6:39 a.m.

Yes, that is what time my son got up this morning wanting to know if he could go and get his fishing rod. You see, Tyler gets hooked on one toy and he will play with it for several days before switching to a new one. He has done this since he was a baby. So the toy for this week is a baton with a yo-yo attached to the head of it - better known as a "fishing rod". We will be eating fish for the next year with all of the huge fish that he has caught all over the house!

So, here I sit, trying desperately to make my eyes open and wake up. I thought this would be a GREAT time to blog!

We had a great time with my brother and his family last weekend. I will try to post some pictures soon. They brought Luke, the puppy, with them, and let me just tell you - he was a serious cutie! They got here late Friday night and my kids were up at, I think, 6:30 on Saturday morning. Since they were sleeping in our room I made them stay in there in their beds until I was ready to get up! Pretty soon the cousins were up too and the fun began. The five of them get along so well and play great together. So we hung out Saturday morning and then we packed a picnic and took the kids to the park for a little while. We came home later in the afternoon and the guys watched the Olympics while my sister-in-law and I went and had pedicures. That was nice! Saturday night we went to dinner - Sadonna - you will be happy to know that we finally tried the new Mi Rancho! It was yummy! After dinner the real fun began. We went to Adventure Crossing. I'm thinking of embroidering some T-shirts for Ad. Crossing to sell. Something like "My parents brought me here and spent all the money they had saved for my college education" or maybe "My parents went to Ad. Crossing and went in debt and all I got was this lousy T-shirt". You catch my drift, right? My sil and I are pretty frugal so we spent about the first 20 minutes just trying to play the system and see how much we could do for the least amount of money. Let me save you the trouble -- THERE IS NO PLAN LIKE THAT!!! You will do one thing and pay dearly for it! Okay, maybe it wasn't quite as bad as all of that. It was very fun for the kids. They all rode the go carts and then we went in to the arcade area and let the kids throw money into the trash can, oh, I mean video games. Then comes the excruiating point where you have to turn your tickets in for "prizes". I won't even go down that road! It was fun though - the guys got to ride the go carts with the kids several times and that is always fun to watch. Sunday was church and then they headed home and we headed to AWANA. Sunday was the first night and considering that they have changed some of the material, I think everything went surprisingly well!

Today is my first day with both kids in school and I don't have to go into work. I'm very excited about three hours of running errands by myself. I'm having serious issues with my kids growing up right now. I will have to post more about that later. Right now I have to go and see if I can change the breakfast conversation going on right now. Kayla is explaining to Tyler about skulls and brains and how the brain is mushy. Gross.

A New Churchill Holiday

Well, life has erupted around here and things have been crazy. We are full into our school schedule and there seems to be little time for blogging these days. As a matter of fact, my husband gave me a hard time yesterday because I hadn't updated my blog in days! Probably because this seems to be our only form of communicating with each other lately! Okay, I am kidding about that, but you know how it is. We fight for a few moments of interrupted conversation in the evenings - we have to demand time out to keep our sanity!

The biggest news around here is that I have decided to create a new Churchill Holiday. Maybe it will catch on and go nationwide, but that might be a little scary. My biggest struggle lately has been laundry - can I get an amen from any other moms out there? Where does all of this stuff come from? I'm not kidding when I tell you that I have been trying to get all of my laundry caught up for days!!! Days people!!! I continually have at least one load of clothes on my floor - do you know how annoying that is? So, I have declared next Tuesday to be Churchill Naked Day. None of the members of our family will be allowed to wear clothes of any kind until ALL the laundry is done. How do this holiday come about you may ask? Well, last night I was telling Craig that I just cannot seem to get caught up on the laundry. His response, "honey, you are never going to be caught up with the laundry, even if you get it all done, there will still be the clothes that we are all wearing." Hahaha - I will have the last laugh. Next Tuesday, padlocks come out for all dresser drawers and closets. School and work will be on hold - hello, we are not streakers - just people desperate to get the laundry caught up! So, please don't come by my house on Tuesday as I will not be answering my door, due to the fact that it will be Churchill Naked Day! Desperate times call for desperate measures!

Yea -- I did it!

Okay, so really, I am a little technologically challenged, but I just want ya'll to notice my new slideshow - I'm so proud of myself! Now if I can just figure out how to get some music on here it would be great! A project for another day!

