Thursday, April 30
A Great Mail Day
I got the most unexpected surprise in the mail today. The box was from the magazine that published my Lucy article. Hmmmm... Turns out I won first place in the article for 10 - 12 year olds category! They sent me this lovely trophy! I was so excited and really feel honored! Here's a couple of pics of the trophy. It's called a Granny Award. You can read all about it.
Tuesday, April 28
Tuesday Blah, Blah, Blah
I planted my garden this morning. Now we just wait and see if anything will grow. Not sure what I'll do with all them veggies if they do grow. Guess I'd better learn a few things about canning and freezing huh?
This afternoon I worked as the gym teacher. We played freeze tag. It was hot and LOUD. But it was also FUN. Some of the classes were the same ones I had yesterday when I was the librarian. I love that the kids know me and some of them seem happy enough to see me. Allison's class had gym today - that was really the best part for me. Being able to give and get hugs and kisses from my little miss is priceless. Tomorrow I'll be a regular classroom paraprofessional just for the morning. Then I'll head to Michael's to get supplies for Becky to do her Social Studies project. Projects stress me out. I'm not creative and Becky is still at the age where she thinks I'm able to help her come up with creative ideas. Poor thing. I don't want to let her down.
I'm starting to get bleary eyed - it's LATE. Time for bed I guess.
Final thought for the day - I'd really like to live in the country surrounded by trees, wild animals, and lots and lots of quiet...
This afternoon I worked as the gym teacher. We played freeze tag. It was hot and LOUD. But it was also FUN. Some of the classes were the same ones I had yesterday when I was the librarian. I love that the kids know me and some of them seem happy enough to see me. Allison's class had gym today - that was really the best part for me. Being able to give and get hugs and kisses from my little miss is priceless. Tomorrow I'll be a regular classroom paraprofessional just for the morning. Then I'll head to Michael's to get supplies for Becky to do her Social Studies project. Projects stress me out. I'm not creative and Becky is still at the age where she thinks I'm able to help her come up with creative ideas. Poor thing. I don't want to let her down.
I'm starting to get bleary eyed - it's LATE. Time for bed I guess.
Final thought for the day - I'd really like to live in the country surrounded by trees, wild animals, and lots and lots of quiet...
Saturday, April 25
Now we need some dirt...I Love The Sound of Children Playing On The Back Deck!
It's been too long since my children have run through the sprinkler or squealed with delight at the sight of a ladybug. Today Allison's neighborhood friends are over. At the moment they are playing 'house' with Allison's kitchen set and baby dolls. It was so nice out that we dragged everything out to the back deck. Summer may be on its way after all. It's 84 degrees out as I type this! YAY!
Ed and Katie are at Home Depot getting supplies to build me a raised vegetable garden! I can't wait to see it all set up! This year we will start small with just a few tomato plants, green beans, strawberries and a blackberry bush. If I feel really ambitious perhaps we'll try for a pumpkin or two. Mostly just things my family really loves - what a pathetically small list, hmmm... Anyway, if we experience a measure of success this year then we'll expand the garden next year. I had Ed reading the Pioneer Woman's excellent post on raised beds to see how she did hers. She is, after all, an expert on all things relating to country living- and gardens are a part of country living! Photos to come...
The dog got her first outdoor bath of the season today. She was shivering a bit by the time we were done. Sorry, Lucy. That black coat lying in the sun warmed up pretty quickly though!
That's enough of my rambling for a summery Saturday. Happy Weekend!
Ed and Katie are at Home Depot getting supplies to build me a raised vegetable garden! I can't wait to see it all set up! This year we will start small with just a few tomato plants, green beans, strawberries and a blackberry bush. If I feel really ambitious perhaps we'll try for a pumpkin or two. Mostly just things my family really loves - what a pathetically small list, hmmm... Anyway, if we experience a measure of success this year then we'll expand the garden next year. I had Ed reading the Pioneer Woman's excellent post on raised beds to see how she did hers. She is, after all, an expert on all things relating to country living- and gardens are a part of country living! Photos to come...
The dog got her first outdoor bath of the season today. She was shivering a bit by the time we were done. Sorry, Lucy. That black coat lying in the sun warmed up pretty quickly though!
That's enough of my rambling for a summery Saturday. Happy Weekend!
