We are Family!

Well, after seven weeks of Clay working in California, he is home!!! We are all so excited and feel very content and blessed to be together again. We are just going to soak up one another for the next few days, and live! On the other side of life, the A/C is now fixed, we are doing some work around the house, planning for Friday School, looking into renting the same beach house for next year's vacation, and still working on homeschool. Life is good, indeed. We also decided to invest in Clearplay, and are so looking forward to it! If you don't know what it is--do a google search. It is a fabulous thing for families that are in the habit of sheltering from bad language, inappropriate content and the like. Also loving homeschooling. It is one of our best decisions ever, and Lord willing, all the kids will one day be solid Christan homeschool graduates ready to make their mark on the world. FREEDOM!

Cool Summer Fun

Swimming next door at Mike's house--great fun on a hot day!!!

Gone to build-A-Bear workshop in Garland. Elizabeth got a bear for her 7th birthday.

And Kimberly picked out a sheep for her 3rd birthday which is not for about 6 more weeks.

And after a long day, it was time to curl up for a sweet little nap!

Or rest in the bedroom where the window unit is located, since the central air is broken! It's like camping every day!

Birthday Party

Jacob and Elizabeth once again had a joint birthday party. It was hot and fun at the park. They had lots of cake and water and and a pinata. What a nice way to get together with friends.

Weekend Was Great

No pictures...again...but lots to report! We still have no air. but two great friends have loaned us window units so most of the house can be cooled. We compromise on some things, but I really have no room to complain. Clay was home over the weekend. His flight was supposed to land at 12:30, so I planned to arrive at 12:30, but after the kids and I ate lunch and had just pulled onto US635, he called us saying they were about to get off the plane! It was noon! But all was fine. We had Jacob and Elizabeth's party at the park that afternoon, and loved visiting. We left the whole house open when we left because we hadn't yet received the second a/c unit. We figured, if thieves were willing to brave the 92 degree home interior, they were welcome to whatever they could carry! But all was cared for as the Lord watched over us. Sunday we rested and enjoyed each other and in the evening we took the children to the county fair. Kimberly had such fun on the rides! Monday Elizabeth got her stitches out while daddy fixed the swingset. Then we all ate lunch at TaMolly's. I took the oldest 3 bowling while the others napped. Then before we knew it the limo arrived to whisk him away again.....tears. But now, all is fine. The boys went shopping for Jacob's birthday today and I took the girls to Firewheel Center to visit Build-a-Bear. Elizabeth and Kimberly got bears (well, Kim got a lamb). These were b-day gifts, by the way. Then we ate at Sonic at Lizzie's request. Now we are settling down into a nice summer school routine. Next week will be VBS. I can't believe summer is 1/3 gone!
The Lord has been on my mind almost constantly lately. I do not like the direction our country, or world, for that matter, is heading. I pray for people to obey Jesus and study their bibles as we try to do our part to set the Christian example and train our family in the Lord. And I pray for the Lord to come take us home in His perfect timing. May He be with us each day and guide us to be more like Him and more pleasing to Him each day.

Oh, the Expense of it ALL!!!!

Well, right after the A/C guy came there was another knock at the door and FedEx was here with a box for the kids...It had toys for everyone (from dad), since dad couldn't be home. They were very excited. Then the repair guy came in and told me the compressorwas going to need replacing. (Luckily we have the home warranty!) We thought about taking a cash out and upgrading to a more efficient model that will be more environmentally friendly. But it would cost almost 4K! Can't see doing that when I can get the existing one repaired for under $100. So I am destroying the ozone and my unit will be outdated in 10 years...10 years of use for $100 sure beats 10% lower bills for 10 years at the price of $4000, in my mind. Call me crazy, but really I'm just cost conscious!!!
Anyway, we may not be with air conditioning until next week...bummer!

The Week in Review.....Working Backward

We have had quite a week, to be sure! But since I foolishly loaded the photos in reverse order, I respectfully ask you to go to the end of this post and read backward. Oh, and if you have serious issues with viewing injuries, there is one photo you may want to bypass quickly!


And this is the gash while at the doctor's office. It's the top red oval. She did really well and never felt the shots they gave her. Clay's parents came over to help Jacob make supper so I could get the groceries. Then the last photo above is the cookie bouquet that Cytec sent to the kids. it was so cute! We also got blessed with 2 large bags of clothes for the kids from a great family at church!--Gotta run, my A/C repair guy is here! yea!

and Jacob bowling.....................When we finished bowling we headed to WalMart for shopping, but as we were searching for some shorts, Jordan and Elizabeth tripped over each other and fell. Liz hit her head on a clothing table and got an inch long, half inch deep gash. So instead of getting food, we headed to the pediatricians where Elizabeth got 3 stitches. Jordan was so worried it was his fault that he cried all the way saying, "what if they can't fix her head and it's broken forever????!!" "Will Lizzie be ok, Mommy??!! I didn't mean to hurt her!" (It was so sad and touching..)

and Emily....

and Elizabeth....

And this is Jordan bowling.

Still, we decided to go bowling on tuesday afternoon before heading to the grocery store. This is Kimberly's first time to bowl. She LOVED it!

These are flowers sent by Cytec, since they appreciate families of the workers during this time. These came Saturday. By Sunday we were too hot at home so we spent the night at my parent's house and Monday night we stayed at Clay's parents' house. But a dear friend called early tuesday to offer a window unit for the bedroom. We accepted and it is wonderful!

But When Friday dawned we lost all A/C and decided to go buy a pool since the repair company couldn't come until the following Wednesday (which is today--and they will be here in the next few hours). So this is pool fun, which has occurred every day!

This one is Emily's based on vacation art, but with lots of acrylic glitter glaze.

This one is mine--based on the artwork from our vacation rental this year.

The ones below are Kimberly's and Elizabeth's art work.

Ok, here we are going backward thru the week.....As you probably know MCS is in CA doing strike coverage so the homefront has been under the management of the assistant CEO. And the "week" I am describing starts on Thursday, June 4th. Above you will see 3 paintings we did during art time.

The Newest Scoggins Baby Has Arrived!

This is my sister-in-law, Michele, and her second son, Ben. He was born this morning, June 1.

Ben weighed in at 9lbs 6oz, and was 5 days early. He is very filled out and all his cousins are terribly proud of him! Welcome to the family, little sweetie!

Dessert Chef in Training

Today we made strawberry shortcake for lunch. Kimberly was one of my helpers.