Sunday, May 30, 2010

May 30, 2010

Today I'm thankful for bits and pieces of time and trips down memory lane.


While I was digging up old photos for the girls to scrapbook yesterday, I ran across a batch of photos from my "before kids" era.  Dave and I were dating at the time, so I'm guessing I was about 23 or 24 in these photos.  My how time flies!  I hadn't really looked at them until this afternoon, when I was weeding through old photos to scrapbook . . . and all I can say is . . . the person you see in these photos isn't me.  lol


Eli fell asleep on my lap during church this morning.  And my mom ended up kidnapping both kids this afternoon, so I had the afternoon to myself.  Kind of . . .   I had my lunch in the oven and was watching "Sea Change" with Tom Selleck, when the neighbor called.  I had to run down to her house for a few moments.  My lunch was cold and it was 3:00 p.m., before I made it back home to finally eat and finish watching my movie.  Such is my life.


I wore my "new" shoes to church for the first time.  I picked these up at a flea market for $2.00 and they fit PERFECT.  I like finding a good bargain like this.


Dave called this afternoon to let me know he had taken two of the kittens to give to one of his co-workers, and shortly after that, the insurance adjuster called wondering if he could stop by and pick up a couple.  Four kittens down and three to go!  As soon as he left, I went over to pick up the kids from my mom's house.  She has three new ducks, that are adorable.


Eli was running around in his underwear (since he soaked himself with the water hose), and Bayleigh was blowing bubbles on the porch.


I think she gets just as much fun out of popping them . . .


as she does creating them.  It's good to be a kid.


On the way back home with the kids, I noticed the clouds swirling around in the sky.  I heard thunder this afternoon, so I'm not sure if we'll be getting any rain or not tonight.  It would be nice if it would rain just a little to cool things down for a day or so.

I finished my layout early today and I'm finishing up my blog a bit early, so I might even make it to bed at a decent hour.  What a novel idea!

Saturday, May 29, 2010

May 29, 2010

Today I'm thankful for children.  Life would be rather dull and unexiting without them.


I had planned on catching up with some sleep this weekend, but apparently everyone else has other plans for me.  Like babysittting my niece . . . which I don't mind doing at all.  I'd just like some advance notice, if you know what I mean.  (HELLO!  I have a phone, and you have my number . . . a little jingle ahead of time would be nice, little bro.)

The girls reaped the benefit of my morning cleaning spree.  Kasey has been dying to scrapbook, but hasn't had any photos to scrapbook with, so I let her and Bayleigh go through my "throw aways", and they both found several pictures of themselves, along with some flowers and horses to scrapbook with.  I also found some empty photo albums and I gave two to each of the girls to put their "to be scrapbooked" photos in.  You'd have thought they'd both died and gone to heaven.


And did I mention cleaning spree?  Let me make you all feel better here . . . see the above and below photos?  Yeah.  Aren't you glad this isn't your house?!  lol

I had one goal today.  The file cabinet that I was going to keep in my retreat to store photos in, just didn't fit the way I'd hoped, so I planned on moving it to the spare bedroom.  However, when I opened the door I stepped into a hot mess.  The kids have obviously been playing in here and re-arranging things.


So before I could move the file cabinet, I had some cleaning to do.


I did manage to get a good portion of it done, but I still have a ways to go.


I DID get the file cabinet moved.  I just have a few odds and ends to put away, and a springy horse to return to it's owner.  (Kasey let us borrow it for Bayleigh and Eli, since she didn't like it.)  And I found some more stuff to move on to another home.  It will be nice to get this room back in order again! 

There now . . . don't you feel much better knowing how awful my house gets?

Friday, May 28, 2010

May 28, 2010

Today I'm thankful for resiliency.  I had to make some hard, but necessary decisions today, however I know that with time these hurts will heal, too.


I let the kids play in the sprinkler's, while I watered the garden this afternoon.  I may have even gotten a little soaked myself . . .  There's nothing like running through the sprinkler's on a hot day . . . no matter how young or old you are.


After we came in from the soaking, we all took a shower.  It didn't take Eli long to fall asleep, draped over the arm of the chair.


Bayleigh got sent to her room for disobeying me, while I worked on cleaning up the kitchen and getting supper ready.

