Monday Schmonday

I've been a very nice mom this weekend. Technically, it's still the weekend for me and the kids. John was at home with us but he worked all day today. And yesterday. And Saturday too. C'est la vie, I guess. 

Anyhoo...
I've said yes to multiple sleepovers and junk food and movies (Gnomeo and Juliet gets low, low marks from me so don't waste your time or money!) and pretty much anything else the kids have asked to do, including jumping on the trampoline at 8:30AM when the temperature was 30 degrees with a windchill of 25. For the record, I was extremely UNhip on that idea but after listening to them beg/plead/whine for an hour I gave up, sent them outside, and told them I didn't care if they turned into popsicles. I'm tired and I'm ready to have my family of five back together. I love having other kids over, but after a couple of days of extra kiddos, I start getting a wee bit grouchy. I'm sure you couldn't tell.

Despite my grumpiness, I'm enjoying our long weekend. I'm excited that we have tomorrow off as well, but that makes the rest of this week feel VERY short. I have a lot of things to pack into Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday!!! Ciao!

A Quick Hello...

Ah...Friday. I'm always glad when Friday rolls around but this week I'm doubly glad. Everyone at the Lifeat7000Feet Casa is tired. T-I-R-E-D, as evidenced by snippy-snappy conversations and mini-meltdowns. I think our weekend is pretty low key (hooray!) and I just issued a mandate for weekend rest for everyone in this family.

We will rest, but first we get to celebrate Will. His birthday was yesterday (#14!) and he's having a small get-together with some friends tonight. They're going to see a movie after school then coming back here for some grilled brats (his choice) and dessert. No sleepover though. I don't have the square footage or the stamina for that. It should be fun and more importantly, he's EXCITED! We had a family celebration last night and I think he felt celebrated. It's hard to tell with fourteen year olds. 

Believe it or not, I can't think of anything else much going on around here. Unless you want to know that...

I had to send my van back to the shop (Minnie-the-van got new shocks, struts, and tires last week) because she was feeling all wobbly and misaligned. I *hope* they fixed it this time.

Freshman registration was PAINLESS. I actually had a blast with Will that night.

I haven't hiked in TWO weeks because of our cold, snowy weather. I'm feeling it too.

I have a weird crick in my neck and it hurts! Muscle relaxants to the rescue!

I won this book from my friend, Deidre! So excited to start using it.

Joanne is making HUGE HUGE HUGE progress. Her husband wrote about it here, and Kristen included pictures in her post. So astounding!!! So wonderful!!!

I've got a ton of errands to run so I've got to get off of the computer and get in the shower! Peace out peeps. Happy Friday. Happy Weekend. Happy. Happy. Happy.

Ah, Saturday

I'm not kidding when I tell you that I live for weekends. Especially during the school year and especially when they follow a busy week in December. Ah, Saturday. I love you!

Saturday morning is really the only day that I get to sleep in, and it doesn't happen with the frequency I want it to. I blame it on getting older. I seem to wake up around 5am whether I want to or not. But today? Today I slept until 8:20AM and it was glorious!!!

Our home is more quiet than normal today. Will and Sarah are at Wyldlife Snow Camp this weekend. It feels weird to only have one child at home, but let me assure you she is LOVING it. I'm pretty sure I heard shouts of joy as their bus was driving away yesterday afternoon. Her Royal Highness definitely has an agenda for the weekend.

One thing on our weekend agenda is to get our Christmas tree put up. The hard thing about traveling during Thanksgiving break is that you really don't feel like you've had a break and when you get home, BAM!, it's December whether you're ready or not. The only decoration we have out right now is our Advent wreath but that is all changing this weekend. We're going to put our tree up tomorrow afternoon but we're waiting for our campers to return before we put the ornaments on. It's a family event for us.

I was pleasantly surprised by the survey results that show I'm not the only one who doesn't have a Christmas tree up. Roughly one-third of you don't either. That makes me not feel so completely off my game. I was also surprised by the number of you (about 65%) that said "O Holy Night" is your favorite Christmas song. Wow. Only ONE respondent mentioned my favorite, "Hark the Herald Angels Sing". I'm dying to know who wants the Flowbee Haircutting System for Christmas this year. Or who it was that only wants sleep! Those two made me laugh out loud.

Moving on...

I'm sad there is no Razorback football on today but I'm NOT sad that they're going to the Sugar Bowl!!! (I guess we won't "technically" know that for a couple more days but it's looking likely. Go HOGS!) I want to watch the SEC Championship game later today and as much as it pains me I'm cheering for Auburn.

Well, the "princess" is calling and there are no siblings here to distract her so I guess that means that I must be at her beck and call today. Hope y'all have a GREAT weekend!

By the way, I said "y'all" one day this week on the way home from school and my youngest asked me to please not use that word any more. What in the world is wrong with that girl?

A Rambly Saturday

It's a happy Saturday around here!

We're cleaning and packing and getting ready to leave for Arkansas. It's crazy expensive for a family of five to fly at Thanksgiving so we're driving--and I dread the long car ride--but once we're on the road I can sit back and relax while John does the driving. Thanks, honey!

