Here he is posing with my nephew. The nametag on his shirt says "Daddy".
This is a band I think he doesn't play with anymore...but I never really know for sure.

Another Tag


I almost always get tagged, it's because I can't run fast. heehee. This one comes from Mia. She wants to know more about everyone's hubby. She's nosy like that. heehee. The jokes, they are bad.



10 Things You May Not Know About My Husband

1. He trains all the drivers that deliver mail in our fair city. Consequently, I always feel like I am being tested when I drive with him. This is because I AM!! And so are you if he is driving behind you/riding with you. It's a curse and he can't turn it off. He does keep the performance review to himself if you are not a potential USPS employee. (usually)



2. He is a drummer in a fluctuating number of bands-usually 2 but sometimes as many as 5.



3. He loves kitty cats-except for Gray Gray(AKA-kitten factory).



4. He loves history, historical movies and documentaries.



5. He hates to read-unless it is a magazine. It hurts his feelings a little when I read. He's learning to cope after 14 years living with an AVID, sometimes RABID reader.



6. His brain is full to overflowing with trivia about music, cars, and movies. "He could change the world with the knowledge he knows."



7. He cried with me at the births of all 3 of our children. They were the three most bonding moments of our marriage.



8. He wanted more children-as in alot more. I simply could not-each child kept wanting out early and it scared me. Plus, I am hopelessly outnumbered as it is.



9. He loves cardinal baseball and hot wheels. After anything-with-a-motor and drumming, these are his favorite hobbies



10. He is extremely intelligent-but does not consider himself to be so. It is one of his cutest features. (His dimples that make my knees go weak are pretty cute too.)

Yep, he is pretty awesome. I love him. I used to wish he was perfect, but then it dawned on me that if he were-he probably would not be able to tolerate me!! He is a great dad and hubby. I am blessed.

MOSAIC MEME!!
***edited to combine my answers into one post ( ; ***

***edited to add, Jason tagged me for this!!***

I would love to have properly credited these pics, but the html would NOT work and I am incapable of figuring out what was wrong with it. Just knowthese are not my pics but very talented artists on flikr!!

Surf over to Flickr (set up an account if you don’t have one–it’s quick and easy) and type your answers (one at a time) into the search bar.

From the choice of pictures shown only on the front page, click on the one that moves you.

Once the page with your picture opens, copy the URL.

Surf over to the Mosaic Maker, set up your mosaic, and paste your URLs.

Click “Create!”.

The Questions:

1. What is your first name? Janice


2. What is your favorite food? Pasta-preferably shrimp with fettucine alfredo


3. What high school did you attend? The mascot was an eagle.


4. What is your favorite color? red and black


5. Who is your celebrity crush? Bill O'Reilley


6. What is your favorite drink? margarita


7. Where would you go on your dream vacation? Maine lobster town


8. What is your favorite dessert? chocolate cake


9. What do you want to be when you grow up? a grandma


10. What do you love most in life? God


11. Choose one word to describe you? This picture is titled "Non-conformist Jellyfish". My one word description fr me is non-conformist.


12. Your Flickr name? (I just like this picture.).

I tag all of you!!! I can't wait to see your mosaic!!

Hate/Love

We are home and I decided to bullet top ten lists for things I love/hate about coming home after being gone a while. Then I remembered I am sooooo tired and pared it back to five.

5 things I hate about returning home.

1. Food will have to be bought and prepared tomorrow, by me.
2. There is laundry to do. Even though I did two loads at the hotel.
3. The animals REALLY missed us and they want to love us and hold us and keep us for their very own. LOVE LOVE LOVE.
4. The mail, messages and the fact that our house is hotter than Hades because we did not want to run the air much since we would not be home.
5. Unpacking and putting away all that stuff. However, I am finished!! Shocks me too.

5 things I love about returning home.

