I can't think of a title for this blog post

I can't believe it's been over a week since I blogged last, yikes. I've been so busy, I know, what else is new. Last Tuesday I drove down to my Parent's house and spent the day with them. It was a really hot day so in the afternoon we went to their neighbor's house and swam in their pool. The water was cool so Chase wasn't too into it but I thought it felt so refreshing and really enjoyed myself.

My Dad and I were doing handstands in the pool and Chase thought that was really funny. I actually spent the night there and the next morning went to see my friend Debbie. Deb lives in Ohio now but we grew up together and had lots of good times together. The last time I saw her was a year ago shortly after Joanna was born.

She has 2.5 kids, Alex is 4 and Danica is 2 and she has one on the way. She is pretty high risk so we just sat and talked and watched the kids play. It was so nice to see her though and to catch up, the kids had a wonderful time together too.

Can you tell Alex and Chase have matching Mohawks?

Deb's parents pulled out the bounce house again and the kids had a ball jumping and playing in it. It was so hot I don't know how they stood it but they did not want to come out that's for sure.

I stayed until "nap time" thinking that the kids could sleep for the 2 hour ride home but they ended up not falling asleep at all so they were put to bed early Wednesday night. I got home around 5:00pm and Ricky made me go out to get his deer head that was finished.

I thought this picture was really funny because it looks like it's hanging on a wall but it's really lying on the floor (see my foot?). Ricky is pretty please to have another deer hanging in the family room downstairs. I'll just keep my opinions to myself I suppose.

Thursday and Friday I spent cleaning my house really really good and catching up on some paperwork.

Saturday morning I received a surprise package in the mail from my sister, Christy with a beautiful apron in it that she made me for my birthday!

It's reversible too! I was so excited about getting this because I've been wanting a nice apron for a while and every time I go out I look for one but haven't been able to find one that I like. Thanks again Christy!

Saturday evening we went with Ricky's dad and Dominic to Cabela's. That was a lot of fun. We ate dinner there and were laughing/crying when the man told us how much we owed for just three of us, eek! We had driven up there because Ricky's dad wanted to buy a muzzle loader, so while the men went to look at the guns I took the kids to see the safari animals and the fish.

I really wanted to get a picture of Dominic and Chase together in front of the animals but they were just so excited and running around I couldn't get it in time.

Sunday after Church and naps we went mini golfing! It was really fun. Joanna was on my back in the Ergo and Chase actually attempted golfing:) Afterward we went to get ice cream at Baskin Robbins. Ricky then made a fire for Chase in the fire pit when we got home and laid on the swing with him while I put Jojo to bed.

Yesterday was my Birthday and pretty mellow. I randomly decided to go for a bike ride at 11:00am and came across a stray dog in the middle of the road. She had traffic stopped both ways and so I rode down to where she was and called her and she came to me. It was a cocker spaniel

and she didn't have a collar or tag but stank so bad I didn't even want to hold her. Of course I didn't want to just let her go though because I thought she would just run on the road again and maybe get hit by a car so I put her in the back of the trailer and rode to a couple of houses asking people if they knew who she belonged to. Nobody knew who's she was but the last place I went to the guy offered to keep her and try and find the owners so I thought that would be a good idea. I was really considering taking her home and trying to find the owners or keeping her, she was very nice, but really I have enough going on, don't you think? As soon as we got back from the bike ride I had to give the kids a bath, wash out the bike trailer and take a shower to try and get rid of the stink that dog left. Even after I showered I still smelled her on my hands, yuck!

After nap time I went with my new neighbor friend Jess and her two kids to Jess's parents house and swam in their pool until dinner time. They have a small above ground pool about 2 feet deep but Chase loved it since he could stand and it was still very refreshing.

So today I cleaned up the garden a little bit in the morning and then made ketchup to can this afternoon which turned out better than last years if not a little runny but tastier. The kids were a bit underfoot most of the morning.

but I love them anyway:) I know I said this before but we all love this puppy, Blondie, she is so cute and friendly.

And this baby is just the coolest, don't ya think?

Around 3:30pm my Parents showed up to spend the afternoon/evening with us! It was so nice to see them again. Ricky got home early and we ended up going out to eat. Mom and Dad got me some books for my birthday that I'm excited to start reading through when I get the time, hmm, maybe not till winter:)