Riveting

My weekend was jam packed.

Most of it was fun.

Lots of fun.

But, I'm coming to realize that my version of "fun" isn't what it used to be.

About 10 years ago, I'd define "fun" as going somewhere for the weekend. 

Anywhere BUT home.

Now? 

Productivity is the name of the game.

With some fun sprinkled in.

My Memorial Day Weekend was riveting.

Here's a (partial) breakdown in pictures.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of the fun.

Hold on to your seat belts:

Friday:

Walked with the best walking partner ever (and her awesomely cute boys!)

Family pizza/movie night

Cleaned bathrooms.

Watched Swamp People on Netflix (totally recommend, by the way!)

Saturday:

COMPLETED the long run!

Audits (completing my weekly quota)

Refaced a clock in the basement

before:

 after:

Decided to find my ironing board.

I spent 2 hours ironing.

I invited friends to join me.

No one wanted to come.

Went to Meijer

(and realized that the father of one of A's classmates is in an Improv group here in town- we ran into him at the shepherd hooks display wearing the RCI jacket....who knew?!?!?)

 purchased hooks and hung Mother's Day gifts: 

 started to organize and frame family pictures:

pulled out the summer clothing and swapped out for the winter clothing:

(this activity swipes the MOST time of my day - like 2-3 HOURS)

Then, when D. got home, we went out to my friend, Melody's house for dinner and bonfire.

Only the ladies stayed inside and the kids and dads were at said bonfire.

The ladies were having a great time chatting.

And Melody made some SPECIAL taco shells just for her and I - keeping our diets on track.

This was an awesome night!

Every member of my family had a great time (this is usual - usually one didn't enjoy him/herself).

This always happens when we go out to Mel's house.

We got the boys to bed at a ridiculously late hour.

Sunday:

CHURCH!

Where we sang both verses of the National Anthem.

(did YOU know that there's 2 verses?!?!)

Came home to eat lunch,

and fold about 11 loads of laundry.

Seriously.

This is also when I found 4 more shirts that needed ironing.

I cried.

D. noticed the funky smell that I've been complaining about in the van.

I detailed it the week after spring break, but it stayed...

Well, he found the culprit.

A. must have stashed some sort of food in the arm rest in the very back of the van.

D. said it was horribly awfully gross.

I owe him BIG time for that.

(D. said that as well)

Then I steamed the kitchen floor with my Shark.

Love my Shark.

While I was doing this, A. was out playing with a neighbor boy, and C. fell into a deep sleep

on the couch.

So, when we woke him up to eat dinner with us....

Well...this was what we endured the entire dinner:

After dinner, we pulled out D's grandpa's memory box and looked through it all.

He was on Utah Beach on D-Day, and there's a lot of memorabilia in there.

It's really neat to look through it all.

Below, you'll see D. reading the journal of his great, great grandpa.

He brought his family over from Europe on a boat.

The journal documented part of that journey.

It was amazing to listen to him read it.

Monday:

 D. went to work.  :(  A. went with him.  :)

C. and I had a productive few hours.

We released our captive butterflies:

Found a greenhouse open on Memorial Day, and purchased an eggplant plant for our vegetable garden.

Planted said eggplant plant, and all the other plants in the garden area.

Fixed the garden sprinkler.

Bug sprayed the lawn:

Went to get A. from my in-laws house where D. was working in the morning.  It was fun to see them, and C. hardly reacted to their cat!  He complained a tad of his chest hurting and coughed a bit that afternoon, but by evening, he did great!  Woohoo!

While D. was working, I did a paper mock up of our family picture wall.

I once read on a blog somewhere that this is a smart (easier) thing to do when doing a collage

this way you can mark on the paper where the hanger is, get the spacing right, and then

just put nails where the hangers are.

Take down the paper, hang up the frames, and you're done.

Then we went for a ride.

The boys were arguing a lot, and I figured they needed some down time.

We made it an entire mile from the house before I saw this in the back of the van:

 D's last job of the day was a project for church.  He had to dig a 2ft. deep x 3 ft. long x 2 1/2 ft. wide concrete base for a cross going in soon.

Then we went to our friends for more cookout fun!

We left relatively "early" so the boys could come home and get a good night sleep.

