Someone else cooked dinner...

No it wasn't Fred! Well, maybe his name was Fred, it was some cook at Applebee's! The boys and I kept busy and cool at home today. I did laundry, they played and read and we all played Clue, (it was a close game but I won.) About 3:30 we made ourselves presentable and headed to M-town. We made a quick return to wally world then bought some staples like mascara and pop tarts! After errands we were all hungry. Nic didn't want to eat at Applebee's so we ran through Burger King for chicken fries then he sat in the car while Will and I had a very yummy dinner. We even saw Will's t-ball coach!

Now we are again killing time until 7:00 when I said we could enjoy ice cream for dessert. We bought Neapolitan at the store a few days ago and the boys are anxious to put a dent in it!

My goal for the night is to work on a little scrap swap project that is due in a couple of weeks. I would like to get it done this week or early next. I will post a photo when it's done.

A memorable homily...

I just wanted to share a bit from the homily that I enjoyed at church on Saturday. Now let me preface this with the fact that I rarely remember a homily much beyond the doors of my church. I enjoy the priest we have at St. Joseph's but we do not have a "connection" and I do not necessarily get that much out of his homilies. That being said.. this week was a bit different. Fr. Rick spoke on prayer and shared some wisdom passed on to him from a resident of the local veteran's home. "John," an elderly resident shared with Fr. that he had a theory about prayer. His theory was the God always answers our prayers. He does this in one of three ways, with a yes, a no, or a wait. I got that! It was so true. Fr. Rick continued in the homily to say that God wants us to nag him with prayers. He wants us to put our needs out there for him and to ask for what we think we need. Fr. Rick used the word "nag" which has been my nemesis this summer. I have shared on more than one occasion that I do not want to be a nag to my husband and children but at times it seems the only way to get things done. I feel good about the fact that maybe I should stop nagging my family and start nagging God. Would this be easier than nagging my family? Perhaps, at least I can't see God roll his eyes at me!

Well, my plan is to start passing more on to God in terms of what I need, or think I need. I will listen intently to his response and perhaps gain some perspective and patience in the process. I am glad I went to church on Saturday and am so glad that Fr. Rick left me with something to ponder throughout this week.

Sunday Sunday Sunday

We had a nice family day on Sunday. Since I went to church on Saturday we kept the AM on the slow side and made up for it in the afternoon. First we headed to Sleepy Hollow Sports Park in DesMoines. We had fun playing 18 holes of very challenging putt putt that of course I did not win. After the putt putt the boys headed over to the go-kart area for a few laps. Nic was tall enough to drive himself and Will rode with Daddy. This left me in the pits to take pics. Too bad my camera asked for new batteries just as the green flag fell. Well, I flipped the batteries around and was able to get two shots. One good, one not so good, but that's life with technology.


After the sports park we headed to a new mall for us to find a Sears store. There was a slight detour for lunch when we saw a CiCi's Pizza! We had not been to CiCi's since we left MI last year.


The reason for the Sears quest was I wanted to look at some Lands End stuff for the boys and was optimistic that I would find it in the store. Well, this particular store sold no Lands End products. Bummer. The rainbow in this visit was the Toys R Us store in the out lot of the mall. This is the closest TRU and it is 1 hour away! Will used a birthday gift card and we walked out none the worse for wear. All good.


The boys were troopers, actually I gave them no option, and we went to another mall that we had never been to before. This Sears had a nice LE section in men's and women's but not kids. I bombed out on checking out the kid merchandise but I found some great "deals" for me! The other store I was anxious to visit was The Children's Place. I love their clothes and they had jeans for 9.99! What a deal! We bought enough new clothes for the boys to get into the fall so I was pleased.


A quick run through McD's for drinks and we were headed home. It was a very pleasant day with the brief meltdowns by both boys. Nic was THIRSTYYYY, did you get the whine in that word? Luckily I had packed a small cooler of drinks to be enjoyed after the sports park. and Will wanted "one last bit of fun" and wanted to go bowling at the second mall we went to. Who knew this mall had a bowling alley in the basement. We now know that next time dad and boys can bowl and mommy can shop. Sounds like a good plan!

