what i did today

I’d like to give you lots of pictures and a big run down of a busy Memorial Day weekend but we had one of the most relaxing, simple weekends in a while. 

The kids had their cousin sleep over two nights and they were in the pool almost as soon as the sun came up and stayed put for hours.  We spent two evenings watching movies (Chipmunks Shipwrecked, The Vow [depressing but engaging and pretty], We Bought a Zoo [endearing]).  I cooked a lot and worked on the pool a lot and read a lot (A Prayer for Owen Meany [excellent so far]).  We had a small cookout for lunch yesterday.  Aside from massive amounts of towels and dishes, I didn’t even clean a whole lot.  Just a nice, relaxing weekend at home.

Oh, one highlight for me is getting to harvest and eat my first head of broccoli.  I was scared to death of bugs and worms but none was found and I made a simple side of broccoli and cheese.  As Scott says, I completely drowned out the taste of broccoli but I figure that’s the best way to do it.  I promise I won’t take pictures with all my vegetation (especially in my bathing suit with no makeup).  It’s just one of those “firsts” I had to document.

And in case you missed it on Facebook and Twitter, Tucker made his debut in the pool for the year and apparently has deemed himself the lifeguard of the family.  Aside from the cloudy water [that I can’t for the life of me clear up], I’m not sure what he’s saving us from exactly.

This week ends school for the girls.  Lexi is going to miss her teacher but for whatever reason is really excited to have lunch at home again.  I think Emma is just excited to take on any and all teacher supplies her teacher wants to get rid of so she can have a more complete school set-up here at home.  Scott is off to Arizona this week to do his final testing for his drug recognition certification.  Please say a prayer for his testing.  I have never seen him study as hard as he has in the last weeks.

Hope you had a lovely Memorial Day weekend and have a great week!

I will always remember as a young college student realizing more than just Carolina residents knew about Myrtle Beach, SC.  I’d been going to Myrtle Beach since I was just in primary school and when I heard it mentioned on a TV show, I was flabbergasted.  “They just said Myrtle Beach! How do they know about Myrtle Beach?!”  Sure enough, I found out later people even come from Canada to go to Myrtle Beach!  Who knew?

My husband and I got engaged at Myrtle Beach and my kids, now 9 and 7, still enjoy our yearly trek to the coast.  After nearly 30 years I’ve got Myrtle Beach down to a science and I’m just about to share with you the best attractions.  Let’s say you want to spend 5 days in Myrtle Beach this summer with your kids.  What are the must-see attractions?

I’m answering that question over at TheTuckersTakeTennessee.com today.  My guest post is kicking off a summer series on making summer fantastic with your kids so be sure to subscribe when you’re over there.  And for you local folks, be sure to add all your favorite stops!

First, I have to say that last week was one of the most emotionally and mentally taxing weeks I’ve had in quite some time.  While much of it was related to Amendment One, there was a lot going on behind the scenes too.  Like, my grandfather has been in the hospital for over 6 weeks now and still not doing well.  My parents took off last minute to be with him last week.  I’ve also been walking through divorce with a family member who had a significant court date last Thursday.  I’ve never been so passionate about Christ-filled individuals and marriages as I was walking through both Amendment One and this divorce.

Somehow, though, my brain figured out how to take a rest over the weekend and I had some nice moments.  Friday night I let both the kids have someone sleep over.  It felt good to clear my brain by popping popcorn and baking brownies.

Saturday Emma had her first horseback riding lesson thanks to a LivingSocial deal.  At first she was terrified.  As soon as she got on the horse and the instructor was explaining how they were going to go for a walk around the arena, she looked at me and mouthed “I DO NOT WANT TO DO THIS.”  I told her we didn’t have to come back and she’d do fine.  That was one of those mother-lines.  Because have I ever told you how much I hate riding horses?  There was that one family vacation in the mountains and the whole family went and I stayed by myself.  And that one time at youth camp where I begged the camp counselor to let me stay back while the group went on their ride.  They made me get on the horse before I decided and that right there sealed the deal.  I sat for the next hour kicking dirt around the barn.  I do not ride horses.  They scare me to death.  I’ll pet one and cry more than anyone else when one gets hurt in a movie but I’m scared to death to ride one.  I think it’s a control thing.  I’ve never been taught how to control such a big animal and I’m just sure it will either buck me off or go running to who knows where. 

After Emma’s lesson Saturday she got off the horse and I gave her the biggest hug ever and told her how proud I was of her and how much braver than her mommy she is.  She said, “You know how I said I didn’t want to do this?  I changed my mind and I really love it.”  And after watching just one lesson and learning that those reigns really do mean something to the horse I honestly think I’d like to do a lesson with Emma.  So there’s that.  I’m still so proud of her for doing it even knowing how much her mother wouldn’t do the same in her shoes.  Here she is doing a steering challenge at the end of the lesson, weaving in between cones.

Sunday was Mother’s Day and with Scott working, the girls still did a great job of sharing all their school-made presents. Emma gave me a book of poems and had wrapped a piggy bank she had gotten from the principal and had written "It pays to be a mom" on the side. She cracks me up. Lexi gave me a card and a necklace made out of playdoh. I wore it all day.

