Like old times!

Well it all felt very familiar and natural today.  Worked the morning and some of the afternoon.  Meghan came by to play with Abs and Josh.  Suzanne stopped by to chat a bit before she had to run off to a meeting.  Then The Ball family arrived for our dinner together.  We had a stir meal of sorts.  Yummy!  Dee Dee brought a brownie mix that was new to both families.  Not too bad.  We all had a great time together and as usual 9:00 pm rolled around and we could not believe how fast the time went.  The young girls begged for a sleep over.  So I am one child down this evening and will be for tomorrow morning and schooling I might add.  I know she will school good there, she is always better elsewhere.  

It really felt like old times!  Thank you Ball Clan for making our day "awesome" (Joshua's word)!  

Where o where are the carpet people?

Last full day here in Ohio.   Was spent cleaning, straightening, and organizing.  Both the things that come with us and that which is left behind.   Needed to stay close to house today as we are changing the carpet in the family room.  They arrived right around 4 pm.  I thought it was to be earlier, well actually hoped it would be earlier.  Took them 2 hours to do it all.  Looks good but I do miss the color.    Now comes... more cleaning.   

The day was rather rainy and dreary so I felt cold most of the day.  While drinking my afternoon tea, I called my girlfriend, yep Carla, as she was preparing her house for break.   Wanted to say our last goodbye's (until the next time) and say have a great trip.  Stephen got to be with a friend late afternoon, he was happy about that.  And Joshua and Abigail got to spend most of the afternoon with Meghan.  But their family is off to a Taiko gala.  We will no doubt get to say adios tomorrow.  

The Ball's were able to stop by for a little bit too.  Which is good because I was able to give her the blueberry breakfast bars we were supposed to share.  (Oops forgot them the other day!)  Dee Dee graciously took the kids to pizza hut while I stayed here with Heather to get the rooms looking good.  I appreciate Heather's decorating sense so I phoned for some much needed help.  Thank you ladies for all you did, I was able to accomplish a lot!   

On the go

Today marked a day where we were on the go from the beginning. I started at 8:30 am with the painters arriving to begin their 5-6 hours of painting. They were efficient and good. Then off to breakfast with my buddy, Penny, meeting her at Panera. Then to Sherwin Williams because I needed to color swatch match. Back home for a few hours. Were I was able to take some time to read through a book that Bill and I are discussing. Next, lunch and then out the door to the Stampers. As they are without car they needed us to go over there. No problem. A few hours later it is stop at home for some waters to meet the Balls at a park near their home. A few hours later it is drive Ball girls to house - Dee Dee needed to complete her walk as she is training for a big event May 3rd. Upon leaving said park, Heather calls to invite us over for some burger and dogs on grill. (Ok dinner is taken care of!) Home for about hour to get ready for showing. Had to rearrange the rooms that had been painted today. Plus need to make sure cleaning occurs for the showing. Joshua walked home with me as he is not too keen on the dark and the rest of the kids were playing flashlight tag. We were home a good 1 1/2 hours before Stephen and Abigail returned. Looked at clock saw it was 10:00 pm and said, "Time for bed!" I too am getting sleepy as I sit here and type this. I am sure there will be many words that are wrong so please remember that I want to be in my nice comfy bed asleep. :)
I know I have said this before and definitely in the past few days, but these last days here do us in. You see when we get back we know all to well how much fun we have here and how difficult then it is for us there. But with the weather changing that should truly help us to be out more and not feel too cramped.

Since there was this obstacle course at the park, they decided to play along.

Dee Dee introduced my kids to pop rocks!

At the Stampers

They love playing rock band.

Some karaoke at the Blacks!  

New Day

Saturday began like this......

I just couldn't resist taking the photos. It was just gorgeous! The pictures really do not reflect the lovely shade of purple that Joshua and a saw out our front window. Up early for showing to get cleaning and get out of house. Stephen had a sleep over so his room stayed nice and neat as well as basement. Just had to get younger ones moving. Not too bad when Mom says Tim Horton's for breakfast!!! Besides the house has been staying in good condition thanks to the photos being taken on Thursday and Friday was a field trip. Happy day for me when there is little to do. I also went around the house last night and did some cleaning while children were asleep. While we were at Tim Horton's eating our bagels and drinking some hot chocolate and chai tea, I noticed how much I really missed Stephen. Just then Abigail chimed in and agreed with me. May I say what a delight that was to my ears because they can be oil and water, baby! Joshua always misses the family being together. Last year for his golf lessons he was happiest when the whole family made it! Such a sweet sweet boy!

