July

Reading:  Just finished Wild!  Great book.  Now I want to go hiking.  Just started Start. {that sounds funny}  So far I love it!

Drinking: I am in love with Vitaminwater Zero.  I really love all the flavors.  I find myself looking at the label multiple times while drinking to make sure it really is the zero calorie version.  It tastes so good!

Planning: It seems like summer is getting away way too fast.  The schools already have school supply lists.  My boys need new school shoes.  We have to pay school fees.  All this month!

Listening:  My husband made me a Luke Bryan cd for the car.  I listen to it over and over!  I am getting ready for the concert July 21st!

Annoying:  My nose has been running for weeks.  I got a nasty cold a few weeks ago and it has been dripping ever since.  Maybe it's allergies...who knows?!?  But I have been going through kleenex like crazy.

Hoping:  To enjoy these last few weeks of summer.  With the balanced school calendar, it seems much shorter this year {which it is}!  I didn't think it would be a big deal, but it kind of is.

Needing:  To organize clothes.  I have a big basket of kids clothes I don't know what to do with.  

Working:  I told myself I was going to read with the boys every day this summer.  And work on math problems with them.  Ha!  Hasn't happened..yet.  Still working on this one.

Wishing:  Everyone a Happy 4th of July (Jew Ly)!!!

My Life

Well, I cannot believe it is July (Jew Ly) already!  School starts in 29 days for my boys.  I know the next four weeks are going to fly by.  Here are some things that we have been doing around here.

*Note to self*  Do not buy erasers in the shape of Xbox controllers at the book fair.  Your children will tear them up and not use them as intended.  You will pick them up off the floor multiple times of day.  These are a total waste of money!!

These are an incredible new dessert I found in the freezer section.  I love how they are portioned out and that I have to walk out to the freezer to get them.  They really are tasty, and if I wanted to save some $, I could totally make them myself!

And this my friends is why I do not need to buy my children any more toys.  This toy (formerly known as a wrestling figure) was destroyed in our front yard by the lawn mower.  There went more money in the trash!

These two boys found a way to climb on top of our friend's chicken coop.  We go at least once a week to weed our group garden, and the boys run around like wild things.  They really do have a good time, and it is worth it for all the fresh vegetables we have gotten so far!

Take a look at this carrot.  I think it looks like it has legs.  Kind of like a carrot Barbie doll.  I wonder if this would make big bucks at an Ebay auction.  Probably not!

We enjoyed going to the Indianapolis Indians baseball game last weekend.  I tweeted this photo while we were there, and my boys made it on the big screen slide show!!  They won the inflatable baseballs by guessing the speed of their pitches.  Such smart boys I have!

And I seriously cannot believe these two have been married for one year!  It seems like yesterday we were setting up the barn for the big day.  I am so thankful for these two, and we all miss them like crazy!

Look who took over my bed last night!  We stayed up way too late, and they were still asleep at 10 AM.  I had to drag them out of bed to get to a dentist appointment on time.  We are going to all be in shock on July 31st when we have to get up early!

And last, this is my newest craft project.  I have been wanting to make one of these for a year now.  I finally borrowed the cricket from my sister, cut out all these letters, then spent a few hours creating this masterpiece.  I was very happy with the way it turned out.  It looks even better in person!

Seven things on a Sunday!

Where have I been the last two weeks?  Well, now that the boys are home all day every day, I am way busy.  It seems like we are constantly going from one place to another.  They go back to school on July 31st, so we are trying to cram in as much as possible!!  Here are seven very random things that have happened the last two weeks.

1.  My oldest son took $160 with him to our public pool.  He put his wallet in his backpack in an unlocked locker.  When he went to get some money to buy a snack, his money was gone!  He called my husband (knowing I would freak out on him), and they told me after the fact.  Poor guy learned a lesson the hard way.

2.  I decided I was tired of taking care of my oldest son's bearded dragon, and he had zero interest in it.  So I listed it on Craigslist and sold it in less than a day!  No more cutting up broccoli and buying berries for the beardie.  Last summer I sold our gerbils, this summer the bearded dragon.  I told my kids they may get sold next summer!

3.  My youngest son got a clean bill of health from his surgeon.  He can now go back to normal activities and baseball.  Yahoo!

4.  I have decided I am going to pronounce July differently.  I am going to start saying

Jew ly instead of Ju ly.  A friend of mine from work says it that way and so does Luke Bryan in his song Drunk on You.  I'll see if it catches on!

5.  I am going to see Luke Bryan in concert on July (said Jew ly) 21st!  I am going to one concert this summer, and am very excited to see him perform live!

6.  It is our local 4H fair this week.  We went on Friday night and I found a 20 dollar bill on the ground.  I was pretty sure my son had lost it (see #1), but it turned out he kept track of his money that night.  So I came home with $20 after spending $80 on rides and food.  Fairs are expensive!!

7.  I have been making broccoli salad like crazy with fresh broccoli from our garden.  It is so good!!  I could so easily be a vegetarian if I didn't have four boys/men in my house who expect real food on a regular basis!

Time Flies!

We just finished our first full week of Summer break.  And we have stayed out of Riley Hospital for a full week...Hallelujah.  Riley Hospital is a wonderful place, but I do not want to return any time in the near future.  Devin came home from his five day stay, went to school the next day, then two days later we ended back up in the emergency room.  Three enemas later and an overnight stay, and he was back to normal.  Yesterday he woke up and said he is back to 100%, which makes this momma very happy!

