Off to school we go

We woke up on time, had breakfast, got dressed, brushed our teeth and made it out the door on time. We drove to the new house and walked from there to school. We were the FIRST KIDS THERE!!!!

Both girls were ready. Addison gave me the brush off....OK BYE! Campbell at least gave me a half hug.

It is all good! Quiet and life as we know it seems to be getting back on track! We will see this afternoon AFTER school!!!

Back to school playdate

Last week we had one more play date with our first friends in Ohio! We had them come visit our house and we walked to the playground down the street. We played there a while then walked to the pastry shop for cookies and to our school to show them where we would be.

It was a ton of fun and we were so excited to have them see our house. Can't wait to move in, have furniture and we can have them for dinner like they did us!

Friends are cool! Heather is cool too!!!

Blog Tag, You are it!

Simple really. Heather tagged me and so I have to play.

Here is what you do......

First you post the rules:
1. Link the person who tagged you.
2. Mention the rules on your blog.
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks you possess.
4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them.
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.

Then sit back and watch what the taggees write about themselves. Should be fun, so here goes:
My quirks...
1. I like to check my email about 20 times a day! (or more)
2. I hate mornings and wish I could sleep past everyone in the family being gone everyday!
3. My friends do not comment on my blog, they email me their comments (except Heather & Jen) What gives there???
4. Do not lie to me.....do not even try. I do not tolerate lies. PERIOD!
5. I do not like to put clean dishes or clean laundry away. I will load and wash dishes and laundry all day. I will even fold and stack by person, but I hate getting it into the places where it all goes.
6. I eat chocolate almost every single day.....seriously. I am out right now and need to get some. I prefer dark, but I will eat just about any, unless it has coconut in it, which I can't stand at all.....fingernails! YUCK!

Ok, now You're it!

Fellow readers, click on the names of these awesome girls to take a peek at their blogs. They are my favorites! Some I know, some I do not, but I love their blogs! Jennifer, Lula (love those eyes), Mommy's Kitchen (fellow Texan Tina who has great recipes), Homesick Texan (who misses Texas as much as I do) Angel in my Eyes, Heather, back at you!!!

Thanks for playing!!!!!

Wallpaper

I HATE WALLPAPER!

I hate 1980's Ralph Lauren Floral Wallpaper the most. HATE IT!

Spent at least 6 hours or more now, pulling, scraping, tugging, prying and yanking wallpaper off the walls of our new home. YARDS AND YARDS of it.

I did this for a couple reasons.

1. The wallpaper is ugly and dated and had to go!

2. The wallpaper trapped the smell of pets that we are desperately trying to remove from our home.

3. The wallpaper was SOOOO dirty.

4. I saved a bunch of money pulling it down myself!

5. I HATE WALLPAPER!

My back hurts, my shoulders hurt, my finger tips hurt, my nails are ruined and I hate wallpaper!

Ok, I think I made my point!

Bummer

Great intentions for a Monday morning. Do a little laundry, kids play nicely, watch Olympics and get ready to head for the YMCA to workout.

Get to the car and Viola.....someone broke into it. Took the DVD player, blue tooth, I-Pod, a gift card and our insurance papers for the car. *&%#%$*&^(*^&%##& and a few other choice words.

Our apartment is going through a re-surfacing of the parking lot so we have to park next door. No real lights or security. Also, there is a new building being built next door and lots of construction guys. I am sure they were watching us.

Oh well, it is only stuff and no broken windows.

Just a Bummer!

Backpacks, school supplies & new tennis shoes

I have some fond memories as a child getting to get my school supplies, a new lunch box and new shoes for school. I LOVE School supplies.

Today things are so different.......

You order bundles of supplies at the end of the school year for the next year. It is even a fund raiser to pay for things! Everyone has the same supplies. Red, green, blue, yellow folders, plain binders with plain white paper and plain dividers. Pencil box is only red or blue. Glue is in sticks and does not taste good anymore! Crayons and markers are washable! (as a mom I like that)

Well, I am bummed to say the least. I could wander the back to school isle for hours looking at the cool designs and colors of everything. So, when I got the girls news that they too are getting to buy a bundle of supplies from the school, I got sad for them.

