balancing the books

It seems that I haven't had time to get all the check books up to date all at once. I was having trouble figuring

Just how can this be?

Last month I didn't even pay all the bills and THAT is not like me at all.

Hubby was also amazed (and sometime not in a very pleasant way) at this lack of balance!

So yesterday I made the goal that today I was going to get all of them done. Once I sat down I knew within a couple of minutes just why I hadn't been able to get them caught up!

G came to tell me something, then something else, then decided that he wanted to play the drums, then had to show me something, then begged me to work the puzzle, then asked me to find his 'kid bopz' cd, then play the drums while he sang along (I at that time told him he had to sing and play in another room ~ any other room). This went on for the entire time I was sitting here.

I was diligent in sticking to the books, but mentally was spent at having all of the above going on around me. I just can't shut it all out. I think it's the same as when I used to talk on the phone, no body wants anything until you sit down to talk, when I'm sitting in front of the computer G thinks I'm not doing anything.

Blooming Monday

I got this succulent last year. She had little pink blooms on her then. After the blooms were gone she sprouted long 'arms'. This year I trimmed her up and she is getting bigger.

Mounds of Blueberries

I went Blueberry picking this morning. Maybe I should back up a bit ~

G and I have been trying to go Blueberry picking for several days (since June 17 that's opening day). The "picking report" of the place where we go stated "There are a lot of berries this year but there are more pickers" so they would close the fields until the berries could ripen again. I believe they were "pick out" in 3 hours last Saturday.

Being a person that can go picking during the week I was trying to avoid the crowds and go during the week. I really wanted to go yesterday to beat the crowd but since they were picked out last Saturday they closed for the entire week and reopened the fields this morning. My little co-picker decided that he didn't want to go late last night so I was flying solo for my morning. I got the to fields minutes after they'd opened (7:30am) and the opened fields were packed, and there was a parade of cars still flowing in! They continued to open fields so there were plenty of berries. The bushes were wet (it rained early this morning) but full of berries picked berries for 90 minutes (got about 13 pounds) and then waited in line to check out for 30 minutes before heading home. The line was much longer when I was leaving and cars were still streaming in.

When I got home I made blueberry pancakes! We all love blueberries but these are so tasty. There was a simple joy at being able to pop such a delicious berry in my mouth as I picked. I don't know if you can tell but some of these are HUGE. Some are bigger than my thumb. We'll be enjoying this for along while!

I've checked into planting blueberry bushes. I have to wait until spring time but they seem to be little effort. Remind me come spring!

Fun Friday

The day started out with everyone going their seperate ways. W and J(his girlfriend) used our Coterie Children's Theater tickets to go see a play. G and I went into our little town for G's final day of his "Surf's Up" class.

We then met up to celebrate J's birthday (which was last Wednesday). She wanted for us to go bowling for W's birthday but W didn't really want to so we never got to it. Today we (G, W and I) took her bowling and then miniature golfing. The girl smoked us in bowling ~ she kept saying she wasn't very good but she was MUCH better than us! J came in first with 130!, then G, W and ME! I'm either a gutter girl or a strike girl not much in between.

Just how can this be?

Then the kids took a couple turns on "The Vault". This is a timed game where you try to work your way through a hall of light sensors. Oh, I can't describe it well, it's like a mission impossible thing. There are green beams that you have to climb over and under to get to the other end. You know what I mean. Well, out bunch weren't so great at this. I believe G used his "smallness" to the best of his benefit and had the best time of our bunch.

Then we moved on to Miniature golf. G got a lesson from big brother W on how to hold the putter. This proved a difficult feat for all involved (and yes, all of were involved before it was over) since G is left handed and all of us are right handed.

We had a great afternoon.

Yesterday's Yeas and Nays

Yea! ~ I found out that the lump in Thyroid is most likely nothing and we won't do anything until we have another Ultrasound in 6mos!

Nay ~ W's transmission went out in his truck!

