We're only half way along in our summer vacation and already we've been seeing reminders of others gearing up for the new school year.  There are "Back to School" ads, bins of school supplies lining the aisles at Walmart, and we received our CPI form in the mail from the local school district for us to fill out and return.

Well, we're not done with our summer break yet.  The supply bins and CPI form will just have to sit.  We're just having too much fun!  J

So, what exactly have we been doing so far this summer?  Are we just lazing around in our hammocks with stars in our eyes, listening to the local tunes?

Well, not all of us anyway.  J 

Our family’s summer has been packed with things to do, places to go, and people to see.  Here’s just a sampling:

Playing at Parks

Homeschool Conference Weekend

While I attended NICHE’s homeschool conference on both Friday and Saturday, Norman took the boys to the Science Center and other places around Des Moines.  This is always a special time for them.

Our 15^th Wedding Anniversary

We have always set aside our anniversary for our yearly family trips.  We used to go to places further away, but each year we have gotten closer and closer to home.  This year, with gas prices the way that they are, we decided on a trip to Des Moines.  And, although we had the boys with us, it was still a memorable anniversary trip.

We visited the place where Norman had proposed to me 15 years ago… the Botanical Center.  The boys enjoyed hearing us tell about how Norman had “popped the question” up at the top of the waterfall.  J

We also took a field trip to the Salisbury House.

Its design was based on a castle in England and includes flint from the White Cliffs of Dover and other materials from all over the world.  It also includes over 3,000 rare books and documents and very valuable paintings.  One of them was recently removed from the collection and sold at Christy’s Auction for $2,000,000.  Much to our dismay, though, a majority of paintings that the original owner had collected were of nude women.  We were also disappointed that they had taken out the shrunken head, which had once been a part of the Indian collection.  I had remembered this from when our 5^th-grade class had taken a field trip there “many moons ago” and this was one of the drawing points of talking our boys into going there.  J  The tour guide told me that they had stored it away, due to issues of sensitivity.

Camping Out

Our family has picked up the tradition of roasting hotdogs/brats and s’mores and then camping out in our backyard during the 4^th of July holiday.  This works out great!  We get the fun of camping out… plus the luxury of going inside the next morning and taking a shower.  J

Fun with Family

Summer is also a good time to see family members from out of state.  Norman’s aunt from Texas was in town for a month, so we got to spend quite a bit of time with her. 

Also, Norman’s sister and her family from Florida were up.  We all got together at Happy Joe’s for supper one evening and then went over to Jumping Jim’s so that all of the boys could wear off their pizza.  J  The boys had a fun time with their cousins.

Fun with Friends

Earlier this week, we got together with some friends of ours who used to live next door to us when we lived in Mt. Pleasant.  Both of our families have since moved away, so we (moms & kids) decided to meet at our old stomping grounds.  We started out at the park, where the kids played and we all ate our picnic lunch.  Then, we walked up to where we used to live and checked it out.  To finish up our day--and to get cooled down--we all went to get some ice cream.  Yum!

Library’s Summer Reading Program

This year’s theme is “Catch the Reading Bug”, so the special programs, videos and prizes all deal with bugs.  I took the boys to Dizzy the Clown’s program a week and a half ago.  She asked for volunteers to help her perform different tricks and do silly things for laughs.  One boy was given a large chocolate candy bar, so when she asked for volunteers the next time, our youngest son raised his hand.  He and a girl were chosen.  The clown painted a butterfly on the girl’s face while music played, and painted a spider web on our son’s face.  I think he would have preferred the chocolate bar instead.  J

The last day for the reading program will be on July 29^th, when they will have a carnival and give out the grand prize.

Gardening

Okay, so not all of our summer has been play.  Some of it has been work, but it’s still fun (in my humble opinion, anyway – ha!).

We’re still getting an unusually large amount of rain here, so the garden is starting to suffer.  The above picture looks pretty good, but lately, the corn is starting to fall over.  I think it’s because the ground is so water-logged that the tall, heavy stalks are just too much for the roots to keep them standing.

