Thursday, August 30, 2007

Baby it's hot outside!

My oh my...we've had an incredibly mild summer so far and honestly, I can't complain...it's the end of August and I think we've had about 3 or 4 HOT days so far this summer, but man, it's WARM! I heard that it reached 100 or more today and yesterday and I'm hoping that it's going to cool a bit in the near future, although since we don't have television to watch the weather and I never know what website has accurate information. I tell ya though, on days (actually nights) like this I seriously envy my children. I don't know why, but I have this need to make my children as comfortable as possible...I think all parents do, but I also think my selfishness has a bit to do with it :) (the more comfortable they are, the less chance there is that they'll wake me up at night!). The children have air conditioners in their bedrooms. AHHHHH!! So I keep their rooms cool and then shut them off before I go to sleep. There are nights when I wish I could just curl up in their rooms and sleep away in a nice, chilled room. Our room has a weird window that won't allow us to install an a/c without MUCH trouble. It's not so bad at night, but we also can't really open our bedroom window because we're right on the street and it's pretty noisy and I'm an incredibly light sleeper.

So we just got back home from my parents house. The girls went up there on Saturday morning and then spent Sunday and Monday in Tahoe. Lucky girls!! Grandma and Papa brought them up and took them out in the boat. They stayed at a hotel with a swimming pool and hot tub. They were living the high-life! They had a really good time. I'm going to get my parents to blog about it for me...since they know all of the details.

I'm ending here for now, I started this post last night and I've just gotta get it out there. I'll post more photos soon too!

My Goodness!!

I've been reading some of my friends blogs lately...namely:
www.homeschoolblogger.com/CupHalfFull (Which belongs to my good friend AmyBeth) and
www.greenrepublican.blogspot.com a blog I didn't even know existed until the other day and belongs to a long time online friend (the woman I'd like to be one day! Hahaha :))

Anyway, in comparison (and yes I know, there is no comparing one mommy to another and all that stuff, but in comparison, my blog is sad! I guess there is always something to strive toward and I do thank you ladies for being a constant inspiration, but for heavens sake, you're making me look bad!!!

Anyway, I am who I am and by the Grace of God am (hopefully) improving every day. I'd like to have strong political, nutritional, environmental views that I feel so passionate about that I have to get it out there and share with the world my cause...but I'm not there yet. I do have a passion for many of these things, but I'm still learning to FLY (so to speak). I also wish that I had an organized menu and homeschool plan and all that stuff...and hey, while I'm at it, wish I felt like gushing about my husband and how wonderful he is (which he is, I just don't feel that way all the time!!) and sincerely mean it...perhaps one day I'll get there. For now, I've got my simple stories, ambitions and lackluster passions to share...and with much prayer and of course each new day it'll improve. For those of you who are STILL with me and STILL reading my blog...THANK YOU! It's good to feel loved!!

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Savannah is Brilliant!


Of course I've always known that Savannah's sensitive nature and somewhat eccentric way was due to the fact that she was a total genius, but she never ceases to amaze me with the things she comes up with. She's started writing short sentences with the magnets we have on the refrigerator, and of course the number of letters we have is rather limited, so she improvised...I thought it was rather brilliant using a "Z" for an "N" and a "V" for an "A". I tell ya, where does she come up with this stuff??

Something she said recently that cracked me up: "Mommy, what are you going to get me for Christmas?" to which I replied, "I don't know, what would you like?" She looks at me and says, "Hmmmm...give me some options!" Hahahaha...OPTIONS??? I didn't realize a child her age needed "Options"!

Friday, August 24, 2007

First day of school...in the neighborhood.

Yesterday school started in our area. It's strange to think that Savannah is officially a Kindergartener although we're not going to start until after Labor day. I'm in the process of getting our home organized and streamlined so that when we do start, it's not so overwhelming. To be honest, the thought of homeschooling IS a bit overwhelming anyway, but it's definitely a challenge I'm looking forward to. It's nice to have the neighborhood kids gone during the day again. It brings back a bit of normalcy. This neighborhood is wonderful in many ways, but the lack of privacy/time JUST for family is a bit difficult to swallow at times. We got new neighbors with 2 dogs--the one thing I was praying for was NO dogs! One is a Yorkie-Poo which Savannah adores. She's always wanted a little dog to care for and now she has one she can play with without all of the added responsibility. The dog runs all over, including into our home and then of course the girl next door comes running into our home after him. It's very frustrating because people around here feel like they can just come into your home whenever they want. It's also pretty much impossible to have any family time outside without other children around and that does get a bit old at times. Anyway, enough about that.

Abby has been staying dry like a champ!! She hasn't had an accident in a while and has actually earned new panties for Savannah AND herself. She was pretty excited about that. It's so nice that she's going to the potty on her own, without me having to remind her constantly. I never thought we'd get here!

Saturday, August 11, 2007

The Girls First Camp Out.


Last night the girls had their very first camp out in our backyard. Grandma Karen and Grandpa Jonathan were the brave ones to sleep outside in the tent with them. It took quite a while for everyone to wind down (it didn't help that our kitty, Daisy was harassing them from outside of the tent) but just after 10pm everyone drifted off.

Grandpa and Grandma came over yesterday during our usual Friday morning "play-date". It was a bit hectic because there were LOTS of kids here. Liza was here with Joshua, Jackson and Joel and Julie was here with Brianna and Timothy. Jason, our new neighbor who is 3 was also here as was Felicity...then Grandpa and Grandma arrived! Talk about a bit overwhelming. It wore Grandpa out so fast he had to go take a L-O-N-G nap!

Once everyone left we got into more of a groove for the day (even though it was actually about 1pm by then). We had lunch, Abby took her nap and then the fun began. The girls helped Grandpa set the tent up. Tents have come a long way, this one was REALLY cool and was put up SO fast we had to do it twice because Jeremy missed the first take! Then we started a fire, roasted hot dogs (threw away the freshly purchased MOLDY buns--EWW!) and marshmallows and had s'mores--YUMMY! Apparently that campfire was the attraction of the decade because we had quite a group of kids over here. It was a great time though and it was so nice sitting around a camp fire, it's been a LONG time since I last did that.

The girls slept pretty well, although Savannah was up at 6:30--go figure. Abby actually slept in until after 8, even though it was pretty noisy and rather bright. When she's sleepy, she wants to sleep! What a good girl!

I tell ya, there is nothing like waking up and having your hot cup of coffee outside in the fresh, damp morning air! Oh, it was wonderful. I don't think I've ever seen our yard at that hour before (granted it was about 7:30, but still, I don't usually get outside that early). Savannah sipped hot cocoa (or lukewarm cocoa, as she likes it). Apparently she was watching Jonathan put in his contacts this morning and asked him what he was doing. He was explaining how he couldn't read anything until he got them in and she replied, "That's okay, I can't read either!" Hahaha...then later she told me that she watched Grandpa put his "tonsils" in! She's so funny!

Once everyone was up and moving around, we went out berry picking. It felt like an actual camping trip. It was quite a trek through lots of weeds and stickers, but we got enough berries to make a berry shortcake for lunch. Jonathan wanted the girls to have the full camping experience, so they cooked canned spaghetti on the Coleman stove. Then it was nap time for Grandpa and Abby.



This evening we had another fire and hot dog roast...and of course we had marshmallows. Grandpa and Grandma packed up and went home, but it sure was a fun visit. The girls passed the first test of camping readiness.