Week of May 19th

This week has been filled with trying to keep the house clean just in case we have a showing.  And it paid off a little; after our initial contracted offer fell through and the house went back up on the market, on Wednesday we got a verbal offer.  Unfortunately we counter-offered and never heard back from them.  But as my friend pointed out "Selling a house is the strangest game I ever played."  So true, Teresa!   We have been very blessed that there seems to be a lot of interest in our house, so I'm sure, in God's good time, it will sell and we will be off on another adventure. 

Our week was also filled with getting school work finished and finishing yard work to help pay for scout camp; their last two days of Quest and the last Early Release Wednesday with their four friends over.

Here are some other things we did this week:  

Yard Work -

Sunday family outdoor activities -

Visited a farm -

6 week old chickens. This lady gets a different breed of chicken every year so that she knows their age.  Brilliant, right?

Taste of hand-picked strawberries.

Brunch made with farm-fresh eggs and by the young man in the overalls with the fork and knife above his head.  He did good!  These are just a few kids from our homeschooling group.

YM fundraiser - Max had a Young Men's fundraiser.  The YW's fundraiser was a few weeks ago and they did really, really well. So, for the YM's first one, it was a blast, and those who came, enjoyed chili dogs and fun bidding wars (as it was a silent auction instead of a verbal one like the YW).  

I even got in on a bidding war for this!: 

 I think because of the kindness of the other two guys bidding, I won. We don't know if it works.  We're saving it for Memorial Day...so we shall see.  It may be a good thing we kept that old TV that's sitting in the basement for when I fold laundry. 

For the fundraiser, Max made 8 frozen pizza dough balls; two for us to keep and six to auction off.  And I mean he made them.  I helped him along by teaching him about yeast and the temperature of the water to help it bubble; explained that mixing the dry ingredients first while the yeast was sitting is a good idea; etc.  But just a hint: Don't bake in a rush or do let your son do the math instead of you.  We were quadrupling the recipe and so many things called for 12 tsp. and such, so when I read 1 tsp. salt, I put in 12 tsp instead of 4.  Whoops!  Yep, I should have let Max do ALL OF IT...but I was trying to get it done quickly.  Anyway, we ended up just adding more flour and Italian seasoning and yeasty water and I turned it over fully to Max and Nate and they fixed the ocean-like pizza dough (while I went to get a pedicure).

Peep Wars - My friend, Michelle, did this with her kiddos after Easter so I decided to have a go with my kiddos.  They each decorated their peep how they wanted it; Max's was Samurai X and Elise's was Karana (which is the girl's name from Island of the Blue Dolphins - so you'll see that she has her arrows and stuff sticking out of the back).  Samurai X won this round (by expanding the most and keeping his sword out straight), but we will do this again with some other friends or have a re-match. 

Pedicure - I can't believe I didn't take any pictures while we were there.  My friend Emily invited me to go with her to a pedicure.  It was a great surprise when we got there and I learned it was a manicure and pedicure.

Anyway, I actually can believe that I didn't take pictures.  It was so relaxing that the time just flew by and before I knew it we'd been there for nearly two hours!  I did find out that when I'm embarrassed, I cross my second toe over my big toe - which is a problem when you've just had them painted. 

Thanks to Emily who was a trouper and so very kind to me and understanding that my pizza dough fiasco made us late for the appointment!  She was wonderful and super fun to be with!