Laughter

Everyone needs someone like a Josh in their lives. Someone who can make them smile and laugh. He has been saying some of the most hilarious stuff lately--off the cuff. We always joke that he's a closet comedian or that he needs to be a writer for some comedy show. So, on Wednesday morning he had me laughing bright and early. Remember Mama Robin? She's the mother to the 3 baby robins that are right outside my kitchen window in my ivy geranium basket. Well, we noticed that we hadn't ever seen a Papa Robin. We know it's always Mama Robin that we see because she has distinct markings. It was time for him to go to work and I had just opened the shade to see--PAPA ROBIN feeding the babies. First sighting of him since the very beginning which was probably 4 or 5 weeks ago. Josh said, "papa robin must have been away on business". I laughed so much. I replied that papa robin must work somewhere like Josh does and mama is the one taking care of them during the evening etc... and that since he was feeding them in the morning it must be before he goes to work. Last night, Josh drew a picture of the scene. I laughed so much again. It's the silliest goofiest thing, but yes it's funny to me. Notice that Mama Robin is on the computer--which is me.

We had a really fun day today, even though it was PACKED with places that we went. We went to a home school book display and ordered the rest of Aliyah's books. She is excited. Afterward, we ate lunch and quickly headed to Target for a few things. On the way from Target, I had Josh stop at a children's clothing store that I have never visited. It is a consignment-type shop and I haven't ever visited a shop like this so I thought --why not? I was so excited to find a few Gymboree and Gap items for the girls. Honestly, it was kinda fun. Now, here is a picture of a find from this store. When I pulled it from the rack, I thought it was an Aliyah-sized skirt until I looked at the tag. Well, either way--it's for Keirah but I couldn't resist Aliyah trying it on. You'd laugh if you guessed the size of this skirt when you realize that this is my soon-to-be 6 year old wearing it. Guesses anyone??

I absolutely love the colors in it not to mention the price.


On from there, we went to the pool. It was a perfect day for that even though the "fun police" lifeguard just happened to be on at the large pool blowing her whistle at everyone and everything. We will try to visit the pool often in the next few weeks as it closes for the season in like 2 short weeks--boo hoo. We miss it so much during all of the months it is closed.


I decided that we could head straight from the pool over to some of my favorite shops. I wanted to get some more cookies like I have pictured at the top of my blog. Cookie Lady did have some new designs. We got to try them too--they are DELISH!! Anyway, she had sunglasses and sunshine but they were in a gift basket type thing so here's what I got to add to the others...

With us the party never has to stop. We headed from that shop over to the candy store. It is set up like an old fashioned candy store with tons and tons of jars of candy and everything you probably won't find anywhere else. I must mention that I thought the prices were just awesome. I have been yearning for a summer sno-cone. When Josh and I met in high school we worked at the park. I made sno-cones by the hundreds and I loved them too. Well, unfortunately most places don't have them anymore and I don't know if there are any places anymore close to us that sell them. This was my chance...this place has SNO CONES!!! I saw them when we pulled up. For 93 cents how do you beat this cup full of sugary, cool bliss?? It was so much I couldn't even finish it!! I had cherry and Josh had blue raspberry. The girls enjoyed some candy.

Isn't it great to be a kid again??

We came home finally and now there's the non-fun stuff to do like laundry and tiling in the bath. Oh well, I can't complain we've had fun. I only wish days off were long enough to squeeze it all in. I can't resist one more picture for today's post of Kiki in her sweet pigtails.

This 'n That

The other day when Aliyah's little neighbor friends came over, she introduced them to Keirah. She said, "this is my baby sister, isn't she a beauty". Josh and I had to laugh. She really loves Keirah. Actually, she corrected me today and informed me that Keirah is a "toddler". Aliyah has taught Keirah to say "toddler". They make me laugh.





I have just been browsing the American Girl website with Aliyah. She is figuring out the items she wants for her birthday. We are taking her to the AG store in Chicago for her birthday. It will be a fun experience. She has already picked out the Julie doll and now she wants Julie's friend "Ivy" and then she saw Kit and her friend. I told her that would cost a lot of dollars and showed her the numbers. Anyway, we'll help her narrow it down to probably just the Julie doll and then she can have fun with her AG store experience. She keeps telling me she wants to get accessories for the doll like something to play with. I'm not sure what she is going for, but maybe she will see whatever it is when we're at the store. She is going to take "Carly" (AG doll) with her as well. I'm not sure what Keirah will think of it, but I'm kind of disappointed because they just changed the Bitty Twins again!! They change them so much. Keirah likes the baby dolls so the Bitty Twins are cool for her. Anyway, this post has gone to American Girl so far.





Oh yes, our girls NEVER get up early. This morning around 5 am, two little blond-haired wonders came wandering upstairs. The oldest one declared "it's morning". Daddy told them that it wasn't time to get up and put them back in bed. They must have gotten up not long after, because when I got up there were many toys in the LR that they had been enjoying. They weren't doing anything bad, just playing--fortunately. I don't know what came over the little monkeys. Aliyah fell asleep again around 9 am--I knew she wasn't really a morning person. Of course, I think this occurred because Keirah can get out of her bed and with two--it's a party. As I type this, they two are giggling quite a lot as they are just being silly to one another. They definitely amuse each other.





