Explorer Drama

Do I really need more drama in my life? I mean I live with the drama queen and my hubby deals with dramatic situations every day, I have a teenager, ( need I say more on that subject), now the vehicles are turning against me! Mark's explorer that we bought 6 months ago, used from one of his officers went to the car doctor yesterday, not good news. Please remove your hats gentlemen for this news, it needs a new engine! Seriously, a new engine!!!!!!!!!?????? All we did was take a 5 minute drive to DQ for an ice cream cone because it was raining out and the kids and I were getting stir crazy. That is all it took I guess, maybe it was jealous because we didn't get it anything, not sure. I knew it was bad when the neighbor who knows everything about cars came over and said he had never heard a noise like "that". Then our friend Randy came over to help tow us to the car doctor and he said the same thing. See a pattern here? My goodness, what do we do? I guess a guy at the DPW where Mark works says he can find a used engine with about 20,000 miles on it. Our Explorer only has 85,000 on it. It was the first used car that we have ever purchased, I have a phobia of not having a warranty on cars, we drive a-lot and so that is just something that has always giving us security. Our first used car and it needs a new engine in 6 months time! We have the worst luck with everything, always have. So if we seem a little down and frustrated this week, don't take it personally, we are stressed. And we only have one car right now. Bless Randy's heart, he is letting Mark use his old truck for a few days. After that, not sure what we are going to do. Mark is such a worry-wort and this is not good for him, he is really stressing right now. My job is to keep him laughing and calm. He is such a hard worker and is the provider for our family, I don't know how he makes everything work but he does, bless his heart.
Well, that is all for now, just thought you might send a prayer up for us today, we could use it! Oh and say one for the Explorer too, I am sure it is missing us and wonders why we left it with a stranger in a strange place.

Happy Birthday Dad!

I have to give a huge shout out to my dad, today is his 61st birthday! I was planning on making the trip up north today but I just HAD to have ice cream last night (even though it was raining) and our during our little trip to DQ Mark's car decided to get sick, we were a mile from home thankfully, when the check engine light is blinking they told us not to drive it, so we are going to tow it to the local garage this morning. Who know's I might just be able to make it up north for cake and ice cream after all, we'll see.
Anyhow I just wanted to wish Dad a super duper day! I took these photos of him a few weeks ago. I have told you all before that he is the chaplain for his Harley group, he needed some new bad a** pictures, I prefer my warm and fuzzy dad but he does look pretty cool in his leathers. So hopefully if all goes well I can make it up north still if not I will send big hugs his way. Happy Birthday Dad!!!

Day at the Lake

A few weeks ago ( I am falling behind here!) we took our boat over Mark's brother and sister in law's house and went out on the local lake. We had a blast! We took Scott, Lora, Taylor and Rachel out with us, Nate had just left for college 2 days prior so we were minus one. We ended up stopping by a friend of ours home/cottage, they weren't there but gave us permission to use their floaty thing in the water. We did this thing called blobbing, where you jump on the trampoline and try to jump on this blobby thing and throw the other person off. Well, as you can see, we weren't very successful but oh my goodness did we laugh! Taylor was able to really catapult Dayton but of course I have no pictures of that. We tubed and floated all day and even took a small grill and stopped on the shore to have lunch. Myah fell asleep on the boat at the end of the day. I hate to see these summer days come to and end!

This is the video of Mark trying to blob Taylor off! Lora and I were laughing like crazy!
P.S. I am not a big fan of Kid Rock but this song was on all of the time while we were on the boat this summer over and over again. Kid Rock is a native Michigander, maybe that is why this song was played over and over again. We love how he says "summertime in northern Michigan". Brings back memories!

Fly on By

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The Next Michael Ph*elps?

Lately Myah has become obsessed with Michael Phel*ps. Yes, we did watch every race that he swam but most nights she was already asleep before he came on, so I am not sure where this comes from. She has also started doing the splits and told me that she can do them just like "my Chinese friends" (gymnasts). She is cracking us up lately! She begs to wear her swim goggles all of the time, yes, even in public. I usually intercept before this happens, Dayton was horrified the other night before we went into Home Depot, she was begging to wear them and I almost gave in. She is constantly asking "where are my goggles?" We were at Dayton's baseball team's end of the season party and the couple hosting it has a pool, she loved the full face mask and was swimming like a little fish. When we are out on the boat her new thing is to now say "I am like Michael Phelp*s" and she kicks her legs and arms. I think swimming lessons are in our near future!She also has started a new "pose" when I take her picture. These pictures were taken with my whimpy camera, I apologize for the fuzziness! Yesterday I took this video of her and just had to post it. You might want to pause my music at the bottom so you can hear her. Who knows, maybe she is a future olympian!

First Day of School

Dayton started 8th grade today! He was excited about getting back and seeing friends and teachers. We are so proud of him and although we will miss him being around here we are excited to hear about his big day.

Lemonade Stand

This past weekend I was up north at my sisters for a few days having a garage sale. We both did pretty well. I love cleaning out the stuff we don't need before winter comes. My sister came up with the idea of setting up a lemonade stand and giving the proceeds to Morgan's family. Her memorial service was on Saturday and there have been a few very nice newspaper articles about her life and her family this past week. Ironically, when Melanie was asking me if I thought this would be a good idea, I was reading one of those articles online at the time of her call. I was especially disturbed to read that their electric bill is $1ooo and they are unable to pay for it. Both of her Morgan's parents have lost their jobs and income. So you can bet we held a lemonade stand to help out this special family. The girls were such good helpers, and we were amazed at everyone's generosity. In total the girls sold $70 worth of lemonade and suckers. My sister decided to match their earnings with some of her garage sale money. I am so grateful to all of those people, they were so compassionate and willing to give. Her story touched everyone. One of our last customers touched my heart and I will never forget her. I must tell you that we were selling the lemonade for 25 cents and the suckers/taffy were a dime. Many people paid a quarter or gave a dollar. At the end of the day we ran out of lemonade but the jar was still there, the bottom full of the lemons that had been soaking in the lemonade all day. As this car pulled into the driveway, I could hear that there was no muffler, the car was squeaking very loudly, it was banged up and bruised and missing alot of parts. Two ladies stepped out, a mother and daughter. They looked a little rough, like life had not been very easy for them. We made small talk and they looked around. The mother bought 2 angels from Mel that hang on the wall. We didn't ask her if she wanted to donate, it just didn't seem appropriate. But we didn't have to, she walked right up to the table and said "I will take a glass full of lemons, (remember, the lemonade was gone) and fill up this other cup with candy. " She handed us a $5 bill and we went to make change and she told us to keep it for the family. She gave the largest donation of the day. As they drove away, Mel and I were both touched by her generosity, I am sure that $5 did not come easily to her,yet she gave it so unselfishly to a family in need. Bless her heart, I will never forget her. I am so thankful to everyone who gave to this special family, I have no doubt it will be a blessing to them.