It has been a busy week and I have just now gotten a quick moment to type. On Tuesday, I had to take Corey to the orthodontist. He got 4 braces put on. It is to help pull his front 2 teeth together. The boys bought a new hamster while we were in Somerset.
On Wednesday, I went to school to work on my classroom. I was preparing for 24 students but my principal decided to split the 3rd grade into two classes so now I only have 12. I had to back track and remove some names and things like that. I think I am pretty much ready for Open House on Monday night.
Today I had a training at Jamestown Christian Church over the writing alignment across the county. It was pretty good. Some of the things didn't really pretain to me now but maybe in the future. The kids stayed with my mom and dad for the day. I think they all enjoyed it. Chris' dad was able to come home from the hospital today. I think the boys are going to stay with him tonight incase he needs anything. Chris' mom works at night.
Tomorrow Kendall will get tubes put in her ears. We have to be in C-ville at 5:00. They talk like the procedure is really simple and won't take very long to do. The worst part is that she cannot eat after 12:00 tonight. She is a big eater and this will be hard on us both. Then I have to go to a training from 12:30-3:30 tomorrow. Busy week so far!

The kids and I ventured to Somerset yesterday to see Chris' dad in the hospital. He had reconstructive surgery on his foot. He was in good spirits while we were there. I guess partly because of the medicine he is on and because the kids were there. We took Chris' mom out with us to eat at Golden Corral. The boys love to eat there and of course, I do too!
Chris will be back home today. He won both races but the first one they took down and gave him 6th. They said his horse cut into the paths of other horses. He was really upset about it. Chris said the video couldn't prove that his horse did anything to the other horses so it shouldn't have been put back. That was about $5,000 down the drain. The other horse did great. It won by about 9 links.
Well, my summer vacation is ending. I only have 2 free days from now until school starts. I'm feeling a little blaaaa about it. I went to school and worked the other day getting prepared for my 24 kids and now the 3rd grade is going to be split into 2 classes. I have to go back and take down the charts and things with those kids' names that I don't have. I am glad it is split but I wish I would have known sooner. I feel like I did a lot of work for nothing. I guess Ms. Audra (the other 3rd grade teacher) will benefit. She can have all the things I've done if she wants them.

Yesterday, I took the boys school shopping in E-town. Kendall went to the babysitters. The boys did really well shopping. They had their own money that we kept separate. They both came away with several pairs of shorts and t-shirts. Corey bought 2 pairs of tennis shoes and Chance 1 pair of tennis shoes and 1 pair of flip flops. He then saved some money to order a pair of tennis shoes on ebay (which we did today). I was only able to purchase 4 items while shopping with them so I stopped in C-ville today.
I took Kendall to Dr. Ewing (the ear doctor). She still had fluid on her ears so he suggested putting tubes in her ears. The fluid has been there since March and not gotten any better. He said it could affect her hearing and speech or possibly her balance if it is not taken care of. So, she will have tubes put in on Friday, August 1st. They said the procedure is really simple. She won't even have to have an IV. They will just give her some gas. The procedure will only take around 10-15 minutes to do. I hope everything is as simple as they say. The worst part is that she cannot have anything to eat or drink after midnight. Kendall likes to eat and usually has a bottle or two in the early morning hours. We have to be in C-ville at 5:00 so maybe it won't be too bad on her.
Chris is leaving again tomorrow for the races to Mountaineer Park in West Virginia. He won't be back home until Sunday. He is running Fleeting Frolic on Friday night and Julesnomenclator on Sat. night.
Chris' dad is having surgery tomorrow in Somerset. He is having his other foot worked on. They will basically break it in several places and then rework it so it is straighter. I hope everything goes well for him. He will have a long recovery time which he isn't looking forward to.
The boys were unsure to whether they wanted to play football or not. The sign-ups were last night and they both decided to play. I knew they would. They have enjoyed not having to go to practice all summer but I think they have missed seeing their friends. It was a good break for us all though. I guess I have blabbed enough!

