Birthday sleepover

Alex:  Can I go to (friends name) birthday sleepover?

Me:  Sure. When is it?

Alex:  It starts in fifteen minutes. 

And I wonder why I am so crazy. 

Miley leads to a family discussion on twerking

Nothing like discussing Miley Cyrus and her twerking on the VMA Awards with your children.  Talk about having an adult conversation with your child. (Lucky this was with the boys and not Bella)

Nick brought it up. Alex knew a little about what happened. Alex also shared that in school he found out (from the language arts teacher) that the word "twerk" has been added to the dictionary. 

We discussed what Miley did at the awards show. We also discussed how other stars in past years did similar outrageous (for that time period) things (think Britney Spears, Madonna) and how there will probably be more after her doing some ridiculous stunt. 

Nick brought up her image as Hannah Montanna. I said that I think she is trying to shed that wholesome little girl image. Nick replied, "she grew up."

 I guess he's right. We all grow up. We aren't that innocent little child we once were. We probably did something wild, crazy and or foolish too that launched us into adulthood. Our launching was probably a lot less public than Miley's (and maybe not as wild?)  

Since Miley publicly twerked in front of millions of people (and it was recorded so others can see years from now) she is going to have to live with it for the rest of her life. But, I'm sure in another five or ten years (or maybe a year?) there will be another star doing something wild and crazy on a music awards show.  

And, as a result, we might get another word added to the dictionary. 

Turn signal

I was out running an errand today. I left the store's parking lot and started driving back home. A silver car pulled out in front of me and proceeded to go slower than the posted speed limit. I wasn't that upset about the speed. What bothered me was the fact that the car still had their turn signal on.

I figured they were going to turn left and thought they would just keep the signal on until they turn. 

Two miles later and the turn signal is STILL on!

I couldn't take much more of it and had to see who was driving the car. Was it a senior citizen that forgot about it or did not hear the signal?  Driving slowly to be careful. 

No. It was a twenty something year old. I'm thinking the music was on too loud and they couldn't hear anything. 

The time has come. 

My stint as a stay at home mom has come to an end. 

It has been challenging at times.  There were times I thought everything and everyone (meaning the little ones) were against me.  But, I survived.  It's been a lot of fun.  Now it's time to move on and get a (monetary paying) job. *

*I  believe Motherhood is a well paid job.  Love and hugs from your child are your pay. 

Let's face it. This blogging gig of mine is fun, but, unfortunately, it isn't paying the bills. (don't worry, I can't give this up, it helps get all of the scary stuff out of my brain) 

Do you know anyone that is hiring?   Does anyone out there hire moms who have been at home for a long time?

The hard part is now just beginning.  Now I have to fill out applications for jobs.  Not an easy thing to do when you have been hanging at home for the last, oh, say, sixteen years? 

Some of my time has been doing some work (other than Mom work). 

For four of those (at home) years I was running an online ecommerce business.  Then, a couple years before that I also did some scheduling for RT's business (I would say a year, maybe two of working).  Oh, and let's not forget my two days that I worked at the flower shop. (they needed some help during Valentine's Day and I thought it would be fun to help out....and it was)  Hey, How about volunteer work?  I have been helping out at the school's library for a couple of years.  (I guess I have done some outside work during my "Mom" time)

 I haven't been on an interview for awhile. 

Interviewer:  "So, what have you done for the last sixteen years?"

Me:  (pulls out photo albums of my three children)

Yea, I won't do that.  I promise.  I'll just put them all on my phone.  A lot easier to carry.  :)

Well, I guess I have to get rid of my fear and get out there and give it a shot.  I'm sure I'm not the first mom that went back to work after staying home for awhile. 

Wish me luck.

Homemade Lotion

I know.  You are going to say, "Why are you making lotion?  Just buy some at the store!"

I thought the same thing.  It looked like something fun to try to make.  I had the ingredients and thought, why not? 

