Day 150

Time for Stamp Camp!!! Driving up to Elsah again. Really wanted to take more Elsah pics but they were having a triathlon up there & there was too much going on (even at 8am) for me to stop & take pics. So, you will get a pic of ME! This is me, driving in the car w/the windows down & the sunroof open. Spring is fun! Although, it might be over & Summer's here already. It's supposed to near 90 tomorrow!

Day 149

Nick was going NUTS to get into the pool. The weather has NOT been warm at all & it's been rainy. But he was insistent so, up we went. I figured he'd be in for 10 minutes & then be ready to go home. No way!! We were up for nearly an hour & a half!! Becca sat beside the pool for most of the time (and ended up w/a little burn!) but finally got in up to her waist. Nick was jumping & swing & splashing & generally having a good time. Even tho the water was FREEZING!!!! Should warm up next week!

Day 148

FINALLY!! A nice day w/no rain & no overbearing humidity. Scott & Nick went outside to shoot some hoops. Nick's skills are improving. He's not ready for the bigs yet but he might be able to hold his own in basketball this fall. He does need to practice some more!

Day 147

More clouds & rain! Actually, when I took this pic of the clouds churning overhead, I figured we were going to get SLAMMED w/bad weather. We had HEAVY rain but it wasn't so bad. Didn't even take out the satellite. I think we had one lightening bolt & I don't recall any thunder.

We may be done with rain for a bit. They are predicting better weather (although cool) for tomorrow & warming up by the weekend. Nick is DYING to get to the pool. I keep telling him it's way to cold to get into the FREEZING water but, he's 12; he knows EVERYTHING!!! Hoping I can get the key tomorrow & I'll let him learn for himself.

Day 146

This is our "moat".

We have been having ALOT of rain lately. Apparently, we are he lowest point in the neighborhood. This "river" shocked my son when he looked out the window. I took pics for him (in the rain!) but this is NOTHING!! We have had such heavy rain that all of the yard to the top left (not in this pic) was a LAKE!!

Day 145

What a Memorial Day! Rain, rain, rain & more rain! No pool, no BBQ, no nothing!! Oh well, I LOVE rain!! And I'm not too fond of BBQ (although it always smells AWESOME when someone else in the neighborhood is doing it!) and I'm so not ready for the pool. Plus, holidays bring out the drinkers & they make me uncomfortable so, I usually stay away anyway. Stayed in & made ATCs, watched the season finale of Criminal Minds (so ICKY & the cliffhanger ending has been so overdone! Of course he's not going to die!) and then watched the Cubs lose. At least the managed to score some runs!!!


I guess the rain made this little guy come out. He was stuck to the sliding glass door and driving Jack NUTS!!! He wandered up & down & across the window, just having a good ole' time. I'm sure he knew that Jack was going crazy trying to get him. And he knew he was safe. Cats are fun (sometimes!) (Again, I apologize for the bad pics. Low light thru glass. I really, really need a class in this camera!)

Day 144

This is the line to get into Night at the Museum II last night. Scott INSISTED that we go early 'cause it was opening weekend & it would be crowded. Well, it wasn't that crowded but they didn't let us in the the theater until like 5 minutes before the start.

The movie was ok. I wasn't thrilled by the first one and this one wasn't as good as the first. The kids liked it alot! I felt there were far too many new characters & none of them were well defined. Plus, they never explained what happened in the morning. That's all I'm going to say, don't want to give anything away. Oh well, I LOVE movies & popcorn!!!

Day 143

Scott has tomatoes!!! He's quite happy. There are actually two tomatoes on this plant (one behind the other) and one on his 2nd plant. He's dying for fresh tomatoes. I don't think it's hot enough & these tomatoes will probably rot before they turn red. We'll see.

Day 142

Spaghetti. Scott's favorite dinner. Since he's been out of town & eating out all week (awww, poor baby!) I decided I'd make his favorite for dinner. He says he could eat this 7 days a week. Once a week (a month?) is too much for me. BLUCK!!

Day 141

Yesterday was the awards ceremony at Bethel. Becca got on the High Honor Roll and Nick made Honor Roll. I'm so proud of both of them!!

(Sorry about the crappy pic! I underestimated how much trouble the sunlight was going to cause. I need someone to teach my how to take pics!)

Day 140

Well, obviously, after the washing of the crocs, there is the drying of the crocs. It looks like they're trying to escape!

Day 139

The greatest joy of the front-load washer? No agitator to ruin the crocs. So I washed just about all our crocs at once (ok, mostly it was mine & Nicks, Becca had one pair & Scott had one pair).

Day 138

Finally, a picture of Becca!! Nick had Alex over and they rented a video game from Blockbuster ($8.95???? What's up with that???) Since they got a game, Becca wanted a movie. Redbox, always a buck and I had a free coupon. And no, after we returned the movie, I did NOT break down & get fries & a diet coke. Might have WANTED to but I was a good girl!

Day 137

Made breakfast this morning. Now, I usually don't make perfect waffles; we have a square waffle iron but, if you fill it completely, the corners never cook. I just dump some batter in the middle it usually fills out to circle shape. For some reason, today's waffles were all weird. This one had one quarter full & the rest circles. Very strange. And, when I broke it in half for Becca, it looked like a garbage truck.

