whatever

when it's 100 degrees...

call your friend with a pond and invite yourself over.

that's what we did.

she hooked us up!

lifejackets and toys and she got the boys out on the kayaks.

they were so good at it.

they focused all their muscles to keep balanced.

it was a great way to wear them out.

she is a fish.

and can easily keep up with her brothers any day.

i thought she'd want to play in the sand...

no.

it was too hot and everyone else was swimming so we were swimming too.

from one dock to the other...over and over.

i made sure my swimteam skills were still there (3rd place every time)

and beat all 3 big kids to the dock.

a proud moment.

lauren didn't come because...she's 13.

she thought about it (which surprised me) 

but the having house to herself all afternoon was too good to pass up.

there was even a snack for last minute guests!

you really can't ask for more.

juice boxes and animal crackers after hard play in the sun...so good.

and to make the day more perfect....

they had a new puppy.

brand new.

Max the puppy.

a birthday gift and a hunting dog of some sort.

we loved him.

our friend offered me tomatoes.

then my kids showed just how "city" they are.

one of them said "OHHH...can i hold one? i've never held a tomato before!"

(i thought "yes you have...remember...at wal-mart?")

and one said "wow look at this HUGE cucumber!!"

it was a zucchini.

"where did you get these?"

she answered "in my garden."

they each looked very confused. 

seriously.

so she took them to the garden and they each picked a grape tomato.

AND ATE IT.

and thankfully none of them liked them.

i would have felt like such a bad mom if they all loved them

and i had deprived them all this time.

so we brought home a bunch of fresh tomatoes 

i said "should we try to make spaghetti sauce?"

the kids said "you can MAKE sauce?  i thought it just came in a jar!"

oh my.

(yes that is a barbie in the photo...don't you have ballet barbies in your car?)

and then there was this on the drive home....

kansas rocks.

i was full of gratitude.

i kept thinking "i'm so happy we live here"

i drove half way home on a gravel road and i couldn't stop smiling.

we got home so late craig was home from work and he was cooking dinner.

oh yeah...it was a good day.

thanks again carolyn!

rainbow in the garden

a friend gave me some tomatoe plants this year.

i nervously said "thank you....what do i do with them?"

he said "throw 'em in with your flowers."

i did and we are giddy about having actual tomatoes that we grew.

i don't think i trust myself to actually eat something i planted...

but they grew!

it's so cool.

i have been enjoying the flowers at sunrise this week.

it is so quiet.

the light is so bright.

is this happiness or what?

catching up

yesterday i figured out that there were 25 days till school starts.

then i figured out there were 25 (reasonable) things still left on this list!

weird.

we had better get working.

we are down to 24 now.

melissa (my virtual bff) featured me on her blog.

seriously so sweet of her.

i am honored.

i love all the features she's had recently about new home vs. old homes.

thanks you SO MUCH for all the kind comments loving on my bathroom.

i am trying (slowly...you know i have that list to get to) to go to each link.

thanks for making my week!

and i forgot to mention...

the bathroom is definitely NO KIDS ALLOWED.

i told them they could use the bathtub on their birthday.

after 13 years of bathroom sharing

i think this is a reasonable line to draw.

we are even considering putting a lock on the door with a pin code.

i'm not kidding.

although during my first bath annie found me and she sweetly asked

"is der wooom foe me in der?"

i couldn't say no.

my laundry room has no heat or air.

and it's teeny tiny. (not complaining just stating the facts)

when i get busy (or lazy) i end up with so much dirty laundry 

i can barely move without falling down.

i literally stand on the mountain of dirty clothes.

then it's so hot...i sweat like crazy folding it in the laundry room.

so we brought it all out last night and made everyone fold till it was finished.

they hated it so much that we decided it is the new monday night chore!

monday night will now be laundry folding night.

a family affair.

teamwork.

done in 10 minutes instead of mom sweating away all alone. 

great idea craig!

okay...

i have to quit blogging so i can get school enrollment forms done.

they are due tomorrow.

and then i have to pick something off the list to get checked off.

24 days to go.

calgon take me away.

let me refresh your memory.

the before photos...

and now, welcome to my dream world.

the after photos....

come on in.

diana...check out your chandelier!

i love it so much.

thank you.

so sneaky.

i have to tell you about this little table.

i walked through one of our local anitque shops one day.

one of the last booths i had left to see and there it was.

it's legs were painted white and it had two little doors that were broken.

but just for the mirrored sides...my heart got to pumping.

i bought it for $12 in disbelief.

then i brought it home and took off the doors.

i went to touch up the paint and realized all the legs and details were 

covered in mirror and then had been painted.

i couldn't believe it!

i got out a razor blade and scratched off all that paint.

it is my favorite piece i have ever salvaged.

the old door was in the craft room but it may stay as free art.

and the mirror was one we had in our bathroom remake in our IL house.

and how about that buffet?!

thank you again mom for scoping out the stores to find it.

this was the little window that originally went into our closet.

i have yet to decide what to do with this little space.

maybe for jewelry...

or a picture...

i don't know, but it will come to me one day.

and in our old closet is now another bathroom.

i'll show you that another day.

it's pink.

and in our bedroom we built an new closet.

same size but now completely organized.

