A few updates

It's been SO nice out lately! On Saturday we all headed to Riverfront park to walk and play. It was wonderful! We walked across many bridges and watched the river, chased ducks and geese, watched the kids slide down the big red wagon a ton of times, and best of all - we breathed in the fresh air and soaked up some some serious rays!

See - it was SO bright that the kids couldn't even really look at the camera very well. :-)

I also finished a cute little scarf for Roz, per her request. She loves it!

Isn't she adorable?! Oh, and she has her first loose tooth ta boot! She is getting so big.

She is super thrilled about her tooth and wiggles it religiously. ;-)

In other news, I have finally found the perfect dress to wear in my mom's wedding!

Too bad I won't look like this lady in it. ;-)

I am actually really excited to wear this dress, because even though I don't look like this model, it does actually look very good on me. PLUS, a friend of mine (that happens to work at the store) helped me & made sure I found a dress with child friendly material, as well as humid-Iowa-weather-in-July friendly. Isn't that fantastic?

Art Projects

So, on our day off we decided to do an art project. :-) We started by cutting out words and pictures from magazines and pasting them, then we painted on top of it. To paint, we used yarn and ribbons as well as apples, potatoes and actual paint brushes. It was a lot of fun!

This last one is mine :-) My favorite quote in it is 'messy in a good way', though all of the phrases speak to me and carry a lot of meaning for me.

I love that I got to incorporate my Disneyland ticket and a fast pass from the Indiana Jones ride in Disneyland too (one of my favorite rides)!

Reading

I woke up this morning feeling a bit antsy. After thinking about it, I realized that I need to find a new book or book series to get lost in. :) Every once in a while I just need to mix up my routine a bit. I need an escape and to live vicariously through a fictional character for a while.

So, I headed to Barnes and Noble and picked up the first two books of the Stephanie Plum series. I've had several people recommend them. They are not deep or philosophical, but they are fun for sure! This is really up my alley because life can often feel heavy enough for me. I don't need to read heavy books too.

So, tonight I plan on curling up with my new book to read the night away. :) It sounds heavenly!

Lately

I've been in a bit of a slump. Not really sure why. I've been sick. My hubby's been working a lot lately too. He's coaching basketball, which means I am home for a LOT of hours with the kids by myself. PLUS, we've been really buckling down money wise. I think all of that adds up to being a bit house bound and therefore a little down. At least there are reasons, I guess. But still...I'm feeling the need to mix it up a bit.

The rest are other random thoughts I have (in no particular order):

I finally worked out last night. It had been over a week since I'd done that. I really didn't want to go, but I'm glad that I went. I really did feel better afterwards.

I'm thinking about adding a streak or two to my hair. Blonde or red. Might do it this weekend or early next week. I'm excited to try it out. I haven't done that for a long time. :-)

I'm currently avoiding my laundry & my laundry room at this point too. It's such a cluster right now. Ugh!

The kids are banging around upstairs right now. I better go see what trouble they're into now.

Memories

My 8 year old son, Jehu, has been getting phone calls from friends lately. It's a new thing. He is officially getting older, and I am having all of these memories coming back of my own childhood.

I was asking Jehu why his friend from school was calling him everyday. They had just been together all day for goodness sakes. Jehu's response to this question is what brought it all back. He simply answered, 'I like to talk to him. It's just fun to talk on the phone, too!'

Wow. Now that he mentioned it, I DO remember getting home from school & immediately wanting to talk to my friends on the phone. :-) I guess it wasn't just a girl thing.

Then, I remembered something awesome. When I was in the 6th grade, I got a swatch twinphone for my room! This is a picture of the phone I actually had - color & all. (It was 1989 after all)

It was SO. COOL. Not only did I have a phone in my room, but I had a twin phone. The base of the phone was also a receiver. Which meant my BFF Erika could come over to my house & we could BOTH be on the phone talking to another friend! Hence, the twin phone.

It was seriously SO COOL. Are you getting the major coolness that was this phone? I am actually feeling giddy just thinking about it. :-)

My how the world has changed. Glad that I can remember the fun of days gone by and experience a little bit of history repeating itself through my kids.

Do you remember this?

I don't remember what it was actually about - weight-loss probably.

I don't know why, but this phrase has always stuck with me though. 'Stop the insanity!'

Again and again, situations arrive that are (in my opinion) crazy and I think 'stop the insanity!' The bad decisions that some people make, the way some people live their lives (no communication at all & then being surprised that it's not working so well), etc. 'Stop the Insanity!'

So, I thought I'd share. Can you relate?

*disclaimer: I am not a perfect person, by any stretch of the imagination, and I KNOW this. There is just a level of crazy/stupid that I cannot refrain from commenting on.

A few random thoughts and things...

1. If you have stumbled upon this blog & LIKE it - follow me! I've had a recent upswing in readers, and am loving it! Thank you!

2. Since my mom has been in Haiti, I have been in more consistent (& constant) contact with several of my extended family members as well as a few of my mom's good friends. They are all so worried about my mom, and want to know what's new. I think this is so sweet, so I will start by stating that. I love that everyone is worried about my mom's well being and want to know that she is safe.

Also, as much as I love that they care, why oh why do a few of them go from asking about my mom, to talking about their illnesses? I DON'T GET IT!

My grandma is the best at this. She really always has been. My grandmother is 85 years old. I am 31, so she is pretty young or at very least she is of a normal age to be a grandmother and great-grandmother. She has always acted very old. Even when she was still in her 50's, you'd have thought she was in her 70's because of how old she acted! There are people that are young at heart, and then there are the others and my grandmother is definitely in the 'others' category. I love her, but it's just true. :-)

This week, she has informed me all about her teeth, her bowels, her skin, her eating habits, and her abundant fears. Not only has she informed me about hers, but she then proceeded to ask me about MINE!! I kid you not, she asked me about my bowels! Okay grandma, I love you, but this is where I draw the line!

Lord, help me to never be like that!

Sadly, I had a similar conversation with my mother's friend as well, and she is in her 50's! Seriously?! Is there something about me that screams 'tell me about your poo' or something? I don't get it, and in case anyone would like clarification - please don't tell me about your poop or your bowels!

3. I watched Conan O'Brien's last Tonight Show. He is a class act! I loved what he said about not being cynical:

"To all the people watching, I can never thank you enough for your kindness to me and I'll think about it for the rest of my life. All I ask of you is one thing: please don't be cynical. I hate cynicism- it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere.

Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen."

Very wise. Conan, you will be missed!