43 Miles

That was the odometer reading when I pulled out of the parking lot and drove my BRAND NEW CAR off the dealer's lot! Happy Anniversary!

2010 Honda CR-V EX-L, 2 WD

We hadn't planned to buy a new car yesterday, but my husband just had to turn into the car lot and "see what they had." Thirty minutes later the deal was done and we drove off financed and finished in under two hours. That was the easiest and best car buying experience I ever had. 

It helped that we went into this with months of discussion and decision behind us. We knew what we wanted, we knew how much we wanted to pay, and we knew how much our trade-in was worth. The only real choice that had to be made was the color (it came down to the black one with 4WD and the blue one). They actually gave us $400 more than we thought the Camry was worth and that was with it dirty. Imagine what we could have gotten if we had actually cleaned it up and made it look presentable. And, their finance guy got us a better interest rate that allowed us to get the extended warranty and stay within our monthly payment range.

This is my car for the next decade. So, we went for exactly what we wanted...knowing this car is in it for the long haul. I drove it off the lot, but let Damon take it on its first trip to Sonic and back to Bartlesville. Damon will take it back to the dealership in Tulsa on Saturday to get detailed. With our schedule yesterday, they didn't have time to shine it up and detail it.

It was sad to see the Camry go. It was a really good car for us and put up with a lot of abuse. I took a picture and kissed it good-bye. Then, I went and took a picture of the odometer of the Honda with 43 miles on it!

The car purchase culminated our date day in Tulsa to celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary. When I got home, I also got the original anniversary gift my husband bought for me - a Gypsy for my Cricut. I hope to get to play with it this afternoon. Now, though I am not sure how to top the anniversary gifts Damon got me!

We picked up the kids and they were so excited. Jackson is happy that there are plug-ins close enough to him to plug in his DS. Reid was happy it came with an opening "windshield" (sunroof), like Daddie's car. We didn't get much play time with the car, last night, because I was hosting Bunko. But, today, I am going to put CDs in the player and make some new iTunes playlists on my phone (I can hook my iPhone up to the radio...sweet).

It's May; It's Just Busy

This is Beethoven. Tonight, he was the subject of a very intense scientific study. Jackson decided to study of what kind of blanket Beethoven preferred to sleep on. He thoughtfully laid out various blankets, of different thicknesses, and observed Beethoven in his natural habitat (our bedroom). And, in true scientific form, Jackson removed Beethoven's favorite blanket, so as not to throw of his results. Jackson wrote out three tests and concluded that Beethoven preferred the thicker blankets and preferred fuzzy to non-fuzzy. 

In other news this week, we also had the birth of triplets...birds. A robin built a nest over our patio lights a few weeks ago and has been sitting in her abode very faithfully. This week, Reid came running in from the backyard to announce the arrival of one baby bird. Two days later, there were three little beaks peaking over the edge of the nest. Reid loves to watch them and give us running commentary on their activities - breathing, eating a worm, etc.

This past week we have run from one activity to the other. Jackson and Damon are getting ready to be in a musical at church (tomorrow), I was supposed to host Bunko (we had tornados warnings instead), and the kids at Awards Night for AWANA on Wednesday night. Jackson also had three field trips this week, including a tour, orientation and lunch at his new school.

Today, we have done nothing, but tomorrow we need to get in gear. Damon/Jackson have the musical tomorrow night, Reid is singing with the pre-school choir before the musical, and I need to clean house and cook for Bunko on Monday night.

Damon and I will celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary on Monday; 13-years that have passed in a blink.

The rest of the week will be spent wrapping up the school year and celebrating Jackson's 5th grade graduation. I guess I can start crying now.

Celebrating National Scrapbooking Day

The first Sunday in May - National Scrapbooking Day. I celebrated by hanging out with scrapbookers, watching them make their creation, and working on sewing projects. Yes, I sewed on national scrapbooking day...but I organized a crop, so I still celebrated.

I put together a crop for our Sunday School class. We had 13 ladies, five from our class and 8 from outside our church, but die-hard scrappers. I took the day to work with my sewing machine and work on a project for my cougar friends. I would show it here, but that would take away the surprise, now wouldn't it? I did get 2 of the 6 done and need to go back to Hobby Lobby to get some more supplies for the rest. I had some issues with spelling, which require me to start over on the other four. We had a good day, everyone got some work done and we had some good fellowship time.

Friday night, Damon surprised me with a massage. It was much needed and very much enjoyed. I am still a little sore from a couple of places that she worked out, but my back, overall, feels so much better. My last massage was last in Denver. A year was way too long.

Last Tuesday, Jackson came home and said he had to go to an event at the Community Center. Every Tuesday, after school, Jackson goes to a local place called The Rock. It is a Christian non-profit organization that has built a youth center - skatepark, video games, snack bar, etc. The kids go from 3:45 until 6:45 and they can play games, skateboard and they have devotional time led by the staff. Over the last several months, they have talked about substance abuse, underage drinking and associated topics. Jackson completed the "curriculum" and as part of the ending of this program there was a town hall meeting. The Rock kids were going to be recognized for completing the program and they were serving pizza. Jackson was there, man. Damon took him and, in the car on the way, was asking Jackson why he thought they should go. Jackson said, "I just thought it was important to see what other groups in town are doing about this."

On Friday afternoon, Reid's teacher to give me the heads up on Reid's afternoon. Evidently, she had a small accident and Miss Hamilton sent Reid to the bathroom with her sack of clothes to change. Reid's bag had pants, a shirt, but no panties. So, Reid, with nothing on from the waist down, walks from the bathroom back down the hall to her classroom, opens the door and yells, "Miss Hamilton, I don't have any panties." Miss Hamilton gets Reid back down the hall, into the bathroom, and goes to the office to see if there is any extra underwear in the clothes box. There aren't any girl underwear, so Miss Hamilton brings a pair of boy underwear to Reid. At this point, Reid is in the bathroom completely in her birthday suit. Reid gets dressed, comes back to the bathroom and proceeds to tell EVERYONE that she has boy underwear on. And, when she went to afterschool care, she shared the info with everyone there too.