We’re hoping the tomatoes do okay, though.  Our oldest son has his own special project going and intends to make some money out of it.

Well, that’s just half of our summer.  We’re hoping that the last half goes as well as the first.  And then after that, I guess I’d better be getting that CPI form filled out and sent back to the local school district.  J

Coming soon… our day at Adventureland!

What do you get when you mix this...

and this?

Um, besides too much science learnin' going on in the backyard...

this is what you get:

This little baby, along with 4 or more others, was born on June 18th under our front porch.  They were way back in a dark corner, so we couldn't get to them.  All we could do was take a peek at them every once in awhile.

A few days later, we noticed that they were all gone except for one little baby who didn't appear to be moving.  Sure enough, it was dead.  Norman was able to take the front panel off the bottom of the porch and reach a shovel clear back under it to remove the poor little kitty.

This made us all sad, but we were hoping that the other babies were still around somewhere... and still alive.

Our youngest son soon noticed that the mother cat was going through a hole into the crawl space under our computer room.  I took a flashlight and shone it around in there, but couldn't see much since I couldn't get my head in through the hole to see back in the corners.  Yes, I know I was being a little impatient, but this was our first batch of kittens and the boys had been anxiously awaiting their arrival.

Not too long after that, I noticed a bad smell coming from the basement... and the computer room.  We finally came to the conclusion that the mother cat had lost all of her kittens.  Since she is just barely out of kitten-hood herself, we figured that she just wasn't able to care for so many babies.  Also, we were thankful that we had plans to be out of town for a couple of days since the smell was getting worse.

Things seemed to be getting back to normal soon after we returned from our trip.  But, one day our youngest son came inside all excited and announced that there was a kitten in the garage!  I went out to check and, sure enough, one little baby kitty was curled up in the soft little bed that we had made earlier for the mother cat.  We were hoping that other kitties would soon start showing up.  But after a few more days, we decided that this one must be the only one left... the survivor.

Since this whole situation seemed so touchy, we were afraid to handle the baby at all.  We would just walk into the garage and "ooh" and "aah" as we watched the kitty grow day-by-day.  Two weeks after it was born, we saw that its bright blue eyes were wide open.  We decided that it was okay to start petting the baby kitten.

The kitten began to fill out more and its markings became more distinct.  Also, it started getting curious about its surroundings.  It would tumble out of its bed and try to overcome its clumsiness to climb back in.  It was very entertaining!

The kitten was showing signs of wanting to play, so the boys made some fun things for it (since it had no brothers or sisters to tussle with).

Our youngest made a house:

And, our oldest made a play area:

Baby Kitten:  "Is this for me?  Wow!  Thanks!"

Mama Cat:  "I never had one of these when I was your age.  This is pretty cool!  Can I play, too?"

Mama Cat:  "Gotcha!!!"

Baby Kitten:  "Hey, where'd she go?"

We're thinking our baby kitty is a female, so the boys have decided to name it "Prancie".  Our youngest has a TY beanie cat named Prance, with the same markings as our kitty.  But, they thought that Prancie sounded more feminine than Prance.

Prancie will be four weeks old this Wednesday.  Today, it took its first steps out of the garage (by itself).  It was so fun to see it wander around, checking everything out.  We were afraid that something might get it if it stayed outside all night (since we have seen coons and other wild animals roaming around at night -- yes, even in town!), so we tiptoed out there just a little while ago with a flashlight and checked on it.  We were pleased to find it safe and sound, back in its soft and cozy bed in the corner of the garage.

It was one of those nights.

Last night after I had shut down the computer for the night and was turning off the lights, I heard a noise coming from our 11-year-old son's bedroom.  I peeked in through his doorway and saw that his eyes were wide open.  I asked him why he was still awake and he whispered that his stomach was hurting really bad.  I could tell that he had been crying and he had his hand over his lower abdomen.

