6.30.2011

can't think of a better way to spend at hot summer day than with

some new york style pizza, a pile of new brain teaser books from

barnes & nobles and a christmas present finally opened and played!

good bye june.

hello july!

6.29.2011

update.
we watched the clock.
we set the timers.
we had our bid all set & ready.
ONE SECOND LEFT & WE CONFIRMED OUR BID.
we were outbid.
we lost.
we talked.
we learned lessons.
we discussed how to avoid this problem next time.
we smiled.
we started the hunt again for the lego we can't live without.
we are back in the game.
we are learning & loving this ebay thing today.

6.29.2011

ebay junkie in the making.

not sure how this started last week,

but we now own 2 football cards that we could not live without.

not sure how this started last week,

but we now are monitoring several lego auctions

on pieces that we could not live without.

not sure how this happened last week,

but we are anxiously hitting refresh on several screens.

not sure how this happened last week,

but its fun to watch the boys search, calculate & debate

shipping costs & place a bid on "good deals."

{"good deals" = payday board game fun}

i am so proud of their ability to draw a line in the sand

& stop bidding when its crossed that line

or passed their wallet funding.

good stuff.

life lessons in real time!

anxious to see if we win any of our auctions today.

6.28.2010

hummmmmm......

story behind the beats.

justin wanted beats.

we said wait a week & think about it.

one week later.

homework done.

justin still wanted beats.

justin used all his birthday money & pulled the trigger.

justin came home and waited 2 more hours.

justin came home and thought for 2 more hours.

justin finally decided to open the box!

justin owns a pair of beats &

now he can never hear me calling him!

hummmmmm....

6.28.2011

look closely.

look carefully.

look.

all three boys. together. in the pool. at the same time.

without strangling each other.

without drowning each other.

life is good.

{tonight. dinner time at the pool}

6.27.2011

how to spend a monday night when its 100 degrees

 outside?

a) watch the bachelorette on a hot beach

b) watch master chef in a hot kitchen

c) watch fox news & a hot debate

d) watch the travel channel visit buffalo

cool answer = d.

off limits episode.

good stuff.

go buffalo go.

{pretty cool to see the inside of that little red building

that i look at everytime we cross the peace bridge into canada -

i always wondered what was inside it!}

6.27.2011

the tradition lives on.

and if the tradition holds...

nathan "trump" sippel will win!

started today.

keep you posted.

6.26.2011

summer fun.

summer journal.

summer page.

summer memories.

{i love this stuff.}

6.25.2011

saturday.
fresh bread from the farmers market.
early morning softball games cheering taelyn team to a win.
a pile of books checked out at the library.
an afternoon swim at the pool.
snack bar now open on the weekends poolside.
papa murphys pizza.
evening hockey in the street.
fishing in the pond at dusk.
watching the rest of the godfather on blu-ray.
only 99 degrees today.
saturday in review.
saturday without a mile long to do list.
saturday memories.

6.24.2011

just finished reading the middle place by kelly corrigan. i picked this up at the 1.00 sale at the library only because i remember so much hype about her book lift when it was published last year. i had a hard time putting it down. its a memoir that touches home with any mother, any daughter, any wife.  add in breast cancer and a father battling cancer at the same time and you have a real life, tear producing, page turning book.  i loved her style.  i loved her voice. i loved her perspective. a good read.

6.23.2011

found.

one baby bird with wings that could not fly.

i bet after a day with 7 kids,

he'll figure out how to fly pretty quickly -

no instruction manual needed!

the little moments that make up summer vacation.

6.21.2011

on the road.

8:30am.

headed south.

the tickets are printed.

the cooler is packed.

justins celebration has started.

nothing better than spending the day at six flags

with family & friends.

nothing better than going on a tuesday when the lines

are short, the weather is only 99 degrees & there are

a couple clouds floating around.

the j-dogs: justin, josh & jesse spent

the day on rides that i was scared just looking at.

the goliath, the rattler, superman & the scream.

i was just happy NOT to have to go on these things!

colin, nathan, steve & i spent the day on the more

mellow rides - the log ride, the swings, the kiddie coaster

and the bumper cars.

we all enjoyed the water park after lunch &

finished up the day with a couple more coasters.

mall cop & happy gillmore helped us

fill the travel time.

picnic lunch & firehouse subs helped us fill

our stomachs.

it was the 12 hour day.

home at 8:30pm.

sunkissed, tired already planning our next trip back.

happy birthday justin.

everyday birthday memories are the best!

