Hi

Just stopping in for a little bit.

We're still having fun this summer. We just had two birthday's. Angela turned 4 and had her first birthday party, and Ashley just turned 9. We'll have her birthday party next weekend... for some reason a birthday party on the 4th of July just didn't seem like a good idea! :) Also her best friend is out of town for the week and she just couldn't have a party without her. :) So we'll have it later. I'm sure I'll have pictures to share from it. I did just put a bunch of summer (and some of the end of the school year) pictures up on the family blog look for the link on the sidebar here and it will take you to it if you don't have it already.

We've been swimming, and playing... the kids aren't tired of the pool yet, and the girls are just loving being in the water this year. This is the first year that I haven't had any kids clinging to me in the water and I can just sit near the edge or in the pool and watch the kids easily. It's much more enjoyable for mom when we can do this than years past when I had one or two girls hanging on me the entire time at the pool.

I'm trying to get myself into a bit of a routine, doing some exercise and chores around the house in the mornings, and then we go and swim in the early afternoon, and the kids get to chill and watch tv a bit in the late afternoons when it's so incredibly hot outside. I think by the time we get the routine down pat, school will start. lol! The chore part of the routine is what constantly eludes me... it's hard to get the house cleaned up, when you know your just going to turn around and it will be dirty again. :)

Next week we have book club and they are discussing the book "Eat Cake" if I were a good blogger I'd link to the book or something, but I'm not... sorry... anyway in the back of the book are a bunch of recipe's for the cakes she bakes throughout the book and I need to choose one to make to take to the book club. I'm excited they aren't just cake mix cakes and do involve quiet a few steps, but I'm looking at it as a fun challenge. I do love to bake, but really just don't bake a lot because I don't want to have the treats around the house to eat... so I'll bake it, and take it and leave it there! :)

randomness

My head is full of random thoughts that litter my mind throughout the day. I know it drives Rich nuts when we are talking about one thing, and all of a sudden I start talking about something else in a half sentence as if he can read my mind and knows exactly what subject I've jumped to in my head.

I find at night time the thoughts swirl around so much one would think I am obsessing over things, but it seems to be the time of day when I can actually think full thoughts through and try to organize them a little bit.

I was at a friends house yesterday and as much as I say I'm not crafty, the idea's do pop into my mind of how to organize and decorate and stuff... it's the execution that I never get around to... and I'm thinking it's about time I stop jus tinking of things to do, and actually do them...

cleaning my bathroom would probably be a great place to start... so I'll get to that... after we go swimming, and have dinner and put kids in bed...

well that might have to still wait till tomorrow, but I do resolve to start using my down time in more productive ways.

like now... I'm waiting outside while Ashley has piano lessons, and blogging from my phone. :)

Busy days...

I think we as mothers tend to delude ourselves into thinking that once school is out, things will calm down and be easier. We won't have to get up and get the kids on the school bus with hopefully a homemade lunch... if we don't have time to make the lunch- the lunch account in the cafeteria will cover for us and feed the kids. If they miss the bus, we can always just drive them to school. But it feels hectic... getting everyone off to school, then going about our daily routines while we have a few less kids at home.

We think in the summer- we won't have that morning stress, we can sleep in and relax and have fun...

Well then one child wants to sign up for this camp, and another one has these other plans, and along with that are invitations to go swimming at friends houses and playdates at other friends houses...

I've felt like a taxi driver the past few days. lol! I'm actually getting up earlier in the morning than I did when the kids had school, and I feel like I'm on the go for most of the day. I'm fitting in washing clothes and exercising in between dropping off kids and picking up kids. If I don't get lunch made, there's no cafeteria to bail me out (unless you count my friends Robyn's house whom we tend to wind up at often lately) and I have to find something for the kids to eat. With all this activity- hours at the pool and playdates with friends you would think the kids would be exhausted and dropping down on the floor and ready to sleep at bedtime... but no... it's not dark outside points out my almost 4 year old... as she sits in her bed and sings song after song after song... and finally falls asleep closer to 10pm than the 8pm I would like.

It's been busy, but it has also been fun. We have been able to play, and relax in the afternoons at the pool. The house may be suffering a little bit from it, but so far the kids and I have been doing well and having fun with each other. :)

Um yeah... we are still here!

I haven't posted anything in a long time... sorry!

We have gotten through the last weeks of school, and are now in the first week of summer vacation. We've filled the days so far with the pool, getting together with friends, doing housework (much to the dissapointment of the kids), watching movies, playing in the backyard, and baking. So far so good, but I'm tired and it's only the first week of summer break! lol! I'm sure it will fly by way too fast so I just want to try and enjoy it for as long as I can. :)

I've got a bunch of pictures I need to upload and post, and will try to do that sometime soon.

Shoes

This past week as Rich has been out of town my girls have been in and out of our closet on a daily basis playing with my shoes. They find one pair of heels and wear them for an hour or two and then come and trade for another pair of heels. There is something about wearing mom's heels and dressing up that is a natural action for every little girl.

It's fun and sweet to watch them pretenting to be grown up and wearing my shoes. Someday the heels will loose their magic and they'll have the same love hate relationship with them. I love my heels, but hate how my feet hurt after a few hours in them. lol!

But it brings back memories that I have of walking around the house wearing MY mom's high heeled shoes. :)