I asked him some questions and he tried to answer them as best as he could, in between his moaning and crying out in pain.  Since I didn't know what was causing his pain, I wasn't sure what to do for him.  If it was just severe gas pains, I could give him some TUMS.  If it was something else, maybe I could give him Tylenol to cut down on his pain until we knew what was causing it.

Since it seemed to be getting worse, I decided to go for the Tylenol to relieve him of his pain.  After I got the pill and a cup of water, he told me that he couldn't move or else it would hurt really bad.  I didn't want him swallowing the medicine while lying down, so I tried to raise him up.  This wasn't working either.

By this time, it was after midnight, my brain was getting foggy and I was starting to get a little panicky.  I decided to wake up Norman.  He went into our son's bedroom, looked him over and asked a few questions.  Then, he got on the computer and did some searches to see if he could figure out what we were dealing with.  The symptoms were very similar to an appendicitis except the pain didn't seem to be on his right side.

I had also noticed that our son's lips had a bluish tint to them, so I whispered this to Norman outside our son's room.  The rest of his coloring was fine, he was breathing normally, and he didn't appear nauseous.  We discussed our options... take him to the hospital?  No, we couldn't move him without him crying out in pain.  And, we still don't have any health insurance, so calling for an ambulance was not a high priority... yet.  I prayed that the pain would start to subside soon.

I asked our son if he wanted to try some TUMS to see if that would work.  They are easy to chew without moving his body and risking additional pain, so he agreed to try them.  I gave him two.

After awhile when I asked him if he was feeling any better, he did say that he thought so, although he still seemed to be in severe pain.  I gave him another TUMS for good measure and sat on the floor beside his bed... and prayed… and waited.

Finally, around 2:40, I noticed that he had quieted down.  I glanced up and saw that he had fallen asleep.  After waiting awhile to see if he would wake back up, I decided to get on the web and research the causes of "blue lips".  This still bothered me. 

After bringing up a few pages on the computer, I heard our son call out to me.  When I walked into his room, I found him awake... and feeling much better!  In fact, he was sooooo relieved (and so was I!) that he was almost giddy.  We prayed and thanked God for helping him to find relief from the terrible pain.

As I was leaving his room, our son asked, "Are my lips blue?"

"Well, yes.  Why do you ask?"  I thought maybe he had overheard Norman and me talking outside his room.

"Because I had a blue raspberry sucker tonight," he answered, with a slight smile on his still-blue lips.    

~Connie~

These pictures of the flooding here in Iowa (in our area) were taken one week later.  To compare the pictures, you can go to my previous post here.

Here's the rental store after the water receded:

The water has gone off the cornfields, too, but has left behind much damage.  And, of course, it's too late in the year to replant.

The water level has gone down along Rabbit Run, but it still has a long way to go.

Here are some who are able to start cleaning up... while the others still wait:

This road along the river is still flooded over and blocked off to traffic:

Market Street bridge here in town has still not opened up yet.  After the river has gone down more, the bridge will be inspected to see if any repairs need to be done before opening it back up for traffic.

Checking out the water level on the rainbow (painted on the building in the water), you can see the river has gone down some.

Yesterday, the river level was around 16 feet.  It seems to be going down slower than expected, but our water level depends a lot on how much water is released north of us at Lake Red Rock.

But, compared to many other cities around Iowa, ours has done considerably well.  Like our mayor said, "It's been tough, but it could have been a lot worse."

Saturday was the annual Fishing Derby for the kids here in town.  It's always a fun time with free fishing for the kids, a free lunch served, hoards of prizes to win, and a goofy clown blowing up silly balloons.

But, it's not all fun and games.  There's also some serious fishing going on, especially since there are trophies to win for the largest fish... and the smallest.

Of the 4 boys on our small corner of the pond, our 11-year-old was the only one who caught anything.  And what did he catch???

"No, Mom, not poison ivy!" 

