Back and Ahead

July came and went with a blur. We slowed down one week to enjoy a nice relaxing vacation at Sunset Beach. Man we love that place. The weather was great, the waves were great (from the reclined position of my chair) and the company was great. We even had a vacation visitor that we all love. Thanks Miss Stacie for hanging with us. I like our beach chats.

I finally broke down and started using Google calendar. Life changing. Love love love it. I love the reminders, I love the color coding. I love how nothing has to be scratched out and it all lines up beautifully. As Martha would say, "it's a good thing." Having it on my new phone is an even better thing. We ordered Five Guys on Saturday just because "I have an app for that!"

The kids have had a million things on the calendar this summer too. Swim, drums, music, sewing, appointments, and always a bazillion extra kids at the house have made it go by even faster.  But now it is August...the month of many changes. I am sooooo looking forward to the Disney trip (that'll get its own post soon) in a couple weeks but I am sooooo not looking forward to going back to school the following week. It'll be ok once we get back into the groove but man I love summer. I love the late nights. I love the grilling. I love the sun shining at 8pm. I just love the sun. School means that fall and those 6pm sunsets are around the corner. Blah. Is it too early to countdown to summer 2012?

Forever Reign

My current favorite and daily prayer. Listen and worship.
And for any Baptists that might be reading this, it is even ok to lift your hands on this one.
I won't tell. ;)

Quotes of the Day & Other Smiling Times

Andy- (when we drove onto the island) "Yes! This is where all the good stuff happens."

Aaron- "I have sand in all my nooks and crannies."

Maci helped Aaron pick out some Axe spray deodorant at Walgreens. They were smelling ALL of them. Contemplating. Aaron was really listening to Maci's opinions and Maci was really trying to help Aaron make a good choice on his deodorant scent. When did they get so grown up?

Later I taught the kids how to play Balderdash. We laughed so hard we probably disturbed the neighbors. They are really good at it. Andy wanted to learn too. He is still a little young to get the whole concept which made things even more entertaining. I could tell you all the stories but they really are those "had to be there kind."  I'll just note this one so we'll always remember it...When it was Andy's turn to be the reader, he wrote down the correct definition and then mixed it in with our fake ones.  He read all the "fake definitions" and then prefaced the last one with, "Now. Here's mine." Bless him.  :)

Remember Me?

I really don't have much to say. Yet I feel I should post. I feel I should just stand up and wave, "I'm still here." I know things have gotten crazy the last couple weeks. I'm working. Working. Working. But you know how people talk about when you are doing what you love, it doesn't seem like work. They are spot on. I haven't minded getting up early or staying up late. I thought I knew so much about Disney only to discover how much I have yet to learn. I thought I was confident in my writing skills only to be given an opportunity that makes me doubt. Yes. It has been a crazy couple of week. But in a good way. And I'm still here. I'm starting to find the groove. I really didn't have to stay up this late tonight. Except I had 2 All My Childrens, 2 One Life to Lives, and 1 Bachelorette to catch up on. I couldn't even start them until all the boys were in bed. Funny how those boys don't like watching any of those shows with me. Maci does though. We watched together. The soap opera legacy lives on...at least until September. Sigh. Yes, I heard the news about the internet...but do you really think Susan Lucci is going to settle for an internet soap? Not likely.

So. As I said, not much to say except that I'm still here. Keep the tea coming...

Happy Birthday Maci Joy

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Aaron's Birthday 6/22/11

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From Pastel to Pop!

Work Ahead

I've been told I create work.  I've even been compared to Lucy Ricardo! Like I just sit around and think of things to do? Well. That isn't exactly how it happens...

Last Saturday I came upstairs to take a shower. We'd been to the gym,  Lowes, and then in the yard -- I needed that shower badly (way way badly) but something in Aaron's room caught my eye.  One thing led to another which ended with me cleaning out 2 closets and then deciding the boys needed to swap bedrooms. Right then. That minute- before my much needed shower.  Yes, I do think I may have a touch of ADD and possibly OCD but the combination allows us to get some great things done at the house.

Anyway, we've never liked the color of the blue bedroom. After painting the gameroom (sunroom) it was the only pastel room in the house and Brad and I both detest pastels. Detest. Blech. Baby colors are for babies type detest. But we've lived with the blue for 16 months because a) we don't really like to paint and b) no one was ever in that room. We *called* it Aaron's room but he never actually spent time in there. He hung out in the playroom. He slept in the playroom. The blue room was basically just the drum room attached to the closet where he kept his clothes. (We couldn't let him use the closet in the playroom or else the other kids might figure out that he really had a sweet deal with two bedrooms.)

Andy originally got the big red and blue (bright- not pastel) room because of the really nice super hero fatheads that were already on the walls. It looks great and it was easy. It is also at the far end of the hall so we didn't often notice how crazy messy it can become.  Last Saturday, I noticed.  After spending way too much time trying to find the bottom on Andy's closet, I realized this child had much more space than he needed or could properly care for.

Time to move Grandpa Aaron into that space. Grandpa Aaron will keep it clean AND appreciate the space. Within a couple hours Andy was in the blue room (the pastel one- blech) and Aaron moved to the "men in tights room."  Happy Go Lucky Aaron let us know the men in tights were really cramping his style and he'd like some assistance in the matter.  That meant we'd need to move them to Andy's new room. AKA the blechy blue room. Are you following me here? Moving the men means first biting the bullet and painting  the room.  Goodbye baby blue- hello Bright Red and Some-funkycolor-name Yellow. :) And That is the work ahead. See now. Makes perfect sense. I didn't just *create* work. It just finds me.

I'd post before pictures but I haven't seen my camera since Aaron's drum concert at Stumptown Park... another blog for another day...so I trust you are imagining the before pictures and I'll try to find that camera soon to take the after pictures.

PS- Yes. I did eventually get that shower.

Thank God for Uniforms

No, I never thought I would utter those words. But I did literally just thank God for uniforms. At least I know what Maci wears to school everyday- or at least in some variation. We just went through a 20 minute ordeal having her change clothes tonight before she left for SNS. (The Saturday night get together for middle schoolers at the Y)  The denim skirt (whose is that anyway?!) and converse didn't work for me or her dad.  She left in jeans.

After going through her closet and offering several suggestions I was told that her style is vintage. My style is prissy (or so I was told) and our styles just clash. That we can agree on.

It was like one of those scenes from the movies where I am picturing her as a 4 year old wishing I could still put her in those adorable red check seersucker dresses with the lady bugs on the bottom. No, I didn't say that outloud to her. I told her I appreciate her artistic abilities and style and I also like vintage.  We need to go shopping together to find an artistic vintage look that fits her style but doesn't make her look homeless. She told me we will be going to Forever 21. I guess Dillards would be out of the question.

Coming Soon

I know. I know. My promised pieces sometimes take months to appear- like the Christmas pics in February. But I am planning on the following blogs.

*Surviving the wisdom teeth- with little dignity.
*Mamakuh 2011. Best one yet I do believe.
*Brad's garden additions
*My new hair cutting career (can you call it a career when you only have 3 clients and no one pays you?)
*Countdown to all the important things...last day of school, beach trip that has yet to be scheduled, and Disney trip 2011 that has be scheduled
*A new installment (or 3) of "Corners"

There. It's in print. Now it has to happen. Eventually.