This is what mellow looks like...

Yes, we have had a mellow few days. The highlight by far was talking with Kirste for about an hour on Thursday. Her mom is continuing to recover from her kidney transplant and seems to be doing well so far, despite trying to do to much to soon. Surprise on that one!

Thursday we went all the way to the library and home again. Friday we had to get out! We went to Ames! We got the last couple of items on the school supply list. We are done with the exception of a back pack for Will. He has his eye on one from the Land's End catalog. We'll see... We also went to Hobby Lobby, JoAnn's and Sam's. We got Will a Pinata for his big b-day party coming up. We stocked up on daddy cocoa and lots of misc. stuff that we were running low on, exciting stuff like toilet cleaner and bar soap. We ate Bailey's pizza last night, YUM! But I did cook every other night this week, oh no, that is a lie. We had McD's on Wednesday. Well, I did cook four of the last six nights. That is pretty good for me for summer.

Today is for getting some things done around the house. I went through five totes of baby/kid clothes and stuff. I whittled it down to two that will continue to reside in my basement, one will be donated and one will go to Jennifer's. I found these cute froggy boots that I forgot we had. Natalie will love them! I am going to spend some time in my scraproom right after I complete my last load of laundry. This is what Saturdays are for.

Fun today!

Yesterday, not so fun really. Oil change and errands in M-town then home to chores. Mommy was going off the deep end about the lack of participation in maintaining the house so both boys got a reminder of responsibilities. Will scrubbed toilets and Nic got a lesson in laundry. As he was pulling things out of the washer and putting them in the dryer he shared that he felt sorry for me. That this job was hard and not nearly as much fun as he thought it would be. Duh! I get that!

Today we woke up happy and had a slow AM. We then planned to go to the Neveda Aquatic center. Our friend Vicki suggested that arriving after 3:30 assured one a better spot in the shade of an umbrella and a more mellow crowd. I am all over that! We got there around 3:40 and found just that. Will was a little timid but Nic ran right off and got soaked! If anyone knows my kids they are not ones to get soaked within minutes of arriving at a pool. They take time to warm up to things... no longer. The Red Cross swim lessons earlier this month have changed my life forever. By the end of our 2+ hour stay both boys were water slide experts on inner tubes and without and Will was swimming under water with eyes open. I was SOOOO proud.

We ran through McD's on the way home and got dinner then home for showers. I am quite certain that we will all sleep well tonight. I wish I had taken my camera but did not. I actually think you are not allowed to take pictures there. I'll have to check that out before we go back. I am sure we'll go back! Hey, the calender is clear tomorrow...

Hello Monday!

We had a very nice weekend, I even got to catch up on some sleep. (Thanks Fred!) Saturday I went to a baby shower then home for a bit before running to Ames to take a friend scrapbook shopping. I spent $0 at Hobby Lobby. Perhaps a new record. We did catch a late lunch at Panera so that cost enough. I got home to find the boys in all of their Saturday glory - being bums- in yesterday's clothes. I was able to sneak a short nap in then convinced them to clean up and shower so we could go out for dinner and maybe a movie. Well, they took a bit too long getting ready so it turned into dinner and shopping at Lowes and Sam's then home for bed but worth the trip to Ames.

Sunday I just kept sleeping. When does that happen? I was awake at 8:30 and 10:30 and finally for real at 11:30. It wasn't even Mother's Day. Who hoo! In the afternoon we talked about grand plans for the basement, I did a little laundry and watch a dumb movie, "Just my Luck!". Finally we grilled out chicken, gave the dog a bath and watched HS Musical. I also got to chat with BFF Denise before she leaves for the International Boy Scout Jamboree in England today. Crazy huh? Can you believe the life I lead? It can be a bit overwhelming at times.

Today has been rather slow too. I do plan to do more laundry and vacuum along with some other misc. chores. I have a list, we'll see if I can get through all of it. I do need some dinner ideas for today and every day so feel free to leave some ideas in my comments.

I hope you all have a great week!

What a mom does...