I downloaded a bunch of new stuff from iTunes to keep me occupied and our library has these cool Playaway audio books you can check out so we've each got a couple of those to take with us as well. Here's a pic of one of my playaways. You just plug your own earbuds into it and listen away. (I love this book and I've seen the movie no less than 10 times. It's one of my faves!!!)

I like leaving my house clean when we go on a trip, but I have even more incentive to leave it clean since we have someone house-sitting/pet-sitting for us. I'm pretty anal about a clean house but have had to let my standards go a bit lot since my vacuum cleaner broke last week. The motor quit and I'm sure I could have it repaired, but I don't want to. It was a cheapie vacuum to begin with. I really wanted a Dyson but we didn't have the money (we're cash people) to spend at the time so I bought a Kenmore and I've hated it ever since. I'm definitely going to buy a Dyson this time, but I'm waiting until the Black Friday sales. In the last week, I've had overnight company, a neighborhood coffee at my house, and now another houseguest on his way and my floors are being cleaned with the equivalent of a dustbuster. Shudder.

Last night, the girls and I went to see our neighbor friend's drama program. Her group performed selections from Camp Rock and it was awesome! The other groups performed selections from The Sound of Music, Oklahoma, and The Jungle Book. I LOVE MUSICALS! My parents had almost every musical soundtrack you can imagine (vinyl records) and I grew up listening to them all the time. I think I knew all the words to all the songs they sang last night--Sarah and Abbey were quite surprised when I was belting out the Oklahoma tunes on the drive home. Our kids are pretty familiar with The Sound of Music but I think over Christmas break I'm going to introduce them to some of my other favorites...Fiddler on the Roof, The Music Man, and Camelot!

I had much more stuff rambling around in my head when I sat down to blog but evidently it wasn't important enough to remember because it's gone now!  I should probably get up and switch out the last load of laundry so I can finish packing. My goal is to get it all finished by the time the Razorback game starts. Go Hogs! I'm really hoping they finish the season 10-2, and I think it's entirely possible! We're taking my laptop with us this week so maybe I'll pop in and blog. If not, I hope you all have a very happy Thanksgiving. If you're like me, you have so very much to be grateful for.

Hump Day Thoughts...

I basically live for weekends, y'all. My weekdays are just sorta "choppy". Do you ever feel like that? Like you're just moving from one task to the next? Well, my weekends don't usually have that feel to them (though this weekend probably will) and I think that's why I love them. And today I'm loving Wednesday because it means I'm that much closer to my favorite days of the week.

This weekend is feeling busy with all the Halloween parties and trick-or-treating and such. It's a good busy though, and my kids are super excited so that makes me a little less dreadful of the crazy that is headed my way.

I finished the girls' costumes on Sunday and they LOVE them which makes me happy! Will's costume arrived in the mail on Monday. Maybe since everyone will be home together tonight I can get a picture of the three of them with minimal eye rolling. Maybe.

Home. Together. Tonight. Those words sound lovely. It feels like it's been forever since we've all been home together on a weeknight. Our oldest two kiddos are becoming more and more involved in activities that require them to be gone at night. That's sort of a new twist for us. I'm tempted to tell you that I don't love it, and some nights I really don't, but the things they've chosen to be involved in are good things and I'm really proud of their choices. Plus, we manage to eat dinner together as a family every. single. night. I'm a stickler about that!

One of the things Will and Sarah have chosen to be involved in in YoungLife. John and I went to the YoungLife fundraising banquet last night and had an amazing time. The people, the mission, and the love and dedication to these kids continues to blow me away! YoungLife is really all about loving and accepting kids. Jesus is shared at every club meeting but it's not forced on them. Kids are loved whether they choose Him or not, but there is opportunity for those who want to go deeper to do so--and I'm thrilled that our kids have chosen this. The Wyldlife (middle school) and YoungLife (high school) kids shared cardboard testimonies as part of the program last night. I cried. It's just so cool to see kids' lives transformed by LOVE.

Alright. I've got lots on my to-do list today so I need to sign off even though I have lots more Hump Day Thoughts to share. I'll be back (hopefully tomorrow) with some pictures of some stuff I've been working on!

Happy Hump Day!

Class is now in session

These are a few of my favorite pics from the weekend.

John and I believe that it's important for our kids to learn how to work, play, and REST. We try really hard to build rest into our weekends. Rest can take a lot of different forms, including the time and space to let kids be kids and let their imaginations take over and creative play unfold. Abbey played "school" with her dolls all day Saturday. Literally from sun-up to sundown. It made me smile every time I walked past her room and saw scenes like this:

Our weekdays during the school year are full. By the time our kids get home from school, finish homework, eat dinner, and shower, there are precious few minutes left in the day for them to play and just be "kids". I think that's one reason I love weekends soooooooooo much and why these pictures just make my heart happy.

And by the way? The "teacher" thought it would be fun to give me a cursive test. I got 13/26 letters incorrect. Seems I've taken a little too much creative license with my cursive alphabet since my second grade days with Sister Florentine. :)

I heart long weekends!

Our weekend was wonderful and having that extra day at home with John and the kids yesterday was icing on the cake!

