End of Summer

We are all kind of sad that summer is ending. School starts Monday so it's back to routines, going to bed early, getting up early, and homework. The high school youth group had a back to school party on Friday night. The kids were told to make boats. The boats had to hold 2 people and float. This is Tom's boat that he built with his friend Drew. It was called the Majestic Dolphin. Katie built a boat with Kate and Hannah.

I was very impressed. No one sank and all made it to the finish line.

Katie's boat was named Spaghetti and Meatballs.

The boys finished 2nd in the race but won the prize for the best built boat.

The girls won the most creative prize. It was a lot of fun and plans are already underway in anticipation of another boat race next year.

New Furniture

We have been thinking about getting new furniture in the family room, but we had a really hard time picking out something new. Our old furniture has been with us for 12 years. It survived the kids growing up and all kind of animals with not much wear and tear. Then last week, an old friend put out a plea on Facebook for her son. He has moved back to this area, he's going to get married, and he's broke. She asked if anyone had furniture they wanted to get rid of. I thought that if I gave away my old furniture, then I would be motivated to pick out something new. It worked. The timing was beautiful. We picked up the new furniture yesterday and within 30 minutes of getting home, my friend's son was here with a trailer and loaded up the old stuff. Then we brought in the new stuff.

Within a few minutes, the kids and cats made themselves comfortable.

I really like it. I was afraid it would be too big for the room, but I think it will be OK. The cats have already been climbing all over it, but I just can't stress out about that.

Alan's tiling the dining room. I bought a table last week, but when I got it home it was the wrong color so they re-ordered for me. I hope it will be here this week.