(maybe i will actually put things away now...my husband hopes)

craig wants to make sure everyone knows i mean PEACE like relaxing.

not the hippie kind of peace...HA.

i am so in love with this room.

bernie - the contractor - was awesome.

this room is better than we ever hoped.

now i think i will go take another bath!

missing her

she's been at my parents' house all week.

probably getting to do pretty much everything she loves to do.

we are missing her badly..especially annie.

we'll pick her up tomorrow.

it's been different around here.

i haven't had as many hugs as i am used to...

winner!

the winner of the games.......

Jess at ccbella!

 

check your email for a note from me.

thanks for playing everyone.

if you can give 79 comment for this...
surely you can leave 20 comments on other posts??
come on you lurking ladies!
leave me a note and tell me you were here.

or tell me what you did today.

or tell me you think my house is too messy.

just say something!  :)
i love it.
i appreciate every comment.
thank you.

bathroom remodel pictures coming soon!

the last baby piggies

craig's uncle and aunt told us this was the last round of baby pigs.

after 30 years they are going to be pig-free.

sad for us but so liberating for them.

i can't wait to hear about your first big long vacation.

you really really deserve it!

since these are the last ones...we had to get out there!

so we called them up and invited ourselves over...last minute.

we gave them a 20 minute warning.

wasn't that polite of us?

if you hold them like this they don't squeal. (don't be offended...you eat bacon)

i set my camera down low and they kept creeping in on me.

it was cool but kind of creepy too.

"please craig...can we keep just one?"

earlier in the day we'd laughed about the thought of having a pig as a pet.

they get to be like 800 pounds...the size of a couch?

who wouldn't want one?

the babies are cute though.

if you had one all cleaned up and could teach it tricks?!

i need to join 4H and get all this stuff out of my system.

annie was watching the mama...keeping track of her.

good plan.

she's gianormous.

i will miss this janet!

what we will do without the baby pigs to visit?

maybe you can start raising puppies?

ray is the biggest golden retriever in the world.

he has to be.

but such a sweet dog...if he doesn't knock you over by accident.

sean wanted to ride him.

ray could do it but we said no. 

 

lots of corn this year - everywhere in kansas!

it is so pretty to see fields of it everywhere you go.

the kids got to pick some and check if it was ready.

not quite yet.

janet took annie out to the garden and let her pick cucumbers.

she couldn't wait to eat them.

(the ONLY vegetable she eats??)

i love this blurry picture (so many of these were blurry?)

fruit punch on her lip, dirty hair stuck to her face, cucumbers in her lap...

completely zonked out.

we love the farm.

we'll miss the pigs.

thanks gary and janet.

next time we will have a cookout so we can check that off our summer list.

but i promise we'll plan it more than 20 minutes in advance...

maybe even an hour?

eight is great.

sean's 8th birthday was success!

after VBS (where he didn't want to go but managed to have a great time)

we picked up 3 of his friends for a 2:00 showing of Kung Fu Panda.

funny movie.

(does anyone else sit in cartoon movies just concentrating on whose voice it is?

i really like to do that.

and so proud of myself when i figure it out...i am a dork.)

we were the only ones in the theater.

oh, except for my mother-in-law who came seperately with my other kids.

sean said "they aren't allowed to sit by us"

but once it was just us...we all sat together.  

we didn't expect to walk in and have the whole theater just for sean's birthday!

pretty cool.

after the movie...at sean's request...we went to subway.

craig took him here on their ski trip and he loved it.

meatball sub on wheat.

 

i have lived here over 3 years and have never been into subway?

weird.

and we were the only people here too.

it was adorable (he'd hate that word) watching these boys read the menu board

trying to decide what they wanted without their moms.

cheetos...coke...cookies.

of course.

time for presents.

KU hats, legos, transformers and singng birthday cards with the star wars theme song.

he was so happy...truly happy.

sean's buddies.

he is the old man of the group.

the party ended there

and started again at home after dinner.

california family is in town and got to celebrate with us!

almost every year we have this photo...

sean hiding while everyone sings happy birthday to him.

he'll outgrow it someday i am sure of it.

a hulk mask that lights up, legos, golf balls, cash and his own set of golf clubs.

that's a pretty good birthday.

he sat down right way to begin building his legos.

his brain is MADE for legos.

i love that all my kids are so different.

i'm sure yours are too but it is just so cool to think about.

i really enjoyed my time with sean today.

he is a special blessing to me.

happy happy birthday sean.

eight

sean is eight today.

he is not happy that he has to go to VBS on his birthday.

but we have party plans later so he'll be alright.

i can't believe it's been eight years since the happiest baby entered the world.

some pretties

we've had some rain this week.

after awhile you just have to get outside and splash around.

did you know...

bubbles stick to the ground really well when it's wet?