Summer Vacation - Week 15

Either I can't count, or we had an extra long summer vacation this year.

15 weeks?

WOW!!!

It doesn't seem like we did much... according to the girl anyway... and yet as I've looked back on all the posts I did this summer, is there anything we didn't do?

Except go swimming at the local hot springs (the Ish is never going to forgive me for that one!)?

We ended our summer with a bang...

The girl got sick after going to the lake and spent the day on the couch texting and watching cartoons.

She even had to say no to two babysitting gigs.

Poor picked on pitiful thing.

Saturday, we drove to Pocatello to celebrate grandma's 80th birthday.

Anyone else think it's totally wierd that my mother is two years OLDER than my husband's grandma?

We had dinner at Mama Inez...
Said Hi to cousin Jude...
And hung with cousin Josiah...
And watched cousin B help grandma blow out the candles...
A few days later, we celebrated Ishee's 10th birthday.

She couldn't wait to get her birthday money so she could buy herself a DSi. Her dad is a pushover and surprised her with one instead.
I took her shopping so she could buy some DS games since all her others were lost in the bowels of her bedroom.

Then we came home and decorated cupcakes. And I did some special for the guests, since I didn't want to frighten them by forcing them to eat Ishee's creations...
What would we ever do without cousin B to help blow out the candles?
Then it was off to bed so they could get ready for their first day of school the next day.

And being the good mom that I am, I didn't even make sure they got on the bus. I shoved the girls out the door, handed the boy his truck keys and said "don't let the door hit you in the butt on the way out".
When Ishee got home from school, she found this ginormous (like 3" long) caterpillar in the lilac tree. Grandpa gave her a jar and helped her collect it, and now I'm just trying to decide if we should set it free or attempt to let it metamorphasize in this jar. I've never had any luck with that, but I'm pretty sure the butterfly we will see at the end (if it survives) will be worth the effort.

Right?

How does one properly raise a caterpillar to a butterfly anyway?

I only get three kid free days before I go back to work next week. That's actually a good thing. I'd hate to get too used to the silence around here, it would make going back to work that much harder.

It also helps if you do things you really loathe doing, like tackling the girls bedroom without a hazmat suit.

Took me ALL summer, but I finally got it done.

(this is the BEFORE shot, just in case you were wondering if I was on drugs thinking this was clean or something. Hey, my girls think it's clean, and sadly, compared to usual, it IS...)
Mostly. A few things are left to do, but I'm going to make the girls do what's left. They'll be thrilled when they see it.

Or not.

In fact... the Ish just walked in the door and said "what'cha been doing today mom?" Not much, I responded. Then she looked down the hall and said "oh crap" at the sight of pretty much everything she owns in the hallway waiting to be washed or tossed. Once she looked at her room she said "kinda thanks, kinda not".

Kinda, whatevah!

The best part was texting a picture of the clean room to the girl at school and said "wish you were here". She responded back with a big fat "I don't".

Love you, too!

While cleaning, I found this beautiful "poem" Ishee wrote to her sister...

And her sister thinks she doesn't like her?

I found her DS games, too.

Dare me to hold them ransom?

So long summer.....

Hosted by Lisa and Cecily

Summer Vacation - Weeks 13 & 14

Folks, we're packing two weeks into one post here. I've been just that busy!

I went to my family reunion for four days... While there, we went for a walk to Big Springs, played games, painted toenails, played more games, swam in the hot tub, watched the old boys beat the tar out of each other on the football field, cooked steak, rode 4-wheelers, had a raffle, went to the Mafia house, and enjoyed lots of fun time with siblings and cousins.
Ishee won the big prize, a block from a quilt made by my grandma 60 or so years ago that my sister took apart and had framed. Ishee said I could borrow it until she had a room of her own to display it. We celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary. The super cute husband surprised me with this beautiful willow tree figurine... "promise". Thanks babe! I LOVE IT!!!

And took me for a drive up to Cave Falls and out to dinner at the Olive Garden.

Somewhere during this week we had an orthodontist appointment, I went to the chiropractor, and took my baby girl to register for 4th grade.

After registration, the awesome husband and I abandoned the children with grandma (the girls anyway, the boy went to Lagoon) and went on a road trip to a very beautiful spot for four days.

Read this weeks Photowalk for some of my favorites and a synopsis of the trip. Oh, and the location, in case you are wondering where I wandered off to.