I'm not going to give a tutorial on how to make lotion.  You can search the web for "how to's" and come up with some wonderful tutorials.  I used this tutorial that I found here.  Susan from Rawmazing  has some beautiful pictures and the tutorial is wonderful.  Read through the comments for more help and suggestions.  Making the lotion is very easy using the step by step instructions.

At first I thought that I would try making lotion for gifts.  It's pretty simple and would make a nice gift, don't you think?

I should try the lotion first.  What if I didn't like it?  I wouldn't feel comfortable giving lotion to someone that I didn't try out myself.

So, I tried using the lotion one day.   At first, I used it on just my feet.  Being that it is summer, I was walking around the house in a pair of sandals.  The lotion is on the greasy side and we have wood floors.  I didn't want to make the floors slippery.  (although it would be fun to watch the kids and dogs slide around)  If it was colder outside, I would have put socks on my feet.  After some time, I noticed that my feet were softer.  I thought I would try using the lotion all over.   Again, it's pretty greasy going on, but, it soaked right into my skin. My skin must have been pretty dry.   I continued using it for awhile until, one day, I ran out.  oh no!

I used some lotion that we had in our bathroom.  It wasn't the same.  It had this plastic-y (I'm sure that's a word) feeling going on and felt like I had a coat of paint on my skin all day (something I did not experience with the homemade lotion).   Oh, and my itchy skin problem was back in full force.

I forgot to mention that I have dry skin.  I have problems with my skin becoming so itchy that I wanted to scratch it (my skin) off.  Yea, that bad.  When I started using this homemade lotion, I noticed that the itching was gone.

So, today I had to make another batch of lotion.  For my skin.  And for my sanity. (itchy skin is not fun)

When you whip it up it's like butter.  It goes on greasy (you don't need too much) and you don't feel itchy. < < that's the best part

Here's the recipe, taken from Rawmazing:

Homemade Lotion

1 cup Raw shea butter
1/2 cup almond oil
1/2 cup coconut oil

1.  Melt shea butter and coconut oil in the top of a double boiler. Remove from heat and let cool for 30 minutes.
2.  Stir in almond oil and essential oils of your choosing.*
3.  Place oil mixture in freezer or outside to chill.
4.  Wait until oils start to partially solidify (see photo) then whip until a butter-like consistency is achieved.
5.  Place in clean, glass jar and enjoy! A little goes a long way.

*Not all essential oils are skin friendly or child friendly. Please do your research before adding.
*I add lavender oil and love it.

If you make it, let me know how you like it.

**Update:  I made this lotion using Cocoa Butter and found it to be less greasy.  I love using it and will continue using the cocoa butter.  Hope this helps!

Day one of back to school

Alex forgets his phone in his locker. 

Oh, the horror!

Alex asked me if he should go back and get it. I said, "do you need it?"  He thought for about ten seconds and then replied, "yup."

Runs right back to school to get it.  Good thing we are within walking distance. Saves on gas. Good thing it's only a block away.  A short run (or walk).

Cell phone is back and safely in Alex's hands. All is right with the world. 

It's the most wonderful time of the year......

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

With the kids jingle belling

And everyone telling you "Be of good cheer"

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

It's the hap - happiest season of all

With those holiday greetings and gay happy meetings

When friends come to call

It's the hap - happiest season of all

We're talking Back to School Time!

 

 Got the kids off to school today. 

The Junior

(I had to get up early for this one and I had only one shot)

apparently there are rules when taking a high schooler's picture

 

The 8th Grader

(tradition taking the picture with the dog)

 

the 2nd grader

(again with Newton)

(Pippen was not available for pictures this morning)

 

They are starting a little later this year (believe it or not it was August 15 last year!).  It is a happy time.  The kids are excited to see old friends.  I'm excited to have a clean kitchen for longer than 5 minutes.  They are excited. to....