Day 136

We went to Longhorn for dinner (yum!) in Fairview Heights. FH contains an Archivers, a Best Buy and a REALLY BIG MALL and just about every other store known to man but these are the ones we stopped at Saturday.

While shopping in Macy's Nick discovered this giant "brass' rhino & insisted it had to be my picture of the day. So, for Nick, her it is!

Day 135

I took this pic on a whim (yes, while driving. But no one else was on the road & it only took a second). It turned out so cool. Nick didn't like it 'cause he thought I was trying to get a pic of his hair. I explained his hair was blowing, no one could tell how "short" it was. (He thinks his hair is too short, I think it looks good!)

More pics are coming!

I promise. I'm taking pics but haven't got them off my camera as of yet. I will be doing it soon.

Day 134

Are you tired of my Azalea yet?? It keeps blooming more & more!! Hope it starts getting taller, not just wider. Like me! LOL

day 133

Angie wanted to see how big my yard was. I think this view might give you an idea of what it looks like (try to ignore the COMPLETE lack of grass. It's all weeds & clover! Once the front lawn is good, I'll work on the back.) Anyway, you can see the slope of it & kinda see how big it is. It's pretty big compared to some of the new neighborhoods I see. Those houses look to be right on top of each other!! I wish I could get a shot of my neighbors back yard; theirs is GORGEOUS!!! Lots of privacy. You think they're trying to tell me something??

Day 132

This is my weekly routine. Search the paper, try to find a job that I appear to be qualified for, send a resume & pretty much hope they don't call me. Not that I don't want a job, I NEED a job (I had to pay $2400 to fix my van!!) but I don't really want to find one until school starts. And then, I HAVE to have a job that lets me work from 8:30-2:00. I miss my old job!!! I'm still hoping & praying I can get on at the kids' school!!

Day 131

This is Scott's baby! He loves this thing. I guess it's a guy thing. Personally, I'd rather use a push mower. On the front yard. I won't do the backyard, at all!! So, if he needs a riding mower for the back, I guess I won't complain.

I love to mow the front tho. It's flat & level & has a higher grass to weed ratio. LOL So yesterday, in the nice weather, I mowed the front. I love the smell of grass & the look of a nicely mowed lawn. I'd still prefer a push mower (Like to do the diagonal pattern in the grass; can't do it on a rider!) but, I guess I'll "suffer" thru this thing.

(Do you like the Halloween decor in the background?? Someone needs to clean out the shed & put that stuf where it belongs. On the plus side, the pool stuff on the far right will be coming out SOON!!!)

Day 130

Happy Mother's Day!!!

We spent part of the day with Scott's mom. We went to Pasta House for dinner (free spaghetti for Andy & Me and free CHEESECAKE!!!) and then back to her house to do some lawn work. While Scott worked outside, I tried to "fix" her computer. There were a couple of glitches. Then, I helped Scott finish the lawn while the kids spent some time with their grandma!

Afterwards, we went home to watch the Cubs win (finally! But, the Cards won too :( ) Then, being it was Mom's day, I left Scott home alone & took the kids to the mall. We went back & picked Scott up and ate at Jack in the Box! YUM!!! Afterwards, we went to Target & walked off dinner. It was a very good day!

Day 129

I'm sure y'all are tired of pics of my cat. Sorry. He sometimes just looks so cute, I can't NOT post him. (Plus I didn't take any other pics today. I TRIED to get pics of Nick getting his hair cut or Nick's new short hair but he REFUSED to cooperate!)

Day 128

We had some funky weather yesterday. Very hot & humid. Then, last night, we had some HEAVY storms with lots of hail. This is what we woke up to this morning. Heavy fog. It's cleared off & now it's just rain & gloom. My favorite kind of day. As long as the power stays on!! Good thing I got all the yard work done yesterday!!

Day 127

I spent all morning out in the "garden". We have beds on 3 sides of the house. And, in the front, is the funky landscaping our builder put in & we haven't completely redone. Yet. Someday when I get the energy & a wheelbarrow......

Anyway, Scott decided to put veggies in again this year. We'd taken a 2 year break from them. Why? 1) we weren't in town much last summer so weren't able to take care of the plants and 2) the last year we planted, our soil got funky & killed the plants from the ground up. It was weird. So, we mulched the crap out of the ground for the last 2 years & let it lay w/o plantings. Hopefully, these will grow this year.

I found out yesterday that Scott will not be traveling AT ALL (not even to StL) in June. We were looking forward to going with him for "vacation" this year. Well, here's hoping for some place good in July or Aug!

Here are some more garden pics:

Peppers planted right next to the tomatoes (Scott's the only one who eats either tomatoes or peppers, that's why there are so few plants!

Gladiolas planted on the other side of the house. This sided needed some HEAVY weeding this year!

