Project 365: Week 24

Sunday, June 6, 2010

After church today Paul and I "restfully" cleaned out the garage, mowed, and trimmed hedges, all of which desperately needed to be done. Even the car got cleaned out!! Then we went to a baptism out in the country.

It was so bloomin' hot. I was grateful to not have the kids there in that heat with that many people, trying to feed them and watch them swim. It made for a nice (but hot), relaxing (but hot) visit with our fellow church members (who were also hot).

And then on the way home...we just might have found "the land." We'll see...

What do you think??? Not bad, eh?

Monday, June 7, 2010

After sleeping late (again), vacuuming the entire downstairs, and doing various other necessary-before-my-children-come-back chores, I headed southward to pick up the kids from my parents' house. In some ways it seemed like we had just left them, but in others it seemed like a lifetime since we'd seen them. We were all happy to be reunited. Here are a couple of cute moments mom captured while they were there. (I was on the road for over four hours today. I was in no mood for photographs.)

And, no. That's not a horse. Cubbie is my mom's greyhound. Gabriel calls him "My Dubbie."

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Today was a day of catching up with each other. I "locked" us all in the bonus room upstairs (not really, so please don't call DCFS), where the kids played and watched movies while I cleaned and organized all the random stuff that gets designated to the bonus room. We even ate lunch up there! It was a pleasant change. We also read lots of stories together today. And then, probably because I had missed them so much, I just had to end the day with a little sweet for them: swirled lollipops from our trip to Eureka Springs.

Can't believe I let my baby eat a lollipop...

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Today we spent a couple of hours at the zoo. From 10:00 - 11:00 the weather was pleasant, but the next hour was downright miserable. Even the kids were complaining!

One of these days I'm going to the zoo...just me, myself, and my zoom lens. 'Cause I really wanted to capture this moment UP CLOSE.

Saylor fell in love with this sweet baby. I think he liked her, too!

All Aboard the Zoo Train!

Another animal Saylor really liked. Wonder why??

We quickly made our rounds to the things we missed the last time and then headed home for lunch in the air-conditioning like good, sensible folks!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

We had plans to go skating tonight, but that didn't pan out. We had decided to cash in the kids' free chicken sandwich cards at Chick-fil-A and then let the kids play. Our dinner took a little longer than planned because the play space was closed for "clean-up" (don't ask) when we got there, so that took a while. By the time we were all fed, though, it was finally ready, so the kids got their fill of tubes and slides. For now.

Noah made friends. As usual.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Tonight was our friend's birthday party. TEN years old!! (Don't know where the time has gone.) Anyway, his mom did a Highlights Magazine party. Cute, huh?

And then while the kids played outside, my little Gabriel decided he was big stuff and hopped on this battery-powered four-wheeler and headed off into the woods all by himself!!

(Ugh. This picture is wacky-looking. That's what I get for taking this from underneath the trees and using a cell!!)

Saturday, June 12, 2010

We went to family story time at the Main Library this morning and enjoyed a KinderSongs concert. We're fans.

Wah-ha-ha!!!! I caught Noah singing and dancing!!!

Hooray for egg shakers!

Wow. Sometimes I get to the end of these posts and think, "How did we DO so much this week?!" (And occasionally--"How is it that I found myself without a REAL camera for the better part of it?") Anyway, I'm certainly glad to have a way to keep up. And I enjoy getting to know all the ladies in Sara's project. See y'all next week!

Project 365: Week 23

Sunday, May 30, 2010

The boys are enjoying the sprinkler one of them got as a birthday gift.

In other news, I scrapbooked with a friend today. Just for a few hours. Which means I got next to nothing done. But it was fun, and that's what counts.

Monday, May 31, 2010

Memorial Day

After spending the night in Conway with Poppy, we purely relaxed all day today. Didn't even cook!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

My angel. Perhaps you've seen his artwork and his wood carvings. Well. He's obsessed with squirting out all my diaper wipe solution onto his carpet, bed, chair, whatever looks inviting. And it's driving me plumb crazy. He does have a good time, though. Until he gets caught. Another two empty bottles. Yay for me.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

I did an obscene amount of laundry over the last couple of days. Obscene. I think it was time... What do you think?

And then we drove to my parents' house (two hours away). A lot goes on in the car, as you can imagine.

This is Atticus (well, at first it's my finger...) jabbering on the phone. I didn't get the first part of his "conversation," which was even more animated!

Thursday, June 3, 2010

All four children are staying with my parents. I'll give you a moment to get over the shock....