Since it is going to rain this evening, I am stuck with dishes, laundry, and checkbook. Lovely things I look forward to--ok not really.



Here is a picture of them before Keirah got her own bed. They were being goofy of course.

The Weekend that was

They never last long enough, they really don't! Weekends are a whirlwind of activity for us starting with the very moment we get off work. I came home Friday to new furniture in the girl's bedroom for Keirah and a FUNCTIONING new toilet and vanity in the new bath--it's progress everyone!! That meant I had things to fill up like drawers, a new bed to make and things to move up to our new bath. Well, not then because it was time for Josh & I to go and enjoy some time by ourselves. We hurried off and dropped the girls off at grandmas then quickly headed for a bite to eat. We wanted to make an earlier movie showing so we could squeeze in a bit of shopping.









After seeing Mama Mia, we ran a few more errands then picked the girls up. After doing that, we ran to a few more stores and then stopped by the other grandma's house. We came home and did a few things around the house before collapsing into bed.









We didn't sleep too late on Sat. morning although after the 1:30 bedtime maybe we should have. We got up and headed to breakfast at McDonald's then to Sears. I wanted to check out the bath hardware. Upon walking into the store, I saw what I love to see at stores...a SUPER-DUPER, awesome, rock bottom sale--staring me in the face!! If you buy diapers, you can appreciate the sheer AWESOMENESS of my find. On a rack right in the front of the store were all of these diapers...Huggies, Pampers Feel N Learn, and some other Sears type. The sign said "75% off Pink ticket". I couldn't believe my eyes AND AND AND...I had coupons. How did I luck out so well?? Well, honestly, I think that I have to say thank you God for bringing those things our way as he often does. All in all, I got 5 large packs of diapers for $11.57!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't contain myself--well I could but I was glad! On to Kroger's to shop some more. I went to Kroger's and normally I do have luck getting some bargains there, but had some extra nice bargains on Saturday. So, for under $50.00--I got all of the stuff in this picture--ALL OF IT! In case you can't see, there are Huggies wipes, Venus razors and blades, Lysol TB cleaner, Pledge, dressing, dish soap, yogurt etc.......

Anyway, we hurried home and dropped all the junk off, grabbed our swimming gear and headed to the pool. The weather was perfect swimming weather. We didn't stay long because someone (not us) did a nasty in the pool. From there, we headed to my mom's house so Josh could install a new window for them. When we finished up there, we came home and hung some stuff in our new bathroom and just did general stuff at the house. Josh cooked burgers on the grill for dinner. Fast forward to Sunday.

We went to church and a couple of interesting things happened. A man in our church was honored with an award by President Bush this week during the President's visit to the area. Everyone was pretty excited for him. In the middle of the Pastor preaching (which is televised) something happened to an older man. Several people were getting up and going over there. The Pastor kept going (which I think would be very hard to do). I thought maybe the guy died right there at church. After awhile, the EMT's came in--like 5 of them and then several people picked him up on the gurney and took him out. I'm not sure what happened, but I hope he's ok. We ate lunch and headed home. Not long after we arrived home a knock came to our front door. Josh answered and it was some neighborhood girls. Let me clarify that with one of them was back for a visit. She is the sweetest little girl who moved away 2 years ago. We were sad b/c Aliyah loved to play with her. They all went swimming at the neighbor's house while Josh and I slaved in the yard doing things like weeding and trimming.

We came inside and Josh fell asleep in the LR floor. I went upstairs for about 30 minutes and napped. We did a major cleaning of the house. I still lament the fact that I did not have time to do everything I needed to, but alas maybe I will get to it. I hope. There's just not time for it all!

Growing

It's hard to believe, but the time has come to take down Keirah's crib. She is 22 months and her new big-girl bed is arriving tomorrow. I took down the crib tonight and re-arranged the room to make room for the new bed and dresser. The girls still want to share a room. The whole time I was disassembling the crib, Keirah was climbing on one side up and down saying "hi mama" over and over. Aliyah was the little gopher who ran and got stuff that I needed.

I have decided that we need to have another garage sale in a month or so and/or I need to start listing on ebay. We need to purge some of their stuff. I don't know how we get all of this stuff. I really don't. Anyway, they are laying in Aliyah's bed giggling every now and then. Hopefully they will be sleeping soon. Nevertheless, I am using this time to chill and check up on some ebay stuff on my watch list. Most of the stuff on my watch list is stuff for Aliyah's homeschooling. She keeps asking me when we are starting. She seems very excited and I'm glad about that. I will be starting later than any other year that we have done this. With all the projects we have currently running and the ones on my list to do, I just want to finish them. I have the girl's room and a hallway to paint still, landscaping to do, and loose ends to tie up in the bathroom. Josh still has to tile around the tub and stuff. I say that we are looking at at least 2 more weeks on that project. I'm definitely ready for vacation even if it's close by--somewhere to get away. Aliyah is really looking forward to her birthday outing at the American Girl store in Chicago. She hasn't ever been there, although we have several times.

