10 on tuesday

When I left yesterday morning, I had three girls. When I returned home, I had two girls and two boys! I got to hang out with Sweet Baby and his big brother yesterday. When they went home, I was EXHAUSTED. We had a lot of fun, and now I have even more respect for his momma. I am now convinced that I am too old to have any more babies. So. After our day together, I thought I would share what we did.

Here are 10 things I did yesterday with Sweet Baby that I never did with three girls.

1. Banged blocks together. For 15 minutes at a time.

2. Built block towers and crashed them down - giggling, squealing, running, crashing.

3. Broke up a tug-of-war over a stuffed monkey - between Sweet Baby and the dog. They each had a monkey leg in their mouth! (Sorry, AW.)

4. Retrieved Sweet Baby from the inside of the dog kennel where he was... eating a dog toy. (Again, sorry!)

5. Banged on the garage door to see how it sounded.

6. Banged on the bricks to see how THAT sounded.

7. Banged on the car doors to see how loud that was.

8. Banged rocks together, trying different sizes, and then banging them on the concrete.

9. Run rocks through dead plants like cars.

10. Banged rocks on the cat to see the sound it would make.

We had such a fun day. The day started off with donuts and ended with pizza. I think there might have been a trip to Sonic happy hour and chocolate cake in there somewhere, too. And maybe popsicles?

I didn't know for the bulk of the day that we had shoes in the bag so we'd been keeping everyone indoors - too many stickers in our yard. Once I realized we had shoes, we headed outside where we explored the flower beds, watered the plants, played in the hose, played in the dirt, and got very sweaty. We ended our day with a cold drink in the rocking chairs and then a loooooong bath. Someone slept really well last night... and I don't mean Sweet Baby.

thoughts on a saturday morning

this blueberry and cream cheese butter braid sure tastes good. (thank you, kim!)
and it goes nicely with this fresh cup of coffee with hazelnut creamer.
if i stopped drinking coffee, i'd probably lose 10 pounds.

i think my cat is losing her voice.
is that possible?

the double knockout roses that hubby planted this morning sure look pretty.
and happy to be in the ground.

the veggie garden is dying a slow death.
all that's left are a couple of non-producing tomato plants and pitiful pepper plants.
the morning glories are doing fine, no thanks to the deer.
and the rosemary bush is humongous.
looking at what you pay for that stuff in the store, i could make a killing off that one bush.

pickles is home from summer camp.
i think she grew a couple of inches.
there wasn't anything green growing on her teeth.
but she didn't brush her hair.
because she'd already packed her hairbrush the night before.
but that was okay, because she didn't stink.

summer leaves for youth camp on monday.
she's worried that her friends will sing happy birthday to her.
for the six hour ride there.
i'm glad i'm staying home.
but i'll miss her like crazy.
and she'd better not grow at all.
because she's now officially passed me up.

that new phone summer got for her birthday (a little early) is buzzing nonstop.
with texted birthday wishes (though it's not until tomorrow).
and messages of "hey, here's my phone number, too!"
summer is going to need physical therapy to uncurl her fingers.

supergirl and pickles have a clean room. (thank you, angela!)
it's stayed that way for two days.
and all laundry has made it into a basket.
i'm hopeful.
but i'm not holding my breath.

i feel motivated (sort of) to attack the laundry room today.
but i'd rather go to the fitness club.
and sit by the pool.

hubby is working today.
and i miss him.
boo.

mr. mister

This little mister has his Auntie wrapped around his chubby little finger. He is almost 9 months old now. He has eight teeth. He crawls with lightning speed. And he is about to walk. In fact he took t*w*o steps at my house while he was visiting.

Mister is super good. When he is happy and content, he is good. When he is a little bit fussy, he's still good. If you ask me, God made him so good so his momma will want another one. He loved playing with his cousins. The grin I'd get when he'd spot me just melted my heart. But the only person he wants as much as his momma is his PapPap. He LOVES my dad. And I love that. It's so fun to see those two guys together.

Now, lest you think Sister didn't come on this trip, too... she did. And we had our own fun. We went shopping and out to dinner (just the two of us) for sushi. Sister knows a little bit more about this kind of thing so I just ordered everything she did. And yes, this sushi trip involved FISH. Some of it was cooked. And some of it, well, I don't really want to know, but it was good!! I was really surprised that I liked it. We had a great conversation and really enjoyed hanging out just the two of us. I am blessed!!

We had a very fun visit. Naturally, it wasn't long enough. And taking those two back to Houston wasn't fun at all.

10 {more} on tuesday

10 things I WANT to do... SOON!