That's right. We are just a "couple" until Monday morning! So after a nice, quiet drive together, I am shopping with my hubby this afternoon. We stopped at Williams-Sonoma (drool) to use a $25 gift certificate we've been hoarding saving since CHRISTmas. $25 at Williams-Sonoma. We may be here a while...

In the meantime, Noah is riding his bike on a nice, flat circular driveway. No picture of Noah, but there's documentation that he had an audience.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Today I went to a women's retreat and heard from several very wise ladies about parenting, housekeeping, and leaving a legacy of prayer. So, so good. Timely even! Don't you wish you could just bottle up those kinds of events and use them any old time you feel like it? I enjoyed lunch with a couple of my "besties" and had a quiet drive home. Well, not quiet exactly. Some of the time I was blaring Chris Tomlin or "Highway Man." (Yeah, I'm a perplexing sort of gal musically...)

And then...I came home to this:

Man. It looks so much better than the nothingness that was there before!! I can't tell you how excited it makes me. All this and a date with Paulie tonight! Doesn't get much better than that.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Today was my man's day. He had me all to himself. He could go where he wanted, eat what he wanted, stay out as late as he wanted. We slept late this morning and then got up and scouted for land until almost 3:00, at which time we decided to grab some lunch! (Can you imagine doing that with kids in the car?!) We shopped a little more and then came home and did some laborious housework. But it was nice. It's pretty hard to mop the hardwoods in our living room when children are present. Got that done and then took some pictures of our much-cleaner house...for selling purposes. Kinda made me wanna go out and celebrate...again. Which is exactly what we did! In the meantime, the children were making memories with Mimi and Da.

It's been a wonderful week/weekend. This week Lisa is hosting for Sara while she's away. I'm off to go fellowship with my church. Tomorrow morning I will be reuniting with four beautiful blessings...

Drooling

Y'all do realize why we want to sell our house and what we want to do next, right? Well, here's a hint.

I've been wanting this set for a while. The best way to get something is to win it. Right?

Go here to get in on the action. (And severely diminish my chances...)

Project 365: Week 22

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Crazy Weekend Event #6: Sang at church. Had to be there at 9:00ish a.m. Church at 10:00. Home by around 12:30.

Crazy Weekend Event #7: Had to have Saylor at the dance recital venue at 1:30ish. p.m. Dressed and ready. The rest of the family showed up later for a 2:30 show time.

Waiting backstage. Would you just look at those amazing eyelashes?!

And today was Gabriel's official 3rd birthday!

Monday, May 24, 2010

Crazy (Extended) Weekend Event #8: Our special, very-much-missed out-of-town friends came to visit for the day. Such fun! It was almost like old times.

These two quietly became pals.

I got nothin'.

Saylor did her own thing much of the day. But what's new?

These two just picked up right where they left off.

These two cuddled.

These two bonded over Nemo and silkies (aka "Nah" in certain families).

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

My parents let us adopt their old recliner for our bedroom. The kids think it's their new toy.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Last day of ballet and guitar classes. I am one happy mama!! Not that I took pictures of these particular events. Instead, we blew off some steam after dinner with a little accessorizing...

...dancing...

...and trying to make ourselves fit into things for which we are too big.

*sigh* I know that feeling all too well!

Thursday, May 27, 2010

We went to visit my aunt and uncle at their new cabin on the lake today. The kids had the best time feeding the ducks and a Canadian goose with a broken wing.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Down day. Mommy's exhausted. But we did do a little online research for homeschool. We are trying to finish up our study of Amelia Earhart and the Wright brothers. By the way, I highly recommend this book about the Wright brothers' childhood. While not the most astounding piece of "literature" you'll ever read, the story itself was captivating, both for Noah and myself. And this video was cute, too.

Above website: Airplane Anatomy

We remembered at ten till six that we had Noah's soccer awards program that night at 7:00!! Somehow we made it, and Noah was excited to receive a brand new soccer ball.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

We got up semi-early today so we could go pick up our weekly "ration" of raw milk and pastured eggs. Then we stopped by a friend's garage sale to pick up a school desk for Noah. (Here's hoping it helps!) After that we stopped at Old Navy for a little mommy shopping (Yay me!), and then we strolled down to Petco to see if there were any dogs (purely for entertainment purposes). There were none, but they DID have these great buggies!!

Check out the little sign at the top of the pole! (It reads "Customer in Training.") Is that not the cutest?!

Now I'm looking forward to having my sweetie home with me all day on Monday!!!! National holidays rock!! You can check out the weeks of all the other "Project 365" participants at Sara's.