Poor girl

Natalie came home from school feeling yucky on Monday. She laid around all day, either sleeping or almost falling asleep and eventually developed a fever. She's got hugely swollen glands in her neck and a fever that's hovering between 101 and 102. She is flushed in her face, and I feel so bad for her. I'm not taking her to the doctor, though. The last 3 times I've taken her with these exact symptoms they've tested her for strep throat, and it's negative. It's always a virus that needs to run its course. I hope that she feels a lot better tomorrow. She's missed the last 2 days of school. She just wants to make it back for Friday's water day. Hopefully she will. She'll be so sad if she misses it!
On a happy note Trevor managed to go to school today, but the shirt really hurt him. He's still beet red and sore. I seriously doubt he'll decide to go without sunscreen again! Some lessons are easier learned by watching others than by going through them yourself. This is definitely one of those for me!

Our weekend

My sister Christine started the weekend off early for us on Thursday when she had her new baby Lincoln Porter. I haven't seen him in person yet, but he is absolutely darling in his pictures. Big sister Evelyn seems to like him so far too.

Friday night Kent and I got to go out. We went to see the new X-Men Wolverine Movie. It was pretty good. Although I could have done without the rear naked bum shots. I know that there were several other people in the theater who liked those scenes.

Then on Saturday I had to finish reading some books, organize my house, drive everyone to and fro, and waited for Trevor to come home from a sleepover. Turns out he went swimming with his friend (and his family) 3 or 4 times on Saturday. Trevor decided he didn't want to wear sunscreen. We asked him if he had learned his lesson. He says he has definitely, definitely learned. Here's how he looked on Sunday. He is still beet red and it's Monday night. He can lift his arms today, which is an improvement over the previous 2 days. However, he cannot put a shirt on because he is so red. Because of that we had to keep him home from school today. They frown on kids coming to school without their clothes on. At least we're nearing the end of the school year!

Trevor's back with the blue Instant Burn Relief Ice Aloe Vera / Lidocaine / Tea Tree Extract on it. Ouch! I'm just waiting for it to blister.

Yesterday we had stake conference. We opted not to go. I can't sit through sacrament meeting, which is 1 hour 10 minutes or so, and there was no way I was going to last longer than that for SC. And Trevor was so sunburned that he wouldn't have been able to put on clothes for church. We watched a session of General Conference, so we did get spiritually fed. Since we were sitting together watching Gen. Conf. I sewed the material together, then tied Justin's blanket. Then I sewed the binding on. Then I had to re-sew the binding on Drew's blanket because there were some issues. He also managed to rip his special pillow case from Grandma Susan at the seam, and he was freaking out about that so I fixed that. (And, Mom, I don't believe that I'll have to pick out the stitches with my nose in heaven. I think that sewing, especially while surrounded by my children, is a good Sabbath Day activity.) I even did a little crocheting on my baby blankets. I think I'm going to have to start selling them because I am done having kids, and none of my siblings or Kent's siblings are pregnant. Pretty soon I'm going to have quite the stash!

Justin with his new blanket. He was thrilled because it was black, red and white with skulls on it. I am getting soft in my old age!

After we got the kids to bed I assembled 100 teacher appreciation gifts. I didn't take any pictures (dumb, I know!). They were cute. I had a 4" x 4" piece of heavy weight decorative paper or textured cardstock, put a 2" x 4" label on it with a poem, punched 2- 3/16" holes and stuck in a caramel covered apple flavored sucker, then hot glued an inspirational rock on it.
After I was done with that I made 4 of the large flower hair clips for Natalie. I'm going to post some step-by-step instructions on my craft blog in a while in case you're interested in making them.

Ugh!

I am so stressed out this week. I'm not sure why. I'm sure that not getting more than 4 1/2 hours of sleep (not continuous either) for the last several days doesn't have anything to do with it. And I'm sure that discovering Smokey has been going around the house marking his territory has nothing to do with it either. (So far he's marked Natalie's room, Drew's room, the game room, TV equipment and Kent's office.) And I'm sure that having my children argue over who gets to chase after Smokey again after Drew lets him loose (for the 3rd time since Sunday) doesn't have anything to do with it either.
To help make things better I made chocolate cake last night. It was going good until I smelled something burning. I'm not sure what happened because I used the exact same amounts of the exact same ingredients in the exact same pan I have used numerous times before, but the cake batter went over the side of the pan, over both oven racks, and down to the bottom of the oven. When the oven cooled down I tried cleaning it, but things were really stuck good. I'm sure that didn't contribute to my stress level either. I'm using the self-cleaning option right now. My house smells like burnt cake. Yummy. But it had to be done. I'm having scouts here in a little while, and we're making cookies. Better to take care of it now than to make the cookies and have them taste like they've been burnt too. Smelly!