Nay ~ our Lawn mower is a pain

Yea! ~we're getting a new lawn mower

Nay ~ I think we have a mole in the back yard

recap in pictures

Just how many of these can I eat before I'm sick?
"Man vs. Wild"

G has been playing Man vs Wild every night as he goes to bed. All week he makes a tent in the living room and sleeps there. FYI ~ Man vs. Wild is a TV show about a man surviving in the wild for 7 days, trying to find his way out to civilization.
I had the thought this past weekend how I should post about how isolating our house is when the hay gets high. We can't see the cars going by on the road, Skipper doesn't leave the yard, it's wonderful. Much to G's delight Farmer Bob started cutting the hay yesterday! G rides with him until he's done at our house.
G and Skipper investigating the newly exposed hay field.

Couldn't have said it Better~

Work Zone

Getting things done!

Be back soon with updates.

Blooming Monday

This is an Memorial Bloom. aka: non existence any more!

The pot these sit in doesn't have any drainage so they have gotten soaked several times over. I'm now baby-ing them to get them back to this pretty bloom.

singing in the choir

Several weeks ago they announced in church that anyone wanting to sing in the choir should stay after for practice. This perked G's ears up. I told him that he needed to ask the choir director if he could since he was so young. She told him he could sing with them.

They practiced every week and this week they sang.

He did a great job!

Sunny Summer Soccer Saturday!

Both boys played in the same tournament today. G in the morning and W in the afternoon, so we were at the fields all day. W played keeper for the first game and said it felt good to be back in that position, but then played the field for the 2nd game where he scored a goal with his powerful foot.

Everyone had a fun day.

What do these things have in common?

Brushing your teeth, running the dish washer, washing the blankets, washing your hands, getting a drink, going to the bathroom and boiling a couple of eggs.

All things we couldn't do this morning! or at least without a bottle of water. They were working on our water line and had our water turned off. I just wish they would have given us warning I would have got some jugs filled.

I have been trying to not purchase bottled water and hadn't gotten some water for quite a while. Last week when hubby was packing to go out of town he wanted a case of bottled water. He then decided that was too much water and only took a few bottles. This saved us!

The water was only off a few hours but they were the hours that I was trying to get some things done and leave! Or more specifically trying to do all the things at the top!
I would not have made a very good pioneer woman!

Five Fer Friday

1~ When hubby left town I decided that I was going to finish the bathroom. Remember I 'd painted over spring break? Well, I had replaced the lights but hadn't done anything else. That changed this week. I finally found shelves that I liked and put them up. I'm now in search of toothbrush holders ~ I've found some for a whopping $15 a piece but I don't think I'm going that route!

2~ Yesterday G and I went to the dollar show (which is now $2) to see "The Bee Movie". We hadn't seen this yet and really loved it! It was funny for both of us. It is so fun to see a kid movie in a theatre filled with kids (vs. watching it at home).

3~ Yesterday we unpacked the 1966 World Book Encyclopedias from my mom. As we unpacked them W asked what they were. I answered, "oh, you probably don't know what encyclopedias are." W answered with "I know what encyclopedias are but what are these" I told him they were "world books" the end result was he didn't realize that Encyclopedia had been books!

4~ The weather here today is Great. Low humidity, very gentle breeze, and temp in the upper 70's. Couldn't get any better. Last night a storm came through and left us with a perfect rainbow in our back field. We could see the entire thing, even both ends! As you can tell there was a double rainbow for a while. At the time I was taking pictures it was raining steadily in the front yard and doing nothing in the back yard!

5~ G and I had planned to go blueberry picking today since the season opened on Tuesday. When we checked to see the picking report, they were so busy on Tuesday that they were picked out (on the early bushes) until next Tuesday. OH, we'll try next week again.

Bloomin' Monday

G's tomato plants are covered with blooms!

and several tiny tomatoes

Mark this Moment!

I just have to mark this moment in time!

