Just a few of the things that have been keeping us busy....

Eric tried out cross country this year! He did amazing for his first year and as a
7th grader! - A few people had to sort of twist his arm to get him to run cross country(ALL of the boys on Eric's basketball team play football before basketball starts - and since Eric does not want to play football- they convinced him to run cross country - guess they were afraid he would be the only one not in shape if he didn't do something....)

Jessica had a GREAT VOLLEYBALL SEASON.......



last Saturday they ended the season as the DISTRICT CHAMPIONS!!! -

It was a very exciting day! (it was also the coaches birthday!)

There is A LOT of talent in this group of girls!!!



now we are on to the next thing.... Eric's AAU season started last Saturday....they had a Jamboree.

Eric played REALLY well!

Ryan, Nicole, and Jason are real troopers....and have a great time tagging along! They have made lots of good friends they get to hang out with at all of these activities!

COMMON SENSE

an email sent from my sister, Susan....

An Obituary printed in the London Times:

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
- Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
- Why the early bird gets the worm;
- Life isn't always fair;
- and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can
earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.


Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his
wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I'm A Victim

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA

WE LOVE YOU!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY little SISTER........

WE LOVE YOU SOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!

Ice Cream Man... are you lost???

OK, so we sort of live in the country. Well, as far as the ice cream truck goes(ya know the one that plays the real loud kid attention grabbing music)I would think we would be considered country -at least far enough out of town to miss out on the ice cream truck! - Well, think again!!! While we were outside working on the pears today - Nicole announces that she hears the ice cream truck coming. This has only happened one other time in the 15 years we have lived here and it was long enough ago that my three youngest don't remember it(it was probably long enough ago-I don't think they were born?). The only time I can even think that the little boys have even seen an ice cream truck would be at one of Eric's baseball games. Well, pretty soon we could all hear the music. But, I kept thinking to myself that it could be pretty far away and we would still be able to hear it. It kept getting closer and closer and sure enough it found us.
US, here on our little dead end street that only contains 7kiddos. My 5, and the other two being a 12 year old and a 15 year old. I explained to Nicole, Ryan, and Jason that this was a ONE TIME deal(ya know I had to give in for the whole novelty of actually having the ice cream guy come down our street)... BUT, that if/when the ice cream guy returned, we would NOT be buying his OVER-PRICED treats ever again! Jessica and I were getting a pretty good chuckle out of the whole thing. For one, you should have seen how excited Ryan and Jason were(it really was too cute), but also - "jingle bells" was one of the tunes that was coming from the poor little van(I mean come on, this isn't what I expected to see driving down the road proclaiming to be an ice cream truck!) I know we have a picture somewhere from the one and only other time an ice cream truck came down our lane - (Mary do you have that picture? I think YOU are IN the picture?) - I will have to get it and scan it so I can post it!!! FUN, FUN TIMES!

THE "PEAR" GANG

OH YEAH -

63 QUARTS OF PEARS!!!

AND, ALL DONE BEFORE IT WAS TIME TO TAKE JESSICA TO VOLLEYBALL PRACTICE AT 5:30!!!

HERE ARE MY LITTLE HELPERS FOR THE DAY! - THE LITTLE BOYS SORT OF JUST CAME AROUND WHEN THEY WERE READY FOR ANOTHER PEAR TO EAT -

-OR TO TRY OUT THE "TOOLS" -

BUT, NICOLE REALLY STUCK WITH IT! WHEN SHE WASN'T HELPING ME, SHE DID A GREAT JOB KEEPING THE LITTLE BOYS ENTERTAINED!

AS FOR JESSICA AND ERIC, WELL, THEY HAD PUT OFF THEIR HOMEWORK....BUT, FROM THE LOOK ON ERIC'S FACE, I THINK MAYBE HE WOULD HAVE RATHER BEEN HELPING WITH THE PEARS???
JESSICA DID HELP WITH THE PEARS IN THE AFTERNOON.

YAY - 4 BOXES are D.O.N.E.!!!