summer...

I seem to have the least amount of free time in the summer and even less in the upcoming season.  It's hard to believe there are only a couple weeks left before school starts.   Here are a couple instagrams on how we've spent our July.

{homegrown cherry tomatoes}

{view 3900 ft above sea level}

{Blackwater Falls WV}

 {one of my favorite barns we pass on vacation}

{refreshing end to a beautiful day}

{I could spend everyday like this and be a very happy girl}

{even the clouds were sending me love...heart cloud inside a heart cloud}

 {I couldn't help but smile at the random patches of pretty little flower}

Well there's a quick look at some of our days {smile}.  Hope you're having a great summer too!

Happy Thursday!!

july....

According to my calendar it's July.  That can't be right.  Where on earth is the time going?  Summer is buzzing right on by.  It's been filled with trips to the bay, the orthodontist, library, Target, ice cream shop and countless trips to the local convenience store for slushies.  The slushie things had gotten out of control in my opinion.  My dear husband will call the store in advance to see what flavors they have before we go {lol}.  I think they are going to soon start blocking his calls!

It's been fun having my new phone this summer.  It seems to be helping me out and keeping track of some of the fun stuff we've been filling our days with {smile}.

 {a sunset from the backyard}

 {nothing beats a summer rainbow}

{follow up should appointment treat}

{chillin on the bay.  we love to spend saturday's here}

{my daughter and i }

{hello fourth of july donuts...i love you}

{summer isn't complete without a crab feast}

{i love this store}

{made my first homemade cheesecake. delicious}

{the bay}

{the bay,again. makes me smile}

The boys have football camp this week.  Then the whole season starts.  Still need to squeeze in all our 4-H projects, band camp and pride ambassador camp my daughter was invited to.  The school bus is going to be pulling up before I know it {frown}.

Happy Wednesday!!

I'm a slooooooooow learner....

Well hello 21st century, where have I been all my life?  You can say I'm not one to jump on the band wagon of technology.   We had our current cell phones for over four years and according to the cell phone people that's like dinosaur years in the cell phone business.  So for Mother's Day I was upgraded.  And you know I said if we are going to do this, we may as well do it right.  Welcome home the iphone 4s.  And while I know the next great thing I'm sure is going to be released tomorrow, it is the new great thing to me. 

I'm one who likes to always have my camera around with me, but it's not aways practical to be luggin' around the Nikon.  I am in love with the camera on this phone.  I want to take a picture of everything.  Is that normal?

{roasting marshmallows in the back yard}

{outdoor movie night for my daughter's 12th birthday}

 {sonic}

{pansies on our side porch}

I love playing with all the cool apps out there too!  So if you have any cool apps that you'd like to share let me know.

Happy Monday!!

odd and ends...

How is it almost Memorial Day weekend already?!  This time of year always gets so crazy with all the kids stuff going on.  Baseball season, birthdays, end of year concerts and field trips.  Time seems to just get away from me.

We've had a few projects going on too to fill in any free time we may have had.  We had a yard sale.  Does anyone have these?  They are work.  Whew!  But what a great feeling to clean out some  a ton of stuff we didn't need anymore. 

We (really my husband & boys) installed an in-ground dog fence for Snickerdoodle.  We priced for the professionals to come out and to do about 3/4 of a acre it was around $1200.00.  So for $250.00 and some elbow grease we saved a bundle of money.  That would make Dave Ramsey so proud!

I don't know if my new i-phone actually counts as a new project, but it sure is taking up enough time like it is.  All I can say is I went from a phone that didn't even text to my new best friend Siri.  I love Siri!

This weekend the projects on the agenda include planting the garden (I know we are late, but you know that saying better late than never, it applies to this project.) and my daughters birthday sleepover. 



Snickerdoodle is loving his new glow in the dark ball!  I wouldn't even know he laying there is he didn't have that ball with him {smile}.

Happy Wednesday!!





so close...

You know that sense of accomplishment you get from finishing about 9 loads of laundry.  I love that feeling!  Only this time just as the dryer was shutting down with the last load, I heard it.  That noise that you hate to hear.  Someone is the house is vomiting.  YUCK!

Unfortunately, we had one fall to the 24 hour bug.  But, fortunately he is feeling better!  See there's always a bright side {smile}.

Poor kid had to sleep with his bucket.

Off to do more laundry.

Happy Monday!!

poor little Snickerdoodle...

It amazes me how quickly a pet becomes a member of the family you never knew you were missing until you have them.  Our little Snickerdoodle has completely filled our hearts.  He is so loving, mischievous and gives the best greetings ever when we get home.  He has chewed so many Webkinz that I've lost count and flip flops seem to be his shoe of choice.

But our poor little guy hasn't been feeling the best over the last month.  Today for the third time in a month he has dislocated his patella.  Ironic that I'm a X-ray tech and see this often in people,  but I never thought I'd have to deal with it in our puppy.  So soon we'll have to make a decision on what we want to do with his knee.  Several thousand of dollars for a knee surgery isn't exactly what I had in mind.  I hope Dave Ramsey understands if we have to change our plan a little bit.

