Spark

We broke down and finally got a dog, a German Shorthaired Pointer. He is adorable and very intelligent. We are all amazed at how quickly he is learning to do his “necessities” outside. And when he’s in trouble, he knows it, and grovels without coming near the offended party – usually mommy – until he’s been restored to good graces. I was prepared to have a puppy, kind of reluctantly, but he is turning out to be an easier task than I had expected.

That’s not to say there are sleepless nights – last night was very looooong, or short, when you add up the hours I actually slept. Hopefully soon we can get him to sleep longer hours at night without needing to go outside.

Late night serenades

Designed a new bulletin last night, probably not the best time to start it, at 6pm, finished around 8pm. Then I made dinner for last night, and Sunday supper for our guests coming. Exhausted! My kids were wonderful; knowing how tired I was, they all pitched in and helped clean the house and prepare the meal for today. Andres on his own decided to peel the potatoes – he’s never done it before, and it took a loooooong time, but he did it! There were peels all over the cabinets and floor around the trash can, but hey, gotta give him credit for doing it and sticking with it.

After the family went to bed I studied for the SS lesson I was teaching – somehow I let that one slip by this week. I didn’t get to bed until 1am, and wasn’t there long before a cricket IN MY BATHROOM started serenading me. Needless to say, I dreamed of crickets, and killing them…they never died in my dreams. Around 3:30am I gave up the fight and left to sleep elsewhere.

Today I’m exhausted, have a lot to do to prepare for the week, and no energy. But my best friend comes for a couple of days, along with her husband and newborn. I am looking forward to seeing them and relaxing for those days. We always have a blast when we’re together. I made a cheesecake for her, so we'll be eating well!

Appliance Wars

No news yet on the school, except that all the paperwork is in, the finance committee is meeting to see how much of a discount they can give our kids. We told the kids about the possibility, they were upset at first, but now they are more positive about it, and praying that it will happen. Seeing the virtual online tour helped.

We broke down and bought a washing machine. Very modern, intelligent, and musical! It determines how much water to use, and if you put too much detergent in, it will run the rinse cycle more than once. It takes washing to a whole new level.

Our dryer is thinking about breaking. I told him no; we’ll see how long he listens to me. And Mr. Fridge is in the same boat – I actually wouldn’t have minded if he had broke, cuz then I could have purchased a new one. This one is too small, but I have another in my laundry room that seems to work, that I plugged in and we’ll see how cold it gets. Last time I plugged it in it wasn’t really cooling down.

Bienvenida, Nora Grace Schroeder

Nora Grace was born this morning at 8:18 am, NJ time, weighing in at 7lbs. 2oz. and measuring 19.5 inches. Welcome, Baby Sister! We love you and have been eager to meet you!