1. Despite the fact that our gardening skills SUCK, we have squash. Squash has no carbs and I like it. It is nice to return to a yielding garden. You can see the bright yellow squash through the weeds and that is nice.
2. We will get to sleep in our own beds tonight. I love my bed. I don't sleep well in hotels.
3. Absence makes the heart grow fonder...I miss my house when I am gone from it.
4. We will get to see our church friends Sunday-I miss them very much!!
5. I am relaxed and rejuvenated and ready to get back into the day-to-day routine.

The bonus thing...tomorrow is payday but it was direct deposited today. That means we came home to money-possibly enough to cover everything we need it for.

We-Lax Wednesday

Today, we are chillin' in the crib. Since our budget is low for this trip, our entertainment takes the form of swimming and TV. This is quite a treat for us because we only have channels 2-14 at home. The learning channel, history channel, discovery channel and of course, the DISNEY channel are filling our days with much excitement. I just watched the show"What Not To Wear" and the girl was my exact body type and it was wonderful for me to see it. I was pleased that alot of the fashion advice they gave, I already follow but I learned ALOT. The hardest thing was that my mom was right about something. She has told me my entire life that horizontal stripes should NEVER be worn by "big" girls. Of course, that made me want to wear them even more. This show backs her completely. Apparently horizontal stripes say, "Look how big around I am!!" I agree, now. I'm not sure I have alot of them-but what I do have will be going to the cast-off pile.

We are going home earlier than we expected and I am totally okay with it. I really needed a break and we have had fun but I miss home. The house is getting more where I want it to be and it makes me enjoy it more. I can't wait until the day I have our decluttering completed. And our painting. We (mostly me) have put it off far too long. I hate painting-so each project stretches out forever!! I should just block off the time and DO IT ALREADY!! I have not missed cooking and cleaning though. Not one little bit. I will be going home to a clean house and an empty fridge, almost empty cupboards, but a still pretty well-stocked freezer. I am getting back on the menu planning wagon. That is what I am working on today...and my grocery list. Yes, I am a nerd to the core. An organizing nerd.

So, that is my post for today, a meandering rambly post indeed. Have a wonderful Wednesday.

FUN TUESDAY

This morning finds us at our favorite haunt- the library. Today, we have hit the jackpot. There is a water show which is a guitar player who does magic and uses water. Right after that is the reading/listening library and if we stuck around long enough we could even do art. We aren't though, we are going to the mall after storytime.

We have also discovered there is a DISCOUNT MOVIE PLACE. WAHOO! No guarantees we are going, but good info to have.

Last night Lilly got to go on a mini-spending spree at Justice-the place for girls. My, my, it certainly was. She got an outfit for only $27. My stomach aches and I am a bit shaky today. Sure it was her money that she was spending. Sure, it could've been worse. However, I have found that the greater the amount spent on an outfit-the higher the odds of unwashable stains. She has a little orange skort that has been worn 4 times and now has a big ketchup glob on it. We bought it new in Ohio. Our yard sale clothes hardly ever get stained. What's up with that??

The older girls do realize just how expensive that is and they were doing the math figuring up just how much more they could buy at sales, consignment and yard sales. I may raise thrifty children yet!! I am sure at least one will rebel-but they will all know the value of money and how to give a good money lecture.

Fun Monday

Today, Hula is hosting fun Monday. She wants me to write a post about an article of clothing that I can't bring myself to part with. Although I do not consider myself to be a packrat-I guess I am since I have quite a few things I love that I do not want to part with. I'll narrow down to my absolute favorite.

It is a French terry sweatshirt. It is gray and has a hood and a pouch. It was purchased in 1988 on a shopping trip with one of my good friends. I was 16. Paul Harris was the store name. This store left our mall many years ago. I still miss it and its line of clothes labeled "Pasta". The absolute best thing about this sweatshirt is that it is emblazoned with the word MEDIUM just below the pasta tag. Of course, the fact that I can wear it proves that it is a bit oversized. It has been washed and loved to the softest of the soft. I wear it alone when the weather first starts turning cool in the fall-over a tshirt when it gets really cool and also in the early spring. It is the PERFECT weight for a sweatshirt. My sweatshirt has seen more campfires than Carter's got pills. The pouch can hold keys, a cell phone and a change purse. The pouch can also hold 2 sippy cups, three diapers and a box of travel wipes. This sweat shirt and I have been through many seasons of life together. It was with me through my unruly tulmultuous teen and late teen years, the newly wed years, the tough years of having two babies in a row, the fun years of a surprise baby and now the "growing up girls" phase of life.