1. Get a pedicure.


2. Start a book club.


3. Have lunch with a friend.


4. Scrapbook.


5. Take a nap.


6. Read my book.


7. Go on a date with Hubby.


8. Go on vacation with Hubby and the girls.


9. Plant my new double knockout roses.


10. Finish one thing on that "other" list.

10 on tuesday

10 things I need to get done... SOON!

1. My laundry.


2. Straighten and organize the pantry.


3. Put away last year's school books.


4. Clean out the kitchen junk drawer.


5. Do a serious cleaning out of the toys.


6. Clean my room and closet.


7. Clean my bathroom.


8. Fix the laundry room mess (but I can't because I have to let sweet Angela see it in all its glory so she can help me fix my problem).


9. Grocery shop.


10. Clip and file coupons.

happy camper

We got this girl up at 5:00 this morning to be at the church on time for a week of summer camp. Pickles slept with me last night and hopped up as soon as the alarm went off. I pulled her back into bed for a few more snuggles before sending her off for f*i*v*e days. This is her first time away - alone - for this long. She has always had her sisters or one of us with her.

Pickles was struggling this morning but she put on a brave face and unloaded her stuff at the church. She quickly met up with her leader (Mrs. Tera!!) and her friends. This little redhead at the front is her buddy for the week. I think they are a lot alike. Both are very sweet, quiet, and homebodies. I hope they take good care of each other.

This week, they are the green team. Can you tell? Pickles has a ton of green stuff packed. She has really gotten into that part of camp! Everything is labeled. Snacks are packed. And there are "happies" for every day tucked in her duffle. I even sent her a camp email this morning so she'll be sure and have one at the first mail pickup.

Her biggest worry was the bus. No seat belts. I was worried there would be no a/c. Looks like she got a nice ride, though. That bus was packed and they even took a church van and a truck/trailer. There are about 50 kids and 10 leaders. Pray for them this week if you think about it.

And pray for the mommas left behind (and baby sisters, too) who aren't really handling this whole thing very well. I know she'll have fun. I know she'll make new friends. I know she'll be safe. And I know Jesus will speak to her heart this week. But man, do I love that kid. And I'm going to miss her like crazy.

oh the vocabulary...

Today we were leaving a fast food restaurant when SuperGirl says...

Hey Mom! I just saw one of those measuring things for you know... what's the word?

I don't know, SuperGirl, someone who robs a store? That would be a thief.

No! A villain! It's one of those things to measure a villain when he leaves the store!!

cha cha cha... charmin!

We're out of toilet paper. Well, we are down to one roll. And in a house with four females, you might as well be out. And then we had two little female friends over today. Needless to say, we're down to the end of that last roll and a box of Kleenex. TMI??

We went to the store tonight, coupons in hand for the necessities... milk, bread, coffee creamer, and toilet paper. Charmin was on sale and I had a coupon. BONUS! SuperGirl was sitting in the basket directing me to the correct package. "No, Mom, not THAT one. Get THIS one!." I grabbed a package and turned to put it in the basket. With all seriousness, she looked at me and said...

"YES! This is the right one!! This one will not stick to our bottoms!!"

She kills me.

good morning, blog!

Hello, blog. I'm Shannon. Remember me? You feel like my scrapbooks... neglected and behind and way overdue. I guess I'll take the same approach with you as I am going to take with the scrapping... start where I am and go back when I can. So where am I?

Well, I must be at an interesting place. Why? Because I asked a friend to text me at 5:25 this morning to get me out of bed. Am I CRAZY?!? Apparently so, because at precisely 5:25 I got this...

"Yawn - good morning."

Thanks, JB. I stayed there in my bed, in the dark, clutching my iPhone, and willing myself to get up. I texted back a reply, which I hoped was somewhat coherent and cheerful, and forced myself out of bed. On the way to the kitchen, I made a mental list...

1. Don't stay up late reading when you know you're going to get a wake up text in five hours.
2. Clean room. Or at least the paths to the potty and door.
3. Buy a quieter coffee pot or settle for grounds and not beans.

Trying to blink back the cobwebs, I sat down to check my e-mail while waiting for my coffee to finish brewing. I'd been on the back porch drinking that first cup and reading my Bible when I realized the deer had been back for another buffet of sunflower plants during the night. Twix sauntered up and flopped on her back, begging to have her cottony white belly rubbed. She even jumped up into my lap and purred contently. We sat for a spell and she was ready to move on. So was I.

Hubby appeared for work as I was pouring my second cup of coffee. After draining my cup, I hit the showers and knocked out a couple of chores. My motivation and reward for finishing those chores was a blog post. It's the little things, people.

So here I am. I've been up for a couple of hours... the quiet passed very quickly. I got a few things done. Even ate breakfast! I'll knock out a little bit of work before the morning is over.

And you can bet your sweet bippy I'll be taking that power nap this afternoon!