He caught a 7.1 oz. fish (not sure what kind it was, though).  I know it doesn't sound like much, but he was still pretty excited about it!

The largest fish caught on Saturday ended up weighing over 3 lbs., so our son didn't win a trophy (not even for the smallest - ha!).  But, all of the kids got to go home with some really neato prizes.

~Connie~

First of all, thank you to all who kept us in your prayers!  Other than the flash flood that we had last Thursday night that also spawned tornados south of town, we have been keeping safe and "high and dry".  But that doesn't mean that others in and around our city haven't been affected by the raging rivers wrecking havoc throughout the state of Iowa.  Driving around our city, here are some of the sights that we encountered:

First of all, I will introduce my fellow flood inspectors.  Our two boys are sitting on the right side of the bench and their cousin is on the left.

As you can see, they take their job very seriously.   

IOWA... that's where the tall corn (and floods!) grow.

The building below had recently opened for business.  Notice the "NOW OPEN" sign.

These last 2 pictures were taken on the west side of town (near Walmart).  This flooding resulted from a swollen creek off of the main river which runs through town.

The next 3 pictures show major flooding south of town...

Rabbit Run Road

There were lots of houses/trailers that got flooded out along the river here, but thankfully, the residents were warned last week to move their belongings out before the water rose too high.  Also, the high school building has been opened up to house those who have been displaced.

This next picture was still taken south of town, but was on the other side of the river...

Here, you can see the "flood inspectors"... um, well... inspecting.    We were really surprised to see the road totally gone.  The boys and I had just driven down it last Wednesday!

The rest of these pictures were taken downtown along the river...

Market Street bridge was closed, as you can see the water has reached the bottom of it. 

Across the river, you might be able to see the huge "canisters" filled with sand.  This was a different approach that I had never seen before.  Sure beats all that sandbagging! 

Also, with the water near the top of the levees, we have seen lots of bow-fishers. 

This young man happened to shoot two gar fish with one arrow while we were watching.  The boys... er, I mean "inspectors"... were pretty impressed with his marksmanship!  But, I was a little saddened since it appeared that he was just doing it for sport. 

The stores down near the river were closed and sandbagged, just in case the water made its way over the levee.  I think it made the boys feel pretty good that the city was using the sandbags that they had helped fill.

The Iowa National Guard soldiers had just come back from their latest tour in Iraq.  Like the saying goes, "No rest for the weary!"  They were put right to work driving trucks filled with sand and dirt and keeping the streets clear of traffic so the constant flow of trucks could do their job.

One of the major concerns in our city was to keep our drinking water from being contaminated.  They accomplished this by building up a berm all around the waterworks plant.

Also, the railroad through town was shut down.

The rainbow painted on the side of the waterworks plant (in the middle of the picture below) shows how high the flood of '93 got. 

As you can see, the flood of 2008 didn't surpass it... in our city, at least.  They estimated our river crested at just under 21 feet.  Yes, there was flooding in the outskirts, but for the most part, we were able to keep dry.  But many think that it was due to the different levees that had broken on upriver.  This caused the water to disperse over many acres of land instead of continuing on its journey down south and making the river rise even higher.  Des Moines and Cedar Rapids were some of the cities which fell victim to these breaches.

The latest report was that the river level has begun to drop.  Yay!  But all of these rivers have to go somewhere... and that is on to the ol' mighty Mississip!  This morning I heard that they are asking for volunteers over in Burlington to help sandbag, so I guess the Flood of 2008 continues...

~Connie~

No, these weren't brown bags filled with our lunch.  They were white bags filled with sand.

As with many of the states in the Midwest dealing with the severe storms and floods, we here in Iowa are also beginning to see results of the heavy rains that we've been getting.  Northern and central Iowa have been hit the hardest, but the high rivers are now making their way down to our city, which lies along the river.

And, as a result, we got a lesson in community service. 