I had orientation tonight at Kayla's school. Her teacher really seems very sweet. I think she is going to have a good year. She came home yesterday and told me that her teacher cut their homework in half because she thought there might be some people who go to church on Wednesday nights! How cool is that! I was very impressed and extremely thankful. God always has a plan doesn't He?

My brother and family will be here tomorrow. We are so excited! We look forward to a fun weekend with them. Other than that there has not been too too much going on this week. We are in the middle of a Graceful Designs purse promotion and that has kept me pretty busy all week. Oh, and our countertops came in today. Except that Craig didn't like the way the edge looked on the bar because it was a little sloppy, so they are redoing that. Then they cut the hole for the sink in the wrong place so... We do have the countertop that goes where the stove is so maybe he might get that in tomorrow night. We'll see. It is very pretty though! I will post pics when it is all done.

First Day of School

Kayla's first day of school went great! She had a good day and made a new friend.
She came home in a great mood. I was so happy. I knew she would be okay, but there is still always that little doubt in the back of your mind! Today starts homework!

Fun with Grandpa(Pop)

Craig's dad is so funny with the kids. He is in his 60's and still runs around the house like a maniac chasing the kids and being crazy with them! They love it and I think he does too!:) Here is a video of him playing outside with Tyler from this weekend. I'm including some pictures too but they are kind of fuzzy since they were running!

Back to Normal

Well, tomorrow we start back to our "normal" routine. Please define normal! Seriously, the past couple of weeks have been so hectic so I am looking forward to settling back into school and work! Kayla starts tomorrow and she is in a much better frame of mind and knows that God has something planned. He has certainly done a work in her heart over the past couple of days about the year to come. Thank You Lord! It will seem so strange to just have Tyler home this week and I will miss Kayla like crazy. We have had fun this summer. Tyler will start his school next Monday and he is excited about that. We go for his open house on Wednesday. So maybe by the end of next week we will be back in the school year groove.

We have enjoyed having my in-laws here this weekend although my mother-in-law hasn't felt well and I know that is not enjoyable for her. But still they have enjoyed the party and the kids. Tyler has taken to calling Grandpa "Pop". It's kind of like him calling Craig "buddy". It has been too cute. Today was promotion Sunday and Tyler is old enough now to go to Children's Church. That was hard. No more scanning my ID tag to check him in and out of nursery - he is officially a big kid. It makes me sad. My kids are growing up so fast and while it is great in some ways it is so sad in others.

So my inlaws leave in the morning, Kayla starts school tomorrow, and Tyler and I have a whole lot of nothing planned this week! My brother and his family will be here on Friday and he just called tonight to tell me they are bringing their new puppy! My children are going to go nuts. Thanks Brian - when ya'll leave I will probably have to get them a dog. From what I understand "Luke" is six weeks old and is a beautiful chocolate lab with blue eyes! That will be tons of fun for my kids - they have been begging for a pet. So, we look forward to their visit this week. After that our next big thing is Craig's hunting trip. It will be here before I know it. My m-i-l will be coming to spend those couple of weeks with us and we have already been talking about projects that she can do while she is here. She is a seamstress extraordinaire! I am fully convinced that she can make just about anything that I can dream up! Craig is really starting to get geared up for his trip and is trying to get his list together of everything he needs before he goes. I'm so excited for him and his dad - they are going to have a blast.

The Best Birthday Party Ever

Kayla's birthday party was a huge hit! She had so much fun and thanked me profusely for "all of my hard work". How sweet is that? She is a great kid and I can't believe that she is nine years old today. Where has the time gone? Before I tell you about the party I just have to say that God has blessed me with a wonderful daughter. She is so compassionate and kind hearted. She has her daddy's laid back personality and her mama's dramatic tendencies!
The party was so much fun. Thank you Shannon and Ruth for helping out. We started out by washing hands in this wonderful sugar scrub stuff. Then they donned their personalized head bands and we gave them their warmed up neck wraps. Some of them started out in the foot baths. We did facial mask, painted fingernails and toenails. They got a neck massage from Ruth and Aunt Shannon painted flowers on their toes. I lotioned them all up and they all got to take turns on the foot massager. They had a blast!
Kayla got her ipod. That is what she was really hoping for. She also got an idog and carrying case and a bitty baby high chair from American Girl. Her friends got her all kinds of cool, girly gifts and she basically just had the best day ever!