Hubby is 'out west', G is at Mimi's, W is at a friends, and

I am home ALONE!

Of all the things that I could be doing and the list is somewhat overwhelming,

I'm catching up on my blog!

Just How can this Be?

OK, I'm moving on to scan the bookshelf for a book to read.....

Family

The Fiber of my Family makes up who I am.

I've been very fortunate to see most of my family

(under somewhat unfortunate situations) in the past couple of months.

My Mom, Uncle Gary, Grandpa, Aunt Marie, Aunt Val

Uncle David, Aunt Joyce, and My Dad

cousins ~ Corey, Me, BJ, Heidi, Marijane, and Jesse

cousins ~ W, Me, Dustin, Tyson, Johnny, Patrick and little G in front!

Rock Bridge and Devil's Icebox

Rock Bridge

I had taken field trips to this state park for years and then visited it several times and NEVER saw this much water in the stream! When we were little there wasn't a walk way and we had to use stepping stones to walk under the bridge. Looking for bats as we walked!

Devil's Ice box

I don't think I've ever been all the way down to the door of Devil's Ice Box and was amazed as just how much the temperature dropped was we went down to the opening.

At the entrance to Devil's Ice box there is the steep hill. Brave G started to climb (he's the boy at the top) and just zoomed to the top. When he got to the top he decided he couldn't make it to the walk way and decided to climb back down. He was amazing with his ability to climb and his bravery! By the way the other little boy was scared and stuck telling his dad that he couldn't get down. I was worried that W may have to do a rescue mission, but to be honest W wasn't really going to get near the steep hill!

When I used to go to this park on field trips there weren't any nice walk ways the trail looked much like this only with out the rail. You can still see the old walk ways and it's amazing that we could climb the hills! The new walk ways and stairs are still a workout but so much safer!

Sunday Recap.......

Things were busy the past week, thus not alot of posting!

G was involved in a community class this past week. They met every morning and worked on a putting on a play. They practiced they're lines, they worked on props and scenery. G is a great a memorizing and had his 2 lines down the first night. He was Jack (of Jack and Jill fame) and then little boy blue. With great excitement he performed his part perfectly on Friday morning. After the first play they acted out "Caps for Sale" where G was a monkey! Once again his performance was Oscar worthy!

I started a Beach Bum class a the gym this week. The first class was Tuesday evening. I spent the rest of the week recovering. Every muscle in my body ached this week. Hopefully I work them enough the rest of the week, that it won't be SO bad this week!

Hubby left mid week for a business trip 'out west' and then the boys and I travel to attend my Grandmother's funeral and visit with family.

Grandma Rice

Hazel Mae Calvin Rice

March 12, 1921 ~ June 11, 2008

Blooming Monday

This was taken a few days ago.

No sun today and blooms are looking a little wind blown!

Saturday recap.....

I found this on the table this week after G had lunch!

Who says motherhood doesn't have it's rewards?!

G, the Proud Dad taking his baby butterflies out of for dinner. He wasn't quite ready to let them all go so he would take them out to eat a bit and then put them back in their hut. This morning he finally let them all go.

G enjoyed his time at cub scout day camp. The last day was cut short because of strong winds, but the boys got to tye-die, shoot bow and arrows, and shoot the BB guns before they came home.

Today G went fishing with our neighbor, Jim. G and Jim are buddies and have a great time together.

Poor Skipper is a bit shell shocked from all the storms this week. I've been leaving him outside at night but he's always happy when W comes in later and lets him in the garage! Just in case! As a matter of fact Skipper is at the back window looking at me, wanting in the garage.

Even W is a bit weary of the weather. We had another thunderstorm a couple of nights ago. I called to tell W he should come home. I heard him pull up but then someone was knocking at the back door, it was W. He thought he'd park behind the house just in case it hailed the house would protect his truck! I wondered why he didn't just move my van and pull in the garage!? I'm sure he doesn't want his truck looking like my van!

Blooming Friday

He's a dad!

