This lovely contraption to the left is my genius son's idea of summertime fun. Erin said that she helped his friend Jack find a band aid because his arm was bleeding from playing outside. She didn't think much of it until she went outside a while later to see Ryan riding his bike with a rope tied to this laundry basket contraption with little Maggie sitting in the basket. Luckily Erin/Sybil took care of it before anyone was seriously injured. his response to her was "Jack only got a little bit hurt, it was fun." I wonder if my neighbors have called DFS yet??? Last year about this time, the kids created a miniature golf course in the garage using household items. It was extremely creative and fun. This year they graduated to a death trap for summer fun. Maybe I should go back to being a full time stay at home mom. Erin , Shannon and Kelsey are supposed to be watching their younger siblings. It seems that the level of care is consistent with the level of pay they receive. NONE!!!

Shannon has her Regional competition for cheer leading on Tuesday. She has had practice 6 days a week, some days she has had practice twice a day. Shannon is the only kid on the squad who lives in St. Charles County. Erin has had the lucky task of bringing her to all her morning practices. The 7 AM practices have been especially pleasant for little Sybil to get up at 6:45 to bring her favorite sister. She sleeps in the parking lot for two hours and then they joyfully ride home together. Oh I can feel the love!!

My washing machine broke this week. Do we really need a washing machine??? We have a creek right in our back yard. Instead of making death traps with laundry baskets, I could have Ryan wheel the laundry down to the creek and wash the clothes with rocks. I'm sure my perfect children would love to pitch in and pretend that they were pioneers. OK maybe not, I went to Home Depot and got a new one instead.

Erin finally found a summer job, she got hired at Baskin Robbins, just the kind of place to help me put all that weight back on that I worked so hard on. I leave for Muscatine Iowa on Thursday. Erin is playing in a college showcase tournament. Hopefully she will get some offers for college. She has had three coaches show some interest but it stresses her out to think about college. I suggested that she keep her job at Baskin Robbins when she graduates and live in my basement forever. I can't believe that she is a Senior already, it seems just like yesterday I was meeting some of her personalities, on second thought I think it was just yesterday when a new one emerged. Right around the same time that I told her Shannon had cheer leading practice at 7 AM again tomorrow.