I smell smoke

I smell smoke, because I smell like smoke! I spent the better part of today clearing up debris in the yard and burning it in the firepit. The girls meandered in and out of my work, in-between finding lots of busy fun in the yard. Michael is the same way, except he likes to freak me out by filling his mouth with hickory nuts, then running. We had smores for lunch. That rocked. Rachael likes to point out that she ate a turkey sandwich previous to that, which was a healthier choice. She's right, of course. But let me say again, I had smores for lunch. We stopped briefly to head to confession this afternoon.

It was a sparkling summer day, nice and breezy; it felt more like early fall than July. It's supposed to be that way again tomorrow. I'm drinking it in. Things in my life feel a little clearer altogether too. It would be too much to write in here, but let's just leave it at that.

Michael was stung by a really evil-looking hornet yesterday. I think he tried to pick him up and got bitten on the thumb. Poor baby cried for an hour at least. He kept holding his thumb up like a hitch-hiker. He's fine today. Last night the girls had a handful of friends over for a slumber party. They played guitar hero, ran outside around a campfire playing "ghosts in the graveyard," and stayed up too late playing hide and seek and watching movies. It was a great success. Bret is away in St. Louis at a Steubenville youth retreat. I can't wait to hear how it went. Next weekend is TOTALLY packed with fun busy-ness for us. And once again, Bret will be in the St. Louis area, this time with the boy scouts for their annual summer adventure. Must be nice! :-) Things here are nice and calm. Maybe I'm just appreciating the good times more because one of our little leukemia friends passed away today. He had relapsed twice in 7 or 8 years, and just couldn't hang on after transplant. It was so sad, he had fought so hard. Anyway, not to end on a sad note, because it's not sad, he's totally content! But that's about all the update for tonight!