Dippy's Trying to Kill Me!

Last night, after supper, I went outside and it was very nice. Not too hot and a nice little breeze was blowing. I went inside and got the kids and the dog and we all went for a little walk. I was ready to turn around and Dippy wanted to go just a little further. So we did. I finally got him to turn around by reminding him we had cake to eat when we got home. Tonight, I wanted to go for another walk after supper. We had a late supper, so we didn't have a lot of daylight left, but enough...or so I thought. We have a circle we can make that is just about one mile. When we were to turn down the one street, Dippy wanted to go to the end of the road! I asked if we had to and he said yes. So we ended up walking for at least an hour and ran out of daylight! I'm driving it tomorrow just to see how far he made me walk. I'm guessing it was 5 kathousand miles! He asked if we could walk again tomorrow night and I told him not if he was going to keep making me go that far. He said we could go shorter tomorrow night since we went so far today, but I don't believe him! And my little Dingy who wants to try out for track in the fall wouldn't even go with us tonight! It was just me and Dippy and Goofy. No Dingy and no dog. (Maybe they were really the smart ones!)

Want to Quilt?

MelanieWelanie from Fodder for Conversation has started a new blog. All related to quilting. She is going to share a block of the month quilt after the kids go back to school. (That's just around the corner already!) Jump on over and check out the new blog. Then get your quilting fingers warmed up. The new blog is located at http://melsquiltingspot.blogspot.com.

Meet Drew

We are having a very hard time getting groceries into this house. Yesterday, the entire family went to lunch and then we were to get groceries. Well, Dumbledork started his plan making and we decided we could go later. Then later came, and we just ordered in Pizza Hut for supper. (No complaints from me, except I still don't have food for today!) So after playing Guitar Hero for a couple of hours this morning, the older kids and I were headed for the store. Of course Goofy saw us leaving and started crying and saying "Go you, Go you". Then he sat down and put his own shoes on. I didn't have the heart to leave him behind after that. Off we went and it's my own fault really. I needed to get flea shampoo and spray for the dog, and I knew we would have frozen stuff in the car, so we stopped at Petco on the way to the grocery store. Dippy had money with him, and he saw a hamster that he needed. So meet Drew. He is a long haired hamster, and is going to look just as freaky as Dingy's Cuddlebug..or as we now refer to it, Albert. And, no, there are still no groceries in the house since we couldn't leave Drew in the car while we shopped.

He's Home!!!

Dippy's home. In one piece. And he had fun. It sounds like it was another successful Goshen year. I thought I was going to have a good 'after' picture, but everyone came back very energetic. Although the boys in at least one car did sleep the majority of the way home. I'm waiting to see if Dippy takes a nap or just goes to bed early tonight. And YES....he earned his Aquanaut Badge!! (Congratulations, Dippy! You're almost to the Heavy Shoulder Award!) He was grouped as a swimmer this year! I think that made it worth him staying home this summer to take an extra set of swimming lessons instead of going to Grandma's for a week.

This is all the dirty laundry I got. He was gone for an entire week. I packed 6 full changes of clothes. This doesn't look like 6 full changes of dirty laundry. I can't wait to open the bag, too. It looks wet and smelly! I found my hiking boots (yes, he wears my boots to camp, and if he keeps growing at this rate, next year he'll wear Rod's!) in a plastic ziplock, soaking wet. I pulled them out to lay in the sun and inside each boot was a balled up, wet, stinky sock! Thanks Dippy! (And I think you can keep the boots...I'll get myself a new pair!)

Dippy Comes Home!

Dippy comes home today!! I am waiting for the phone call to tell me they are almost here. They were aiming for being home around 9. It is raining this morning, too. All of the boys' gear is in the back of pick ups. Is it wrong to hope they put Dippy's towards the bottom so it's shielded and semi dry? We'll know in a couple of hours if he passed his Aquanaut badge test. If not, his SOL scores came in while he was gone and he scored VERY well, so he'll have that to make up for any disappointment. Check back later for his 'after camp' picture.

Beach Day

We had a great day at the beach. (Although two of us don't understand how to use sun block!) We got there nice and early and got a good spot on the beach. It was not crowded at all today, and we had lots of privacy. We ate a picnic lunch and then left around 2:00. We found a little ice cream stand that sold the BEST milkshakes. The milkshakes alone are worth the drive out there. And to top it off, Dumbledork called us on the way home to invite us out to supper. So no cooking for me today!

Goofy went from barely getting his feet wet, to going in up to his neck way too fast for my liking. A little too brave.
I asked her to pose. This is what I got. Yikes.



She wanted to bring this rock home with her. We compromised by bringing home a picture of the rock.

This one was just funny.
She was shooting at the sea gulls (which she called pelicans)

Why the Sea Shells?

We're going to the BEACH!! It isn't raining this morning, so we're heading off to Colonial Beach for the day. Come back later for pictures of our day.

