FINALLY SOME PICTURES!

Don't know if I mentioned it, but our computer was out of commission for a few weeks. It had been giving us all sorts of trouble, so our good friend took it home with him, cleaned everything off of it, and restored it to its original state. We had backed everything up on an external hard drive, but it takes awhile to load the stuff back on. We had a loaner computer from him for a few weeks so I didn't have any of my things loaded onto that. Anyway, this last week I have been slowly getting things back to normal. So finally I will get some of my photos on here!
First up, first day of school pictures. I always take them outside in our front yard in front of this tree (at least I have been for the last few years anyway), which is fine until someone walks or drives by and Bradley gets embarrassed. I remind them that I could follow them TO THEIR buildings with my camera like the paparazzi (which I am not above doing, mind you), but if they'd rather me not do that, they best cooperate for two minutes in the front yard and give me a charming smile. Of course, that's usually too good to be true. Brennan was in a snit this particular morning. It happens quite frequently in the mornings, so I honestly can't remember what triggered this mood. In this first picture you can tell he's really having to work at looking pleasant.

Bradley- 8th grade

Brennan- 3rd grade

I'm feeling very lazy today. It rained this morning and was dreary, and that is never good for my ambition level. It is a pretty busy week this week, so I really can't afford to waste any time. I also turn 38 today. That number seems a bit frightening and is drawing dangerouly close to 40. But I have so much to be thankful for, and I will choose to focus on the many blessings I have in my life right now!!! God is good!

another post with no pictures : (

I feel incomplete when I don't include a picture with my posts, however if I wait for that to get done, I won't be posting in awhile!!! So (cross my fingers) next post will have some pictures!

As I mentioned last time, it's been more than busy around here.

The boys started school (first day pictures would be inserted here). Both seem to be adjusting well which I'm always grateful for. We've been trying to do more reading with Brennan. He really doesn't desire to do that on his own, and he is very picky about his books. The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series has been read so many times by him, it's memorized. I have been trying to find books that will pique his interest, however that has been a challenge. I did find a couple of books by Dan Gutman that seem to be working. Coach Hyatt is a Riot is the one we're reading now. He seems to like the books with farting, burping, and typical boy behavior. I keep trying to steer him towards classics, but that seems to be a no-go. Go figure.

The house has been on the market for about a week and a half. We have a showing scheduled for Friday. I've enjoyed the clutter-free atmosphere, and keeping it clean has been a good thing. The laundry has been kept up with which is a miracle for me! Amazingly, I have not been stressed at all about it selling. Gary and I have beeen praying all along for wisdom and God's timing, and I can feel His perfect peace. It will all happen in His timing and plan.

Brennan played in his first tackle football game on Saturday (game pictures would be inserted here). I think he was a little nervous, but he didn't admit to it. He did well! We were very proud of him! He did not play flag football, so this is his first experience. He played guard and stuck with his man pretty well. He is not aggressive, so this is something he has to work on concerning his sports. Dad has been going to practice with him and helping out. I think he really enjoys doing that with Daddy. His team, the Panthers, lost, but they did well for the first game of the season.

We got back from Pittsburgh last Wed. (insert Pennsylvania pictures here). Dan and Beth showed us a FANTASTIC time. We took in 3 ballgames, got to sit in the GM's suite to watch two of those games, and just had a great time with their family. The boys loved being at the ballfield (I did too!!!), and we will look forward to going back to see more sights and stay longer next time!

I am tired and need to get to bed. I haven't gone to bed before midnight any night this week and it's catching up with me. But I'll leave you with some parting words from the argument I was having with my 13 year old tonight while trying to convince him to bring home his football gear (that he's been sweating, running, and practicing in for the last week) to be washed.

"Mom" (while rolling his eyes and shaking his head in disgust at my suggestion of laundering his practice uniform)
"It's practice. No one cares how you smell--"

So there you have it. Toodles!

lots going on

I'm a bad blogger.
It's been very busy around here.
Getting back into the routine of school.
Football has started for both kids.
I'm back to the fall tutoring schedule.
I've been doing several first-of-the-year home school visits.
I started a new part-time job at my church as a Children's ministry assistant. (I love it! More on that in a later post).
We're leaving tomorrow for a 6 day trip to Pittsburgh to visit my brother's family.
House projects being done at break-neck speed.
I have cleaned every nook and cranny of this house because...