My husband does not love it and thinks that I have kept it about 18 years too long. He obviously has not noticed the medium tag.

Sorry, no picture. I am sadly separated from my beloved-only temporarily.

ROLL Out the Barrel

A barrel of fun? I found myself sitting before a platter of Logan's Steakhouse rolls. Drooling, managing a semblance of self-control because of the power-giving, life restoring Carb-addicts diet. As all of my family partake [except Erik, he's got my back(and my front-heehee)], the following conversation ensues:

Erika: So Mom, can you just relax for one day?

Me: No, I've now lost 20 pounds and I don't want to lose steam.

Erika: What would happen if you ate a roll? Would you just gain 10 pounds or something?

Me: Probably not, but I don't want to gain ANY pounds, I just want to keep losing.

Kayla: Well, you have lost, like a ton of weight.

I hope they never know the agony of obesity(or really even the unpleasantries of chubbiness). I hope it always seems odd to them not to get to eat a roll. I hope having a fat mom gives them a compassion for other fatties they would not have if they had a skinny mom. I hope next year, they do have a skinny mom.

Six rolls are in a styrofoam container to be consumed during tomorrow's hour-if I still want one. Oh and my grilled pork chops and veggies were delicious and very satisfying+ALLOWED!!

Praise you Jesus for putting this book and diet in my life. You have the best timing-as I prayed for deliverance from this awful addiction, you opened the door wide and escorted me. Thank you father for the ways you help us help ourselves and provide just what we need at just the right time.

The Grocery Game helped me get these for $0.83 a box. ($10 of that is in the form of a rebate- but I will get $11 because I have a reloadable card-so I had to pay $15.97 up front.) I would have missed it because the rebate was slightly buried in with a whole bunch of other products. So far after 2 weeks this has been the only deal they have alerted me to that I was interested in/hadn't already responded to without the aid of the list. The odds of me going beyond the $1 trial are not looking good.

I wonder what Jason does in the summer without interoffice mail?

Time Flies

Today as I was burning some pictures to a disc for our family yearbook page, I was amazed at how much we have done this school year. We are so busy that the memory is barely able to make an imprint before we have moved on to the next memory in the making. I hope we will have a much slower paced year this year.

Of course, that won't be this week as we will be fast paced this week!! Probably next week too. Oh, who am I kidding-I had better get a bottle of dramamine and hold on tight the next few years!! Our clock appears to be stuck on fast forward.

CARPE DIEM!

"The most common interpretation of the phrase is as an existential cautionary term with emphasis on making the most of current opportunities because life is short and time is fleeting. It is thematically related to several other expressions and phrases."

This is from Wikipedia. (The best thing since sliced white bread.)

This picture represents one of the many ways my children and I operate when we are absent from my husband who does not subscribe to the same philosophy. We have been known to pull over to pick all manner of flowers, pick some blackberries and at least once-rescue a large black puppy in the middle of the road. As we were leaving the blueberry picking place, we noticed again these swings. As I like to live vicariously on occasion- I pulled over and let them take a ride on a tire swing. It only took a moment. I hope my children remember the cool things I did more than my not-so-cool moments.

Lord, help me seize the day almost as often as my children hope I will!

Me with very flat hair!! AND...BLUEBERRIES!!
Ignore the ones that are not blue!
Kayla and Erika at the blueberry bushes.
Totally unrelated to blueberries-I just think it is funny that they want to be near me.

BLUEBERRIES!!

