Crochet with the washing

Keith and Kylie celebrate their birthday today. Keith is (gasp!) 45, and Kylie is (gasp, again!) 10! We're going to wait to celebrate both birthdays, though, since Keith is working and Kylie is at camp.

So far the week has been quiet and relaxing with four of the kids gone. It's only Kristofer, Kathleen and Keva with me during the day. Kristofer is content playing video games all day long (if we let him, that is.) Kathleen is working on a crochet project and wants to go shopping with me later on this afternoon. Keva spends her days waving her flag that she got at the Fourth of July parade, watching cartoons on PBS, and snitching food and stuff to chew on for Kody.

Keri Lynn is a counselor this year at Camp Sonshine. She would have been a counselor previous years, too, if I'd known we didn't have to pay for her to go! She got two nights and a day to recuperate from the missions trip to the Florida Keys, but I think she's just going to have to depend on good old-fashioned adrenaline to keep her going this week. That, and the cuteness factor of third grade girls.

Camp Sonshine is a five day camp. Our church uses a nearby small camp facility. We'll be packing it out with 100 kids and about 30 adults. I remember my own camp experiences quite well. I'd get on a hot tin can of a bus amidst city buildings, traffic and smog, drive eight hours and get off in the mountains with cabins, trees and blue sky. My kids get on a hot tin can of a bus at a Mayberry town square, trees and blue skies, and get off 45 minutes later amidst cabins, trees and blue skies. Poof! Magic!

The Gruesome Threesome are all at camp this year. This is Kylie's third year, Kade's second and Konner's first. They were so excited! I worried last year that Kade might be a little homesick, but he wasn't. At all. I can't even conceive of the idea of Konner being homesick. He's the most independent of all of the kids. They should come home exhausted, happy and ready for school -- which starts in two weeks! Well, maybe not ready for school.

I've been busy doing essentially nothing. Well, maybe I've done a little laundry since the repair last Thursday. But I need to call warranty services again, because the repair person did not put the front panel on properly and the machine is still leaking. It's not leaking badly, so I can still continue with the laundry, and there may be nothing that can be done about it because I'm not using the proper laundry detergent that goes with that machine, but we'll see. I learned from a friend that my warranty service will REPLACE my washing machine if they have to repair my machine three times during the warranty time frame. REPLACE! I thought, how could that be!?! So I asked the beloved repair person, and she told me that it's only when they come to repair an actual machine part. So far, they've replaced a motor and the rubber lining. When I call later today to get this latest problem fixed, I'll ask for a review of our services. I'm sure that Best Buy warranty doesn't volunteer to replace a machine unless the customer is aware of this well-hidden fact. How nice to have friends that read the fine print of their own Best Buy warranties!

I'll be working on my own crochet project today with Kathleen. I'm making her a cute shawl that she picked out of one of my hundreds of crochet books. I'm determined to make this for her. She falls victim to the old saying "The cobbler's son has no shoes." I LOVE to crochet and I especially like to make gifts for other people, but usually run out of time and energy to make some for my own kids. My friend Ginny and I have the same problem, so we both have a lot of things that we've made for each other! Kathleen has the crafty gene, too, and likes to make things for people. She has really taken off on the Crazy Knitter looms we bought earlier this year. We'll have to find a good movie to put on and crochet to the hum of the washing machine!