I went to school today and worked for a while. Chance and Kendall went with me. Chance really helped me. He hot glued my material and border on my door that was coming off, stapled basketballs on my bulletin board, sorted the AR books into levels, and helped to watch Kendall. Corey was with Chris today.
I helped Ms. Audra put material on her other classroom door and laminated some ants for her. I really accomplished a lot today. I feel much better about school starting. I don't think I will have to do too much more. Of course, there are always things I forget about. I brought several things home that I laminated and have already cut all of them out.
My grandpa had his surgery to remove the knot under his arm. The doctor said it looked good from what he saw but they would know for sure in about a week.

I took my grandpa to the doctor in E-town. He has a knot under his right arm that they were concerned about. He received good news on it. The doctor said the Pet Scan came back and the area did not show up black. He said 90% of the time it will show up black if it is cancer and his did not. He still has to have it removed on Tuesday. Hopefully, the biopsy will come back fine also.
Chris will finally be back today. He was home on Wednesday night then left again on Thursday morning. He has been gone most of the week. Hopefully, he will be home for a while.

I added a video of Corey bungee jumping while we were on vacation. It took it a minute to come up for me. I recorded it length wise so that is why it is sideways. I hope it works for you.

Corey Bungee Jumping in Gatlinburg, TN

Today was a productive day for me. I pressure washed our house. It was a job. Actually, I only did the front and back. The sides were not bad. I was completely worn out by the time I got finished. I also did some laundry, of course.
Yesterday I met with Mrs. Susan and Ms. Audra at school. We were hoping to get a lot accomplished but without our principal there, we were at a stand-still. It looks as though we will all be teaching 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades next year or shall I say this year. It is soon to come. I cannot believe it is so close. I have several things that I need to get done in my classroom. I have worked on a few things at home that need to be laminated when I go to school.
Hopefully, we can do a little something else before school starts. Maybe a trip to the lake or camping or something.
Kendall is now squealing when Chance and Corey leave her sight. It is funny. They just went outside while I was typing and she squealed for them. Hilarious!
Chris is gone to Mountaineer Park in West Virginia. He ran a horse yesterday that got 3rd and he has one in tonight. He will be home sometime tomorrow.

Gatlinburg to Columbia

We're back in Columbia. We had a great trip. Even though the boys and I went earlier, we still had a good time. There were several other things to do instead of the same. The boys have lots of firsts on this trip. First time......riding the airway tram, ice skating, riding down the alpine slide, bungee jumping, sky flying, white water rafting, riding the sky lift, going to the aquarium, staying in a cabin, and doing the moving theater. I think they will be talking about this trip for a while. (Ms. Susan, I think I am feeling a personal narrative coming from this trip. Ha!) I am glad to be back home, even though I have a mountain of laundry ahead of me.
Kendall News
She is cutting her first teeth! She has two coming in on the bottom. She has been a little more fussy but not bad. The trip was pretty good for her also. It wasn't too long of a ride. She and Kara (her cousin) slept for almost 2 hours on the way home, so that helped.

Today has been so-so. I cleaned out Chance's and Corey's closets today. What a mess! I have always saved Chance's jeans when he out-grows them for Corey, but Corey is really picky about his jeans. He will not wear any of the jeans I have saved. Some are a little out of style now because Corey is about 2-3 years behind Chance in jeans. I have 2 large black garbage bags full of jeans and jean shorts. I hope I can find someone to buy them. I have so much more yard sale items to get rid of.
Chance, Corey, Kendall, and I took a trip to Campbellsville today. I bought the boys a couple of new shirts and Kendall an outfit for late fall. Then we went to Super Wal-Mart to get groceries. The boys wanted to stop at the spillway to show me what it is like. It was neat. They were really excited to see the fish. We saw several catfish and a huge carp.
I am trying to get things in order for out trip next week. I think I just need to rent a U-Haul for all the things we need to take with us. Ha! I am getting excited even though we just went a few weeks ago. It will be fun. At least I know my way around better and hopefully can guide us from place to place with ease. We'll see.