We still have the kitten. The big cat still hates her. She claws everything in the house and thinks the super cute husbands golf driver makes a most excellent perch.

The girls got haircuts.

I was supposed to donate blood but didn't have time.

I took the kids to the dentist and now I need to take Ishee to the orthodontist. Yay. Just what I needed. Another orthodontist bill.

I bought the last book in the Hunger Games Trilogy... Mockingjay. I hope I can find time to read it someday.

Right after the boy is done reading it.

Took the boy to register as a junior.

His locker number is 217, which is just two spots away from the library door, which may mean nothing to most people, but I think I may have seen a tear in his eye when he discovered the location. Only his favorite aunt, the assistant high school librarian can truly understand this one.

The next day it was off to the junior high to register the girl for 8th grade.

And I also came up with this new way to hang my jewelry in the bathroom, some of which I bought on our trip and had nowhere to hang. The super cute husband isn't sure what to think of it, but it works for me!
The school called to double check to make sure I was coming back to work. Good to know I still have a job.

And then....

I took the girls (and a friend) to the lake to play for a couple of hours.


School starts on September 1st. Think I ought to go back to school shopping now?


Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Summer Vacation - Week 12

It's that time of year when dinner happens to consist of whatever is ripe in the garden. It doesn't get any better than this!
We still have the kitten... and she's taken over the whole house. She's the only cat I've found that isn't afraid of water. We can spray her all day when she gets on the counter in the kitchen and she just stands there until she gets bored. She fits right in around here. Wierdo.
The girls have been begging me all summer to buy them some canvas bags to paint. Took me all summer, but I finally did it.
The girl turned 14. I'm a mean mom and I make them decorate their own birthday cake. Actually, they love it and look very much forward to it.
Despite the neglect, and the weeds, the flowers bloomed anyway, and are almost done in fact. I'll be sad to see them go.


Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Photostory Friday - Summer Vacation Week 2

My daughter is officially an 8th grader. And she'll be in junior high! We're doomed. The husband thought about not letting her grow up, and then she brought home her portfolio from art class this year and handed him this:

Which he promptly hung in his office above his desk. Yep, her totally awesome dad is totally letting her grow up again. At least this week.

The apple trees are in full blossom... if the wind doesn't blow off all the blossoms, they will probably freeze. Like I really care. They aren't good apples anyway.
What? Doesn't everyone have a chop saw in their bathroom? Just in case you are curious as to why I do... read here... and it has everything to do with my awesome husband.
Speaking of destruction, I was on my way out to pick the asparagus and stopped to look at my petunias that I thought were just wilty... turns out that some sort of little critter has eaten them. Needless to say, that critter can eat some d-con next time. Little bastages. P.S. my awesome husband did it, not me.
Oh, now this is going to be a fun project. I promised the awesome husband that he wouldn't have to do it for me... and I'm not sure what I'm getting myself into, but it looks awesome in my head.
Raise your hand if you've ever had a famous square ice cream cone? Just one of the perks of getting to spend another day driving around with the awesome husband this week. You'll be able to read all about it in next weeks "Photowalk"... which I will upload right after I find my camera cord to the other camera I used.
And to top the week off... I took the Ish in for a haircut. She has this thing about chewing on her hair and she'd chewed so much off on one side, not only was it terribly lopsided, but I'm pretty sure she is going to hack up a hairball one of these days. It won't be pretty, me thinks. I love this new hairstylist we've discovered. So much, I let her wax my eyebrows... because I'm into pain. Isn't she cute???

See more great photos this week at:


Hosted by Cecilyand Krista

and
GIVE ME YOUR BEST SHOT hosted by Better in Bulk

Four more days...

I do not profess to be a wonderful photographer, cook, gardner, housekeeper, decorator, organizer, beader, activities director, parent, or wife, but... at least I try. Summer is almost here... just four more days of work and I will finally have time to do something else... like take pictures, cook, gardening, housekeeping, decorating, organizing, beading, fun activities, parenting, and most importantly... wifing... however you do that. I plan to photograph and blog every step of the way!

First thing on the agenda... complaining about the people who bought the ten or so acres across the street and chose to mark out their new house location right out my front door! My husband and I were tempted to go out and move all their little flags about 100 yards to the south and see if they noticed.

And does this picture look blurry to you or is it my contacts? *rub rub*