We have a little over 8lbs of blue goodness. It was worth all the sibling rivalry/spatting. If only I hadn't woke up with a colossal crick in my neck, I'm sure I could have gotten 10 lbs.

I'll tell you when it is my hour if they are good or not. However, judging from all the YUM!'s and MMM's that came out of the mouth of Titus-they are quite yummy.

Bad Blogger

Sorry I have been such a bad blogger lately...I am actually having a week where I visit alot of people...LIVE. Thank goodness I have managed to remember how. Summer is our time to be social butterflies because we don't have quite so many obligations hanging over our heads. I hope you will still love me anyway.

Tomorrow, I am going with one of my favorite people to pick blueberries. If I am really lucky her baby may even smile at me and say hi like he did tonight! Oh yeah-I am meeting her at 6:30AM so I am off to bed now!!

Toodles.

Socializing...Procrastination

Today we went to the library to do a couple of the summer activities offered. I brought lots of materials with me to do work for next year while my children did the programs, webkins on the computer and browsed for books. I had big plans for making a dent in my lesson plans for next year.

Then I ran into a friend I have not seen in almost a year. It was so good to sit and chat with her. She is a fellow homeschooler and also a former scout leader. We chatted about everything in the sun while our children ripped t-shirts together. Then, the hour was up and our children came out. Just as she was vacating the chair across from me, another good friend I haven't seen or talked to in well over a year walked up and we started chatting. It took us at least a couple of hours to catch up. Sooooo, I am exactly the same boat as before I went to the library-but I am totally caught up with all goings on with Lisa and Terri.

I also had a real life conversation with Hula girl at the local grocery!! Hula girl is as delightful in person as in herr blog. It was good to SEE you again.

As for the lesson plans, there's always tomorrow...

Organization...Procrastination

So far this is what my summer has been. I will get that organized after____. The blank has been filled in with many numerous things the latest being after we get back from our trip (we are going soon and I am so excited!!). The result is that we are living pretty much in chaos right now. So I thought I would make a list of things I need t do just so I can wrap my mind around it all.

• Get my school stuff sorted through and lesson plans made. This is my number one priority right now though you couldn't guess it as it simmers away on a back burner.
• Un-needed school stuff needs to be ebayed. There is much to be ebayed. Even if it sells for chump change, I am glad it is going somewhere ELSE!! I would paperback swap it but those books just sit on a shelf and wait. I am limited to how much patience I can have doing that!
• Do some major decluttering-AGAIN. Lilly's birthday brought some new things in and made me realize for the hundredth time how much stuff we have that we don't need.
• Clean the rat hole. This is what I affectionately call Erika's room. (There really are not any rats but the kittens have a blast when they go in there!) She is so neat and artistic in many ways and yet her room is full of piles of this and that. We have been working on it off and on for many days. I planned to do it while she was at camp but once I got in there, I decided this joyful journey would be best traveled with her. (Translation-such a large mess would be quite a lesson for her to learn from unless I did it for her.) Her room remains half painted and half trimmed until we get it cleaned to a point where we can move the furniture to the painted side of the room. I will not be taking pictures. I moan everytime I go in there and wish I was Samantha from bewitched. (I would love to wiggle my nose and do all my work and I would not have obeyed a bit if my husband said not to!)
• Get the remaining kittens into new homes. There are 3 left. (Two were returned leaving us with 4 and then I took one to my stepfather because he loves cats.) They really cute but they are driving us crazy. I am scooping the litter box every day and this is a chore I do not wish to do daily.
• Kayla's birthday party is just around the corner-and then Erika's two weeks after that. Although I am not doing big production numbers for them, they still require some planning and shopping (planning mostly done by the girls, shopping together).

(Sometimes I think I have a parentheses addiction.) So that is basically everything I need to do. Blogging it is just so much easier than doing it!! Off to work I go. Rathole, here I come. (With much reluctance, I might add!)