By early, I mean 1 hour after bedtime.

I'm having such a hard time staying on the school schedule with beautiful weather!

Bring on the summer!  I'm ready!

Aren't you glad you read this post?

Your life is so much more complete, right?!?!

It.was.riveting.

Random Friday List (and some 5QF!)

1.  It's the Friday before Memorial Day weekend!!!

2.  Do you have big plans?

3.  We have lots of plans (and a long, but distinguished to-do list) with lots of friends.

4.  I'm hoping to plant my garden this weekend.

5.  There's a dead hawk carcass in the back yard of the house behind us.

6.  Insult to injury:  there are crows circling everywhere and landing on the hawk.

7.  Scary apprehension:  today is the day that this lawn gets mowed.

8.  I hope they find the body before they mow it over.

9.  Baseball was cold and wet last night.

10.  Long run tomorrow.




Ok, here's some Five Question Friday!!!

1. Do you apologize to your kids?



If I've done something wrong, yes I do. 

I do not apologize for disciplining them. 

But they do need to see that mommy's and daddy's aren't always perfect in their behavior.  If I accidentally scratch him with my nail or not pay attention and step on his toe...well, yeah...that calls for an apology.

2. What color are your nails right now?

The color God made them.  (In other words, there is no paint on them.)



3. When you were growing up, how difficult was it for you to stay home from school sick? (As in, did you have to vomit or just say "I don't feel good".)

Depends on the symptoms.  If I was vomiting, it was a given.  Fevers were a dead lock to stay home.  Just "not feeling good" meant I had to give the run down of what was happening.

4. When is the last time you bought a new comforter for your bed?

When we moved our bedroom suite into the addition!  Actually, I take that back....I purchased it before we ever moved.  I packed it in a moving box, and decided not to pull it out until we were in our new room.  So...technically, I haven't bought a comforter in over 6 years.

Is it bad that I'm a little bored with it?  I keep catching myself looking at "home decor" in magazines and catalogs.  Ugh, I can be so selfish sometimes!

5. Favorite website(s)?

For what?  One of my favorite purchasing sites is Sierra Trading Post.  You can go through ebates and get money back, and the prices are really great anyway.
 
Of course, there's the Pioneer Woman.  Funny, snarky, honest.  Love her blogging.
 
I saw a thread on fb the other day that linked to a REALLY funny page:  http://damnyouautocorrect.com/.  Seriously, peed my pants at a few of those conversations.
 
And, if you know me at all, and my stance on govermnent, this favorite should not come as any surprise.  :)
 
 
HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY WEEKEND!

These are a few of my (new) favorite things

Feeling happy today. 

Feeling grateful today. 

Feeling (a little less) tired today. 

Thought I'd share a few of my (new) favorite things.

New favorite dinner:  4 veggie meatball skillet dish.  The boys ate it up!  (Recipe forthcoming in future post.)

New favorite meatloaf recipe:  This is the best meatloaf ever.  (Note:  take her advice - you want the cheese.)

Not-so-new favorite blog post ever.  In a world of bigger/better/self-indulgant lifestyles as what peers look up to, I love this post.  It's bold, honest, and brings God into the mix.  (Love this post.)

Favorite new-ish blog.  There's so many things I could say about this woman.  By far, one of (because there are many) the best things to ever come out of my MOPS membership.  She's honest, funny, down-to-earth, genuine, and probably one of the best-darn walking partners around.

Favorite chex mix recipe.  Also known as crack-in-a-bag.  Use Rice and Corn Chex to make it gluten free.  Add nuts for a little protein, and its a balanced meal....right?  (RIGHT?!?!)  yeah, that's what I thought.

Favorite You Tube Video.  At first I thought it was a bit of a joke, but then I realized this group is for-reals.  It's an interesting song/performance/group...but its also a long video.  The things I think are humerous:  the back-laying cycling, the 80's glam synthecizer, the hosts that are brought out to "dance" toward the end of the song, and (the BEST part) starting at 7:30, the regular news starts out of the same studio.  The first guy holds it together well (you can see him shake his head a bit to push off the laughter), but the meteorologist....well, he starts at 7:58.  Hilarious!