I cooked lunch for my mom and family. I even brought out the china and made name tags. If you’d like to do the same, I put together a free printable for you with the butterflies I used. Just print it on colored card stock and cut out. Thank you, Pinterest, for the idea.

I begged the girls for a picture after dinner. It was one of those, "SIT HERE AND BE STILL AND SMILE!!" I didn’t think we’d captured any worth sharing but this doesn’t say “OH MY GOSH, WE’RE DYING” too bad.

We ate dinner with Scott’s family and then topped off the evening and weekend with mini milkshakes from Sonic. I highly recommend the chocolate and hot fudge mix.

Oh, and some little unnamed hands dropped my phone in the driveway AGAIN last night and shattered my screen. We’re off to the Apple store tonight in hopes they’ll fix it without making me buy a new one and for those concerned, yes, I ordered a LifeProof case this time.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend and have a great week!

It’s Friday and thought I’d share a few random new things (to me) I’ve seen pop up.

Slacklining

I saw some teenagers doing this at the festival last weekend.  It looks kind of cool until things don’t go right and then it just looks like a means of torture.  The guys I saw couldn’t even get on the line without a death grip on a nearby tree and when they fell off, were slapped by the line.  Perhaps it should be called slaplining. 

These guys make it look easy.

Piecaken

I saw this from @SarahBessey on twitter yesterday and had never heard of such. You bake a pie INTO a cake. I can see Scott LOVING this for his birthday.

Italian Sodas

I’m very sure these aren’t new but they’re new to me.  Don’t these Italian sodas look yummy? I think I’ve found just what to do with all those yummy strawberries while they’re still around.

Kris Allen’s Vision of Love

In case you’re like me and you don’t normally watch American Idol’s results shows, you probably missed Kris Allen’s performance of his new single. I looked up the video and the message is even better. Love the chorus. The falsetto parts remind me of Enrique Iglesias and if you know me from waayyy back in the day, that’s a very good thing.

In other new news, Scott PASSED his drug recognition school with flying colors. We’re all so excited for him and I’m most excited that he’s home. What new things or news do you have going on?

Let me tell you the story of today (and only part of the day, mind you).  When I said I wanted my life to be full of adventure the other day this certainly is not what I had in mind.

Source: piccsy.com via Eveli on Pinterest

Well, we ought to start off Tuesday night.  I knew I felt a UTI coming on but really didn’t want to pay for an urgent care visit or take the time.  I figured I could drown it with water.  By lunch Wednesday, I realized it was going to be a no-go and if I didn’t care to be in pain ala Tom Hanks character in The Green Mile I was going to have to buck up and go.  I did and was ever so grateful to have some meds.

Last night I panicked a bit because I realized today I had to go to the office.  Normally it’s not a big deal because Scott is home and he helps get the kids ready for school while I’m getting ready.  I had everything ready last night though and besides the fact I couldn’t sleep last night, this morning went well. 

The day started to go wrong when my manager and I sat down mid-morning for a meeting and the fire alarm sounded.  I looked at him and said, “Is that like a legit fire alarm?”  And yes, I’m known for asking unnecessary questions.  I quickly began to regret the fact I had worn my most uncomfortable set of heels I own.  We have to take the stairs 5 floors down and then go stand in a parking lot. 

Wouldn’t you know, though, as soon as we got down there I realized I’d left my badge at my desk.  I couldn’t just hop back inside to get it because, you know, I needed my badge to get in the building.  That meant more walking to a different entrance when all of this was over and probably a blister too.

Source: anneyhall.tumblr.com via Jerome on Pinterest

Then, as if we were in a dark and twisty poem, dark clouds started moving pretty fast overhead and a quick look at someone’s cell said that we had just a few minutes before we were all in the middle of a bad storm.  We had to walk even further to the nearby parking deck for cover and climb a few flights of stairs to the deck entrance since they were now letting people back in the building. 

At this point though my feet weren’t my problem.  My stomach started to feel a little funny.  Once I got to the stupendously long line for those who didn’t grab their badges I was feeling worse and the hall had almost zero air conditioning.  I got hot.  Really hot.  I started fanning myself with my composition notebook.  Fan, fan, fan.  I was going to faint.  If you know me, you know I never get hot indoors and something was very wrong.  I even sat down on a nearby bench to get a small break both from my heels and you know, make the fainting hurt less.

Source: Uploaded by user via Mary on Pinterest

We eventually made it in without any fainting but I told my manager I’d need a few minutes to get some water and gather myself.  Twenty minutes later I was no longer about to faint but just did not feel well.  I’ll spare you the digestive details.  My manager saw that I wasn’t well and we canceled our meeting and he suggested I head home.  I was all about going home.  When someone says go home, I’m the first out the door but I just wasn’t sure I could drive.  I stuck around trying to breathe through my nose and drink water for another 30 minutes and then packed myself up and prayed my way home, trying to calculate what bathroom I’d use at each exit if necessary.

