Memorial Day weekend was a blast!!
Saturday E and I spent the day at a track meet (pictures to follow---my computer is not cooperating). And that evening was spent with dear friends whom we haven't seen for some time.
On Sunday, we were off to my parents lake by Schuyler.
My sisters Abby and Angie joined us too.
I'm so grateful for time with my family (especially my dad) to fish.
It is one of my fondest memories from my childhood and now my own children will have their own fishing adventures with grandpa too.
We caught a total of four master angler crappies.
I totally have to brag.....mine was the biggest!!!! Over 16+ inches.
E was a total chicken and wouldn't hold hers! She used to like to get her hands dirty....don't know what that was all about.
Those of you who know me well, know that I have a tendency to "OVER THINK" EVERYTHING!!
It is a blessing and a curse.
Probably more of a curse.
I try really hard to catch myself before I've "thought too much" about any topic.
I frequently say "Let Go and Let God!"
I try so hard to realize and accept what is in my control and what is not.
What I can change and what I CANNOT.
It is easier some days than others.
It is easier on some topics more than others.
There's been A LOT of over-thinking going on the past few weeks in our home.
I found this today and thought it was fitting.....so wanted to share:
Whew.....I'm pooped! (And so are ALL members of the fam.)
Our weekend was a blur. Honestly can't even tell you what I did Friday night....really...my short term memory is not holding up well.
Saturday, we had to divide and conquer.
Ed and E left at 6:30am for her first track meet. She did the long jump, 400m and 800m. Considering she is 'new' to the concept of track and competing individually, she did AMAZING! No, she didn't place, but with only 3 practices under her belt, we are certain she will keep improving. We are extremely proud of her!! I was really impressed by her determination. It's going to fun watching her develop throughout the season. The next meet is Sunday the 19th.....looking forward to capturing some pics of her in action!
While they were at the meet, H, EIV and I tackled a soccer game. Holy Moly....the wind was out of control. So much so, that EIV could barely kick a ball across the field. Needless to say, it was not the most enjoyable game.
Then we were off to the races ~ no, not the track meet ~ rather, the driving race across the state.
First trip to Howells to celebrate my two cousins' graduations. So proud of both of them!! And we got to spend time with nearly my entire family. It was a great party (way to go Chris!!!).
Then packed back up in the car to drive 75 miles, where we met up with Ed and E for a family friend's graduation party. This party was packed with 'family' from Vegas. It was so nice to visit with them.
My Mother's Day started at exactly 2:36am, when H decided to get the flu. Spent the next hour and a half in the bathroom with her. Fun, right!??!?!?! NOT!!!
So that meant Mother's Day was spent at home, in my jammies, nearly all day.
It worked! It was low key and good.
My babies blessed me with tons of cards, beautiful tulips (My fave!!!!), and good behavior!
Then we got to end the weekend with a date :)
Our dear friend (that we consider FAMILY) whom we met when we lived next to each other in Vegas was performing in Omaha. It's been WAY TOO MANY YEARS since we have seen him. He's awesome. We love him. And were so blessed to be together. Check him out. http://ralphharris.com/
Doesn't matter what the topic (parenting, relationships, work, life in general)
When I Let Go and Let God.....He always takes care of it. He always takes care of me!
It's pretty awesome!
Didn't the title of this post make you start singing...
"I wear my sunglasses at night,
so I can, so I can
Watch you weave
Then breathe your story lines
And I wear my sunglasses at night
So I can, so I can"
Thank you Corey Hart....and the 80's!
Ok, enough singing..
We are REFUSING (or at least trying!) to let this freaky, weirdo weather get us down.
So we went out and bought some new shades:
(She is throwing me a peace sign... Just didnt get it all in the photo!!)
We have had a horrible, awful spring (if you can even call it that) this year.
The average temp in April is in the 60's...this year, I doubt the average has even been 45.
What the Heck?!?!?!?!?!?!? Why did we leave the warmth of Vegas?
I've asked myself that many, many, many times this past month!
The only good thing about not seeing the sun for nearly an entire month is that it gave me the opportunity to teach my kids a fond song from my youth:
Oh Mister Sun, Sun. Mister Golden Sun. Please shine down on me?
Oh Mister Sun, Sun. Mister Golden Sun. Hiding behind the tree.
These little children are asking you. To please come out so we can play with you.
Oh Mister Sun, Sun, Mister Golden Sun. Please shine down on me?
Then this past weekend happened.
It was PERFECT. BEAUTIFUL. WARM.
I did everything in my power (including saying no to laundry) to be outside and soak up the sunshine.
Saturday we had swimming and soccer. Went for three walks throughout the day. Had picnic for lunch. Mowed and trimmed the lawn. Opened the windows. Spent some much needed time with our neighbors on the patio. Oh, it felt so good.
Sunday we did spring cleaning at my parents lake. We spent basically all day (9am-8pm) outside! Yay!! Ed even came home with a sunburn.
John Denver was right.....Sunshine on my shoulders DOES make me happy!
Monday and today are gorgeous too!! It was 70 degrees at 5am this morning during my walk! Hallelujah!
And I got to eat lunch OUTSIDE in the SUN with two dear friends.