Instead, we had an outing for Backpacks, lunch boxes and new shoes. Very Important stuff!

Now there are about a million choices of backpacks. They have big ones, small ones, solid ones, striped, polka dots, Hawaiian, Hannah, High School Musical, Hello Kitty, Skull & Crossbones, Camo and so much more. Some have matching lunchboxes and some do not....another choice. Some have wheels, some do not.....another choice. Some are not backpacks, some are satchels or side packs.....more choices. They are at Old Navy, Gap, Target, Wal-Mart, online, offline and everywhere!

What are two girls to do.......start online. Look at Hanna Andersen where they are colorful, fun and PRICEY! Look at Amazon where there are too many choices so you give up. Ok then, off to Target.

BINGO! We find a darling one....Campbell anyway. LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE it says in Pink and Bright Blue and it has a matching Lunchbox! Hooray. But no, nothing for Addison.

Off to Gap and BINGO! A pink and brown Hawaiian print with a lunch box that attaches and has a long strap. It is just "cute enough and cool enough for 4th grade". Oh my.

Both have no wheels, not cool I now know. Both have multiple pockets, important I now know for misc things like "supplies, library books and such". Both are adjustable and have the matching lunch box, also important I guess. EVERYONE IS HAPPY! Even mom because both places had sales!!!!!!

Ok, then the shoes. I am worried as last time we did this we went to every shoe store in the Tulsa Mall. After this search, we bought at the first store, of course. So, what this time? I parked in the lot outside StrideRite and said....lets get tennis shoes here today!!! Picked StrideRite since they needed to be sized and were also having a sale! Ok, it worked and the sale was buy one, get one half off sale. PERFECT! Both got their first choice in their right size. Shiny bronze and pink for Addison and shiny white and no laces for Campbell!

Whew! That was easier than I thought it would be! Since I left without a headache, we ran to Old Navy and got a pair of jeans each just in case we need them between now and when we get our goodies from storage. 2 for $25, not terrible!! They had shirts for $5.00 bucks so we Had to get a couple of those too!!

Shopped out! It was all good actually. No arguments, lots of "Thank You Mommy" comments and even a couple big hugs.

I am still sad for them, no cute school boxes, folders with kitties on them, tasty glue or fun stuff. But, they do have neat stretchy book covers.....I had only paper bags to cut up!

I got it and I am afraid!

Some of you have already been involved in this phenomena, others of you will think I am crazy. I am now going to read a Vampire book, no a series of them.

As you may already know, there is a craze sweeping the nation. It is the TWILIGHT series of books by Stephanie Meyer. I have been told by several people, of all different walks, to go for it.

I hesitated and thought, WHATEVER! But, after going to the gym last week and seeing 4 people with varies editions while they were working out and then seeing the author herself on CBS Sunday Morning I realized I do not want to be left out of this or miss a good one. I never read Harry Potter and may someday do it, but I feel I am an outsider at times with that one. I do not want that again!

I think the author is totally cool. She dreamt the story and starting writing with no real intention of publishing it. Read the story on the link above for the show. She also said that if it goes away, it is ok, she was happy before the books and will be happy after.

WOW!

But then there is the whole Vampire thing....how silly is that for a 45 year old woman to even go there.....we will see. I have friends who stop their lives to finish the books....they neglect kids, sleep, dishes, pets, bathing even to get to the next chapter or even the next book. I will say the people reading while on the bikes at the gym were really riding fast and furious....I think that will be my plan...read till I fall off the bike!!!

So here goes. I bought the first two books at SAMS yesterday. I have one other book to finish this week/weekend and then I will begin. If nothing else, I can sit in my new empty house alone and read about Vampires! What a scary thought actually. Maybe I will read here in my tiny and yucky apartment instead....no, I will go to the Gym and read on the bike!!!! Yes, the bike!

