Category Archives: Photos

Dang, that first week of school is HARD!!

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Happy earlier bed times…I mean 2013-2014 school year!!

One week under our belts here.  Please don’t take this as boasting….please.  Just don’t.  But…..it went pretty well.  I even experimented with doing my MWF (scratch Monday to just Wed/Fri this past week) in the a.m. and had Hubby wake the kiddos so that our 5th grader is ready (almost) for me to take her to school when I get finished at 7.  So far, so good.  (The high schooler is long gone at that point and the middle schoolers still have an hour-ish before they leave).  We also had cheer practice on Tuesday and Thursday.  Lawn mowings at the end of the week.  Of course, no real homework to speak of until Friday, overall, I simply can NOT complain.  Disgusting, right?  Hopeful, yes??  Yes.  I vote yes.

Scenes from a cheer practice.  Girls under cover, mama in the car.

Scenes from a cheer practice. Girls under cover, mama in the car.

And so why in the he-double hockey sticks were the Hubs and I flat exhausted this week?   Flat. Out.  Exhausted.  Hopefully we will get a second wind and adjust to our schedules and school life–which as history shows, we will.  Until then, I will sing the praises of the iced coffee and the franchise of the Donut that is Dunkin’.

ye olde afternoon pick-me-up

ye olde afternoon pick-me-up**

**of course, adjusting bedtimes, dinner routines and getting back on the healthier eating choices will help, too.  DD is just so tasty and convenient, though!

Because we can't be having THIS scene every night, those kids DO like dinner.

Because we can’t be having THIS scene every night, those kids DO like dinner.

Summer time sendoff at the Springs

The Hubby and I took a couple of days off at the end of the week before the kids went back to school.  One of the days we went to the springs.  I don’t know why we haven’t been before.  It was beautiful, crisp and COLD and since it was a weekday….uncrowded.

The swimming part of the springs is concreted off, similar to a swimming pool…around the edges but still plenty of rocks, sand and algae on the bottom and crystal clear.  The swimming area is separated from the river with a lovely walkway with a jumping platform on one side and waterfall on the other side.

The restaurant portion offers AYCE pancakes for about $5.

Behind the restaurant are the remains of the original mill.

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Swimming and jumping in super clear and crisp 70degree F water.

fountain

Sad to say the ole Fountain o’ Youth was bone dry.

PicMonkey Collage

Road Trippin’ for a Friend Fix

There lies the season where I miss my friends.    It’s a crazy thing, getting older.  Not as simple to make friends any more.  Everyone is busy.  Everyone has baggage.  And so I remember the plaque that hung in my grandmother’s kitchen from a hundred years ago….(or 40):

Make new friends, but keep the old;

The new are silver and the old are gold.

These friendships have weathered life’s storms:  Cancer, infertility, marriage struggles, divorce, faith struggles, death of a child, children with emergency surgery, financial drain, suicide, depression, alcoholism, prison, poor health, aging parents, death of parents, miscarriage, many children, few children, job changes, bullying, education challenges, children growing up and moving away, children with faith crises, deployment, moving, starting over, making new friends and the list goes…..it is life.  Distance may separate us, however, these life cords forever bind us.

So worth the road trip with my girls to visit these dear friends.  We didn’t get to make ALL the rounds due to end-of-summer craziness and that only makes the argument for another visit and for visitors here.  Life’s too short, make the effort, you won’t regret it.

Rollin' with my homies.

Rollin’ with my homies.

7 super quickety quick takes

Joining Jen and gangster bloggers for the 7QTS this week!!  Woop Woop!

And so in my usual bon-bon fashion….I am leaving myself with 6 whopping minutes to post this before I need to get ready for work.  Fortunately, I’ve showered, eaten and my lunch is mostly ready.  Ready set GO:

1.  This week I flipped back to old school style planner.  Paper.  Pens.  Pencils.  Still love my iPhone calendar, but I’m a tactile person and I need paper.  My anxiety is decreasing already….this will do until I find something super purty…feel free to leave your suggestions in the combox!

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2.  This past weekend (Sunday) counts as the week start correct?  We did a huge ole bed swap…our bunk beds to the neighbors (below right) and my girlfriend’s daughters trundle to our girls (below left) and my girlfriend’s daughter moved a futon into her room for hang/sleep/teen stuff (not posted)….can you say WINX3?!?!?PicMonkey Collage

3.  Back to school is right around the corner…..Our sophomore had orientation and our 6th grader as well.  2 down and 2 to go.  Sweet structure is almost here.  orient4.  I’ve been walking all week while our youngest has cheer practice for about 45 minutes each night (in addition to my morning classes) and am down 3 pounds.  BooYA.  Meh, the weekend is coming, all subject to change!

5.  I’m taking one last road trip before school starts with my girls.  We leave in the a.m. for a fun and packed weekend of friend visiting….hence the 3 pounds are subject to change.  You feel me?

6.  Oh no…..3 minutes over my time.

7.  Have a great weekend!!!

Hobbies

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How do you find time for hobbies?  Do you thing there are certain seasons in life for  hobbies?  Perhaps I’m just trying to fit a square peg in a round hole at this time in my life; I’m genuinely curious, though.  I want to know how in the heck people squeeze extracurriculars in.  Or are hobbies and extras the things that just add the extra craziness to our lives leaving us less time for quiet and contemplation? I have a few hobbies of my own and it is a constant struggle for balance, for instance:

I love photography, blogging and with a renewed interest in sewing there’s a whole lot to juggle.  Especially when my day goes like this (generally.  during the week.)

  • 5 a.m. wake up
  • 6 a.m. workout
  • 7-8:15 shower, dress, make lunches, breakfast, wake girls and out the door by 8:15
  • 8:30-5:30 work
  • 1-2 p.m. lunch, which is usually errands, read or Adoration if I am super lucky
  • 5:30 pick up girls
  • 6-7:30 Get dinner ready, wind down, miscellaneous stuff (fastest time of the day)
  • 7:30-9:30 kids showered, clean up and bed
  • 9:30 pass out and Repeat the next day

My blogging time generally comes in my morning quiet time, 15 minutes or so before and after the gym and on weekends.

My photos and editing are also on the weekends.

Sewing.  Weekends or maybe in between that dinner prep and serve time.

These are the things I enjoy doing; I can lose myself in them for hours (given the opportunity) and they bring me peace and satisfaction.  They also take me away from my family and doing the things that are necessary to keep my family healthy and happy.  It’s a balance.  Currently my approach is fit it in where I can and try not to sweat it. The days are gone where I’m willing to sacrifice sleep and I hung up my “supercape” long ago.

What about you?  So when do YOU fit in time for hobbies?  There is a time for everything, right?

Ecclesiastes 3 3:15

There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every [a]event under heaven—

A time to give birth and a time to die;
A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
A time to kill and a time to heal;
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
 A time to weep and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn and a time to dance.
A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.
A time to search and a time to give up as lost;
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;
A time to be silent and a time to speak.
A time to love and a time to hate;
A time for war and a time for peace.

What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils? 10 I have seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.

He has made everything [b]appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart,[c]yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime; 13 moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor—it is thegift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it, for God has so worked that men should [d]fear Him.15 That which is has been already and that which will be has already been, for God seeks what has passed by.