Monday, July 30, 2007

Getting Back in the Scheme of Things

Well, as of now, we three Cunninghams have gotten back into the summer scheme. Seth is back to work, Mandy is back to babysitting, and I am back to.... lounging around the house. Speaking of the house, it has been decided that we are not moving due to sad state of the house market. So, we have a couple more years in this one. Not that I'll complain. I love this house, as it is the one I have lived in the longest and remember the most. And then, we get to continue to feed our fat birds and to scare off those stupid squirrels on our bird feeder.

Last week was busy somewhat for us. On Wednesday, Mandy had a babysitting opportunity, and I got to go with her. We went with Bethany Abraham, her two cute girls, her sister and nephew to a nearby pool. There was a nice water slide, a lazy river, and some interesting thing where you have to cross a narrow part of the pool using slippery things that look like giant lily pads and some rope above your head. Mandy tried this one the most, and I fell down my first time. Mandy and I switched off on watching after Avalyn, who hates getting water in her face. She liked jumping in and out of the wading pool. Mandy and I had lunch with Bethany and her sister then settled down to watching the three kids for the afternoon while the moms went to go to do some shopping. Clayton refused to nap, and Kiera wasn't tired, so we let them just play. Clayton loved the toys and made the playroom a disaster area. At one point, he was carrying a wooden frying pan and holding it above Kiera's head. I thought he was going to drop it on her, but he never did. Mandy had the privilege of getting hit with it a few times. I had my camera with me, and Kiera always smiled for me when I took her picture. Avalyn then woke up from her nap, and we had the three. It wasn't too hard. Later that day, I got to change Kiera's diaper and put a clean outfit on her (not an easy task, may I add).

On Thursday, we girls spent the day cleaning the house. We had some old friends of ours, the Bauers, over for burgers since they were in town. It is amazing to see how Breanne (who was Mandy's childhood bud until they moved) and Brendan had grown over the past several years. It was a nice evening filled with conversation and enjoying the food. We were up until after midnight before the Bauers left.

On Friday, Dad took the day off because he was tired from the night before. We Cunninghams cleaned the house and were pushed to start reading more. Dad and I went to the library, and I picked up a couple of books to read. Mom was busymaking food for a family at church. No kidding, every week for the past month, someone has given birth. So, Mom's been busy preparing food for various families. So, we enjoyed Chinese pork and fried rice for supper. Mandy had her friends Anna and Kristen over to spend the night in Kristen's tent. Mandy was up late, as usual, at least until 3 AM.

On Saturday, Dad went to go help a friend bottle some beer. I went to keep Avalyn and Kiera company but learned they were off with their mom. So I just sat and read. Later that afternoon, we went to Grandma Linda's house for dinner. Every month, we try to have a family gathering of some sort. We grilled hamburgers and hot dogs this time. It was fun because Uncle Jason brought the new family puppy Tucker. He was a soft and adorable puppy. All the kids had fun playing with him. It was close to nine when we left Grandma's house. We came home and prepared for bed but did not go to bed until eleven PM.

And so, that is what has happened so far since we came back from Arizona. Mandy is getting excited about school and keeps asking to go school shopping. Mom is busy getting ready for being the science teacher at Geneva this year and also for Geneva at Home, a once-a- week program for homeschoolers under sixth grade. And so, summer is drawing to a close. That means college is rapidly approaching.

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