Summer Rundown

We are having an uneventful, but fun summer. No big vacation plans, but I am enjoying the downtime knowing that this fall I will be busy working again. Lots of thought and prayers going into where we will be and what we will be doing. Big changes, maybe. But change is good, right? I'm just enjoying now!

Baby T had his 2nd birthday. I am such a bad blogging mama... no big post about how I couldn't handle the day or how sad I am that he's getting so big. No post with his newborn picture and a recap of his birth. Yeah, kind of over that. (At least today.) I'm excited that he's growing up. It's fun to watch him do all the different things he's doing every day and learning all the new things he's learning. I'm enjoying 2. Still sort of a "baby" but becoming a "big boy". It won't be like this forever. Best of both worlds. Stand still, time!

We took him to the zoo (just like last year) and I hope we can make it a tradition. (At least until he's too old to enjoy it. Or too old to admit it.) We had his party the next evening at the park. There were close to fifty people there. It was almost too much for him. We opened a few gifts there until he got interested in something else, opened more the next day, more the next day and to be very honest, I think there are still a couple of things in my office that he still hasn't played with yet. The child is not deprived.

His newest interest... Cars. Not the toys. The movie. We watch that about 2-3 times a day. Ka-chow! He calls it "go car go". Wonder if we should try and take him to see "Go Car Go 2"? I'm sure he'd do ok in the theater, but we have the popcorn issue... he is still too little to have it and I HAVE TO have it. You can't go to the movies without getting popcorn. I think that's a law? His father and I have discussed this and we came to the conclusion that we could both take him... one of us could sit with him (without popcorn) while the other was a few rows away (with popcorn). Then, we'd switch half way through the movie. Or, we could sneek in the puffy, no kernel kind and mix it in the tub o'corn and let him think he's having what we're having (that was my idea, cause I'm a tricky mom like that). It's so hard raising kids today! These situations keep me up at night. Obama is so lucky he just has that little "debt ceiling" thing to worry about. His girls are old enough to get popcorn at the movies.

T1 is busy doing his usual thing. Computer, shopping, cars... He's getting more interested in driving. I see drivers ed in his future. BUT, not until he starts wearing his glasses more. How DO you get your teenager to wear their glasses? Duct tape?

T2 has a summer job. He mows my father's church lawn. Hey, it pays good and he loves to mow. I think next year he might try to find more mowing jobs. He's so good at it, too! He's been spending most of his summer at my parents' house and although I miss him, he's having a blast. And isn't that what being 14 is all about?! He has a bunch of friends around his age in their neighborhood and they all ride bikes, play basketball, go swimming and explore the creek.

Me... Well, my goal was to have a decent tan by now. Uh, nope. I had planned to have a set workout routine at the Y. Nope. Oh I know, I was busy getting the house and my new office organized. Wait, another NOPE. I really can't tell you what I've gotten accomplished because it seems like this summer my mind has been foggy and I've just been doing the basic "mom" things. Cleaning, laundry, fixing meals, watching my toddler while making my teens happy, finding time for sleep... ya know just little stuff like that. I did get my hair colored last week. And it actually turned out. It's actually as light as I wanted it. That never happens. Guess I shouldn't ask for any more this week. Or month.

Don't get me wrong, I am truly thankful for all I have. I don't need much. However, I will admit I am a little envious of all my friends who are taking summer vacations. But then I think about how we are planning another trip to Florida soon and then, while my friends are here freezing in the Indiana cold, I'll be nice and warm in sunny Florida. If I want sunshine now, all I have to do is step out on my back porch.

Happy Summer!

Fun Weekend

Friday we had another OB appointment. I was a little nervous because it was with a doctor I'd never seen before and he had ordered the colposcopy. I didn't think it needed to be done, we discussed it and as long as he isn't doing biopsies, I guess I'll do it in a few weeks. He was really nice though and spent a good amount of time with us, answering some questions that we had and making sure that I understood everything. A big concern of mine is trying another VBAC. I guess we'll just see how big the baby is towards the end and go from there.

I only gained two pounds. Yippee! I'm surprised that's all I've gained considering I've been eating everything in sight.

We have another ultra sound set for Friday, Jan. 16. This one will tell us if it's a boy or girl. (Hopefully!) Everyone I've talked to thinks it's a girl. The doctor said if old wives tales are true, the fast heartbeat says it's a girl. I'm a little freaked out about that... I've got boys and that's all I know. We'll be happy with either though.

