I DO NOT LIKE TO PAINT!

Ever since we bought the new house, we have been painting.

Daddy said that Dante left out the Tenth Circle.  He doesn't know what you have to do to get there but he does know that you have to move and paint for eternity.


Imagine going to closing...

Satan's lawyer and realtor are there, and there is a problem with the mortgage or the documents, or the title search, so it's really stressful.  Ultimately, they get it straightened out, but you have to pay more money, and the payments are higher.

Then you have to go to the new house and paint it. You're on a budget, so you buy cheap paint, so it doesn't cover as good as the good stuff so you have to put on about six coats. When it's all done you realise you spent more on the cheap stuff than if you had bought the good stuff.

So then you have to move all your stuff from the old house to the new house.

Remember where you are, so you dont have any friends to help you, so you hire Two Minions and a Truck to help. They break a lot of your stuff, and hit the walls in several places, so you have to touch up the paint. But you didn't save any of the paint and the brushes are hard from dry paint because you forgot to clean them...  

So just as you take that last glass out of the wrapping paper and sit it on the shelf, BAM!, you're out the door to closing again!

And you thought Sisyphus had it bad!

That's how the Tenth Circle works.

Okay, that's our trip down Literature Lane for today.

Here are a few photos from the activities...

Before

Now

Before

Now

As you can see, much has been done and yet there remains much more to do.  

I'll post more pictures when more is done, and we're trying to get a picture of Sneaky Snake who lives in our back yard in a series of tunnels more elaborate than those at Stalag 13! 

Stick a fork in us, 'cause we're done!

With the country life, that is. We bought a new house!


Our New House

The truth is the country is just too darn far away from EVERYTHING!

Back about Christmas time, Grandmommy told Daddy that Miss Norma's nephew was going to sell her house. Miss Norma lived around the lake from Grandmommy until she moved into the assisted living center. That was two years ago, and so now they decided to sell the house. Daddy said they got it for a really good price since Daddy's Grandmommy and Miss Norma were such good friends. The house was built in 1966, so it needs a little updating, but other than that it's ready to go.

We started working on the updating Saturday.

The first thing I did was put up our new mailbox!



Then I put the boys to work painting the ceilings...



...and the girls cleaning the walls...




...while I got to work on our patio furniture.



It didn't take long for the boys to give out.




The girls did a good job on the walls in the den.




We have a pretty good view out the front



These geese like the lake.


Okay...That's about all we did over the weekend.
I post more as it happens!

Graduation Party

We had a graduation party for Andy at the lake on Saturday.
He invited some friends and most of the family and we all had a rockin' good time!

Here's Andy and the gang having Lunch.


Here's Andy with his graduation 'tree'



That reminds me... At the graduation ceremony, after everyone had spoken, Dr. Mills was praying. Now remember, Andy's been at this school a long time, and he graduated number one in his class. So Dr. Mills starts naming everyone, and when he gets to Andy, he forgets his name!

Here's Andy's reaction...




Okay, Back to the party...

Here's Aunt Libby and Jaden
cooling it under a shade tree by the water.


Here's Amanda modelling her swimming frock.


Here's Jaden modelling her
swimming frock by the water's edge.


Now, here's the coolest thing!
Uncle Al helped me learn to work the kneeboard!
Check me out in this cool video!



Is that cool or what???
I did this pretty much all day!
That's my cousin, Philip, holding the kneeboard for me.
If you listen closely, you can hear
Me Too Jaden saying she wants to do it!

Dont I look cool?


After that, we all jumped in for a swim!


Here's Jasmine hoping to get in on the action.

Maybe next time....

Summertime Update

Hello!

Today I want to allow Jasmine to tell you a little more about coming home with Mommy and Daddy, and then I'll give the Hon Summertime® Update.

Here's Jasmine...

I wanted let you all know that I have this closet thing figured out.

I have noticed that when you go in, nothing is the same when you come out. That can only mean one thing, and that is, the closet is some kind of device that changes the outside. There are many buttons on the wall inside the closet. Mommy or Daddy will press one of these buttons and when the door closes, the things outside change to whatever the button says it will be. I know this is true because sometimes other people will get in the closet with us, and they press buttons, too. When the door opens to their choice, they get out, otherwise they just wait until the outside looks like something they like.

There is also a 'hurry up' button. people press it when they are in a hurry, and the world will change faster outside. The more times you press the button, the faster it will change! Daddy said this is called 'ellaceleration'.

Knowing this, I can now go in the closet without quite as much fear and trepidation, however, I still am not completely relaxed in the closet.

We did not use the closet to come to America. For that we used a big metal tube.

Here I am with my flag.

<Dad Interruption>
I have to tell you about the flag. You see, it was Amanda's choir music presentation, and it was an American themed musical. At the end all the children gave out the flags around the set. So everyone is mingling around, so I took Jasmine on the stage and gave her the flag so I could get a few pictures. When we got done, I stood up and realised that the room had gotten quiet and everyone was watching the newest American in the room wave her flag! Pretty cool, huh?
</Dad Interruption>

---

Thank you Jasmine (and Daddy!) for that fine report on things as you experienced them in China.

Now, I'd like to give a Hon Summertime® Update.

Mommy bought us a pool! Not a small kiddie pool, but a big 10 foot redneck pool!

Daddy put it together for us, and we have spent quite some time enjoying it.

Here we are in the pool.
The sun was in Jasmine's eyes.



Here's a video of us all enjoying the pool!



Jaden finally realised it was cold!

Okay, That's all for the update. I'm off to the pool!!!