Phoning in the weekend

I have a riveting post for y'all today.

Riv-et-ing.

Our weekend actually was busy, but we ended up cancelling some things

because

a) the van continues to occasionally smoke- even though D "fixed" it with plumbing materials

b) I wasn't feeling the greatest

c)  We were all whooped after a crazy busy week

d)  All of the above.

So anyway.......

I started documenting the weekend (starting on Saturday) just because it's so riveting.

I woke up to the sound of my puppy chewing on something.  On my bed.  This means she had to go get her chew toy upstairs, bring it up on our bed, and chew.  Guess what she brought?

My favorite pair of summer sandals- that essentially goes with EVERY sundress I own!

To ease the saddness of my sandal loss, I stopped at the Starbucks drive-thru

while errand running.

(Thank you to our accountant for the FREE Starbucks gift card for our referral)

Filled up with gas. 

It's a sad sad day when $30 doesn't even get you up past 1/2 tank.

Anyone know what the price per gallon was before Obama took office?

I dare ya to google it.

I took the boys to see a matinee.

Once a week, they show an (older) movie for free (for the kiddos) and parents are only $4.

(too bad they don't discount the TEN DOLLAR POPCORN COMBO!!!)

But the boys LOVED Spy Kids 4, and I got a nice little snooze in.  :)

We came home to a nice surprise....

D was done early with his morning job and decided to start tearing out the electrical wiring in the old house!

The "helper"

Saturday night was our biggest school fundraiser of the year.

It's a fun fun night, but a lot of work.

Here's everyone getting ready for the live auction portion of the evening.

Sobriety was varied between stone cold sober and d-r-u-n-k (only a select few).

(We're Lutheran's, it's ok)

It's funny....and it increases bids.  :)

My hottie bidder-spotter stayed close to my "number recording" station.  :)

He loves me.  :)

Sunday ended the weekend in a very low-key day.

I stayed home and rested while D and the boys attended church.

We chilled out after they returned home.

I watched the Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox.

(WOOHOO!)

Then, I continued in my resolution and decided to clean out the pantry of old food.

I had 1/2 package of marshmallows and a HUGE bag of rice krispies.

I thought about making rice krispie treats...but needed more marshmallows.

Enter:  Easter Peeps.

Doesn't it look like a Peep Jacuzzi? 

Happy Monday!

Aren't you glad you read this riveting post?~?~?

5QF

Friday!!!  I made it to FRIDAY!

The boys are back in school.

We're back on a regular (ish) routine.

I'm happy.

This weekend promises to be one of the busiest ones yet this spring.  But, after that, I think we're relaxing just a tad bit more.  And even though its busy (packed...jam packed), it's going to be a lot of fun too....so there's the silver lining.


1. Who mows your grass?

I used to.  When we first moved here, I used to walk behind the push mower once a week while A. took a nap inside.  It took me 2 hours to mow our lawns...then along came C, and D took over that job.  I've never looked back.  :) 

We actually now have a riding mower that was "gifted" to us.  I use " " only because it takes him just as long to get the mower running as it does for him to cut the lawn once it's started!


Ahhhh, yes.  You can take us out of the ghetto, but you can't take the ghetto out of us.  :)


2. Do you have a picture wall or picture gallery in your house (show us! )?

I actually have two!

The first one is in our basement living room.  The whole color theme down there is tan and white with light blue and red accents.  So, I wanted a picture wall above my (free/ recovered in fabric w/ red, blue, tan and white circles) couch.  I started finding different frames from old pictures, at the Target One Spot (see square frames), and I painted them and purchased coordinating mats.  There are some professional beach pics, a wedding pic or two, and a whole lotta candids.  The pictures on this wall are some of my favorites.  (Pardon the crooked picture frames....I'm in a hurry, and the boys were playing down here this morning!)

The second one is in our bedroom.

These are all black and white- except for the stained glass silhouette from our wedding day.

Our wedding invitation is also framed, but that was white and silver...so the color doesn't really count, right?

3. What book has influenced your thinking the most? Or, what blog? (I want to read what gets people thinking!)

I need to preface this by saying "Besides the Bible?"  Cause, you know...that's #1.

There's a lot of books I keep in the corners of my mind and draw from every so often.  Some are devotionals, some are biographies, some are total fiction but inspirational nonetheless.

I read Pioneer Woman's blog with great regularity and a few friends as often as they post...

So, how's that for an answer without really being an answer?  Geez, you'd think I was running for a political office.

4. Do you have allergies? If so, how do you handle it this time of year?

Whoa nelly, do I ever!  Spring is actually my worst season for allergies- followed by fall in a close second.  Then, you factor in all the everyday allergies....and wallah....you have me.

