two weeks away

I leave on Friday to go to Washington to visit my parents..... the girls are super excited. We will be adventurous this time... camping, the beach and maybe even the zoo. Joel will stay behind. He has meetings in California for part of the time and then will be busy at work the rest of it. Of course I am sure he will try to sneak in some golfing while we are gone. I won't be writing while I am gone but hope to have some great pictures and fun stories when I get back.. pray it doesn't rain the whole time we are there!!!

Questions from a 3 year old

Jesslyn says to me, "mommy, how do you make dollies, fire, and mulch?" I am not quite sure how the combination of items ended up in the same sentence? ... and I am sure my answer left her more confused than she was before asking!

Summer

This post is for Emily....... :) okay, I love summer but I think that there are huge similarities between summer and pregnancy. Both are exciting and new at first..... but then as the days continue, and it gets hotter you get more uncomfortable. Just like pregnancy. You get hotter and more uncomfortable. And just like with pregnancy, your wardrobe gets old and boring. By the end of summer, I am so ready for the fall with cooler weather and different clothes. In about one week I will feel like I have had enough and will be ready for the fall to just get here.... just like when I was pregnant. I get to where I have had enough and I just want it to be over. My husband would totally and completely disagree with me about wanting summer to end. He loves every minute of if and the more hot and humid it is, the more he enjoys it. Actually, I am sure many people would disagree but I am sticking to my theory. Summer and pregnancy are a lot alike.... thank goodness neither of them last forever!

A trip to Japan

Joel and I had a date night last night. We decided to try a Japanese restaurant that we had never been to before. The moment we walked in was the beginning of me feeling like I was so out of place. The food was great... although I ordered what I thought was going to be vegetables but little did I know they were deep fried vegetables. Anyways, the waitress first brings out two hot towels. Not quite sure what to do with that..... then she brought me my salad and I soon realized that my only option was chopsticks. Not quite a pro at those! By this time, the place is starting to fill up. After trying to eat with chopsticks and then realizing I was not too good at it, Joel asked for a fork for me. Yep, I was the only one in there using a fork! The food was actually great although I prefer my vegetables without batter. Joel spent his first few years of life in Hawaii and is used to this way of eating and the food..... I came from a family who ate meatloaf. He spent most of the dinner laughing at me and I spent most of the dinner wishing I had taken a course on eating with chopsticks!
Then we went to a few different stores to shop around. We went to TJ Maxx.. which I love... and they have an entire section for perfume and cologne. The best part is that the cologne they had was popular 10 years ago. Eternity, United Colors of Benetton, Sunflower, Liz Claiborne, and the list goes on. Joel sprayed the Eternity so much that we had to drive with the windows down the rest of the night!

Two plays of a Reds game

The other day, Joel called me from work and said that he had some free tickets for the Reds game that afternoon. The girls were up for it so we grabbed the tickets and took an adventure into the city. It makes me laugh to think about the girls and I heading into Cincinnati.... it took a few circles around some blocks for me to decide where I should park. I ended up finding a parking garage... only $1 for the first two hours! So, we parked two levels underneath the main floor and then had to walk through a dark staircase to get out to the streets. Not a typical thing I do with my kids! Anyways, we finally made it to the stadium. We made it inside and were pleased to find $1 hot dogs! Our lucky day. We grabbed a hot dog and some cotton candy and then started the hike to our seats....... section 515 row K seats 16, 17, 18. Seriously 7 rows from the very top! We sat and ate and then the game started. After about two plays, Jesslyn had reached her limit and we started our hike back to the car. The girls had fun though... only because they saw cheerleaders and ate cotton candy. I think we might wait a few years before going back.

Not yet a biker chick...

My husband is now a proud motorcycle owner. I really lived in denial for about two weeks but now am okay with it. Joel has been riding it to work... 25 miles away..... and is saving at least a hundred bucks in gas each week. He says it is so nice to leave work and just ride. My father in law has a Harley, and apparently for bikers, it is all about "the ride". Not the destination, but the ride to the destination. Joel says it clears his mind so I guess it is his therapy..... of course I thought golf was his therapy. ?? Anyways, I have not been brave enough to get on the back.... it might take me awhile to get the courage to do that.... or maybe I will need an arm full of tattoos first. Haha!

today

I woke up to rain... and my husband coughing his head off....... poor thing. He has had a bad cough for about a week now and unfortunately it hits him the hardest while he is trying to sleep. I have to say that I was happy to wake up to a rainy day. I am okay with summer but the fall is my absolute favorite time of the year. The leaves, pumpkins, cooler days, and school supplies! Yes, I said school supplies. I love them.... crayons, glue, scissors, markers, you name it ... I love it! I guess it is just a quirk of a homeschooling mom. I especially love it when the crayons are 22 cents or the glue is a dime! I guess it is the simple things in life that make me happy. I am a dork.

one more pic.....

I had to put up this pic of Angel holding up some pretty panties.... that is all I have to say!

Reunited

These are my good friends from Central Bible College. We were able to all meet in Indianapolis for a night away from husbands and kids! We had a great time catching up and talking about the old days on campus at CBC. We brought our old pictures and scrapbooks and laughed hard at our hair, makeup and clothes! It was fun to be together especially now that we are all married. We had fun even though the Spaghetti Factory was 110 degrees and even though the Stir Crazy menu was deceitful! Girls, thanks for a fun time and for being such great women.