Wednesday, April 29, 2009

things I like...

green grass

bright, red barns

spring flowers

clouds in the distance

a good thunderstorm

the beach

sleeping with the windows open

snuggling with my cat

wearing shorts and t-shirts and sandals

live music

seeing my kids have a good laugh



What do you like?

Monday, April 27, 2009

Signs of spring

At last, spring has arrived to central Pennsylvania. The flowers are finally blooming and this last weekend was warm and sunny. Nothing like some sunshine to lift one's spirits. I was very lax last week on the blogging front with soccer starting for both kids, I've gotten a little behind.

In one week, my husband and I are flying to New Zealand. I can't believe it's coming up so fast. We have friends that live there and my husband is doing some research. He will get to stay for 3 weeks while I stay for about a week. My mom will be staying with the kids while I'm galavanting cruise for us and we might get to go to around the
South Island. Our hosts have planned aStewart Island.

Dafs

Morels in the yard

pretty flowers


Morels in the yard

The best part of spring

I spoke with my brother this weekend. He's dating someone. He said he was happy and they are thinking of marriage. He's not going to bother telling his ex-wife. I don't blame him there. She was the one that wanted out of the marriage, anyway.

So, that's it for now. Kendall has soccer tonight and I will try to get some pictures. She loves it. It's great to see her participate in a team sport. She's not the fastest but she plays with vigor!

Saturday, April 18, 2009

In the still of the night

My husband is out of town for the weekend. He drove 3 hrs east to meet up with a couple of friends to go fly fishing. Which means I am home for the weekend with two kids, two dogs and a cat. And like I always say--the cat is no trouble!

Anyway, I usually get to sleep in on Saturday mornings while he takes care of the kids and deals with the dogs. I never take care of the dogs if he is around. After all, they are not my dogs! But, at 3:30 am last night, I heard the whimpering and whining from one 10 month old German short haired pointer. Ugh. I just wanted to ignore her and go back to sleep but the whining was relentless. I shuffled out of bed and down stairs to let Lilly outside. She mauled my hand and danced over to the sliding glass door. While she was in the yard, I gazed up to the sky. It was pitch black. All I could see were millions of stars sparkling against a black velvet sky framed by the tall oak trees that surround our house. A beautiful sight to behold in the still of the night. If my eyelids hadn't been so heavy, I think I could have stood there the rest of the night.

There is something calming and comforting that star gazing brings to me. It reminds me of being a kid driving back from South Arkansas after a visit with the grandparents. We always drove back late so the stars would be out. I remember gazing up through the car's back glass at the beautiful stars while wondering what is really out there. I am one of those people that would jump at the chance to go to space. I've always been filled with wanderlust.

I also remember lying outside in the summer night with my dad and sister looking up at the stars and watching for shooting stars. We had a storm cellar that was perfect to lie on. It seemed like we were out there really late but to a 5 year old it probably didn't have to be late to feel that way. I would try to peer through my dad's binoculars not knowing how to use them properly.

Well, my eye lids won out and I called Lilly back in. I shuffled back upstairs and crawled into bed. I wasn't upset from the interruption of sleep, but rather felt like I had witnessed a magical dream.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Nice Easter



I hope everyone had a nice Easter. We made it to church about 10 min early (we usually arrive about 3 minutes late) but the church was already packed. We sat on folding chairs. :( Anyway, it was a beautiful day. We had a late lunch at our friends house, Lou and Peggy with their daughter and Peggy's mother. Last year, our kids were at their house for Easter while Pete and I were in Brazil. Anyway, we ate very well and I took cupcakes, deviled eggs and sweet potatoes (Pete made the sweet potatoes with butter, ginger, onion and garlic).
The kids ate waaaaaay too much candy. It was a nice day but I'm worn out today. Have a great Monday!

Thursday, April 09, 2009

Spoiled...

rotten.

If you look up the word "spoiled" in the dictionary, I think you would see this picture next to the word.

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

The Easter Bunny?

I was 7 years old before I'd heard of the Easter Bunny. I remember seeing one of my neighbors on Easter and they were showing me everything in their Easter basket that the Easter Bunny had left them. They asked me what the Easter Bunny had given me. "Nothing," I replied. They were shocked. I told them the Easter Bunny didn't come to my house--that my parents gave me a chocolate bunny to eat.

Our tradition was always to go to church on Easter. We were regular attenders anyway, so Easter was a definite for our family. My mom would get me a new, fancy dress and new shoes for Easter. I always hoped it was warm and sunny on Easter since the Easter dresses were designed for warm weather. After church, we had a big Sunday dinner. Then, all the kids would wait in the house while the adults went outside and hid the eggs. No Easter Bunny hid them. It was still very fun running around the yard looking for eggs in all these illusive places.

