews who sat across from us and kept us entertained while we waited for our food.  Cooper was a riot!  My favorite was him calling my dad Grandpa Herny instead of Henry!  By the time we waited an hour for our food and then ate and waited for everyone to finish, all of the kids were done being well behaved and were getting restless, so we called it a night, but it was a fun one!!!  I wish we could all get together more often!

I'd told Granny the other day when we juiced a bushel of tomatoes that we'd can them this afternoon, so that was our big event.  We canned 11 quarts and have enough tomatoes already since Thursday to can another 11 or more.  We've got tomatoes running out of our ears, now!  I LOVE making chili with home canned juice, so we'll be having a lot of it this winter.  And even though the triple digits are coming back this week, fall will be here before we know it!

And if I'm not already a glutton for punishment, I've started a whole stack of bibs to sew.  I just finished another knot dress Friday night for Keri.  I had one wreath order that's ready to ship out and a new order today.  I'm sure Christopher loves coming home each night and seeing my sewing table a complete disaster, but I love it.  My mom made a comment last week that she'd seen some cute things that I'd pinned on Pinterest and asked if I'd made them.  I told her that the problem with Pinterest is, that I spend my free time at night on there pinning things that I want to make, and then have no time to make them!  It's crazy the amount of stuff I have waiting to make.  Once the kids go back to school, maybe then I'll have some time!

Rain!

See that folks?  Rain!  On a day when we weren't expected to get a drop, a little cell popped up right over our town and stayed there for nearly 2 hours, dropping a steady shower of rain!  I kept checking the radar and that little cell never moved, it just hovered over us like God was saying, "You guys need the rain!"  Now maybe our brown yard will be green again.  I noticed when I went to get the mail today that a lot of the grass had just crumbled and blown away, particularly where we walked.  So how much did we get?  Good question.  This is why we don't know.

We had a little construction work done today, and the rain gauge had to be taken down.  We had this little porch and stairs coming off of our sunroom that were ROTTEN.  It got to the point where it was a safety hazard- Preston informed me the other day that when we was outside with Christopher, that his foot went through enough to rip the carpeting.  And we certainly didn't need a lawsuit from the meter man trying to read the meter right off the porch.

Christopher and his dad ripped it all out this morning and set to building a new deck.  So far, the deck part is built, but there are no stairs.  They quit just 15 minutes before it started pouring.  I imagine they will work more on Saturday.  What they have done so far looks really good- MUCH better than the nasty carpeted stuff that molded every summer.  We dearly love the people we bought the house from, but they didn't always come up with the best ideas when they did DIY projects!

Out of the ordinary

Sometimes life gets too routine and you need something to shake it up.

Last night, Preston pulled one of his teeth.  Obviously, this child has no problem with tooth pulling!  He was supposed to be in  bed, but this very loose tooth proved to be too much temptation, and an excuse to stay up late.  He kept coming downstairs, "My tooth is BLEEDING!"  "Yes, Preston, just leave it alone and go to bed." -- Can you tell by this point I'd had all I could take?  By the way, he'd been put to bed 90 minutes earlier...

I finally went to take a hot bath and read my magazine when there's a knock on the door. "Mom, I pulled my tooth, but I dropped it and I can't find it.  Kaitlyn won't help me look for it."  Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!  I got out of the tub, threw on a towel and went to go find the elusive tooth.  A minute later, the tooth was found under his bed.  I put it in a baggie under his pillow and tucked him in for the umpteenth time.  As I tucked him in, he said, "When I couldn't find my tooth, I asked Kaitlyn if she'd help me find it and she said, "Nooooooooo!" and hid under her covers!"  You may recall the horrid tooth-pulling ordeal from two weeks ago.  Kate is STILL traumatized, and she wasn't going anywhere near a tooth!

Of course, there was something else out of the ordinary that I was going to write about, but I have no idea what it was, now!  Must not have been that outstanding!

Gardening

We've been busy with our garden this year.  It produced a huge amount of green beans and cucumbers- probably our biggest crops!  But being that we haven't had rain in just shy of a month, and 11 straight days of temps in the hundreds, it's just not doing so well.  Our tomato plants are loaded with tomatoes, but they are all rotting on the vines because of no rain and high heat.  It's sad.  I watered them like crazy tonight in hopes that they'd do something.  It thundered like crazy this afternoon, the sky was black and the wind picked up, but we completely missed it- our only chance of rain for the next week.  Thankfully we're getting a nice break from the heat!  Dad called tonight and said it rained at his house for an hour today, and he lives just south of town.  That's how close we came to rain... 

But we did pull potatoes today and came home with a nice bucket full.  I can't wait to eat them!  We only pulled a few plants because it was still hot at that point.  The others can wait.  It's usually late August anyway before they're even ready, but with the crazy seasons, everything is a month ahead.  Preston loves pulling potatoes, so he was ready to pull them as soon as we got to Granny and Pa's!

Our sunflowers are growing well, too, and we even had a few that were ready to cut and dry today!  Kate is going to be happy- sunflower seeds are the only thing she'll eat from the garden.  This is our tallest sunflower- a good 10 feet tall!

I know I keep beating a dead horse talking about this drought, but this is terrible.  No one can remember it ever being this bad.  My father-in-law farms several thousand acres and he's lost all of his corn.  If we get some rain, his beans may be salvageable.  Thank goodness for crop insurance!  Still, it's just getting worse.  I think maybe the only positive to come out of this is that we now know exactly where the laterals for our septic tank are.  That's the only thing in our yard that's even green!  They even had to cancel girl scout camp for next week because of the burn ban.  That's how they cooked all of their meals, and without a fire, they're up a creek!  GS camp here is rustic.  There aren't any comforts or electricity.  They all get good lessons in roughing it, but I think this year would be a little too rough!

Stay tuned for some fun changes I'm excited to share!

Happy 4th!

It's been a low-key 4th this year.  With the burn ban, there are no fireworks, so it's a quiet one.  We usually spend the day in the pool and the evening making our own fireworks display.  This year, we spent the afternoon in the pool at Keith and Dee's, but instead of the entire extended family joining us, it was just Christopher's parents and sister's family.  Our evening consisted of a few party poppers and some smokers kept well on the rocked driveway.  It was nice, though.  The whole family does plan to get together Friday night, but there still won't be any fireworks then.  Rain just won't come, and the heat just won't let up (we're still in the triple digits). 

But we're all thankful for our freedom, thankful for a peaceful country.  Thank you to all who have served to make this country so great!