My deepest apologies to everyone, there was a virus embedded into the background I was using....I think I've contained it now and fixed it. I am sorry for those of you who were blocked from viewing it due to that.

Not too much going on around here, summer keeps moving on. Jonah has stopped going to summer school. I discovered that the "academic" programming was a joke. I do more with him at home than they were doing there. Not to mention loading everyone into the car at 7:15 AM to take him and then having to go back at 11:15 and drag everyone into the school with me....ugh! So he's back home and we're doing school stuff in the morning which seems to be going well. At least he'll have something when he goes back. Our days are spent here at home and the pool. The kids are getting so great at swimming. Jonah and Molli have perfected their diving (thanks Aunt Carol!) Emma is jumping in and swimming with no tube or goggles and even Syd runs to the deep end and throws her little body into the pool.

As for Thomas and I, we're hanging in there. I have gotten rather large and am SOOOO tired of people asking me if I am having twins or if I am due tomorrow. Listen up people, this is my FIFTH child...your body stretches out farther quicker with each baby. This baby is not a giant nor am I having twins. Get over it! *deep breath* I am feeling pretty lousy today, can you tell? I have not been sleeping well, I'm enormous, not to mention my allergies. I prayed and prayed that this summer would not be miserably hot and so far God has been faithful. Unfortunately the trade off must have been that my allergies have been out of control ALL summer! The other day I would have done almost anything to be able to take one Advil Cold and Sinus. All I can say is the next 7 weeks better go quickly or I may lose my mind!!!

Yet another ode.....

A few months back we had to say goodbye to Bob....our beloved kitty. It was awful for me, I cried for days. (of course being pregnant had nothing to do with it) So we just had Larry. He was never the same. We went on vacation and came home and he was sick. We just decided to watch him and see what happened. Then we got Nemo thinking he would help Larry pull out of his depression. It seemed to help at first, but then he just got worse. Finally, yesterday I coulnd't take it anymore. Off we went to the vet. It turns out that Larry had Feline Leukemia for which there is no cure and he was dying. So once again, I ushered the kids in to kiss Larry goodbye and we all watched as they carried our other precious kitty away. We brought him home and buried him next to his brother. So now Nemo is alone and I am so sad. I realize that we didn't kill Larry or Bob as they were, most likely, born with this disease. But it sure makes me feel like a bad pet owner when we've buried two cats in 4 months!

So here is my ode to Larry....we will miss you...

Here's the summer pic of the kids and one of Sydney....she's the only one I didn't have a picture of by herself....poor child. Can you tell she's number 4????

Well if you've been to Misty's blog then you already have a taste of what Wednesday was like around here! At about 12:45, Amy, Mindy, and Misty arrived at my house for an afternoon of fun and play. All total we had 11 children in my little blue house. What a riot! The kids got along really well. Here they are having some mac and cheese....



Then we headed to the pool which was so funny! Here are a few of my favorite moments...






A good time was had by all, I think. Three cheers for mini- reunions and tons of kids :)

I've written several posts over the last few days, but have erased them all. I've been in a very childish, petty mood and the littlest things have been bugging me. guess it's a combination of getting more and more pregnant and the heat...not a good combo, I'm discovering :)

Jonah started summer school this morning. I was still wrestling with the decision as I drove him there. It helped that he jumped out of bed and got all ready this morning. I think he is craving a little structure. He walked right into his classroom without even saying goodbye so I took that as a good sign. Plus, I pick him up at 11:30....so he'll be fine. (I'm writing this more for myself than you all)

My family comes home today so I am so excited about that. I can't wait to see the pictures and hear all the details of their trip. It's just been weird around here without them.

Plus, even more good news.....my friends from Howell are coming!!!! At first there was just one friend and her kids, but now they are all coming!!! And of course bringing their kids so total we will have 10 kids in my little blue house! What a blast!! We're praying for good weather so we can hit my mom's pool, a.k.a tiring them out :) I'll take pics and post them of our little friend/blogging reunion!

Well time to get some stuff done.....

** CAUTION **** If you have a weak stomach, DO NOT READ this! Although, I have a weak stomach and I am writing it.

So last week, I got the nesting bug. I was scrubbing everything. I cleaned the kitchen from top to bottom, using Soft Scrub on almost every surface. (Love that stuff!)So we went to my mom's for a few days and came home to an odd smell in the kitchen. We blamed it on the kitty litter which was promptly changed. However, the smell lingered. I found a bowl that had some bad chicken juices in it, which we thought was it as well. Still, there was the smell. So tonight, my Aunt Carol had just returned home from a trip and we invited her over to dinner. As I started the water for potatoes, I noticed the smell was particularly bad by the stove. I shrugged it off and walked away. When I came back to check the water, I noticed something on the stove that had not been there a few minutes prior. To my absolute horror, I realized they were MAGGOTS! I started to vomit and ran from the room. Matt came dashing in and then the hunt began. Where on earth had they come from???? I remained out of the room (which now smelled so disgusting.....) while Matt searched. I insisted that I had just scrubbed the entire kitchen. However, I had forgotten that the day after I had scrubbed the kitchen down I had set some chicken out on the stove to thaw. Well some of the juice had dripped down into the big pan underneath the burners. When Matt lifted that he screamed and declared, "Um yeah....found out where they came from!!" I remained far away as he scrubbed and cleaned it all up. The children of course had to watch everything, even though they were completely disgusted. My stomach is still churning and the thought of going back into the kitchen makes my skin crawl. They are so vile. So I just wanted you all to know that I am a horrible housewife. Who has maggots living in their stove?!!?!?!?!?!?!
The kitchen smells infinitely better now and I will NEVER thaw chicken that way again!!!!

Thanks to all of you for your comments on the kitten. He is turning out to be quite the pistol, especially at night while I am attempting to sleep! He attacks my toes under the cover and bats at my hair. We have started shutting our bedroom door :) Larry is coming around very nicely, spending more and more time out from under the bed. He is very patient with Nemo, unless Nemo takes it a tad too far and Larry has had enough. Comical and somewhat ironic since it used to be Larry who was the antagonizer!!

We are having a nice holiday weekend. Matt ended up having Sunday through Tuesday off which is a much needed break for him. We are camping out at mom and dad's house as they are in Alaska. The kids are having fun swimming and just being here. Also they are loving having "channels" as my parents have cable and we do not :) We had a nice firework display last night in the back yard and tonight we go to the big display in town. But now it is time to vacuum the pool and get read for another day of laziness! Happy Fourth everyone!