Now. check out the forecast for the rest of the week:
Please kill me now.
I have a SEVERE case of Seasonal affective disorder......also called SAD.......because it makes people (myself included) SAD and CRAZY and CRANKY.
My summary of last weekend was obviously postponed due to the two videos in my previous posts.
Don't know how I'm going to compete with those.
I woke up this morning basically saying 'crap...I need to post about lastweekend before it is thisweekend"..so here we go. Settle in....it's got some length.
I thought my weekend had started out pretty good when the kids and I dined at Subway Friday evening. Pretty low key, the kids were great and we got home pretty much at the time to get ready for bed...yay...because momma was tired.
Around 8:45, things took a dreaded turn. E very quietly asked me to come upstairs. There was no urgency in her voice, so I likely hesitated a minute longer than usual. When I saw her on the top of the stairs, she had an entire bottle of blue finger nail polish cupped in her hands. I rushed up the stairs (who knew I was so fast? ha!), put my hands under hers and hurried to the bathroom.
Now my hands AND her hands were covered, literally dripping, with blue polish. Oh dear Lord, help me, was my first thought.
I got our hands in the sink, assessed that there was a baseball-sized spot on the comforter (bummer!!) and EIV had some on his hands as well. I grab an old towel and rushed to my 2 y/o before we had polish everywhere......got him. Then spent the next 30 minutes (which felt like an eternity) rubbing E and my hands with remover. Ouch! Amidst the scrubbing, H got a pretty little lecture about leaving the nail bucket on the floor (violation of one of the many polish rules in our home) and I asked her to put it away immediately, which she complied, but I did not watch her do (important for 2nd half of the story).
Since my hands were a pretty shade of bold blue, there are no pictures.
Only casualty was E and my raw hands and an old comforter (that can be turned over if necessary...or given to the dog).
Ok, major crisis averted......or so I thought.
About an hour later, with two of the littles tucked in, I was FINALLY getting around to crawling into my bed, for some snuggle time with E. Opened the hall closet to grab a wash cloth and there was an instantaneous crash. It was like a split second, but my mind couldn't process what happened, what the heck could be falling from the sky (oops...closet).
I look down and immediately figured out where H had put the bucket from earlier:
Ok, actually these pictures were after:
1. I cried, literally cried.
2. I scooped up as many shards of glass, bottles and handfuls of liquid polish that i could
3. ruined two more towels trying to save my hands
4. text the hubby begging him to call me. think my text said "worst night EVER, please call me on way home"
5. Stressed/Anxious about how I was going to explain this to Ed
6. Assured E that I was ok (even though I was bawling)
Ok, after an 10:45pm run to Walmart for supplies. We called it a night. Ed actually were pretty calm about it all (which SHOCKED the heck out of me!). Do you know Ed? He wipes down his car almost every day and vacuums like he's employed by Merry Maids.
The upstairs smelled like a nail salon and Ed actually said, "I don't think I can sleep up here. The smell is making me sick". I just thought, 'ya, no crap....pretty sure the hairs in my nose have been fried by the smell of polish and polish remover'
Saturday we went to work.
Everything we read said to let the polish dry first. So we did.
So what worked best:
1. Windex. yes, Windex (thank you My Big Fat Greek Wedding for teaching us all the Windex solved/works on EVERYTHING!). Yes, really...after the polish dried, sprayed Windex on the small spots and scrubbed with a brush....it worked.
2. Goo Gone. aka Miracle worker.
Here's the stain today:
Pretty AMAZING isn't it.
Saturday was a BIG DAY for me too.
The first annual Heart Heroes, Inc. Family Support Event.
I'm designated as the special events coordinator for Heart Heroes, and this was my inaugural event.
It was a HUGE success! Nearly 200 heart families attended. I met lots of new heart moms and dads.
And there were TONS of Heart Heroes sporting their capes (pics to come in future posts).
Special shout out and Thanks to the two amazing and wonderful co-founders (whom I'm blessed to call friends) Kitty and Sondra.
Heart Heroes Inc. is a non-profit organization who's mission is:
To provide support and comfort to children and families affected by Congenital Heart Defects(CHD) through the distribution of superhero capes and other forms of encouragement and inspiration.
I'm SOOOOOO blessed to be apart of this amazing organization.
My Heart Hero, EIV REFUSED to don his cape during the event.
So here's some video of him practicing the week before:
my heart runneth over with .......pee
Because I've about peed my pants from laughter EVERY SINGLE TIME I watch this video.
WARNING!!!! WARNING!!!!! WARNING!!!!
DO NOT ALLOW YOUR CHILDREN TO WATCH THIS ~ PLEASE SCREEN FIRST!
(get your minds out of the gutters, you naughty peeps, it's not THAT kind of video!)
Ok....I had a very, very eventful weekend.
Some good, some bad and some GREAT things happened this past weekend.
I planned to blog about it today...but then something better presented itself.
While Ed and i were cleaning up after dinner tonight, we noticed that it got extremely quiet upstairs. I hurried up to check and was presented with this video.
seriously......it is TOTALLY worth watching the entire video.
Enjoy!!!