Well, that's all for now. This week went fast in the realm of we didn't get enough done at home and slow in other ways. Today seemed like a fall day rather than a mid-July day. It was cool, but kinda dreary.

Yay & why I blog

Yay!! I just won an ebay auction for a Matilda Jane outfit for Aliyah. I had heard of it before and forgotten to look it up. On Sunday, I saw this dress on a little girl at church and it was Matilda Jane. Finally, I remembered to look it up to see where or how you get this. It's kinda boutiquey really. Well, I guess you get them at trunk shows which you can do in your home and what not. Anyway, since I wasn't planning on that, I went to the old & faithful source--ebay!! I saw that they sell for a decent price on ebay as well. I found an outfit that I really liked and put it on my watch list. I came back from my walk to find it almost up. I bid and got it for $43.00. This is a great deal from everything I've seen. It's new as well. *SIGH* I love cute clothes for my little girls.

Why I blog?? I've thought of this many times and there are a few reasons

• It helps me kind of journal "out loud" about our lives from day to day. I have something to go back and look at and say oh yeah.
• It helps me keep up with friends (if any read it) and lets them know what we're up to
• It's simply fun!
• Hopefully it gives people a laugh now and then

That's all!!

Too Thin??

My mom calls me this evening and then asks me if my husband has been sick. I said, "no"...if he had been don't you think you would've known...why?? She proceeded to tell me that my husband is just getting so thin etc... She went on and on asking how much weight he had lost and all of this stuff and why was he losing weight. I proceeded to tell her that he does eat a lot more fruit as a snack as opposed to candy and such. He also eats WAY LESS ice cream. I'm sure this contributes to it. Not to mention, he probably easily walks 7 miles a day at work and he's on his feet 12-15 hours some days. Add to that, he moves stuff around like windows & doors and carries them. On top of that, he is constantly working at our house when he is not at work. He has been working on a bathroom and then the nagging yardwork.

I will agree he has lost a little weight and looks really trim. He also realized that for years he has been wearing his shirts/pants WAY TOO BIG. He used to just get a L/XL shirt and think that's what he wore and size 32 pants. He is actually a S/M shirt and a 28 pants. Now, wearing clothes that are your size are probably also going to make you look smaller. I don't think there's anything to be alarmed about though. He still can eat like there's no tomorrow and is rarely sick. If he is, it lasts a very short time.

My mom told me that he needs to go to the doctor for a good physical in case something is making him be so thin. I was like ok--we are probably not going to do that. We are not the type that go to the doctor unless absolutely necessary. I don't see a reason for him to visit the doctor. He's not on any medication and never has been on one or an antibiotic his entire life. His blood pressure & pulse are beyond perfect. Why go to the doctor??? Is this crazy to think or what?? The plus side is he gets great life ins. rates!!

I told him what my mom said and he laughed. I would like to be the first to say that it would be great if I could lose weight and gain muscle by not even thinking or doing anything extra about it. Great problem to have if you ask me.

Now, if you have issue with seeing people without a shirt on, don't go down any further b/c here is a pic of Josh after he was working upstairs--thus the dusty drywall look.

TAG

Uh--I've been tagged by JULIE at Welcome to My World...

Here are the rules:
1. Link the person(s) who tagged you
2. Mention the rules on your blog.
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them.
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger's blogs letting them know they've been tagged.

My quirks...
1. I am an organize/neat freak--I HATE clutter
2. I highly dislike keeping stuff in boxes as storage (totes only)
3. I like my yard to look as perfect as possible...weeds drive me batty and I've been pulling tons of them.
4. I absolutely can't stand when people have tons of random toys all over their yard and sidewalk and NEVER pick them up. If I left mine like that--they would be stolen for sure =)
5. I am brand specific on lots of things
6. I HATE Wal-Mart and don't shop there anymore--if you do that's fine. I just can't stand it anymore.

Tag--You're it!!
Meg of Another Season Fades Away
I don't think I know if I have any followers so that's all for now b/c the others have been tagged already.

Summer = Lots to do!

After my crazy day of posting on Saturday, I haven't been back on to post. That's because we have been so full of things to do the past three days. On Sunday, we had a ballgame to go to after church. I must say with the humidity we had, it had to have been the hottest day this summer. We were all dripping in sweat--nice huh? The game had a ballpark food type buffet which was nice except we pretty much just hydrated ourselves the entire time. We were even pouring water over the girls' heads. It was fun and the girls enjoyed themselves. It was Keirah's first time at a baseball game and probably Aliyah's 5th or 6th. Aliyah went to a Cubs game when she was only 6 weeks old. The girls enjoyed themselves on the playground.

In other news, Mama Robin's babies hatched the past two days. She built a nest in my ivy-leaf geranium hanging basket. It has been kind of cool because the girls get to see her build the nest, wait for the eggs to hatch, and watch the babies grow. Aliyah named them of course...Cookie, Ticklish, & Tutti. She informs us that there are 2 girls and 1 boy. Enjoy the picture...Tutti hadn't hatched yet when I took this last night.

