Feeling the pinch

Cleaning house and I ran into the livingroom to investigate the sound of a stampede and I came upon this picture.
The sound happened to be my drying laundry being soaked by a sudden summer downpour...it is still sunny and 90 degrees outside! Okay, so it will all have to remain on the line a bit longer.

Megan celebrated her 13th birthday at the YMCA. I let the kids use a waterproof camera (I 'll put them on when I get the camera back). She had a wonderful time and loved having all her friends there. She picked out a Hawaiian beach themed birthday cake at Walmart and then they all swam for an hour before pigging out on pizza and cake. At least there was no mess in our mess of a house!

Yes, I don't know if I've mentioned this, but we bought a crappy house. One that was not built correctly and we are slowly, very slowly having to fix replace or remodel. The faulty roof line has led to leaking everytime it rains...until now. After two contractors we finally found the last bit of problem a month ago, fixed it, then waited to see if our fixes worked. Two bad downpours later and no water, Yeah! Paul got the new insulation and drywall done and I've been busy taping and floating. Hopefully I can get that done by the end of the week. I had another contractor here to give an estimate on taking out a wall between the kitchen and dining room and then blocking the entrance to the kitchen from the living room (too many openings and too little wall space). So now we are sitting on that bid, as well as a landscaper to finish our front yard. I may have to sell a child just to get my house liveable! LOL!

Long Vacation from blogging!

Sorry folks for the long delay! I had much trouble getting into my blog since they required a gmail account and long story short, they must have changed back because I had zero problem logging in tonight!

Let's see...the Harper top 10:
1. Kids out of school
2. Kris visits WA for 5 days ALONE for mom's 60th blowout bash
3. Swimming
4. Loads of strong storms (scary!)
5. Stephen scout trip for 4 days away from home and family (without any fear/late calls)!
6. Katie has oral surgery to remove 4 teeth in the way, loads of progress on braces
7. Kimberly potty trained
8. Kimberly not potty trained (she decided it wasn't worth the m&m's she got!)
9. Megan still in tutoring thru the summer
10. Lauren's ballet recital was a crazy busy night where I'm not sure I ever saw my daughter!

and the newest tidbit is:
I bought a self-propelled push grass cutter (you know the kind your grandma had), that the kids have been fighting over to mow the lawn....they love it!
I promise to keep up with this now....
Love,
Kris

Megan's concert

Megan did a fabulous job! They only performed four songs (thankfully), but they did it almost flawlessly AND Megan looked relaxed and like she enjoyed herself. I still am wondering if we should have left her in band next year. We told her she could only do one thing and she chose choir. She really wanted both, but I think that would have stretched her too much, seeing as she now is struggling so badly! Got her grades yesterday and it is A, B, D, D! English and Math are the hard ones for her. Now I can understand Math being a struggle for her, but English? She just needs to complete her assignments and pay attention and that should do it, right? Aarrgghh! I've never struggled with English and it has always come very easy for me, so this is very frustrating.

I do have a pic of her, but my camera is holding it captive!

Mississippi in May!

I LOVE SPRING!
Although I could do without my allergies! Katherine and I seem to be struggling the worst with it. The Zyrtec advantage is now over and there is no other meds for us to try.
Yesterday we all gathered at the cousins' for a Cinco de Mayo festival. Their new house seems to fit the needs of a big friendly gathering. Everyone had a ball, although my crew seemed happier to just be there and not necessarily have to socialize. Kimberly seemed happier with the dogs, but all in all we had a good time.
Paul is off to Omaha for 9 days and asked that I get the dining room leak situation resolved so that when he gets back we can drywall and hopefully get our dining room back in order!
The kids in traditional school are getting excited for school to be out and the homeschool kids have another month left before they are done. Rebecca has her standardized test next Tuesday and Wednesday and I get the honor of testing the sixth graders in the local hs group.
We also found out about a homeschool support school just about 10-15 minutes from our house. I think we are going to check it out, but I am pretty unsure about it. Although you meet with your teachers only on Monday, I kind of feel the kids are better if they have a routine that is the same EACH DAY.
Megan has a band concert tonight at 7pm....just love those beginner band concerts...where are my ear plugs?! She also has tutoring from 4:30-6:30, so it should be a very busy night!
Tuesday Katherine has a farewell concert for the seniors at 7pm
Wednesday Lauren has her ballet recital dress rehearsal from 4-6 or 7. Megan is also supposed to have tutoring from 4:30-6:30 so I don't quite know what to do with that yet. I may have to ask a neighbor to take her and pick her up....have to think on this.
Thursday is the band awards banquet and Stephen gets to go to the high school for a field trip at school to watch a football game!
Friday is Lauren's recital at 7pm and Katherine is supposed to have the choir awards banquet, but Lauren is supposed to be downtown at the same time Katherine's awards banquet takes place and I know I can't make it back in time to pick her up....still rolling this around in my head as to what we are going to do. Okay, what I am going to do. Paul of course is gone, remember?!
I hope you all have a good week!
Love,
Kris

