whatever

i have been having fun in the craft room!
i love the glitter chipboard letters.
they are so sparkly…
i was sewing
stamping
painting
stapling
ripping
it was a good day yesterday.

hat from the antique store…and waldo behind

bowling ball at the thrift shop…”Lady” engraved on it
i wanted this but i don’t know why??
maybe because “i’m a lady“

this is here in town…in kansas…it caught my eye while we were waiting on a train…the stroller was on top of it…made me smile and think of my friends there.

post office boxes

“bees…your weapons are useless against them!”
tommy boy quote.

i bought this at the thrift shop
how have my kids never kids never heard of this game?

four of these in the yard today…

new “love Elsie” scrapbook supplies…super fun.

the art center in talby’s classroom

jars of spools…wish i’d bought one…or at least the little glass dish

the chippy painted mantel the jars were sitting on…very shabby chic

the locker basket i did buy..it was from joyland!
remember that place?

and the cutest little pot ever…$4
it will be holding some sort of art supply soon

scott and sean left first on thursday morning with craig.
brand new shirts and shoes
the lego shirt could not be more perfect for sean!
scott’s says “Homework kills trees..Stop the Madness!!”
he picked it himself.

talby has afternoon kindergarten for the first 9 weeks.
she had been nervous the night before
but was ready on school day.
she goes at noon.
she wore a hand-me-down dress from morgan that i just love.
it’s my favorite thing she has.
she had her new pink and gray shoes on too.
and loves her hello kitty packpack.

lauren didn’t start school until today.
she was thrilled to get one more day off than scott.
we went shopping while everyone was in school.
she got so many cute things!
and we had a very good time.
this was one of her new outfits…shoes too.
she started volleyball now so she leaves at 8:00 & doesn’t get home until 6:00.
she’s growing up…that’s for sure.

annie was sad and confused at why her school hasn’t started yet.
she can’t wait!
only 2 more weeks.

this past weekend my heart was full of memories
being down at the lake
remembering when i was a little girl at my grandma and grandpa’s yellow cabin
wearing those foam life jackets
the carpet on the dock (is that right?)
the boat and zip sledding
my grandpa’s voice
his horn in his van that played songs “you great big beautiful gal”
his little styrofoam cooler with the rope handle
fishing between the boat and the dock for little sun fish
the sparkly ceiling in my grandma’s upstairs powder blue bedroom
i wasn’t supposed to go in there but it was so pretty i couldn’t resist
my mom and sister sent me some pictures for this post.

don’t you LOVE the floating lawn chair?!

my big sister and me.

so watching my kids play in the water
jumping off the dock
trying to fish
the sound of the boats
the smell of the wind off the lake
i was really feeling overwhelmed with good memories
all happy things

on our drive home from the lake
we went through neodesha where i’d lived from age 3 or 4 till i was 8.
we moved to hillsboro after where i lived till i graduated high school
i hadn’t been back to neodesha for 13 years
and only went back maybe 3 times after we moved.
we drove into town and immediately i said “slow down..you’re missing it already!”
it was still the same
very small…so much smaller than i recall (of course)
turning from main street to 8th we started towards where we had lived
it was so close…i had remembered it being such a long walk
telling them “that was my church”
“my friend lived on this street”
“there’s mr. brody’s house…we would watch wizard of OZ at his house when it was on once a year because he had a color tv and ours was black and white.”
“there’s my school…STOP!!STOP!!….that’s where my house was.”
it burned down a long time ago.
the lot was there…empty…
it was just very sad.

it was an old 2 story red brick house with a little porch and old garage
i was sad that i will never be able to see it again
never see the crumbly brick back patio with a “secret tunnel” under that had spiders
never lay in the backyard and look for four leaf clovers
or kill slugs in the flower beds with salt
never see my room
or the slanty playroom
or sit in the window nook in my mom’s room
or run up the stairs
never walk up the bumpy brick sidewalk
i told them “i used to ride my trike around this tree”..
that same one…the bricks were still there around it
i started to cry and i tried to hide it
maybe craig saw i don’t know.
i don’t know why i cried and i am crying now but i am
it just overcomes me and i can’t hold it back

we turned around and saw a bit more before heading out.
“there’s where i went to daycare..we had to rest in that top room”
“that’s where grandpa and grandma worked”
“i threw up in that dairy queen parking lot once”
everyone liked that story.