WE PUT OUR HOUSE UP FOR SALE LAST NIGHT.

It's time to find bigger quarters for this family.
We aren't moving out of Carlisle.
We like it here.
We just need more room.
Praying for God's direction and timing during this whole process.

That's why I've been a bad blogger...

Twas the night before school...

Twas the night before school
When all through the town
The parents were cheering.
It was a riotous sound.
By eight, the kids were washed
And tucked into bed
When memories of homework
Filled them with dread.
New pencils, new folders,
New notebooks, too.
New teachers, new friends-
Their anxiety grew.
The parents just giggled
When they learned of this fright
And shouted, "Be quiet!"
"Go to Bed!!! IT'S A SCHOOL NIGHT!"



Tomorrow I will be sending my little cherubs back to school. And this mom thinks it's time.

Florida part 2

Well only a week later, and I'm finally getting to part 2. Ugh. Every week I think things are going to get less hectic, but every week I'm wrong!

When we were in Hawaii, I got a smoothie every chance I could. I think that's where I "discovered" them. Since then, I've had many smoothies. I believe I definitely prefer the banana/pineapple versions. Those are my favorite flavors! The beachside grill offered smoothies, so of course, I sampled several flavors! This one is banana/blueberry/orange, I think. It was good, but my favorite was the mango pineapple. Yum....

I'm learning to make a pretty decent low calorie smoothie here at home too! I had a great blender for about 2 weeks until it broke, so now I'm back to my Magic Bullet until I can get a new one. The Magic Bullet just doesn't crush ice like a good blender, but it'll do in a pinch. I've got Bradley onto smoothies now too. His favorite is chocolate banana.

These pictures are definitely not great of me. I almost didn't post them out of embarrassment, but I guess it's as good as it gets.

I so enjoy reading. I just don't get to do it enough. I love a good auto/biography. I bought Valerie Bertinelli's book and Melissa Gilbert's book for the trip and here I am reading Valerie Bertinelli's. I was interested in her weight loss as her weight journey seems to resemble mine (except she seemed to obsess about it since she was young- I've only begun to obsess about mine over the last few years!). Reading on my beach chair was one of my favorite parts of the day.

I captured this picture at about 6:30 in the morning. Quite strange for me to be up at that time, especially on a relaxing vacation. But I really wanted a sunrise/sunset picture. And a sunrise over the ocean was the only option!! I didn't set my alarm, but I think I mentally prepared myself to try to wake up early. The shades were so dark in the room there was no way of any light waking me up. I think God woke me up on this morning and I enjoyed a beautiful 1/2 hour out on our balcony capturing some shots with my camera. Then at 7 AM I went back to bed for a few hours!

I just love the palm trees in this one.

Once again, not thrilled with how I look in the photo, but we wanted to capture a balcony shot with the two of us just like we had in Hawaii.

It was a great trip- I still think about it every day.

Florida part 1

Once again, it's almost midnight as I begin writing this. Maybe one of these days, I'll update during daylight hours!

Just a few pics to share tonight. This is our hotel "Sun Tower on the Beach." It's an older hotel, but very clean. Our room was nice sized, and you can't beat the beach location! We were on the 3rd floor (4th row down from the top) second room from the left- there's a salmon colored towel hanging on the balcony.


This was taken from our balcony.

Ahh... relaxation!

Of course, Gary had to test it out as well.

The hotel pool- we enjoyed this on our last day. Since we had to check out of our room by noon, but didn't head to the airport until 2:30 or so, we didn't want to be all sandy. So I just laid on the floaty in the pool catching my last Florida rays until I had to say goodbye : (

More pics coming later.

Back home...

but wishin' I wasn't. I had a FABULOUS time in Florida. Now it's back to the rat race. If it weren't 12:15 AM with a busy day ahead tomorrow, I'd tell you all about it. But I'll just leave this post with my favorite picture from the trip for tonight (or this morning I guess!) and when things slow down, I'll post more.
Thanks for those of you who've been hanging in there with me. I've been pretty terrible about posting lately. Sometimes I wonder who really reads this- post a comment if you do so I know who's out there! If you're not sure what to use, when it asks for your ID, you can just post as "Anonymous" and then sign your name.