Our friends we camped with earlier this summer went back again this weekend. I really, really wanted to join them but John ix-nayed the idea. I may not remember a lick of French from high school, but my pig latin is flawless. We did the next best thing and set the tent up in the backyard and let the kids sleep out there on Saturday night. Jack the beagle joined them for popcorn and a movie. Fun times. I chickened out of sleeping out there with them since our overnight lows have been in the 30s/40s. Brrrrrrrr.

I think all five of us slept in each morning of this long weekend. Hooray! John likes making breakfast on the weekends and one morning he made scones for us. The girls made the "Welcome to Scone Palace" sign for the kitchen. Love it. John's scones are the best.

Sunday night, John and I went to Denver with our friends Sam & Amanda for an Over The Rhine concert. It was A-MAZING and I enjoyed it immensely! John loves OTR but I'd never heard them until that night!  Wow. My inaugural experience was super. And The Soiled Dove? That place was fabulous!

We also pulled out the pool for one last summer dip (forgot to take pics), went to a Camp Rock 2 premiere party, watched movies and some football, lazed around, did some cleaning, finished up a few projects and just enjoyed being together. I guess summer is "officially" over now, and I'm a little sad, but I'm excited about fall! It's my second favorite season. Now, don't let me catch any of you guys wearing white shoes until next Easter, okay? :)


Here's to a short week, peeps!

A Saturday Morning List

1. I am thrilled that I was able to sleep late this morning! I don't know that I'll have the opportunity again for awhile and I usually wake up early so I was pleasantly surprised that I made it until almost 8am!

2. Woke up in time to see John and Sarah before they left for her horse-riding lesson. Sarah is excited to begin, but I think her daddy might be even more excited. That man really needs a horse of his very own. 

3. After indulging in sugary foods all summer, I decided it was time for another sugar fast. Yesterday was Day 5. I feel so much better when I don't have it in my system. When I do this, I cut out all forms of sugar--white sugar, raw sugar, honey, agave, high fructose corn syrup, etc, etc. I also try to omit things made with white flour like pasta and bread and stick to whole grain versions, but I'm not a total nazi about it. I do eat fruit (natural sugar) but only a serving or two a day. I slipped up last night at a party and I definitely felt the effects of it when I got home--bloating, headache, and a huge crash from the sugar high. Back to square one today.

4. I watched Food, Inc. this week. It's been in my Blockbuster.com queue forEVER but I just kept bumping other movies ahead of it because I knew it wouldn't be pleasant viewing. It wasn't. I've been pretty lenient lately about the kind of food I've been buying/serving to my family, but that all changed after watching that film this week. I made a huge grocery run yesterday and I'm back to buying high quality meat (my wallet is feeling it) and I'm on a mission to eradicate high fructose corn syrup from my family's diet. Thanks to a friend, I'm also looking into a local CSA (community supported agriculture) co-op for my veggies. This isn't new to me so I know it's possible. I'm taking it a few steps at a time.

I could write an entire post about this film and the things that have prompted me to change the way I choose to shop. And I probably will write a post about it one of these days.

5. Have I mentioned that school starts in four days? The next four days are beginning to feel very full too. Ugh. Do you hear me moaning and groaning? I'd really like another week or two of summer, please.

6. Will had an eye appointment this week. Several years ago he was diagnosed with amblyopia. His left eye didn't fully develop in utero and his vision in that eye is basically limited to shapes and colors. When I took him for a physical last spring he couldn't even read the giant letter at the bottom of the vision chart with that eye. He's learned to compensate over the years with his good eye and even though he has a prescription for glasses and has done vision therapy, there has been little to no improvement. Sigh. We were hoping he could get a contact for his left eye so he could play sports with a little more confidence but the doc told us that his condition isn't correctable. It's sad for me as a parent to know that there's nothing I can do to make this better for him. Sad to know that all the money for vision therapy made little difference too. Just sad in lots of ways. The fact that his eye didn't develop properly in utero stirs up all kinds of mommy guilt too.

7. My girls' room is a disaster. When Sarah gets home from riding lessons, she and Abbey are going to have to tackle it. I've threatened all week but it is happening today because I'm so tired of the mess, and I'm so tired of doing it for them. Do you clean your kids' rooms? I really think that a 12 and 8 year old should be able to do this without my help.

8. If they DO get their room picked up we're going to make a trip to Co Springs to drop off our recycling and walk around Manitou Springs. John suggested dinner at one of our favorite places and I'm certainly not one to turn down a dinner I don't have to cook! We also thought it would be fun to take them to the penny arcade that I've heard so much about.

I seem to have a knack for ending my lists with eight things lately. Not to worry. 10-on-the-10th is just around the corner.

Peace out, peeps. Have a great weekend.

I Heart Weekends.

Weekends. Ahhhhhhh. I just heart them.

Ours was a good one. John was in New Jersey last week. ALL last week. He got home around 7pm Saturday night, just in time to have a big piece of chocolate cake that the girls baked for him.

We miss him so much when he travels for work. Especially during the summer. We actually had a really good week (and I actually got more sleep than I usually do when he's gone) but we all feel out of sync when he's away.

