Kate is usually in my pictures a lot, but somehow this weekend, she stayed in the background - or took the pictures. I'll make up for it. It's rare that they're still enough or normal enough to warrant another picture to add to my thousands.
Graysen has gone from Harry Potter to "trying" to read some Jane Austen books. She doesn't find the books as interesting as the movies, which she loves, and I don't think she has much spare time for reading yet this summer. She did want to share the book she brought with her, and I'm sorry (I guess) that I didn't get the name of it. She told me in quite a bit of detail what it's about, and it's hard to get used to how their interests change. This one is all about murder - all the chapters have a related but different one. I think I got the gist of it. I did get a lot of detail, and she didn't find it disturbing at all. It's geared for teenagers or young adults and seems to have a good story, so she was smiling most of the time she was talking about it. Who knows? I did say, "Do Mom and Dad approve of this?" She said, "Oh, yeah." Emily always did have strange tastes in books, so of course she did. We do read a lot of the same ones now though.
I did go back and find out more about the book. It's called Five Survive. The author is Holly Jackson, an author from the UK, who wrote an earlier series called The Good Girls' Guide to Murder. This book reached the New York Times #1 spot as a Young Adult Hardcover Book Best, so I guess it must be readable. I actually heard about it last year when, much to Kate's disgust, a lot of the girls were reading this series. She thought it was awful until she read some of them and decided you can't judge a book by it's cover - or title.
Anyway, here's Gray talking me through the first 3 chapters. She said it started to get boring after 3 chapters. I don't doubt that at all!
They'll hate that I took pictures of them sleeping, but I don't care. They aim that camera at me way too much.
I got so much done while they slept, and they slept until almost 9:00. I cleaned out more of my sewing desk and managed to throw away a little bit and designate a few things to give away. Elise saw my collection of scissors and sarcastically asked if I thought I had enough. Never! Some are inherited, some are pinking shears, some are just cheapies, and I have only a few good pairs. I depend more on rotary cutters and rulers for quilting, so I like to have a few good sharp little pairs.
I made it through elastic and divided it once more into sizes and type. Same with Velcro and cording and binding. It was fun to see what I have and maybe give me a little boost in my interest.
When Ryan called to give me the day's schedule and tell me that he was coming to pick up the girls in 30 minutes, I was not thrilled. I finally talked him into an hour so I could feed them a good breakfast. They had babysitting duties all morning and possibly feeding the neighbor cats in the afternoon. They ate some scrambled eggs and a banana and got a hot berry muffin thrown in at the last minute before they wheeled off on their bikes. It's so hard to stand there and watch them ride away.
They have a new cousin in South Dakota - Albie. I've seen quite a few pictures on FB, so I thought I would post a few. He has a big sister, Sailer, that the girls have actually met and played with and keep up with her mother's Facebook news. So sad that they don't get to grow up with them. I guess they are second cousins. The dad Logan is their first cousin.
Beautiful babies. I have doubts that I'll ever meet them, but I bet the girls will be seeing them pretty soon , either here or in SD.
Emily got through her second day of soccer tournament duty and is hoping not to be needed as much today. I know she's exhausted after the clinic craziness this week. I'm looking forward to hearing all about the opening and how the first 3 days went.
I'm not sure what I'll do today, but I have 3 books started and a new Mah Jongg strategy book (it's about time to learn some). I have earmarked my filing cabinets to clean out today and got a good start earlier. I'd love to pare it down to just two drawers, and I think I can, and keep them in the garage. Tomorrow I have a follow-up appointment with my doctor and then Mah Jongg at 1:00. I'm tentatively thinking about letting Katherine sit in on a few of the games - or at least watch us - especially since there is another beginner, and we won't be playing very fast. I don't know how the other ladies will take that, so we might have her just observe!
I don't know what the rest of the week holds, but if the girls are tied up with babysitting several mornings this week, Elise and I might try to get to Issaquah to donate a few boxes of things and get them to send a truck for a few bigger pieces. Ryan is going to dread seeing me when I get ready for neatening up in there. I need more wreath hooks and shelves moved, bins taken down from the top shelves and looked through and replaced. Some things for a junk run and a few repairs. I just love having so few things. It's not really that few, but compared to the way my life was 12 years ago, it's a drastic change.
Looks like a moving van at the house across the street. I hardly ever saw those neighbors but a sweet couple with 3 little boys. They mainly came and went through their garage and back alley, not out the front door across from me.
I'm keeping my eye on the weather and hoping for some warm weather to get the girls into te pool - maybe Tuesday up to 80.
We'll see how these plans go. Friends in South Carolina are already getting ready to get their children back in school. Good grief!