When the house falls quiet

C. is my cuh-ray-zee man.

So, while I'm working in the house, he usually gets to play.

I can tell what he's playing on/with by the level of noise in the house.

And every once in a while, the house falls quiet.

And I panic and go running hoping to abate any further injury to my child/house by moving quickly to his last known whereabouts.

So, on this day...it was no different.

Quiet befell the house.

I came running up the stairs to find this:

Blissfully sleeping (and snoring) away on the couch.

I love the sounds of a peacefully slumbering toddler.

Thankful post

I read a book last fall that challenged me to start a Thankful Journal.

I enjoyed the book so much that I gave it to my mom (with a journal) for Christmas.

I was in a good swing of things until last month when life just got the better of me.  Then I slacked off.

I can tell at times that my heart didn't start the day in the right place!

So, here's today's entry:

• I'm thankful for wonderful MOPS friends that I can be around and be myself with.  Ones that encourage me to stick up for myself and applaud me when I can be confrontational.
• I'm thankful for the hope of a summer of fun with my boys.
• I'm thankful that my husband continues to be very busy and very booked with projects in uncertain economic times.
• I'm thankful that even though my running has slowed down, my activity level remains moderate, and weight loss continues.  Slow and steady wins the race.
• I'm thankful that our van has just passed 190,000 miles and is still running (knock on wood).

Random Friday List (and some 5QF!)

1.  Molly has an ear infection.

2.  Poor girl is miserable.

3.  I stopped doing my "thankful journal" every morning, and I can tell by my attitude towards others.

4.  Apparently, I need to get back into it.

5.  Everything seems to be winding down for the year.

6.  Lots of things are ending, but it's also offering a new opening for other things to come in.

7.  Today is C's last day of preschool.

8.  That's one payment I'll be happy not to make for a while.

9.  I think I had a weird virus this week (that really affected my work outs...but not much else), but am hoping to be back to normal by this afternoon's workout.

10.  For those of you that read my previous post and wrote supportive emails to me regarding you know what...thank you so much.  Your support means the world to me.  :)





 

1. Do you and your spouse go to bed at the same time?

Most of the time, yes.  There's a few nights a week that I'm working late, or he's working late, but most of the time we're on the same page as far as bedtime is concerned.

2. A question for the ladies...What kind of facial hair do you like on your man?

soft.  But that's not how he grows it out - it's hard and prickly...which always results in a red rash on my face...so I'll go with clean-shaven.

Although...a little scruff is incredibly hot too. 

3. What's the worst vacation you've ever taken?

Really....can a vacation really ever be bad?!?!?! 

You're on VACATION!!!    Unless you have a case of Ebola or an accidental amputation from some back alley whack job, STOP COMPLAINING!  You're on vacation!

Wait...while I think about it....

Actually, I saw this couple on the Today show once.  They had just returned from a cruise where the ship ran out of food on day 3 (7 day cruise) and the mechanicals on the ship were off, so the whole ship deck was covered with ashes from the smoke stacks, and then the norwalk virus broke out on the ship...just in time for the plumbing system to fail.  Seriously, I felt so bad for them...so, I guess there are bad vacations out there.

4. What's the first-ever blog you followed?

My friend, Rach.  She's funny, down-to-earth, funny, unassuming, funny, put-together, totally honest and completely fun loving.

Tragic that she doesn't blog more.  :)  (hint, hint, Rach!)

Then came friends Lesley and Renee.

Then I decided to be a follower and make a blog of my own.

Love my bloggin' friends...

5. Do you enjoy amusement parks?

Um....I used to?

I used to love love love them!  Twisty, high, low, turny, spinny...I was all about all of it.

Then, shortly before D and I got engaged, my friend Erika and I went to Great America.  We went on a total of 6 roller coasters, one RIGHT after the the other...and I about passed out.  It was awful.

So, we left and headed over to Gurnee Mills for some shopping.  :)

Not my finest moment(s)

Lately, I've been pretty um....how shall I say...selfish?  socially unacceptable?  improper?

I can't figure out the word that adequately fits my behavior.

Sometimes I really miss doing the "Not Me! Monday posts"

Someone once told me that they were annoying. 

I saw them as cheap therapy.

