And so another week gone by!

Well last weekend was great! Everyone had a blast and got a lot of sun! We were pulled around the lake on a big "tube" by my brother Rod in his boat, rode Wave Runners of a guy that we met up there, and later his wife brought their boat up there and we rode a three man tube behind their boat. Brendon wasn't too sure about the tubes, although he did ride in the three man tube and did okay. He also rode a Wave Runner with his dad and that wasn't too bad as long as Dad took it easy. He did enjoy riding in the boats though and playing in the shallow water. Brendon was also the only one to catch fish when the guys went fishing.
Now Jeremiah on the other hand loved everything. He rode both tubes with his Daddy and had perma grin just like Daddy!! He fished but didn't catch anything. His favorite part was "the Wave Runners and the tubes and fishin' ". I asked him and that is what he said!! Guess he enjoyed the whole trip. Bet we go again sometime!!! Daddy seemed to really enjoy his Birthday weekend too. The only bad part was that he ended up with bad sunburn on his very white legs. That will teach him to listen to his DW and put on sunscreen next time BEFORE being in the water for a few hours. He was already pretty red when he finally put it on.
Sunday he wore sweatpants and a T-shirt to play in the water!! Pretty cute let me tell you!
Then on Monday when he went back to work, I had to buy him decent shorts so he could wear them to work instead of jeans. Poor guy, today is the first day he has been able to were pants again. Still rubbed him a little but not too bad.
Today and tomorrow my neighbor and I are having yard sales. It is intensely hot, but we still had a really good turn out. That's about all that is going on for now. I need some sleep but want to watch a movie first. Think it is "She's the Man". Hope it is good. I'll tell ya what I think of it later.

The weekend is here again!!!

Yea!! I have been babysitting for the past three days from 5:30 am until 7 pm. I am so ready for a break. I am free now until next week some time. Okay not really free as we are preparing for a camping trip. I got groceries today and now I have to prepare foods and pack stuff up. I'm kind of looking forward to it, even though I'm not really "into" camping. It should be fun though.
Yesterday James came home for lunch and cut down some really big limbs on the neighbors tree. These branches have been a concern for awhile as they hang out over where we park the cars! When he left for work I went out with nippers and started trimming smaller branches off the big ones he had cut down. That way when he got home he could cut them up. Only thing is we are under fire restrictions because it is so dry here. So he had to wait until this morning to do use the chainsaw again. There is a list of things not to use during the hours of 1pm and 1am. The chainsaw happens to be one of them! Anyway, he finished that job up early this morning and then during his lunch he took the branches to the dump. His dad went with him as they had some stuff to haul away too.
We are hoping he gets off early tomorrow as he already has his 40 in this week. Then we can get going before traffic gets heavy after work.
Jeremiah loves going to VBS. He is having so much fun! He loves meeting new kids and learning new songs. I love watching him when he sings. He is just so darn cute!! Yes I know I'm a little prejudiced, but others say he is cute too so I know I'm not TOO prejudiced!!
I guess that is about all that has been going on this week.
I'd love some feedback on the slide show. I'll be adding more pictures to it soon I hope.
Have a great weekend!!

Learning new things!!

Well what do you think? Do you like my slide show? It didn't take long to put it together, but it took a little bit to figure out how to get it on this blog!! They had a way to put it on as a post but I wanted it to play at the top of my blog. So I sent an email SOS to my dear SIL and she gave me the information I needed to get it up and running. Thanks Elizabeth, I really appreciate all the help you give me on the blogging stuff and webpage stuff. I'm still working on a webpage. Not sure if I really need to do that or not.
Well on to other news. We spent most of the weekend working outside on the neighbor's trees. Well actually, James and the boys spent the day cutting them down. I ran into town to get groceries, then came home and did housework. I also got supper done so I could help when it was time to put the branches through the chipper. About 5pm our friends, Keith and Mara, came over with a chipper and we worked until 8pm getting it all chipped and then Keith hauled it over to the back of our property with the Kubota. (spelling?) Then everyone came in and we had a picnic supper of cold chicken, potato salad, fruit salad, baked beans, and chips. We were all so tired and hungry, that I don't think it would have matter what we ate. Then after everyone left, the boys were put to bed and we sat out on the deck with a fire in our chimnea. That's the first time we've had it burning. It really was kind of relaxing just to sit there and talk with Levi and his girlfriend, Becca.
Sunday morning it was off to church and then home again for a quick bite of lunch. Then we headed to the lake to swim with some friends. We all had a really good time splashing and swimming. That is the first time Jeremiah has been there. He really had fun playing in the sand. Brendon was pretty brave, except when James would try to get him to come out and learn how to swim with him. The main thing was that everyone got cooled off and had fun too!!
After we all got home, James and the boys went to his folks to pick up some stuff for the dump, and I went to a baby shower for my niece Joy. She is due the beginning of August. Poor girl really is uncomfortable right now.
Now here I sit at my computer enjoying some quiet time. I have Emily today, but took her and Jeremiah to VBS. It is the first time for him and he was pretty excited. It was a little weird for me to drive away. I'm so use to him being with me or with the Grandparents that to leave him with someone else was kind of strange. I guess I better get use to it though since he will start school next year.
Well MHH just called and wants me to bring him something to eat for break so I have to run for now. Hope all is well. Take care and God Bless!!