Twilight Girl's Night

My friends Emma Knight and Shanna Johnson and I have been wanting to have a Twilight movie night since before the DVD was released. With everything going on it took a while before we found a date that worked for all of us. We finally had it last night. It was a ton of fun. Emma provided the house, Shanna provided the big screen projector and I provided the DVD. We invited a few people and had a great time. Everyone brought a chair to sit on, and the smart ones brought a blanket and/or a jacket. (I wasn't smart!) There were tons of movie snacks, popcorn and drinks. We watched it under the stars in Emma's back yard. It was so fun that way. After everyone left the three of us sat around Emma's fire pit until almost 1:15 this morning. What a fun night out.
I have to say how great the decor was. Emma had 2 tables set up with red tablecloths. Then she had a popcorn machine with popcorn in it and a Twilight book and 2 red apples on top, a metal wired shelves for all sorts of movie candy, candy on a platter that had a bunch of things, including delicious macadamia nut clusters with caramel and covered in milk chocolate. Oh my, those were good. I had to move so I wouldn't eat them all. Heavenly!

6th Grade Field Trip

Today, Earth Day, was the day for the 6th graders to go to the movie theater to see Earth. Justin really wanted one of us to go with to chaperone, and I got elected. He was pretty psyched about that. The movie was beautifully shot, and the kids all really enjoyed it. They also showed a preview for Earth Day 2010 for another show called Oceans. I am already planning to see it. (I was going to be a marine biologist, but since I'm not I watch shows about it.) The movie looks like it will be fantastic. The preview showed a diver swimming right alongside a great white shark. Those are my favorite of all sharks, and I'm hooked just on that one shot.
Back to today... The row I was in had mostly boys, but we had girls in the rows in front of and behind us. I'm not sure who talked more. I had to get after the boys next to me more often than the girls, but the girls were pretty chatty. I got to sit by Justin. When it was over we rode back to the school on the bus. After about 2 minutes I realized that I have so much more empathy for 6th grade teachers! The squeals, high pitched screaming and giggling were just about to do me in. I sat next to Josh Buhrley on the way back to school, and asked him if it was always like this. He said yes, and then we both put our iPods on to try to drown out the sound.

Josh Hall, Jared Verstratton, Josh Buhrley, Marce Festa, Justin Noorda, Spencer Beaudette
Josh, Marce, Josh, Justin, Spencer (sitting)

Smokey

When we got Smokey he was just a puppy. Since he was a miniature schnauzer he could literally fit in the palm of your hand. We fully intended for him to be an inside dog. When we moved to this house Cole decided to be an outside dog, and after enduring a full night of Smokey crying (which echoed throughout the entire house so loudly that none of us could sleep) we decided to try to keep him with Cole. Cole would not sleep in the house so they both slept outside. No more crying. That took care of that problem. Smokey became an outside dog.

We were a little worried when Cole and Smokey met. Cole was right around 100 lbs. Smokey, when we got him, was only 3 or 4 lbs. Cole smelled him and decided he was okay right away so that put an end to our fears.
Since Cole died yesterday Smokey has wanted to be in the house. He even slept inside for the first time. We tried putting him outside, but he wouldn't stay. I decided to keep him inside until I went to bed, but after a few minutes he went on his patrol of the house (he checked on each child and every room). He didn't come back. When I went upstairs I looked for him and found him asleep on the floor of Justin's room. So maybe he'll be an inside dog after all.

Fathers and Sons, Girls' Night Out

Friday night was the Fathers and Sons camp out for the boys, and girls' night out for the girls. Kent took the boys after school. They did whatever guys do when they camp that night, and then went shooting on the way home. On Saturday morning Natalie and I went to pick up the co-op food, got Dunkin' Donuts and then I made guacamole.

Here's the new tent that Kent got at Costco. It sleeps 8 people, but I doubt that our whole family will ever sleep in it. Justin setting up to shoot.
Trevor takes his aim.

Drew walked around with the ear muffs (???) to drown out the loud snaps of the gun.

