How To Make A Dollar…by Allison Terry

The other day when I was making dinner Allison came home and gave me a hug then asked if I could break a $5 bill for her. I found my purse and gave her the requested 4 one dollar bills and 4 quarters. She then put $2.50 on the counter and told me that was my share then started to head outside. I told her to come back and explain when she was talking about. She said that she had sold a bag of chocolate chips to someone at school for $5. Since the bag only cost $3 (I do remember her asking me how much I spent on a bag of chocolate chips a day or so previously) she had made $2 and since she used my chocolate chips she split the money with me.

This girl and her ways of coming up with how to make a dollar continue to amaze me. Between her work ethic, drive, creativity, and love of money she will take care of herself just fine. She has already run a successful slime and key chain business. Also her dog walking business. She is currently trying to convince the gym she does gymnastics at to hire her to help do odd jobs around the gym. Meanwhile, Matthew asked two companies for an application, doesn’t fill them out or turn them in and acts like he has done all he possibly can to get a job but there aren’t any available.

Anyway, back to my share of the chocolate chip profit. I told her that I love her ability to come up with ways to make money but while she did make a two dollar profit, as she did not buy the chips in the first place, instead of my share being $2.50 it would actually be $4. She was not as excited about that but followed the math. I told her I would split it with her this time but to stop selling my groceries. Funny girl.

Last Week of Summer

After the reunion we had a week left before school started. We got all the school supplies, clothes, shoes, did back to school nights, and enjoyed the last few days of Summer Vacation. Since we had just done an amusement park in Branson for our annual cousins trip to World’s of Fun we went to a creek and played for the day instead. Matthew brought his fishing stuff, he caught one fish and four sticks, and lost three lures-including a frog. He does that a lot. They made up a few games- one of them ended up in losing Jovee’s water shoe. It is a fun little spot they like to play.

Ryan is having to try a little harder to make sure he still beats Matthew when they play basketball.

The next two pictures are demonstrating the difference between Matthew and Allison preparing to go to school. This is Allison’s locker that she organized three times and still had a back pack full of stuff to bring the next day. Matthew grabbed a handful of pencils from Allison’s stack and ripped the pages out of a notebook that he used last year.

We went to Arkansas for the weekend. Ryan’s biological family invited us to come visit. His brother David and his wife moved from Utah to Arkansas in April. Now two of the four siblings live there and his mom lives about two hours from them.

We stayed at David’s house. They have a swimming pool and the kids loved being able to swim basically anytime they wanted. We got there about 8:30 Friday night. They were in the pool within five minutes. Saturday we played games and swam. That night the adults went to dinner then they set up an outdoor movie for everyone to watch. Jen had all kinds of movie treats, my kids were very impressed. Emilee thought it was so cool to swim, eat cotton candy and watch a movie outside, all at the same time. Ryan taught everyone a new game and his brother David a few new games. Matthew learned the card game hand and foot and really liked it. It was a fun weekend. It was nice to see them and get to know them better. We went to church with them on Sunday and then came home.

A friend of mine sent me this picture of our boys getting ready to do the sacrament on a Sunday. These three are quite a group. They are all good kids and I am glad he has a good friend group to hang out with.

August Kick Off- Terry Reunion

The first thing that happened in August was we got Allison back from Grandma. We were heading to a family reunion in Branson Missouri the next day so there was a lot of family here to welcome her home. It was great to have her back. She and Grandma Jana made some hats for babies at the hospital while she was there. She made one for her newest cousin Kaden. He loved it and it fit perfectly. She got home later in the evening on Tuesday, so Wednesday morning we woke her up with donuts and candles and sang her happy birthday in person.

Then we were off to Branson for a Terry Family Reunion. People came and stayed a few days before and after but Branson was the official reunion part. Ryan arranged a place for everyone to stay and organized a day of boating for everyone. Ross organized and planned the food and did most of the cooking. Wednesday everyone left Kansas on their own schedule and then we all met at Lamberts for dinner.

Becky, Rachelle and Roger and Rhonda went to an aquarium on the way down. Our family and Ross’ and Nadia went on a tour of the Fantastic Caverns. Then we meandered around a giant Bass Pro store until it was time for dinner.

Lambert’s is a fun restaurant for a family dinner. They have really good rolls that they bring out fresh from the oven. If you want one you raise your hand and they toss it across the room to you. It was a good kick off to the reunion.

