goodbye to summer

these are the bikes that made their first trip to the other side of the neighborhood without an adult

this is the patch of dirt worn into the dad's well manicured lawn from daily wiffle ball games

this is the wagon that sped the neighborhood kids down the road and skidding into my driveway

these are the army guys who went to war in my driveway

this is the street that held many kickball games

this is the blanket that hosted daily picnic lunches



these are the swords that dueled from the front yard to the back



this is the swing where many important meetings were held



this is the cat who sought shade and safety where ever she could



these are the pokemon cards that battled daily in my yard

this is the skateboard that finally made it to a skate park-and loved it!

this is the tree that started changing color and dropping it's leaves far too soon, letting us know that fall was on it's way and our long carefree summer days were coming to an end.

we will be back next year!

yesterday was jarfaces(my brother) birthday. he doesn't read my blog but happy birthday to him anyway!

i did it!

i miss her long hair! i miss the cute little ringlets.

maybe i should have waited!

yesterday

the birthday treats!

i woke to a 5:30 am wake up call, courtesy of thing 4. usually the dad takes that call but he had returned thing 3 to her bed just a couple hours before and fell asleep hanging off the edge of her bed. i had full intentions of passing the boy off to the dad so i could get just a little bit more sleep, but, when i saw him curled up under one of thing 3's half sized blankets i just couldn't wake him. so, i took the kid and conceded to the fact that

i was up.

we headed to the kitchen where thing 4 sat cooing in his swing while i baked some banana bread. -we had some over ripe bananas and the day before i had thought of one of our old neighbors and decided we needed to visit them. then later that same day thing 2 started asking about them and asked if we could go see them. so, i decided we needed to visit them. i was baking bread so i had some kind of offering.

while the bread baked, thing 4 and i snuggled on the couch and greeted the rest of the family as they slowly woke. soon everyone was curled up in the living room waiting for the bread to be ready. while we waited the dad organized everyone in a round of happy birthday.

it was my birthday!

once the bread was done we inhaled 1 of the loaves-quickly!

nothing like banana bread right out of the oven!

the dad headed off to work

i passed thing 4 off to the boys, told them they could watch a show,

i just needed to rest.

i headed upstairs, the dad had made our bed (very nice of him) so i crawled into thing 1's bed. (very comfy i must say!) just as i was dozing off into that feel good sleep, the phone rang! i'm not surprised. it always does. i let the answering machine get it. it was the dad. somehow he always calls just as i'm about to take a little nap. it's pretty much a never fail thing. he was calling to tell me that our blockbuster is shut down!-interesting. before i could get back to that feel good off to sleep state, thing 4 started howling. he was hungry. i fed him and unexpectedly, he fell asleep so, i carried him up and snuggled into thing 1's bed with him. we snoozed. i'm not sure how long. but soon we got up and got dressed and headed off with our loaf of bread to visit our old neighbor.

on our way there we were surprised by my friend passing us. we quickly pulled over to see why she was headed our direction.

she was coming with birthday treats!

i had forgotten it was my birthday.

we visited on the side of the road. her boy was howling, he wanted out. my kids were running across the road to see him.

it was a nice surprise.

we visited our old neighbor. i'm still not sure why we needed to visit them. i thought maybe the reason they were on our minds would be apparent when we got there, but it wasn't. life seemed to be normal there. it was a nice visit.

we then went grocery shopping.-yup, my fridge was empty!

when we got home i fed thing 4 and put him down for another nap. i laid down on the couch to read. i didn't get more than 2 pages read before my eyes were shut.

i talked to my friend on the phone.

when i got off with her i realized i needed to feed the boys. i fed the boys and hurried them out the door to practice.