 

Okay, Okay.  They aren't too excited.  I think I'm more excited to have them doing something other than laying around playing video games and making messes in the house.

 

I have to admit, as excited as I am having them go off to school, I'm going to miss them. 

 

The noise.

The fighting.

The yelling.

The video games.

The million friends traipsing in and out of the house all day long.

The messes.

 

Let me wake up from my daydreaming. 

 

I won't miss the messes. (or yelling, fighting, etc.)

 

I will miss the fun and the smiles and jokes and laughter throughout the day.  The excitement on their faces when they tell me something. 

 

taken at school, right before she started to hug me and cry

yea, she knows how to pull on those heart strings

I had the librarian take her into class for me while I went to wipe my eyes  :(

 

I do know that I will have all of that when they are home from school. They will have more to tell me (since I was not there all day at school with them). 

Who knows?  Maybe I will have some stories to tell them, too.

 

Like how I cleaned the kitchen and it stayed clean all day. 

 

Have a great day! 

Back to school: I don't have a thing to wear

This happened yesterday and I thought it was cute and had to share. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture. 

Bella has been telling me for the last week how she doesn't have anything to wear for the first day of school. The girl has more clothes than I do. I told her to look through her (multitude) of clothes and pull together an outfit. 

Yesterday, she asked me to come upstairs to her room. On her bed she laid out several outfits. Dresses, skirt/top, shorts/top and even a pair of pants and top. Along with these outfits she place color coordinated underwear, earrings, headband, bracelet and necklace.  She also had all of her shoes in a row on the bed.  She then asked me to tell her which one to wear. 

That's a loaded question. I don't make decisions like that unless we are going somewhere where she should dress a certain way (like wearing a dress instead of her bathing suit or in the winter pants and shirt instead of shorts and a tank top). I told her that I liked all if her outfit choices and to choose the one that she feels most comfortable wearing. 

I found the whole clothing on the first day amusing. Girls are so different than boys. They like to plan out what they are going to wear, how they will do their hair, what jewelry, etc.  Boys just roll out of bed, grab some clothes (off the floor?  clean or dirty) maybe check out their hair and they are off. 

I should probably worry. What will it be like when she's a teenager?  Will we have tears over clothing?  

I don't think so.

 Bella made a decision on what to wear all by herself and she's happy.

 So am I. 

Back to school excitement

I think everyone is a little excited about the big day. Nick was up at 4 am (eating).  (Yea, not sure how anyone can eat a meal at 4am).  He was making enough noise that I'm sure the neighbors heard him.  I know everyone in our house woke up. Bella told him to be quiet. She also told him to turn off the light. (Not sure how she could see the light in the kitchen  from her bedroom).

 Nick was up again at 5:30am (to get ready). I heard Bella get up and tell him to turn off the bathroom light. (Maybe she works for the electric company?)

I got to see Nick off (have to get my picture).

Back to school is already starting. 

Fun Summer

It was late. It's the day before the first day of school. The kids are a little excited. School supplies are out and getting put into backpacks. Lunches are being made. Clothes are being put out to wear (ok, that one is just Bella). 

We were talking and laughing a little. Alex said that this was a fun summer. He went on to say that he had a lot of fun and laughed a lot this summer with us and his friends. 

I was happy to see Alex enjoying life and laughing. Thinking about the positive, happy memories. Yea, Summer is ending but I had a lot of fun.   

 Knowing Alex, I'm sure the laughter and fun will continue throughout the school year. 

My notebook

I was trying to find my trusty notebook. The one that I write everything down in so I can remember it. I really wanted to go to sleep, but had to make a couple of notes of things to get done the next day. 

I looked in the usual spots. Front hall closet, kitchen, by my bed. No luck. 

Basement?  No. Laundry room?  No. 

Then it dawned on me. I knew exactly where I left it. RT's car!  (I used it the other day to run some errands)

Normally, I would prepare myself to go outside. Make sure I look okay. Put some shoes on. I decided I would go out there "as is," and run out there and get the notebook.  A quick run to the car and back then I can go to bed, right?

