Thank You

I'd like to say a big Thank You to the Queen of Good Intentions for two new blog awards!

You are sooo sweet!

I'd like to pass these awards on to the following lovely ladies:

• Cherish the Home
• 50's Housewife
• The Retro Housewife
• Unless The Lord
• Rainy Day in May
• Red wellies, Rainbows and Cinnamon Whirls

Do You Like It?

I've got a whole new look on my blog! Many thanks to The Retro Housewife who linked to The Cutest Blog on the Block.

Go check it out, it's so much fun!

I Need A Break

I'm going to be taking a break blogging for a while. Partly because it's summer and the kids are home, and partly because I'm honestly out of ideas of what to write about and it's stressing me out.

So, I'll still be visiting all your wonderful blogs, but I won't be writing here for a while. Hopefully I'll return in a few weeks with lots of fresh ideas!

Because You Can't Have Too Many Memes...

Another new meme, this one is from Karen!

The ABCs of Me

A) Age-43

B) Burger of choice-Whiskey River BBQ Burger at Red Robin

C) Car-2005 red Chrysler minivan

D) Dog's name-Mugsy

E) Essential item you use every day-Reading glasses (They should issue these to you when you turn 40)

F) Favorite TV show-Robin Hood


G) Favorite Game to play-Boggle (It's the one game I can consistently win, although Kristen is getting really good at it too.)

H) Hometown-I grew up in Mount Prospect Illinois

I) Instruments I play-I played the flute and piccolo in high school. I took a few years of piano, but I was never any good at it. (Karen, we have a lot in common!)

J) Favorite Juice-OJ I guess, I'm not a big juice drinker.

K) Whose whatnots would I love to kick? I am not a whatnot kicker.

L) Last restaurant I ate at-Georgio's on my anniversary

M) Favorite Muppet-Kermit. Peter can do a killer Kermit impersonation.


N) Number of piercings-I have three piercings in my left earlobe, one on my right. I did two of them myself when I was in high school. I wasn't very bright when I was in high school.

O) Overnight hospital stays-Yes, when I was about 18months, when I was 12, and with all four kids.

P) People I was with today-So far, Peter, John and Spencer.

Q) What do I do in my quiet time-READ!

R) Biggest regret-Having my tubes tied after Spencer was born. I would love to have had more kids.

S) Status-Does that mean marital status? If so, I've been happily married for twenty years and two days!

T) Time I woke up-6:00am

U) What I consider unique-My kids. They all have such different personalities!

V) Vegetables I love-Corn on the Cob. Yum!

W) Worst habit-I don't always think before I speak.

X) X-rays I have had-I had x-rays of my legs when I was in the hospital when I was 12.

Y) Yummy food I ate today-Banana Muffin

Z) Zodiac sign-Well, I don't believe in zodiac signs, but I would be a Taurus.

If you are reading this, consider yourself tagged! Don't forget to leave me a comment if you play along!

A New Meme!

Misty tagged me for a new meme, and as I love memes, I'm playing along!

Eight Things I Say A Lot:


Hi Honey! (to Peter and kids)
Stupid dog (To dog. Because he's stupid.)
You're so cute! (Also to dog.)
Crap (A bad habit I'm trying to break.)
Where are my_____ ?(glasses, keys, purse, ipod, book, etc.)
What time are you coming home? (To Peter when he's at work)
Is the garage door closed and the doors locked? (At night)
Exactly (when I agree with someone)



Eight Books I Have Read Lately:

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (I'm trying to re-read some classic lit.)
The Grapes or Wrath (another Classic)
Ladybird (A nice old-fashioned Christian novel)
The Hidden Art of Homemaking
Shopping For Time (I've read this one through 3 times!)
Feather Your Nest
Practicing Hospitality ( I'm on my second reading of this one.)
Apples For Jam (I haven't made anything yet from this book, but the pictures are gorgeous!)


Eight Movies I Have Seen Eight Times: (at least...)


The Princess Bride
Grease
Pride and Prejudice (Colin Firth version, of course)
Star Wars
Muppets Treasure Island
A Christmas Story
The Wizard of Oz
Overboard (it's my guilty pleasure)


If you're reading this, you're tagged to play along!

My New Favorite Show

My new favorite show is Robin Hood on BBC America.

It has cheesy plots with holes a mile wide, but it has no swearing, no nudity, and minimal fight scenes, (the fighting isn't bloody or gory.) Robin Hood is an entertaining, old fashioned, good guy vs. bad guy action show.

And I love it, cheesy plots and all!

Please Pray

Please be praying for those people here in the Midwest who have been affected by the devastating floods.

Our family has not been directly impacted by these floods, but many people in our community are suffering. The amount of flooding around our rivers and lakes is so astonishing I've never seen anything like it. Many homes, businesses, and farmlands are flooded

Thank you.

Walls and Glue

Words of wisdom written by S:


Walls are useful. You put your stuff on it. Without them, we would be squished by the ceiling.

Glue is sticky.

Glue + bricks = walls.

Rubber cement + orange juice = glue.

Walls + glue = 2 walls

The End.

Dear Daughter To The Rescue

Yea! I have a cellphone again! My old phone is definitely dead, but I now have my daughter's old phone that happens to be a pink Razor! Yea!

I Drowned My Phone, But At Least It's Clean

Yes I did.

I accidentally washed my cellphone in the washing machine.