It was another lazy day and I spent several hours engrossed in Gayle Lynds' new novel "The Book of Spies".  (I'm really enjoying it, by the way; and I'll be staying up late and finishing it off in bed tonight.)

Tomorrow will be a better day.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

May 27, 2010

Today I'm thankful for air conditioning and the beauty that surrounds me every day.


Hubby decided to put the window air conditioning unit in my retreat this morning (THANK YOU SWEETHEART!), while I played games with the kids.  After lunch, Eli napped on me, while I read one of the books I checked out at the library yesterday.

Then it was time to get ready for Bayleigh's baseball game.  One of the regular coaches wasn't able to make it today, so I ended up filling in.


The kids got fruit roll-ups for a snack after the game and Bayleigh's happened to be an aqua blue.  Here she is, showing her attitude.


On the way home from the game, I pulled off the road and took a picture of the sun going down.



And after I got home, Bayleigh decided she wanted to go see grandma (since grandma had just been over and took Eli to her house).  I took my camera along and snapped a few pictures of the wildflowers growing along the side of the road . . .


and some more of the flowers that my mom has growing around her house.


And here is Eli showing HIS attitude.  He is fond of saying that he doesn't like me and he wants to stay with grandma all day and all night, then he climbs the hill over the cellar and sticks his tongue out at me.  It didn't take long for his attitude to change, when I mentioned going home for watermelon, though.  He grabbed my hand and basically pulled me home.  I'm thinking we're going to have to do some serious work on his attitude this Summer, though.  There comes a time when it just needs nipped in the bud, and there's no time like the present!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

May 26, 2010

Today I'm thankful for off the wall, unpredictably fun days.  Instead of getting out of bed at my normal time . . . I forced myself to sleep in.  I ended up staying in bed until 9:00 a.m.  (Which I haven't done in YEARS!)  Dave brought me breakfast in bed . . .


and then I took the kids outside to play.  Eli has been looking forward to warm weather for quite some time.  This little battery powered tractor is his favorite toy.  He rides it for HOURS . . . or until the battery runs down.


Then Bayleigh wanted a little of my time . . . so we played a game of Sorry.  Then we all cooled off, ate lunch and rested, until the weather cooled down a bit.  We had to run some errands in town, so we decided to take the kids to the park while we were in the area.


The beaches are all still underwater, and there is an ecoli warning out until the water receeds some more.  There were lots of vultures sitting around the tower at the dam, and I thought they would make an interesting shot.  


We ended up going to the park, where Bayleigh and I ran the 5k in April.  While Dave supervised the kids on the playground equipment, I went for another run with my camera in tow this time around.


This is just about where the course begins.  More of a cross country style course, with gravel and dirt.


As I was running, I caught a glimpse of a heron off to my right.  I stopped, backed up and tried to get a shot.  You can barely see him, just left of the tree towards the center.  (Wish I'd had my zoom lens on me.)


There were a few stairs . . .


and lots of beautiful scenery.  I'm glad the sun was shining this time.  Last time I ran this track it was pouring down rain!


There are lots of curves, LOTS of inclines,


and several varieties of wildlife running around the area.  I made the 3 miles in 35 minutes, even with a few stops to take photos.  So I'm thinking that wasn't too bad.


When I made it back, I stopped down where they let the water out of the dam.  The little bridge that crosses over to the other side was under water, but it didn't look like it was deturing the fishermen . . .


The kids played on this (a Nikon would have come in handy on this shot! lol) . . .


and then we headed off to the ice cream stand for a little something to cool us down.


Next we stopped at the library, and then it was on to the grocery store!  Bayleigh and I did a little dance in the meat isle of the grocery store, but I made sure no one was watching. lol 

It was a fun and enjoyable day all around.  It's nice to throw the schedules out the window every now and again, but tomorrow it's time to get back on track.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

May 25, 2010

Today I'm thankful for flexibility.  I started off the day with a plan, but it changed mid-stride, before I really even got started on my to-do's for the day.

Instead of cleaning the bathrooms today, I sun-screened myself and the kids and took them outside to play, while I mowed the yard.  Halfway through the yard mowing, dark clouds started moving in and it started to sprinkle on me.  Luckily, it wasn't enough to deter me from finishing the lawn.

