Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Happy Birthday to Me!

After getting a new Kindle, a new mattress, new clothes and a new purse in the days leading up to my birthday, all I wanted for the actual day was to not have to cook dinner :) Joel and the kids got me flowers and a balloon and we went to dinner at PF Chang's. It was a great birthday! And mattress follow-up-- it's so much more comfortable than the old one!!

Monday, July 27, 2015

New Mattress

So pretty. Hopefully as comfortable as it is pretty. LOL. 

Sunday, July 26, 2015

Girls Night Out & A Busy Weekend

Had a great pre-birthday night with Abby on Friday of shopping and yummy food. Got myself some birthday presents (as if I hadn't already gotten enough) and donuts at the wine shop at Foxcroft! Love those donuts!!!

The rest of the weekend was jam packed with some major shopping -- bought a new mattress set for our bed and a new laptop for Joel -- as well as a pool play date and a barbecue. 



Friday, July 24, 2015

Finally Fixed

A little early birthday present -- a fixed washing machine! Only took 20 days and $422. So much for home warranties :(

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Mid Week Update

Back at work after a long weekend, and all the kids home and back to camp! Becca is back at camp Mindy and Ben is doing two weeks of a computer programming camp at Charlotte Latin. The first week is learning how to program mods for the game Minecraft, which is right up his alley, and next week is game design. He is liking it a lot but did mention that he is the only "cool" kid there. ("Some kids were wearing JEANS, mom. And shirts with buttons!") Anything other than basketball shorts and t-shirts horrify Ben. When did jeans become uncool...? Of course, it is 97 degrees this week so that is a bit odd.

The washing machine has been broken for two and a half weeks now. Or possibly longer? I've lost count. There is a large pile of boxes sitting on my front porch, and supposedly it is getting fixed for real on Friday. However, after trying to go through my home warranty company, and then being told they could not do the repair because it is covered under the manufacturer's warranty, now I am being told that only the parts are covered and the labor is still going to cost me somewhere in the neighborhood of $500 give or take. If I had known that, I would have just bought a new washing machine two weeks ago instead of going through all this hassle trying to get it fixed. If I didn't have Abby right up the street letting me borrow her washer every day (yes I have to do laundry almost every day) I would have caved a long time ago and just gotten a new one. Sigh.

Sunday, July 19, 2015

Paper Plate Awards

Most Likely to Invent a New Dance Craze. Sounds about right.


Turbulence = Fun

We also got Ben back yesterday! A huge thank you to Aunt Kathleen and Uncle Mike who took great care of him and showed him a great time in Philly!

A Few Final Pictures From Camp

Got our girl back! Full of stories about all her adventures-- catching fish, playing paint tag, building forts, taking a field trip to the movies.... Barely unpacked and already asking to go back again next year :) Here are a few final pictures from camp!








Saying goodbye to one of her favorite counselors when we picked her up -- they got bigger hugs than we did!


Saturday, July 18, 2015

Bad Dreams

CAROLINE: I had a bad dream last night.
 
ME: Aww, just close your eyes and think about happy things and you will have happy dreams.

CAROLINE: I can't! I can only think about scary things, like dinosaurs and monsters and foods that are not gluten free!

DIY (sort of)

Only took two months (and finally hiring someone to finish the job Joel started). 


Fresh Feline

"Let's pretend I'm a lion and I punch your butt."

Blue Star Shabbat

Can't believe it has been a week already and we get our girl back tomorrow!




Friday, July 17, 2015

Thursday, July 16, 2015

I Hate Going to the DMV

But this made up for it. Five minutes from the DMV office in Monroe (took a hike out there to get my license renewed since the lines are usually shorter). An adorable and yummy farm to table restaurant. Not pictured: blueberry lemonade served in a mason jar (we all know how much I love mason jars!) and peanut butter cheesecake. OMG. 


Wednesday, July 15, 2015

More Becca Sightings

Happy mama here! NO idea who the blue guy is ;)




Ben on a Battleship

The USS New Jersey. And the aquarium too. Looks like it was a great day! Great job with the pictures Aunt Kathleen!!







Letter From Camp

Becca Sighting!

With furry animal, of course :)


Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Ben Update

No Becca sightings yet but Ben has been eating his way through Philly :) Here he is at the Franklin Institute, and some of his gastronomic conquests :)



Monday, July 13, 2015

I Think Someone Misses her Sister

Pretending to talk to her on the phone. The conversation went like this: "Hello Becca, how are you? How do you like Blue Star? What can I do for you? Plant some trees? Okay! Bye!"

Sunday, July 12, 2015

A Bevy of Bears

Just a few of the Bears Caroline insisted on being photographed with during our lunch stop in Hendersonville after we dropped Rebecca off. 





And one horse:

Blue Star Drop Off

Rebecca was not eager at all to have us hang around at camp after we got her unpacked. In fact she pretty much shoved us out the door despite our protests. So we showed ourselves around a bit and then headed into Hendersonville for some lunch. 

Caroline forcibly took a hug goodbye:


Then we checked out the lake and said hello to some livestock :) 




This goat stood on his hind legs and stuck his head over the fence for a pat. 


Ready to Go!

So ready, in fact, that she apparently misremembered how far away camp Blue Star is and spent the whole 2 hour drive sulking at us to hurry up and get there already. 

Pudgie on a Mountain

Ben and Uncle Mike went hiking on Hawk Mountain today. From the looks of it Ben is having a wonderful time so far on his PA vacation!

Friday, July 10, 2015

Pudgie on a Plane

Ben took his first solo flight today -- actually his first flight since he was 5 and we had a horrible return flight from Puerto Rico and I swore I'd never get on a plane with my children again. He was nervous but excited, not really remembering anything about flying or airports in general since it had been so long since he had flown. He emerged happy and smiling to greet his aunt and uncle for a fun filled week ahead in Philadelphia! I am sure Aunt Kathleen will keep me supplied with a steady supply of pictures of all their adventures!





Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Book Club

Ben and I tackled his summer reading this week by reading Crash by Jerry Spinelli and then going over discussion questions I found on the Internet. I did drag a few thoughtful answers out of him in between bites of red velvet cupcake. Oh, and the white chocolate mocha. Ben is destined to become a Starbucks junkie like his mother apparently ;)

My Cowgirl

Western day at camp :)