Rock Paradise

Okay I know that could be taken a few different ways, but it has to do with my little rock area off my deck. I am happy to announce that it is DONE!!! Little did I know when I started that "little" project that it would take so long!! I started doing the mortar yesterday morning and then it got too hot to be outside in the direct sun! So I started back up again this morning and stayed with it until I was finished, finito, done, phew!!! I think it looks pretty good, but then I am just a wee bit prejudiced as I did a lot of the work. MHH helped get the stones and even helped place the big ones and sand in a few, but I did the rest of the placing and then mortared them all!!! But I am so glad we did it. I really do like how it looks. Levi even put the chimnea down on one of the big rocks for me last night and moved a log stump that we had been using as decoration by the deck. I just keep thinking of more things we can do now with the rocks. But that will just have to wait for another time. Now it is on to finishing the livingroom. I'm kind of excited to get that done as it has been almost 9 or 10 months since we started that project.
Finishing projects is the name of the game this summer and fall. If we get them done, then I will start on new ones, but certain ones MUST get done first!!
On to other news in our little household.
Night before last I was needing a little me time, so I went for a drive. James and Jeremiah were watching a movie together so it was the perfect time!! I ran down to DQ and got an oreo cookie blizzard. MMMM....mighty fine!! It is always a toss up between that or a Raspberry Cheesequake. I love them both and on a hot evening ice cream is awesome!! Anyhow, I started driving around just looking at properties in the area that are for sell and also some of the new sub-divisions going up. When I returned home I was feeling much better and had my music up loud. Guy Penrod and the Gaither Vocal Band are so good. I can really get to praising when I am listening to them. Well I had parked but was still listening to the music when a head popped up over the wood fence. Levi smiled then down went his head. Pretty soon the gate opens and Becca ( his girlfriend) peeks out and smiles. Now this is just a little strange but not too much. But then they did it again. Hmmm...something is definitely up with them. I start wondering what's going on, but continue to wait for them to come to me. Finally, Becca comes out with Levi following. He says "Hi, Mommy!" (he calls me this when he has been up to something, otherwise I am mom!) Then he sticks out his tongue. Can you guess? Come on try! He finally did it...yep, he pierced his tongue. The little terd!!! I couldn't believe it. But wait it gets better. He didn't do it alone. Oh no his sweet little Becca got hers pierced too. She was worried I would be mad at her or think badly of her. I told her I wasn't. I mean come on they are both 20 this year so its their decision not mine! Well last night they were both feeling pretty sore. She was hurting enough that she finally had him take the post out. She asked if I'd ever really thought I'd wanted something and then when I finally got it realized it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Yep. Been there done that.
Levi still has his in and he will probably keep it. Be praying for him. I'm hoping he too will decide its not exactly what he really wants. He was pretty swollen and sore this morning! Pretty hard to eat when your tongue is swollen.
I can truly say I will never pierce that piece of my anatomy. James keeps teasing me and wanting me to get my belly button pierced, but I don't think that will happen. Told him he could pierce his!!

Life is never boring!!!

