My mother in law – she lives three doors down, is generally very good about not interfering with me and my husband, but today, me, my husband and my father in law headed to the home hardware store to pick up supplies for the “great tear out the stupid always leaking skylight” extravaganza.

We left her at the house to watch the kids.

We weren’t gone very long, half hour at the most, but by the time we got back home she had washed the dishes and swept the floors and even started to clean our youngest sons room! When i got back she was in the middle of tossing a pair of ripped up fake blood stained pair of pants! I took them out of the trash and explained that the pants were part of thekids costumes and that we were keeping them becuase we wanted to re use them next year

I checked the trash again, more thoroughly after she had left and am glad I had becuase she tossed a bag of baby clothes – I had been storing the boys “coming home” outfits in our youngest sons closet, and she must have figured that I had just forgotten them in the closet and was trying to help!

Don;t worry, I learned my lesson, I wont be leaving her alone again anytime soon!

(here is the zombie costume that the pants she was tossing belonged to)\

I bought three inner tubes for the boys, for our trip to the lake. Please note I typed “for the boys”. The entire time I was in the lake, I used one of the tubes. Oh sure, a lot of the times I had one boy or the other on the tube with me, but I was very much a tube hog!

Now I am paying the price for hogging the tube, LOL. My chest and arms are sooooooo stiff. I’ve read alli reviews, and have heard the potty stories surrounding it, but perhaps that wpould be the easier way to lose weight – or at least, the less painful way!

Actually, to be honest, I have always laughed, in my head, when I hear of people using swimming as a way to keep in shape. Swimming is not exercise, its FUN! Now though, I am convinced that people can and do lose weight swimming. They just have to deal with not being able to lift their arms over their head for the next few days!

Being a one wage family, we cannot afford to go on a “big” vacation like Disney, and seeing as none of us has passports, affordable little vacations like a Branson vacation package are out of our reach as well.

We went to the lake for a few nights – it was great. I was an idiot and forgot the cameras at home – I’m still pretty freaking mad about that, I mean, I packed them, I charged the batteries too! Then I left the camera bag on the kitchen counter.

Anyway. this summer, we are going on two trips, the first was the lake, of course, the second is at the very end of August, we are heading to Manitoba for a few days to help my grandmother celebrate her birthday.

We might not be able to go to Disney, but dammit1 We still know how to have fun!

My husband is on his two week shut down. Every year his work shuts down for two weeks for whatever reason and the workers go on vacation. The vacation is paid, so its freaking awesome.

We usually have two big things we do on the shut down. The first is always a family vacation – this year we went to the lake, the second is some sort of home improvement project.

We never do anything super expensive, (..and we aren’t car people, so its always a house project not a car project requiring Ferrari parts or other such nonsense) This year we are tearing out our kitchen sky light. the damn thing has been nothing but trouble from day one, and I have simply had enough!

Here is the first step of the project, knocking holes in the skylight walls to allow for air circulation after we close the sucker up!

We got back from the lake on the fourth, and just in time, too, for my brother. When he arrived home he realized his gas tank had a freaking leak in it and the gas was simply pouring out! If ever there was a travel emergency, a leaking gas tank is one!

My brother figures that the exhaust, which is improperly secured dropped down on the gas tank and the heat of the exhaust burnt a hole in the tank. He is attempting to repair it ASAP, but with the flood they had, and the extra money they had to shell out to clean the place (80 bucks just in laundromat charges alone) he is struggling to find the cash he needs to repair the tank.

I hope he gets it all figured out soon!