Bailey DeTemple, Natalie and I went to see the new Hannah Montana movie. The Savages were going to come with us, but they were all sick so they didn't make it. After the movie we went to dinner at Applebee's. (Sorry for the poor picture quality. I used my camera phone because I sent the digital camera with Kent.)

Cole Dog

Last night our dog, Cole, started having a really hard time breathing. He was lying around and not looking up at us. We told the kids that we thought tonight was our last night with him, and Kent and I started crying, as did Justin and Trevor. Natalie started laughing at all of us because we were crying. Then I explained what I meant, and the next time I looked at her I realized she was crying too. The only one who didn't cry was Drew. He just said to us that Cole was "goin' get him's new body wif Heavenly Father", and then he looked at just like, "Duh." We then had a great FHE about the Plan of Salvation, and then spent the rest of the evening petting Cole and talking to him. We expected him to pass during the night. This morning when we woke up he was still here, but his breathing was still really labored.

One of the few pictures from last night that Cole was not lying down on his side. He LIVED for people to pet him. If you petted him once, he would not let you stop.

One of Cole's favorite things was ice cream. We didn't know this until we lived with Grandpa Duane for a few months while our current house was being completed. Cole was too weak to eat from the bowl last night so I gave him some on a spoon.

Trevor was only able to stay outside for a few minutes. He took this very hard.

This morning after I got the kids got off to school Kent and I took him to the vet (Kent had to pick him up and carry him... not easy as he weighs almost 100 pounds). They were really nice, talked to us and told us what was going to happen. They made a clay paw print for us to keep, and then they put him down. We were right there next to Cole, and the doctor was very kind, and sat on the floor right next to Cole too. It was very peaceful, and Cole didn't feel any pain. Of course that didn't stop us from crying.

We've had Cole since May 1997. We got him when Justin was just a baby. He was a great dog. He had a great disposition, let the kids climb all over him, pull his ears and tail, and never once bit anyone. We're sure going to miss him.

I think Smokey (our miniature schnauzer) is going to miss him too. They were good buddies. He stayed right by Cole all morning. He growled at Kent and tried to bite him when he went to pick Cole up to take him to the vet. I let him smell my hands when we came home so he could smell the Cole was gone. He's crying right now, and doing his patrol to find Cole.

New Family Photos

After church today I decided to snap photos of everyone in their Sunday outfits. I just bought Natalie the cutest little sundress earlier in the week, and it was so cute. I really wanted to curl her hair in ringlets, but she just wanted very loose curls so it didn't quite work out the way I wanted it to. Oh well. She still looked darling. My red hibiscus flowers are in full bloom right now so I thought that it would be a great backdrop. Unfortunately my grass is kind of brown. I think we might need to reseed.

Natalie in her cute little dress.
Here I am. I didn't want to include any pictures of me because with the steroid injections I've had everything is out of control- my hormones, my acne and now my weight. I haven't actually gained any weight, but I look fuller in the face and tummy. It usually goes away in a month or two, but it's taken longer this time. Makes me feel like a fat cow, but as long as it goes away all is well.

Kent and Drew. He's Dad's buddy right now.

Justin in one of his cool guy poses. I'm so glad I got a picture of him smiling. He has to get 6 teeth pulled on Tuesday, so I hope he'll still smile after that!

My little Trev Man. He talked to us after church the whole way home about what he learned in class.

My boys being silly.

My boys doing a nice pose. Drew was reluctant to do a "nice" pose. Seriously, is he not the cutest kid? I love him!

Here is one of my red hibiscus.

Here's one of the newest hibiscus. I think it's got the most beautiful flowers. It opens up every day, and then closes up at night. Usually the other 2 open too, but they didn't today. Probably because of the 100 degree temp we had.

Tween angst

I have so much more empathy for my mother than I ever did before. I simply did not recognize that boys, too, go through the horrible, I mean, fun, tween stage. Being the oldest of 6, 5 of us being girls, I'm sure that we had more emotional outbursts than Justin has. He is still such a sweet boy, but he's now starting to say and do things that he never did before. And his body is starting to change. Yikes! My only brother was waaaaaaaaaaaay down the line at #5, so I wasn't living in the same house when he was going through all that. I don't know what to tell Justin so I tell him to talk to Kent.
I'm prepared to talk to Natalie about the joys of being a woman, of dealing with those monthly trials (before, during and after each cycle) and bras. Well, we're already talking bras because she is, and always has been, obsessed with my bras. (Ask Jennifer and Bailey DeTemple and anyone else who was near the Kohl's dressing room last year at this time... something about my "big, blue bra" coupled with hysterical giggling/laughter. I may have even posted about it.)
Boys, though, not so much. What changes do they go through? Do I really want/need to know? That's what dads are for, right? I have noticed that he's changing. He used to look like a boy, but now he's starting to look so much more mature. How is it possible that in 4 1/2 short months I will be the mother of a teenager? I'm too young!

