So far, So EXCELLENT!

We spent a lot of time this weekend working on the yard. The kids have a trampoline, a swing set, picnic table, basket ball hoop, chalk board, children's pool, and toys galore out back... just like I would have wanted as a kid. Our yard is just an extension of our home, and the children and I love to be outdoors together. My vegetable garden is almost in, and we were able to prune the shrubs and roses, Andrew sprayed for weeks and edged. We're almost finished.


Here are some pictures of the children I took of the weekend. Our summer is off to a lovely start. This week we're working on getting the house re-organized, laundry caught up, and a routine worked out. I have company coming this weekend.... a family of SEVEN from Idaho.... in our little house..... I LOVE it. We love the Montierth family, dearly, and I couldn't be more tickled at have friends come stay, whom I've claimed as family.




More soon. Thanks for looking.

BullsEYE

Here we are at the last day of school, and I am so thrilled to have my babes home for the summer. We can all let our hair down and enjoy days with little scheduling and loads of fun.

At each year end for Hannah, and now for Ian, I've always felt sad on this day. I cry went they dance at their dance party for the parents, and I cry when the kids cry because they'll miss their buds from school.

I hated the last day of school. Truly hated it. Mainly because I knew I was going to cooped up for days in my bedroom. My bedroom had pink flowered wallpaper and pink tie-back curtains in it. I shared with my sister. My brother had his own room. If I recall correctly, it was blue. We weren't allowed to play outside. We couldn't talk on the phone or watch tv. We didn't have toys. No radio. All we got was a weekly trip to the library, which has now created in me a hate for reading. I read a novel a day, some times more. We also went to church every Sunday, imagine that. My parents were the church type. I hated the feeling of being home with my parents. We stayed out of their way, which was easy because we were not allowed out of our rooms. We just tried to stay quiet, stay unnoticed. The alternative wasn't pretty. I hated being around my mother, the cold hardened woman she was, and still is. It was an indescribable prison. I was so thrilled when my parents decided to ship us off for the summers at Camp Fair Haven in Maine. I didn't miss them at all. Not even a little. None, nada, zip. I loved being a way from them. For those three months I was able to grow into myself. I was able to discover myself, with out darkness looming just behind me.

For years I hated what summers meant for us. Truly hated it.

And although I know my children love being home for the summer, my heart aches when their's does. I know what it's like to miss friends. And although I know they'll be happy the second we get home, I still feel like that little girl myself, feeling like I'm going to be missing the better part of my life for the next three months.

For the sake of snapping myself back to reality, I have a dance party to attend, pictures to take, ice cream to dish out. Today is about the kids, not my inner one, and we plan to have a blast. All of us do. The adult me, the child me, and my 3 beautiful children. Today, things are going to be ok.

Denial.

I am in serious denial that it is Monday, and in denial of all that means. The laundry that is piled high, the chores that need starting, the meals that need planning, the yard work that is waiting, the home work that needs attention.

Instead I have spent the last 2 hours fiddle farting on the computer organizing 1 years worth of pictures.... which ones need printing, which ones to toss. I'm also in denial over how VERY far behind I am in my scrap booking. Like 8 years. For real. Bad... bad...bad!

This post is going to contain one major butt load of pictures. A few from our zoo trip over spring break, a few of the carnival over the same vacation. Nothing too special, but it was fun, to say the least. Can I say I love my kids. Every thing about them. Spending time with them. Playing with them.

Is any one else counting down the days until Summer Vacation starts? We so are.

Happy Monday-ing.... I suppose I'll get my head out of the clouds now, and get to work.

Splash on.

Today was our "fun in the sun day". Tomorrow, Tuesday, is supposed to be 50 degrees outside - a far cry from today's 80! I figured I had better get this post up tonight. Editing pictures and video clips can be very time consuming, so better this way tonight, instead of boring the kids to tears in the morning. I'm trying to get this post up before 11:30pm. Think I can beat the clock? I'm supposed to be making sure I get more sleep, but it's these nights when every one is sleeping but me... they are SO inviting. Nothing sooths the soul like a little me time.

Here is my little Olivia Mae. This tennis ball happens to be her latest treasure.

Ian - growling. I have no idea why... it's a boy thing.

Could my Hannah be more darling?

This was Olivia's get up today. She would NOT drop her towel off, and the helmet... well, I suppose it protected her from the shooting water!

And below, is another of my sweet, far too grown up, Hannah.

This picture below just tickled me. The kids walking up the drive way, hand in hand. Love them, I do.


And of course, another clip.... because really..... there are no words that can describe the fun we had with our water rocket today.


Now.... tomorrow..... Tomorrow could prove otherwise. I plan on dragging the kids out to get groceries with me. That could be dangerous, or boring, or thrilling, or maybe all three in one.

SPRING Break, BABY!

As a child I HATED when ever school was out. I hated being home, knowing that I would be shut in my bedroom the entire time. My parents didn't let us play outside. We couldn't watch tv, watch movies, listen to music, talk on the phone, have friends over, we had little or no toys. We hated school vacations and we hated when school ended for the year. Thankfully we were shipped off to camp summers, which we loved. It was such a blessing, to say the least, to be able to escape.

Now, my kids..... my kids BEG to stay home. From time to time I let them skip school, but this week is SPRING break. A whole stinkin week that we get to P-A-R-T-Y. We stay up late. We play, we giggle, we have fun, we watch movies, we snuggle, and bake, and play out side for hours.
Today is supposed to be EIGHTY degrees, baby! We are breaking out the sprinklers and we are going to have a blast.

Friday it was chilly and windy, so we did some thing I can't re-call that I have ever experienced. We FLEW kites. I should correct myself - Hannah and Ian flew kites, I had no idea what I was doing, but we managed. Below are some pictures and a short clip of our mini-adventure. I love nothing more then being able to be a big kid with my own "little-kid" children. I claim back, each time, a little some thing that I lost during my own forsaken childhood.






I edited this video so that it would be facing correctly, but it didn't work. Tilt your head, maybe? Crap. And I still have a cough.... not asthma.... although by my breathing one might wonder....