(the neighbor was driving them)

as they walked out, the dad walked in. i told him and thing 3 to hurry and eat their dinner so we could sneak out and get an ice cream while the boys were gone.

we hurried out to one of our favorite spots-we LOVE ice cream so we have many favorites! as we were leaving the dad realized he couldn't find a set of his keys. this is something that drives him crazy and if he didn't figure out where they were he would be up at 3am and off to work to find them. so instead of going through that, we drove down to his office (after ice cream, of course) and found his keys. they were right there, on his desk. not dropped in the driveway getting run over as he had feared!

we got home just a couple minutes before the boys walked in.

before they could even get their cleats off the neighbor kids were at the door. they have been playing ghost just about every night.

so out they went.

i put thing 4 to bed while watching tru tv-our new favorite channel.

called the kids in at about 9:30 for bed and the dad and i followed soon after-

very soon after.

i am now 34!

"mom is a loser"-the confrontation

so, when thing 2 came home from visiting his cousins(the boys spent last week at their cousins house and thing 3 spent last week at grandmas, thing 4 and i had a quiet week to ourselves) the dad asked him

"what do you think of your mom? is she like, the greatest or what?"

thing 2 looked at him like he was a bit crazy-why would you ask me that? kind of look.

"have you done any sweet writings about your mom lately?"

more confusion!

"or do you think your mom is a loser?"

a quick look of shock and then i think there was a glimmer or remembrance there that he wasn't going to admit to.

i just told him it hurt my feelings. it didn't really (i think it's kind of funny-shows personality-but don't tell him). i'm just impressed that he spelled it all correctly! the handwriting could use some work.

i remember doing things like that when i was little. i remember i drew a picture of my mom pregnant on my dresser. i think i blamed that on my older sister. then i remember writing my younger sisters name on the railing of the stairs and blaming it on her. i think everyone knew it was me because i seem to remember them saying it was my handwriting. oh well, i guess we know where he gets it from.

mean parents

while the kids were away the dad and i went and picked up the rest of what thing 1 needed on his school supply list. he still needed ...
4 marble notebooks
4 folders
4 erasable pens
etc.
etc.
etc.
while at the store we came across all the i love troy notebooks and folders from HSM (that's high school musical, in case you're not with it!). i told the dad we should get these folders for thing 1, he-he-he. we both laughed at ourselves, at the reaction we both knew our son would have.
i couldn't resist. i picked up the cool folders and slid one extra folder, one with a big beautiful picture of troy on the front, into the cart. he-he-he, this would be fun!

when we picked him up i told him we had picked up his school supplies, he was excited. then i passed him back the folder and oh boy did his excitement change. he was upset. he threw it on the floor and proclaimed that he would not use it. the mean dad and i just laughed. we couldn't help it. the dad just kept teasing him saying, "i thought that was your favorite movie", and " it's troy, you love troy, he's cool!" finally i showed him the cool folders and told him "no, the folder was really for thing 2." thing 2 of course knew better but he couldn't understand why we would waste our money to play a trick. the next day he was still concerned, asking if i was going to take it back. i just told him we would find someone to give it to that liked troy. he was satisfied, we weren't completely wasteful.

i know we are mean, but that was fun.

use what you have

i understand the excitement for new school supplies and the great prices on crayons! this year though, as i reviewed the school supply list, while the draw to buy new stuff was there i decided to see what i had. the teacher asked for

6, #2 pencils. we have a gazillion pencils! the kids seem to bring one home from everywhere they go. school parties, birthday parties, the principal, the dentist, i'm sure you are in the same boat. i store this abundance of pencils in a drawer with the rest of the "art" supplies. i found more than enough "like new" pencils.

1 rubber eraser-exciting! we have one of those. i've been throwing away erasers. that is another thing that comes home from everywhere! i was tripping on them!

2 large glue sticks-i have that too. i have one that had never been used and one that had been used once-that is new enough for me!

1 soft pencil case-thing 1 has one of those that he's not using!-now he's using it!

box of 8 colored pencils-we had a new box of 12.-i think that will work!

1 pair of scissors-we have an extra pair of those.

this year, i was excited to use what i had!

have you read these?

i love this book.

i love the illustrations and the story is very cute-very clever.

i haven't read this one yet but i plan to look for it.

i expect it to be just as cute!

flashback

speaking of the good old '80's and my dad sporting a magnum mustache. i remember i had gymnastics on thursday nights and magnum was on on thursday nights! well, my mom had to rush down to the school to pick me up during the commercials! i just remember having to be in a hurry so she could get back before she missed too much! oh the days before the DVR. that's how they lived without it.