Thursday, April 23
Another Favorite Blog of Mine
I was just reading another one of my favorite blogs and I really feel compelled to share it with you. It's the NieNie Dialogues. You. Must. Read. This. Blog. This woman, Stephanie Nielson, was in a private plane crash back in August. This blog chronicles her slow and painful recovery, but she does it in such a gentle way. Her love for her family, her faith in her God, and her sense of humor keep her going. She's an amazing woman - a true inspiration to all who visit her site. Go there now!! You'll be so glad you did...
Can you believe I'm posting two days in a row?! Me either! Crazy stuff, I tell ya.
It's raining out. And it's cold. BUT - tomorrow is supposed to be SUMMER!! YAY! To celebrate the impending arrival of warm weather the girls and I will go do some summer clothes shopping! At T.J. Maxx - where you get the MAX for the MINIMUM! HA! Then we may have to trek down to south county to the Outlet shops. I got a great coupon in the mail from Carter's - I love Carter's but I'm afraid Allison is getting too big to shop there. I think we can still get her some things for this year but that may it - forever. Sniff. I also have a coupon for Osh Kosh. They carry larger sizes and Becky may even fit into things from there, but let's face it, what 10 year old girl wants to wear Osh Kosh when her friends are wearing Aeropostale! I wouldn't do that to her. Katie is another story. Have you seen how SHORT the shorts are!? EEEGADS! Or they are completely the opposite - can you say BERMUDA length - which I happen to think is very cute-I just wish there was some kind of happy medium! How come boys' shorts are completely modest, baggy, and unrevealing? Unless of course they pull them down around their BUTT and have their UNDERWEAR hanging out - but that's a discussion for another time...
I think maybe I should comb Allison's hair now - I mean it is 11:30 in the morning after all...Happy Thursday!
Can you believe I'm posting two days in a row?! Me either! Crazy stuff, I tell ya.
It's raining out. And it's cold. BUT - tomorrow is supposed to be SUMMER!! YAY! To celebrate the impending arrival of warm weather the girls and I will go do some summer clothes shopping! At T.J. Maxx - where you get the MAX for the MINIMUM! HA! Then we may have to trek down to south county to the Outlet shops. I got a great coupon in the mail from Carter's - I love Carter's but I'm afraid Allison is getting too big to shop there. I think we can still get her some things for this year but that may it - forever. Sniff. I also have a coupon for Osh Kosh. They carry larger sizes and Becky may even fit into things from there, but let's face it, what 10 year old girl wants to wear Osh Kosh when her friends are wearing Aeropostale! I wouldn't do that to her. Katie is another story. Have you seen how SHORT the shorts are!? EEEGADS! Or they are completely the opposite - can you say BERMUDA length - which I happen to think is very cute-I just wish there was some kind of happy medium! How come boys' shorts are completely modest, baggy, and unrevealing? Unless of course they pull them down around their BUTT and have their UNDERWEAR hanging out - but that's a discussion for another time...
I think maybe I should comb Allison's hair now - I mean it is 11:30 in the morning after all...Happy Thursday!
Wednesday, April 22
Hi Again...
It's been over a month since I posted - sad really. No excuses. Busy. Life happening. 'Nuf said.
Soccer season has started already. I wasn't planning to coach Allison's team again but I couldn't resist. So last night we had our first practice. It went pretty well! Our youngest player is 3, barely. He's absolutely adorable and actually quite good for a little guy. Two of Allison's kindergarten classmates are on our team and the three of them were kind of silly and goofy! We'll practice again on Friday.
Speaking of Friday - there's a rumor going around that we may see temps in the 70's and then into the 80's over the weekend! I dare not get to excited - the weather man - excuse me, weather person has let us down before! We haven't really had that warm weather since, hmmm, last October maybe!!! That's 6 MONTHS! Okay, I'm depressed now...
It's school vacation week for the girls. We don't have any real plans, which is fine because I do love lazy days with little girls (and big girls) in their jammies until noon, no place to be, and no real schedule! Today, however, we did have plans. I thought a neighborhood cleanup would be a nice way to celebrate Earth Day. Disclaimer: Earth Day for me is simply acknowledging the responsibility we all have in taking care of our planet. So, I rounded up the neighborhood kids and we set out with trash bags, brooms and shovels. Here in New England the sand deposited from the winter plow trucks can get pretty deep and brooms and shovels are the only way to rid the concrete sidewalks of the sand's seemingly permanent grip! The kiddos, who ranged in age from 14 to 6, did a fantastic job and when they finished they had gathered 8 bags of trash! We celebrated their hard work with ice cream sundaes on the back deck!