I've decided that life really never is boring. If I don't like the way things are going I just have to wait a little while and things will change. Two days ago or was it three. I had an awesome day then the next day was a total downer. Now today is a new and better day. I love how God can wipe the slate clean and start fresh in the morning. He IS an Awesome God!!It's not that today was wonderfully spectacular or anything. It was just a good day. It actually kind of started last night and then just continued on into today. Jeremiah went to bed early, Levi wasn't home yet so James and I were able to have some time to ourselves. That doesn't happen much around here and it seems like when it does we don't know what to talk about or do. Last night was different. We really had a good time talking, laughing and joking with each other. I love times like that. It is like time slows down and we can really relax and enjoy each other. Those are some of my favorite times.Today went well too. Just kind of hung out with Jeremiah and did a little housework and an errand or two. Then we had lunch with Daddy and he played a couple of games with Jeremiah before going back to work. Jeremiah really enjoyed the daddy time. Then we went to my friend's house. She just had a baby about 2 weeks ago and I hadn't been over to see her yet. Jeremiah loves going over there because she has a little boy that is about a year or so older than him. They play pretty good together. Today he got to jump on a trampoline for a little while. He thought he was pretty cool stuff! Had to show me his "tricks" that he could do. It was fun to watch him. He kept calling it his "talent show". We really got a kick out of that. Anyway her baby is adorable. It is a little girl and they named her Ellie which is funny because that is what Tawny and Evan are naming their baby girl when she is born. Only difference is in the spelling. They will spell it Ely. Well it was fun to hold a little one again.We came home for a few minutes and then went up to James' work to let him know we were going to go out for supper. He was headed to BioLife, so he will grab a bite on the way home.Jeremiah and I grabbed tacos and went up on the rims by the airport to watch airplanes takeoff and land. We saw quite a few but the best was a fire plane that came in and then after a bit took off again. Man was it loud. Loved it!!!!!Well that is the way my day went. Like I said, nothing major, just a nice day.

Puny...what an odd word..

and yet that is exactly how I feel. Puny! Yesterday was an awesome day. Got up had breakfast with my HH and got him off to work. My little gal I take care of was here and the two kids had a great time together. Hardly any fighting or bickering. I was in bliss. My mom and I took them and did a little garage saling and then I came home and got to work. I baked a strawberry shortcake for MHH and then whipped up some homemade stroganoff. It turned out pretty good. I felt great giving him a real home cooked meal. Sometimes I feel like I am just throwing things together, so it was kind of nice to actually have something planned out. My mom came back over in the evening with my niece, Katie. She had some of the strawberry shortcake and really enjoyed that. So my day just went really well. Jeremiah went to bed on time and by himself. So then James and I could spend a little couples time together. Went to bed, fell asleep and the boom it hit me. About 2 am I woke up and felt terrible. My stomach was giving me fits. I guess I should back up a little bit here. When my mom stopped over she also brought us a treat. It was two M&M brownie cookies with chocolate and vanilla ice cream sandwiched in between. I only had about a quarter of one( they were kind of big) and that was all it took. Before going to bed I had a bad case of heartburn. Now I'm back to the original 2 am thing. I was sick to my stomach for a couple of hours and finally it settled down and I was able to go back to sleep. So of course today I felt PUNY all day long. Just tonight I am starting to feel more like myself again. (Heaven help us!!) Anyway, I was able to do laundry and get a few small things done inside and then this evening after it finally started cooling down, I went our and worked on the rock area that we are making. I almost got half of them sanded in and steady. Hopefully I can finish that part tomorrow and then we can mortar them. Then I can get a picture and post it. Hope it looks as good as I am wanting it too!
Well I am being paged by my little guy. So I am going to go for now. Have a good day tomorrow and may God bless you all!

Today is a much better day!!

Yesterday is over and today was a brand new day. Boy am I ever glad of that. Although yesterday did end okay. I got to talk to my sweet daughter, Tawny. That is always a highlight to my day. She was feeling kind of bored and needed a pick me up. Glad she chose me to pick her up!! Little Aidyn was being funny and talking up a storm in the background. I love to hear his little voice. It really great to talk with her.
Today has been wonderful. This morning I got up and going at a decent hour. James headed to work and I took Jeremiah over to his little friends house to play while I went shopping. Not the normal blah grocery shopping. No Way!! Today it was all about me. And boy did I enjoy myself. I went to Ross for the first time in years. I ended up spending a couple hours looking and trying on mounds of clothes. It was a blast. I walked out of there with 2 shirts, a dress and a pair of shoes and I had only spent $36. Then I decided I might as well go to JC Penney's and see what they had. Well they were having an awesome sale. Could hardly believe my good luck! I got 3 shirts and some dressy pants for a grand total of $12. I am totally so excited. I love getting good bargains. It makes my day. So now I am in high spirits. Even though I know I have to go back out tonight to get the normal grocery shopping done. I don't care because I had fun today and actually got some new clothes that I really like.
I suppose I better get in gear and get the Garage Sale over with so I can use some of that money and have some fun again!!! Nah! I think I'm okay now. Just needed a break and to do something that was totally for me. That just doesn't happen very often. I'm so glad I took the time today to do it! Now I can be a much happier me!! James and the boys will probably be glad of that. Well I gotta run. Have a wonderful evening!! Blessings to all!

