Friday, July 27, 2012

A Summer of Life Lessons

This Summer the Girls Have Learned....

............How to pee outside
..............................Older people move at a much slower pace
......It's important to pick the cherries with the stems on
....Words like snarf
...........It is possible to dance off the drips when wiping is not an option; we're still on the peeing outside thing.
.........................................97 isn't necessarily old
...................How to Cannon Ball off the dock
.......People die.  Even young people.  You can be roasting marshmallows & swimming with them one day and the next they are gone.  It's the one thing worse than leaving the cabin.
...Good things do come to an end, even things that seem to fit perfectly together.  Like Great Grandma living on the farm.  Consequently, they've also learned that her apartment building in town is a hotbed for new adventures.
..........Games like Sequence & 31 with quarters
....................................Spinning quarters
.....We always stop at Dairy Queen on our way home from the cabin.
.............................How to swim, swim, swim!
...............................................How to shuffle cards
.........Conquer fears: Abby's overcome her fear of dark enclosed slides. It's still TBD for Lauren & the second ear piercing.
..................How to ride bigger bikes
....Where the wild raspberries are on the back hill
.........Little birdies take pictures
........................How to make rolls
..................Friends from China bring a whole new element of fun
............Some chairs come with remote controls and they are FUN!
............................How to poop outside

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Ten on Tuesday

1. I'm a sucker for popcorn.  Kettle corn not excluded.

2. Maybe it's a Midwest thing.  That was always our Sunday night supper.... and I don't think we were alone in that one.  I seriously love popcorn.

3. After the Obama's were caught on the Kiss Cam at the basketball game in DC last night I got to thinking.... How many people get put up on Kiss Cams who don't know each other?  And how awesome would it be to be sitting next to a total hottie and end up on one of those?!  Ewwww, or if you end up on one with the guy you've been watching pick his nose the entire game.  That one would be ishy.

4. Crazy 8s & 31.  Abby is a rock star at both of them, thanks to Papa.  She's also become an expert at spinning quarters, gambling and peeing in the yard.  As soon as she takes her ACTs she should be ready for college.

5. I cannot get that stupid Call Me Maybe song out of my head.  And thanks to the many versions on YouTube I am now seeing Big Ten mascots dancing my head.

6. Giant.  Screw.  In.  My.  Tire.  Not happy.  Thanks to the friendly service crew at my uncle's shop, a patch & I'm good to go.  Whew!

7. Six hours we spent at the water park with friends yesterday afternoon.  Life is good.  It's moments like this I appreciate the opportunity we have to spend our summers at home in Minnesota.

8. Among Lauren's many talents: fashioning a diaper for her bear out of paper & tape.

9. I can still hear the words Lauren said to her Grandma Phillips, "Someday you're going to find out I went to space."  My heart swelled with pride!

10. And then she told her sister that when you go to space you also have to work.  Something tells me the child was born with work ethic.  Love that child!

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Ten on Tuesday

1. Is it Tuesday?  I was pretty good on what day it was right up to our trip to Washington.  Ever since I've been living in the land of calendar oblivion.  I love it!


2. Listening to the girls ride their bikes up and down the driveway.... I wonder if my parents wore the same smiles as my sister & I cruised up that same gravel path?


3. I found a hide-a-bed in the People's Press' bargain section, which got me thinking.... do they still make hide-a-beds?


4. Abby never stops singing.  Well, almost never.  Maybe that's why she doesn't like brushing her teeth, it stifles her inner songstress.  Perhaps it can also explain the talking in her sleep.


5. Hey, I just met you.  And this is crazy.  But here's my number.  So call me maybe.  That would be Abby's, and now Lauren's favorite never-ending song.  And now you can have it stuck in your head, too.  You're welcome.


6. I am finally on the third installment of the Fifty Shades trilogy.  I didn't expect to be saying this, but I've enjoyed it most when it got past the dirty.  And the second book was better, hands down.  I can't wait to see where the third book leads!


7. What do people in Owatonna do for fun on a random Monday night in July?  Attend Dancing with the Steele County Stars, of course.  It was quite the evening of entertainment, and best of all I finally got to check out Medford's new school; I was impressed!


8. I've been on the lookout for cute and simple sewing projects to get myself acquainted with my new sewing machine.  Enter the Ric Rac FlowerUCreate is loaded with adorable tutorials.  love. Love. LOVE.


9. At six & seven, the girls still love to play cars.  What once was downtime spent lining up their four-wheeled toys is now an elaborate society constructed out of their imaginations.  I could listen to them play for hours.


10. My heart weighs heavy with equal parts disappointment and wonder.  It's hard not to be saddened when you find out people aren't who you thought they are.  And yet I wonder if the nature of growing up will reflect kindly on them.  It certainly gives me a lot to think about when shaping the path my children follow. a lot. A Lot.

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Fairborn, Ohio, United States
I'm a teacher by trade, writer at heart & mom in every sense of my being. I never considered writing as a profession, but after I got married and began moving around the country, I began sharing my adventures, misadventures & updates through a sort of e-mail newsletter. I found a true passion in unconventional story-telling that has followed me into motherhood.