26 Hungry Terry’s waiting to eat.

The next day was our boating day. Ross, Lauren, Ryan and I made a pancake breakfast. It was a little rainy in the morning but it cleared up pretty quick. We all headed to Table Rock Lake and spent the day riding in the boats, swimming in the water, and tubing. Everyone got lots of sun and had tons of fun. Grandpa, Ryan and Ross were the drivers for the day. We played all day, the cousins had a blast with each other.

After a day on the lake Ross and Ryan made dinner for everyone and then we hung out and visited, played games, and watched old home videos that Roger brought. It was also Chole’s birthday that day so we sang happy birthday to her and had cake and ice cream.

The next day was Silver Dollar City. Despite everyone arriving over a period of an hour and fifteen minutes we took a group picture and then the older kids went off on their own and the rest of us divided into groups based on our sense of adventure. The lines were not bad at all, we were able to go on any of the rides we wanted, even multiple times. The Lee’s left and headed home around lunch time. Grandma and Grandpa went home after pictures, and the rest of us spent the day and left that evening. The weather was pretty good and there were lots of water rides to keep us cool.

Here are pictures from before and after the trip to Branson of people having fun together.

Matthew and Allison’s Turn

A few weeks after Emilee got back it was Matthew and Allison’s turn to go to grandma and grandpa Jones’. They flew out together. Matthew is old enough that he can be her companion. This was also Matthew’s first time going. He only stayed a week because he had baseball. He had a very fun time. He told me to book him a trip to Grandma’s for next Summer when he got home.

Some of the highlights he has mentioned is how good grandma’s baking is. Her ginger snap and chocolate chip cookies were definitely a favorite. Being able to walk out the door and go fishing was a fun perk. Beating Sherri at pickle ball has been mentioned a few times. The beach, aquarium, zoo, lots of swimming, games, and movies. Grandma kept him busy. He was very happy to get out of Kansas and have a fun trip for the Summer. They also watched some home videos and Matthew sent this one to me. I remember filming this. Cute little stinker.

There was a tussle over who got the bed. It is a queen bed and could have been easily shared. Matthew suggested he have it for the week he was there and Allison have it for the week she stayed after he left. She said, “That is fair but that’s not how it’s going to go.” They shared the bed the first night, then Allison was demoted to the air mattress.

When he came back grandma was able to walk him to the shuttle then he was on his own. He found security and made it through (he did have his fishing pliers confiscated) then made it to the gate. Then it poured rain for a few hours and delayed his flight but he made it home. I picked him up in the passenger pick up area. He was pretty proud of himself for flying half way across the country all by himself.

Allison stayed to have one more week with Grandma after Matthew left. She was excited to upgrade back to the bed from the air mattress. Last Summer when she was there Grandma got her hooked on the Hallmark Mystery Channel so she was excited to catch up on that with her. She was there over her birthday this year. Grandma made her a chocolate cake. Matthew took a few gifts for her in his suitcase from us and left them for her to open. She had one to open when she got home too. They went bowling and swimming at Sherri’s for her birthday. Grandma made her a chocolate cake.

To Grandma’s House We Go

This Summer all of the kids asked if they could go visit Grandma and Grandpa Jones in Florida for part of their Summer break. Allison has been going for a few years, then Emilee started going, then Matthew said he wanted in on the fun.

Emilee was the first to go this year. They like to go one at a time so they have Grandma to themselves. We left the house to catch her flight at 5 in the morning. Right before she got on the plane she was feeling a little nervous but she did great. She had her backpack with her favorite stuffed animals in it and an iPad to keep her busy for the two hour flight. Grandma was waiting for her as soon as she got off the plane. They got home and Grandma was surprised to find that half of her suitcase was full of stuffed animals too! After I packed her clothes I told her she could fill the rest of the space with whatever she wanted. She went with a pair of goggles and about 10 stuffed animals packed with loving care so they weren’t squishing each other.

Aubry spent the night at Grandma’s with Emilee the first night.

First night and Grandma and Grandpa’s house in Florida.

Emilee was there almost two weeks and she had a great time. Grandma took her to the zoo, the aquarium, the beach, and there was lots of swimming at Grandma’s pool or Aunt Sherri’s house. There was movie nights with popcorn and a fun July 4th celebration with lots of fireworks of course.

Emilee said grandma had lots of good food like chicken nuggets, and spaghetti and chocolate chip pancakes almost every morning. She said she had a great time. I love that she gets to make special memories with them.

Uncle Kenny and Aubry were going on a road trip to Idaho so instead of flying home Emilee hitched a ride with them. It took a little longer than flying but after two days of driving they made it to our house. Emilee said the first thing she wanted to do when she woke up the next morning was call Grandma and tell her she made it safely.