So, here I will sit...in my "confessional chair" (even though I'm NOT catholic)

Here's my confession:

- After touting about good nutrition to my friends and family, I was dreading spending time packing a lunch for C's preschool picnic this week.  So, I went to Meijer and purchased a Lunchable.

Hey, at least there's fruit in it, right?

-I also purchased items for A's baseball practice tonight - since we're in charge of snack this evening.  I purchased CarpiSun Roaring Waters (complete with HFCS) and Kellog's Granola Bars (no HFCS, but loaded with other crap).  I'm just too cheap to purchase organic stuff for other people's stranger's kids.

- I ate an aitken's protein bar two days ago - fully aware that they make me ummmm...socially unacceptable.  Then I went to bed earlier than D. and fell asleep fast so I didn't have to hear about how much the bedroom smelled.

- I fed my family leftovers last night for dinner, and headed out to Panera for a gourmet salad.  Mmmm. salad.

-Yesterday, as C. was sitting on my lap, he let out a loud burp.  As I chastised him for not saying "excuse me," he let out another louder one...with a hard-core toot to go with it at the exact.same.time.  I laughed.  Not quiet laughing...full from-the-belly laughter.  Way to discourage behavior, Sandy.

- I started looking into 5k runs in my local area.  At which time I had a total anxiety attack, and changed my search.  Yes, this journey is more mental than physical.  Ok, it's really physical too, but the mental blocks don't help.  A post about this journey of mine will be forthcoming....eventually.

- I'm wondering if C's attitude has less to do with lack of naps, and more to do with a dietary issue.  But, for now, I'm going to wait and see....only because I'm not up for toddler detox.

- It's taken me 3 days to clean my basement bathroom.  Since I do only little tidbits at a time.  And the toilet and floor have yet to be cleaned.  Apparently, I'm a big believer in "don't bite off more than you can chew."

- I'm the world's biggest procrastinator.  And I'm a big forgetter.  This is a dangerous combination.

- I detailed the minivan a few weeks ago....and it's a mess again.  Apparently, I cannot maintain a general state of cleanliness.

- I was signed up to follow my 3 in-law's during their Marathon run on Sunday morning.  I held my cell phone directly behind my church bulletin eagerly anticipating my texts to let me know of their progress.  I hardly heard much of the sermon (sorry, Pastor!).  I was busy praying for them the whole time.  Thankfully, A. filled in the blanks of the outline, so I read it later.  I received the last texts as two of them crossed the finish line together just as church was getting dismissed.  Good timing, Marianne and Matt!

- I had the horrible and untimely urge to go to the bathroom yesterday while sitting in the drive thru at Chase Bank.  I hit the "call button" and asked the teller if she could "hurry up so I could use the restroom."  Whereupon she started CHATTING with me about bladder control after having children.  Whereupon I asked her AGAIN to "please hurry!"  I bobbed my head the whole way home in an effort to sway my focus.  I was less concerned about the embarrassment of urinating on my self, and more concerned with the smell of pee on my driver's seat.  I have no shame.

-  Tomorrow is our last MOPS meeting for the year.  Happy and sad at the same time.  Thankfully, I have one more year with these fantastic ladies.  But I'm ready to adjourn for the summer.  I'm a mixed bag of emotions.

On your mark....

A few weeks ago, A's school participated in a track meet hosted by my old elementary school.

So, when asked to take a day off work to drive and help with the kids,

I (or course) said yes.

It's a day of fun, competition, and talking with a lot of other fun moms that drove too.

Here's the 40 yard dash start line.

Yes, A. wore his Detriot Tigers ballcap through the entire race.

 GO!!!

He's not the fastest kid in the world, but he held his own within the pack.

And since it was held in my home town (actually at my old high school field),

my dad came to spend some time with the boys!



The boys were SO excited to see him

(and the bag of snacks he had with him)

This is a kindergarten sack race.  This little cutie pie rode in my van on the way over, and I thought I'd grab a few shots of her for her mom.  I LOVE this one of her hopping over the finish line.

A's turn at the sack race....he's so tall and big that he really didn't fit in the sack as well as some of the littler kids.  He fell a few times (which is a GREAT improvement from last year).

 The strategy for this year was more the hopping one (as opposed to the stick-toes-in-the-corners-and-run).  This provided more fun fall shots...which, as a parent, I appreciate.