After I got the notebook, I went upstairs and said to RT, "I did it. I went outside like this."  

A look of horror spread across his face. 

RT "In your pajamas?"

Me:  "Yea. I thought I would let you know. In case you started seeing "For Sale" signs go up at all of the neighbors houses."

RT:  Oh, great. 

Hey!  I'm just happy I found my notebook. 

And now I can write, "put jacket by front door."

Ceremonial homework burning. 

End of summer bash with the thirteen year olds. Celebrating the fun they had all summer, reminiscing over old homework, laughing, fun and smiles. 

Lots of smiles burning their homework. (Hopefully they won't need any of this next year!) 

Summer fun (and freedom) is over.  Time to go back to school. 

Hey, kids!  Lets keep the flames down so we don't burn down the house!  

Making BLT's (bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches) for the family for dinner.  

Thinking bacon should be part of the vegetarian diet. 

Apparently yelling,  "I'm making blueberry pancakes"   in the morning is a sure fire way to get Alex out of bed.

Peanut Butter Raisin Bran Cookies

Per requests, I purchased some raisin bran cereal.  Unfortunately, I bought the box at Costco (the store where you can purchase lifetime supplies of your favorite food product). 

Everything was going well for awhile, then, all of a sudden, the cereal was not moving.  No one was eating it.  I had requests for other cereals but said we have to finish the raisin bran first. 

That went over well. 

Guess who is the only one eating the raisin bran cereal in our house? (me)

I decided there has to be something I could make with the cereal to make it disappear a little faster.  Then I came upon this:  Peanut Butter Raisin Bran Cookies.  Click on the link to take you to the Betty Crocker website for the complete recipe and a few reviews.  Maybe there is a cereal that you are trying to get rid of  at your house?  Or, maybe you feel like making some cookies since the weather seems to think that it is fall.

Here is the recipe:

Peanut Butter Raisin Bran Cookies

taken from the Betty Crocker Website

(click on link to take you to the site)   

 

 

 

Ingredients:

1/2  cup butter or margarine, softened

1/2  cup peanut butter
1/2  cup granulated sugar
1/2  cup packed brown sugar
1     egg
3/4   cup all-purpose flour
3/4   teaspoon baking soda
1/2   teaspoon baking powder
4     cups Raisin Bran cereal

 

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, mix butter, peanut butter, sugars and egg until blended. Stir in flour, baking soda and baking powder. Stir in cereal.

 

On ungreased cookie sheets, drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart.

 

Bake 11 to 13 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet.      

*I decreased the sugar to less that 1/4 cup and eliminated the brown sugar.  I figure the cereal has some sugar in it.  If your peanut butter has sugar in it (mine doesn't, it's just peanuts), then you might want to adjust, too.  Unless you like all of that sweetness.  :)

*4 cups of cereal was quite a bit, making the dough very "cerealy" (I'm pretty sure that's a word).  I would add it slowly next time.  3 cups might be better.  You will have to use your best judgement on this one.

 

These were a big hit at our house.  And, guess what?  We are not out of raisin bran cereal.  

 

It looks like I will be making more of these cookies real soon!

Enjoy!                  

Sleep over = no sleep

I picked up Alex from a sleep over this morning.  There were about 10 boys that slept over (it was for a birthday party).

Alex said that the first thing he will do when he gets home is go to sleep.  He will sleep for 10 hours.  I said, was it an all nighter? 

He said No.  They went to bed around 4:00AM.  He said he could probably have stayed up longer, but, everyone else went to sleep.  Then, they all got up around 9:00AM and went upstairs to have breakfast.  Alex said he was having a hard time opening his eyes and keeping them open.  The sun was also a problem, shining brightly into his eyes.

I asked if everyone felt that way.  He said, yes, except one boy went to sleep at 11:00pm.  The boy went upstairs and slept because the other boys kept him awake with all of their talking.