6.20.2011

happy 14th unbirthday day justin!

we are officially celebrating his special day tomorrow.

today was a low key relaxing day filled with a

special birthday poem reading from nathan,

breakfast at einstein bagels, grocery shopping for

tomorrows trip, leftover pizza & birthday candles

on a boxed brownie cake!!

the birthday wishes poured in all day -

emails, text messages, cell phone calls & facebook posts!

nathan & colin presented their creative wrapping of a target

gift card taped to the bottom of a plastic basket -

its all about the presentation!

happy 14th justin !

don't stay up too late !

6.20.2011

i promised nathan that i would not put his poem on the blog that

he wrote for justin this morning.

i promise that i had the biggest smile on my face this morning as

nathan presented/rapped/sang this ode to justin this morning.

i promise that you can not make this stuff up.

i promise that this is the stuff of great blackmail in the future.

{i just wish that i would of video tapped it!}



6.19.2011

happy dads day!

the boys spent the day hanging at church, hanging at the pool

and hanging at the lanes.

the boys bought papa murphys for dinner and

enough movies to fill the week.

{the evening ended before the toll booth scene....}

happy dads day from austin to buffalo !

6.18.2011

my tower of terror.

slightly different than the disney ride.

probably a little scarier if you ask me.

instead of shoeboxes of photos,

i have clear boxes of photos.

really no difference.

these boxes are from many, many years.

these boxes are from pre-digital years.

these boxes are from pre-scrapbooking years.

these boxes are back from when you would take a roll of 36 photos over

a span of days, weeks or months & then drop them

off at target & pick them up days, weeks or months later.

these boxes hold the hundreds, thousands of misfit photos

of years gone by.

these boxes hold the memories i cherish, the memories i don't remember,

the memories i don't want to forget, the memories that don't have the stories

documented & memories that are just random.

these boxes are begging to come out of the closet.

the temptation was great to just open

one box and pour through the photos

BUT i was strong and just dusted the boxes,

vacuumed the carpet & packed them back into the closet.

another project for another day!

6.17.2011

tgif.

ok. so its a little warm here.

13 days this spring that we have been 100 degrees or greater.

and its only june 17th!

in a normal austin summer, we usually see 12 days total

at 100 degrees or greater.

ok. so its not even summer yet and we have passed the normal.

i am concerned that it might be a hot summer.

i am concerned that it might be a record breaking summer.

i am concerned about our a/c bill.

and no better way to spend the afternoon than

cooling down at the pool.

and yes, the concrete from the chair to the pool is hot !

(even i did a quick walk from point a to point b.)

(even i went swimming instead of tanning.)

(and yes, this is the earliest i've been swimming ever.)

6.17.2011

another book devoured here.

excerpt here. character list here. nytimes review here.

i never read 'the corrections' when it was on oprahs list

many, many years ago. i actually own it. and after reading 'freedom' i

might just dig it out. this book has been called "a masterpiece of american

fiction" but i'm not quite comfortable calling it that.

it was about a dysfunctional family and theres

not to many people that can't relate to someone or something

in this novel.

its 576 pages on loan from the round rock public library

never felt too big to carry or too overwhelming to finish.

the characters were real and written in such detail

that you felt like you knew them.

there was family, love, romance, politics & time

all mixed together to create a story from the first page to the

last page.

there was some harsh language, some vivid encounters

and real life situations

all mixed together to create a memorable novel.

heres to walter & patty berglund!

6.16.2011

it doesn't get any more texan than this.
its 6:30pm.
its 102 degrees outside.
its live country music night at the ranch house.
its fajitas & cowboy hats.
its jeans & boots.
its great music with a warm breeze on a patio with a cocktail.
its a perfect thursday night!
welcome to today.
i hate to see you end.

6.16.2011

it was a simple line on my to-do list.

'put away this years school memory binders x 3.'

easier said than done.

the box is buried deep in our hall closet.

(i still miss my basement on days like this!)

the box was found late last night &

once i opened it this morning, the boys went wild.

they laughed, they facebooked, they read, they looked,

they cherished their works of art, report cards, yearbooks &

school papers of years gone by.

"i wouldn't trade my mom for a computer."

"i wouldn't trade my dad for an ice cream cone."

instead of tossing in the new binders into the box and

sliding it back into the closet -

we sorted the treasures into three piles &

gave each boy their own "memory box."

a 10 minute task turned into a 3 hour project.

but what a great time.

i am so happy that i saved a piece of each of their childhood memories.

i am so happy that they each a contained in ONE box.

i am so happy to have those binders safely stored in their new home.

heres to looking back at saved treasures.

heres to saving a treasure today!