Sunday, Sunday

Happy Father's Day!! All of the fathers in my life were celebrated with yesterday which meant the main father in my life-Erik-got to spend the afternoon any way he wanted to. So after church we went boating!! We had alot of fun, the water temperature was great and the weather was HOT-both of those things equal good boating weather. This was our first swimming while boating voyage of the year. The water was too cold last time, so we fished (if you recall).

We should have been home mowing the yard-but I am glad we weren't.

I should not tell you about this, but Robin at Pensieve is giving away coupons to sample a new Kraft food item!! The odds are better than a Pioneer Woman give-away so give her some comment love and enter the random drawing that takes place TOMORROW!

PS. Our preacher provided an open mic day for people to brag on their dads. It was wonderful. Especially the last one which was an absolute tear jerker shared by none other that the talented blogger, Sandy. It is always nice to end a church service with tears. It's funny to see all the ladies trying to fix their eye make-up without a mirror. Thanks for sharing, Sandy. You blessed everyone's heart with your sweet tribute-especially that lucky step-dad of yours!

Buffet Mindset

I'm almost scared to post it but I have lost one more pound which puts me at -17 pounds. I am now losing no more than a pound a week. Sometimes no pounds but that is okay-as long as the scale number keeps going down, I can be patient. I gained it over a long period of time so I can lose it over a long period of time.

Lilly and I went to a chinese buffet Thursday after I took her skating. It was dreadful. Not the food, the food was delicious as it always is. What was dreadful was the way the other customers were acting. I don't guess I had ever looked around before. They were all shoveling their food in as fast as possible, yelling at their kids, kids were being awful. Now, I won't get up on a high horse here-I have certainly shoveled some food in, had misbehavin' kiddos, and yelled at my kids before. I was just seeing us through the eyes of the sweet little workers and wondering what their opinion of Americans is. Can you imagine watching gluttony day in and day out? It would sort of make you sick after a while, wouldn't it? I wanted to defend myself-I don't always eat like this-IT'S MY HOUR! We don't usually consume like this, we just want to get our money's worth! Maybe they already know that-but looking at the waistlines of them versus the waistlines of most Americans, it is pretty clear we are quite a gluttonous group of people.

I think we are, as a country, pretty much living loud all seven deadly sins.

Ain't this a cheery post? When it's in my head, I gotta get it down or it bounces around forever.

Nested

All of my little birdies are home in their nests again. They fought a little on the way home just to make sure they still knew how. Still proficient. They got to stay up every night until 11:30 but then had to be up by 6:30. That is kind of mean. Makes for some very tired campers by week's end. Lilly missed them sooo much. It is so hard to be the youngest (I know this from experience!). You live and breathe for your sisters, practically worshipping the ground they walk on and they constantly just want to get away from you. Then the day comes when you get that they don't want you around and you branch out outside the family. It is amazing how easy it is for loyal, people-pleasing youngest children to make friends. It is also amazing how the sibling bond will never be as strong once the youngest child falls "out of love" with her sisters. I love my sisters very much-but I remember when they were my whole world. I had hoped it would be different with my 3, that they would be close and sweet. So far this is not the case. Not for lack of praying on my part though! Perhaps someday when they are grown.

The camp verdict: they had sooo much fun. They are both wanting to go back again next year. I am glad about that. Lilly will be old enough to go as well. This was after they told me they had church every day. So that is a good thing, right? Erika won a plaque as a junior camper-most athletic. She also was the champion "bull-rider" of the entire camp. Apparently they had a makeshift bull and she not only beat it once, but twice. Not an expected activity but I know she is proud to have won it all.

I have been caught up on laundry since the new washer was installed. I fear that streak may have come to a screeching halt as I look at the mounds of camp laundry.

Chuck E. Cheese

Last night was, of course, Lilly's official family birthday celebration (not to be confused with the unofficial family birthday celebration she will share with her cousin this Saturday). Since almost half the family is away at camp still-she had her mom and dad to herself! We began our extravaganza at Red Lobster. It was so good. The best hour I have had in a while. Red Lobster is my most favorite restaurant in the world. (Keep in mind my world dining is limited to a very few US cities.)(I have also brainwashed all of my children to love it best as well.) After the meal, they brought her ice cream with chocolate sauce and sang Happy Birthday. She wore her tiara the whole time (best 25 cents I ever spent!). Total amount spent: $29.56-but we had a $20 gift card from Christmas.

