Cleaning house

Just to let you know, Jennifer is amazing! I went to scout camp five days last week while Jennifer held down the fort. Not only did she get the kids to swimming lessons every day (lasting from 9:00-11:00), she helped out with Cub Scout day camp by taking the cubs to a nearby town, Premont, where they were allowed to ride horses. I have to keep elaborating on this story...

It was the middle of the day on Wednesday, over 100 degrees. They were parked out in the sticks, so she left the keys in the van. The spare set was also in the van, just in her purse (she does that a lot). One of the cub scouts went into the van to get some cold water bottles and ended up locking the door. So, here she sits with six kids and one other adult with a locked van in nowhere Texas. The sun was beating down, vultures circling overhead, water mirages in the distance, you get the idea. Eventually a man, who happens to own a slim-jim comes by but is unable to unlock the vehicle. Next, the sheriff comes by and also fails to unlock the van. Finally, more than three hours into the ordeal the locksmith shows up and unlocks the door. YEAH!!! It must have been quite a sight because the locksmith took pity on the group and used cub scouts as his reason for not charging Jennifer to unlock the door. Through all of this, Jennifer did not kill anyone, even the kid who locked the door.

Then, Wednesday evening, Emmi ended up getting pushed down and sprained her knee. She was limping that night, but the next morning her knee was swollen and she couldn't walk on it. So on top of swimming lessons, Jennifer got Emmi to the doctor to find out if any serious damage was done to her knee. Luckily her knee is feeling better now. She only missed the one day of swim lessons. Oh, Emmi is getting good too. She has awesome form and is starting to learn the Butterfly! She doesn't get full arm extension in front but she does manage to get her shoulders up out of the water, so she has a good kick.

OK, on with how awesome Jennifer is... She always goes out of her way to make the kids feel special on their birthdays. She always decorates up the kitchen with birthday items; balloons, streamers, etc. She makes a cake and does the birthday shopping. She always puts in a lot of time for everyone. Anyways, Kaleb decided he wanted an aircraft carrier cake (probably to get himself a new airplane). She baked and I engineered the cake. It turned out pretty good in my opinion. For you airplane buffs who read this, I know the F-16 is not navy and does not land on carriers, but you take what you can get in a small town. Our family ritual for birthdays is pizza. Kaleb decided for his birthday he wanted to go to a place called Gatti-town. It is a place somewhat similar to Chuck E. Cheese...I would recommend going. Well, we met some friends up there for dinner and games. We had a blast, then took Kaleb out shopping to spend his birthday money. Two hours later we finally were able to leave and return home.

So, to finish off how awesome Jennifer is...Friday around noon Mia decided to get sick and began her puking experience. For the rest of the day she proceeded to vomit about 15-20 times, in almost every room of the house. Let me just say that I am so glad we purchased a carpet cleaner years ago. I think Mia was trying to tell us it was time to clean up. So with Jennifer's help we took care of Mia, kept her clean, and cleaned carpets. My thanks out to the engineers at Hoover and chemists at Lysol. I definitly enjoy the smell of Lysol better than the alternative.
I am so glad to have Jennifer around, I don't know how single parents do it. To all those single parents, my hat is off to you.