I said, well, he must have felt pretty good this morning.  Well rested and ready to go. 

Alex said, Yea.  He was the only one.

Blog Notes

Sometimes I get a great idea on a blog post. So, I try and write it down.

This is the result of writing it down at 3AM. 

My phone was off. I had to turn on the light and dig through the drawer to find paper and pen. Hoping that my scribbles  could be deciphered in the morning. (It was, this is from this post here) (luckily RT couldn't sleep and was downstairs on the couch. I'm sure he would not have been to happy with me turning the light on at 3 AM. 

The hard thing is to stop composing the post in my head when I have nowhere to write it down and I will probably forget it in the morning.  

Another bad place for composing posts is when I walk. I come up with some good ones but forget them by the end of the walk. (I should bring my phone and write down ideas). Or, maybe I should call myself and leave a long winded voicemail?  Or maybe my readers should just have access to my thoughts?
 

On second thought, that's too scary!

Mismatched

I went for a walk this morning.

I roll out of bed around 6:15am and am usually out the door by 6:30am.   I stretch outside and slowly begin my walk. 

Apparently I was a little sleepy this morning.

 

Nice mismatched shoes. 

The Power's Out

As I am sitting here in the house without electricity, I am thinking what a great idea it was that ComEd just finished up all that work they did in our neighborhood so we would not have any more power outages.

*Update: ComEd crews restored power within the hour.  Very thankful for their hard work.

Blueberry Muffins

I thought I would share this blueberry muffin recipe I found on Allrecipes.com.

I need to let you know that when I made these muffins, I made a mistake. I just rolled with it and figured it will all work out.  Everyone makes mistakes, right?  

I am happy to report that this mistake actually came out pretty good. Bella (my tester) gave it a thumbs up. "The best mistake you ever made!" 

How to get the results of the mistake?  Add the ingredients for the muffin and include the butter in the mix. Bake them and you're done. (I reduced the sugar to 2/3 of a cup. You don't have to do this, I just think less sugar is more). 

So, how do I know they are good? (besides trying them myself and my side kick Bella trying them)?  Well, first of all, they disappeared quickly. Also, Alex (who complains about going blueberry picking every year stating that he "doesn't like blueberries") asked me to make them again. The mistake way.  I'm hoping to follow the directions correctly one time to see how they taste.

Here's the recipe. 

To Die For Blueberry Muffins

Taken from Allrecipes.com

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

1 cup fresh blueberries

1/2 cup white sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup butter, cubed

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Enjoy!

Lemonade Stand

Finally a great day to have a lemonade stand. Bella has been planning this lemonade stand all summer.  Unfortunately she got a late start (it was about 4:00pm when she set up) and had only a handful of customers. (One was her brother stealing a glass of lemonade)

Hoping there's a nice day next weekend for a stand!

Last Minute Reminders

Make sure you brush your teeth. I don't want to be sitting next to anyone that has dragon breath. 

Make sure you wear deodorant. Yes the wedding is indoors, but we have to walk from the car to the church and its a hot day. We don't want to be responsible for the paint peeling off the inside of the church. 

Wedding

All week I have asked the boys about what they will wear to the wedding (my niece is getting married). I know Alex has clothes to wear (it's what Nick grew out of). Nick told me that his black shirt fits, along with black pants (just call him Johhny Cash). 

All day yesterday I told Alex to give me his dress shirt so I can iron it.  It showed up around 9:45pm. (At least it arrived before the wedding)

We plan on leaving at 2:30.  I said to RT that someone is going to come to me at 2:20 telling me that their shirt is dirty, needs to be washed and ironed. 