Plumbing Problems

Ugh! I hate those! On Wednesday night I went to get the dish soap out so I could wash some bowls that were too big for the dishwasher. When I lifted it up I noticed that the bottle was dripping water. Wait, what? It's not supposed to be wet. So I looked down and realized that the entire cabinet was filled with 1/8" - 1/4" of standing water. That freaked me out a little bit so I quickly pulled everything out and put towels in to soak up all the extra water. The dishwasher was running, but we just it a couple months ago, and the technicians installed it so I hoped that wasn't the problem. I watched the hoses and there wasn't any water coming from anywhere. Then I ran the water from the faucet and within a few seconds it was dripping from the bottom of the disposal. The pipes were all fine, no dripping anywhere. All the connections seemed secure. Since Kent was still out of town I put a bowl to catch the water until he could come. We ended up getting a new disposal, and it seems to be a lot better. Kent started to install it last night, but we didn't have plumber's putty so we had to wait until the store was open this morning. It's all done now, and the leaks seems to be gone. I've got a bowl under the disposal again just in case we didn't fix it. Boy, am I glad for a husband that knows how to fix things. We're both pretty handy, and it saves a ton of money, and a lot of time.

Trevor's honesty

Today I had a craving for guacamole. I've actually had it for a few weeks, but didn't do anything about it until today. I went to the grocery store and got the ingredients. I came home, cut everything up, and when the boys came home from school, they both said, "Oh! Are you making salsa?!" I told them I was using some of the same ingredients as salsa, but I was making guacamole. That earned me a look of confusion from both boys, and raised eyebrows. I explained that I would be adding avocados, and their expressions turned from confusion to disgust. (I've taught them that fish is disgusting, and Kent has taught them that tomatoes, avocados and pickles are gross. I guess we're even!)
Anyway, a while later I was stirring everything together, and Trevor came in to sneak a peek. He wrinkled his nose and told me, "Wow. That looks disgusting." I said, "Well, thanks for telling me that" with a little eye roll. He said, "Well, it might not taste disgusting. It might just look disgusting." I told him he wasn't helping himself by saying anything more. He continued to watch me stir it. Then I tasted it to see what I needed to add to it. He asked if he could try it, and then he said, "Oh. This is really good. It looks really nasty, but it tastes really good. Good job, Mom."
Leave it to Trevor. He's so honest. If you ever want to know what he thinks just ask. He'll tell you. He's also (brutally) honest about how people look in their clothes. If you think you look fat/bad/other, ask him, and he'll tell you straight out. Others might lie or beat around the bush, but Trevor sure won't! Don't believe me? Ask him for yourself! But you've been warned! LOL!

200th post- Dedicated to Kent

My 200th post... Wow. I'm blogging a lot more than I used to. I thought it would be a good time to put a little plug-in for Kent. He has been Dallas all week for his company's fiscal year kick-off. We weren't sure if he was going to get a ticket there or not because they were doing layoffs, and didn't make anything official. Nothing better than letting your employees wonder if they're still going to have a job or not, right?
Apparently (Kent must have forgotten to tell me), Kent was nominated for the President's Club. The sales person Kent supports gets the highest sales in the company annually, and always gets an award from the President's Club. It usually comes with a trip and a gift. Last year's trip was and all expenses paid trip for 2 to Hawaii for a week. 14 sales people won a place in the Club this year, and 8 non-sales people won. Kent was among the 8 non-sales people that won. He got a cool Apple MacBook (yay! we'll finally have an Apple in the house!), some Godiva truffles, and a paper to fill out to send something to the spouse. The company president isn't sure if there's going to be enough money to do a trip this year, I'm hoping they'll find it somewhere (maybe the pres's bonus).
Kent was also gone last week. He and some of his friends from his younger days (he's known at least some of them since elementary school) went on their annual guys' trip. This year they went to Forest Lakes again. They took their quads, rode all day, camped at night and did whatever it is that guys do. Oh, it snowed on them too. I told him the weather report so he took 2 sleeping bags and a tent. He was the only one who didn't get wet I think. Here are some of the pictures from their trip...