I do a nasal rinse (similar to the neti pot) every day.  Sometimes twice a day if I'm really struggling.  I also take Zyrtec and dose up on Omega 3 Fish Oils.  (they're anti-inflammatory)

Otherwise, I try to stay inside on windy days, and dust the house as little as possible.  :)

5. What's your go to meal to cook in an hurry?
 
 
Tacos, spaghetti, hamburgers, any kind of hodge-podge concoction that I can throw together in a pinch.  The easier, the better!
 
 

The Easter Well-Head pic

Easter week was full, crazy and tiring. 

Because Holy Week also fell on spring break for us.

It was long.

So, so long.

I take it as a warning-shot that I need to beef up my patience level before summer.

Anyway.....

We had a special Easter egg hunt in our house on Thursday.

(more on that later)

Then, we had D's parent's over to enjoy an Easter dessert the boys and I made that day.

Saturday

we stayed close to home and made another fun easter bunny cake for my parent's house the next day.

Sunday

And, as in true PMD tradition, every Easter Sunday morning, we take some pictures on the front porch.

The boys.

Yes, they are in coordinating shirts.

 And the whole family:

Pardon my hair- because we took a total of 9 pictures....and I was the one running back and forth.

Pardon my pose- see above statement.

Pardon C's smile.  We're working on it.

After church, we ventured out to my parent's house to celebrate, eat, and take a (rediculously long) nap.

To see our past Easter Pics, click here.

Happy Easter!

Today I am

1.  Watching a spider crawl across the wall in front of me.  It's too high for me to kill.  So, I'll wait until it either a) falls upon which time it will meet an untimely death or b) disappears which will catapult me into a "where the heck did that spider go!?!?!?" questioning in my head for the next 2 years upon which time I'll be totally paranoid that it has grown into the size of my hand and is lurking under my desk waiting to strike me with deadly venom.

2.  Trying to catch up with work.  I'd love to be totally caught up.  Where I can sit and enjoy my kids and not feel like "I should be working."  I always feel like I should be working.  I hate that.

3.  Making leftovers for dinner.  Mmmmm...Easter leftovers.

4.  Freaking out!  Holy crap...the spider is gone.  It was in the middle of the wall, and now its disappeared.  I'm freaking out.  There one minute and gone the next.....where the heck did it go?!?!?!?

5.  Thinking that my boys are coming down with the mysterious illness that had plagued their friend over spring break.  We had a play date and saw them again on Sunday- without knowing that they were infested with fevers and feeling awful all week.  Fan-flippin'-tastic!

6.  Wishing my puppy was house trained.  Hopefully any day now.  She's smart enough.  She's also stubborn.  She's ruining my carpet.  I'm not a happy dog owner at times.  I'm also going broke on carpet cleaner.

7.  Hoping my van makes it another 100,000 miles.  It's at 204, 282.  It's a Dodge.  It's rusting.  It's smoking every so often.  I understand this means odds are not in my favor.

8.  I am also wishing I didn't stay up to the wee hours in the morning stuffing envelopes for a fundraiser.  I'm horribly tired.  I need a nap.  I need 1000 naps.

9.  Thinking of the prime rib I'll be reheating for dinner.  mmmmm, beef.

10.  Thinking again of that spider.  I am afraid I only have two years to live before I die of a gigantic spider bite.  Why oh why can't I have go-go-gadget arms to kill spiders that are 7 feet up on a wall?  Sigh.

Still in the trenches

We're still in the midst of spring break.

C's preschool actually has 2 1/2 weeks off.  A. has been off since last Thursday. 

A goes back tomorrow.

C goes back Wednesday.

I'm still in the midst of a busy (CRAZY busy) season at work.

We're staring down the gauntlet of our largest fundraiser this weekend.

I need to launch the first phase of the next fundraiser tomorrow.

I have meetings every night this week.

My boys are fighting like cats and dogs.

I'm still in the trenches.

I need a nap.

5QF

At the breakfast table this morning:

Me:  "C, do you know what today is?  It's Good Friday."

c:  "Is that when Jesus dies?"

Me: "Yes, today is the day that Jesus is crucified on the cross to save us from our sins."

C: " Well, that means that Easter is comin' in a coupla days, and Jesus is alive again, and it's all good!"

Me:  "Yes, C....it's all good."

C:  "That was nice of Him, huh, mommy?"

Me:  "Yes, C.  God is awesome like that."

The faith of a 4 year old can bring tears to his mama's eyes!

1. Would you prefer having people over for dinner or going to their house?

Ummmm.....not sure how to answer this one.  I guess this depends. 

I prefer to have them to our house just because I can control the menu.  When you have issues with any food allergy, menu control means safety.  It also means you're not going to be sitting there sucking on a grapefruit while everyone else eats (awkwardly looking at you because you can't eat a damn thing on the table.  Yes, this has happened).


On the other hand, we stopped hosting people for dinner a while ago because we had a few sets of friends over here and there, and they made some snarky comments about the Love Shack feeling "dirty" "old" and "claustrophobic."  So....we just stopped having people over.

