3.31.2012

saturday umbrellas out despite big blue cloudless texas skies.

saturday umbrellas out to keep us cool.

90 and hot today.

we had to finally turn on the central air for the

first time this season.

good bye sleeping with all the windows open.

good bye fresh air.

good bye birds chirping in the morning.

hello cool air.

hello cool sleeping.

hello to the a/c humming.

hello electric bill!

-

saturday was filled with early morning 4:30am drop-offs at hopewell middle school

for nathans field trip, neighborhood walks, target runs,

afternoon sidleline football charger cheering, sleepovers and taco market dinners.

goodbye march.

hello april!

3.30.2012

no words needed.

{school dance tonight at teravista elementary - "team" theme as you

can tell by the attire - crazy 4th graders drinking dr. pepper & cokes - colin, miles and leland}

3.30.2012

just finished.

ebooks from the library prompt one to read a little more

each day - they are only 'kindled' for 2 weeks instead

of the usual 3 weeks.

loved this book.

great review here.

just heavy historical fiction so beautifully written

that you want to keep reading.

why didn't i pay more attention in history class?

ida, george & robert will remind one how

strong the human mind, will & life really are.

3.29.2012

school projects live on.

i could never save every project,

nor would i want to -

but i can take a photo of each one !

this week the poison frog research project

& the ark angel shoebox book report returned home.

wonder if i can put a poison frog in a shoebox?

pictures taken.

recycle bin filled.

memory captured!

heres to all the memories that

will arrive home between now and the end of the year!

3.28.2012

quick note for this morning.
over 70,000 comments here and yes, i'm one of them. can't win it unless you are in it. love her blog. been following her blog for years. love her cookbooks. can't wait to read her love story novel. it's on my to-read list. don't forget about sarah and i buying her cookbook for each other for a christmas present in 2009.
wish me luck or join in the fun!
lucky wednesday?

3.27.2012

because sometimes you just have to get away from the phone,

tv, computer, video games, washing machine and those nasty

daily distractions.

because sometimes you just have to throw the daily routine, the clock

and norm out the window.

because somedays you just have to get outside, get some sun

and just listen.

because somedays you just want dinner without the tv on.

because somedays you just don't want to do the dishes, clean the counters

and windex the glass table top.

because somedays will be gone before you know it.

because somedays will just be a sliver of memories all rolled

together.

because somedays just scream out loud and say today.

so today we did just that for an hour.

so today we brought our own bottle of ketchup with us.

so today we left our ipods, ipads, iphones & itouchs in the car.

so today we sat, we laughed, we talked, we ate.

so today we dipped our toes fingers in the pool.

so today we sat in the sun before it gets too hot to do so.

so today.

because someday.

it will be yesterday.

3.28.2012

when i saw these, i just couldn't resist printing them out.

we all filled them out last night during our "time out" from

technology hour at the pool.

you had to rate your day, name one good thing and one not-so-good

thing about your day.

then you had to write down one lesson you learned today.

then a small doodle box to illustrate your answer.

then we read our answers out loud.

thus providing the line "we laughed" from yesterdays post.

i have some funny guys in this house.

i have some great handwritten keepsakes.

i have a scrapbook layout worth gold.

i have another everyday memory.

-

note: one son did ask where the annual "list" questionnaire was.

not to worry, we'll work on that soon.

3.27.2012

STAR test has replaced the TAKS test here.

today is the first test of the season.

two out of three sippel boys have #2 pencils all sharpened.

one good night sleep.

one healthy breakfast.

one special book to read when finished.

good luck boys!

3.26.2012

linky love today:
10 excellent free online educational sites article.
my favorite sweet blog.
local story on 60 minutes last night. our neighbor down the street was the prosecutor.
my new favorite book finding spot. just type in a favorite author/title & it will list other books you might enjoy.
my favorite medical writer. love reading his articles/books
when i'm in the mood to create.
daily visit to this scrapbookers blog.
inspirational words from local runner here.
productive words found here.
how to draw a dragonfly.
my favorite new downloaded song.
play repeat on this album.
favorite cover version of somebody i used to know.