The Next Big Adventure

Ryan and I have had our eye on some houses with a little more land around them just south of us for the last few years. It is a small neighborhood and the houses don’t go up for sale very often. We put on offer on one about a year ago but that was when bidding wars were ridiculous and houses were selling for way more then they were worth. We ended up passing on it after our bid for 20% more than asking price got out bid. This past winter they developer opened up a dozen or so more lots. After much debating and praying and thinking and more debating we decided to buy a lot and build a house.

It took several months to get the financing process, find a builder and make a plan for the house but we now have it all done. We are finally ready to move to the next step. My plan is to take a picture each month and hopefully show a significant amount of progress. If things stay on schedule (they won’t) and supply chains don’t change to drastically (they will) our builder is planning on being done in 12-14 months from July 2022.

It is exciting and stressful.

Here is the first picture. We have a three acre corner lot. If you look closely you can see the flags marking the outline of the house. Once the permits and septic system is designed they can start digging.

Summer 2022 Baseball

The Summer of 2022 is one of the hottest ones on record for Kansas. We spent most of the weekends sizzling in the heat, going through a ridiculous amount of sunscreen, ice, water, and sunflower seeds watching Matthew play baseball. Despite the heat, I enjoy a good baseball game.

Amateur’s Athletic Union

Allison’s gymnastic team qualified to participate in the AAU National competition this year! She was pretty excited! It changes locations every year, this year it was in Springfield, Illinois-home of Abraham Lincoln.

It was a quick trip but we had a fun time together. After I finished work on Thursday Allison and I drove to Springfield. It was about a 5 hour drive. We ate lots of snacks and sang songs at the top of our lungs to pass the time. The last hour of the drive we saw thousands of fire flies along the road. A lot of them hit the car window too. We new it was a fire fly because the smear they made on the window glowed just like they did for about a minute after it got squashed on the window.

We made it to our hotel and got settled in. Allison had a little excitement to burn off so we explored the hotel and then she bounced all over the bed for a bit. We had to be at the convention center by 7:45 the next morning. We woke up early and made it to breakfast. They had potato squares which are one of Allison’s favorite so she took that as a good sign for the day.

We got to the convention center and once we found her coach and team mate I went and found a good seat. She did a great job! I enjoy watching her compete.

She is the Missouri Valley group when they announce where people are from.

Her scores for her events were;

Bars:8.825

Beam:8.8

Vault:8.65

Floor 9.15.

For her division she ended up placing 10th overall and took 7th on the floor. She messed up a little bit on the last run of her floor routine so she was surprised at her score a little bit. That is why you always show confidence!

After her competition and awards we headed back home. Allison spotted a Pizza Ranch Buffet- one of her favorites- so we stopped there for lunch on our way home. It was good but put me in a carb coma so I had to pull over and take a 30 minute cat nap. Allison took embarrassing videos and pictures of me while I slept.

Sister Trip 2022-San Antonio, Texas

It has been to long since Sherri, DeAnna and I had one of our Sister Trips. We met in Florida a year or so ago but before that it was San Francisco. We try and pick a place that none of us have been before so we can expand our travel. We had one planned in April of 2020 to New York but COVID ruined that one. It has been tricky between one of us being pregnant or nursing but 2 of 3 of us are done with that phase of our lives for sure, so our trips should be able to get a little more regular.

We all flew to San Antonio on a Friday. My plane actually went to Tampa for a layover so Sherri and I flew the last part of my flight together. DeAnna got there first and picked us up. Sherri had found a nice hotel on the River Walk so we headed there first and checked in. We chatted for a few hours in our hotel then headed out to find dinner and explore. It was a great weekend. It always goes by to fast

We ate lots of yummy food and between relaxing at the pool, pedicures and visiting in our hotel we got a lot of fun activities in.

River Walk. As I mentioned, our hotel was right on the River Walk so we wandered around and explored that in the evenings. We did a boat tour, sampled lots of the ice cream, and ate at some great restaurants. Every trip we go on someone ends up having the same shoes or shirt or something as another person. You can see that DeAnna and I ended up bringing the same shirt this time.

We went to the Natural Bridge Caverns. It was probably one of the biggest caves I have ever been in. It was the hottest cave I have ever been in too. Texas is just a different level of hot. Later this same night we went to Chicken and Pickle per DeAnna’s request. Of course their indoor courts were booked so we had the privilege of playing pickle ball outside for 30 minutes. Sherri and I played on a team against DeAnna. She still beat us. We were all drenched in sweat when we were done.

Of course we went to the Alamo while we were there too.

We always finish our trip with a selfie at the airport.

Flying home