I love water pictures so I had to include this. Thanks to Steve for taking pictures!
Left to right- Kent Noorda, Wes Lueck, Jason Sanders, Tim Maddock, Steve Thomas

Kent and Tim trying to warm up by the fire. Kent is not a fan of the snow or being cold. I imagine he was thinking how jealous I would be when I learned that they got snow.

Wes (I think), Tim and Kent. I really have no idea what they're doing there... although I do have a pretty creative mind, and some funny ideas...

Here's a picture of the area where they stayed. So pretty. I love the snow.

Drew's preschool Easter party

Drew's Easter party was last Thursday. For him when there's a change in the normal routine he has a little freak out session, and shuts down. This day was no different. I doubt we'll ever be able to get him to a school party on time. Different day, different time, different routine... not good things for his psyche yet, I guess!Drew insisted on riding his bike the entire way to and from the party. It took him an hour to decide that he would actually go to the party, and then I had to follow along the side of the road in Kent's Honda. The only problem was that the front two windows of his car don't work so I had to open the back two windows and the sun roof and yell to him when he should cross the road. It was so embarrassing! (Not him riding... me driving Kent's car like that.) A picture of the little boys. They decorated their Easter bags, then went across the street as a group to hunt for their eggs.Drew found all sorts of eggs in good hiding places. He LOVED going on the hunt!Me and my baby Drew. He wanted to have me follow him and take pictures while he went on the hunt. I love this kid- quirks and all!
Natalie joined us at the end of the party. I tried to snap a picture of her, but she tried running away. I still managed to snap one. Like the cool tights?!

Completed Blankets

Yay! They're done. I finished both Natalie and Drew's blankets in the last few days. Here are pictures of Natalie's new blanket. So fun! She wanted pink for the back, and a print for the front. She chose a print with little Scotties on it. I think she thought they were schnauzers like our dog Smokey. While she was at school I finished sewing the binding around the blanket, then washed and dried it. She LOVES it!

A small update on Drew's blanket

On Thursday morning I took Justin to a doctor's appointment. Kent stayed home to work a bit to help me out because Drew was still asleep. He had fallen asleep on the family room floor at some point during the night or very early morning. Justin had forgotten something at home so before I took him back to school we stopped at home. I stayed in the car, and my FIL Duane stopped by. I told him about Drew not using his new blanket because it was "itchy". I told him that if Drew wouldn't use it I'd give it to someone else because I spent enough time on it that I didn't want to give it away to just anyone. After our little conversation Duane went inside, grabbed a handful of my chocolate chip cookies (the recipe is on my craft blog if you want it), and said hi to Drew, who had woken up while Justin and I were at the doctor's office. Then he left with a handful of cookies, and continued on his walk. When I came back from dropping Justin off I went inside and told Drew that if he really couldn't use the blanket because it was itchy that we could give it to Grandpa Duane or Justin because they would use it. Drew looked at me like I had just turned green and sprouted a second head, and then said, "No, Mom! It's my blankie. I gonna sweep with it tonight!" And he did. And he's sleeping with it again tonight. I guess it's not so itchy after all!

Pilates or Yoga? That is the question...

Last night I did pilates. And I played a little baseball out front with Justin. I really love playing baseball/softball. I played on fast pitch city league softball teams for several seasons, and when I was in YW. My old ward in Chandler also played women's softball, so I was thrilled whenever the season rolled around. My position for my city league was usually shortstop, but I occasionally was pitcher catcher, 1st base or left field. I could do any of the bases, but they weren't as much fun as shortstop. I guess I didn't really play baseball, but I did keep hitting the ball and had Justin chase down the balls. The wind was blowing pretty good, so depending on the way the wind blew he might not have to run too far. When I was done hitting the wiffle balls for Justin I went inside to do pilates. Natalie joined me. At several points during the workout I thought, "Dear Lord, why am I doing this? I think I'm going to die. Please don't let me cry or cuss in front of the kids!" Then this morning I thought the same thing... only when I would lift my arms, stand up, sit down, turn, bend down or reach up. It hurt in my bad SI joint, my back, my abs from top to bottom, and in my upper arms. Mostly it just hurt in my bad SI joint and lower back so I didn't really notice the other pains as much. I'm not sure if the pain in the joint and back was caused by hitting the ball or the pilates. When I figure it out I'll probably avoid that one.
Anyway... tonight I tried yoga. It was right up my alley. I do several of these poses already in my daily stretching routine. I felt totally relaxed when I was done. Now I just have to see how I feel in the morning. I don't really expect to hurt, though, because this was so relaxing. I'm thinking I can do either of these things every day and see if it helps relieve my back pain. Hopefully something will work!

