The Money Tree

Between the electrical being on the fritz still and the refridgerator not working, the re-painting of the deck and the front porch, not to mention the everydays of having three kids, Scott says that the money tree in our back yard is running low. From the looks of this tree that is in our backyard...we're running on fumes. Really it's not that bad... the money situation, but the tree has had it.

Cousins

A day of Cousins.

Cousins Quinn and Ella had a playdate this morning for the co-op, and then she came over to our house afterward to play. When she got here Scott's cousins Lisa and Adam, their son Drew, and Drew's cousin Hailey, stopped by on their way up north for the 4th of July weekend. All the kids had a Mickey D's lunch and got along great. After that Scott's other cousin Annette came over to visit for awhile. It was a fun day full of Cousins. We will see more of them this weekend as it will be Ella Bean's birthday, and the McClelland 4th of July Family Reunion. Should Be Fun! This is a picture of the McClelland cousins at the family reunion in West Virginia a few centuries back...just kidding guys! Can you tell which one is Scott? Think Quinn, with a Red Rider BB gun!

Tomorrow's Blog: Scott and his Money Tree...

The Quiet Queen

Well, the kids did not get yelled at all day today. It should be marked in the calendars... except the reason was not because they were extremely good all day it was because I have laryngitis (sp?). Very difficult when you have 3 little kids to deal with. Scott was a big help, I have to say (or write that is) and really the kids were not that bad. Avery and I made a stop at Ellas to take some pictures for the up coming dual birthday party, they turned out cute... and with a princess theme for Princess Woehlke and Princess McClelland.

Thank You Atlanta!

Scott was to be in Brazil this week, but there was a shut down at Hartsfield, I am assuming because of weather, and he would not have made his connecting flight to Brazil, so he has decided to postpone the trip until a later date! This will make me do a happy dance anyday, but especially this month as he has been gone about 85% of the month. So it's Brazil for another time, and here for now!!
On the way home we decided to stop at cousin Annette's. She has been down in the dumps as of late due to some health issues looming, so please keep her in your prayers. This was John and Avery after she got all dolled up in Campbells dress up garb, isn't she a picture?

Things I Did Today:

1. Sang "God Loved Us" at least 20 times between VBS and the car
2. Tried to get 5 VBS preschoolers to understand how to glue eyes on a foam lion
3. Dealt with an end of VBS day Avery meltdown
4. Had a lovely ride out to Waltz
5. Met Seth Thomas, Christian and Emma for the first time

6. Had a yummy lunch made by Grammy Joyce
7. Had some great mommy discussions with Kristie, Nicole, and Em
8. Walked through a fish farm to get fish for Grammys pond
9. Dealt with an "I don't want to leave Grammys" Quinn meltdown
10. Enjoyed peace and quiet when VBS and playing at Grammy Joyces wore out the kids
11. Did some preschool presidential duties

12. Looked at some San Diego sights Scott brought back from his trip
12. Watched the swelling in Quinns eye finally start to go down after he got a mosquito bite a couple days ago this is the before picture...

13. Took a nice walk uptown with Scott and the kids
14. Had a nice dinner
15. Wrote this blog

Happy Birthday Emily

Happy Birthday to my younger sister Emily... 29 years today. I don't remember you being born, but there are lots of other things I can recall us doing... most of which include getting blamed for something (just kidding not really). Here are a few: Breaking your arm, or so you say, while rollerskating in Ft. Wayne, and while waiting for you to get home- eating the cookie Mom left for you. Trying to lift you up in the church basement at a St. Johns Brownie meeting and scraping your back on the table, (Ok so the two that came to mind first I did get blamed... ) but many other memories also come to mind through the years... Lemonade stands, "Out in the middle of nowhere" songs, watching TV in the bedroom at Christmas because we got to have the TV in our room when people stayed over, playing school with the old chalkboard we got from who knows where. Prank phone calls saying you were a reporter while you were at Michigan. Etc. etc. etc. Thanks for being a great sister... even if we are a little wacky! Have a Happy Birthday!

Naps and Happy Masks

It is amazing the amount of things which can be accomplished while kids are napping. I got some laundry done, the agenda and roster finished for tonights board meeting, mail sent out, and floorplan for tomorrows meeting with clients. All this in about an hour, because everyone was either sleeping or happily involved with watching Max and Ruby. Thank VBS for most of that, I think it wore them out.

On another note, it is amazing what imagination and a Happy Meal box will do for a kid. Quinn has in the last 2 hours made it into a garage, a space ship and finally a hat. I caught him laying on the couch with it over his eyes, he says it's his mask. Too funny.

Christmas in June & 1st Bar-B-Q's

Dad and Scott started work on our Christmas present from a couple of years ago today. The front porch! We are so excited. It is looking really nice so far, and we're really glad Dad knows what he's doing, because we certainly don't.

Here are before, during, and what it will look close to after, pictures.

