Oh, The Weather Outside is Frightful!

What could Megan, Hailey, and Stan be looking at?

Sunday's lawn dandruff, aka "hail".  Golf ball size.

It's a good thing Stan and crew got ALL of the tar paper up on Friday and Saturday!

 Wait!  What's the matter, honey?  Hail does what?

Hail rips through paper?

You mean like tar paper?

Is that a problem?

I'm guessing that's a yes?

But only if it rains all day, right?  Like almost an inch?

 Uh-oh.

I guess that explains the wet spots on the ceiling in the kitchen,

living room,

bedrooms,

and garage.

Oh, but look on the bright side!

Now we get to FINALLY get rid of our popcorn ceilings,

and we have a fun pond in our front yard!

 

Oh good!  No more people left with hair to pull.

You Say Tomato, I Say Tornado, A Quiz, And Who Wouldn't Want To Be Me?!?

Hailey: "Grandma, come quick!  Another tomato!"

Me:  "No, that's not a tornado, it's from Grandpa fixing the roof."

Hailey: "Well, he's not doing a very good job.  It looks like a tomato."

Question: Is this a picture of:

a) all the hair Makayla has been growing this summer

b) Makayla's draining, pussing, bleeding, infected ear

c) Makayla's new hair extensions

d) all of the above except for c

And the answer is: d.  Darn that ear! So much for surgery. And keep working on that hair, Makayla!

Hailey: "Grandma, do you know why Makayla does everything I do?"

Me: "Nope. Why?"

Hailey: "Cause I'm so nice,

and sooo cute,

and so, so, so, so, SOOOO fun!"

Hmm.  Should I tell Hailey she forgot humble?

A Senior Moment

Today is a monumental day. 

A "Last Time" day.

A "three hankie" day.

It started early.

And next week when seminary resumes, it will start even earlier.

 

Yep,  It's back to school time for Megan.

Just yesterday Megan was headed off to preschool.

Now her carefree summer is over....

No wait!  Just yesterday Megan wasn't going to preschool! She was finishing up her Honors English project---a 25 point quote and observation paper AND a 1200 word paper on "Why Frankenstein is a Classic".  You know, the book she had all summer to read, but left for the last few days. 

By noon Megan had her "points" done and a whole paragraph finished on her paper.

These honor seniors really know how to end the summer with excitement.

She did get it done before midnight.  I proof read it.  It was darn good.  At least I think it was good.  At 12:30 am it seemed profound.

I let Megan choose her "last breakfast" this morning.

Kind of like a condemned prisoner.  Seems appropriate, doesn't it?

She wanted french toast.  I added the melon.

This morning by 7 she was all bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready for the day, English assignments complete and packed away.

We've taken hundreds of "first day of school" pictures on this porch over the years.

Somehow I never thought

the day would come when Megan would stand here for the very last time.

Now Megan is off to greet her senior year.

Bye-bye!

Sniff.

Yeah, right!  I've been waiting for this "senior moment" for 32 years!!

Up On The Rooftop

After the Billings father's day tornado/hailstorm, our roof was left with a lot of damage.

Shingles were pocked and split clear down through the underlying tar paper.

Vents looked like someone used them for soccer practice.

Our rain gutters are so bent and dented that nothing drains. 

Here is proof positive that weeds will grow anywhere. 

After getting a payout from the insurance company, Stan figured if he could do our house and duplex roofs himself, we would have enough leftover to replace the ancient furnaces at the duplex.

So Stan hired three teenage boys from the ward, a young unemployed dad also from the ward, a friend and his brother, and tore off all the shingles.  Working through the day on a black roof in the hot sun---what could be funner?

Getting Megan out of bed this morning at the crack of dawn, that's what could be funner!!

The clock on the wall may say 8:08, but Megan has been up for hours preparing for the day.

Look at her luggage.  What do you think?  Is Megan go on an around the world vacation?  Is she making an early move to college?  Is she practicing her "getting up early" skills for school?

Nope.  We're doing another one of those "Last Times".  I am going to watch my last senior get

Senior Pictures. 

Sob.

Megan brought most of the clothes in her closet--you can change outfits several times--

--and a fraction of her shoes.  Clearly, you can't wear the same shoe for every photo shot, people!

After our long, tiring morning at the photographers, we headed home to find the men had filled the trailer for the second time.  Seeing how sweaty they looked totally did us in.

Megan and I felt better after we left and cooled down.

Good news!  Stan can continue to work on his tan cause we're hitting 100 degrees for the first time this summer on Thursday.  He's hoping to be done, with the help of his crew, on Friday (working half days for the rest of the week), then he gets to move to the duplex.  I would volunteer to get up there and help Stan, but I think I have to go watch paint dry somewhere....