He brought me a fun surprise! It's a Life is Good coffee mug
and I L-O-V-E it!

I saw a t-shirt with this "unplug" logo on it last summer in Durango and they were sold out of my size. I meant to go back and order one online but I forgot all about it until John called and mentioned that he was in the Life Is Good store getting t-shirts for the kids. I figured it was last year's design but asked him to look for it anyway. He found the mug instead and I swear that my coffee tastes even better when I drink out of it! 

John's Father's Day request was that we take him to Amanda's Fonda for dinner on the patio. Amanda's Fonda is a great little mexican restaurant down in Old Colorado City. Their patio is awesome...it overlooks a little stream and is so shady and peaceful. We had a really nice evening and I think/hope John felt celebrated! 

We had such a relaxing day yesterday. It's a good thing too because this week is feeling full! It's full of good things though--VBS prep, lots of time with friends, a girls' night out, and a family camping trip! I'm excited just thinking about it all!

Three quick things:
1. We thought about taking the kids to New Jersey (the Jersey shore) with John last week, or in several weeks when he goes again because remember? It's Abbey's dream to go to the beach. I think we're going to pass on it though. Personally, I have no desire to go to New Jersey.

2. Can anyone recommend a good (and free) noiseware filter for photo-editing? The two pics above are in desperate need and the iphoto application didn't help quite enough.

3. Our summer really is feeling redemptive. Aside from the no-hiking-for-me mandate, we're enjoying these days so much. It's a drastic improvement over the summer of 2009.

Redemptive Road

I love summer. If you know me or if you've read my blog for any length of time you know that it is my absolute favorite time of the year.

Last summer was not a good one. A week after school let out, my dad started having all kinds of health issues. Some were directly related to his pancreatic cancer, others were just weird and random. The days and weeks that followed were hellish. Summer failed to be a life-giving season for me and my family. Instead, it stole a lot from me. From us. It stole joy, fun, leisure, and it literally stole life.

My biggest hope is that this summer will be a redemptive one for me and for my family.

And if the weekend was any indication, I'd say we're on a redemptive road. Hallelujah!

Friday night we had our first weekly neighborhood Happy Hour. About 20 adults and 30 kids gathered in my neighbor's front yard. The kids played and had popsicles. The parents visited while sipping cold drinks and keeping an eye on the kids. Happy Hour stretched into hours, and a great time was had by all. John and I don't really love our too-small house but we absolutely love our neighbors. We're a close bunch and are always doing fun things together. Tomorrow night the gleeks among us are getting together to watch the season finale of Glee!

We enjoyed a super lazy Saturday morning. John made breakfast for everyone. Later, we did a little house work, a little yard work, and then John suggested we head to downtown Colorado Springs for some pizza at Il Vicino. It was beautiful evening so we ate outside on their patio (and evidently missed seeing some friends by mere minutes). The kids followed their pizza with some Ben & Jerry's, and when we returned home everyone (except me and my bum leg) hit the trampoline. I loved listening to my peeps play and laugh while the sun set. It was a perfect summer Saturday.

John preached at our church yesterday and I thought he did a terrific job. He always does. We came home and grilled brats for lunch then he and I took a nap while the kids watched television. We helped Will and Sarah get everything packed for camp this week and then we grilled again for dinner. It was another perfect evening to dine al fresco and so we did. Eating dinner outside is one of my favorite things about summer! Don't summer Sunday evenings have such a great feel? I sure think so!

This week is going to feel a little different with both Will and Sarah gone. Abbey says she's excited, and she is, but she's also a little sad too. She adores her brother and sister and they love her too. We have plenty of fun things planned for the little princess though.

I hope your summer is off to a glorious start as well!

stuff.

I've got lots of stuff on my mind this morning. Lucky YOU!

First things first. I'm sending my Sidewalk Prophets cd to O Mom. She's the name I randomly drew because not one of you got the answers right. In fact, most of you got them very wrong, but I'm going to briefly (as briefly as I can) give you the right ones.

Snow in April? 31 inches. Try not to be jealous.
California with John? Less than 22 days now. I'm super excited.
Cups of coffee? I've weaned myself down to one! 
My April mileage? 65 miles in three weeks. My goal was 85 for the month. Darn injury!
How long since I've dusted? Too many days to count! I hate to dust.
Coupon savings on last shopping trip? A measly $4. I didn't even make the effort.

Next on my mind? My extended family.
My grandfather died on Thursday. It hit me last night as I was climbing into bed that my mom's father was my last remaining grandparent. I wasn't really close to my grandfather at all, and I have some regrets about that; not guilt, but regrets. His services are today in Louisiana but I decided not to go. The weird thing (and it's probably really not weird at all) is that my grandfather's death has stirred up emotions about my dad's death last summer. I haven't talked much about that here, but some days are just hard ones. Lots of processing still going on. Lots of little things that still catch me by surprise. Loss is not a slight thing.

Moving on.

I made this pasta dish for dinner the other night and it was too delicious not to share. It's not for the faint of heart though. Bacon, butter, and cream...oh my! I cooked the chicken in the crock-pot all day so it was easy to throw together. The chicken was so flavorful that I told John I'm going to cook double next time to add to salads, tacos, etc.