So this mom goes to Ames in the middle of the night for a book! Yes, Nic and I headed out at about 10:15 PM to go get in line for our Harry Potter Book. We got to Borders before 11 and got a wrist band. I had called two weeks ago to reserve the book but we were not on the list. That earned us a green wristband marked with the number 88. Is that good or bad? Well, once the selling started at midnight I figured out that there were three other colors of bands ahead of us and 150 in each group. That made us luck customer 538! Whoo hooo! We were back on the road by 1:30, tucked into bed at 2:00 and likely asleep by 2:15 (no medication required).

Since this was the last book I figured why not? Nic was excited but quickly grew to realize, at about 1:00 AM that we should have brought Uno cards or something to make our own fun. We took these silly pictures at about that time. He did read all the way home but hasn't picked it back up again this AM. I am sure he will soon when I kick him off the computer.

I am off to Ames to do a little shopping with a gal pal. She is new to scrapbooking so I am going to corrupt her! Hey, it's her money, I am just going to suggest some ways to spend it at Hobby Lobby.

Happy Saturday!

wet boys swimming

We had plans...

Yes, we had plans for today. BIG plans. We were going to trek over to Coralville, IA to spend a few hours at the Iowa Children's Museum. We went there last summer and had tons of fun. This museum is actually like an anchor store to a really nice mall. They have a Super Target and The Children's Place among their many stores and an indoor ice skating rink! Across the street/highway is a big Kohl's and a Steak 'n Shake. Add to all of that the Reminisce scrapbook store a few blocks away and you could see what an outing this was to be! We didn't go...

Nic injured himself last week trying to do the splits in the pool during swim lessons. Well, either he never got better or maybe he re-injured himself. He is not a good person when it comes to pain and every step he takes is just too painful to bear. I am sure that a pulled groin muscle can be painful but please... Get on with life. No, not here, life must stop. I took him to the Dr. today to rule out anything more serious. She gave us instructions very similar to those offered by the in-family Athletic Trainer extraordinaire Jennifer, and we are on the mend. Hopefully by next week we'll be road trippin' to Coralville.

So we are hanging low here at home. We hit the library after the Dr. and I got a couple of movies to fill my time. Not that there aren't twenty other things on my TO DO list but I think I'll squeeze, watch "Prairie Home Companion" up to the top of said list. I am a bit pooped today due to poor sleep last night. Between "scared of storms," "can't get comfortable to sleep with such pain," and then some MAJOR storms once we got the kids to sleep I am beat. I recall laying in bed and praying last night at 12:45AM. Thank you God for the gift of rain, we needed it, but go away. You are scarring me, it is too loud. I was a poor hostess to the blessing of rain. My grass looks so happy and green today but I was not so happy 12 hours ago. I must have fallen back to sleep at some point but then I had the whole, "Have to get up and be ready to call the Dr. at 8:00 on the button or fear not getting in today" thought. Obviously we made it in. It is all good. Thank you God for the rain and for mid-day naps and free movies from the library.

Migraine migraine go away!

So I went to bed on Monday with a migraine, I am blaming the little weather front that came through. Then yesterday I had another one, perhaps the same one, spring back up. When it was at its worst I was on my way to dinner with the boys and not one pill in my bag. UGH! I hate it when that happens. Once we got home I medicated, took a Lunesta and slept like a baby.

I am waiting right now for a prescription for a daily med to hopefully reduce migraines in my life. They are not nearly as debilitating as stories I have read but they do knock me down a bit and make it hard to be a happy person. I much prefer to be a happy person. It is so much more fun than the alternative.

Here's hoping for a migraine free day!

In other news, I finally shared this blog with friends and family. I am sure that lots of people could care less but my mom seems to like it a bit. We have this family group for the Traubs and the Kriders where we share news and views etc. Well, here is my big announcement about my mellow life in IA, got a couple of responses, thanks for looking! Four days later one of my many awesome, brilliant, well traveled, cousins posts his blog of a trip he is taking to COSTA RICA once he has driven across the great USA. I can not compare. Another cousin and his bride are trekking the globe, as they do every couple of years it seems, sending updates as they go. My life seems boring in compare but certainly not while I am "in" it.