Monday began and ended quite stormy! We awoke at 5 am to lots and lots of rain. When the tornado sirens went off at 5:30 or so, Josh got up to get ready for work. I went and laid on the couch. After the watch expired, I went back upstairs and fell asleep before having to get up for work. When my alarm went off, every fiber in my body wanted to stay in bed. I was SOOO TIRED!! Anyway, I resisted the flesh and got up and got ready. Work was busy but smooth for a Monday--thank goodness! After work I went home and Josh was almost going to work on our new bathroom. I stopped him to ask what he thought about going furniture shopping. We decided to go as we have determined it is time to take down Keirah's crib. She has been sleeping with Aliyah for about a week now without incident so we figured it was time to look for a bed. We went to the local furniture store and found a bed & dresser we liked for her. This is a big girl bed and the dresser is long with a big mirror. They still want to be in the same room together so we have some moving around to do in that room. Furniture gets delivered on Friday. We also ordered the matching chair to our LR set so we don't have to look at the wicked stepchild chair much longer =). It will take several weeks to come in since it is special order. After a quick dinner, we came home so Josh could work on the bath a bit and then decided to leave again. This time, we had to go to find some sheets, comforter, mattress protector. We didn't find a comforter at the first store, but we found some SUPER deals on sheets and some other stuff. Get this, the sheets for Keirah's bed were $2.99!! We also got some other stuff for 90% off but what it is escapes my mind at the moment. While we were shopping, it started storming like you wouldn't believe!! It turned totally DARK and it wasn't even time to be dark yet. We dodged raindrops to go to one more store where I found Keirah's comforter and bedskirt. They were both on sale--lucky us!

Today, we had plans of priming and painting our new bathroom--the end is in sight at last!! I HATE priming with a passion. It is so splattery and messy. It didn't take long and then we got to do the pretty "butter" color that I picked for the bath. I must say I'm happy with how it turned out!! Josh has put the vanity in it's place now and hopefully this weekend, we will have a functioning vanity & toilet in there as well as the tub in it's place.

Josh and I were able to go to dinner alone tonight--we haven't been out alone in awhile it seems. We went to Cracker Barrell and were in the corner and it was quiet. Perfect yummy meal with some nice conversation was a nice break. We headed home right after because the yard needed work after all of the rain we've had. Josh began mowing and I began the arduous task of WEEDING. The rain has been great, but it has brought a lot of extra weeds this year that we don't normally see. I weeded for probably 1 1/2 hours while Josh mowed. We finished by cleaning along the back line and getting rid of extra brush and such. Good thing it's trash day tomorrow because we have 4 FULL cans of yard waste alone.

Now, Josh is headed to a work meeting. It always seems we get one of those when we have lots to do, but that's the way it goes I suppose. I will do some laundry and dishes and tidy up the place.

Oh yeah, during dinner Josh got a text message that our friends had a healthy baby girl today. She has been on bed rest for 6 weeks due to premature labor/contractions. The baby was born at 35 weeks, but is a good weight and healthy!! Praise God!!

Eww..Disgusting...

That's what Keirah would say. Yes, I am posting more today than I probably do in 2 weeks! I couldn't resist this though, even though--I still have a disgusting taste in my mouth. Well, it's Saturday and the girls went down for a nap. I switched laundry loads and thought why not?? So, upon getting up I thought of the cherry chip cake I made the other day. It had no frosting, just yummy cake. The family demolished the first circle pan pretty quickly, but I knew the second pan had some cake left. I went downstairs, took the foil off and sliced into it. I kind of crumbled which should have been my first clue--duh! I went ahead forked it up and put it in my mouth---ewwwwww DISGUSTING!! It definitely went bad. I'm not sure how I missed smelling it, since now that has been all I smelled since then. I spit it out, rinsed my mouth--you get the picture.

I also noticed where Josh had tried to call while I was taking a nap. I called him back, told him about my cake story to which he proceeded to tell me about his lunch. You see, I got up this morning and made him a lunch. He loves his sandwiches "dagwood style". I piled it up with meat and only one slice of cheese--the way he likes it. As I was packing his lunch, I did a little fridge-straightening etc... He loves to eat and while he only weighs like 150 and is 6 ft. tall, he can eat more than a 300 lb. man! I loaded his lunch. He had Pringles, some Doritos, a pack of sliced apples, a thing of Yogurt--in coffee flavor, rice cakes, an Airhead, a peach in addition to his sandwich. I wanted to make sure we was nice and full during his long day at work. He didn't get to eat until about 4 pm, and was sitting down to his lunch. He started with the sandwich and thought the turkey on the sandwich tasted kind of funny--so he discarded that. Chips--they were fine, peach was fresh so he opened his bag of sliced apples...they "looked" fine as well. He told me they tasted like vinegar and the date on the package was like June 28--oops. Moving on...rice cakes were fine, Airhead, and now the yogurt. He opened the yogurt and said he almost gagged --it was separated and smelled really rotten & nasty. So, good thing I packed several items or he would be starving even worse than he probably is right now. I kept apologizing to him, feeling bad about his HORRIBLE lunch. He was laughing and I was even glad that I had tasted some of that cake so I could empathize with his horrid experience.