Anybody else think May rivals December in terms of being a busy month? And spendy? May always seems like such a spendy month for us too.

The kids in Abbey's class made this cute plate for their teacher this week. Isn't it adorable? We got it at the paint-your-own pottery store and the kids each put their thumbprint around the edge. I gave the store owner a class picture to use as a guide to paint the kids' faces and she did a pretty amazing job making each student's thumbprint look like them! Their teacher really, really liked it!

Ten more days of school for Will and Sarah, and nine more for Abbey, but who's counting? Me, me, ME!!!! We're in the final push to the end and I keep reminding myself of that Garrison Keillor quote that John had made into a card for me at Christmas: Nothing you do for children is ever wasted. 

I'm pretty sure I had a bajillion other things on my mind that I wanted to blog about when I sat down this morning, but my mind feels empty now and I'm going to consider that a good thing. Besides, my husband just told me that my fried egg is ready! He spoils me on Saturdays by making breakfast for everyone...including me!

Peace out, peeps. Enjoy your Saturday!

more than you ever wanted to know about the past four days

Friday:

I made my every-two-weeks grocery shopping trip. Went to four grocery stores (like always) because I buy my meat at one, my produce at another, certain things from the health food store, and the rest at Walmart. Came home and unloaded all of it IN THE SNOW.

Ran up to Abbey's school to take something she forgot, and to take some pictures for the yearbook. So glad I'm not in charge of yearbook this year!!! (Should really add more than three exclamation points to that sentence too.)

Picked everyone up at normal times! The last few weeks have been crazy and I've spent the better part of my afternoons in the car! I'm not complaining though. I love being a mom, and crazy carpool schedules come with the territory.

John came home from work early and we grilled brats for dinner. Yum!

Took an after-dinner nap, but still fell asleep while watching a movie with the kids. Woke up on the couch at 10:51pm and went to bed!

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Saturday:

Slept in. Hallelujah!

Washed, dried, folded, and put seven loads of laundry away.

Cleaned house. It was in bad shape!

John went to Will's track meet (last one! and he did great!) so the girls and I didn't have to sit out in the cold. We weren't sure what time he was going to run, so I was thankful John was willing to go.

Spent way too much time trying to find the tissue paper I bought at Walmart the day before. I remember putting it on the kitchen table while I unloaded groceries, but I've searched high and low (including the garbage) and still can't find it. The girls and I made do with what we could scrounge up and wrapped a few goodies for their teachers because this week is Teacher Appreciation Week at school.

Realized that our internet was down. 


Watched How to Make An American Quilt on my computer while the girls played with their Polly Pockets AND water. The movie was my attempt at distracting myself from the mess they were making. In my clean house.


Realized our internet was still down. 


Took a nap.


Made dinner.


Realized our internet was STILL down. John called our ISP and they told him it was a billing issue that couldn't be resolved until 8AM MST Monday (today).


Had a mild panic attack.


Made dinner. Reuben sandwiches. Which reminds me--I haven't posted my new menu plan on my recipe blog. Oops.


Organized our dvds and cds in an effort to take my mind off of our now internet-free weekend. Bonus: found an unopened Sidewalk Prophets cd I didn't know we had and it is AWESOME! Normally I wouldn't have minded the lack of internet too much, but I had some work to do and some stuff to take care of that involved the use of the computer and wi-fi! 


Loaded a bunch of cds onto my computer while waiting for Will to come home from his first boy-girl party. I was hoping for a chatty 13-year-old but he wasn't in a talky mood when he got home. ;)


Watched the 10pm news (lack of internet was killing me by this point) and watched the beginning of SNL. Betty White is hosting next week! Hope I can stay awake for that one.


-----------------------------------------------------


Sunday:
Slept until 8:15. Hallelujah! 


Went to the late worship at church. I don't think we've ever gone to late worship before. We usually go early because we like to have the rest of the day to do whatever. Gotta admit that it was nice to have a leisurely Sunday morning at home.


Came home and scarfed down some lunch.


Took Will and Sarah to a youth group party.


John, Abbey and I went to Starbucks. For the free wi-fi. John and I have committed to stay offline on Sundays, but I totally broke my "fast" because I had some important stuff in my inbox that I didn't get to open on Saturday. 


While we were in Starbucks it started SNOWING (again) and it was snowing hard. By the time we left it was starting to accumulate. We even heard thunder when we were getting in the car. WEIRD. As much as I was tempted to complain about the snow, I didn't. I couldn't. Because of all the flooding/tornados/rain in the south. Wow.


Picked up Will and Sarah and made a family trip to the library. Because we're the Sunday people.

Ran into a friend at the library that I kinda flaked on earlier in the school year. Apologized for my flakiness and cleared the air. The air really wasn't unclear between us, but you know how you sometimes just feel like it is?  Yeah. Got that cleared up.


Came home. Made dinner. Oh my gosh. If you like fish tacos, you must try these!!! SO good, and super easy! 