The afternoon was spent hanging with the Balls and going to Yutzy's market. Abigail stayed behind to play with Megan which Olivia did not take kind to. Sorry Miss Olivia. Since that happened all the kids decided to stay home with Rich.  Which is a treat for Stephen as he likes to play board games and Rich has quite a collection of fun and interesting games.  They were able to play one called "Poison."   So DeeDee and I were able to go out there by ourselves. Interesting little shop. Bought some very inexpensive cold cuts. Now we wait and see if family likes them.

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Zoo and GPS

Thanks to Dana - one of the homeschool Moms in Ohio - we had the opportunity to go to the zoo today and view it a little differently.  (Once again Carla made sure we could tag along on this field trip too!  She is so good to think of us!)  The time was spent as us being "detectives" walking around Asia Quest with a GPS and following clues to a mystery. Well not really a mystery but we had to help the zookeepers keep a criminal in jail, who had been caught the night before after hours in the zoo, with all the different clues we found. It was a fun idea. Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE the zoo, however, it is always nice to do and experience it in different settings. That occurred today as we were more interested in following our little GPS's then even looking at the animals. (I did happen to take a few photos of some of the animals - but most are of our group during the adventure.)

Let me just start by saying if anyone knows me you know that I like to run a tight ship. With that being said, at one point I kinda went overboard and had to raise my voice (shocking I know (and this is why Carla will stop inviting me) - lol) to remind the group I was with to wait for everyone.  Now I need to back up and explain something. You will see from the pictures that we had about 30 children present but each "team" was about a group of 6-8 children. The group I was in had the 8. So after the first couple of points we went to, which was very chaotic, I lost it and made sure they understood that we ALL needed to work together and not going running ahead. You see for every 2 kids there was a GPS and each set had a different role and each point we went to spoke specifically to certain roles (I hope this is making sense.) Once they realized they could not get the information if they were not the correct "people" for that point, it went better. 

Carla was the secretary and took down the notes from the clues.  (Also notice the boys taunting the goose - that decided to take flight and not attack.  Crazy boys!)

Two of my favorite 6th grades girls. (not in my group) Reilly and Tana.
Doesn't it look chaotic?! There were still two other teams not in photo!  Note the children looking down at screen.
Reilly, Olivia, and my Abs! The happy face is that Kelly was running the show.  (A zoo worker that Abigail has known since she was 4.)
This table has the group I was with!  It consisted of Ryan, Stephen, Casey, Brendan, Patrick, Kyle, Thomas, and my Josh!  Yes, all boys!
Overall loads of fun!  And it is all about the kids - so as long as they had a good time so should I right?   You would think... so at 4:45p my friend invited me over for some appetizers and a glass of wine.  Do you think I said yes?!?!?!   Thank you, Suzanne!  ;}

Food, Food, and more food

On Thursday I spent the day catching up with friends and it all revolved around food.  If anyone knows me you know that I LOVE food.  Yup, I do!  Can't really get enough of it some days.  The day began with my wonderful friend Heather bringing us some Buckeye cupcakes.  Then off to lunch with Heather and Suzanne (my other wonderful friend!).  We went to my favorite place - The Northstar Cafe.  We tried to go to a new Chipotle opening - as there was free food - but it was crazy packed.  So, off to the Cafe - where I was able to eat my much loved and craved veggie burger.  It is a big plate of food and well worth it!  I am not going to lie, it is pricey!!!  Then around 4 ish off to meet with Carla for some hot chocolate and donut.  Love the Tim Horton's especially their prices!   Then at 6:00p it was Dinner at the Ball house.  Good food and even better fellowship.  Can anyone say stuffed!!!

As I mentioned earlier we love coming back to be with the ones we love!   But they all make it sooooo difficult to leave again.