Counting Time

It is one week today until we leave on our trip!

The countdown has finally started. Last second errands, plans, and details are finally happening.

After a morning of errands, David, Andrew, and I picked up lunch and headed to my Grandma's house. Yesterday she had her 95th birthday! Grandma needs a party! (She still doesn't look a day over 60 to me. I only hope that I can age like that.)

Andrew saw to it that we stopped to get a "special" birthday gift from him. You know you have to get party hats and horns if you are having a birthday! He even had one for her dog!

After the birthday lunch we helped Grandma by giving her dog a bath. I think Andrew was as excited about helping as her dog was to get it! They were both jumping around after we were done.

Time always is on my mind. Five days to this... an hour to that... It seems like I am always rushing here and there. As I was driving home I started thinking how fast time passes by. Wasn't I just out of college? Surely I have not been married that long... where have all of the days gone? Grandma can't be 95!

I have decided that I am going to relax and enjoy this vacation with my family. No rules, no time schedules, and enjoy a little me time. Life only happens once. I want to enjoy it!

***And in the end, its not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. - Abraham Lincoln*****

Forecast: HOT!!

It is way too HOT!

It is even scarier knowing that summer has just began and there are many days of it ahead.

Everyone around is trying to find a way to stay cool. Fans, pools, and slip and slides can now be seen everywhere in the neighborhood. Yesterday we sat outside enjoying the cool morning breeze while we planned our trip and watched the boys play. It did not last long. Once the sun peeked through the branches of the shade tree we were sitting under we quickly moved inside to the nice air conditioner.

I captured this shot of Max enjoying the water. He was barking and dashing in and out of the sprinkler we had set up for Andrew to play in. You can't see Andrew but he was right there along side of him. Andrew has started calling Max his "brother". I guess I have five sons now instead of four. The two are pretty inseperable. If you see one the other is near. If Andrew is hauling dirt with his trucks you can bet that Max has dug it up for him!

I have several scrapbooking projects that I want to start but they are big and I hate to start them only to have to leave them unfinished for a while. I think tonight I will try to work on a layout or something small. It helps me relax at night.

Andrew has been taking an interest in scrapbooking. As a matter of fact he has raided my scrapbooking desk twice in the last 24 hours. Punches, scissors, and even a "cherished" piece of paper I had been saving has been taken. It is so hard to punish him when he comes up to you and hands you his creation with that proud look in his eye and asks you to send it in to Rusty Pickle! What is a mom to do?

No More Dumping!

After looking at my garage I have decided that I need to start working on the "No Dumping" rule in our house!

Yikes!!

So often things get pushed aside waiting until I "find the time" to get it done. We have an overflowing cans, bottles, and glass section, not to mention the garage sale area.

It is a wonder I can find anything!

Today I woke up and decided it was a yard sale day. I got a late start, but it was still well worth the effort. I was able to make some money and go through some of the stacked boxes. After the yard sale I am proud to report that there are only two boxes to return inside and I have 7 more to go to the local charity thrift store. Yay!

The two boxes that I am keeping will go great with other items I need to rid our house of and hopefully will sell at another sale in the near future.

I have decided I like to have the extra green in my pocket versus the boxes that I have to walk around in the garage.

I am going to try and get tuff with my boys. No more dumping their stuff in the garage! It is their resposibility to dispose of their items! Does that make me a bad mom or a better one for teaching them to dispose of their own items?

Antique?

I love shopping in antique stores. You never know what you can find. The down side of it is that I see things in them that I had when I was a kid. Am I getting to be an antique?

One of my most treasured finds was an antique printer's cabinet to store my scrapbook embellishments.

I love looking through the paper items for items I can use in my scrapbooking.

Yesterday I took my mom and dad out for a day of antique shopping. I didn't find anything to take home but we did have lots of fun looking.

After our "day out" I took them back to my Grandmother's house where they are staying and then went with my mom to pick apricots for jam. She already has made cherry and strawberry at home. I can hardly wait to get to taste it! Maybe while I am visiting I can get some blackberries picked for another batch! Yumm!

I can't believe it is less than two weeks until our vacation. We are still planning like crazy and hope this is going to be an awesome trip. I am looking forward to getting away, relaxing, and snapping a few photos to scrapbook when we get home.

Deciding What to Take

Well less than three weeks until our family road trip to Tennessee. I always look forward to the trip. It isn't the drive that I enjoy as much as the time I get to spend with my family.

I always have trouble when I pack when it comes to trying to decide what I want to take. I tend to overpack. I am already trying to decide what I can live without this trip and what is a must.

I found this picture from our trip we made last year. Andrew wanted to make sure we didn't forget him! We walked out of the house and there he was!

This year we will have three drivers in the vehicle so it will be much easier. We usually drive straight through. It usually takes us about 35-36 hours of constant driving to get there. (maybe with a few hours of sleep here and there at a rest stop!) I always look forward to that hot shower when we get there.

I am also excited about getting to teach classes to a group of wonderful ladies back there! It is going to be so much fun. I have a special treat planned for them to do, along with the classes they selected! I think they are going to have a blast!

The count down has begun for us. I am starting my pre-trip list today! Yay!!

Being Flexable

Being flexable is a way of life in our household. Sometimes you have to put off things that you would prefer to do so others can achieve things in their lives.

We had an unscheduled appointment pop up so we put fishing off one day. It all worked out to my advantage. My son David checked out this blog and decided it needed some changes so I let him go to work! Yay for me!!

Today we did our fishing trip. Let me just say... We had a blast! It was beautiful up in the mountains. Andrew my "Little Stinker" caught four fish! He beat everyone! We ended up with eleven trout and nicely sunburned tans.

Tomorrow I am co-teaching an acrylic album class at my LSS. It is the second time around for this class. Last time we had so much fun! I always look forward to teaching with Tanya!

For tonight I am tired but refreshed. It is always wonderful to be able to get away with loved ones and clear your head of all of the daily muck. An added advantage is the awesome pictures you will end up getting to scrap from the adventure!

Making Things Work

Somethimes they work like a well oiled machine, other times I wonder if they are all against me!
Trying to keep my family on track and working together on things is geting harder and harder!

Today was a busy day with appointments and errands taking up most of my time.
We visited DMV, the photo lab, paid college tuitions, dentist, and lots of other "fun" things.

It was also our dog Max's bath day. Usually we give him a bath in the shower but now with the warm weather we thought why not use Andrew's wading pool? He loved it but the three of us who did it ended up soaking wet! Next time I think I will opt for the shower again.

I did some work today trying to set up some class descriptions for some upcomming classes I will be teaching. I had needed to do it for a long time and finally got around to it.

I am hoping to get to go fishing tomorrow with my boys. I love going with them. It takes my mind off of things and helps me relax. I really don't care if we catch fish. I think it is just the clean air and being with my boys that helps clean the stress out of my head.

Well off to scrap the evening away. I need to try and get a few DT asignments done.... and add a little.. oil to my family machine! We dont' want any squeeky wheels around here!