This morning at precisely 10:53am Nick tells me that his shirt is dirty. I said, "very funny. Ha ha."  He then shows me a shirt that looks like it has been rescued from the bottom of his closet. Not the shirt I was expecting him to wear. I was somewhat relieved. I told him he was to wear the long sleeved black dress shirt. Well, guess what I found out? That shirt doesn't fit him. (What its still doing in his closet, I don't know).  I decided to wash, dry and iron the short sleeved shirt (hey, it's a shirt and it fits).  

And we might make it out of the house in time for the wedding. 

Memories

So, as I am lying awake in bed in the middle of the night, I started thinking about a person's memory.
Yea, I know.  I can't sleep and I think about the strangest things.

Anyway, back to my memory musings. 

Some people have good memories. They can remember everything. Pick a day and they can tell you what they did that day, what they wore, the weather, etc.  They remember events (when they happened, who was there).  They remember conversations they've had and the details that were discussed. 

Then, there's the bad memory people. Not remembering birthdays, anniversaries, special events, what you had for dinner last Tuesday, if you closed the garage door.  You get the picture. 

I think I'm a combination of the good memory and bad memory. I can remember people's birthdays that I went to kindergarten with (not just you, Patti) but I can't remember what I made for dinner last night. (Well, with a little thought I can figure it out).  I can remember the weather on Nicks 2nd birthday (68F on December 2) but I can't remember that extra item to get at the store that I didn't have time to write down before I left the house. 

Yea, I was also wondering why I was thinking about this at 3AM. 

I don't have an answer. Maybe that will have to be one of my next midnight musing topics.  

Taking my time

Time goes by pretty fast. 

Today I decided to try and enjoy some of the little things that happen around me.

Here are a few things I enjoyed today.

Nick showing me his new school ID picture
Bella goofing around wearing her sunglasses.
Bella skipping at the pool, acting all girly (excited to go down the slide)
Alex sneaking around the house (and outside the house) trying to scare Pippen. (This was actually really amusing)

Scary Journey's Unsolved Mysteries: The Case of the Missing Batteries

I have come upon an unsolved mystery in our household that I would like to share with you. I'm hoping you will be able to help me solve this case.

I have written about batteries before right here. I was upset that they were all laying around and how no one knew how to charge them. *

*charging batteries is quite simple. Place chargeable batteries in battery charger and plug in. 

I also complained that whenever I needed a battery (which is next to never) I could not find a charged battery. 

Apparently, all of the batteries in our house (particularly the AA batteries) are disappearing.  I'm not sure if they are walking out of our house by themselves or if there is a battery thief in our area that only visits our house with hopes to steal all of our chargeable batteries. 

Today I had to take Nick to work. Just as we were about to leave a fight broke out between Bella and Alex over batteries. Since there was yet another disappearance of batteries in the remote controls (including the XBox controls) Bella's Leapster was being fought over for batteries. Luckily, I was at the store earlier and something told me I shouldn't pass up that battery display without grabbing a package.  It was a temporary fix to a break out fight.  I thought it was a good move since I probably prevented World War III.  I can see the history books now: 

WWIII started in the house of Alex and Bella who began fighting one afternoon over the batteries in a Leapster.  (that were not even charged, by the way)   Soon, major retailers of batteries joined in the fight which then led to battery manufacturers, reporters and the paparazzi (hey, somebody had to record what was happening and take pictures!  Hope their camera's batteries were charged).

Well, all is calm now.  I am still searching for the missing batteries. 

And, if I ever meet up with that battery thief.......

My Garden

The garden is doing well.  I had to remove my zucchini plant once again.  It became monstrous and was taking over the entire garden.  The other plants are a little happier to have some more space to stretch out.  I'm going to miss having zucchini this year (the same thing happened to me last year).  I think next year I am going to give the zucchini plant a huge area outside of the garden.

 

 

tomato turning red

 

I had to pick my tomato before it became completely red.  Apparently there is a garden visitor who likes snacking on the tomatoes.  I wanted to be able to try them, too.  :)

And, here is part of our first harvest.  Some banana peppers, a few jalapenos, tomato and a few cherry tomatoes.