Kids in the week

Everytime I log on here, I can't believe a week has gone by! The events of the week are:
1. Kimberly now says her full name...."Kimburee Rose HARpur", then she dissolves into a puddle of giggles. When you ask how old she is she puts her hand to her chest and says, "Kimmee." Rebecca is now trying to teach her Spanish as well. So far she has "Hola!" and "rojo."
2. Rebecca has been the little social butterfly and very helpful around the house. She is quick to pitch in and help me clean...when it suits her. but being given the priviledge of playing with neighbors has inspired a lot of incentive! This week she likes Lauren and let her move in with her...cleaned and rearranged her whole room just for this extra visitor! she's also been doing flashcards with Kimberly and Lauren and often helps Lauren with her math.
3. I took a trip up to Megan's school to talk to the guidance counselor, you see, when we started with Sylvan they sent letters to the guidance counselors asking for their help in tutoring Megan. (I have copies of these letters) They asked that the counselors forward information onto Megan's teachers regarding a survey of her strengths and weaknesses and help with what they are studying so that Sylvan can best meet Megan's needs. When Paul met with Megan's teachers, they had no clue she was at Sylvan and said, "have them tell us whatever they need and we will fax it over to them." Six weeks down the drain!
I went into the guidance office and have never met such a disgruntled person in my life. She had the gall to tell me Sylvan never sent anything. She never looked anything up, offered to talk to the other counselor...nothing! She just sat there looking at me and insisting that they didn't do as they said. I told her I had copies of the letters and she didn't even reach to look at them, just insisted that I was wrong! I was so annoyed! I left there and made sure the front office knew about Mrs. Sacco's behavior towards me! I called Paul and he called Sylvan to get a copy of everything they sent to the school...we picked it up and took it directly into Megan's teacher so hopefully we will get some more directed tutoring now! Not that she wasn't doing better without this info, but it should help...in addition to her new "brain" pills. Yes, we broke down and put her back on meds. It seems the only thing that truly helps her to concentrate, organize and stay on task. All our dietary changes, therapies, and supplements are not helping 100%....only about 40%. A lot of the brain issues are still not being affected. She seems to be doing much better and we've all seen a marked difference in her ability to stay on task!
4. Katherine's choir "stuff" is now all finally settled and we all decided it best that she stay with the second year choir for one more year. She was devastated, but her maturity level demands another year at a lower level. Several days have past and she is now adjusting to that decision. She will be performing at a Solo concert on Tuesday and she is very excited about it!
5. Stephen was just shot with a pellet gun at a friend's house yesterday. Paul and I were on a date when my phone rings in Office Depot (Memphis is having a tax free day and Paul promised me a lap top this year...seemed like the perfect opportunity, plus the sales they were having were huge!). Here is how the conversation goes...remember everyone standing around us only hears my end:
Megan, Hi mom, Stephen has to talk to you, he got shot with a gun...(very nonchalant about it).
Mom, A gun! What are you talking about? Where? What?...
Megan, oh, don't worry it was an automatic....
Mom, an automatic gun???? Where is Stephen?
Megan, Here he is
Megan passes the phone to a sobbing Stephen...
Mom, Stephen, Stephen, you are going to have to stop crying so hard I can't understand you! Now, where were you?
Stephen...D's house (had a discussion about not leaving the house when mom & dad are gone and what D exactly did).
Mom, what kind of gun was this?
Stephen, a automatic (AGAIN WITH THE AUTOMATIC!)
Mom, what do you mean an automatic?
Stephen, a hunting gun
Mom, WHAT! Why did D have an autmatic hunting gun! Where are his parents?
Stephen, Mom the bullets are plastic, not metal
Mom, Oh, so it was a pellet gun! Okay, where are you shot?
Stephen, on my foot and knee
Mom, is there blood?
Stephen, no, but it has a bad bruise
Mom, Okay, well we will be home in 20 minutes. Go put some ice on it until I get home...
Hang up, look around and notice everyone looking at me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So much for our date!

school

After a long hard day at school, we were taking a break out back when we realized we couldn't find Kimberly. After much desperate searching we found her here in the classroom! Now we are off to join Stephen and Paul at the campsite...I didn't want to be camping in all that rain yesterday!
Have a very blessed day!
Kris

Only for today...

1) Only for today, I will seek to live the livelong day positively without wishing to solve the problems of my life all at once.

2) Only for today, I will take the greatest care of my appearance: I will dress modestly; I will not raise my voice; I will be courteous in my behavior; I will not criticize anyone.

3) Only for today, I will be happy in the certainty that I was created to be happy, not only in the other world but also in this one.

4) Only for today, I will adapt to circumstances, without my requiring all circumstances to be adapted to my own wishes.

5) Only for today, I will devote ten minutes of my time to some good reading, remembering that just as food is necessary to the life of the body, so good reading is necessary to the life of the soul.

6) Only for today, I will do one good deed and not tell anyone about it.

7) Only for today, I will do at least one thing I do not like doing; and if my feelings are hurt, I will make sure that no one notices.

8) Only for today, I will make a plan for myself; I may not follow it to the letter, but I will make it. And I will be on guard against two evils: hastiness and indecision.

9) Only for today, I will firmly believe, despite appearances, that the good Providence of God cares for me as no one else who exists in this world.

10) Only for today, I will have no fears. In particular, I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful and to believe in goodness.

Indeed, for twelve hours I can certainly do what might cause me consternation were I to believe I had to do it all my life.