Cleaned up the kitchen. Have I ever told you that I'm a freak and canNOT go to bed with my kitchen a mess? I can't. I can count on one hand (okay, maybe two hands) how many times in the last 20 years that I've gone to bed with my kitchen not clean. Freak.


Made rice krispie treats. And only ate 1/3 of the pan. 


Worked on an editing project. 


Watched the news and went to bed.


------------------------------------------------------------


Monday: 
Kissed my older kids and my husband goodbye and made sure John knew to call our ISP's billing office at 8AM MST.


Texted him to make sure he knew Colorado was MST. I figured if I texted him I couldn't see or "hear" him rolling his eyes at me.


Got child #3 to school.


Resumed editing project.


Got a call from husband confirming what we suspected all along: NOTHING was wrong with our billing. Grrrrrrrr. Grrrrrrr. Grrrrrrr. Re-set our modem and router. Nothing.


Found the cable that plugs into our wall outlet and unplugged it. Plugged it back into the same jack. Nothing. Plugged it into the SECOND jack in the wall outlet (it's one of those double jacks) and IT WORKED. We went all weekend without internet because the cable was plugged into the wrong jack. OH MY GOSH.


Just said "Thanks" because I needed internet today and didn't want to hang out at Starbucks again. My very social self is too easily distracted at Starbucks.


Yada yada yada. Would love to fill you in on the rest of my day, but if you've made it this far, I'm sure you'd like me to quit while I'm ahead. Which was half an hour ago.

I quizzed the kids at dinner tonight about the cable/jack and got lots of shrugs and eye rolling. One of them even blamed it on the dog. I think that's because they heard me use the word "jack". Oh well. I'm connected again so I'll overlook it.

Peace out, peeps.

stuff.

i don't really mind it when monday rolls around because it marks a new week and a fresh start. mondays always make me a tiny bit sad though. usually i've spent the weekend with my peeps, and on mondays we all go our separate ways. mondays are my lonely day.


i expect today to feel lonelier than usual, because it marks the end of spring break. the kids head back to school. john goes back to work. and i'll be at home alone for the first time in 10 days. boo hoo. (ever notice that boo hoo and woo hoo are just one letter off? that one letter makes a big difference.) i love my family, and i'm happiest when we're all together.


but...


today is supposed to be gorgeous, and sunshine does wonders for my mood! the warm sun should start melting the huge piles of snow in our yard. i saw green grass yesterday when we were in downtown Co Springs. THAT gives me hope that spring is on it's way. and all the snow is just free water for my lawn, right?


yesterday was a fabulous day! the kind that you want to never end. 


john accepted an invitation to preach at our former church and he did GREAT! i was so proud of him! he preached from the traditional palm sunday text of Jesus' triumphal entry into jerusalem, and about Jesus' directions to the disciples to go and retrieve the donkey that he was to ride on. it was a good word--especially for me. several of you asked if you could listen online. yes, you can. i checked a little while ago and the link isn't up yet. i suppose you can keep checking. (here.) my guess is that it will be available mid-week. 


we left this church about 18 months ago. not because anything was wrong, but because we really wanted our kids to be a part of a youth program with their peers. we wanted them to go to church with the same kids they went to school with. and a local body appealed to us as well since most sundays found us driving 30+ minutes (one way) to church.


god led us to a wonderful church close to home and we've made many amazing friends in short time. we know it's where we are supposed to be right now. but there are people in our old body that we miss dearly. yesterday was so good for my heart. i got to hug and talk to some of my favorite people in the world! people who know me really well. people who loved and supported us after john stepped away from pastoral ministry. people who've never tried to "fix us", but who've wanted to see god heal the broken places in our lives. that church is made up of people who love me and my family. and they've loved us well. yesterday was a blessing. and honestly, it felt like going home.


after church we grabbed some lunch and ran a few errands with the kids, and then john and i got the kids situated at home and headed out for our afternoon date. we've been doing this for a couple of months and both of us look forward to the time alone. we usually go get coffee. or a newspaper. or run to the grocery store. last week we switched things up and went for a run together. yesterday was nice because we were able to talk about our experience of the morning. 


we came home, took a nap, got up and made pizza for dinner (my neighbor brought me some pizza dough from Trader Joe's last week--so easy, cheap, and good!) and then spent some time getting organized for the week. we love watching The Amazing race with the kids on Sunday nights. 


i tried to stay pretty true to bedtime routines last week during spring break so that this week wouldn't be too difficult to ease back into. but let's face it, sleeping in will spoil you! it was hard to get up this morning at 5:20am! 


but like i said earlier, it's going to be a beautiful day. i plan to hit the trail today and soak up some sunshine!


peace out, peeps!

Happy Stuff.

I'm in my happy place right now. I've been at home cleaning all morning. I love being home and I love to clean. I realize that might make me weird, but it's true, I really do love it. Especially on Fridays. There is nothing like waking up on a Saturday morning with my home in order. It's probably one of my most favorite things!

I have just a few quick things to share....