Then we poured ourselves into a wheelbarrow and they rolled us out to the van. Next stop, Chuck's place. We don't like to eat there because we hate his pizza-but we love the games. I'm not certain who had more fun, Lilly or her Dad. I also played a little skee-ball. I got an all time high of 320,000 because the 2nd 100,000 ball I shot was number 10 and did not count. I love skee-ball. (not as much as Red Lobster, though) We cashed in all those tickets and our $10.00 worth of tokens and tickets got Lilly an...***drum roll please***...empty tiny metal lunchbox. We also purchased a balloon. Total amount spent: $12.11. Total fun had: too much to measure adequately.

Next stop, Toys R Us. That cool giraffe called Lilly and told her happy birthday. He also sent her a gift card for $3. He also promised her a surprise when she came into the store. Total amount spent on new goggles, new baby bottles, a CARS poster for Dad, and clearance postal paper for Mom-$7.56. Free surprise-another balloon!!

Our night of fun was around $50 and we all had a blast!

Today we are enjoying home-maybe a short trip to the library.

Happy Birthday, Lilly!!

Today is Lilly's birthday. Lilly really pushes me to defend every thing I say and do. She is a non-conformist to the max-she gets that honest!! She also enjoys life, every little nuance of life. She has fun no matter what she is doing. She is loving, exuberant and breathtakingly honest. She works hard and plays hard. She is a joy and I look forward to the young lady she will become.

Last night we celebrated Lilly's birthday with some of her friends.(Erika hand sewed the dress Lilly is wearing in this picture!) It was so much fun. We did a cooking party and the kids enjoyed making stuff-but did not really eat very much. Kids at parties never do. Here was our menu:

• Salad kebabs (cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, black olives & green peppers)
• baked pasta (noodles with sauce, cheeses and the option of adding olives and peppers)
• sushi (fruit roll-ups wrapped around rice crispy treats with a gummy worm in the middle)
• fruit kebabs (pineapple, mango, passion fruit cocktail alternated with banana pieces)
• pudding cup [vanilla pudding with crushed vanilla wafers(sand), a cool little umbrella and a gummy peach ring to make it look like a beach]

It was a very complicated party that I could not have pulled off without good friends helping me ALOT! I think everyone had a good time though and if anyone left hungry, it was their own fault. I did not do a birthday cake because there was so much other food. We just put a candle in Lilly's pudding cup and sang to her.

It was a very fun night and I am so glad it is finished. I hope all the kids had fun! The other two girls will be having small parties, not big production numbers.

A Tag

From Jettybetty. At least I think that was me she tagged. My apologies if it was another Janice.

8 things I am passionate about.
1. God/Jesus/Holy Spirit
2. My husband
3. My children
4. My family(extended)
5. My church
6. My homeschool
7. My blogging/reading
8. My cooking

8 things I want to do before I die.
1. Read the entire Bible.
2. Travel to Maine and eat lobster.
3. Travel to Hawaii.
4. Visit cousins in California-one of which I am named after.
5. Ride a train to visit my cousin/aunt & uncle near Chicago again-and take the girls to the American Girl store.
6. Write a book.
7. Go on a cruise.
8. Enlarge our home.

8 things I say often.
1. Crap.
2. Whatever.
3. Nevermind.
4. It's no big deal.
5. There's nothing we can do about it now.
6. Shut it!
7. ENOUGH!
8. Go to your room!