Big plans for the day - last day af swimming lessons

Big plans for tomorrow - might go to the Iowa Children's Museum two hours away in Coralville.

Big plans for Friday - Mommy gets to scrapbook!

I am sure it will not compare to zip lines across the rain forest but it gets me through the day.

Random but IMPORTANT stuff!

#1 Happy 21st birthday to my cousin Sarah! She is such an awesome person, very generous and loving and hard working! Hope you had fun tonight and that Jen bought you that yummy green drink!

#2 Posted above you will see my new bedding. Fred and I needed a new comforter, the old one was showing its age etc. It survived the toddler years but it was ready for retirement. I should have taken a before and after. The after is so much better! I also threw in a photo of the bathroom that just got a fresh coat of paint. It is a little brighter than I would like but there is no changing it now. It will work. I know that I need to iron the shower curtain but that will get done later this week I hope. I have sewing project that needs some ironing so that will hopefully get done soon.

#3 This should probably be #1 but this is where it landed in my rambling so here it sits. I was reading in my Woman's Day today about Fortune. There was a great quote that caught my eye, "One of the sanest, surest and most generous joys of life comes from being happy over the good fortune of others." Robert A. Heinlein This quote struck me because I have been bubbling over the good fortune of my pal Kirste. Kirste's mom's good fortune really. Martie has been battling Kidney disease of some kind for a while now. She has been on the transplant list and lots of friends and family have gotten tested to see if they are a good match. Well, late last month she got the call she had been waiting for and last week, just 4 days after her son's wedding, she had her transplant. Her own amazing generous brother was a match and since he came to town for the wedding he decided to leave a BIG gift in Ohio by way of the University of Michigan transplant program. I am so happy for Martie and her brother. I am thrilled for Kirste of course, this is such a gift, getting your mom back to the mom you knew and loved, the one who didn't require dialysis three times a week for 3-4 hours a shot. I pray for her recovery and Chris' as well.

#4 It is Monday and I have no idea what's for dinner. Since it is already 5:30 I think spaghetti sounds like a great option.

What wonderful day!

I woke up with gusto this AM and got a ton of stuff done. Not everything on my list but enough for sure! I drug Fred in kicking and screaming, not aloud but I'm sure that is what he was doing on the inside. We rearranged furniture in the boys' rooms, I did 4 loads of laundry, I paid bills and took out some recent spending receipts. I even cleaned out the linen closet. I have been meaning to do that since I unloaded stuff into that closet last year. I cooked homemade mac and cheese and we grilled for dinner. It was all good. Top off that fabulous day with a chick flick about a mom and her daughters,"Because I Said So!" and it was tops, now off to sleep for me. I am tired.

A sad bit of news today was that my pal Vicki's grandmother had a stroke on Friday. I will be praying for her recovery and the support of her loving family. It sounds like she is getting good care and will be assessed more this week.

I woke up on a Saturday...

This means I survived Friday the 13th. We have had a good day here. As parents we decided to divide on conquer today. Nic really wanted to see Harry Potter. It is likely too intense for Will and me. Fred took Nic to see it on the IMAX screen in DesMoines. Too cool! Will and I opted for Panera and Ratatouille in Ames. We quick ran to Hobby Lobby, where I bought some home decor items on SALE! and then to Sam's before we headed home. We enjoyed mass together and are now just killing time till the other half of the family returns later tonight.

I like the items I bought at HL. I picked up a silly sign for my laundry room. It will make me smile when I see it though so it is soooo worth it. No one else ever goes in that room. I also bought a clock that will likely hang in my newly painted bathroom. It is getting close to done. It needs a curtain on the window, a valance really, but I have not configured that in my head yet. It is a small window and something I could make, I just need a plan and some fabric. I also got my order from a Longaberger party I went to last month. It is a wrought iron piece that could go in the bathroom too. I need to dig out a basket or two to put on the shelves. Lord knows I have plenty of baskets to choose from. I used to be addicted before I switched addictions and now it is all about paper and stamps and tools and embellishments and and and... You understand.

I think I will reveal this blog today. Not sure why today, but why not. Someone might care... We'll see!

