day 3

laundry day didnt win.. the bennetts minus 2 did!!!! TAKE that domestic chores, you thought you could win without our queen (tia) and our princess (amy) but you were wrong. I am Mr. Mom hear me ROAR!!!!!!

dinner got served at 6 sharp! Including lasagna (from a box), ceasar salad (pre-packaged)and strawberries (already cut/sliced). Nevertheless, it was yummy and dishwasher was loaded and ran while we went to Basketball at 6:30.

We then went to BW3's for chips and queso and CUBBIES...Kiddos had a lot of fun.

to do list for tomorrow.. (now I see why my wife has a love affair with LISTS)...1.. fix front door springy thingy...2...put away dishes and vacuum....3...Pray for my family (have to put this on the list otherwise it might not count)...thats enough for me.... I like magageable lists.... ones I actually can complete. *SMILE*

Single Moms....including my mother and my sister.... wow. How did you do it all those years? Cleaning, cooking, parenting and working? Suffice it to say, God is teaching me a lot and one of those lessons is an appreciation for what Single Parents experience on a daily basis. Keep em coming God... I need a lot of teaching... It seems the older I get the more I realize how much I need to be taught!

Tia emailed again today and said they are all falling in love with the kids. Amy is doing well and really likes the food and the comradarie with the other team members from our church.

gnight.
joe

day 2

Day 2 was a busy one but fairly typical for our family.

breakfast for all by 9 except Annie who I had to wake up at 9:20. Make their lunches for CCC.

Annie and Aaron spent the day at Cool Creek Camp from 10 till 3 (Thanks to Annette Dart for picking my munchkins up). I went and picked them up at 3 and delivered Noah home safely.

At ten I had to work with a new agent who was with Andrew and I at our house until noon.

Then while Andrew took a nap and before pick up of the kids I was actually able to get insurance work done.

For dinner we had Beef Stew that my brother brought over yesterday (I had to turn it off yesterday when my Boss showed up in town and asked us to dinner). It was very good. All 3 of the kids had a big bowl and well.. I love beef stew.

Then I had to get babysitters aligned for the night for I had 2 places that needed my presence. The first was a travel baseball end of season/beginning of next year type of meeting. It was exciting to talk about our trip next summer to Cooperstown. The second was at church. I usually play basketball on Monday nights so that was my intention but our meeting went way too late so I just went to the gym to talk to the guys about playing in our prison basketball ministry. 3 more guys had their paperwork finished.

Thanks to Shana Miller and Emma Hoefling for taking care of the kiddos.

Tomorrow is Cool creek camp again and Laundary day. I also need to get some work time in as well. Keep praying for us. I am getting an appreciation for being a single parent. More on that tomorrow.

I am sleepy.

Joe

Costa Rica

We made it safely to our destination. I am at a internet cafe typing this, we couldn´t get through to email though. It is simply beautiful and hte people are lovely. We are in a very poor area, we saw a squatters village of the poorest people today. We have gotten to go to church, a small group meeting, a festival and pilgrimmage in Cartaga. Google it, it is a pretty cool thing.
We worked at the project today all day. Amy and I pulled nails from boards all day, and visited the orphanage. Amy is ready to adopt them all. Good news is that the US will be allowed to adopt from there soon. We are tired and ready for a shower.
The food is great, we never go hungry. We are staying a t a bed and breakfast. Not anything like the ones in the US, but nice. We are sleeping in bunk beds. It is very loudoutside and hard to sleep, but we are adjusting.
Amy has been great. Making friends and being very grown up, she is working hard too.
So long for now.
BTW the weatther is beautiful, in the 70´s and breezy. The sun is hot and strong though. The mountains are beautiful, they remind me of the ones in Hawaii.

day 1

pretty uneventful.

Accomplished more toward finishing the back porch.

Brother and sister n law came over with a pot of stew and stuff to store in our basement.

Then had a surprise phone call from my boss who was staying the night in Indy so I took the kiddos out to eat with his family. Was given a job offer and am looking forward to talking with Tia about it.

I am tired and am going to bed.
joe

Mr. Mom

Well here we go...... Tia and Amy are safely on their way to Costa Rica via Atlanta. I am here with the rest of our lovely clan(there were only 4 fights in the van on the way home from the airport). So I thought I would try to blog each day about my chance to be Mr. Mom.... cooking, cleaning, work etc....

hope you enjoy.

should be interesting nonetheless.

God help us!!!
joe

Jeff Samardija

Hi it's Aaron, and my family loves the Cubs. We love Notre Dame too. Do you know Jeff Samardija that was a wide receiver for Notre Dame two years ago? He plays baseball too, and yestarday I was sooo happy when I saw that he was pitching for the Cubs. He let two runs but I think it was his first MLB game. I am going to be watching him the whole season now and I am going to try to get his card. Jeff Samardija was one of my favorite Notre Dame players and he's gonna be one of my favorite Cubs players. Jeff Samardija, remember that name.

Thanks,
Aaron