 This next shot makes me laugh.  A. fell RIGHT before the finish line.  Instead of getting up and crossing the line, he s--t---r--e--t--c--h--e--d out and crossed it.  I'm thanking Lightning McQueen for that inspirational finish.

 Then, the ball throw. 
The boys' faces when they threw the ball (as HARD as they could) really cracked me up.
The winner of this event seriously should try out for the professional leagues.
He was that good.

No bleachers on the North field.

So, papa Ken and C. just played on the hill.

C. LOVED all the attention from papa, and I LOVED that I could take pictures of the events without worrying about the Crazy One.

The standing long jump.

I have a beef with this one, but I'm choosing to be a good sport about it.

Surmize it to say, A. was robbed of a place.

He was clearly in the top 5,

but the other top 4 were on the other side of the pack,

so his didn't get measured.

A. is handling it alot better than I am.

Clearly, I hold a grudge.

Anyway, you'll see A. below.  Still.wearing.his.hat.

All in all, a GREAT day!

I had fun with my boys, my dad (and mom - who was helping host the event), familiar faces from my old church, and LOTS of fun with friendly moms from A's school.

Please read this

A friend of mine posted a link to this on Facebook today.

You all know I've made some pretty big changes in my eating habits over the past few years.

Cutting out High Fructose Corn Syrup is a big one.

Check out this article...It will only take you a few minutes to read, but soooo well written and soooo worth it.

http://drhyman.com/5-reasons-high-fructose-corn-syrup-will-kill-you-5050/

Random Friday List (and some 5QF!)

1.  I am one tired mommy.

2.  Walk, run, walk...all day long.

3.  My next weigh in had BETTER be a good one!

4.  We had a HUGE thunderstorm the other night.

5.  The only reason I know about it?  Facebook the next day.

6.  I never heard a thing - I slept through it all.

7.  I'm picking up a tagalong bike for C. tomorrow morning.

8.  I'm looking forward to spending some time on the bike again this summer.

9.  A big HAPPY BIRTHDAY shout-out to my bestie, Melody (tomorrow)!!!!

10.  Love ya, girl!


Ok, Five Question Friday....




1. Tube socks, calf socks, crew, ankle, none?
Depends on what I'm doing.  If I can, I'd go sandals all the time (so, none).  If I'm working out, I go with the ankles.  Then I have fancy calf socks for fall/winter daily wear.  I love me some funky socks.

2. Was your childs (children's) name a mutual decision or was it a debate? If you don't have children, do you plan on giving your spouse a say, or do you have a name you MUST have, regardless if your other half likes it or not?!
We had the middle names picked out right away, so we had the task of finding a first name to go with that and our last name.  We went through lists, and pretty much kept "veto-ing" everything.  There were a few names that we were like "meh" to, but nothing was set in stone until I was in labor.

THEN, I gave him a choice between two names.  One name I really wanted, and the other I KNEW he HATED.  Heh heh....manipulation at its best. 

Hey, I was in copious amounts of pain.  I'm entitled to a little manipulation, right?!?!?
3. What is your favorite type of weather?Fall/Spring weather.  Not too hot - highs in the low 70's.  Sometimes sunny, sometimes a tad overcast.  NOT humid.  Love that weather!
4. If left to your own devices, what time would you wake up every day?
I've never been a big sleeper-inner.  I'd probably wake up between 7 and 8am.  Closer to 7, though.

5. Have you bought your cemetery plots yet?
Um...no.  We just got our wills noterized (they've been written for a while now).  Life insurance is in place...but no plots.  I'm not quite ready to tackle that kind of thing yet.

The kitchen ceiling critter

You know we live in the Love Shack.

We've had our share of living organisms in our house.

First, it starts with the bats.  When they live in the eaves, I'm ok...

...when they get in the house (which happens once every 6-8 months), I'm not ok.

Thankfully, they've always come in when D. has been home.

{{{{{shudder}}}}}}
Then, you read my crazy chipmunk in my bed story, right?!?!?


{{{{{{double shudder}}}}}}}

Well, this ....um, thing (?) has been residing in the kitchen ceiling of the Love Shack for about the past year or so.

