THUNDERSTORMS IN SUNNY SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA??!!

Hi Friends!

I woke up this morning to Bill's text messages making my phone beep noisily. And our dog, Bingo was freaking out. Bill was telling me that he'd pick up Cameron because it was too rainy for me to be out driving. OK. And then he needed me to turn off and unplug his precious new MAC so that it wouldn't fry. Because... shockingly it was storming here. Yes, it may be the rainy time of year. But we NEVER get thunder and lightning! I can only remember it once or twice since we moved to California. So, it stormed this morning and Bingo stayed close to us. He hates fireworks, thunder, or any loud noises. Isaac sweetly made him a bed of blankets in the living room and sat with him all morning while he homeschooled.

I completely missed Cam and Bill leaving this morning at 7:15 and woke up to all this activity at 10 a.m. The homeschoolers had a great day and finished all of their schoolwork and chores and were ready to play with their friends by 3:30. Matthew and the boys played over here, and they even had a break from the rain to go outside and ride bikes. Of course, they came home SOAKING wet (from riding and running through puddles!) and all had to change their clothes. But, boys will be boys! And I was glad they had a chance to get their energy out. Molly went over to Amber's house (she's Matthew's sister) and played until 6 p.m. At that point, we traded kids back!

I am feeling pleased with myself and what I accomplished today. We finished Mt. Washmore. Just have that load of really wet boy clothes (from playing in the rain) to work on tonight. I washed my sheets, too. Bill, hurt his hip and now my sheets smell like BenGay! On a good note, my sinuses stay clear from the smell at night. But, honestly, it was getting to be a bit much! (Sorry, honey!) We homeschooled, did chores, and I even did my Yoga on the Wii Fit today. I'm trying to exercise every day, but I tend to overdo and then be too sore for a week to go back. So, today I limited it to 30 minutes of the "easier" Yoga positions. And hopefully, I will be able to move tomorrow.

Right now, Cam is entertaining the boys with MythBusters on TV and Molly is playing Table Tennis on the Wii. It's shocking, isn't it that I'm doing the blog before midnight? I don't know where Bill is, so that's unusual. He would generally be home making us dinner by now. We're really spoiled! Maybe he's later because of bringing Cam home from school. I was glad to see him at 3:00, though. Molly is doing physics in her science lessons these day. Well, it's challenging for me, too. And we were stuck on one of the calculations! So in came Mr. Engineer to save the day.

And here he is again! He's making fish and chips, he just announced -- just in case you were worried about us starving! Tonight I promised Isaac that we'd watch "Old Yeller," which he checked out from the library. Thank Goodness I'm not on high doses of steroids today. Earlier this year, when I was hyped up on steroids and emotional, Molly was reading the book for her Literature class, and I cried so hard that she was worried about me.

More tomorrow...we have an early morning appointment with the orthodontist in Thousand Oaks. Molly is done with her braces -- just needs a retainer check. And I'm having Nate checked to see when it's time for his braces. We got off easy with Cameron who has straight teeth, but the younger three all needed or will need braces. I hate my teeth, so I'm determined that my kids will all have beautiful, straight teeth! Luckily, we have good dental insurance which covers a large part of the braces -- but our share is expensive enough to keep the orthodontist wearing fancy suits!

Much Love,
Michele

P.S.-- I don't do mornings -- that's my motto-- so pray for me tomorrow!