Starting today...

I am officially superstitious! It seemed like any other day. I woke up around 7 to let the mutt out. I putz, checked e-mail and headed back to bed. I awoke again at 9:51! Yikes, neither boy was up and about and we had swim lessons at 11:00. We got it all together but not without excitement!

Will could not find his sandals. "You left them in the car." I said. He headed out, I followed to help him look and to put the towels in the car, Nic followed for no reason whatsoever. He then proceeded to close the door behind him. My boys never close that door without being yelled at. Why today? Probably because the door was locked, as it rarely is when Fred travels, and we were meant to spend some time today freaking out about being locked out of the house. REMAIN CALM! GO check the back door, it is never locked until the end of the day. Nope, the handle was securely locked! NOW PANIC! Fred is out of town, I have no keys in my pocket and the dog is inside. Wait! Think! Before we left for vacation last week I was for some reason compelled to place a key under a planter in case the neighbors needed in. I never even told them it was there, but who cares.... IT WAS STILL THERE! We were back in the house in time to turn around and leave for lessons.

Jump ahead 1 hour. We are home and showering, the boys taking care of themselves for the most part, that is until I hear a horrific crash, and rush to the bathroom to find naked Nic lying outside the bathtub soaking wet. He had fallen OUT OF THE SHOWER! How does one fall out of the shower? He recovered quickly and we ate lunch and ran away from our house quickly!

Off to Ames and Ankney. Needed to go to Target, Kohl's, Michael's and maybe the scrapbook store. Did all of the above and headed north out of Ankney on a road that I knew would get me north then I could jog east and hit 35 or 65 or better even 330 and head home. Right! Like it could be that easy. Well, I guess I jogged a little off course, ended up with only gravel roads to choose from then all of the gravel road heading north seemed to be closed ahead. I managed to find us on a map and knew that I was still in Iowa and that I was between point A and point B. I felt better and decided to call my sista for moral support as I worked my way out of nowhere. Finally I found a road I recognized and an hour later we made it home.

I am now going to put on my PJ's, wait for Fred to get home and probably order Bailey's for dinner. That should be safe huh? One can only hope! If I survive the night I'll check in again this weekend.

Bologna and showers, what a summer!

Bet you are wondering what lunch meat and a shower have to do with each other. Well, in my house this summer they are signs of independence.

Will, the pickiest eater in this house has embraced ham on bread, it used to be just ham, and has also tasted bologna on bread and kinda liked it. The possibility of a school lunch that does not include a pop tart as the main course is within sight! Can you understand the joy? I sure can!

Nic, a rather needy, (maybe not the best word but I can not think of another off hand) eight year old has attempted with much success, showering without parental supervision. Rinsing his hair is a challenge but he has come really close. His success has inspired Will to try this trick too! Sending the boys off to get showered without having to escort, nag and participate is also looking like part of my future.

Do not get me wrong, I love being a mom and catering to my amazing, beautiful, loving kids but WOW! I could also get used to being the mom who doesn't have to negotiate lunch and dinner for the picky eater! (I was really embarrassed about what the lunch monitors thought about a mom who sent pop tarts for lunch!) I would love to be a mom of a confident, clean tween! Nic will be NINE this November. How did I get to be the mom of a 4th grader? When did this happen.

Thank God for scrapbooks. I love looking back at the cute, innocent, needy kids of old. Off to enjoy the afternoon with the boys who stole my heart.

No one starved yesterday...

We ate frozen pizza. Far from gourmet but edible all the same. Some days I am just not willing to work very hard as a mom or wife and I need to give myself permission to take a short cut and scrape by.

The boys went back to swim lessons (thanks Vicki!) and I kept my appointment with the mammographer and the lab tech who took some blood. I had lab orders from last summer and finally got around to getting it taken care of this AM. I woke up early enough and wasn't starving, rarely does that happen, so I took the time and did the deed. After my appointment I went to the grocery and got some goodies, strawberries and brownie mix, good combo huh?