Drew's Completed Blanket

Natalie, Rylie and Drew played while I was sewing the binding onto the quilt. They made popcorn mixed with Flaming Hot Cheetos and ice cubes. By the time it was all done (and I made them throw it out) it looked like... well, I'm sure you can imagine. Not pretty, but they sure had fun making it!

I finally finished it today. Yay! Drew was so excited, and loved wrapping himself up in it this afternoon. When it was bedtime he was excited to sleep with it. Then he started complaining. When he doesn't want to wear a particular shirt he'll say it itches. Today we had to try on 3 different shirts before we found one that didn't itch. If he would have told anyone which shirt he wanted to wear it would have been so much easier. But I guess it's more fun for us to bring him several shirts, and then have him say that they itch so he can't wear them. Anyway, tonight at bedtime he started saying he couldn't use his new blanket because it itches. Ugh! Now what am I going to do? At least it looks cute...Mom, I'm sure you'll be disappointed, but I don't pin when I sew. I hate it. It takes so much time to put them in, then you have to remove them as you go along, it's just a pain. (That's part of the reason I can't make clothing. I'm real good at hemming, though!)

See how happy I am to be done?!

Drew checks out his blanket for the first time.

It passes muster. (This is his new expression for the camera when he's happy or excited.)

After I was done with the blanket I got to fold the laundry. I won't let anyone else do it. I don't even like anyone to touch it after I've had surgery. Seriously. It has to be just so. If someone does it (cough *Mom* cough), I have to dump the baskets out and redo them. I sure hope I never break a hand. My laundry OCD would probably give me fits!

Natalie and Rylie were playing some game with the little Easter chicks they made. They put them in the really large eggs and I really couldn't follow what they were saying. They had a fun time, though.

Pilates anyone?

I decided that I wanted to try something new with my workouts. My neurosurgeon has wanted me to do the elliptical machine at the gym. I tried it once, and the pain in my back was so intense immediately after I got on it I thought I was going to fall on the ground and cry. (Not something I really care to do in a public setting.) So I quickly eliminated that from my workout repertoire. He also suggested the treadmill... no running, but walking or light jogging. I was doing that until I started having problems with my SI joint. Then it was back to the recumbent bicycle. No biggie. I could do my cardio there, and then move on to the weights. After a while, though, it got boring so I decided to try out another of his suggestions... pilates. I am going to start tonight. My sister Amy says it's very relaxing. I hope so. I haven't done it before, only know that Madonna does it and she looks pretty awesome. I don't know how similar it is to yoga, but I think there might be some similarities. I took a yoga class at the gym once, but I can't do it again. I must far too immature. Everyone kept passing gas, and I couldn't stifle all my giggles. The teacher shot me a look after my second or third snicker. I just couldn't help myself. At least if I do that while I'm doing pilates I'll be doing it in the privacy of my own home... We'll see how it goes!

That darn dollar store!

There is a new dollar store across the street. I hate that place! My kids love going there with their friends and blowing some of their money. When it's only a dollar or two I don't mind so much. Yesterday Trevor went with some of his birthday money, and came back $23.05 poorer. (He made sure I knew the exact amount he spent, down to the cent.) Oh! My! Gosh! What the heck?! He was so proud of himself. He bought something for everyone in the family, a few things for himself, dropped a few small things off with some neighbors and didn't feel at all bad about losing all that money. Ugh! That store is of the devil! I told him he isn't allowed to go back until the end of summer, and even then it has to be with one of us (Kent or myself).
BTW, I am holding onto the rest of his birthday money so he won't be able to go back to the store and the rest of his money. I am just sick. I know that we've taught him better money management skills.
For those of you out-of-staters, the high is going to be 92 today. Yuck! I hate the heat. Please send some of your cool weather and rain our way!