This morning, I read on our local paper’s website that volunteers were needed to fill sandbags.  I thought, Why not?  After getting an affirmative answer from our boys, we headed over to the water plant by the river to help.  This was a new experience for all of us, but we picked up on what to do right away.

For the most part, I tied the bags that someone else had already filled.  But, during the 5 hours that we were there, the boys did everything from scooping the sand to tying the bags.

At lunchtime, they served us free sandwiches, chips, drinks and other goodies.  Yum! 

As I mentioned already, it was a community service.  We worked alongside the Amish men and boys, Mexicans (who couldn’t speak English), old people, young people, men and women.  The boys even picked up on the camaraderie of the occasion.  Although the reason for the occasion was not a good one (the oncoming flood that is being predicted), this ended up being a very good learning experience for our boys.

~Connie~

Who's Who Among Executives and Professionals (2008/2009 Edition)     Connie Ward 123 Ward's Sward Ave. Somewhere, USA 01234    Dear Connie, It is my pleasure to inform you that you are being considered for inclusion in: The 2008/2009 edition of the registry will include biographies of North America's most accomplished professionals from a variety of fields. Recognition of this kind is an honor shared each year by our members from across the United States and Canada, and is often considered to be the single highest mark of achievement. Upon final confirmation of your inclusion, you will be listed alongside other professionals of equal caliber in the Montclair Who's Who Registry. There is no cost to be included. If you are interested in being a part of our national publication click here or on the yellow button below and spend thirty seconds filling out your basic application. If you have any questions feel free to call our staff at 800-405-7090. Or please visit our site, http://www.yournominationtoday.com - for additional information.   Regaurds, Trisha Donelly Editor-In-Chief Montclair Publishing LLC 92 Main Street Yonkers, NY 10701

 Don't you just love JUNK MAIL???    (Especially the ones who claim to be professional, but include misspelled words.  HA!)

Anyway, it was a good laugh... and appropriate, since yesterday was our last day of school!  YAY!!!  Norman and I took the boys to Breadeaux Pizza for our annual celebration and presented them with their certificates of completion of their grade levels.  Shouldn't the moms/teachers also get one??? 

Have a fun summer! 

~Connie~

"This isn't Mary Jo's burial plot.  This one's mine!  I'm afraid you dug up the wrong one."

Someone quickly verified the records and, sure enough, they had dug the grave on Mary Ann's plot instead of Mary Jo's, whose last name happened to be the same and whose coffin was patiently waiting to be lowered... somewhere.

This actually happened last week.  We had just gone to Mary Jo's funeral and when we got to the cemetery, the mistake was realized.  Norman was able to go ahead and say the few words and read some scripture at the graveside, but the correct hole was going to have to be dug later in the afternoon and the casket lowered at that time.

Of course, the funeral directors were, shall I say, mortified when they learned of their mistake.  But, thankfully, the deceased woman's son found it rather amusing and said, "That's just like my mom.  She would always buy something and then end up not being satisfied with it and return it for something else."

Mary Jo lived her whole life like a lot of people... never satisfied.  She had left the church at an early age and followed after her own will instead of the Lord's.  It wasn't until recently that she started coming with her sister (who is a member of the church) to some of our gospel meetings.

Her health turned for the worst and she began thinking seriously about where she would spend eternity.  All of the things of this present life didn't seem so important to her anymore.   On April 30th, she repented of her sins and made things right with God and the church.  Three days later, she died.

I miss Mary Jo.  She was a really fun person and loved "picking on" our boys, which they enjoyed.  But, I think of where she is now and I can only feel joy that she has finally found "satisfaction guaranteed".  This time, she made the right decision... one that she will never regret... or want to exchange.

"When my soul is singing in that promised land above,

I'll be satisfied;

Praising Christ the Savior for redeeming grace and love,

I'll be satisfied.

I'll be satisfied,

I'll be satisfied;

When my soul is resting in the presence of the Lord,

I'll be satisfied."

(song by T.N. Pannell)