Answered prayers

I do not mean to copy Heather but I must add.

We are still happy from our fun weekend! We got invited to a Blues Festival and Cookout with one of MY friends, not a work folk from GAIC. (Not that there is ANYTHING wrong with that) My point is I have a friend, now two actually, and she invited me back!

Heather and I met "blogging" which some of you think is silly. Some of you may think that a blogging friend is kind of scary too. But far from it.

Heather, her husband Joe, her daughter Isabel, sons Gabe and Elijah had us to their lovely home for dinner after attending the Lebanon Blues Fest. She gathered us and took us in the heat to downtown Lebanon for the Festival which included funnel cakes, shaved ice and "cool cars & hot wheels", not to mention Blues music and cold beer. We wandered, festivaled and enjoyed the sights and sounds before returning to their home.


Once there, friends joined in. Becky, Mike and kids...sorry do not have all the names down yet. They too were just great! Mike played guitar and he and Kipper jammed a while, finding a nice middle ground in their styles. Kids ran a-muck and we all watched their precious baby girl Summer, who is 16 months.....she was a doll. Joe taught her a great trick too!! (see Heather's blog)

Winding the wonderful evening down, we sat and "exposed ourselves" in the best way by playing the Newlywed Game! What color is your husbands toothbrush???????? What is your favorite snack before bedtime???????? We laughed and found out a few things about each other, we may not have ever known! (or wanted to know!!!!)

It was great. It was fun, relaxing, entertaining, Delicious food and great friendship. I felt so at home, so comfortable and relaxed and I am so thankful!

God must have had His big hand in this one!

AMEN for FRIENDS! Thanks Heather, YOU ROCK!!

GOOD READS

I have emailed many of you several times asking "what is a good book to read" while I am here in Ohio with little to do. I have gotten some good suggestions and have read a few things so far.

I have wandered the shelves of the local libraries looking at covers, skimming overviews and reviews on the inside covers. I have checked out things, read a chapter or two and returned them.

Then I got an email from a longtime friend in San Antonio and it included her "goodreads" list and I found this to be an awesome thing so I created mine! I included several books I have read in the past, ones I look forward to reading and others I have heard of and will get to maybe, even what I am reading now. GOODREADS is a great tool to share your books and keep track of what you have read.

Another friend, Anne and I, are always talking books...she reads more than anyone I know. I am so hopeful she will create a list and share it with us. She has a world of great information on all types of books, so it is a perfect example of how this can work and how we can share, HINT HINT ANNE! Another friend from Tulsa sent her list and it is great because she was a former teacher and has a whole different perspective......thanks MJ!

So make a list, share it with me and with others and get reading!!! There are many GOODREADS out there to share!

Home Owners

I wanted to post an update on our house in case anyone actually reads our blog!

Today is August 1st, Friday, and as of 2:00pm Eastern Standard Time yesterday, we are proud owners of 117 year old home on Worthington Ave. Wyoming Ohio.

As you may have already seen in previous posts, it is a three story Victorian style home, that is painted BRIGHT RED! It has a beautiful front porch for Kipper to play guitar on! It has great trees and possibilities for good landscaping next spring as well as lots of leaves to change colors this fall and for the girls to rake and play in!

It is a Historic Home in Wyoming and is on a quite street across from the Episcopal Church and around the corner from the Presbyterian Church, God thing for sure!

We are all very excited. We will take possession next Wednesday evening and will move in over Labor Day weekend. The home needs painting before we can live in it so that will begin August 12th.

I will go next week to register the girls for their new school and we will get geared up for them to start August 19th. Unfortunately we will not be sleeping in the house the first couple weeks, but school starts at 8:35 so we will have time to drive over and then walk from our house to get the routine established.

We will have plenty of room for visitors so please plan a trip to see us. It would thrill us to no end.

We still have our home in Tulsa but feel ok about that working itself out soon.....our relocation agreement will help us if it does not sell on its own!

Hope to see some of you soon, right here in Wyoming, Ohio!!