You see, we go to the grocery store every week, but sometimes we just don't continue the same eating patterns. Sometimes, we eat a lot more at home and sometimes we eat out more. Lately, Josh has been snacking on different things when he gets home which could be why some of the stuff went bad before we realized. I just bought the yogurt this past week--so I don't know what happened there. The turkey lunchmeat was just opened when I made his lunch this morning--I didn't check the date until he mentioned it. Yep, June 11th--eww that's why. So, I purged my fridge while on the phone with him. Now, I have some garbage to empty and a smelly cake pan to wash. I have gum in my mouth, but I can still somehow taste that horrible cake!

Ice Cream & Watermelon

...two summertime staples! Apparently I am on a posting marathon today or I am catching up from the week. I wanted to explain the picture at the top of my blog. They look yummy don't they?? I probably will never know what they taste like because I can't bear to eat them. They are so cute!! We got these at a local shop the other day and I would love to see what other little cookies this lady makes. For now, they are safely displayed on the top of my cabinets and looking beautiful--under the plastic.

Iguanas & Puffy Paint

Do you remember several years ago or even decades ago when people used to get a shirt and some applique' that they wanted and outline the edges with puffy paint? It was sometimes glittery and definitely colorful. I must confess that despite weird hair-do's I never did have or want any puffy paint items. Well, that's me...but my husband on the other hand was sharing details of one of his favorite childhood outfits.

I must confess, I wish I had pictures but we don't. He really thought iguanas were super-cool and his mother sewed a lot of clothes. Now, I'm not trying to put-down anyone who sews because many do it well. Somehow, though, I doubt this was really cool looking. Picture it, fabric with brightly-colored iguanas all over it. He had matching shorts & a shirt. To top it all off, the iguanas were outlined in puffy paint--on a BOY!!!! I wasn't aware that boys participated in the puffy paint trend of the 80's. That's ok I suppose, he thought it was super-cool at the time. He recalls getting to wearing his favorite outfit to school on the day when he didn't have to wear a Catholic school uniform. Someone said something about "cool lizards" on his clothes and he corrected them by telling them they were igauanas. To top it all off, he had a beetles haircut complete with plastic glasses with some tape.

Looking back, Josh says he must have looked like a --well I won't tell you what he said. To tell you the truth--he probably did!! Fortunately, his tastes have changed A LOT since the iguana outfit and I don't sew or cut hair. All good things must come to an end I suppose.

Rain

"Rain, rain" as my almost-2 year old would say. Actually, I do not mind at all today. Having rain means I don't feel guilty about sleeping in, I don't have to water the yard or flowers, and I have good reason to stay inside and work on stuff like cleaning. No guilt about not going on a walk or being outside or missing a day at the pool. Yes, a day of rain is ok with me when it's sprinkled into several days of sun. What do I plan to do on the rainy day? Well, maybe some dishes, laundry, & general cleaning. I also should organize the homeschool books that I have compiled. After I'm caught up, maybe we'll go somewhere this evening. You see, hubby works all weekend so it's just the three girls. For now, rain rain and I don't care today!!

Goodnight!

Couldn't resist these pics of my little monkeys at bedtime.

Pack Rat??

Ok, so I am NOT a pack rat. I think it is because my mom liked to keep lots and lots of things in boxes upstairs in her attic. I myself have 2 boxes and they are for the Christmas tree. Everything else is stored neatly in a tote. Well, I have been searching for good deals on homeschooling books. I have had luck so far. I paid a total of $9.75 for the readers rather than like $90.00 which made me happy. It really makes perfect sense to me to homeschool at this point. I went to college for elem. education and then taught school before my daughters were born. I have taught all of the grades she has been so far =). Aside from that, it saves us a few thousand a year since that is how much a private school costs. We will NOT be sending our daughters to public school (at least for elementary). They are HORRIBLE in our city. Don't get me started!

Anyway, back to the pack rat thing...I was driving along tonight after I received my beloved ebay readers and being quite happy. A thought entered my head--my mom has given me a couple of items from when she HS my brother--shouldn't she have more--somewhere?? I called her up and asked. She told me she knew of 3 boxes she could check. She actually found several books I can use as well as little books from my childhood. I don't know how she's missed giving the other books to me, but she thought they were my brother's books. Anyway, I have saved more $$ since I don't have to buy these books and I have the rest of the books I need on ebay watch. Cross your fingers that I can win all of these. I think it will only end up costing maybe 30% of what I would pay if I ordered from the publisher. Gotta love ebay & the fact that my mom actually saved some things. While I'm on ebay news, I am all excited because I was able to get Aliyah a new Leapster on there tonight. It was a Buy It Now and had free shipping. What sealed the deal for me was when I opened my email and saw the 10% off ebay deal. I got it for about $35 less than store price! She will be so happy since hers died. She played it A LOT!!

