Kenny Chesney experience.

( Y'all come on in! )

We played until the sun went down...

Annie's little garden is becoming a reality!

The boys played outside for a while today. We went outside around 4:30pm, and we only just came in about 10 minutes ago. That's 4 hours, and they will probably sleep really good tonight. I took my CD player out there, and I played through two Kenny CDs and two mixed country CDs while I continued reading Book One. I'm a big fan of the 50-feet music law - 50 feet from the source is more than enough to hear the music on the swingset, the table, the tires, the chairs, the swing, etc. - yet not loud enough to hear in the very back of the yard (where nothing to play on is located anyway). :-) Around 6:45pm or so, Brad and Ann came over with their kids. Brad tilled the garden area, and the kids played while Ann and I chatted. They just left now, as it finally got too dark to see much.

Jack has finally (I hope!) quelled the irrational fear he had this past fall of things blowing away while we're outside. He even requested my bringing his big Thomas the Tank Engine train outside to play and crawl around in, and all four of the kids would get in it and 'choo-choo' it around the yard. This past fall, he was PETRIFIED that it or the Hover-Disc would blow away with the slightest little breeze. I like improvements like these. ;-)

Jibber-jabber.

1) Last night, as I was tucking A.J. into bed, he surprised me with another "purely A.J." question:

Me: G'night, A.J. I love you. I'll see you in the morning.
A.J.: Mom?
Me: Yes? (expecting a request for another trip to the bathroom or something)
A.J.: Mom, why didn't we annex Canada yet? And are we ever going to?
Me: (jaw drops) ... well, A.J., I don't think we're going to. I think Canadians are perfectly fine and happy having their own country.
A.J.: Okay. G'night, Mom!

Seriously. The people who wish their kids spoke a little bit better have NO CLUE what it is like to be on the receiving end of kids that already do. I feel like I am *never* preprared for what A.J. might ask!

Anyhow, watch out Leanne, Laci Ann, April and any other Canadians that I might be forgetting on my friends' list - A.J.'s trying to take you over!

2) We didn't make it to church today. I woke up at 9:30, and I thought to myself, "Just 9 more minutes (the length of a snooze)," but I didn't wake up again until 10:52. The eight minutes until the service was not nearly enough time to actually make ourselves presentable and get there. Oops.

3) Philip called again today, but we got cut off twice. He had a fairly bad connection, but it was/is always still good to get to talk to him.

4) State and Main was... enh. TONS of famous people were in it, but as Annie best put it last night, "I [didn't] feel any smarter after having watched it." ;-D

New address for Philip

NOTE: Philip's address has changed just a bit. The last number in the zip code has changed from a '2' to a '3.' Make sure you change it in your files if you need to! ;-)

SSGT Cleghorn
OIFIII
1058 DET (13 CSB)
FOB Speicher
APO AE 09393

Philip was telling me today that someone in our church back home - someone he's never even met, as they are new members - mailed him a 3-page letter. He was so touched and so excited by this. He just kept saying to me, "They don't even know me! I thought that was so cool!"

They really love mail. Everyone, not just Philip. ;-)