After the doctor's appt I had some last minute shopping to do. Then after that I went to my parents' house for dinner. My kids were already there and my uncle, aunt and two cousins came in from West Virginia. We had a yummy dinner, then me, the boys and my cousins all went to my house for the night.

Saturday morning we got up bright and early (6am) to go to Michigan to have Christmas with my mom's side of the family. We stopped at McDonald's for breakfast and got up there around 11:45. We had a great time with our family and getting another Christmas was pretty fun.

Later in the afternoon I went to Biggby Coffee with one of my aunts . I got a Mocha Mocha (Big Chill, I think?). It was pretty good. No Starbucks, but it wasn't horrible.

We got back to my grandma's and decided to go visit my grandpa's grave. It's hard to believe he's been gone for over a month.

We left around 5:30. My parents and uncle and aunt drove in their car and me, my kids and cousins drove in mine. My cousin Jer drove for me. That made me happy because I didn't want to drive. He also filled up my tank on the way up and back. Awww, what a great guy. (And single.... email me, ladies!) We stopped at Cracker Barrel on the way home. We were all so exhausted we pretty much went straight to bed when we got back to my house.

Sunday morning we got up early again, drove through Burger King for breakfast and headed to Muncie to go to church. After church we went to Damon's for lunch. Mmmmm, if you've never been to Damon's and there's one near you, GO! They have yummy yummy ribs and it's just a fun place to eat. They have huge screens up and you can play trivia games against other tables. We were actually in first place at one point. We took our two last names and put them together. (ClaMar)

After lunch the parents went home and me, the boys and my cousins went shopping. We went to Kohl's and I got 2 pairs of maternity pants and 4 maternity shirts. I am really starting to pop out, so I really needed them. My grandma gave me a Kohl's gift card for Christmas and Mr. R had given me money for clothes, so I was all set. I also had $20 in Kolh's Cash but they had expired on the 3rd. However, as I was leaving the lady behind me tried using hers and the cashier let her. So, I asked if she would let me use mine and she did. How nice!

After that we went to the mall and walked around. My cousin Steph road the "roller coaster", T2 took a bunch of stuff to Game Stop and my cousin Jer and the boys got pretzels from Auntie Anne's. I was stuffed from lunch but took a little piece off T2's pretzel.

After we were tired from shopping, we went back to my parents' house, played games, my aunt cut my hair, got Pizza Hut for dinner, played more games, got ice cream and then the boys and I headed home around 9pm. My uncle and aunt needed to leave early this morning so my cousins stayed there.

The boys came home and pretty much went straight to bed. They both fell asleep watching tv on their beds, so I just turned their lights out and set the timer on their tvs. I headed to bed pretty early too and tried to get some extra sleep to make up for what I lost getting up so early on Saturday and Sunday.

Today I did laundry, cleaned my bathroom, cleaned up the downstairs and went grocery shopping. I have to work tomorrow (first time in 3 weeks) so I'll probably try and get to bed early tonight too.

Hope your weekend was just as fun and enjoyable as mine! :)

Shipshewana - Our Mini Vacation

My aunt Gail and cousin Jer came in on Memorial Day. We cooked out and made homemade ice cream. My cousin and the boys went on a bike ride and we made a last minute trip to Target to get a couple of things for our trip.

We got up early on Tuesday and left at 8am. We stopped at McDonald's for a quick breakfast and then took the 2 hour drive to Amish country.

My parents and aunt went in my parent's suv and my cousin, me and the boys went in mine. We had fun on the way. We listened to cds and passed a lot of beautiful scenery. Only half of it is highway, the rest is back roads so we got to see a lot of Amish homes and farms. We knew we were getting close when we started seeing horses and buggies and laundry hanging outside.

We got there around 11am and since it was too early to check in to our hotel, we headed straight HERE to the Flea Market. It was a little chilly but we survived. As soon as we walked through the gate I saw a "hair" booth. A Chinese lady was putting hair extensions in a ladies hair and I stopped to watched. She told me to come in and sit down and asked if I wanted her to do my hair. I loved the lady's hair she was doing, so I told her I wanted something exactly like "that". She was awesome at matching the hair color with her pieces and did a really good job with mine. And the good thing is, it's really easy to do, so anytime I want a cute hairstyle but are in a rush, I can do that. We walked around and looked at everything, got a quick lunch there and then walked around again until about 4:00. Right before we left we walked by a jumping thing... anyway, no one would do it but my cousin. I would have, but I didn't want my hair to go flying out.