Rescue Dog Reunion Picnic

We attended a reunion for rescue dog's.  (Pippen is a rescue)  The shelter where we adopted Pippen has an annual picnic to get the dogs/puppies together.  It is a chance to hook up with your dog's litter mate (if he/she had one).

We got there early.  Pippen has a hard time being around other dogs.  He is a little aggressive.  (and that's an understatement)  We wanted him to get used to his surroundings and adjust to being around so many dogs/puppies. 

It took awhile, but, eventually he realized that the other dogs were not going to attack him and that they were friendly.  I was going to take a picture of RT and Pippen.  They were by themselves, about 50 feet from the rest of the picnic area.  I thought that might be how they would spend the entire picnic.

When we rescued Pippen, we were told he was a Labrador Retriever Mix.  His hair is (yellow) lab, but,  his face and tail, well, we aren't sure.  His head/face is definitely bull terrier.  In fact, a woman came up to us and started asking what breed is Pippen.  We said Lab, and.....she jumped in and said, Pit Bull Terrier.  (yea, we think he is part pit bull terrier)  

We did not get to meet Pippen's litter mate, but, we met quite a few other dogs. 

I thought this dog was so cute!  He went to take a drink of water and then just decided to lay down in the pool.  

 

He did this several times while we were at the picnic.

 We had a great time and wished we could have met Pippen's sister.  Maybe next time.

Pippen enjoying his reunion picnic

Cheerleading

Bella did a Cheerleading camp at our local High School (which happens to be Nick's high school). 

"GO.....BIG.....BLUE!"

Bella learned a few cheers and part of a dance routine in the four days that she was there.

If interested, here is a couple of links to some of her cheers and dances.  Just click on the word "link" below and it will bring you to one of her cheers or dances.  There are a total of five videos.

Link
Link
Link
Link
Link

*by the way, uploading these to YouTube took FOREVER!  I think everybody was uploading a video at the same time.

Bella had so much fun that she has decided to cheer this fall for a football team.  

 

Stay tuned for more cheer updates.

Quiet, Please!

Maybe it's the large group of teen boys in the basement playing video games and loud music.

Maybe its multiple kids running wildly through our house.

Maybe it is the multitude of questions that I am asked every minute of the day.

Maybe it's the arguing that goes on between the kids.

Maybe it's the door bell ringing.  (we do have an odd doorbell chime, but, I like it.  Except I don't like to hear it over and over and over and over...you get the point)

Maybe it's the Beatles music playing loudly (same songs, over and over and over again).

Maybe it's the phone ringing (we still have a land line, but it could be some one's cell ringing, too)

Where can a mom go to get some quiet time?

Your Mother Doesn't Live Here

Well, she does live here but she is not going to clean up after you.

 

So, when I walk into the kitchen and find this waiting for me....


 
 

 

Not exactly what I like to see after I have just cleaned the kitchen.  And, yes, I made the suspects clean this up.  I don't want to spend my day or all of my time in the kitchen cleaning.  Cleaning isn't my favorite thing to do especially when its an area that I have just recently cleaned.  Recently, meaning thirty minutes ago.

I had a talk with the suspects.*  Explained that we all have to clean up after ourselves.  Not to leave messes.  Yada-yada-yada. 

*Remember that no one admits to the crime.  They were not around the area at that time.  They had nothing to do in the area.  They were far, far away when this crime happened.  

I put up a sign in the kitchen on the counter.















So, like the sign says, "Clean up after yourself!"

Yea, fancy sign I made. I could have taken the time and perused Pinterest and put together a pretty, glittered sign that would look absolutely stunning in my kitchen.  Instead, I just got out my favorite Sharpie marker and a piece of scrap paper and wrote out what I wanted to say...."Clean up after yourself!" 

Maybe I will make a fancier one and share that at a later time.  For now, my sign is working its magic and my counters are staying "somewhat" clean.