I just pray that we get this poor little guy back to feeling better soon.

weeds...

Why is it that we spray and try so hard to get rid of weeds?  I know they aren't all beautiful, but you can't deny the dandelion!  The really are an amazing little weed.  At my house I actually consider them a flower, although my husband would definitely disagree.  I've been telling him this year we can't treat the yard because of having the puppy.  In secret it's because I love the dandelions {smile}.

Now I just need to get a macro lens to really be able to capture these beauties.

Happy Wednesday!!

peeps...

It's that time of year when peeps become the staple of most of my daily meals.  I find they are one of those things you either love or hate, there's no in between.  I my friends LOVE them. 

Over the weekend the kids wanted to make s'mores.  Although, it's not warm enough to make them outside we improvised and used the microwave and replaced our normal marshmallows. 

They were delicious!  Graham crackers, chocolate {Hershey's, of course}& peeps.  So give it a try next week when you have peeps up to your ears and don't know what to do with them all.

Happy Monday!!

spring has sprung...

Well it's official, it's Spring.  Even if the calendar didn't say it, my sinuses sure are.  The mild weather this winter it making things come to life a couple weeks earlier here.  So I guess if it's not going to snow {sigh} we may as well enjoy the 70 degree days that we've been blessed with.

Daffodils, how can you not love them?  The neighbor lady has a ton in her front yard and they are like a sea of gold.  Love, love, love them {smile}. 

I'm kinda embarrassed to say I got a new camera for Christmas and I just haven't picked it up as much as I should have.  Truthfully, it frustrates me a little.  I had the Nikon d50 for about 5 years and moved up to the d7000.  Don't get me wrong, I love the camera and can tell a huge difference already, but the centering selection drives me nuts.  I like to manually select my center spot especially if I'm using my 50mm lens, but just can't figure it out.  I just ordered a new user book, the manuals that come with the camera are just to much for me.  I'm a trial and error kinda girl.
So when I get some free time here, I'm going to try to break out the camera and my new book and figure this thing out.  In the mean time if anyone else uses the d7000 and wants to give me some helpful hints I'm open. 

Happy Spring!!

time is running out....

Old Man winter has been very confused in our next of the woods this year.  We're even giving him an extra day in February to try to get it together and to produce some snow and still nothing {frown}.

I'm not greedy, really I'm not, but we need one good snow fall.  Just enough snow that the kids could break out their sleds for a day.  Instead of them arguing before school in the morning that I don't need a coat today the weather man said it's going to be almost 60.  And then they stomp off to the bus in their coats, hats and gloves.  I can't help it I tell them that it's 30 degrees when you catch the bus and 60 degrees when you get off {laugh}. 

And as they stomp off  to the bus I yell I love you, even though I'm the worst mother in the world for making you wear the get up, lol!!

So as you can see the little daffodils and tulips are starting to make their appearance.  They don't even seem to mind my little snowman sign hanging right over top of them {smile}.

winter blues....

Usually by mid February I have the winter blues.  This year though with the mild weather we've had I find myself begging for freezing days and snowy skies.  I feel like time is running out and we haven't really had winter yet. 

Although winter doesn't seem to have the prettiest scenery with no snow, I find the skies are amazing.

All of these were taken out my back door.  It's amazing to me how different the sky is everyday.  Sometimes in the hustle and bustle of everyday I forget to stop and look around.  So there really is no need for winter blues, but I will admit I've been pouting a little about the lack of snow we've gotten. 

Happy Monday!!

I NEED your help.....{pretty please}

Hi Everyone.  I entered a contest on Facebook to win a trip and they picked my picture as one of the pictures you can vote for.  The picture with the most votes wins.  So here's my favor... if you are a user of Facebook please click on the link below and then vote for my picture.

Look for this picture.  It's Snickerdoodle riding "shotgun" {smile}

Here's the link...
https://www.facebook.com/VolvocarsUS?sk=app_197122750385613

Once on the FB page scroll down and go to vote now section.

Thanks so much for your help!!

Happy Monday!!

under attack...

I had the dog outside and the sky was taken over by birds.  So I did what any normal girl would do... ran in the house and got the camera.  That's normal, right?

All of the birds flying in such a large group made a very eery noise.  And it's always pretty quiet where I live, but even more so because a little snow is suppose to be coming today.  Anyway, back to these birds, there must have been thousands of them.  No exaggeration I tell you.  And remember my post back a couple days where I wanted to start to learn the birds around where I live.  Well you couldn't see anything with them flying by.  I wonder how fast they were going and how many there actually were?  I know, I need to find something for me free time.  I must say, it was pretty cool to watch.

Thankfully they didn't fly over me {if you know what I'm talking about!}.

Happy Wednesday!!

foggy weather...

We have had the weirdest weather this winter.  I think it all started when we had snow before Halloween up until the 60 degree days in January.  I'm the kinda girl who likes to see all four seasons.  And this winter is just not cutting it for me.  Barely any days below 32 degrees and we've been jipped in the snow department so far too.  Most people think I'm talking crazy talk when I talk about the mild weather we've been having and tell me to bite my tongue.