We've hosted more people after the addition went up.  It's nice to feel hospitable again.  :)

2. Favorite Bible verse and why?

I have three:

The first one I remind myself when I'm feeling "judgy" against myself and others are feeling "judgy" toward me.  I also remind this verse to my friends who are struggling in dark seasons.


"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."  2 Corinthians 12:9


The following verse I remind myself when I feel overwhelmed and over committed to things at church/school.  I'm tempted to "validate" my turning down new opportunities by giving a list of all the thing I'm already doing, but then I remember this verse, and just say a simple, "no, but thank you for thinking of me.""For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is now of yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so no one can boast."  Ephesians 2:8-9




One that I recite when I'm afraid or challenged:

"I can do all things, through Christ, who strengthens me."  Philippians 4:13
That last one is probably my most favorite, but the other two pop into my head with awesome regularity.  So, picking just one favorite verse isn't possible for this girl!

3. What was the first concert you ever attended, and the most recent one?

I believe my first real concert was the Cranberries.  Back in 1995?  I went with my manager from work.  We made a deal- he bought my ticket if I drove.  Some friends from school were there, so it was great to meet up with them!

The most recent one?  Hmmmm...I need to jog my memory for that.  It was either Red Hot Chili Peppers or Josh Groban.  I can't remember which was most recent. 

What an eclectic music follower I am, right?!?!?


4. The year is 2025. What are you doing, and what have you done?

Geez....that's 13 years from now!  A will be out of the house, and C will be a recent graduate from high school. 

Ok, I need to stop a second and wipe tears away....

and deep breath.....

in.....

out.....

I hope that I'll have a career that I enjoy, not just a convenient job.  I HOPE the house will be completed...and D and I will be looking at land further out of town....and combing through plans of smaller ranch-style houses to build.

I hope that there will be some great memories from travels and family vacations.  I hope to be surrounded by awesome supportive friends, and very content with who I am.


5. What's your favorite Easter treat?

I have to go with the Reese's Egg.  There's just something about form-pressed gluten free peanut butter. Covered in milk chocolate.

And Cadbury Mini-Eggs.  I can't eat one and leave them alone.  Which is why I purchased ONE bag the day before I entertained some friends.  I ate 6.  Yes, that was an accomplishment.  :)






  A very somber Good Friday greeting to you today....   ....but Sunday's comin'.  

2 Days, No kids.

It's spring break.  I do love spring break.  However, it started early this year (last Friday)

and ends late this year (Tuesday).

Where were these long spring breaks when I was a kid?

Oh yeah...they were NON EXISTENT!

Apparently, they valued mommy-sanity back in the 80's.

Please don't get me wrong...I do love my boys.  I love spending time with my boys.

But lately,  I've been running on empty.

And it seems the emptier I run, the more things get piled on me.

And the grumpier I get.

So, when I was "awarded" a double work load for this week, I wasn't surprised...other people go on vacations.....God was pushing me....so I knew it was time to ask for help.

Help in the form of grandparents.

Awesome grandparents who are willing to take my boys overnight (TIMES TWO!) so I can get some work done.  And (if there is any down time) recharge my batteries.

So, besides work- which I'll be doing about 98% of today and tomorrow....

here's what I plan to do with my extra kid-free time:

1.  Sleep in.  Oh joyous morning sleep!    I am NOT a morning person.  NOT at all!  If it were my choice, I would talk to anyone until 10am. Because I have so much work, I had to start at 9am....but from wake up until 9....no speaking.

2.  Stay in jammies.  I don't plan on going anywhere today and tomorrow.  I don't plan on having anyone here today and tomorrow.  If you're planning on dropping by to surprise me, don't be surprised when you find me blissfully disheveled, unshowered, adorning some purple fleece cloud pajamas.  If I do choose to shower (because I will probably revolt myself sometime over the next 24 hours), you'll find me in sweats.

3.  Iron.  I have a large pile.  It needs to get done.  I have khaki's to find before Easter Sunday.

4.  Fundraiser stuff.  I have envelopes to stuff and fill out for a fundraiser coming up on May.  This one falls on my shoulders alone.  It's already behind the scheduled dates to get out.  I gotta get it done.

5.  Organize.  Closets.  Ugh.  (Stephenie?  You busy?)

6.  Watch a chick flick.  Probably in segments.  Because I have work to do.  But when I'm taking a mental break, I plan to watch a chick flick or a chick program.  Unanimated.  Not for children.  Chick flick.

7.  Blog.  Because I'm self-diagnosed ADD and need mental breaks.

8.  Work on training my new puppy.  She needs work.  And she's been spoiled by my laziness as of late.

9.  Pack up what's left in the Love Shack.  There's not much left....HOME STRETCH!

10.  Take a nap.  A blissful quiet nap.  Curled up with my puppy.  Quiet.  Sleep.  Ahhhhh.