First Day

Rough Start.

This is the story of a beautiful bracelet and its owner who in a crazy bizarre sequence of events lost the bracelet and but then found it.... but it looked like this:

and...
and last but not least,

as you can imagine, the owner was very upset. There were tears... she was disappointed, sad, and frustrated. And yes, she knows that is "just a bracelet" (even though she loved it and wore it daily even though it pinched her arm hairs out one by one, and had sentimental value) and in the grand scheme of things it's really not so bad....right?

But most importantly, she has an example to set.

There are two little people watching her get upset and throw a fit over this beloved bracelet.

She doesn't want them to think that they can't be disappointed or sad over things like this, but she also wants to show them that it doesn't have to ruin their day/week/year.

So, I sucked it up and started doing what my mama taught me to do when stressed....

clean.

When I came down stairs to get the paper towels, I saw this:






and heard, "Here Mama, here is a new bracelet that you can wear every day and it won't break! Can you tie it for me?"

Could she get any sweeter?

Then, a bit later she even helped me fold laundry.

I sure do love this girl. She helped make a day that started out bad into one that has seen more smiles than tears.

And who knows, maybe I'll get a new bracelet... some day.

Where does it go?!?!?

Seriously, where did the summer go?

Isaac starts full day Kindergarten on Friday.

Meg starts preschool next Tuesday.

I broke my camera, (sad) but got a new one over the weekend! Woo-Hoo! I will post pictures once I get a few good ones... still learning how to use it!

Our garden was definitely a learning experience this year. We are harvesting zucchini left and right, some cucumbers and lettuce which is awesome. We have cantaloupe and watermelon growing, but the watermelon vine looks pitiful today, so I'm not sure what is up with that. We shall see! We need stronger bean supports next year, two big storms blew them over and broke some of the bamboo, but they are still thriving. We have tomatoes as well but they are all green still.


We are in full swing for Isaac's 6th birthday party which of course is Star Wars... shocking. We are going to have a great time! Hopefully, I will have pictures up next week of the festivities! He's super excited and I am too! I am looking forward to "yoda soda and darth dogs and vader veggies!"
Until then!

My Girls

I have an amazing set of friends who I had a fabulous night on the town with last night. We rocked out with our man Kenny.

We started our little, "girls nights" six years ago and they have been a mainstay in our lives and a constant connection to our true selves. We have been through a lot. Marriage, births, career choices and changes, finding our way as mothers, illness and loss. You know, life.

I love my friends.
They have become my family.
They accept me.
They ground me.
They support me.
They love me.

We know each others stories, we can tease each other and reminisce for hours with tears of both joy and sorrow streaming down our faces.

Thank you my friends, my sisters.
Thank you for a fabulous night out and a wonderful birthday!
I love you girls so much!

Here's to 60 more years of girls nights!

Craft Monday...finally

On our Summer List this year was to have Craft Monday...

Of the last 4 weeks since school has been out, yesterday we finally completed our first craft.

We used watercolors, pipe cleaners and coffee filters to make our own sparklers/firework decorations. I got the idea from The Crafty Crow which is an awesome site for kid craft projects.

Meg loved painting and of course made it better with glitter, glitter and a bit more glitter.


Isaac had fun too, but after about 20 minutes or so, playing baseball and climbing trees sounded like more fun to him.


While uploading these, I realized I didn't take any finished product pictures! I will try to remedy that asap!

Flyin' By

I can't believe the 4th of July is this coming weekend!

This is the last "lazy" week of the summer for us, so today I ran all my errands, except getting a new drivers license, so that we can just chill at home before the craziness sets in.


We are having fun though,
swimming


catching naps when and where we can

crafting, gardening and play, play playing!

Last day of school

Last Thursday was Isaac's last day of young 5's...

He was really sad that school was out, because he won't see his friends everyday.

(so sad... the long walk to the car)

I don't remember about what age that changes...

however, he's had a pretty fun week, so I don't think he's missing school too much.

(Megan needed to have her "last day of school" picture taken too, appropriately in pajamas)

A Bit of Random

Today was Isaac's field day. Man was it hot! I am so glad he is in the a.m. class.
poor thing didn't have as much fun as she thought she would.

Mark was able to come for a little bit which thrilled Meggie.

We went to our first Dragon's game of the season. Luckily it cooled off a bit before it started.

We had a great time, saw a home run and ate dippin' dots, which according to Meg, "cooled off her burnin' hot belly"

Lastly, I experimented with a new recipe (which for the life of me I can't remember where I got it)

It was pork tenderloin, grilled and basted with a honey/pineapple juice and red peppers. Served with pineapple rice. Yummm and it was healthy too!

First Race

Over the weekend our little town hosted a Community Days 5K with a kids fun run and then a school carnival... it was quite a day.

At the last minute a friend and I decided to run the 5K... all I will say about that is I finished and ran better than I thought I would, only walking once, and thank you Jamie for your motivation!!

After my race the kids had a fun run, which we were told would be one mile, but ended up only a quarter of a mile. It was so awesome to see Isaac so excited! He was so excited he pulled a tooth minutes before the race!!


(the least flattering picture of me, but Isaac thinks it's hilarious!)

He and his buddy Elijah had already planned on running the race holding hands, but we were afraid of an injury, so we talked them out of that.


Stretching... very important before the big race. (Meg was not happy about not being involved... plus during one stretch, she said, "this is just like with Jillian, I know how to do this!")




And... GO!!!!!


Isaac did awesome! He wasn't winded in the least and on his own decided to do an entire victory lap!!

Since I didn't register Meg, (she was to young) she and Mark did their race a few steps behind the big kids...


Meg made it the first turn, then Daddy had to take over until the very end...



And everyone finished and received medals! It was tons of fun.

Explore

When it stops raining long enough to get outside, we are climbing trees... which is this little guys favorite "hiding" spot especially now that there are leaves on the trees!

The blooms on the trees were short lived due to all the hard rains, but the were magical. There was one afternoon that was particularly windy and it was like confetti or snow falling from the trees, it was a lovely way to lose the petals if we had too.

So until it dries up around here, we are having fun splashing around in the puddles-

and wearing 3 tutus, a "scarf" and fancy shoes!

I'm back... sort of ...

My awesome hubby (and kids) surprised me with a new computer for Mother's Day this year! I feel free! I am no longer tethered to the desk! I can finally rejoin my man on the couch both of us playing on our laptops while we watch Netflix! Life is good! (although iTunes isn't letting me put new stuff on my iPod, anyone have any tips?)

Actually, life is good. We have officially settled into our new house and are making it our home. We have had our fair share of bumps in the road these last few months and are expecting a few more along the way but I am optimistic!

We have tilled our garden (!!!!) and are waiting for a few dry days to actually put seeds in the ground. I have been planning and drawing and anticipating this all winter long. I hope it works! I'm so excited for dirt to get under my nails!!

The reason for the "sort of" in the title is because I still don't have pictures to share... as I went to upload (and organize... because I am going to keep them organized on this computer) my camera battery died! So for now, just this little dip back into the the blogging pool!