Yesterday, my big brother turned 40.
WHAT? REALLY?
Honestly, that simply CANNOT be the case. I really am having a hard time wrapping my head around that.
I swear it was only yesterday that we ate Scooby Doo cookies in the park or listened to Licensed to Ill literally for 8 hours straight.
I feel like we blinked and went from 20-something to 40 overnight....I guess that's what work, marriage, a handful of kids and LIFE will do to ya!
Just goes to show, how much we need to ENJOY and CHERISH every moment...as they go by quick.(yes...cheesy cliche, I know, I know...)
RJ - Thanks for the 40 years (well, actually only 36 for me!) of memories.
Thanks for saving me from the Maple Creek all those years ago (and not naming me Moses).
Thanks for so many fun times.
Thanks for the gross-o kisses (you know what I mean!)
Thanks for always protecting me
And remember that I am Thankful that you are my brother.
Hope your birthday was full of blessings.
Here's to 40 more!!
Hi!
We had a busy weekend. So busy that I didn't snap one single photo (not even with my phone).
Friday night, the kids and I ran to Sam's Club and Fareway.
Nothing says good quality Friday Night Family Fun like a trip to the warehouse store and grocery store. They were not stoked.
Trust me.
Saturday was filled with early morning swimming lessons.
They are both getting so good! I love to swim and am so glad that soon, very soon, my girls will swim right along side me. Now....actually getting me in a swim suit for that little scenario......is an entirely different story....
Dang, love you warmer weather, but this body has a long way to be ready for a swim suit :)
(p.s. SG---it's time to get serious!!)
ok, ok....back to the weekend.
Soccer started for H. It was club training this week, first game is Wednesday and her dad is making a guest appearance as coach. That will certainly mean pictures for me!!! yay!!
H was more excited about soccer this year than in the past. And she's pretty stinkin good too! Wonder where she gets that from??? Me and my swimsuit-perfect body I'm sure :)
I about peed, I was laughing so hard right there.....
Then E and I hit up some garage sales!
Woo Hoo!! Garage sale season is HERE!
I scored 9 BRAND NEW frames for $3/piece. Score!
And a BRAND NEW, tags-still-on, Gap skirt for H for $1. Score!
And E scored some roller skates. I LOVE that she wanted roller skates.
H went to a friend's birthday party/sleepover.
Didn't make the sleepover part. she "missed my mom too much". aaaawwww....then I think...."Will they ever get sick of me? "....oh, wait....I already KNOW the answer to that one!!!!!!!!!!!!!
E had a friend sleep over at our house. They had so much fun. Swim suits in the bath (oops...I meant hot tub!) Jimmy Johns and sleeping in the closet, cuddling with my shoes (YES....really!?!?!?!?) WTH? is what I thought, but they loved it!!!
Sunday started off right with a dozen donuts! That's the fancy meal our guest received :)
Ed and I then decided, since drapes were on sale, what the heck...let's give our front room a make-over and that took up the rest of the day.......insert a bike/roller skate ride around the neighborhood and 3 trips to Target too.
What did you do this weekend?
Hope it was fun! I mean, Sam's Club on a Friday night, sleep in your closet, roller blade around the block kind of fun!!!!
Praise the Lord for He is Risen!!........check.
Buy girls Easter dresses.......check.
Make sure little dude has adorable Easter shirt......check.
Go to church......check.
Stock up on supplies for Easter baskets....check.
Leave out carrots and Cheetos....check.
Stay up late to 'help' with the baskets....check.
Say Happy Birthday to my sis.....check.
Take pictures of children all dressed up......fail.
Get Easter cards out in the mail......fail. (grandma/pas in NV and CA please accept our apologies)
Color Easter eggs.......fail. (1st time EVER in my parenting career)
Have an egg hunt at home.....fail.
Go to a community egg hunt.......fail.
Picture of children participating in egg hunt.....fail. (thank the lord that great grandma scheduled an egg hunt!)
Take an Easter family picture......fail.
SO what did I do:
1. First and foremost.....had the most wonderful, enjoyable Easter at my Grandma/pa's house. Both are 83 and they still prepared the majority of the meal for nearly 40 people. I LOVE THEM so much! We had amazing food (no one ever will compete with their pork cutlets, kolaches and dressing!). I'm very very blessed.
2. Was awoken at 6:04am to see if the bunny had arrived.
3. Ate my first piece of chocolate at 6:10am.
4. Actually captured a few pics of the baskets and treats (to be posted later tonight or tomorrow)
5. Pretty sure I ate my weight in food; including only ONE Reese's egg. Twix was my craving of choice this year.
6.. Went for a great walk with my daughters and my dog (thank goodness that worked off 10 of the 3500 calories I consumed!)
7. enjoyed great conversation with my grandma, aunts and cousins.
8. and finally......rode in the back seat for the final 5 miles AFTER H puked not once, not twice, but three times.........little smokies, mashed potatoes and chocolate........oh my..............poor baby. (pretty sure this was karma getting me back for 'forgetting' to color eggs)
At the end of it all....pretty sure that my successes and failures evened out.
That's what I'm going to believe at least.
Hope everyone had a blessed Easter!
