This is Maggie playing around with Mike's flying gear (this is for flying in jets). Mike made it home from Canada safe and sound. Then he was off early on Saturday for his Barbershop Chorus' competition in Reston, VA. Even though they sounded better this year than ever before, they got lower scores! Oh well. They have fun doing it.

Recently Maggie made Beefaroni for lunch. It was sooo delicious and dairyfree. Beefaroni used to be one of my favorite homeschool lunches. Just 1 lb ground beef, 1 jar of V8 juice and 1 lb of elbow macaroni. Cook until the juices are soaked up and then add your favorite cheese. Maggie used the nondairy cheddar cheese sauce that she posted on her blog page. It is so yummy!We worked outside today doing lots of weeding, mulching and planting. Then we set up the pool. We will fill it all night and tomorrow morning it will be ready to go. We have a 15x32' pool that we got from BJs three years ago and we are so pleased with it. I rarely have to vacuum it. When the water temp gets too hot (about 3-4 times a summer) we throw four hoses in it and syphon the water to my nearby flower gardens. This pool is much easier to maintain than our old inground pool. We even have a pool light that we hang over the sides for nighttime swimming...my favorite time!

The girls and I zipped down to a home on base who was giving away a huge bag of fabric scraps on www.freecycle.org. There are some wonderful calicos as well as 10 yards of denim! I bagged up the rest and will drop them off at the thrift shop. We stopped at Joann's Fabrics on the way home and tried to find a decent dress pattern since our old one got worn out. We found one that might work...with a little help. The sleeves need to be lengthened and the front needs to be brought up for modesty.

Maggie and Anna are going to BJU in a few weeks for missions camp, so we need to get busy and sew! They need to take most of their own food, so we are researching Seal a Meals. If you have any advice about which model is best, please let us know! Our friend Anna recommends the model with a sensor that won't allow the food to get mashed. That sounds good to us...but adds another $50 onto the bill!

I would like to recommend a website, www.gcfl.net/911/ for this memorial day. It is actually dedicated to the fallen on 9/11, but reminds us that this is the primary reason that we are at war now. It takes awhile to download and takes about 15 minutes to view, but well worth it. I'm not sure what age is appropriate. Probably older than eight. I would consider Ruthie too young. The music is also offensive so use the mute! I know there are lots of videos memorializing 9/11, but I think this is the best.

Hope you had a relaxing Memorial Day. Many blessings ~ Kathie