I made it home, and a quick Google search told me that most likely I was having awful side effects from the antibiotics.  I’m thankful the kids were at school and I was able to writhe on my bedroom floor for the next two hours in between trying to play ball with Tucker who’d been crated all morning since I was at work. Don’t you just love when the medicine that’s supposed to make you feel better gives you other, worse conditions?

Just as it was time for me to get the girls, I let Tucker out one more time.  Once I let him back in my bedroom I realized there was suddenly an awful dead fish smell in my room.  It didn’t take long to realize it was coming from dog poo on his paw that he was traipsing around my bedroom carpet.  Tucker!!!  I was barely well enough to walk but had to go wash him off with the hose outside.  Never mind the fact my carpet now needed clean and sanitized, we headed to get the girls.

I finally got the girls from school, got my new meds and got home.  I decided I was finally well enough to log back into work.  And then I see that Tucker has decided to use my secure ID card as a chew toy and rendered it unusable.  Tucker!!!!

Source: bit.ly via Marshall on Pinterest

That’s when the laughing started.  Could this day get any worse?  Yes, much.  But, wow.  What a day.

Let’s rewind all the way back to Friday morning because Friday was kind of a big deal around here.  We finally got someone to come in and do some landscaping in our front yard.   We had plans to do that after the addition last year but it just never happened.  We had our front yard done a few years back and some if it had died, some of it was just too unruly for us and it just didn’t flow with the new addition.  Here’s the house as of late last week:

So, this time, we went for a very simple, traditional, easy-to-maintain grown-up look.  I’d show you an after picture but that will have to wait until all the sod is put down and I’ll do a separate post.

Friday afternoon I was never so happy to have Scott back home after a week at training.  Happy, happy, happy.  The week went well as far as maintaining the house.  I stayed right on top of laundry, dishes, clutter and dinner but my goodness, I was about up to HERE with the dog and kids.  The dog kept eating things and the kids kept disobeying and breaking things and I just needed someone else to back me up for a little while.  I mean, honestly, the teenager at Chickfila Thursday night basically told me I ought to buy my kids dessert to bribe them to act better.  Seriously!  It reminds me of the time the teenager at Harris Teeter covered his nose while he checked my groceries out and told me how bad Lexi’s diaper stunk.  Mom of the year right here!

Friday night the kids ended up at sleepovers so Scott and I got to go out to Beef and Bottle with a LivingSocial deal I’d gotten.  I think I’d forgotten just how good the steak was.  Seriously, it’s a close your eyes and moan  sort of first bite.  I chose the creamed spinach as a side this time and that was so good too.  After that, we were ready to completely veg out and forget the week.

Saturday morning we slept in and then got some things done around the house.  Scott cut the grass, I planted some plants and watered the garden and such (PS, it’s doing so well!).  Saturday afternoon we spent some time at a local Earth day celebration.  It was hot and we didn’t stay long but stopping to get some fresh strawberry ice cream was the perfect closer. 

(Lexi on the right and surprise! Scott and Tucker are there under the tree)

The family was finally all back together Saturday evening so we just enjoyed some time outside.

Sunday was the norm…church, grocery store, lunch, naps, pizza for dinner.  Scott had to leave out for his last week of training so the girls and I finished off the night by watching Dr. Quinn.  The DVR happened to have caught the Pilot episode and I really don’t remember ever seeing that and wow, it was SO GOOD.  Just like a little mini movie.  The best part is the girls are in love with it too.  Maybe they can learn some old-fashioned manners so I don’t look like a complete incompetent parent all around town.

So I’m taking another deep breath and trying to get through another single parenthood week.  They’re having Girls Night Out at Chickfila tonight.  I’m planning to threaten the girls with no TV for at least 10 years if they don’t behave.  Wish me luck!

Hope you had a great weekend and your week goes well!

Not lying here, this weekend was tough.  Emotionally and physically I was just drained. I was in bed by 8 all weekend.  That said, we did have a full weekend.

Saturday morning we did some yardsaling.  The girls made some great decisions spending some of their money from Easter.  It always makes me laugh crazy proud how very careful they are with their own money.  Saturday evening the girls and I went out with my mom and sister since both my dad and Scott were working.  We had a great dinner out (yummy filet at Hickory Tavern!) and did a little shopping.

Sunday’s highlight was a tea party.  The girls really had a blast.  Both the girls were Bingo winners, got to do a craft and hear some great speakers.  Emma couldn’t quite figure out why everyone was crying during the poem readings.

Scott is in training all week and after a tough weekend, I’m trying to pull it together to be a single mom for the rest of the week.  Pretty sure I have PMS and it’s making it all the more dramatic.  This morning I had a beautiful sunrise to greet me though and I know Friday will be here before we know it.

Make sure to check out the Simplify Your Family Life eBook Sale!  Hope you have a great week!

With my two extra days off work and family in town, I felt like we crammed in a full week of Spring Break into the last four.  We had a great time shopping, bowling, Mellow Mushrooming, Easter egg hunting, racing, eating and generally having a good time together.

We finished out the weekend at home getting back into the swing of regular life.  I baked bread, went grocery shopping and the girls and I had fun playing their new Wii game Just Dance.  Ouch.  That’s all I’m sayin’.

Hope you had a wonderful Easter celebrating with friends and family!