Oh, I want to wish JULIE a very HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY Birthday! It's Sunday in case you didn't know. Remember, it's not about the numbers, it's all about the happy!! I'm writing now in case I don't blog on Sunday...and to give you a chance to wish her a HB!!! BTW, thanks Julie for explaining how to put the link with the person's name in the blog. One of these days, I will fix my other blog atrocities. For now, I have to ebay!! Hope you all have a GREAT WEEKEND!!!!

work & play

One of these days I will fix various aspects of my blog to make it better, but not today. I have just stopped for a bit to post about the day that has been. I just finished throwing in another load of laundry, dusting, vacuuming and tidying. Josh is mudding the new bathroom walls in prep for the texturing to come another day as it is getting late.
We did manage to get a few things done today and still have fun too. Josh & I were in great need of haircuts so we went and got the stylist that we like and got right in. Much better now. We then went to the grocery store and found some great deals there--love it when that happens. They also had all of these children's books which were 50-75% off the reg. price. We got 4 really cool books. I think the most expensive one was $3.99. Now, if you buy books, you know that they run a lot!! I'm talking a cool book that has neat little features and sounds...not a simple Golden book. Given the girls' love of books, they have already been looked at several times today.
The pool was calling our name as it was HOT today. This is what summer is all about ya know. We would call it the perfect pool day. We all got a little darker. Aliyah has become extremely brave in the water as she tried a number of new things today. She has me take her to the "deep" part (over her head) and she jumps in to me and she also "swims from the edge to me. She was getting pretty far--I was impressed. I guess what impressed me the most is that she doesn't plug her nose or blow bubbles...and she can hold her breath under water for awhile. We did this for quite awhile before we left. It was a several hour pool visit!
When we came home, I had flowers to water and Josh needed to straighten the garage. It has become a little messy since he has been doing the upstairs and he puts stuff there and then uses it etc...It looks great now! I decided that the bushes needed trimmed for the second time this year and did the trimming. Josh was wonderful to come and rake up the clippings (there was a TON). The rain has been good for the yard and flowers, but there are also many more weeds and bad things growing this year. I took some time and cut some overgrowth along the back lot line. I filled an entire garbage can. I must also mention that I was sweating pretty good by the time we finished.
I'm really hoping Josh has a few minutes after he's done upstairs to cut the delicious watermelon and cantaloupe that are waiting in the kitchen. I love both of these and think it is the perfect time for a little snack--with no guilt!! My tastebuds are watering just thinking about them.
Since we stayed busy all day and probably got enough exercise at the pool and working outside, we didn't go to the stadium today. That's ok--maybe tomorrow.

Soda--Dr. Pepper

Yes, Dr. Pepper is one of my vices. I've heard it a million times--don't drink your calories. I've also heard it has something like 43 or 46 tsps. of sugar in a can = bad for me! yes, I must confess I probably drink a lot of calories when I go out to eat.
Well, I am trying again to say goodbye to soda. It is hard to do and I've done it before. So far, 3 days without soda. I've substituted things like raspberry tea. Yes, I know sugar, but I can't drop it all at once-caffeine, sugar etc.. I have been drinking more water--good. Once I have mastered this one, I will move onto something else like less sugar. I've done that before also--when I had gestational diabetes. At that point, I told myself I wouldn't have it again. The diabetes diet was sure boring, but boy was it healthy. I know it did great for me since I was pregnant and never gained a pound--in fact I was down 5 lbs! Too bad, I like naughty foods!!
If you look at the time on this, you will notice it is a later post. One thing I love about days off is the night before when you can stay up later. It's kind of like a Friday night =).
Anyway, I've gotta cheer myself on in the getting rid of Dr. Pepper war. water, water, water, water!

Summer Stuff

I haven't posted in a few days because it seems I just can't get the stuff done that I want to. Sometimes I remind myself that summer goes by quickly and I do not need to spend it at a computer!! On Monday night, I spent a lot of my time working on a Shutterfly book. I always love them when they come in.
We have a new spot we enjoy going to most nights--the stadium. It is WONDERFUL for walking--probably because it is so quiet and peaceful. Usually at most there may be 6-8 other people there. Aliyah loves to run out in the middle of the field and around the track. She runs 2 laps and doesn't even become winded (wish I could do that). She also runs up the stairs to the very top. Maybe she has track in her future. Even Keirah runs around the track. She made it over 2 laps around running/walking. I think that is a lot for little legs!
Tonight, we enjoyed some time with some people from our church SS class. Actually, it is our teacher and his wife. She has been on full bedrest for awhile now since she started having contractions several weeks ago. She is in her 34th week so they feel ok if she has the baby in the next few days. We took some yummy pizza over there and ate with them. Afterwards, we sat and talked for awhile. It was nice.
Ebay...I am liking the buying side of it right now. I think that's because I get my share of the selling portion every day. It's fun to sell, but some of the people and questions they ask are downright annoying. Anyway, EBay has been a great source lately for items that I am looking for that I can't find in the store AND it has been for a much better price!! The better price is what I love most. I am working on getting as much of Aliyah's homeschool stuff on there as I can. There are some items I will have to buy new, but we can certainly stand to save 50-75% on reading books and stuff.
Master bath...we're getting closer and closer. We are super close to the painting phase. After that, Josh will install the vanity and all of the other good stuff. I can't wait--a private bathroom!! No more running downstairs at night when you've gotta go!!
Well, we are going to try to work on our fins a little bit more tomorrow and our tans. Hopefully the weather will cooperate for a trip to the pool. It does actually FEEL like summer now.

