Beauty and the Bestie!

I was so blessed to have a fantastic weekend of "mom time!"

 

First of all, my bestest friend is in town. My Susie lives in Texas. Boo. But she is here for a few weeks. She and I had a FABULOUS day of getting our toes painted, shopping, eating out, and attending a play on Friday! It was so fun to get some good friend time.... to talk about all that is happening in our lives and to solve all the problems of the world. ;) It's awesome to have a friend who knows me so well, has been with me through lots of ups and downs, and who loves me anyway. And I do the same for her too.

 

Susan sporting a lovely chapeau.
I tried to get her to buy it for her upcoming Europe trip.

Me in a tiara.
I really think I should wear one everyday.

I haven't taken a picture of my bright red toenails with shiny sparkles, but trust me.... they're beautiful! And my weekend of pampering did not end there. The very generous owner and office manager at Jon's firm recently surprised me with a BIG gift card to a local spa where I get my hair done. They did it to thank me for cooking for them and running lots of errands during tax season.... but WOW... it was unnecessary and quite a surprise. On Saturday I got to spend the entire morning at the spa. I had my hair and eyebrows done, got a manicure, and got a massage! Talk about being a princess! It was a super relaxing and fun experience!

Time with friends and the opportunity to take care of myself.... it doesn't get much better than this! I am truly blessed and thankful.

God Bless America!

We enjoyed a fun, but soggy Fourth of July celebration.

 

On the evening of the 3rd we hosted some friends for popsicles, glow sticks, fireflies, and sparklers before heading to the airport parking garage to watch the big fireworks display... from a distance.

 

 

 On the morning of the 4th the boys and Jon participated in the local parade with the Cub Scouts. It was rainy and dreary, but they had a blast squirting everybody with water guns anyway. I got to cower under my umbrella and then get royally squirted by them.

We should have known it would be a rainy day, because - along with another family - we had reserved the shelter at the pool and planned a big pool party for lots of family and friends! Unfortunately, it rained - mostly lightly - most of the afternoon. But fortunately we had a big shelter, the kids didn't mind swimming in the rain, and hardly anyone else even came to the pool. We had great food and everyone seemed to have a good time despite the weather.

 

Most importantly, we prayed and talked about what a blessing it is to have the freedoms we have in America.... and how important it is for us to defend those freedoms, especially in today's world. May God continue to bless America and may we always enjoy the freedoms upon which our nation was founded.

Summer Update

These summer days sure do fly by quickly.... especially when we're having so much fun! Here's a glimpse of what we've been up to lately ---

 

Summer Reading and Math!

We're working hard to squeeze in some reading and math practice just about every day. Gotta keep those skills sharp! We're enjoying participating in our summer library program. We even got to see a "Gator*Dave" at the library recently.

 

Vacation Bible School

The boys participated in our parish Vacation Bible School program and had a really good time! Jon and I enjoyed some date nights that week! ;)

 

Swimming, Swimming, and More Swimming!!!

It's a good thing we live just a few doors down from the pool.... because that's the only place the boys want to be these days. They just completed level three swim lessons. We also got to enjoy a fun movie night at the pool. I'm LOVING the fact that they don't need or want me to swim with them all the time. I've been able to swim when I want to, but also visit with friends, catch up on phone calls, read books, and even do some curriculum planning while at the pool!

 

 

Fun Random Picture of the Boys in a Big Big Chair ----

 

Civil War Encampment
As a homeschool mom, I'm always trying to sneak in a little lesson or enrichment. ;) When I read about a local Civil War encampment, I knew we had to take a peek..... even though it was a blazing hot day. It was really interesting to check it out.... and do a bit of review on some things we learned this year. We even met Abraham Lincoln!

Cousin Time!
My niece Ava is not signed up for day camp this summer, so we've had the privilege of having her with us often. We've had a blast hanging out at the pool, doing art projects, going roller skating, and baking cupcakes!

My favorite thing at the roller rink! Disco balls! I want these in my house.

 

Weapons



Yes, weapons. That's Adam's latest craze. Should I worry? A giant branch fell in our backyard and Adam has slowly pulled it apart and crafted spears, a bow and arrow, and this slingshot ---

We've also been busy with weekly golf days, karate classes, play dates, summer science activities, and getting ready for a super awesome vacation! I'll try to check in here more regularly, but I've just been busy having too much fun! Happy Summer!

The First (and maybe last) Family Puzzle Challenge

I come from a long line of puzzlers.... jigsaw puzzlers. My grandparents on my mom's side always had a puzzle set up and all of us have always enjoyed working them. We've recently been working puzzles at my mom's house and bantering about who is the best at it. This friendly banter turned into an all-out puzzle smack-down. We decided to have a puzzle competition. My sisters, mom, and I entered the competition immediately. When we decided that the winner's prize would be that all the losers had to buy her a drink on our upcoming family vacation, my brother-in-law stepped up to the plate as well. Jon volunteered to be the referee (and he was drafted to be the child care provider as well).

 

We spent several weeks debating and establishing the official rules. We finally agreed to meet at my house on a Saturday in June. We celebrated the June birthdays (my mom, sister, and brother-in-law) and made a day of it. Jon took the kids down to the pool while we spent the day puzzling.

 

Here's the puzzle we worked ----

 

 

 

It was a challenge finding five identical 500-piece puzzles that were not pictures of cats or beaches (as agreed upon in our heated debates). Three stores later.... I settled on candy! On the day of the party, I set up a candy table to look like the puzzle. It set the tone and gave us lots of sugar to fuel our puzzling!

We had to have real food as well, of course! Here's my brother-in-law with his birthday requests.... meat and lemon meringue pie. Yes, he's an odd bird... and now and old bird too!

Here's Jon in his official referee shirt! We finally bought him this official shirt after years of teasing him and watching him make all the calls as he watches football and hockey. He too his role very seriously. He and Ray led us in an opening ceremony, which included the Pledge of Allegiance, a prayer, and the re-hashing of all the rules.

Here we are PUZZLING!!!

 

As you can see, it was intense! Ray periodically walked around and gave status reports.

 

 

The kids even had their own puzzle station!

 

 

At this point I'm sure you're thinking at least these three things ---
1. What a weirdo family. (True)
2. How long does it take one person to complete a 500 piece puzzle. (Longer than we thought --- for most of us.)
3. Who won?

Well..... it turns out that we have a certifiable puzzle savant in our family. My sister Colleen, who had trash-talked us for weeks, spanked us! She beat us all by more than two hours!

We started at about 10:30, took breaks for food and birthday celebrations, and she finished (as you can see on the clock in this picture) at 4:45.

Colleen proceeded to help Reenie and my mom finish their puzzles. Mike and I both finished on our own.... but not until around 7:00! One of the funniest moments was when Mike put his last piece in and then immediately flung the whole puzzle onto the floor! Needless to say, none of us wants to do any puzzles for a while.

It ended up being a really fun family day with lots of singing along with the radio and just being silly.

Here's our puzzle champion ----

We're hoping to enter her in some real competitions and have her win us some money! In the meantime, she'll be getting lots of free drinks on vacation! And she still has bragging rights.

Here's one of the completed puzzles. It was harder than it looks! And we all hated those green olive-looking things! If you'd like to work this puzzle, we have plenty of copies to lend you!