I can hear it scratch, lick, fluff fur...yep, I can hear all that!

And D. never believed me that it was there.

Until we had friends over the other night and he heard it.

And they heard it....(and haven't been back for a visit since...hehe)

So, anyway....when I heard it today, I grabbed my camera.

Crank up the volume...see if you can hear it too.

Embarrassingly late Easter post

Ok, so this post is embarrassingly late.

I'll just chock it up to the fact that my plate is full, and

(more honestly) I have no concept of time.

While I realize Mother's Day was just a few days ago (post coming in July),

It feels like Easter was just yesterday.

Such as life in the PMD house.

Anyway, here's a quick run down of our Easter fun.

A. asked for an egg hunt this year.

He even went as far as throwing plastic eggs and fill-em goodies in my cart when we went grocery shopping.

That boy was determined to have an egg hunt.

(He actually got 2!)

Here's the boys in our living room on Easter Morning:

(they were running REALLY fast!)

 D. and I gave them each an Easter present.

A. got a big floor puzzle of the US., and C. got a Butterfly hatchery.

Note:  If you purchase the butterfly hatchery, its probably helpful to order the caterpillars EARLY.

Poor kid had to wait 13 days to get his present.  mom fail.

 The obligatory pre-church front porch shot. 

I love these shots of my boys, and will treasure them forever and ever.  Amen.

Our Easter Well-Head self timer shot.

We do this every year.

I realize that this isn't the best picture of my hair, but this was the third time I had run back and forth trying to set up the camera for a good shot.

And I realize that I must have been going through a "green phase," as the matchy-matchertons were not planned.

 Here's past pictures:

2010

2009

After church, we headed to my parent's house for another Easter egg hunt.

He's gone vertical!  (And getting into everything!)

 We  (D and I included) had some gold and silver eggs to find with our names on them. 

We had to turn them in for "big treats."

D and I each got gas cards (THANKS MOM!)

A. received a Detroit Tigers cap that he does.not.take.off.  Seriously, I will check on him late at night, and he'll be sleeping in it.

C. got a really fun truck that he's been playing with.

 All in all, a GREAT Easter.  The boys loved spending time with family, and LOVE that we can celebrate a Risen Savior!

Mother's Day Attitude Adjustment

I've noticed a wierd thing over the past three or four Mother's Days.

I help out.

D. will try to get the boys up and running, make me breakfast, and get himself ready for church...but kinda sorta doesn't think about things (like the fact that the church pants and shirts need to be ironed....or dried, or the tithe check filled out, or the activity backpack needs to be filled and cleaned out, or that lunch meat needs to be thawed, or Molly fed, or clean socks matched, etc.) and how they fit into the Sunday morning routine.

Each year, I could totally sit on the sidelines with a snarky smile on my face watching him struggle with activities that I do all the time without thinking.  I could totally, and with justification, take the morning "off."

But this morning (like every other Mother's Day mornings), there I was, elbow deep in the drier trying to find C's church pants, running back in to grab the tithe envelope, and wrestling C. while I try to clip is fingernails after his shower.  I even made C. some banana applesauce pancakes with (6) chocolate chips because I knew that he wouldn't eat the eggs and sausage my husband made me for breakfast.

What was different about this morning?

I wanted to help.

It wasn't expected of me to pitch in like that.

But I wanted to.

Each year, I find myself thinking, "I know I don't have to do this, but I want to help."

Why can't I think this way every other 364 days of the year?

My friend, Michelle, just posted an interesting thing on her facebook about being grateful.

And how sometimes it doesn't matter what we do, but our attitude in how we do it.

She challenged us to make "I get to" lists instead of "To-do" lists.

I didn't have to get C's church pants out of the drier and iron them.

I get to help my husband out and grab C's pants and iron them.

I don't have to work, I get to work.

I don't have to do laundry, I get to do laundry.

I started doing this for the past few days, and it's really made a difference!

So, today, while I know I can justify doing a lot of nothing....I get to help out.

And tomorrow, I get to help out.

And the next day, I get to do lots of other fun things too.  Even if they're small...I get to do them.

Hopefully today will mark the beginning of a much more grateful, and helpful mom for my boys.

Random Friday List (and some 5QF!)

