Well, my mom and step-dad came for their visit over the weekend.  It was very nice!  God is so good to have turned things around in the past two years.  My mom came over on the morning of the 4th and took me to breakfast.  Her hair was cut and colored and she was dressed in clean clothes that fit her nicely.  I told her how nice she looked and how glad I was that she was taking care of herself.  She was very gracious.  We wound up going to an old restaurant that we used to go to when I was a kid.  Then we went grocery shopping for the cookout on the 5th.  It was fun.  The next afternoon everybody came over: my mom, stepdad, brother, his girlfriend, their baby,  and my sister, Mel.  (She was still here from the bbq on the 4th that she went to with us.)  Everybody got along so well and seemed to have a good time.  Ds3 1/2 is always so squirrley when my brother is around.  He probably thinks ds is not very well behaved.  Oh well!

      I found a book called Phonics Pathways at the library today.  Ds 3 1/2 and I started it this evening.  I'm glad I found it because the first two sets of Bob Books are easy to read.  Then they bring new sounds in and I'm not sure how to teach them separately.  P. P. seems to go through word or sound families in a progression and I'm more comfortable with that.  I also found some Shapes to Cut books to copy for ds to get some scissor practice. 

      My sister's baby is due the 15th and I am obsessively checking my email and phone for messages.  It is her first baby and she lives far away from me, so it is a little bittersweet.  We can't go see the baby and I'm not satisfied with waiting 'til Christmas to see the little guy.  We bought her a webcam for a baby gift so we can see him and the cousins can "get to know" each other.  Please keep my sister in your prayers if you think of it.  Her name is Andrea. 

      The summer is going so quickly.  I hope I remember to enjoy it before the schedule of fall comes back to overwhelm me.  Enjoy your summer, too!!