We spent the evening celebrating Fathers day at Grammy and Grampys, by having their first barbecue of the summer. Everything was yummy, and the kids got to go swimming in the big pool for the first time this summer as well. I don't believe they waited 1/2 hour after they ate though... sorry Gramps. Everyone had a great time swimming, and after they had a soak in the hot tub with Grammy... isn't she brave?

A Long Week

Scott informed me last night that I have not blogged in a week! So here I am today playing catch up. It has been a long week. We had a great time on our anniversary, a big big thank you to Grammy and Grampy for the kids first sleepover... they had a great time and so did we. We ended up crashing a wedding at the community center where we were married (we really just peeked our heads in), had a great slow paced dinner, walked around downtown, came across a free cast iron tub... that's a story for another day. Anyway, we had a great time.

The rest of the week has been full of grouchy kids, grouchy spouses (on both sides), a recital for Ella (most of which I didn't get to see because of grouchy kids), spouse out of town, sick kid, room rearranging for the kids, and today a trip to the dentist. Quinn had a cavity between his two front teeth, the dentist said it was due to the fact that his teeth were so close together and wearing on the enamel, that and the lack of access for floss... anyway he went in today for a "baby root canal" and got two crowns on his front two teeth. He did really well and was really excited actually to go to the dentist. We see a pediatric dentist, and they are so good with the kids, they really get them excited about coming. He was so excited to go that when Grandpa and Uncle Seann got here to watch Avery and Kaleigh he was out the door and in the car saying, "I'm ready lets go!" We got there and he was a little apprehensive because it was a new room they put him in, but once I was gone, the dentist said, "he did great... cooperated with us the whole time, and didn't even flinch for the shot." When he got done, he wanted to show everyone his "new teeth" and tell everyone what a big boy he was.
Well that's the short of the long week that it has been, I hope all of you are doing well!

5 Years Come and Gone so Fast

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Love is a symbol of eternity. It wipes out all sense of time, destroying all memory of a beginning and all fear of an end. ~Author Unknown
It is our Anniversary tomorrow, I can't believe that it will be 5 years already that we've been married. Almost as scary as Quinn being 4, Avery being almost 3, Scott and I going on 10 years that we've known each other (hence the reference to the Paul Simon song in the title). It has become tradition to have our picture taken with the family at the spot which we were married, so I thought I would share them so far... 1 more year to add to the collection tomorrow... Also a Happy Baptism Birthday to Quinn (he was baptized on our first anniversary), and a big thanks to all of you for your support and prayers throughout the last 5 yrs. it means alot!

The Bed Time Gang

The bedtime gang. I cut Avery's hair today in hopes that her bangs would begin to look better. We are trying to grow them out, and most of the time she goes around looking under them. Hopefully this will help her to keep barettes in her hair. We'll see.

Did have to make the Switch afterall

After all the moving and cleaning of refridgerators, waking up at 4:30am to catch a 7am flight to Atlanta (Scott--- like I could actually go somewhere :)) and realizing there was no hot water and the hot water heater was malfunctioning, we found out this afternoon that the problem lies in the main circuit breaker to the house. Two solutions... find the rare type of breaker that it is, and replace, or replace the entire panel. Of course we are going with the less expensive, lets try to find the rare part in Timbuktu option. But at least for now, and thanks to a nice gentleman from Dr. Amp we have enough power to run the fridge properly, the water heater and the air conditioner. Thank the Lord, you really realize how much you rely on these things when they aren't there. Hope you all are having a good week, and your houses are in good order :)

Fridge on the Fritz

Our fridge is on the fritz. We realized Friday that the fridge and freezer were not keeping things cold. We thought that it was starting to bite the dust a while back, but we thought Friday it was on its last legs. Saturday Scott saw in the paper an almost new Maytag for $200 and it came with a little chest freezer. So instead of buying a brand new $1000 version, we went with it. Last night we spent the majority of the evening clearing out the old one, cleaning out the new one, moving them (Scott and Tom--in the thunderstorm), installing the new one. We thought we were good to go... but now it seems the new one is doing the exact same thing the old one was doing. We are wondering now whether or not the old one was really dying or is it something else the house is doing to sabotage the groceries? Needless to say Scott was just a little bit grouchy about all of this (especially since he worked in the pouring rain, removing doors, installing doors, etc. etc.) The repair man is scheduled to come tomorrow a.m. Who knows, we'll probably have 2 refridgerators tomorrow.

View from France

Views from France... Scotts office this week. Actually it's the restaurant he ate dinner at tonight. Le Relais du Catey- www.le-relais-du-catey.com
Meanwhile, the kids and I just got home from Quinns last day of school pool party. Note to self... get a babysitter next time for the girls. Kaleigh was trying to get in the pool the whole time, and Avery tripped and fell within the first 5 minutes of being there, skinning both knees and crying for about 45 minutes. Fun, fun, fun.