Summer time...

...and the kids are driving me crazy. They all are feeling severely deprived of their school friends. They MUST spend every available moment at their friends' homes, having sleep-overs, parties, play dates, time at the pool, playing on the slip-n-slides. THEY are having a BLAST this summer!

I am, however, fighting a losing battle with each and every one of them, every day. I am DETERMINED that we WILL get the house picked up and the bathrooms and kitchen cleaned, EVERY DAY. For some reason, those 13 loads of laundry per week (or more right now, since we're going through copious amounts of towels and bathing suits) do not wash or dry themselves, and certainly do not fold themselves up and walk up to their respective homes.

So, I get to be the mean mom. I grounded my eldest from her Facebook page (yeah, I finally gave in and let her have one...). They are all MINE until after lunch. Oh, and the oldest is taking an AP class this summer...she is going to be glad I am making her work on it now, instead of waiting until that last week before heading back to school!!

Meanwhile, I am in denial about how much summer we have left...no school shopping here yet. I'm not even thinking about it...though I *do* have my lists hanging right there on my bulletin board above my desk...just ignoring it for now!

Thanksgiving in NC

Welcome home, now call the police....

We're back from a WONDERFUL time with family in SC and NC. It was fun. It was relaxing. It was nerve wracking. It is GREAT to be home again.

So, we pulled in the driveway, and I looked over at my husband's car, which we left sitting in the driveway while we were gone...something didn't look quite right.... I got out and looked inside to see that EVERYTHING on the inside had been rifled through. The glove box contents were dumped. The coins from the trays had been dumped. The car was unlocked. Oh, Grrrrrr..... Some days I HATE living in Virginia Beach!! This is NOT the first time this has happened. Fortunately this time it doesn't look like anything was stolen. The CDs were still in their place, nothing was disturbed in the trunk. We think they were looking for electronics....and we did not oblige them.

Now I am going to bed. I have church in the morning, and work to do, and laundry and unpacking....oh, and 300-ish pictures to go through and post for everyone to enjoy the lovely Smoky Mountains near Asheville, NC....and all of the family fun we had....

G'night!!

Remote Posting: Happy Thanksgiving!

We are away for the weekend, spending some much needed, much enjoyed time with our families. I hope each of you has enjoyed a special time this week, as well.

We each have MUCH to be thankful for...

What are you Thankful for today?

I am thankful for a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with my grandmother, who is failing. I am thankful for time with my aunt, uncle, cousin, siblings and their spouses. I am thankful for safety on the roads. I am thankful for too much to eat. I am thankful for a wonderful time with my in-laws, sister-in-law and niece and nephew. I am thankful for a camera crammed with great pictures of extended family...to be posted when we get home.

WHAT are YOU thankful for?

Happy (Late) July 4th!!

I hope all of you had a great weekend! We sure did.

THURSDAY

Thursday we drove out of town in the early afternoon, arriving at Jason's parents' home in time for a late dinner and bed. After 6 hours on the road, we were TIRED, and had to be up early in the morning.

FRIDAY

Friday started early, with two of the kids taking off with their Papa, to go pick up the World War II era Jeep they were to ride in for the parade. The rest of us (3 adults and 4 children) hurried to get out of the house to get into town and get good spots for the parade.


On the way there, we drove by the house we built in 1998....I never had any pictures of the outside of it, so I got a few!!

(That is the only proof I have that *I* was actually there...see me there...in the mirror?)

It is a sad, strange comfort to me that the new owners still have not done anything with the front yard...that same yard that we did nothing with in the entire two years we owned the place....and which they have now had for 7 or 8 years.....

Then, on to the parade....

....airplanes....

....floats....

....floats with airplanes....

....Boy Scouts...

....School bands...

(This is the school my oldest attended for kindergarten and part of first grade)

(The hospital where 4 of my children were born)

....old cars....

....beauty queens....

....politicians (IN old cars)....

....new cars....

....tractors....

....baseball teams...

....one special Jeep....with a couple of special Marines (Hi, FIL!) and two really cute kids!!

....soldiers and sailors...

....and CAMELS!!! (Oh, my!!!)

And lots of pictures of my husband, mother-in-law and cute kids!

(My favorite picture of the whole weekend...MY Wonderful Sailor!!)