Fast forward. I'm a mom now and my circle of friends is made up of parents of young children. I hadn't given the Easter Bunny any thought until a couple of years ago when a dad asked that I not say anything about the Easter Bunny not putting the eggs out. What? Who ever heard of that? He said that his then 6 years old daughter believed that the Easter Bunny hid the eggs. In other words, she didn't know that the adults did it and it was just a game. I had to hide my shock. I had never heard of such a preposterous notion. Wouldn't it make more since if there were an Easter Chicken? After all, chickens lay eggs, don't they? I agreed not to ruin it for their girl that day. And every year, I'm careful not to spoil it for my other friends' kids.

Yesterday, I took the kids to the mall to look for some Easter shoes. The Easter Bunny was out there posing with children. My kids asked if they could see the Easter Bunny. I said "Sure, but don't ask to get your picture taken." They walked up to the Easter Bunny and waved. The Bunny gave each of them a little stuffed bunny. My kids then gave the bunny a big hug. I was careful not to spoil it for them while all the time I was a little creeped out. When we got home that evening my children were telling their dad all about it when my 4 year old son said, "It's not a real bunny, just a man dressed up like a bunny."

I was wondering when the idea of an Easter Bunny all started anyway and who all practiced it? Was my family strange? I asked my mom that Easter why the Easter Bunny didn't come to our house and she replied, "There's no such thing as an Easter Bunny. Easter is about the resurrection of Jesus Christ." I know that in the Christian faith, Easter is the most important holiday--celebrating a risen Lord. If there were no Easter, then all of it would just be an interesting story with some good moral lessons.

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Meme

I saw this on Auburn Kat's blog.


What is your current obsession? Planning my trip to New Zealand.

Do you nap a lot? Lately, I've been snagging some naps to get me through the week.

Who was the last person you hugged? Clayton, my 4 year old.

What was the last thing you bought? Groceries, yesterday.

What are you listening to right now? TV in the background.

What is your favorite weather? Hot, sunny.

What’s on your bedside table? Books, clock radio, papers, lotion.

If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you want it to be? London.

Favorite vacation spot? Arkansas visiting family.

Name the things you can’t live without. Coffee, computer, car.

What would you like to have in your hands right now? The title to my house.

What would you like to get rid of? all debt

If you could be anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go? Somewhere warm

What did you want to become as a child? Flight attendant.

What do you like better, e-mail or telephone calls? telephone calls

What do you do when you get time alone?Blog, watch TV, read.

Sunday, April 05, 2009

Busy, busy, busy.

This weekend was busy for me. What that really means is that I actually had some things planned. I usually prefer to just wake up on a Saturday and not have a clue what we're going to do. However, the local high school thespians put on "Beauty and the Beast" this weekend and last weekend. It was professional. It was really good. I took Kendall to the matinee on Saturday.

Cogsworth and Madame Grande La Bouche

The Prince and Belle.

Babette and Luniniere
The entire show was put on by the high school students. They made all the costumes, the orchestra was from the high school, the lighting was done by the students. The really neat thing was that after the show, if you made a donation, the kids got to get their pictures with the cast. The cast was very gracious.

I was a little frustrated with the people in front of us. They had small kids and it would have been best if they had gotten a baby sitter. The one child was old enough to be scared when the lighting went down and the Beast showed up. They had to take her out for a while. Which meant they were up and down and up and down. I realize it was just a high school production but still it would have been nice if people exercised some theater etiquette. Oh well. At least it wasn't an expensive Broadway Show. My hope is that by the time I take my kids to Broadway, they will know how to act.

On Sunday, we made it to church! It's been a few weeks. :) Then, I took the kids to an Easter Egg hunt at Clayton's preschool. The weather couldn't have been better. I'm so ready for sun and blue skies every day!

Mrs. Potts and Chip

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Want a dog?

So how was your day so far? Mine started out a little too early for me. Pete has been out of town for a couple of days which means I'm in charge of two dogs, a cat and two kids. Needless to say, the cat is no trouble.

I woke up at 4 am to the sounds of Lilly, our 10 month old German Shorthaired Pointer, whining in the crate. Ugh. I got up, ran down stairs and let her out. She promptly ran into the yard and pooped. OK. I haven't been walking her like my husband does everyday, but still crisis averted. I made her get back into the crate and I crawled back into bed. A few minutes later, Kendall woke up and wanted some water. That was a quick fix. I went back to bed and fell asleep. Next
thing I knew, the alarm went off. I got up and fed both dogs and let them out. I then put the puppy back into the crate (she's not to be trusted) and took my shower.

I proceeded with my morning. I ate my cereal and then woke the kids. After much prodding, I got both kids in the car and off we went to their prospective schools. I came back home to do some house work during my two and a half hour respite. A few minutes before I needed to jump in the car and pick up Clay from preschool, I noticed a BIG, stinky wet spot on my bed. I know the old dog does not sleep on the beds anymore. And the puddle was much too big to come out of an 8 lb cat. It was the "wake me up at 4 am puppy." I was fit to be tied. Did I mention that I am not a dog person? So, I stripped the bed. I'll have to take the comforter to the cleaners. Just shoot me. Or shoot a dog.

I hope your day started out better than mine.