3.26.2012

6:40am conversation.
colin arriving in the kitchen for breakfast - "so you wanna hear about my night?"
me - "ummm - yes?"
colin - "those birds woke me up at 2am - we need to get them a clock!"
{hazzards of sleeping with all the windows open on a warm spring night}

3.25.2012

                                    a little Target story to tell....

sunday morning target ad arrives on our front doorstep.

steves keen eyes notices the dr. dre headphones on sale.

steve conferences with justin - our dr. dre expert.

{see justins birthday post here from 2011}

hummmmm.

299.99 headphones for 179.99?

after church, we head to target for our weekly fix.

steve stops by the electronic department.

steve has all sorts of target employees around him.

steve gets a new set of dr. dre's for 179.99.

see sign hanging by the ad now as we leave?

{that iphone camera is handy!}

target made a mistake.

check out another target store for giggles.

error sign goes up.

i think we got a great deal & caused some commotion

for some target ad person.

{ps. don't tell nathan this story - i think it will be his birthday present}

kuddos to target for honoring the price!!

3.24.2012

can't think of a better way to start the season

than with a post-game cookout at the fields.

160 hot dogs & hamburgers.

2 bottles of ketchup.

4 coolers.

4 tents.

85 sunny degrees.

1 heck of a tailgate.

go. chargers. go.

3.24.2012

saturday. spring flag football game one.

play one - colin makes an interception.

play two - colin catches the ball & runs for 10.

play three - colin catches the ball again & scores.

and its only the first 2 minutes of the game.

and to think i was nervous about him playing up this year!

go. colin. go.

 

3.23.2012

                                      friday night curb hour.

3.23.2012

just finished reading this quick and easy book.

perfect beach bag book.

perfect summer read.

way too perfect ending.

3.22.2012

gratitude journal for today:

sunny blue skies.

warm football practices.

sleeping with the windows open.

a boy who overslept but still made the bus.

fresh washed sheets on a bed.

3.22.2012

hello spring.

god flipped the switch and we went from brown to green.

we went from buds to leaves.

we went from cool to hot.

we went from blossoms to baby limes.

we went from warming the car in the morning to cooling the car in the morning.

we went from hoodies to tee shirts.

we went from jeans to shorts.

we went from sneakers to flip-flops.

hello spring - we missed you.

3.21.2012

can you spot the differences?

-

top photo is from august 2011 when the

pond was a victim of the drought conditions.

bottom photo is from today.

the water filled pond is back and looks like a lake

after a very rainy monday night.

3.18.2012

the kindle is back in business and loaded with

ebooks borrowed from the library!

i'll still hit the library every week on my errands

but i might not be toting such a heavy bag with me.

i'm on the waiting list for unbroken

but i did check out the warmth of other suns, the imperfectionists,

jane eyre and swamplandia which were all on

my to-read list!

i only get these for two weeks so i

might be doing some heavy, late night, page turning,

page scroll reading!

3.17.2012

this post might seem a little unique for a mom of three big boys

but behind every unique post is a great story & behind

every big boy is a kid at heart and

here is my story.

yesterday we walked into book people downtown

just to browse around for a minute.

{i wanted to hit anthropologie but i didn't think i could drag

the boys thru there AGAIN - so we went next door.}

as we are all looking at books, i see justin on a step stool

reaching for a book high on the shelf.

being the conscious mom that i am - haha - i went over

to make sure that the book he was reaching for was age appropriate -

there was obviously a reason it was up high and out of reach.

and look what he found -

goodnight ipad.

all five of us stood there in book people and

read the story out loud - laughing.

it brought back such wonderful memories

of night time bedtime stories,

good night moon was a favorite of all!

i had to go searching for goodnight moon when we got home

& i was happy to see that it was still on a shelf in colins closet.

heres to an everyday memory.

heres to an old memory jogged back to life.

heres to a little story told today.

3.16.2012

just because it's not often I can get a picture of all three....

blogging from the iphone while walking through downtown austin.

a slice of pizza at whole foods after sxsw.

3.16.2012

sxsw photo review.

6th  street. looking for brad at the chuggin' monkey.

dell tent & silk screened t-shirt for all.

doritos vending machine stage.

walking & listening to all the music flow out

of each bar we passed.

our first trip to sxsw.

we learned. we listened. we walked.

we actually parked on 6th street.

we people watched.

we people watched some more.

we'll be back next year!