we left town and right away i wished we hadn’t
i wanted to stay
i needed more time
i wanted to walk around
there was so much we missed…
the library and park
my best friend’s house
the pool or the football field
the tennis courts where my mom played
the quanstrom’s old blue house
the high school..where my mom did aerobics
the field where i played soccer that my mom coached

someday i will go back when i can really take some time.
and pictures.
i hope.

i love my memories
but they are just part of the path that led me to the beautiful life i have now.
*the sweetest part of the trip*
craig said “i’m really glad the newspaper there didn’t work out for your dad”
me too.

in all my lake exhaustion…i forgot to say happy birthday to my mom!
i called her of course but wanted everyone else to know.
check out this young lady from this past christmas!
thanks for everything mom.
have great birthday week.
our present to you should be arriving soon.
lauren was jealous.
she honestly asked if she could open it & use it just once before we mailed it!
what-everrrr.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

group photo
this is a fun family!
they survived our family’s visit
annie kept her tantrums to a minimum
their kids and ours got along great together!

annie’s first boat ride…loved it
we took the boat over to an area with cliffs
and lots of spots to jump from

it was a big hill that was open on one side to the water
each ledge got higher
this is #1

sean from #2

craig diving from #3 which is up very high
but nothing like #4
grandmas hold your breath when you see this

seriously!
it is crazy high!
craig jumped it too…peer pressure
his kids did it
he had to do it too
looking at the pictures i said “i can’t believe i let them do that!”
craig answered “if you’d gone up yourself you’d never have let them do it.”
scott’s bravery amazed us.
he won’t do roller coasters but he tried this?
he was bribed with $5 if he did it.
but he did it many more times just for fun!
josh (11 years old) was very brave so scott didn’t want to seem wimpy
keith (the daddy) did a back flip off #3!
he’s nuts

the first day annie was terrified of the water
she had a death grip on craig and i
then in the afternoon on day #2…..
who is that brave little baby swimming all alone?

she was all over the place
kicking her little legs and splashing dragonflies
go annie!
ahhhh…my arms are free
by the 3rd day i got to float around alone while she entertained herself!

they had a rope tied to a tree
the kids took turns jumping off a ladder in the water
except when the dads scaled the tree to swing
and plunged into the water
making very big splashes

sean tried some fishing
without success
the bigger kids caught minnows with nets
the dog caught butterflies and ate them in one bite

tubing behind the boat
trying knee boarding for the first time
and loving it

new friends josh and hope

it was just a great family weekend
lots and lots of sun (it was HOT!)
and play
and silly silly kids
kids can wear you out but nothing beats family time.
thanks again guys for inviting us out!
maybe next time the mamas will jump the cliff….
HA HA HA HA HA

i feel like i just did this
packing all our stuff up in the truck
but i got to do it again all day today

i have now washed every piece of dirty clothing in our house
i have packed the bags
the towels and swimsuits
food and toys
and 2 new scrapbook magazines of course.

we are headed out for a weekend at the lake with friends from craig’s office.
they have never been around our kids for more than 10 minutes.
i just hope they are prepared for what a weekend with US is like.
i hope they can still work together on Monday.

it should be very fun.
maybe some of the kids will even try to water ski
or whatever kids do behind boats these days.
i think i will be off the boat most of the time.
motion sickness stinks.

when i woke up this morning the pool was green!
it looked like a lake.
so much can change in a day.
so i spent alot of time working on that today
thank you amy d. for helping me
even though you scared me half to death sneaking up on me.
hoping for clear(er) water tomorrow.

4 months after buying the potty seat
having it sit on the kitchen floor
being used as a step stool to reach the dishes….
it served it’s proper purpose today
TWICE.
i am not going to push my luck at all.
when the big kids go to school
we will have time to work on it.
but she understood today.
it clicked.
yeah for annie!!!

it’s late
my banana bread is in the oven and a half sized blueberry buckle
mmmmmmm
and my morning gets to start with donuts.
should be a good day.

and for no reason at all other than
i miss them so much!

love you girlies!
miss you bunches.