A Lazy Day

I think I have finally recovered for the first Cousin Camp of the summer. A safe delivery was made on Thursday afternoon and Friday was spent getting all caught up with work. So caught up that today is going to be a LAZY day with nothing pressing on the calendar.

After work, Madison headed over for a sleep-over birthday party and Mr. Milo and I were invited to help chaperon an 8th grade party. We enjoyed hanging with the future 8th graders (when allowed), eating grilled burgers, and smores.

Mr. Milo and I came home to an empty house, greeted by Riley and Max. It is hard to believe that that will be out life in only 8 short years! Actually we realized last week that our pets will be at the ripe old age of departing about the same time our children will be leaving. Unbelievable.

The morning brought more sleeping and my first cup of coffee. It is going to be a lazy day!

Just a bit of office work to do, booking our hotel for vacation, a workout, may be some pool time, and then out tonight with a Dinner for 8 group that we are considering joining.

Tomorrow, other than getting some groceries and doing some wash again....NOTHING!

I am excited for we will be starting a sermon series on the book, 'The Shack'.

Here is to a LAZY summer day!

Cheers!

Macin's Cousin Camp - Day 2

The day began with a round of chocolate chip pancakes. The emphasis being on the chocolate chips. After breakfast we started on our craft project of the day, sun catchers. Macin decided on a butterfly and flip-flips.

We had a little paint 'explosion' which was remedied with a dash to the sink, a change of clothes and a load of wash. No worries!

For the afternoon we decided to do some park hopping. After a stop at Quiznos for some lunch, we dropped by to pick up Kennedy's friend, Emily and her 6 year old brother Ashton. By the end of the day, it was being assumed that Ashton had a new girlfriend.

We headed out to Beaver Park to play in the splash pad along with tossing the Frisbee around. It was so hot that our next park hop stop was Noelridge for a few hours at the pool! Macin and Ashton had fun in the BIG sand box. While they also ventured down the pool slide over and over and over again.

All were tired and hungry by the time the pool closed. So we headed home for some shrimp salad, veggie pizza, and chocolate chip cookies! YUM!

This evening we finished up all of our craft projects, framed the Barbie puzzle, glitterized the English Cottage, and attached fishing line to our sun catchers.

Once again, Macin is hanging with the BIG girls outside and Aunt Jill is POOPED!

Tomorrow morning has Macin and Madison hanging out at home until noon, while Aunt Jill needs to get some work done. We head out at 2:00 to deliver Macin back to her mama before nightfall.

Another fun and successful Cousin Camp!

For a full slide show of Macin's Cousin Camp, log on to my facebook page!

toodles..

Macin's Cousin Camp - Day 1

After a good night's rest, some of us hit the ground running this morning. Within 15 minutes of going to bed Macin was fast asleep and slept until almost 9:00. A bit different than last year's first night at Cousin Camp. But then again, she is NOT at Cousin Camp this year!

Aunt Jill got up early to make hay while kids slept and lounged, heading out to work early to get most of her work done before 12:30.

Kennedy made pancakes for the crew including two friends that slept over. The from the looks of things a lot of lounging, Disney channel, and puzzle assembly was done this morning.

Aunt Jill left a 'little project' on the table for the crew to work on while she was gone. The assembly of an English Cottage, fit for a princess has gotten underway with still some more detailing to be complete tomorrow. Word has it that Cousin Eric was working on it this morning as he waited for his 1:00 interview.

Macin and Madison were invited next door for lunch, baloney and cheese sandwiches before we headed out for Madison's violin lesson.

The check engine light is now on the van, so I assume something a bit more than just my fuel gauge being off. It has a visit schedule to the van doctor tomorrow morning at 8:00. That coupled with the need for a new camera battery, a piece of siding lost on the house, red nail polish spilled on Kennedy's carpet plus speckled in the bathroom sink, and a crock pot that mysteriously lost it's knob and got dented this morning...things are breaking right and left around here.

The afternoon consisted of hanging out with the neighbor girls in the sprinkler before we ventured out for Kennedy and Madison swim meet. And an adventure it was! We were no more than 30 minutes into warm-ups when a MAJOR storm blew in. Within minutes may hem let loose; lifeguards were yelling, blowing whistles, pandemonium, lawn chairs flying, kids crying, and people running for shelter!

Honestly we didn't know what hit us! Thankfully we all made it safely to the van after both Macin and I stepped in this HUGE mud pile. Aunt Jill, with two lawn chairs, 2 jugs of water, a purse, and Macin in tow was attempting to locate her daughters in the crowd and maintain calm in the panic. For Macin, the only thing really concerning to her was that she had mud on her sandal.

'Aunt Jill, I have mud on my sandal. Aunt Jill, I have mud on my feet. Aunt Jill, I have mud on my ankle. Aunt Jill.....'

So we got in the van, turned on the radio and called our weather man (Uncle Milo) for a decision should we go or should we stay. He said it was going to be nothing but hard rain.