"mom is a loser"

those are the words my dear sweet thing 2 left for me. scribbled (in pencil-lucky boy or his behind would be mine!) across the top of his headboard! i'm sure it was scrawled there when he was sent to his room for "good" behavior! and we are excited for our kids to learn to read and write!? he-he!

family came to visit this past weekend. grandma and grandpa and lainakay and her family. grandpa brought his canoe. he's been wanting to do this for a long time. we packed up some food and headed to a park along the river. it was a nice day. the temperature was perfect as we sat and watched the kids dig trenches in the sand and grandpa paddle everyone around in the canoe.

perspective

do you ever wish you could put on someone else's eyes, that you could see how they see you? i often wonder how other people see me. in my tag post i quick snapped a picture of myself as i was writing the post and when i saw the picture it didn't look like me. often times i don't think pictures look like me. i see myself in the mirror everyday but i think in my head i see myself differently. and more than just physically, i wonder how people see my personality. do they talk about what a nice person i am when i'm not around or what a snob or mean person i am. it would be interesting to be a fly on a wall. in general we don't tell each other what we think of each other, rather we tell others what we think of someone. sometimes i think it would be helpful to know what people may be saying. i'm sure i come across different than i mean to in many ways. i'm realizing how things i say may be taken differently than i mean them. there usually isn't any hidden meaning in things i say but i sometimes could see how someone might think there is.

i'm also realizing that i'm turning 34 this summer. that is crazy to me. do you remember the show 30 something. well, that show was on when i was in high school i think. i never really watched it but i do know that those people were old. i am not that old-am i? i have 4 kids-my oldest is turning 9 this year! we are an "established" family. at least what i would have seen as that when i was younger. but i don't see myself that way. i still think of us as a new, young family. but i don't think we fit that category anymore. i know we aren't old but we are...well, 30 something!

just a thought

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAINAKAY!

life unscripted

i was tagged! so here is a peak into my life.

this is my kitchen sink-with dirty lunch dishes-there seems to always be a dish to do!

this is my fridge-pretty empty! grocery shopping doesn't happen as frequently as it used to now with the new baby and the kids home for the summer. it seems that we go when we need milk and oj. it looks like time! ugh!!!but, i do have the necessities!
this is my "laundry room" it's really just a corner of my basement where we do laundry! all utility-no glamour!

this is my toilet! pretty gross! we have one bathroom and it is in desperate need of a remodel-it's on the list!

this is my half of the closet. most of the clothing is still maternity! i'm not wearing it but i'm in no hurry to pull down my non-maternity. i'm a long way from fitting in anything pre-pregnancy!

favorite shoes!... well to everyones horror i am not a shoe person! my shoe collection is very boring and basic but i guess i would have to say maybe i like these. i'm desperately practical when it comes to shoes and these match (at least in my mind) most everything.
actually these ratty old things-actually they aren't as old as they look-i just wear them alot! would be my favorite!
i would have to say this is my favorite room! i love to sleep. i love to crawl into my bed at night and snuggle into the comforter. i live for cozy and comfy!

these are the kids. they just came in from play for dinner

this is the dad, he's not home at the moment and i want to get this post done so here is my most recent shot.

this is me-a self portrait of me.

so, there you have it. a bit of our life. i'd like these people to share a peak into their lives, laurel, lainakay, and alissa.

*now back to my book

my time

one of my favorite things to do, when i get a moment to myself, is to spend a quiet afternoon lounging on the hammock in the shade. i love to just lay there watching the clouds drift by catching the gentle breeze and listening to the sounds of the neighborhood- the birds chirping, the distant hum of a lawnmower, the muffled play of children. there is a special quiet that covers the neighborhood in the middle of the day. it is such a peaceful, comforting quiet. the sounds change as the evening comes and people return to their homes. but tomorrow they'll pack up and head off to work again and i can bask in the peace once more.