1. I posted Julie's sugar cookie recipe here. You're welcome.

2. I'm really excited about my choice of film for family movie night tonight. We're watching Troop Beverly Hills. It's so old but I remember it being very funny. I think my girls will love it, but I'm not so sure about the boy. |Update: It was funny (and very 80s) but I'd forgotten that there was quite a bit of language in this movie.|

3. I'm glad I had a morning at home because my afternoon is going to be c-r-a-z-y. Lots of running around to do, and must take the beagle to the vet. That might be my least favorite job ever. |Update: John took the beagle for me! My hero!|

4. John and I are going to Big Sur, California for our anniversary trip. It's on the coast (south of Monterey) but it's mountainous too. It's the best of both worlds, and the pictures I've seen are gorgeous! We've talked about going there for probably fifteen years, so we're pretty excited that it's going to happen! It seems very "us". Anyone been there?

5. This is my 998th post. Crazy! Sometime tomorrow I'm going to post another weekend poll and then I'll be back on Monday with something fun. Here's a not-so-subtle-hint of what's to come...

Kellie and I will be celebrating together because it's her 1000th post too!!! Happy Friday, y'all!

Weekend Life

A birthday celebration | Olympics | More Olympics | Reading in Bed | Snow | Coffee | Movies | More Olympics | Church | A double Valentine Date | Coffee | Cherry Pie | Togetherness | Laundry | Laughter | A special Dinner | More Olympics | One more day of weekend | I love my Family | I love my Life!

Monday Mash-Up

My morning didn't start off very well. I considered going back to bed but decided to put my courage on and face the day head on. I'll let you know how that goes. Tomorrow.

For now, I'm giving myself 10 minutes to sit here and blog. About whatever comes to mind.

We had a fabulous weekend. Saturday we went to the wedding of one of our favorite friends. She waited a very long time for "the one" to come along, and come he did! Their day was beautiful and glorious and John and I felt honored to be a part of it.

Sunday was a true Sabbath for us. We rested well. Yesterday was the fourth Sunday we've intentionally unplugged (from the computer). It really is a nice change for us and I find myself looking forward to it. Never thought I'd say that either.

This week is shaping up to be busy, but next week is going to EAT MY LUNCH. I flipped my calendar over today and wanted to cry. I've been pretty non-busy since my dad died. I let go of most of my volunteer commitments and responsibilities and have been able to focus on self-care (and it's been wonderful). I haven't jumped back into all that but everything I do have going on seems to be hitting this week and next. Wow. Deep breaths.

I'm feeling ill-equipped as a mom these days. Our son turns 13 next week. THIRTEEN. Just not possible. This is unchartered territory for us and we've already had a glimpse of some of the challenges that lie ahead, and to be honest, it scares me. It scares me a lot. Especially since John and I aren't always on the same page about how we should handle things. Yowza. Trying not to let fear overwhelm...

My ten minutes is up (even though I've been interrupted twice by the yapping beagle and his antics--he's not on my good side today.)

Did you fellow "Gleeks" catch my attempt at alliteration in my post title? Let me add that on this particular morning, I'm really feeling like "My Life Would Suck Without You". My kids have never seen an episode but they know almost every word to every song on the soundtrack including that one. (Mother of the Year?) Do ya'll have a favorite Glee song? It would cheer me up to know what yours is!

Saturday Love

Today has been wonderful.

Here are some of the things I've loved...

I hosted Bunco last night so I woke up to a very clean house. Love that!

I love this plate and all the fun things I get to use it for. Thank you again, Jill!

I love sleeping in.

I love that John had coffee ready when I woke up. And I love that he made me breakfast--fried eggs and toast--my Saturday favorite.

I love that my girls played dolls in their room almost all day. They were chummy from the moment they awoke until the time they went to bed. It's not rare, but it definitely makes my heart smile. I also love that Sarah is 11.5 and still enjoys playing with dolls. And her little sister.

I love football on Saturday afternoons. Not many more days of football left this year so I'm making the most of it.

I love naps on the couch.

I love popcorn. That I don't have to share.

I loved John being home with me/us all day. Loved joking around with him and sharing smiles over inside jokes. Also love that he's sitting on the couch with me right now.

I love this girl and the fact that she wanted to wear this jersey today to make my best friend smile. (She did!)

I loved that the Colts won too! Woohoo!

Loved the weather that was sunny and warm (for January!)

I could go on and on but I'm tired from all the NOTHING that I loved doing today.

John and I are unplugging again tomorrow (Sunday) and I'm also heading to Denver to spend time with one of my dearest friends who's in town visiting some family. See y'all on Monday. Or Tuesday. Or whenever the urge to blog strikes again.

I think I've exhausted all the words for random...

Our weekend has been super lazy.

We had planned to go camping with some friends this weekend but backed out after we saw the weather forecast. It's been cold and rainy which is perfect weather for watching football and napping, but not so great for camping. We made a good call. Football + Naps = A happy Mer!

We really have done a lot of nothing--slept in, read, watched a couple of movies (this, this, and I hope to persuade John to watch this one with me tonight), watched football, played games, napped, finished up some homework (weekend homework makes me grouchy) and went to church. That's about it. Aren't we boring?

Know what I was doing on this same weekend last year? I was hiking up Pikes Peak with three of my dearest friends. That is a memory I will treasure forever! I wrote about Part I here, but I never finished Part II. How lame is that???