Little G has watched over first his 10 caterpillars, then his cocoons, and now his little babies are hatching. Yesterday before I left to get him from day camp there was one newly hatched painted lady butterfly, by the time we got home there was one more and then before we went to bed there was another. When we got up there was one more for a total of 4. By noon today there were 2 more (if you're keeping count that's 6). This process should slow down a bit now, since some of the caterpillars just made cocoons a couple of days ago.
UPDATE: the last of the cocoons hatched this morning! I guess some caterpillars just don't take much time to transform into Butterflies.

Just how can this be?

Last night when we walked out of the arena it was an absolute down pour. We were drenched as we crossed the street. Then the down pour let up some what to a steady rain as we walk the 3 blocks to our car. Just the moment the last car door was closed the downpour started again!

Amazing, Just how can this be?

As we left we saw the most beautiful lighting, it was awesome and everywhere! Hubby called me to say that there was a severe thunderstorm with large hail would cross our path as we were coming home, I should come straight home quickly. It was a down pour, buckets and buckets of rain all the way home. Never letting up.

Amazing, Just how can this be?

Just as we turn on to our road, the rain stops. totally stops. We walk inside dry, still watching the lighting show. Once we were inside for about 10 minutes the rain started again!

Home Sweet Home

price of things

last night's adventure~

Parking (3 blocks away) ~ $10
snacks ~ $18 (soft pretzel, nachos, 2 bottles of water)
cotton candy ~ $5
seats ~ free (but were $50 for ok seats)
fun night with G ~ priceless.

Gasoline ~ 3.89 per gallon

Our night to Walk with the Dinosaurs

A couple of weeks ago, I read that "Walking with the dinosaurs" was coming to town. I wondered if G would enjoy it. I looked into tickets and they were pricey for good seats then I discovered that it occurred during camp. I decided to just forget it, save the $ and the stress of over scheduling G.

All of that left my mind when G and I arrived at the library and there was a box for a drawing for free tickets to "Walking with the Dinosaurs". I filled out a slip of paper for each member of our family, thinking if this was meant to be then we'd win tickets.

I side note to this was a just grabbed some change from the van to pay my library fines before we walked in the library. I told the lady that I didn't know how much my fine was but this was what I had from my car. The change and the fine were an exact match and she told me I should buy a lottery ticket, since I was so lucky.

Fast forward a few days and G gets a phone call that his name had been drawn for free tickets to "Walking with the Dinosaurs".

This is a sample of what we experienced as we Walked with the Dinosaurs.

Cub Scout day camp day 2

Late last night G asked me if I was going to camp today, then got a bit concerned when I told him that I wasn't going today. I assured him that everything would be fine, and the weather would be HOT but not stormy. I thought that was a bit bold of me, so I then told him that everything would be fine even if it did storm. He seemed fine this morning.

I called the leader at lunch time, she said that it really wasn't that hot, that there was a nice breeze and that G seemed fine. She then told me that G had asked the other leader which way was wind coming from. This made both us think that the 'weather worrier' was working.

Cub Scout day camp first day .... sort of....

The day started early with a lot of excitement.

We left the church at 7:15am and headed south to the campgrounds.

The morning was cool and breezy

which is always a welcome combination at day camp.
We head to our first class in "Orienteering",

where we learned to use a compass and read a map. Then on to fine motor skills where we made and painted dream catchers.
That's when things outside started happening.

lightening, thunder, wind and then the hail.

We stayed in our rock shelter

huddled under the tables

for about an hour.

They cancelled the rest of day due the fact that there was some repair work to do!

This is the size of the hail we found when we got out from under the tables and out of rock shelter!

Every BODY rode the storm well, but the van didn't fair so well. This windshield and a lot of hail dents. The ride home was rough also. We headed into another hail storm. It hailed so much that it was piled up on the highway and blown to the edge of the road. It looked like snow drifts on the side of the road.

We're home now!

Home sweet Home