This weather also seems to be producing a lot of fog.  And while I really don't like driving in it, I do enjoy watching the horses in the backyard in the morning.  Fog is funny.  Most times it obscures your view of things,  but did you ever notice sometimes it highlights the things right in front of you that most often we look right past?

Happy Monday!!

looooong week...

This week seems to be dragging.  Usually when the schedule is cram packed it makes it fly, but not this week.   Work, school, wrestling practice, dance practice, school social night, doctors appointments, physical therapy.  It's like we've been playing "tag, your it" at our house.  I so dislike that feeling!

I did get slow down a moment on Sunday and found this adorable little bird up the street from our house.  I am by no means a bird expert, so I have no idea what kind of bird he or she is.  But it was so fluffy feathered looking I just had to snap it's picture.  So I'm going to put on my goal list this year to try to learn some of the local feathered creatures that live in are area.

Wish me luck.  If any of you know what type it is I'd love to hear from you.  Thanks!

Happy Thursday!!







hodge podge...

What a fun weekend we had.  The kids had off on Friday for their 91st day of school.  This day marks the end to the second marking period for them.  Wow, I can't believe this school year is half way over.  I swear when they start school their lives just start flashing before our eyes {sad face}.

To mark the half way point we took them snow tubing.  I of course had to sit at the bottom and not participate thanks to my stupid shoulder.  But on the bright side it always lets me get some great photos.

They almost had the place to themselves.  Going on a Friday morning was perfect.  And what made it even nicer was that there was no walking back up the hill.  After the trip down they got on the magic carpet and it delivered them back at the top of the hill.  We need something like that in our backyard {smile}.

My husband even had a great time with them.  Although he did say it was a little scary {lol}.

This is the youngest, he of course was the first to come down on his stomach.  No fear I tell ya!

Sunday morning we were up at the crack of dawn for a wrestling tournament.

We left the house before the sun was up.  Sadly I had to leave my nice cozy bed and slippers behind in exchange for hard, cold uncomfortable bleachers for the next five hours.  And in the end I would have traded my bed for those bleachers any day.  He finally got his first PIN!!!!  I would not have wanted to miss that for any pair of flannel pajamas.

Now don't get me wrong, the poor kid lost three of his four matches, but he gets up and goes right back out there.  This is so hard for me to watch, but his drive and let's give it another try attitude make me so proud of him!

Hope you all had a great weekend.

Happy Monday!!

sticker shock....

Sticker shock for us actually is more like receipt shock.  As the New Year begins my family is starting to work with a budget for the first time.  I know, where have we been, right?!  Honestly, I'm a little embarrassed to say I don't really know how to do a budget.  By no means am I passing the buck, but I don't ever remember being taught how to budget.  So add it to the list of trial and error.

Everything seems to be about the same every month except for one pretty big area...groceries.  My husband does the grocery shopping so I never really payed attention.  He goes because one he likes to and two having three shoulder surgeries in the last twelve months has prevented me from lifting anything over five pounds. Did I mention I don't really like the grocery store?

So after looking over about four months of grocery spending we decided on a number for weekly groceries.  One hundred twenty dollars for the week for our family of five.  To keep it under this number we are going to try a couple of things. 

1. We are going to plan the entire weeks meals. 

2. The meals will have to be planned around what's on sale for the week.  Our local grocery stores weekly flyer comes out in the mail on Tuesdays and we my husband shops on Fridays or Saturdays.  This will give us a couple of days to decide on meals and give the kids a chance to decide what they want.

3. We will be going to the store with the cold hard cash in are hands.  When you have cash it seems to keep you more in check than when you are using the debit card.

4. Coupons, coupons, coupons.  Now while you're not ever going to see us on the Extreme Coupon show we are going to try to use coupons on the things we actually use.  Some people get so caught up in coupons and buy things just because they have a coupon.  Ummm hello, where is the savings on buying something just because you have a coupon?

I'll keep you posted on how the progress goes.  We know there will be some weeks we'll go over but there will also be weeks we're under.  But when we look at the numbers on paper at least trying this method could save us over ONE THOUSAND dollars a year.  That number right there is a huge incentive.

Happy Tuesday!!

bunnies...

There are bunnies all over the place.  And no, we don't have rabbits.  They're dust bunnies and this litter seems to be huge.  Where on earth do these come from?

This rascally rabbit was living amongst the cord madness that goes on with all the computer cords.  So I thought I would tackle that job with a cool idea I found on Pinterest. 

I started saving the little tabs that come on rolls and breads.  I was going to order cord label and organizers online, but when I started pricing them found it was getting pretty expensive for the amount I was going to need.  So I started saving the little tabs that come on loaves of bread.  FREE.  Hello, doesn't get better than free.

Once I figured out which cord went to what I wrote it's name with a sharpie on the little tab and slipped it onto the cord it belonged to.  Now there will be no more unplugging the wrong thing.  Genius.  Thank you Pinterest for giving such creative people a place to share.

Wow!  Isn't that a huge improvement?  Can't wait to tackle all of the other cord madness going on.  I also plan to label all the the miscellaneous cords in the closet so I know exactly who and what they belong to.  Did I mention this was free?

Happy Thursday!!