57 Days Until School Starts

We are practically covered up with water down here in Houston. Our house is fine and not in any danger of flooding, but the rain just keeps on coming. We are supposed to get another ten inches today. The kids are about to go stir crazy. I keep reminding them of their summer jobs (entertain themselves and learn to get along), but it isn’t really sinking in.

Father’s Day came and went. Helmut had the worst allergy attack he has had in years and was suffering the whole day. I made Munster Chicken and Spinach Salad and everyone (Carl, Judy, Jonah, Josie, Jennifer, Sofie and Bobby) came over for dinner. The boys fought the whole day, which made me so angry I could hardly see straight. They are too old not to be able to get along for two days out of the year. Sam woke up that morning and asked if she could go to Big Mama’s house and swim. When I told her it was Sunday, she fell apart and didn’t really regain her composure until she fell asleep in bed that night. She wailed all morning long about how she hated church and didn’t want to go. She was livid that she had to go up in Sacrament Meeting and sing the Father’s Day song. She refused to go to Primary when she realized her regular teacher was out of town. It was a bad day all around.

Helmut and Josh have started a new money making venture. They are collecting cans to take to the recycling center (where they pay the hefty sum of 68 cents a pound). Between their Mom and Dad and Judy and Carl, they are doing pretty well. They decided it would be a good idea to hit the street on trash day and pillage all the recycling bins for cans. They walked up and down the street Monday morning in the pouring rain, but there was not one bin to be found. I drove them around the neighborhood later that morning, but still NO ONE had a recycling bin out. It doesn’t look like America had caught on the whole recycling craze.