The Jersey Mama: Summer-ness

Hiya. It's been a long time. Hopefully a few of these ...

courtesy of a diligent iPhoto-taking-Poppop

... will make you more inclined to forgive me for my blog neglect.

I did find a post that I started but never published which you can read here.

We are two-thirds of the way through our summer break. June was pretty laid-back -- we finished school at the end of May, and the girls had swim lessons for 3 weeks. They went with cousins and friends and had a lot of fun, though I don't know that they really learned all that much. Eric's sister and her baby arrived mid-month (BIL came over from Scotland a couple of weeks later.) We got pictures like this one of the newest cousins meeting

and of all the cousins together.

O-nee, Peabody, DR, Boogie, HE, EK, HJ, IM, and Mr. A

I heard a couple of comments about IM being a Jersey Girl but, since she was not born nor does she live in Jersey, I protest that she has no claim to that title and is actually a Wee Scottish Lassie.

I also heard a couple of comments about how these two look just alike but truly, I don't see it at all. The only resemblance I can see are fair skin and limited quantities of dark hair. Also I would like to point out that this picture pretty much sums them up: IM is happy and smiley, while Mr. A is much more serious.

July started off awesomely with the arrival of a brand new Washington cousin! Isn't he adorable? I sooooooo badly want to get my hands on him! (These photos are courtesy of Uncle Furry.)

I can hardly stand that I haven't gotten to see him in person. Also, I can hardly believe that my BABY brother is now a dad.

Then the month ramped up with a week of VBS at another church immediately followed by a week of VBS at our church immediately followed by almost a week of a family conference at church immediately followed by almost a week of Mrs. Specktacular visiting.

I wrote about VBS here but feel free to skip that post (I promise my feelings won't be hurt) because it is a pretty boring post and mostly for my own reference.

The family conference was preached by an evangelist whose family has been friends with my family for many years. Seeing him and his lovely wife was almost like spending time with my own folks! We had them over for dinner one evening, and I offered use of our washer and dryer (since they live in an RV) so got to spend a few more hours with the missus. It was very, very nice!

Mrs. S went to Pittsburgh for a work conference and when it was over instead of flying home she flew to Philly. It was her fifth visit to NJ! She was here 7/25-7/31 and spent lots of time snuggling and playing with Mr. A, and entertaining the big sisters. One afternoon we were able to go on a "mom date" of shopping and dinner together to celebrate ten years of friendship (we met in July 2004 when she was hired on by the bank I worked for.) I think she had a relaxing time but was happy to get home to her own family.

Now we have a couple of weeks to prep for and have a yard sale, do some stuff around the house, and get ready for my Mamaw to come! We're super excited about that -- it will be her first visit and we can't wait for her to meet Mr. A and local family and church family, and see our little house and area where we live.

In other less exciting news that I simply want to have some record of, the ugly shed in the back yard is gone gone gone, I bought a tomato plant and managed to keep it alive long enough to produce a few tomatoes, and I cleaned the living room carpet very thoroughly after Mama Dog jumped the gate and came looking for us in the middle of the night because she needed to go out but we didn't hear her so she left us lots of presents in the living room. And by presents I mean something awful. I am not overly fond of her at the best of times and truly, if it were not for my children and my conviction that we don't get rid of pets simply because they are inconvenient, that episode would have been the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. As it is she is spending every dry day outside and is absolutely positively NOT ALLOWED IN THE LIVING ROOM ANYMORE. Also I am super careful to block the gate so she can't jump over it in the middle of the night. And if it is a sin to hate an animal I hope someone points it out to me so that I can repent.

I think that just about sums up our summer so far so without further ado I give you some pictures: