My son called to tell us that his in-laws are selling their treadmill for $60. They are moving into a smaller home and wont have room for it. I am not sure about the size of their new home, but I have a whopping 390 sq ft. However, I know this is a nice treadmill in good condition AND I am going to Hawaii in 10 months. What to do, what to do? My solution, out with the dining table and chairs, scrunch things up a little more, and in with the treadmill. The hub is on his way to pick it up now.

We are getting to have little Z quite a bit- as in several times each week- mom gets overwhelmed and needs breaks - much to our joy!! Z has FINALLY been assigned a CASA worker- thankfully a seasoned one who understands the needs of the child and the pitfalls in the system. He is concerned about some of the decisions that have been made and is concerned about his moms ability to raise him and has requested evalutions. I sure hope Z isn't shipped back out of state to his grandma- he has been moved so many times. We are taking each opportunity to see him and enjoying every moment. He went with us yesterday to the local caves. Unfortunately, he wasn't tall enough to go on the tour, so I spent the afternoon with him while everyone else took the tour. I took Z for an ice cream, we went 'exploring', took lots of pictures and had a great time. He was none the wiser that he had missed out on any fun. And I loved every second!

My sons business is doing great this summer and he is slowly starting to pay us back- not much, but what they can- and it is nice to see the flow of funds reversing. I am so proud of him for working so hard to make his dream successful.

We were supposed to be camping this weekend. Unfortunately, on the way home from picking her dad up from the airport, DD3 and the hub hit an elk. Thankfully, they weren't hurt- the elk and the truck not so lucky. The truck is in the shop. Damage was about $2600- my surprise was that our deductible was only $60. Umm...I guess that's good this time, but I will certainly be raising that - as I am sure our premiums are reflective of such a small deductible. wow.

My oldest grandson, 10, spent the night with us last night- he is curious about ancestry- so we have spent the morning talking about our relatives. He was surprised to see a picture of my paternal grandfather and to realize his great grandfather was full-blooded Cherokee, which means GS is part Cherokee too! Fun times

Happy 4th to everyone! I hope you have a safe Holiday!

This past month (oh wow, it HAS been a full month since I posted) has been so busy. Work has been go, go, go- with full time plus and a couple of weekend days too. The rest of the summer is going to be much of the same- thankfully I have a day off here and there, followed by vacation the week after labor day.

Prayers were answered and DD2 and I got to see lil Z for an entire day. He has grown so much. He was a little shy at first, but soon warmed right back up to us and spent the afternoon enjoying lap time with gramma. I am so happy we may get more time with him.

Tomorrow all the grandkids will be together for the 4th. My dil's mom is having everyone over for a swim party and BBQ. DD2 may even get to bring Z- I will be in gramma heaven for sure with all 7 of them together. PICTURE TIME!!

We are doing pretty good with our finances. We have a line item set up for our trip to Hawaii next May- which will be the next big trip. Our last big trip was in 2012..and next year is the 25th wedding anniversary- so I am more than happy to splurge a little on a wonderful adventure!

I am working on the emergency fund savings and rebuilding it. Helping the kids at the beginning of the year and focusing on paying off debt equaled a drained EF...so rebuilding that is our focus now.

I am still in the little house- and its ok for now. When DD3s friend moves out, DD3 and I will swap houses and I will be back in the bigger country house.

I have missed the blogs- I hope to catch up on reading them all this weekend. It feels great to have the three day weekend ahead!