1.  I ran my last MOPS craft yesterday.

2.  It's been a blessing, and its been fun, but I'm grateful my committment is (pretty-much) over.

3.  I made P-Dub's brownies yesterday for A. to bring to his teacher for Teacher Appreciation Day.

4.  Oh my, they looked and smelled heavenly.

5.  I'm looking forward to next week where I'm hoping to be more on top of my schedule.

6.  A. played his first baseball game last night.

7.  The boy can hit!

8.  Fielding is a bit of a different story.

9.  My hair-part got sunburnt at a track and field meet on Wednesday.

10.  Happy Mother's Day to all the Mama's out there!



Ok, here's Five Question Friday!






1. Have you ever had roommates?


Oh, how I laugh at this.  I had two (plus 1) roommates during my ONE semester at Central Michigan University. 
Having graduated and gone to college at the tender age of 17, I really don't think I was ready to leave when I did. 

Plus the ones I did have....  heh. 

The dorms at CMU have suites.  The bunk beds I had, I shared with a bisexual girl who chose to tell me about her sexual preference by having a "friend" over the night before Halloween.  There should have been two other suite mates, but we only had one because she was the RA.  Yep, the RA.  Who had her Sasquatch of a boyfriend spending the night all.the.time.  (He's the "plus one").  She wore baby-doll dresses everyday.  With combat boots.

It was a very surreal semester.

And I transferred back to a university within a 25 minute commute from home, and never looked back.

2. How many names do you/your children have? (i.e. Prince Charming William Phillip Arthur Louis John Jacob Jingleheimer-Schmidt)

First, Middle, Last.

Middle names are family names.

Last name is also a family name.  :)

3. Did you watch the Royal Wedding?

Did I wake at an ungodly hour to watch? ummmmm NO

Did I turn on the news to look at her dress after sending A. off to school?  Yep, pretty dress.

Then, I was done with it.
4. What is the messiest room in your house?

Right now, C's old room is a STY!  It's turned into our catch-all room, and someone's-coming-over-quick-clean-up stash room.  It was also my MOPS craft staging room, and our "we're going to try to sell this on Craigslist room."  Yep...sty.

Seems like that will have to wait until the next cleaning/organizing bug bites again.

5. What is your ideal mothers day?

I'm very low maintenance.  Which is one of the things my husband LOVES about me.

I want to sleep in, NOT cook breakfast, attend church with well-behaved boys, NOT cook lunch, enjoy a walk with the boys and husband, NOT cook dinner, NOT do dishes, and enjoy a nice back rub from the most handsome contractor in town.

Darn those socks!

And so the bug up my butt continues to fester...

Perhaps I should think of another metaphor for this bug...

Since I am not really apt to liking talk regarding my derriere.

And festering...

Sigh...I digress.

Anyway, the spring cleaning/ organizational spree (SCOS for short) continues to demand my attention.

This time, I realized it was time.

This was me on Monday of last week:

And Tuesday:

And Wednesday:

(side note:  I've fixed my polish since then.  This was a HORRIBLE attempt at a french pedicure....horrible.)

Anyway...see a pattern here?!?!?

It was time.

Time to tackle...

...the sock drawer.

I actually loathe my sock drawer, so I started with all.the.others first.

I cleaned house! 

Things that were too big (SQUEEL!) were taken out, things I haven't worn in a year, things I'm not really into anymore...

...let's just say that Salvation Army is about to hit pay dirt.  :)

Well, everything else was done.

I had to open the sock drawer.

There's a few reasons I didn't want to go there:

1.  I usually don't match many socks in the laundry, and I knew there were too many unmatched ladies to count.

2.  I've been slowly discarding the really-ripped ones (as opposed to the not-so-badly-riped ones), and was afraid that I'd have no socks left.

3.  I haven't been to the bottom of this drawer in a long time.  Given that we live in a house called the "love shack", I was honestly afraid that something had burrowed in there and I would find it on this fine afternoon.

So, here she is...muh darn sock drawer.

So...after I discarded the not-so-badly riped socks, and the ones that will perpetually be single...

I'm left with 18 pairs of socks.

Thank goodness sandal season is coming soon.

Oh yeah...and another one crossed of the list!  (#7)