My mom was babysitting my niece this morning, so she came over while I was mowing and took the kids over to her house, so they could all play.


Mom brought them back over this afternoon, and I gave them both a bath, then I got Bayleigh ready for her baseball game.  About 30 minutes before game time the coach called to say the games had been called off due to the field being too wet to play on.


And it's a good thing, too!  Five minutes after I got both kids dressed and ready, they fell asleep.  I guess that's what a busy afternoon at grandma's does to them.


The new kittens didn't visit grandma this afternoon, but they had a busy day acclimating to their new surroundings.


They're awfully cute and I'm SUCH a sucker.  But I know we have to get rid of some of these cats!  I've already got the seven little kittens placed . . . they are just waiting on their pick ups.  So I went ahead and made the phone calls today.  I also received an email in regards to a local cat rescue, that finds homes for unwanted cats and kittens, so whatever we decide to get rid of, will be delivered there!  Luckily, I think we have homes for almost all the ones we are looking to get rid of.

I also spent some time upstairs today, cleaning on the old file cabinet Dave and I brought upstairs last week.  It was FILTHY!  I'm still wanting to paint it, but unfortunately the brass hardware doesn't come off of the front of the drawers; so I'm plotting a way to get around this road block. 

I'm REALLY hoping to get to bed before midnight tonight.  My layout for the day is done and I'm posting it as I type!

Monday, May 24, 2010

May 24, 2010

Today I'm thankful for spontaniety and cute surprises.  I woke up at my normal time (4:45 a.m.), caught up with my email and started gathering paperwork together, and preparing my desk for a little catch up work.  If you're curious to see what I look like first thing in the morning . . .


It's something like this.  I throw a headband in my hair to keep it out of my face, slap my crooked glasses on and stay in my pajama's until after lunch (unless I have to be somewhere).


Then I head downstairs to do my Pilates, throw in some laundry, unload the dishwasher (and load it back up again, if needed) and get the kids fed.  After that, I start my scheduled household duties.  Today it was the bedrooms.  Eli drew me some pretty pictures, while I cleaned his room.


Right after lunch, (on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays), I do a second workout.  Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred.  Today was extra tough, with all the humidity.  Thought I was going to die before I finished it off.


This afternoon, I tried to lay down for a few moments, but my dad ended up coming over, wanting me to do something for him on the internet, and then my ex-sister-in-law needed a ride to her dad's house.  It seems like there's always someone needing a piece of my time.  After I got back from dropping Stacy off at her dad's, I joined Dave and the kids in a game of Go Fish.  (I won!  Which rarely happens when I play with these guys.)


While I was fixing supper I kept hearing a kitten meowing . . . so I went outside to get the bag of cat food out of the Jeep.  Guess what I found?  Two more baby kittens.  Either their mommy was taking them out hunting and they got lost, or someone dumped them on us.  Either way . . . Bayleigh fell in love with both of them.  *sigh*  I guess I'll be calling around to get rid of our other seven tomorrow.  They are all old enough to go to their respective homes now.  The sooner the better!  Before we end up with MORE!

Sunday, May 23, 2010

May 23, 2010

Today I'm just thankful to have made it through the day.  Today it was my turn to do the "Call to Worship" at church again.  I ALWAYS get nervous when I have to stand up in front of a group of people (even if they ARE friends and there are only about 10 of them sitting in the pews.), and today was no different.  My only consolation . . . I have a podium to stand behind.

After we got home from church, I fixed lunch for the kids . . .


we all changed into shorts and t-shirts . . .


I opened all the windows, turned on all the fans, and we enjoyed a leisurely afternoon of doing NOTHING.


It was so hot and muggy today!  The wind chimes out on the deck didn't even whisper a sound.  The air is just heavy with hot, steamy moisture.  And to think . . . just a few days ago I was still wearing sweatshirts around, because I was cold!


That sun I've been longing for for several weeks has come back with a vengeance!  I guess I should watch what I wish for.  lol


This afternoon, Eli and Bayleigh both played quietly, and I think they just enjoyed each others company.  It's so nice when they get along.

I like days like this, when I can just sit and play with the kids and soak up their company.  Their little minds are amazing.