Fun Weekend & school

WOW--why do weekends fly by so fast? This one was a fun-filled weekend. We need to check and see if we have developed fins or gills. It is possible that we may turn into fish after all of the swimming we did!! We swam Friday night and twice on Sunday. We had plans of going on Saturday, but the weather couldn't decide on rain or sun or clouds. We worked around the house on Saturday on our bathroom & just cleaning and laundry. Since we were sick of being at home, we went to the park. (the park where Josh & I met when we were teenagers). Anyway, we walked a long way and then ended up at the stadium. We walked around the track--Aliyah ran and was quite far ahead of us. She then sat down in the middle of the field while Keirah continued walking with us. Our little one must've run/walked well over a mile last night. She went around the track two full times plus the long walk to get to the stadium. Needless to say, they were worn out when we got home.
Today was gorgeous outside so after church we went back to the park and went swimming. It was a TON of fun. Both girls were extremely brave in the water....jumping in constantly. Aliyah loves to be thrown into the water. She also likes going under water and looking around. That makes the eyes red! We came home for a bit and had them both take a nap. Just a bit later we headed to a different pool for our church's family night. That was fun as well.
Someone I was talking to at the pool, told me that the school we were going to send Aliyah to next year shut down after the school year that just ended. I don't know if that means we will homeschool her for another year after this one or what. Hopefully/maybe the school will re-open. Some of the other schools in the area are pretty expensive so who knows--God does!! We were just kind of bummed about it.
Well, everyone is tired and now it is time to straighten up so the house is nice before we go to work tomorrow. I wish summer lasted FOREVER!!

Dentist

It was going to the dentist day for us. I kind of wondered how it would go since it was Aliyah's first official visit. She didn't seem worried, although she kind of became worried when her name was called. She was unsure of sitting in the big chair. Eventually, she sat down. Things went great from there. She loved it!! I had to go to a different room for my appointment so she was by herself for the rest of the visit. Josh was in the room next to her and could hear it all. I even heard some laughs now and then. She had bubble gum polish and strawberry fluoride. Apparently, she told the hygienist lots of stories including the one that she will have 2 more baby sisters.

Her teeth looked great--actually we all turned out just fine--whew!! No one likes to go back to the dentist. I guess I felt 2 different ways about the dentist today...great because my teeth are all clean and sparkly, however kind of like I never brush or floss since she seemed to be cleaning a lot. Don't get me wrong, I do brush & floss and more but you know how it is when they are working.

She is telling everybody about her visit. She got all kinds of goodies and stuff, drew pictures about it, and wants to play dentist all of the time. I'm glad that one went well =). Enjoy the picture!

Silly

My two little monkeys love to draw and play with crayons and markers. Imagine the laugh I got when I went into the kitchen to find that Aliyah had drawn this on Keirah's belly. Keirah & Aliyah were both laughing--they thought it was hilarious! Aliyah proceeded to draw two smiley faces on herself. These are washable markers thank goodness.

love you

Had to post....I was sitting on the couch and little Kiki came running into the LR and hopped up on the couch and buried her face in my neck and put her arms around me and said "MMMM" (which is what we do when we hug) and said "love you"! She was laughing and smiling and it was the sweetest thing--the high point of my day!!

the Square

We had plans of going to the pool today, however the weather was indecisive. It was definitely humid, but cloudy & rainy off and on. Instead, we opted to go to the square. The square is just plain cool if you ask me. It has that wonderful nostalgic feel to it. It has some pretty cool shops on it. These aren't just everyday find it anywhere types, they have all kinds of stuff from yesteryear. While browsing, I saw things from my own childhood, items my mom had, and even items grandma had. It's definitely where I go to find that special item that I can't even find on eBay. I think many of those antiqued items come from the plethora of historic homes that are in the area.

Today, I saw fence posts, old but really nice patio furniture, a very antique tricycle, an old wagon, jewelry and about any old item you can think of. Some of the shops have new stuff too, it's just the kind of things that you don't find just anywhere. I was happy to be able to find a birthday gift at a store called "trinkets & treasures". At another store were these adorable cookies--so adorable that I can't bear to think of eating them. They look so cute and summery in my kitchen.

Other than that, my sweetie worked on that new master bath tile project--grout is done!! We now have a floor =). It is exciting as we move closer to being finished.

I took a few more pics of my garden. If you look, you will see the ultra-tall Marigolds that my daughter planted from seed--they keep getting bigger. Also, are a few pics of my little girls in these adorable outfits (at least I think so) from Gymboree's line called "Tropical Garden".

Something that warmed my heart tonight was when my neighbor was outside. She came out the other night when the girls were playing and took several pics of them with her new camera. My daughter was getting crabby and disobedient. Tonight, she came out and told the neighbor on her own that she was sorry that she wasn't nice the other night. It was really sweet the way she told her.

Eventually, I will be able to post pictures throughout my blog rather than all at the beginning...yeah when I get time to do some more tinkering with it.

thank you, Mr. Governor

So, this is my rant for the day or week or whatever...