Today will be good. I have plans to do more laundry, always more laundry, and hope to work on my swap pages for next week. I need to create today. I am driven to create today. I also need to dust, so I will create for an hour, dust for a few minutes and create some more while getting through the laundry as well. This I can do, I will do! I will also take a photo to add tomorrow. My mom was begging for a picture of our new bedding so perhaps!?

Stay tuned...

What's for dinner???

It is Monday, we are back from vacation and I have no desire to cook a thing! The boys and I have a had a really good day and I am certain that we will be hungry in the next 90 minutes but what to eat?

We had a mellow AM then headed to swim lessons. It was a bit of a rough start but it finished on a high note and they both seem willing to go back again tomorrow. YEAH! My pal Vicki will be getting them to lessons though. I have a date with a mammographer! First time for me. I will catch up with the boys before lessons let out for sure. It can't take that long to squeeze some flesh.

After swimming we ran a couple of quick errands, ate lunch and I headed to the scrap studio! I am in a page swap with my scrap club and I needed to get busy. I found a fun layout in a BH magazine and got to work. I will squeak by with the paper I have on hand. I hope to not have to buy anything more. This is not the time of year to buy Christmas themed items. Too bad that is the theme I selected. Oh well, it will be worth it once I get 5 complete layouts that I just have to add photos to.

I guess I need to come face to face with the pantry and pick some food! Fred should be calling soon with an ETA. I hope!

Home...

We made it back to IA with little or no issues. We had a fun visit with the Culps and Mamma. We went up to see Grandma Mary and Pete even went with us. Uncle Matt got a new car, Megan got a hand me down car and is driving on her own! We got to meet Chris, her BF, and we all approved. The boys had a BLAST swimming in the pool and got pretty brave by the second day, second swim. They should be all warmed up for lessons at the HS next week.

Time to go unpack and do laundry! More later. No pictures though. I did not take a single photo all week. I guess I was just out to make the memories, not capture them!

Whew!

What a wonderful visit thus far! After the awesome Sunday cookout we took it slow Mon. morning. We had fun at Chuck E Cheese with Natalie, Landry, Jen and MiMi then hooked up with Fred and saw Grandpa's new work place. We stopped to see John and Pam and stayed up too late on Monday night. Tuesday we had plans to get up and out to the Children's Museum but we were delayed and didn't get there until lunch time. Still had a fun time and returned home to drop the boys and RUN! Fred and I went on a date.

The plan was dinner and a movie and that turned in to car shopping, shopping at Archivers, dinner at Olive Garden, killing time looking at bedding options, and a movie. We saw Knocked Up and it was pretty funny. I got a bit tired of the f-bomb but the plot was hilarious and the married couple fights were dead on. It could have been a hidden camera in my own home. We snuck into my parents after mid-night (actually we didn't sneak, we were just quiet) and fell into bed.

Today we went to the Chicken Nugget Store (McDonald's) with Natalie, Landry and Jen then spent some $$$$ at Kohl's (THANKS SARAH!!!). We are now watching the weather to see if we will be enjoying fireworks or not. There is a major storm headed toward Indy, just not sure when it will hit and how long it will last. Maybe they will just delay the fireworks a bit. We'll see.

Enjoy your independence, wave a flag today, say a prayer for peace and hug a kid. Happy 4Th of July!

We made it!

We got to Indiana in good time. Unfortunately I got a killer migraine on the way so I was not great company through the second 1/2 of IL and into IN. We arrived just a few minutes before the first guests for the cookout so I would call that a success. We were treated to the company of Paul and JoAnne, Anne and Al, Joan, Mike & Sarah, Shannon and Dan, Denise and of course the Priser bunch, Ben and mom and dad. It was a really nice night! The food was YUMO and the evening was comfortable, could not have asked for much better really! Thanks MOM!

We are hanging out this AM, we have a lunch date with Jen and the kids at CEC and Fred is going to get two new tires on the van. I hope to do some shopping this afternoon and YEAH! My mom is giving Pete a haircut/shave. He hasn't had a "real" cut since December so he was due for sure!

Well, I should move along and get the boys dressed and start our day! I am about ready to reveal this blog to someone other than myself. I hope people don't fall asleep too easily while reading. Drool on a keyboard as not a good thing.