After that we went to our hotel (Farmstead Inn), unpacked, got ready and went out to get an early dinner. We ate HERE and it was very yummy. Everything was home cooked and it was family style, so they just kept bringing out bowls or plates of whatever we needed. We got chicken, baked steak, corn, mashed potatoes, stuffing, noodles, a salad and bread. It was all so good!

After we ate we went back to the hotel and went swimming, sat in the hot tub, played basketball and ping pong. Then we went back to our rooms, sat and talked and decided we needed a late night snack, so we ordered Pizza Hut. Then we went to bed.

We all met down in the lobby at 8:15 am for breakfast. Our plans for Wednesday was to leave right after breakfast and go through all the little Amish shops in town. However, I had looked at a super cute Coach knockoff at the flea market the day before and decided I didn't need it. Well, after sleeping on it, I decided I needed it. So, me, my cousin, and the boys went back to the flea market. We got right by the gate where the purse vendor was and I went in and picked up the purse in less than 5 minutes. However, T2 saw an alligator he had his eye on the day before, so he got that and T1 bought a picture for his room that he had looked at the day before. I also found a Louis Vuitton headband so I picked that up also. It's a good thing we went back! :)

After that we headed for the little shops, found my mom and aunt and walked around with them. We went in one shop and there was a little Amish woman who walked by and told us to make sure we came upstairs and visited her, and that she had some things for us to try. So we walked upstairs and way in the back of the room she had a table set up of all these dips. We tried a bunch and they were all very good. I bought 3 of the mixes... a spinach dip mix, a BLT dip mix and I also got a strawberries and cream dessert dip mix. They're all real easy to make, you just add the mix to either sour cream or cream cheese.

Next, we went HERE and went through all the little shops and rode their restored 1906 carousel. Then we started getting hungry so we ate at a little Amish ran restaurant called Daily Bread. Then we rode the carousel again, went to Aunt Millies to pick up some candy and left. But not before we almost got stuck in the elevator. But we won't talk about that.

After that, we made one last stop at Antique Gallery. T2 collects old cars and he got an old Greyhound bus. I got two old Presidential spoons.

Then we were on our way home. We got home, went out to eat, sat and talked, then went to bed. My aunt and cousin left early the next morning at 7am and 2 hours later it was back to work for me.

It was fun and relaxing and we spent most of the time bent over laughing so hard our stomachs hurt. We had a great time!

Enjoy the pics below...

It's Raining, It's Pouring

Almost every one of my daycare parents came in this morning and mentioned something about the rain and what a lousy day it was. I woke up to the rain and when I went out to get the paper, I said "What a beautiful day!". Do we forget that we need rain? Our grass really needs the rain. Plus it's actually cooled down some and it feels good. I was up at 4am the other night because it was so hot I couldn't sleep. I'm still refusing to turn on the A/C. I figure it will be a nice break on the bills to not use the heat or air for a couple of months. Anyway, I thought it was a great day.

Right at this very moment I'm coloring my hair. Click here to see the color. It claims on the package that it has a "Pure Blonde Guarantee", even on dark brown hair. Well, most of my hair is light brown/blonde so it better work. Mr. R told me to make an appointment at the salon and it would be his Mother's Day gift from him (or rather from the boys) but I don't trust salons. The last time I went to have my hair colored blonde for my best friend's wedding, it ended up a nasty light brown. Now I do it myself. They've really come a long way with packaged hair color, you don't have all the brassiness with the newer ones. And, if I have to wear a hat for a couple of days, oh well. :)

I got it... Monday I start "The Firm" program. I looked through the menus and I can't say I'm excited about that, but I'll try it and see. I have to do something or I'll be wearing a parka all summer.

Kathy Lee Gifford is still the same train wreck she was when she was on Regis. I don't know WHAT The Today Show was thinking. She still talks nonstop about those freakin kids. I swear, I turned it on yesterday morning to watch HER interview and within 5 minutes Kathy Lee was spewing out Cody's name. Then I SWEAR it was only 5 minutes later and she had to bring up Cassidy. GOOD NIGHT lady, we don't want to hear about your dang kids anymore! And the funny thing was, she was all against Heather's blog giving out info on her daughter Leta, and how that's so unsafe, and yet she's been talking about her kids for how many years now? Remember every Christmas when she'd make them come out and perform? GAG! Good job NBC, you just ruined your ratings. I mean, you put Kathy Lee up against Ellen. Not the smartest move.

Well, I'm now 8 minutes past the time I was suppose to rinse my hair so I guess I'd better go do that. I'll let you know how it turns out and if you're lucky, you may get a pic. I know the excitement of that makes you weak in the knees, but try to contain yourselves. :)