8 Books I have read lately.
1. Running With Scissors don't remember the author-Oh Jason, this was totally more information on gayness than my poor little straight mind could handle.
2. Middlesex Jeffrey Euginides-also a Jason recommended book. I loved it!
3. Keeping the House, Ellen Barker
4. Arthur's Quest (kid audio book)
5. Esperenza Rising (kid audio book)
6. Rascal (kid audio book)
7. The Thirteenth Tale (also Jason recommended-excellent!)
8. Currently reading The Other Boleyn Girl and I love it (Jason, again)
sorry I am so bad with writing book titles and authors down!!

8 Movies I have watched 8 times or more.
1. Toy Story 2
2. Flushed Away (I LOVE this movie!!)
3. Monster's Inc.
4. Silence of the Lambs (Vans in parking lots still scare me)
5. The Christmas Story
6. Elf
7. Steel Magnolias
8. Terms of Endearment

8 people I am tagging.
1. Mama Mia
2. Hula Girl
3. Jason
4. Sara D.
5. Sara M.
6. Steph R. (upon returning from camp)
7. Steph S. (After all unpacking is done...hahaha)
8. Sandy (When she gets back from her vacation)

And you too, Summer, when you can breathe again!! Also anyone else-it is a relatively easy tag.

My nephew, David and his beautiful bride-to-be, Halah. They are such a sweet couple. I'm so happy for both of them. Their bridal shower was today and they got alot of really neat stuff. I hope they have fun sorting through all of it! I am so excited for their wedding!! We haven't had a wedding in the family for a long time!

Eavesdropping On 6 Year Olds

Bethany: "Who is singing?" (Erik is in the garage listening to a Merle Haggard ALBUM-yes you read that right.)

Lilly: "I think it is Dolly Parton's husband."

Bethany: "Who is Dolly Parton?"

Lilly: "You know, Hannah Montana's aunt? Aunt Dolly."

I got a brilliant idea-have her cousin spend the night to cure the only child woes. Working like a charm. They are out catching lightning bugs past bedtime now.

Only Child Syndrome

Lilly is now an only child and she believes she should get anything she wants. She is so busy pushing the envelope that she is missing out on all the GOOD attention she could be getting. It will take her a few days to level off...probably right about the time the other two return home.

The two older girls are at camp. They discovered that they knew almost every one in their cabin at camp. They settled right in and were eager for Mom to move on so Lilly and I left. I was eager to let my little birdies have some non-mom time. I hope they enjoy themselves. It was not what I expected-smaller-but I did not really see everything either. They allow the kids to write their names all over the walls and floors so that was neat. We saw some familiar names and I have no doubt they will enjoy being grafitti artists themselves.

The house is very quiet right now and I should make some "work sounds". Have a great weekend!

Only 2 left. Aren't they adorable? Any locals that read this and need a kitty need only to call and I will deliver-or meet you halfway or something.

WORK DAY!! ALL DAY!!

The old washer is out and hauled off with some other metal wares for $$$, I mean recycling. The new washer is in and has already done two load of clothes. No dilly-dallying around here!! I thoroughly cleaned the laundry room floor which is sort of a glorified enclosed back porch. It was very dirty but baking soda and vinegar rocked the kasbah.

Now we are beginning the work to get our pool up and going. I just got through helping Erik unload a literal ton of sand. This after we partially cut down one of our trees and hauled off the branches. We also took a quick trip to the Doc for Erik to get 5 stitches due to a very sharp trailer corner. I heckled him relentlessly but I think he still loves me. He better the way I gave him wonderful cold compresses on his forehead while they stitched him up.

Now I am off to help Erik wash my Mom's truck clean of residual sand and leave it better than we found it. Then I need to shuck 45 ears of corn. Then I need to work on finishing up getting the girls packed for camp tomorrow. They don't get dropped off unitl 3PM so I have a little wiggle room. It is just a small local camp this year-next year we think we may let them go to the "far-off" camp. We'll see. I have to get off of here now but I just needed to take a little break from the 90 degree heat and dry off a little since our humidity is about 100% today.

Between my new much shorter hair and the humidity, I resemble Topaz much more than I would like. WOOF. Where are my paw boots?