Living in an illustrious state with a less than illustrious governor, it is July and that means minimum wage has increased--yet again! I believe this makes us one of the highest minimum wage states--if we didn't already have that distinction. We are set to increase for the next 2 years! Now, that sounds good to the people that work in many fast food establishments, Wal-Mart, etc... However, given the fact that these employers have to pay this, does a couple of things. They either a) cut hours and or b) raise prices --usually both. How does this help anyone??
For those that don't make minimum wage, it simply means everything just increased in price. For those that did get an increase, you are basically left back at square one or maybe even worse. If you haven't noticed, prices increase almost every time you go to the grocery store or out to eat or pretty much anywhere you buy things. We noticed McD's must have geared up for this weeks ago--either that or they were trying to combat the economy and minimum wage increase all at the same time. They've been increasing prices on many items.
The place that my husband works gave a raise to the casual part time people (not because they made minimum wage, but they gave them a COL increase. So sorry, to the rest of the hard workers at the store, I guess they weren't worthy of a COL increase. Apparently, if you make more per hour, your expenses don't rise like everyone else's--haha.
Anyway, I would like to thank Mr. Governor for his lovely ideas--one of many he's had since entering office. I guess this will have to make me a wiser shopper and a smarter consumer. I will have to learn to conserve better. Maybe this is a secret plan to get us to be more "green".

happy

I got an email from a college roomie this morning. She had a healthy baby named London Grace--I love the name. Praise God!! I know this was a big concern since they had a little girl over a year ago who was born with Trisomy 13. She only lived for 11 days. I know they must be overjoyed to have a little one to love and cuddle. Congratulations!!

Independence Day!

Happy 4th of July!! It was a beautiful day. We had plans of going swimming, but it was a cooler 4th--very pleasant actually. Daddy worked today so us girls spent the day just kind of chillin. We ate Monical's pizza for supper and it was yummy to all of us!
We said hi to some neighbors and Aliyah got to hold her first giant sparkler. She held it for like 3 seconds and then ducked into the tent to watch from there.
The fireworks were great this year! Both of the girls loved them. For the first time ever, Aliyah didn't hold her ears and actually giggled with glee and delight with them all. We got in and out of the crowds with ease and home pretty quickly since we've learned the right routes to take. We stayed outside for a bit and watched fireworks around the neighborhood. We even took a little walk. Aliyah felt chilly so she went inside and put on her Hanna snowman pj's--it's July mind you! She rode her bike through the neighborhood watching for fireworks.
And with that, it's bedtime--daddy works this weekend so it will be the 3 of us girls enjoying the time together.

Chestnut

It is our 6th "house anniversary". Six years ago today, we moved to our home!! It has come a long way since 6 years ago. We call it a labor of love.

When we purchased our home, it had those giant, ugly bushes all around it. They were on every border, edge, and corner. I think we added it up and we have removed 46 bushes from our yard!! Now, I think that's A LOT! They surrounded the entire house and ran along back/side yard. We had them at the end of our driveway, walkway, and around the front steps. We had to remove the ones by the steps just to move in. There was only 1 foot of space to get between them. Some bushes remain--the pretty ones. We have spirea, bridal wreath, bittersweet, & forsythia. I am fine with all of those, but let's just say I haven't planted any new ones!!

The outside of our home has changed quite a bit as well. We have all new windows, doors, roof, shutters, and siding. We even have dormers now as well. The house was white when we moved here and one story. Now it is sandstone in color and is 1 1/2-2 stories. We have added 2 bedrooms & are working on the new bath as I write this.

The inside has been re-painted at least 2 times since we've moved here and there probably isn't really anything original that was here when we moved here except for the bath tub. We remodeled the kitchen, and all of the other rooms too. WOW--looking back, we have done a lot of work here. Too much to think about moving anytime soon that's for sure!

One thing I have really enjoyed since moving here is developing my flower garden/landscaping. It is a nice escape for me. I have window boxes on all of the LR windows and a couple of others as well. It is so cool to sit inside my LR and see flowers at every window. They are happy looking geraniums. Geraniums do so well because they bloom all year, and they aren't picky flowers. They are heat/cold tolerant and they are fine if you don't water them very often. They usually last from April to November. I have been excited this year because some of those really rough yard areas have started to become really beautiful this year. I never thought it would happen to be quite honest!

Reflections of the day we moved here...it was 103 degrees and I was 8 months pregnant with my first. It was just 3 of us moving furniture and yes I was one of them. That stuff was heavy! We were "welcomed to the neighborhood" by some firecrackers in our mailbox. Before you think it's a bad neighborhood...it's not...these kids were just being not very nice. I think we were pretty overwhelmed at that point with all of the work that lay ahead and what we had to do. Today, however is quite different. It is in the 70's outside and I have the windows open. There are 2 little girls playing in the house as I type. Josh is tiling the new bath and I have just been shampooing the carpeting. We have been really productive on projects lately--thank goodness. The flowers are in full bloom and quite beautiful! I need to water today, though.

Much has changed in our home and our lives since six years ago, but one thing has not...we love each other and our family and our home as well! A labor of love it has been. Enjoy some pics!