7.31.2011

vacation day two.

you have arrived at your destination.

60 nantuckett.

703 miles, 4 mcdonald cheeseburgers & 1 time zone.

wegman trucks, tim horton coffee & lanova pizza.

welcome parties on kam & the cowboy boots on nantuckett.

hello vacation - we are ready for you!

7.30.2011

vacation day one.

on the road at 5:07am.

drove till 6:18pm.

made it to hendersonville, tennesee.

sonic lunch, modern family dvds & sandras summer cd filled our 857 mile journey.

7.29.2011

getting closer.

the bags are almost packed.

the to-do lists are almost done.

we are getting closer to vacation time.

just 24 hours in the car between us and family fun memories!

7.28.2011

todays to do list.

pack for vacation!

7.27.2011

{today - dirty laundry filled bags}

they are home safe & sound.

they are chatty & hungry.

they are tanned & taller.

they are dirty & smiling.

they are bearing luggage filled with formally white pool towels

and flip flops that no longer flip.

they are bringing home broken flashlights & unreadable name tags.

they are home.

they are searching for food in the pantry, the remote for the tv

and the internet in any form.

they are sharing talent show stories, bee stinging pain

and awesome fellowship.

they are filling their lives with long lasting

everyday memories!

welcome home dudes -

i think colin missed you both!

7.26.2011

this weeks book.

another memoir.

well written.

pages filled with er psych patients and the weekend doctor who tended to them.

you follow her thru med school, early career jobs, marriage, kids & life

while she gently weaves in her patients into her daily life.

its the eat, pray, love with crazy added in.

7.25.2011

our pond is a puddle.

drought conditions.

record breaking heat wave.

triple digits fill our days.

watering restrictions.

the concrete is too hot at the pool to walk on.

we hibernate all day &

slowly come out in the evening.

texas summer at its best.

wouldn't trade it for a snow shovel anyday!

7.24.2011

bye bye boys.

have fun at camp.

we'll see you on wednesday!

enjoy the blob, horseback riding and paintball games..

this is now.

this is life.

this is summer vacation!

{we'll miss you both!}

7.23.2011

{tonight at old settlers park - 102 degrees}

can't imagine a better way to spend a hot sunny saturday evening

than cheering on our favorite maniax softball player

to a national title!!

congratulations taelyn -

we are so proud of you & your team.

well done!

7.23.2011

take one sunny saturday,

add lots of pink candy, cupcakes and flowers,

mix in 24 family and friends,

fold in one glowing sarah,

bake for 2 hours....

and you get a becca baby shower!

we can't wait till you are here -

we will be playing dress up everyday

in all your new pink tutus!

congratulations sarah!

you have survived one hot summer with becca !

7.22.2011

its that time again.

justin and nathan are getting ready for camp.

we shopped, we washed, we packed & we prayed.

we are ready for the drop off on sunday.

bug spray, sunscreen & sleeping bags.

bibles, toothbrushes & flashlights.

flip flops, sneakers & towels.

no cell phones, no laptops & no itouches.

{that is my favorite part}

they are excited.

they can't wait.

they are off to make new friends, great fellowship

& a stronger relationship with God.

love these days.

they leave on sunday & back on wednesday.

enjoy!

7.21.2011

i just finished this book.

this is not the normal book that i would select.

this was more of a psycho suspense kinda book.

this was outside my comfort zone.

kidnap, rape & death penalty -

not my normal.

i started it & i finished it.

i'm sure this is a good book

but its just not for me. 

7.20.2011

we are loving our summer days.

we are still working our way thru playing all the board games

we own & this is what colin selected for today.

nothing better than combining two of our favorites -

lego + board game = fun cool indoor time together.

we also watched unknown from the red box while

munching on popcorn & twizzlers.

we wrote in our journals, practiced our musical instruments,

read our magazines checked out from the library &

picked up 1000 legos that somehow jumped out of

their boxes and covered the game room floor.

we love our nonroutine summer days when

there is not a hundred things already scheduled.

