I think we may actually get one car in the garage. Maybe. It was 2004 the last time that happened. It will be amazing to be able to get into the car without getting wet when it's raining :) I am getting ahead of myself.....we aren't quite there yet.
When we first moved in we noticed ants in the kitchen. I could never find an actual trail, they would just appear everywhere. An exterminator came out and it looked like things were a little better and then I noticed some ants in the dishwasher. Yikes. Out came the exterminator again. That was about 2 or more weeks ago and things were ant free. Then I noticed them on my laptop....in the living room.....ewww. Chris checked it out and said there were some crumbs inside the keys. That's odd....I would never eat near my computer (oops). A day or so later I notice they are on the couch and Chris pulls up a cushion and they are in the cushions!!!!!!!!! Now this is the couch that was in the basement where the boys sit. They are not allowed to eat or drink on the couch but since they never do what they are told....I'm guessing there is something sweet that has dripped down into a crevice and the ants have found it. We immediately put the couch in the garage. I don't do ants....or any other bug. In the end...we figured out that they are coming up out of little spaces between the boards in the wood floor. The exterminator, who is now a family friend (I may even friend him on facebook...we're buds) because he is here all the time, came out again. He sprayed some more and gave me some gel to leave out to kill these evil insects. I have all of the furniture cleared out of the living room and we are mostly hanging out upstairs now. Yes, I'm that crazy when it comes to bugs. I may move back downstairs tomorrow. Maybe...we will see.
I can't believe I just wrote a short story about ants. If you are still awake....we had more happen than just an ant infestation this month.
We drove up to Johnson City to leave Mason with Aunt Tammy and Nana. We had not been up there in a year and it was so good to see everyone. We got up very early the next morning and headed to Maryville to leave for the mission trip in Greenville, SC. It was great to see everyone and it was Tucker's first time on a youth trip or doing any kind of mission trip. Some of their friends who they thought were going ended up not going and the boys were not happy that I was making them go anyway. After all, it was not really supposed to be about hanging out with their friends. It was supposed to be about serving others.
We stayed in the dorms at North Greeneville University. That area of the country is absolutely beautiful and the weather was great the whole week. I was chaperoning the girls so I didn't really see too much of the boys except at meals and during the worship service. In my group we went and held VBS at a spanish church. It was amazing to see the youth teaching all of the children about Jesus.
Shane's group went to an inner city apt complex to hold VBS. Shane has gone on several mission trips so he is an old pro by now.
Tucker's group went to a rec center to play games and hang out with inner city kids. According to Tucker they were a pretty wild group. I don't think he expected the little ones to use the F word so freely. Kind of an eye opening experience for him as you can imagine.
We were in our mission groups from 10 am to 3:20 everyday and most of the other time we were in bible study or worship....but we all did get to have a little time to just hang out and have fun.
It was a really cool experience and I hope we get to go again next year!
On the way up to South Carolina
I think Shane is okay that he is the only older boy on the trip. What do you think?
Shane and Hannah....I have been trying to arrange a marriage for years.
Tucker, Su Mei, and Shane
Awwww....aren't we sweet?
Su Mei and Shane
Shane has been friends with these girls since first grade....and now they are all seniors.
Hannah and Shane on the way home.
The gang right before we left. We are pretty sure Shane's phone is laying on the ground somewhere around there.....still. Glad we have insurance.
Sad faces
Silly faces
We got back to Maryville and drove straight back up to Johnson City because we missed Mason! Okay....I really, really missed Mason. Now... his brothers claim they didn't but I know better. Mason was just fine without us. I'm not sure he had time to miss us, he was busy running to the library, going to see movies, watching his cousins play softball. Hard life. Mason got to go with Aunt Tammy and Uncle Rick to a 50 mile race in West Virginia. He thought he was pretty cool!
Uncle Barry found a great deal for us on a used car for Shane while we were there. Shane had to drive it all the way home from Johnson City, TN to Huntsville. That is 5 hours! About 4.5 hours longer than he has ever driven by himself. Tucker rode with him the whole way, which I am sure he thought was too cool, and they followed me. It was uneventful and we made it home to see Chris who was a little bored after a week home by himself.
I am having a horrible time finding doctors for all of us. The only pediatricans who are taking patients are female and I think boys should see male doctors. It is just hard to pick doctors when I don't have any references. I have to do that to get them registered for school so I better hurry up!
Mason and I have big plans to go check out Cars 2 tomorrow. I hope it's as good as the first!
