I'm with the band

For several weeks some of us in the praise band have been bringing our kids to practice so they can work together with the goal of playing for the youth group.  Aaron has picked up the drums and is doing quite well.  Now he wants a set for home!   They're all just learning their instruments, and they've done a great job so far.

Lynn Family Reunion

So glad we got the chance to go to Illinois to the house my grandparents lived in for over 60 years this weekend for a family reunion.  Got to meet some of the newest family members.  Lots of fun, food, and photos ensued!  Some of my favorites

All the assembled players around 53 people out of a total family of 78...(give or take) I lose count!

The big catalpa tree out back is on of the traditional photo posing places.  We all played in it as kids.

Marla found the "bouncy" part of the old grease rack that all the grandkids played on

My mom and her sisters

Goofy Boys

You would have had to known my Grandpa Lynn to see the humor in this.  He had all kinds of junk in sheds (or piles) out back.  And today we were all looking through it for "treasures". 

Sometimes you just gotta laugh, snap a photo, and blog it!

I don't know if you've noticed but me and my husband are the exact opposites.  Whoo, big news flash there!  However Dusty has a few personality quirks that could surprise you.  He tends to be introverted around people...more of a listener than a talker, but he can have a wicked sense of humor.  He's tedious and ordered...he has a system for choosing his shirt and tie on Sunday.  BUT, he doesn't get rid of anything!  While organizing the closet yesterday I noticed his sock drawer was a jumbled mess.  So I decided to dump out everything redo the drawer.  In addition to socks (26 pairs of black socks by the way) and undergarments I found this....

This photo contains the following; all of which was found in the drawer

• spare key to the truck
• 13 business cards
• book light
• spark plug cleaning tool
• stopwatch
• old wallet with miscellaneous insurance cards, credit cards, and my freshman high school photo
• 3 book marks
• key fob for my car
• calculator
• lanyard
• 2 knives
• snoopy watch from when he was a kid
• concert ticket
• miscellaneous notes
• AWANA service pins & Novell engineer pin
• screwdriver
• dog tag from Man Camp
• love notes...from me so it's OK!
• empty mint tin
• shoelaces
• pencil sharpener
• usb cord
• ...and my personal favorite  2 ninja throwing stars

I knew when I questioned him about it there would be a perfectly logical (to him) explanation.  "It's my miscellaneous drawer."  Not anymore!  I pared down the socks and the miscellaneous stuff was sent to other locations....or the trash can.  Just don't think about attacking us in the middle of the night.  You might get hit with a throwing star...provided Dusty can get to his sock drawer in time!!

Our nightly visitor

If you've got arachniphobia, or you're my sister-in-law, avert your eyes.....this little guy, although I'm quite certain it's a gal, has been hangin out on the patio door.  Personally I think it's kind of cool how the spider rebuilds its web every night.

...and as long as it stays on the other side of the glass door, I'm OK with it....for now. :)

Operation "Take Back the House"

So I have to admit that my housekeeping skills faltered over the summer.  We had things to do like VBS, vacations, swimming & other important tasks.  My goal after the kids went back to school was to start working my way through some of the more undesirable tasks such as sorting through closets, purging, and organizing.  Stuff that's easier when the kids aren't home.  Today's task....sort through and reorganize the pantry.  CHECK!

On an unrelated note our 16 year old washing machine gave its last full measure of devotion this week.  I think the problem may be fixable but since it would cost over $100 to just get a repairman out here, it's 16 years old, and its leaving rust spots on our clothes we are giving it the boot.  HH Gregg is bringing a new front loader tomorrow morning.

RIP Whirlpool

1994-2010

One week down

Week one of Kindergarten has been completed successfully.  Rachel was the "Star of the Day" on Thursday and got to bring in a couple special items and talk about them so the kids could get to know here better.  She's had a great time!  Here's what I've accomplished:

• 3 - Trips to Starbucks
• 1 - Breakfast with friends
• 1 - Lunch with friends
• 1 - Lunch with Dusty
• 2 - Photoshoots
• 2 - Craft stores visited
• 10 - Lunches packed
• 1 - Call from Kindergarten teacher (Just to say everything is going fine!)
• 1 - day spent cleaning house (Got more accomplished on that day than in the previous 3 weeks)
• 1 - day spent doing ridiculously fun stuff like riding Segways

I think I'm going to like this!! :)

2-wheelin' around Indy

This morning I headed into Indy with Sarah and Heather for my birthday outing.  And this time around I had no idea where we were going and what we were doing.  All I knew was that Sarah said that we were doing something that none of us had ever tried.  I told her if skydiving or bungee jumping was involved...I was out!  No need to worry; we went to White River state park to take a Segway tour.  After giving us a few minutes to get used to our wheels we were off.

These things are a blast to drive!  We spent the next hour and a half zipping around the canal and park having a great time.  Our tour guide was a newbie and we were his 1st tour.  I think he was relieved to find out that we were from the area, so our focus was just having fun on the Segways and not on the sites and history of the area.  He was trying to remember everything that he was supposed to say about the sites he pointed out.  We were a good group for him to practice on. :)

After that fun we had lunch at Creation Cafe which is up on the north end of the canal in an old church

I had a wrap with chicken, apples, walnuts, and brie.  YUMMY!  Great food and a funky atmosphere to boot.  Had a great time!  Thanks gals!