The kids are begging to play a game right now (they're split between Yahtzee and A-Z, Jr.) so I'm going to join them.

Before I sign off I want to let you know that John is giving away several copies of his book on his blog. You can click here to enter his giveaway.

Hope your week is great! I'm afraid my lazy weekend is going to be a distant dream come Monday morning. That's okay though. My week holds the promise of some very good things.

Lovin' this long weekend!

This weekend has been extra long and lazy for us since John was off Friday and today. I am LOVING it. It's been the perfect start to summer.

I want to remember a few things about this weekend so I decided to do an alphabet recap.

A - Air Force Thunderbirds! They're out practicing for the USAFA graduation on Wednesday and they've been flying over our house off and on today. The sight and sound of them is one of my favorite things about where we live. Here's a link to some pics I took last year at this time. Absolutely awesome!

B - Brother-sister campouts. The kids have been "camping" out in each other's rooms every night since school got out. I LOVE it! Hearing them laughing and talking (and burping) and laughing some more before finally falling asleep makes my heart so happy! Today, Sarah and Abbey did a Bunk Bed switch. Now Sarah is on bottom and Abbey gets the top bunk. 

C - Coffee. I swear it tastes better on weekends. Summer Chore Charts. (I'm going to post a pic of our chart tomorrow!) Chinese checkers. 

D - Dance party. The girls had one this morning in the den. Love watching them double-dish. 

E - The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. That is the name of the book I'm reading (and loving). Anyone read it???

F - Five Guys Burgers and Fries. We ate there on Friday night. It's my favorite. 

G - Grilling. We grilled brats for dinner Saturday night. Too bad it was 50 something degrees and didn't feel at ALL like summer.

H - HOME! My favorite place to be. Love it even more when all my peeps are here with me! And we're going to watch the next Harry Potter movie tonight. We're working through them in anticipation of the one coming out in July.

I - We followed up our dinner at Five Guys with a trip to Coldstone for ICE cream! (Thanks for the gift cards, Kylie!) John and the kids had some ice cream a little while ago for a snack. We go through it fast around here.

J - Jack-the-beagle is certainly enjoying having all his peeps at home too. He loves the attention. I don't love how much he's shedding these days though. 

K - Kid stuff is taking over our house! They brought so much home from school and I'm slowly sorting/purging/filing it all. 

L - Lots of laughter and laziness this weekend. And Legos. Will is in his room right now creating something amazing.

M - Memorial Day. So thankful for those who've given their lives for our country and our freedom.

N - We took the kids to see Night at the Museum yesterday. It was SO GOOD! They loved it and so did John and I. On Friday, we watched Nacho Libre. Oh my gosh...it was hilarious. I must have been really tired because every scene was cracking me up and I don't usually love stupid movies. It was great though.

O - Organizing. Aka: The Great Closet Cleanout. I'm taking a break to post this, then back to work! 

P - movie popcorn with extra butter. Pancakes for breakfast (J is chief pancake flipper around here). I've also been pricing plane tickets. I think I need to go to AR soon to check on my dad. 

Q - quiet mornings for John to write (because the rest of us have been sleeping quite late).

R - Rain and fog and cold. The weather has been yucky all weekend but it's perfect for READING!

S - Sleeping in three days in a row! So great! Afternoon smoothies. And a snack supper tonight!

T - Traffic. You know it's officially summer when interstate traffic starts getting worse. We went to Colorado Springs on Friday night and the interstate was like a parking lot. Has been every day since. Good thing we know the back way! Thunderstorms. Thunderbirds!

U - Just the five of US this weekend. We are each other's favorite people, and that makes me crazy-happy.

V - Vacation planning. John was online last night trying to find a cabin for us in Estes Park over the 4th of July. 

W - Wet weekend weather--yuck! Work. John was "off" but still had some freelance stuff to work on.

X - eXtra long weekends are THE best.

Y - Yardwork. Not our favorite chore by any means, but we managed to get a few things done in between rain showers.

Z - We started the weekend off completely zonked, but now we're rested and ready for the rest of summer!

Cue the Hallelujah Chorus...

...because I'm finished with my project!!! Well, technically, I'm 95% finished. I just need to do one final proof and get it to the printer on Monday. It turned out fabulous! If you're wondering, my project has been the yearbook at the girls' school. I'm the coordinator. It's a big project that rises to nightmarish levels when you BEGIN in April. 

...I'm not in charge of that project next year. Three years was long enough. I am determined to finish well, but I'm gladly passing the baton to two friends next year.

...my fridge and pantry are full after a busy day of grocery shopping!

...Joanne brought me two new zippys today to replace the ones that were in my purse when it was stolen. I got the two on the left. They're super cute! Was bummed that she delivered them to my door and I wasn't even home to see her. 

...I got my replacement debit card in the mail! Of course it was after I wrote 4 checks at 4 different grocery stores today. Does anyone write checks anymore???

And, I have nothing on the agenda for the weekend. It's going to be another dreary and cold one, so my plan is to stay in my pjs tomorrow and READ!!!