It's also TICK SEASON! ALREADY! Poor Lucy has had two on her! She's black so there's no finding them until they're engorged - EWWW! My brave sister in law, Erica, pulled one off of her on Saturday and Monday morning Allison found another FULL one on the floor that had obviously fallen off of the dog - GROSS! I didn't realize that I needed to be putting the Advantix on her yet - Guess what I'll be doing before our next walk in the great outdoors! If you've read this blog for any length of time you know my deep aversion to all things that creep - things that creep and embed themselves into your skin just about push me over the edge!!
Speaking of my brave sister in law Erica...We had a house full last weekend. Saturday night there were 14 people sleeping in our house! Keith, Erica and their three kids came down for the night - it was SO great to see them! And my mother in law, sister in law and two of her kids were here too! We had such a nice visit with them. I LOVE having my house filled up with people! I love the sound of children snoring sweetly as they sleep on cots in my bedroom. But mostly I love spending time with our family.
Easter weekend my parents, brother, and his girlfriend Sara, were here. It was a super nice visit as well. We had never really had a chance to get to know Sara before then, and as it turns out, she's a pretty great girl! She and my brother are really cute together - I hope they get married, hint, hint...
I think that's about it for now. I'll try to be a more faithful blogger...Thanks for checking in...
Soccer season has started already. I wasn't planning to coach Allison's team again but I couldn't resist. So last night we had our first practice. It went pretty well! Our youngest player is 3, barely. He's absolutely adorable and actually quite good for a little guy. Two of Allison's kindergarten classmates are on our team and the three of them were kind of silly and goofy! We'll practice again on Friday.
Speaking of Friday - there's a rumor going around that we may see temps in the 70's and then into the 80's over the weekend! I dare not get to excited - the weather man - excuse me, weather person has let us down before! We haven't really had that warm weather since, hmmm, last October maybe!!! That's 6 MONTHS! Okay, I'm depressed now...
It's school vacation week for the girls. We don't have any real plans, which is fine because I do love lazy days with little girls (and big girls) in their jammies until noon, no place to be, and no real schedule! Today, however, we did have plans. I thought a neighborhood cleanup would be a nice way to celebrate Earth Day. Disclaimer: Earth Day for me is simply acknowledging the responsibility we all have in taking care of our planet. So, I rounded up the neighborhood kids and we set out with trash bags, brooms and shovels. Here in New England the sand deposited from the winter plow trucks can get pretty deep and brooms and shovels are the only way to rid the concrete sidewalks of the sand's seemingly permanent grip! The kiddos, who ranged in age from 14 to 6, did a fantastic job and when they finished they had gathered 8 bags of trash! We celebrated their hard work with ice cream sundaes on the back deck!
It's also TICK SEASON! ALREADY! Poor Lucy has had two on her! She's black so there's no finding them until they're engorged - EWWW! My brave sister in law, Erica, pulled one off of her on Saturday and Monday morning Allison found another FULL one on the floor that had obviously fallen off of the dog - GROSS! I didn't realize that I needed to be putting the Advantix on her yet - Guess what I'll be doing before our next walk in the great outdoors! If you've read this blog for any length of time you know my deep aversion to all things that creep - things that creep and embed themselves into your skin just about push me over the edge!!
Speaking of my brave sister in law Erica...We had a house full last weekend. Saturday night there were 14 people sleeping in our house! Keith, Erica and their three kids came down for the night - it was SO great to see them! And my mother in law, sister in law and two of her kids were here too! We had such a nice visit with them. I LOVE having my house filled up with people! I love the sound of children snoring sweetly as they sleep on cots in my bedroom. But mostly I love spending time with our family.
Easter weekend my parents, brother, and his girlfriend Sara, were here. It was a super nice visit as well. We had never really had a chance to get to know Sara before then, and as it turns out, she's a pretty great girl! She and my brother are really cute together - I hope they get married, hint, hint...
I think that's about it for now. I'll try to be a more faithful blogger...Thanks for checking in...