One of "Those" days!!

Ever have one of "Those" days. The kind where it starts out great and then things just start going downhill!! Well that's how mine has been. We had so much fun last night and I was so excited to sit down and post today. Then it happened... I finished creating and went to post and ...nothing...nada..it just kinda froze. Man was I fired up!! I tried to see if it had posted anyway but it didn't look like it. Tried to sign out, wouldn't work. Darn it all, I spent a lot of time on that. So I shut down and decided to get in gear with other things. Started the wash, cleaned up the house and started doing my very favoritist thing in the world bills(NOT). Yuck I hate doing it. It always puts me in a bad mood. You know too many bills not enough paycheck! Yeah! Well anyway the mail came and Jeremiah and I went out to get it. Opened up the bills and about passed out. Sheez louise, Water up by $40 and Electricity up by about $50. That's about a bunch of bunk. So I sit down and start figuring things out and trying to rearrange our finances. (Again) Well I guess it won't be too bad if we don't get too many other things going up too. Oh yes I forgot I had started dishes too and by this time the water was freezing cold. Had to start over there and it was time for James to be here to eat lunch!! Also had some problems with my washing machine but I got that one under control without too much fuss!!! And during all of this my little sweetheart Jeremiah keeps wanting some mommy time. Or at the very least for someone to come over and play with him as his big brother had to go back to his moms house. So finally after things settled down some... ie...James went back too work, Jeremiah has his cousin over to play, clothes almost done, etc...I finally was able to get back on and write some more. Of course, I thought I would have to redo everything I had done this morning. Lo and behold, there it was my lost post. You can bet I have been singing some praises. I really wanted to catch up with my DBIL on posts. Actually what I'd really like to do is get a few up on him but we will see how that goes.
Well I really am praising now because things are finally looking up again. I just hate having one of "Those" days! Don't you?

Happy 4th of July Recovery Day!!

Well yesterday was awesome! James and I had gone out to my Dad's on Monday and got a pickup load of flat sandstone. It was a good trip and we had lots of fun even though it was work. Some of it was quite large and heavy. We had decided to add flat rock to extend the deck and have a place for the chimnea that we have. When we got home it was pretty late in the afternoon and we had other things to take care of. So we didn't get started until yesterday. We had to do some digging so the rock would be easy to mow around and then we added sand for a base. After we placed the first to huge rocks it was like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. We would try different stones in different spots until we got one that looked good. We managed to get them all placed but have to go back and put more sand under some of them and then when they are how they need to be we will add colored mortar. I'll see about posting a picture when we are done.
We had to quit early yesterday as we had to go get the sand and mortar, and then we headed off to the big fireworks display at the park.
We were amazed by all the fun things they had for the kids to do. All the games and inflatable toys were free to play. It was great. Brendon and Jeremiah both went on the inflatable climbing wall. Brendon made it to the top and repelled down like he had been doing it all his little life. Jeremiah made it half way up and lost his footing. When he looked down to find a place for his foot he realized how far up he was and told the man " I think I can come down now please". It was cute. He really doesn't like heights very much, but we were surprised he went as high as he did. Oh course, I don't have pictures because I forgot the camera in the car and none of us wanted to walk all the way back just to get it. So our memories from yesterday will just have to be written about instead of being able to look at the pictures and remember. That's okay. Lesson learned I guess. Anyway, the boys had a blast and then we decided it was time for Levi and Daddy to have some fun. They had a real rock wall there and they climbed that. It was fun to watch them too. James almost made it to the top and then lost his footing and slipped. Once you start to go there's not much you can do about it. So Levi headed up and we thought he was going to fall too, but he hung there by one arm while he got his footing and his grip with the other hand. Well he made it, so of course poor James got teased pretty bad for awhile.
After a little while we caught up with Levi's girlfriend, Becca, and her family. We found a good spot to cop a squat and waited for the fireworks. The boys were pretty patient. I was totally impressed. Then at a little after 10pm the first rocket went up. It was great. They had awesome fireworks and the finale was unbelievable. We will probably go there again next year. We were all impressed and had a great time. I've never been quite that close to all the action before. I mean we were sitting right under them when they were going off. It was like so cool. We were laying there on the blanket and you could feel the blasts in your chest when they went off. IT WAS AWESOME!!!
We didn't get home till about 11:30 or so and James had to get up for work this morning so I'm sure he will be dragging today. I better go for now as he will be home soon for lunch. I'll try to write more tonight. Have a great day all!! Especially my BIL and SIL. Love you guys!!