Dingy's Freaky Hamster

Dingy got a new hamster this year for bringing her math grade up. She's had it for about 6 or 7 months now. It looked perfectly normal when we bought him/her. (there is a major debate about it being a him or her here at the house) I don't know what has happened to the poor thing but it does NOT look normal anymore. It got very fluffy over the winter months and now it's juts freaky looking. The other day I was watching it and it looks like it almost doesn't fit through the little tunnel tubes in its cage. And the hair? What's up with the hair sticking out everywhere?

Dippy Goes to Camp

Potty line

He's in the back seat of the truck.

For Dumbledork

For Dumbledork. I also thought of my Dad when I saw this.

Dippy Goes to Camp

Dippy leaves for camp on Sunday morning. He will be gone the entire week! (Then probably come home Saturday and sleep for the rest of the weekend)

Here's his address at camp if anyone would like to send a letter or anything.

Luke Ferringer, Pack 964
Camp PMI
Goshen Scout Reservation
340 Millard Burke Memorial Highway
Goshen, VA 24439

My Posers

When these two see a camera, they drop what they are doing and put on their 'cheese faces'.

The two on the ends look hot and tired. Not the family posers!

McDonald's Chicken Sandwich

I saw a commercial last night about a FREE CHICKEN SANDWICH!! The only article I could find on it said in our area. It may be going on all over, though. But guess where my family is going to be for breakfast and dinner tomorrow! Too bad they couldn't do it tonight. I have a half hour between swimming lessons and guitar lessons to get the kids all fed.


McDONALD'S SOUTHERN STYLE CHICKEN SAMPLING EVENTLocation: Participating McDonald’s Restaurants of Greater Washington, Date: 7/24/2008Time: 7 AMDuration: 12:00
WHAT: The McDonald’s Family Restaurants of Greater Washington, D.C., as part of a local sampling event, will invite customers to visit and enjoy a FREE New Southern Style Chicken menu item on Thursday, July 24, 2008. McDonald’s will be offering all customers a FREE Southern Style Chicken Biscuit for breakfast hours (7:00am-10:30am) and Sandwich (until 7:00pm) with the purchase of any medium or large beverage at participating restaurants while supplies last.
WHEN: Thursday, July 24, 2008—McDonald’s Local Sampling Day 7:00am – 7:00pm
WHERE: Participating McDonald’s Restaurants of Greater Washington, D.C.
FACTS: The McDonald's Family Restaurants of Greater Washington, D.C. are thrilled to once again showcase two new additions to its menu: Southern Style Chicken Biscuit, McDonald’s first-ever chicken breakfast menu offering, and the Southern Style Chicken Sandwich. The Southern Style Chicken Sandwich incorporates just a few, simple ingredients for a delicious new, lunch and dinner option – a juicy, perfectly seasoned, lightly breaded, all-white meat chicken breast with two pickles served on a steamed bun. Please visit www.whatcamefirst.com for more information on Southern Style Chicken!
McDonald's is the leading global foodservice retailer with more than 30,000 restaurants serving nearly 50 million people in more than 119 countries each day. Approximately 80 percent of McDonald's 13,700 U.S. restaurants are independently owned and operated by local franchisees. There are over 350 McDonald’s restaurants in the Greater Washington, D.C. area. For nutritional information, please visit www.mcdonalds.com.
CONTACT: Rachel Cooke, GolinHarris (703)741-7517

Stepbrothers!

Normally I refuse to see a movie on opening weekend. The crowds are usually just not worth it. I think I may have to make an exception for this one. Ricky Bobby and Cal Naughton, Jr-- together again! It opens this Friday. I think I will be making use of my in house babysitter before she gets too many clients to be able to work for me.

Goofy Swmming

It's a little hard to tell, but those ARE happy sounds! He giggled for about 20 minutes after he got in the water tonight. You can almost see what he is looking at in the water. Dippy was coming up underneath him and tickling his feet.

Swimming!

The Fodder For Conversation family came back into town tonight. After a couple of days at the beach, they still called to invite us over to the hotel to swim. This time I let Goofy go in, too. He LOVED it. It made me feel so bad for not letting him swim on Wednesday with the kids.

Dingy and BB
BB, Dippy and Goofy
My little posers with their 'cheese faces'
Dippy, Dingy and BB

Thanks for calling us over to go swimming! (The Cold Stone Creamery trip was a GREAT ending)

More Misheard Lyrics

I'm Bored

More Goofy

It works much better this way!

Goofy's Birthday Present

We took Goofy to Toys R Us today to spend his birthday money. I wanted to get him some more tub toys, but every tub toy I showed him, he would look at and hand it back to put back up on the shelf. As we continued through the store he found his 'must have' item. It was on the low shelf and he climbed into the shelf to sit on it. We pulled it out for him to look at; and he proceeded to ride it through the aisle. In the box. Dingy and Dippy took turns pushing him to get him to the checkout counter as he was NOT getting off of it. It rolls better now that we took it out of the box.