Mmmmm!

My lovely niece, her boyfriend and a delighted Lilly.

Lilly and Molly.

Various Loose Ends

• Today is home day and I am thoroughly enjoying it so far. The sewing machine is out so my little industrious sewers can play real sewing. Their mother is "sew impaired" so I am not looked to for instruction. Their knowledge surpassed mine some time ago. Except Lilly, she has not been to sewing camp or quilt camp.


• Strawberries! We only picked two gallon buckets last night but that ends up being quite alot! I worked on them for a long time last night and I am still not done. During my hour I enjoyed a few and they are quite delicious! Small and sweet. Scrumpdillyicious. As an added bonus, I enjoyed catching up with a good friend I don't see very often while I picked.


• Cherries! I bought a few of these at the grocery and I must confess I LOVE cherries. We are thinking of getting a tree. So yummy. My mom has a tree and my girls check it when they go for a visit.


• Blueberries-can't wait to pick some in a couple of weeks!! I love frozen blueberries! They are like the best popsicle in the world. I lay them out on a flat tray and let them freeze. Then I put them in a freezer bag after they are individually frozen. We just eat them out of the bag like that for a snack. YUM!


• Blackberries. I can't wait for them to come in. We have already scoped out some prime time picking places on the way to mom's-plus she even has some growing wild on the edge of her yard. I planted some a year ago but it will be a while before they produce any berries.


• There are so many exciting things going on this weekend!! Including my children going to camp. I am looking forward to some time off from referee-ing.


• My mom has decided she does not need me to come every day and change her dressing. I disagree but I will give in to her wishes. She is bothered by the fact that gas is so high and I am driving over every day. It will be nice not to have to go every day but we will still go fairly often I am sure. I am still the only one of the children willing to help my stepfather shave.


• Our kittens are ready to give away. I hope we find them good homes. They are so adorable. That's when you know they are ready-when they are so cute you can watch them for hours!! Gray Gray will go to the vet as soon as her milk dries up and she WILL get fixed. (I'm willing to fight you on it Hubby!! Don't make me have to. If I have to pull this van over, you will be sorry young man.)


• Hubby ordered us a new washer. At first I was mad because I wanted to find a good used one for cheap. Now, I am just glad he just did it. It will be easier and faster. This Friday I will be hooked up. We are less behind on laundry than usual-should be right about usual come Friday.


• My nephew is getting married this month. Their shower is Sunday. I am so happy for them. They are the cutest couple.


• The diet/lifestyle without carbs except once a day is still going well. I lost one more pound this week which puts me at -16 pounds. Can you say plateau? Oh well-I feel so much better I don't care.


• Summer is here and I couldn't be happier. It is a really busy time as we will do lots of stuff-but we will also have lazy days where we do whatever we feel like so that will be FUN! I don't love the hot-but I love the freedom!

I am now getting off the 'pooter, I have lots of laziness/freedom to enjoy today. Tomorrow I will be running my butt off, so for today I will savor not having to go anywhere until tonight.

Home Again

Got home last evening and I am still not very well rested. Also very behind in lots of stuff and operating on a very full schedule for today. Grrr. Tomorrow is stay home and work on the house day!!

7th Inning Stretch

2 More Days and one night until I return to my bed and my routines. (I miss you, honey!) It has been a really good visit. Erik's sister, Marla and her husband Daryl, are really great hosts. Last night was Alyssa's graduation party and it was very fun. Most importantly-she had a good time. There was a collective ton of food-all very tasty. I have had no trouble sticking to the diet forever plan. I am very plateau-ed though at minus 15 lbs and that is very frustrating. Can't seem to drop any more this week. It probably has alot to do with being out of routine.

As soon as we get back, we begin readying the older girls for camp. It is coming up quickly. I am looking forward to letting those older birds fly and enjoying a week with my 6 year old who is rapidly approaching 7. All the girls get a year older this summer.

That reminds me, birthday season is in full swing. I am usually much more prepared for this!