I don't think it survived.

Doggy Allergies

Did you know that dogs can have allergies? I didn't, but apparently my dog is allergic to something. He's been acting weird for the last few days and has a rash on his backside that is infected.

One trip to the vet, one shot of steroids, two weeks worth of antibiotics, and $75 later and he's as right as rain.

WFMW - Getting Rid Of Stinky Smells

Having six people, one cat, and one dog in the house can lead to some rather unpleasant, um, bathroom odors. I've tried all different types of air fresheners, and besides giving me a headache, they just leave the bathroom with a flowery stinky smell.

Then I discovered Pure Citrus! This stuff will cut through and eliminate (ha ha) any stinky smell, plus it doesn't give me a headache. I bought this at Walmart for about $2.50.

This is what works for me! Head over to Rocks In my Dryer for more great WFMW tips!

Poor Dog

We spent yesterday afternoon shaving Mugsy. We forgot to take a before picture, but here's the after picture.

With all the fur we shaved off we could have made a whole other dog.

Then K and I gave him a bath.

Mugsy doesn't like baths.

Poor little guy!

Early Riser

Since reading this book several months ago, I have been getting up at 5am each weekday to do my devotions. I can't say it's been easy, especially the first month or so. Having a coffee maker with a timer has helped a lot.

Other than the obvious benefit of having a committed time to read my bible and pray each day, there have been additional changes in my life due to this habit.

I have become an early riser.

This morning I awoke to the sun shining through the windows and the birds singing and I thought to myself "wow, I must have slept in really late this morning," only to look at the clock and realize it was 6:06am.

And I was wide awake.

On a Saturday.

I don't mind becoming a morning person, it's actually kind of nice having an early start to the day.

The only real downside to rising early is that I am now absolutely exhausted at 9pm each night.

End Of School Busyness

Hi blog world! I'm still here, I've just been busy with all the different activities and concerts that happen at the end of the school year. I have a free day tomorrow.(yea!) Well, I won't get too excited as I have to catch up on laundry and house cleaning, not to mention blogging!

I'll be back tomorrow with a post about my new Family Notebook!

Prom Night

Last Saturday was prom. J didn't go, but K went with a group of friends. Here's a few pictures:

A wonderful time was had by all. We are so thankful that K has such a lovely group of friends. Don't you just love the jumping picture?

A New Meme

I've been without the Internet for a few days and I am finally back! I have a lot of blog reading to catch up on!

Anyway, now that I'm back, I've been tagged by Connie for a meme.

Here are the rules:

1. List these rules on your post.
2. Answer the following questions in your post.
3.At the end of the post tag 4-5 people. List their name with blog link and leave a comment on their blog to tag them.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answers.

QUESTIONS

1. What were you doing 10 years ago? I was living in Illinois and celebrating the fact that my husband was finished with graduate school. I was also sick with morning sickness since I was pregnant with S.

2. What are five things on your to-do list today? Go grocery shopping, clean the kitchen, volunteer at S's school, catch up on laundry, and take a nap! I got everything but the laundry done.

3. What snacks do you enjoy? Natural Cheetos, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Frozen Ding Dongs.

4. What would you do if you became a billionaire? Pay off our house, give a lot to our church and missions, and save money for the kids college and for our retirement.

5. What are your bad habits? Picking hangnails until they bleed, being unorganized, and rearranging furniture.

6. Where have you lived? Illinois and Wisconsin.

7. What are five interesting jobs you've had? In high school I was the annoying person who calls in the middle of dinner to take a survey, I worked the cash register at Foot Locker, I was a secretary, and now I'm a wife and mom.

8. Who have you tag to continue the meme fun? If you are reading this, consider yourself tagged!

WFMW - What Doesn't Work For Me

With six people in our family, (one of them being a 17yo girl who can change outfits 3 times a day) I do a lot of laundry. All the advice I've ever received about laundry is to do a few loads every day.

Well, this does not work for me.

My laundry room is in the basement and I don't usually go into the basement unless I'm doing laundry. My problem is I put a load of laundry in the washer in the morning and then totally forget about it. (Have I mentioned that I'm not good at multi-tasking?) Then, the next time I want to start a load of laundry, I find a washer full of musty, wet clothes that need to be washed again.....yuck.

So, I have a regular laundry day. I try to spend two days a week concentrating on catching up on laundry. If that is my main focus for the day I seem to get it done, and I don't leave wet laundry mouldering away in the washer.

So, while laundry every day doesn't work for me, laundry day does.

Head over to Rocks In My Dryer for more WFMW - What Doesn't Work For Me.

Just Thought I'd Boost Those Numbers

I've read on other blogs lists of words people have Googled to find their blog. Do you want to know the most Googled words that have led people to my blog?

Fashion Hair Nets.

Seriously. I get this at least 2-3 times a week. I guess it's due to this post.

I just didn't know there was such a market for hair nets, and btw, is there such a thing as a "fashionable" hair net?

It Doesn't Take Much To Impress A Nine Year Old Boy

S - "Mom, did you know that Harrison Ford in Raiders Of The Lost Ark is Han Solo in Star Wars?"

Momala - "Yes."

S - "You know a lot of things 'cause you're a mom."

I didn't happen to mention that I'm old enough to have seen both movies when they were released in theaters. I'll just let him continue to think that he has one smart mom.