Strawberries planted at the end of the gladiolas. These were originally planted as a ground cover & a "bribe" for the bunnies et al to eat THESE strawberries and not the "good" ones on the other side of the house. Never worked. And, apparently, this year the moles must have gotten to the good strawberries (along w/my tulips?) 'cause they never came back :( But, I don't eat strawberries either so, no big loss to me :P

The newest floral member of our yard, a Hydrangea. I've always liked these bushes. Especially when they have different colors on the same bush! Hope it grows! (Eventually, the rain will wash the dirt away from the rocks & the display will look better!)

The azaleas we planted 3-4 years ago. They are so pretty but bloom for such a short period of time.

Scott's hibiscus. He picked this plant out & I like it when it's outside (but I would have chosen a pink variety) but, since it's not hardy, it has to come in every fall. It's too big to fit anywhere & the cat keeps eating it. I almost wish it would die. Almost!!

Day 126

The AC went out in the van. The van that has 103000 miles and transmission problems. I took it to a repair place and for the bargain price of $60 they told me the a/c is SHOT & will be at least $2000 to fix. ACK!!!

Scott & I went looking for new vans. We found a few bargains (given the economy & the auto market, I was expecting ALOT more!) and one van we LOVED. We talked turkey with the dealer and for $2000 and our van, we could pay $500 a month or the next 5-6 years! ACK

Given that they wanted $2000 for the joy of a car payment, we decided it was worth the $$$ to fix the van we have (and love more than the $1000 they were going to give us!) If we "pay" the savings $500 for 5 months, we've paid for the repairs. Any more months of use we get out of it are "free" (If anyone can follow what I'm saying here, I applaud you. And fear you as your mind works the same as mine!! Scary!!!)

So, we took the van to Wood River (you'll have to ask Scott why there instead of the dealer her in Alton) and for $2411.69, the repaired the AC, the transmission (just a leak), checked everything else over with a fine tooth comb and gave us a loaner car to use while they did the repairs. SWEET!! They pronounced the car in EXCELLENT shape after the repairs and they say we should get another 100000 miles out of it, easy!

So this is the loaner they gave us. While it's nice to drive a new car and play w/the toys I don't have (the kids loved the power rear windows!) I HATED this car!!! It's ugly, it's ORANGE and it's impossible to gracefully get in & out of. There are blind spots the size of Cleveland in it and the "cockpit" is way too confining! I'm soooooo glad to have my van back. Grimy steering wheel & door handles not withstanding. I think I'll take it for a good bath!!

Day 125

Current update of the little tree at the kids' school. It's really coming along. It's so much smaller than all the rest of the trees lining the parking lot. I wonder what it'll look like by the time Nick graduates in 6 years?

Day 124

This was the view out of my sunroof today. So cool!! It doesn't even look like clouds. I should have post it as an extreme close up, even tho it isn't!

Day 123

My SU markers. I didn't want to buy them but, since everyone else loved thiers, I decided I needed them too. They sat for nearly 2 years. Late last year (or was it early this year) I finally learned to use them with the Aquapen. Now, they are my FAVORITE coloring medium. Plus, they look really cool in the box!

Day 122

Yesterday turned into a shopping day extraordinaire! Scott & I were both up early & headed to Target for some necessities shopping (there was NO candy anywhere in the house!!) Then we hit Kmart (no diet Pepsi vanilla), the mall (I got a new swimsuit--uck! and a shirt). Then we came home.

I went to Debi's for a SU Stamp Camp with Sue. Too much fun (see my other blog for pics of that) where I ordered some essential SU stuff (I'm out of cardstock!!). Home & then Applebees for dinner.

Becca is looking for a "New Moon" mag that's supposed to be out so we drove her to Borders in Fairview Heights. While Scott & the kids looked in Borders, I drove around the block to Archivers. Bought some paper & a

new Changito. I picked the rest of the family up & drove them to Best Buy. I sat in the car & read while they shopped.

When they came out of BB, we decided to hit the Target in Swansea to see if THEY had the mag (if the big book store doesn't, why would Target??? but I wanted to see if they had a pair of shorts that Alton didn't have so I went along w/it). On the way out (at about 8:45pm) I took these pics. I have NO IDEA what Nick's doing (hope it's not a bad sign!) and it figures that Scott would be covering his face when I took the pic but, it's a slice of life. LOL

Day 121

Messing w/my Macro setting on my camera. Any guesses on what this is?

Gooey Butter Cake. It was YUM!!!

Day 120

The leaves on my tree. They look really BIG here! They are really kinda small & cute!

Day 119

Last night was the BCA History & Science Fair (I thought Science & Geography Fair was more appropriate!) Nick did this all on his own. I think he did pretty good (It counts for 3 test grades; he got 100, 100 & 95 on it!) for not getting ANY help from mom & dad and the fact that he's not very motivated.


Some of the other kids went all out!! They had food & decorations & costumes!! One girl had great-great-grandmother's pictures from Italy. Pretty cool. Considering how tiny the school is, I thought they put on a pretty good "show".

Day 118

I thin it's time to fertilize the front yard. Of course, I SHOULD have done it a couple weeks ago! Now, it's too rainy. When we have 24 hours of clear weather predicted, I'll take care of these guys!


Edited to add: It never rained today. I could have taken care of these dandelions today after all.