A few weeks ago, my husband decided to give our backyard playset away.  The only thing our kids used it for was to jump off the top of the monkey bars onto the trampoline.  I was a little sad to see it go, but we get to visit it at our friend's house.  And over there, my boys are actually swinging (and fighting over the swings, of course)!

Here is Moose on his last day of school with his teacher he had for two years.  We loved her!!  He is going to be in total shock when he has a new teacher and different classmates.  Hopefully third grade will be good to him.

Devin took a lot of naps this week while he was recovering.  He hasn't slept this much in a long time!  Healing from surgery is tough work.

We have gotten spinach from our garden three times now.  It is so good!  It makes a great salad.  That's the only way I have eaten it so far.

And here are the chickens that we hope will be producing some fresh eggs in a few months.  I am excited about farm fresh eggs!

And lastly here is Noah on the first and last day of sixth grade.  I think he looked like a baby at the beginning of the year.  He has really changed and grown a lot.  He is a great kid, but still has his moments!  He is excited about basketball camps this summer.  I think he will end up participating in three of them.

And really for the last thing, I found this great article titled, What Every Mom Needs to Hear  (on the first day of summer) on one of my favorite blogs, We are THAT Family.  I am making this part of my required daily reading because summers can be long and rough, especially when I am outnumbered by boys!!

Last Day of School!!

It has been a rough week here at our house!  Today is the last day of school for my three boys.  On Friday night, our youngest son, Devin, had to have emergency surgery for (another!) bowel obstruction.  He started to get sick Wednesday night and progressively got worse over two days.  He never had a fever (which would have indicated a virus), so I started to get worried Friday evening when he was still getting sick and had lots of belly pain.

So Friday my husband took him to the Riley Emergency Room, and he was in surgery within a few hours.  Thankfully the other two boys had places to spend the night.  So I went up to Riley and waited until he was back in his room for the night.  I got home at 4 AM Saturday morning!  The surgeons were amazing (like all of our other experiences).  He did have to have an open laparotomy this time, which means a bigger scar and more pain.  He was a trooper.  That boy was up walking the halls Saturday afternoon, not even 24 hours after his surgery.

This is Devin after all his tubes were out.  He was much happier tube-free!

He came home yesterday and begged to go to school for his last day of 2nd grade.  His teacher is awesome and he really wanted to tell her goodbye!  So I drove him to school and will pick him up so he doesn't have to ride the bumpy bus route and risk being jabbed in the stomach by rowdy kids on their last bus ride home!

And at 2:20, the summer fun begins! Yippee!

MAY

READING

I just finished the book Sacred Marriage.  The author talked about the Lindberghs several times, so I decided to look for books about them.  Our library had two books by Reeve Lindbergh {Charles and Anne's daughter}, then I found this fiction book in the new release section, and I loved it!  It makes me want to read more about them.

DRINKING

Somehow I won a contest and got 12 coupons for free cartons of Iced Coffee.  They came in the mail this week, so I tried the Light Mocha version.  It is very yummy!  I think this will be my summer coffee drink, if I can keep Noah out of it.

PLAYING

The twins are playing baseball, and Noah is not playing a sport right now.  He has been going to the gym and playing basketball in the evenings.  It is a pretty quiet time right now for us.

PAYING

I am starting to register the kids for all the summer activities they want to do.  Between sports camps, VBS, and a work/mission trip we are going to have a very busy {expensive} summer.

EATING

Nothing exciting!

WISHING

I could get a pedicure before the boys get out of school.  But I don't think it is going to happen.

EXCITING

There are only 7 more days of school!  I think my 3 boys are more excited about this than I am.

DREADING

Some really good friends of ours {who have 3 boys also} are moving to Tennessee.  We are so sad they are leaving because we typically hang out a lot with them in the summer.  We are going to a couple of going away parties for them this weekend.

TRYING

I am really trying to have a positive attitude about this summer.  I am hopeful that my boys will get along and not fight. all. day. long.  I am really trying to be thankful that I get to spend time with my boys on my days off!

3 Goals for the Day!

I had three goals for today.

1.  Sell my big pile of books at Half Price Books

2.  Find a pair of capris that fit

3. Get my free Cinnabon for Nurse's Week

Here's how it all turned out.

1.  I went to the location for Half Price Books and the store was gone.  So I got out my (very smart) phone and researched where it went.  I found out it moved a few miles away.  I found the address and thought I knew where it was.  I only drove through 3 strip malls before I finally found it.  I sold my big pile of books for 32 bucks.  I had never sold books there before, and everyone I talked to said they got offered 20 bucks no matter how many books they took in to sell.  So I was happy with the amount they offered and quickly took the deal.  It was so hard not to buy more books, but I resisted the urge and left with my cash in hand!

2.  I tried on some khaki capris one place and they were very baggy.  Then I went to the Buckle.  I had a $10 coupon and a gift card left over from Christmas.  I tried on 7 items all together and decided to just buy one pair of capris.  I really like them.  When I got to the checkout, the sales gal offered me an adorable Buckle beach towel for only $5.  I gave in and got the towel. (I never give in to impulse buys, but it was really really cute!)

3.  I thought for sure there was a Cinnabon at the mall I went to.  I was all ready with my work ID badge stating I am an RN!  As it turned out, there was no Cinnabon at the mall (big frowny face).  There was an Aunt Annies pretzel and the Great American Cookie Co., but no Cinnabon.  So I didn't meet this goal.

My kids only have 13 more days of school.  So I know my days of goals will be coming to an end.  It's hard to go to one store let alone multiple stores with kids in tow.  I probably won't be setting very many goals this summer!