They All Call Me Mom

Sunday Update

Today I woke up at 6:00am and drove Afton to the church to catch her bus for camp.  Just like last year, she will be away at a Christian Camp for one week.    One week without my Afton?  I miss her already!
Funny thing happened — well, not so funny, actually — but when I got back into the car after dropping her off this morning, I quickly noticed that my wallet wasn’t where I left it (on the seat in plain view and I know, how dumb is that?!!)  and so  I searched all over the car and then assumed it had been stolen.  So I called and cancelled all of my credit cards, my ATM card, put a stop on my checking account because my checkbook was in there, and then called Rich to tell him about it.  He told me to get back to where it was stolen and look around in the surrounding bushes, trash dumpsters, etc. because usually the thieves will quickly look through a wallet for cash and then toss the wallet away.  So I woke Tony up because I figure two looking around for the wallet is better than one, and I wanted him to come with me.  He woke up from a sound sleep at 7:30am, got into my car and immediately hands me my wallet.  I hadn’t even started the car yet!  I said, “What? Where??!!!”  and he tells me it was right under the passenger seat, tucked waaaay back there.
1)   I am SO relieved.
2)  I am SO confused.  I looked everywhere!!  Yes, I checked under that seat!  How did it get there??
3)  I am SO frustrated, as now have NO credit cards, NO atm card, and NO checks that are valid to use.  I had cancelled everything thinking it was stolen.  Ugh!!
Okay, so that was my morning.  Fun stuff, huh?  But it all worked out okay.  Afton is off to camp, and nothing of mine was stolen.  All is good.
I should have known it would be a strange morning, anyway, when we woke up to this:

RAIN.

Rain at the end of July?  Really? That’s not our normal weather.  Yep, something was up, all right.

The kids didn’t put away their bikes last night — who knew it would rain?  So now we need to wipe them all down or else they will rust.

Some highlights of the week:
Afton got her driver’s license!!  She was so excited she could hardly stand it.  She has been looking forward to driving since she was about four years old.

Added to that excitement….her birthday iPhone.

Oh yea, she’s sport’n the iPhone now.  But she has to pay her own monthly activation.   That was our “deal” — because a smartphone is more expensive than a dumbphone.
Thanks, Mom & Dad!!
A.J, Aislynn, Andrew and Aria are very into the backyard lizards lately.  They find these things in our yard and keep them for a while then set them loose.
Check out the size of this one:
The poor little thing is probably freaking out.  
Can you just image getting picked up by a giant hand?
 
 
 
We spent 3 days vacationing with our good friends in Palm Springs.   It’s our annual trip!
 
We take this picture every year.   Now, that’s a lot of kids!  
When we leave the pool, people say, “Hey…where did everybody go?”
 
 
 
Audriana had her last Girl Scout meeting this week.  Their troop has officially ended, and they had been together since the 1st grade!!
 
The original members of Troop 2302.  The troop added members over the years, but these same girl scouts in this photo remained in the troop until their senior year of high school.  They are all such close friends.
 
Audriana at her “pinning” ceremony in 2001
This is a chapter in Audriana’s life that has come to a close.  Her Girl Scouting days are behind her.  I’m a bit bummed about that.  Didn’t think I would be, but I am.  My girl’s growing up, and it’s bittersweet.
Troop 2302 ~ all grown up!  Can you pick out the six original members?

Audriana will miss  her Girl Scout troop, but she’s planning on keeping in touch with all the friends she’s made.  She also plans on volunteering as an assistant leader for a younger troop, so hopefully she will keep active in The Girl Scouts.  She’s made many wonderful memories over the years.

 

Finally,  I took a photography workshop this weekend!  I learned how to shoot my camera in the manual mode.  I haven’t perfected it, and I have a lot of trial and error before I get it all figured out, but at least it’s a step in the right direction.

One of the things we practiced was stopping motion.  So our instructor twirled around and we had to set our camera to the correct settings to make it so she isn’t blurred….

 
How did I do?  Her hair looks pretty cool.
 
 
and the mid-air jump — frozen!
 
Anyway, the workshop was very informative.  Hopefully you all will be seeing some better photos on my blog soon :)
 

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Comments

  1. Hi from your newest follower! Thanks for stopping by and visiting mine as well.

    LOVE your blog header picture! And these last two pictures that you took in your workshop are amazing. Great job!

    Mandi
    Smile and Mama With Me

    Reply

  2. Hi Katrina!

    Loved your Sunday update and all the photos. What a beautiful family . . . I’m guessing there is NEVER a dull moment in your life!

    Thank you so much for your sweet comment and following my blog . . . I look forward to catching up on your blog!

    Have a wonderful day . . . Gina

    Reply

  4. You have a wonderful blog and an adorable family! You sound so cool handling such a big role of your life and I salute you for that! Why, I usually loose my grip to insanity with my terrible two while you… you have 11! And look at you, you talk with so much grace (under pressure, I know!)

    I’ll be a regular reader of your posts!
    Looking forward for more.

    Visiting from voiceBoks here:
    Dangzter Online
    http://dangzteronline.blogspot.com

    Reply

  5. Hi Katrina! You have such a beautiful family! I am stopping back at your blog to thank you for your comment on my blog post “A Hot Mess”… I had to laugh when you said that you don’t trust the Chuck E Cheese hand-stamping procedure either… I swear I walk around that place in a permanent state of panic when I go! LOL

    But anyway, I just read this post and could totally identify with the whole wallet debacle. My husband always laughs at me when I lose stuff… he says, “Why don’t you just call out ‘Honeeeeey? Can you help me find…(whatever)’ because the MINUTE I ask him to help me look… voila… there it appears… even if it wasn’t there a minute ago when I looked! LOL

    Anyway, you have a beautiful blog, and a beautiful family! I am in awe of your ability to manage such a large family, and I inspired by your optimism. God bless you, and thank you again for stopping by Misadventures in Motherhood. I hope you’ll stop back again!

    Smiles, Jenn

    Reply

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