Memorial Weekend and Pre-End

We had an adventurous Memorial Day weekend.  Before the weekend....

Haley's group won the third grade Battle of the Books.  I wondered if Haley was reading enough and doing well with her list.  She surely did!  Her prizes....


Elden had a book feast one afternoon.  I stopped in for a little bit.  All the kids sat outside, read books and ate snacks.  Love it.  He had a great 1st grade teacher.


Also before the weekend started we did our monthly pack meeting at my friend Sarah's home.  She has a great backyard.  We did a couple little games, roasted hot dogs, and had a program.  Cal received his Webelos badge!






Quite the outfit.  A pj short, jeans and slippers.


One of the den leaders found a snake while he was at work that day.  He killed it and still had it in the back of the truck.  Anyone want to pet a dead snake?


For the pack meeting I made little s'more kits-a sandwich bag with marshmallows, graham crackers and of course chocolate!  The local grocery store here, Martin's, will donate a $25 gift card every three month to local organizations for their events.  Thank you Martin's! I used the gift card for cups and s'more fix'ins.


When I did some copying for a teacher I saw a letter Haley had written.  I enjoyed the part about having no pets because "My mom does not like pets."  Sorry pet lovers, it is true.  I do not like pets...but I should clarify: in my home.  I like animals fine enough.  Though I am not avid an animal lover. I enjoyed having a hamster when I was little, and a family dog while growing up. While on my mission in LA I just had too many encounters where pets ruled and a clean house didn't, which grossed me out.  On Haley's letter I did correct two things before I copied it....he he. Now I see one more correction I could have done....


Lois and Jeff celebrated their 10 year anniversary and their three boys hung out with us for the weekend.  They came on a Thursday evening.  The kids had fun sleeping in all sorts of places.  The box that Rhett slept in was as hot commodity that weekend.


On Friday my kids had school so the boys and I did a few activities like water the garden.




Went to the library....




Ending with a picnic lunch at the park.....


Saturday we did jobs around the house.  The boys loved helping me wash the Chevy. 


Doing a little shopping for a girls' night that Haley and Shanna planned for them and their cousin Rachel.  Quite the height distance!


Daniel and Amy and family came for a quick visit that weekend too.  So great having them here! The girls at their party! They had play clothes laid out, plus treats, along with music for the occasion.


Some of the cousins together.  That same night Lee and I went on a walk with Amy, Lizzy, Ila and Rhett.  Before that there was an incident with a dirty diaper, Reed, Elden and our neighbor's dog.  Not sure what stories to share or not share!  But maybe it will be funny...someday.....


Daniel, Amy and family came to church with us, and spent the evening at our home.  We had a great visit and enjoyed being together.  I wish they could have stayed longer!

Monday morning I found Cal and Reed like this.  Too funny.  Apparently Reed woke up Cal at 4 am, or some time really early.  I guess sleep got the better of them at some point.  They were in Cal's room when I went to bed the light before so it was funny coming downstairs, seeing them asleep on the chairs.


Monday we hung out at home and Lee worked.  He's always taken Memorial Day off, but since we didn't have any plans we decided for him to work.  Let's just say, we won't do that again.  I think he saw one person, maybe two?  He went on a bike ride after that, arriving home early. 


We did go on one outing with everyone to my friend's place.  I visit teach her.  She has a fun cabin style house with a terrific yard.  The kids loved running around outside. 


That afternoon we decided to head up to the Shenandoah National Park for dinner and roasting marshmallows. Lois and Jeff met us up there.










Lee found a hollow log and he and the kids got the fire to come up through the top.  Pretty cool.




That day Clark had a game of Monopoly going.  The kids went "electronic" free for the weekend and it was quite nice.  Clark said that since they had so much time on their hands that they should play, ha ha.  Clark beat everyone.


Overall it was a good weekend.  We enjoyed hearing about Lois and Jeff's adventure to Charleston.  I tried to keep grocery spending low for the month of May.  I did go over budget, but stayed under $500.  Really no clue what I spent, but around $460?  Slashing the grocery budget used to be a way for us to allocate money elsewhere, but I am just not good at it anymore.  The kids were quite excited when I did a big shopping trip for June. 


And eggs for $0.89?  Sweet! 


Even though Clark isn't quite as tall as Lee yet, they now wear the same size in clothes. Though Clark's feet are bigger than Lee's.  There are a few things that I've bought them double of for summer. 


And speaking of the summer holiday...ahh...so glad it finally came!