7.19.2011

its that time again!

packing for camp.

justin & nathan depart on sunday.

its 4 days & 3 nights with the youth group at church.

justins gone several times.

this will be nathans first time.

colin is already excited for some "quiet party time" with mom and dad!

i can't believe how fast the summer days are flying by.

7.18.2011

lets try this again.

note: it is sometimes a good thing to complain to your husband

when your replacement dell laptop still has not yet arrived

after one week.

note: i happen to complain on friday &

look what showed up today - overnight shipping noted.

note: it helps when your husband works for dell.

note: it helps that steve was getting tired of me complaining.

note: it helps having a dell preferred charge card also.

note: i'm now blogging from dell xps 15z.

how cool is this?

i finally got this out of justins hands so i could

catch up on my blogging!

7.17.2011

couldn't finish. barely made it thru 170 pages. i can't remember the

last book that i had to stop reading.

loved memory keepers daughter.

did not love the first 170 pages of the lake of dreams.

this one is going back to the library unfinished.

life is too short for books that just don't wrap their words

around me & hold me tight.

don't look for this one on my list of books read in 2011.

7.16.2011

i picked this book up at the library because

the real simple book club had selected it for their june book.

loved it.

read it in 4 days.

it was a story of love, courage, strength & wealth.

it was a story of family, smoking mirrors & lies.

it was a story of joyous endings and tragic beginnings.

7.16.2011

saturday night at the races.

saturday night in the foyer.

saturday nights can't get much better than this!

(and i didn't make him clean it up either!)

7.15.2011

and the classics just keep on coming...

we managed to find enough blank columns

and 5 mismatched dice.

we rolled & added.

we moaned & groaned.

we took zeros & chances.

we laughed & cried.

we yahtzee.

7.14.2011

this is what an ebay, paypal, vintage lego, mailbox

smile looks like today...

and 100 june photos snapfish smile from me... 

it was worth the walk in the heat

down to the mailbox today!

-

we finished season two of modern family on hulu.

we baked homemade peanut butter chip cookies.

we caught up on office work, emails & things on the to-do list.

we stayed indoors today - just too hot for errands.
we cheered for our favorite emmy nomination.

a down day.

a quiet day.

7.13.2011

lego. lego. lego.

we are surrounded by legos.

new legos. old legos. ebay auction winner legos.
{colin & nathan finally won an online ebay auction after

weeks of being outbidded!}

these are just legos around the house today.

can't wait to see what we create today!

go. legos. go.

7.12.2011

its easy to read during the summer months.

especially when all i have to do is say,

"lets all read for 30 minutes & then we'll watch an episode of modern family."

i know. i know. no parent of the year award here.

back to the book on the table.

i actually did not care for this one.

despite the many positive reviews, this book just didn't do it for me.

the whole high school play imitating life in a small town curse theme.

easy reading. quick read. simple characters.

perhaps i just expect too much from this book.

on to the next book in the pile.

7.12.2011

this is our new thing.

we started last week.

we watched the first season of modern family on dvd.

in order. all 24 episodes.

mike & sandra introduced us to this "friends" of this generation -

and we are hooked.

we debated & voted over the best episode from season 1.

we made steve watch our favorites.

fizbo. starry night & family portrait were the clear winners.

after we finished season one,

i did what any good mom would do -

i went to target to buy season two.

no luck. apparently it isn't available till september.

so i did what any good mom would do -

i signed up for one free week of hulu plus!

we are cranking thru season two.

(gotta be caught up by friday!)

this is a win-win situation around here.

clean your bedroom & then we'll watch modern family.

practice your instrument & then we'll watch modern family.

read your book & then we'll watch modern family.

we are laughing together with a modern family!

the one liners are woven into our daily conversations.

-

"ordinarily i'm a rule follower, but when someone tells me i can't bring my own snacks into their stadium? that's when I get a little... nuts. it's a free country right? let's just say it ruffles me when some goobers tell me i have to spend my half my payday on their hot dogs."

-

"whats the plan, phil?"

-

life in a house with boys who quote tv & movie lines all day long.

it doesn't get any better than this!!