Thursday, June 28, 2012

What We've Been Doing


Is is HOT here in Indiana.  We have been in the 90's for days and have not had rain in 24 days.  Makes me thankful I didn't plant a garden this year!  Today it got in the 100's.  I haven't heard the official high, but it is HOTT for sure.  With all this hot weather, it's hard to keep boys entertained.  Here is what we've been doing.


Moose got to go to soccer camp in the record heat.  It was from 5:30 to 7:00 pm for four days.  He did great and learned a lot about soccer.

We are also getting ready for a big barn wedding this Saturday.  Megan is getting married at the Riley Party Barn in Anderson.  We have been getting our boots shined and our western shirts ironed.  It's going to be a lot of fun!


We have also gone swimming every day that I am home.  We have great friends who let us use their pool anytime we want.  It is such a blessing to be able to swim on these HOT days.  The boys are excellent swimmers and we all have rocking tans.  We will look great in the wedding pictures on Saturday.

If all else fails and it is too HOT to go outside, there are always LEGOS to play with.  I love seeing their creations.  This has taken up permanent residence on our dining room table.  Which is okay because I haven't been cooking very much.   I don't know what it is about summer, but I have a hard time planning meals and cooking!  We have eaten a lot of corn dogs, mac & cheese, and Lunchables here lately.  Guess the boys will have to wait for a healthy meal until August 1st when school starts and they can get the cafeteria lunch tray.

Monday, June 18, 2012

Something always happens!

"Just when Billy-Boy gets ahead...something like this happens"

Picture my best friend from college and I sitting in the back seat of the car with my dad driving.  He had just picked us up on the East side of Indy after the old car I was driving suddenly died.  As a girl with absolutely no car mechanical skills, my only choice was to pick up the pay phone, pay 25 cents, and call dad for help.  

I forget where we were even trying to go.  I just remember my dad not being very happy, and my friend and I trying not to bust out laughing while my dad was talking to himself.  My friend and I would repeat this quote over the course of our college years many times.  And laugh about it now that it was all over.  I don't remember what was wrong with the car or how much my dad had to pay to get it fixed.  I just knew it would cost him money he did not want to spend!

Fast forward many years later and I have had my fair share of these moments.  Last month in fact.  We had just paid our last tuition payment, given our lump sum of money for a wedding, and all but moved Megan out of the house when my husband had a motorcycle wreck on a round-about in our town.  A ride in the ambulance, Emergency Room visit, insurance companies (theirs and ours), deductibles, a totalled motorcycle, and a fractured clavicle all brought back the "just when I get ahead...something like this happens".  

And it is so true.  And it will probably be true for the rest of my life.  Just like my dad said.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Cracked iPod Touch


Now that school is out, I get to do fun things like going to the bank and grocery shopping with 3 boys.  On the rare occasion that one of them has something to do, sometimes I get lucky and only have to take 2 boys.  Shopping with 2 boys is really not all that fun and I usually spend way more money than I would if I were shopping alone.  The grocery bill has gotten considerably higher the last three weeks, but at least I am not writing checks for school lunch every other week.  I have to look at the brighter side of things!

Last week, my middle son decided to bring his iPod touch with us to Aldi.  Our local Aldi is neat and clean and also pretty small.  There are a total of four aisles to go up and down and the shopping is done.  I go to my Aldi at least once a week, sometimes more.  So while my oldest son was at basketball camp, the two younger boys and I went shopping.  As we were finishing up the first aisle, my middle son who climbed in then out of the cart dropped his iPod on the tile floor.  He picked it up and kept going.  We get to the last aisle when he notices his screen is cracked badly!  He throws a fit, starts to tear up, blames his brother (who was no where near him when he dropped it), blames me, then decides it still works all in a matter of 30 seconds.  I did tell him we would have to put it up while he earns money to buy a new screen and have it replaced.  So far he is about halfway there.

So the moral of this story is don't drop your iPod on a tile floor.  It's not a good thing!

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Back Yard Bird Nests

This Spring I joked with my husband that the recession was over, so I decided to buy bird seed again.  It's not like we won the lottery or made way more money this year than last.  But I did feel like we weren't struggling every month to pay our bills, pay for college tuition, pay for shoes when the boys feet grew, and still save a little bit of money.  With Megan graduating from Ball State in May, I felt a big sigh of relief knowing that she was able to graduate with no student loans and we did not have to go in debt to pay for it.

So that's when I decided I would start buying bird seed again.  Which turned into a new bird feeder and a hummingbird feeder also.  Shortly after I hung up the new bird feeder, I noticed bird nests popping up everywhere.  In a backyard with three rowdy boys and all their rowdy friends, I was impressed that so many birds decided to actually build their nests so close.


Aren't these little baby birds adorable!  They are just waiting to be fed by their momma.


 And one bird even made a nest in our wood pile.



All these nests reminded me of a children's book that I love called The Best Nest.  In this book Mr. & Mrs. Bird search for a new place to build a nest only to discover their old nest was actually the best all along.  A great lesson in contentment to read to the kids this summer!