weekend update

Out first camping trip of the year was this weekend in Kansas with some friends. Of course I forgot my camera, so no pictures. We went to a lake where the boys could go fishing and we thought we'd be able to swim. Unfortunately, the lake level was almost 8 feet above normal and it was really windy on Saturday. The guys braved the rough waters, but there was no swimming beach. It was completely under water, so I strapped life jackets on the kids and we played in the waves on the sidewalk that led to the swimming beach. Crazy, but the kids had fun. They also enjoyed playing on a campground road that was closed because it was also under water.

The trip highlight for me was at a rummage sale in the church school after Mass. Catherine was with Jennie and they came to me together to let me know that they had found something I might be interested in...an ironing board. I'm sure Jennie thought it was a joke, but the kids broke my cheap Stuff-Mart ironing board a few weeks ago and I hadn't replaced it with another cheap Stuff-Mart ironing board. I was happy that she found me a nice quality one (that doesn't even squeak when you open it) for a dollar! Oh - the little things that make me happy.

As we were driving through town on the way home from camping, we came to a stoplight and the kids said, "The light's red daddy, that means you have to stop." When the light turned green, Adam asked them what the green light means, "GO!" they sang out. Then as we started driving he asked if anyone knew what a yellow light means, and Anthony shouted, "Go faster!".

When we got home, we found that three of our six kittens had died. We are left with one male orange kitten whose name is Pumpkin; Teresa claimed and named the female black kitten with white tiger stripe markings Sparkle Shine; and Catherine named the female black kitten with orange and white markings Joy. Their eyes still aren't open, but we are spending a little bit of time each day handling them so that they are friendly. The girls just love to hold them - I'm in supervisory mode as they are learning to hold them correctly and gently, but I'll get some pictures soon.