PS. I'm catching up Don!! ;)

Back again...

Hey there. I'm back and ready to go on with my story. How boring can it be. Well actually it could probably be pretty boring but I will try to make it fun.
As I said on the last post this has been a busy weekend. Saturday James took some stuff to the dump and then went to the recycling center. He made a healthy chunk at from recycling. When he got home and showed me how much he made I told him he should put it away somewhere in a "Hunting Fund" so he will have it this fall. He said he was going to get it in quarters so he wouldn't spend it. That's a lot of quarters!!! Anyway I convinced him he should just let me put it a place where he couldn't get into it when ever he gets a wild idea!! He agreed. He has a hard time when it gets close to hunting season. He starts getting excited about hunting and then he starts seeing things that would be great for hunting. You guessed it he wants to buy it then. Well thats where I come in. I help him remember how much he needs for the actual hunting trip and he starts thinking if he really needs this thing or not. Usually its a not! But tonight he bought a fletching tool and stuff so he can fletch his own arrows. Actually I think this is probably a good idea as it will save him the cost of having his arrows refletched. He also got a pretty good deal, I think.
Hmmm. ..back to my story....So Saturday while he did all the running and getting rid of junk, I tried to work in the yard. Tried because I couldn't get the darn mower to work. This is really irksome to me as I am use to having a mower I can start with one or two pulls. My mower bit the dust a week ago and I am now using one that James was given awhile back. It is just a regular push mower but hey it works. Well it usually works. Saturday it decided to be a pain in my... you know. So I had to wait for James to get home to start the stupid thing. So into the house I went to work on mounds of laundry (again) and dishes (once more) and picking up after everyone (a daily occurence). Can ya tell how much I like working inside?????
Finally my handsome honey (forever more known as MHH) came home and helped me get the mower going. He mowed the front yard and then I mowed the back while he worked on the pump. He figured out what was wrong with it so now we need to get some parts and hope that will fix it. The lawn really likes to be watered once in awhile ya know!!!
Saturday night our friends Rob and Amy came over with their son Austin. Yep same Austin that was over all day earlier in the week. We all had supper together and then we adult type people played horseshoes. It is only the second time this year that we have been able to get out and play. We had lots of fun. Rob and Amy are a blast to cut up with.
Well that pretty much sums up Saturday. Sunday was Church, lunch and the rest of the day was total relaxation. Don't know how we managed that but we did. Jeremiah and I even got a little snooze in. I love it when I get to nap with him. He is a real cuddler. I'll miss it when he gets to be too big to snuggle with mommy. But he's not too big yet!!!
Well today is Monday but the days not over yet so I think I'll wait awhile to post about today.
Only 2 more to go to catch up with you DBIL.
Love you all!!

Here's talking to you...

Well I'm talking to my BIL and he's giving me guff because he has 4 posts to my 1. So now I have to get in gear and play catch up!!
Last week we had some friends over for supper. It is always fun when they come over. We ate and visited for hours. (No Don we didn't eat for hours, we talked for hours.) The boys played good together and that is always a good thing.
I think it was on Tuesday we had Brendon's little friend Austin over. Whoa...was it ever a long day. I forgot how wild boys that age can be. It was definitely a "Calgon take me away" day. I was totally ready for James to get home and take over. Holy cow!! I don't think I will ever have them together all day again. Maybe just part of the day. They were good, don't get me wrong, its just WOW I'm not use to that anymore.
Wednesday I went shopping. Pretty normal thing to do. Ho Hum..
I talked to Tawny and they are all doing well. Looking forward to September when little Ellery will be here.
Okay I gotta go for a little bit. Stay tuned for further news.....