So after a LONG ride home thanks to the may hem with everyone leaving in a panic, we returned safe and sound. Uncle Milo rolled in shortly there after we gathered around the supper table for french dip sandwiches, broccoli salad, watermelon, and strawberries.

This evening we worked some more on our English Cottage, rocked out to Guitar Hero, and glued the Barbie puzzle.

Tomorrow....Aunt Jill's taking the DAY OFF to play!

oodles of surprises are in store....

Well it is 9:30 and I am ready for bed. Milo, Eric, and Kennedy are in the basement watching a movie. Macin and Madison are creating dance moves to Taylor Swift.

P.S. Madison has been in charge of hair for the week. We had a pony tail up do this morning, followed by extensive brushing this afternoon, then a shampoo and bath to wash the mud off our feet!

Macin's Cousin Camp - Day 0

It started out to be an exciting morning when, Aunt Jill filled up the van for her trip to Charles City only to have the gas gauge drop back to E after only 5 miles. After a quick call to the mechanic to see if I would be safe for my travels and of course MY google diagnosis, it was 'assumed' that a faulty gas gauge could be easily remedied by simply tracking the miles.

So after a quick stop at the video store to rent a few 'age appropriate' Nintendo DS games, Madison and I were off. We arrived safely at our Kwik Star destination in Charles City only to have GAINED a full tank of gas while in route! WOW...I MADE money driving!

With our sign flying high we waved down Macin's transportation..aka..her mom and after a GREAT big hug and a potty stop we were back on the road to Cedar Rapids.

Besides the Ninetendo DS games some REALLY cool Hannah Montana INVISIBLE ink puzzle books were discovered in the depths of Aunt Jill's bag.

We rocked out the the 'Hoedown Throw Down'. Discovered that Macin thinks Kevin of the Jonas brothers is really cute. Sorry..DAD. And by the end of the 2 hours, Madison was convinced that having the 'role' of the younger sister by far has its advantages over the 'older' one.

And when asked if she was excited to come to Cousin Camp, Macin's reply, 'Well, I am NOT going to Cousin Camp.'

We arrived safely and with only 1/4 of a tank of gas gone after 200 miles.

Macin scored her birthday gift...aka..slip and slide and that was the afternoon activity of choice.

She preferred to pretend to be a dog at the end of the slide, lapping up water and I don't know if she quite grasped the whole run and slide concept, but instead resorted to the army crawl.

Speaking of dogs, Macin was a bit timid at the start but after feeding Riley her green beans at supper they are now BEST FRIENDS.

Beside green beans, two helpings of Aunt Jill's pull-chicken sandwiches was on the menu along with watermelon and strawberries. Banana cake for dessert and O..yeah...at cousin camp the fudge pops are in endless supply.


The evening brought a run to Best Buy to see about getting Aunt Jill a new camera battery. You can't have Cousin Camp without a working camera.

Then our evening project...a Barbie puzzle, which we plan to modge podge. Plus some BIG girl time and hanging out in the driveway with the neighbor girls.

So it is 9:30, I think Aunt Jill is a bit more tired than the rest of the crew.

Uncle Milo should be rolling in sometime late tomorrow after attending a class in Des Moines. Word on the street is that he plans to 'play' a bit on Wednesday.

And of course, Cousin Camp is such a hit that cousins who have graduated from college STILL come back to play. Aunt Jill was driving Cousin Eric around this evening so he knew where is 1:00 interview was tomorrow. Of course, I wouldn't drive him past is interview location until he posed with the Cousin Camp sign.

When Macin was asked to pose with the Cousin Camp sign I was reminded, 'Remember, I am NOT going to Cousin Camp.'

good night......

Lessons Learned from my DAD

Work Hard

Run Hard, Run Fast

Admit your mistakes

Think outside the box

Coffee is a GOOD thing

Be willing to take a risk

Get up early and get going

Christmas is a wonderful holiday

Always strive to have a clean car

Give people the benefit of the doubt

Family is very important in your life

Poinsettias are beautiful, even in July

It is never to late to mend broken relationships

No matter how old you get, you can always change

Casey's donuts are the BEST donuts in the United States

Windshield time is NOT a bad thing, it gives you time to think

Happy Fathers Day

I love you DAD

Look in the top, outside pocket of your suitcase,

I left you a surprise!

Click, Click, Click

I have been checking EVERY day since June 16th, just waiting and waiting for the PRIZE action item to appear. Then this morning....there it WAS! It was a click, click, giggle with glee, click and it was done!

The purple leather handbag is now being tucked away safe in a box. The box addressed to me. The handsome man dressed in brown shorts and a shirt will carefully retrieve it and place it on his BIG brown truck. He will drive hours on end from Texas to Iowa. Once he reaches my driveway he will hear the veracious bark of Riley, but that won't scare him in the least bit. He will grab MY box, fly off of his truck, and with a rap, tap, tap on my door he will lay it on my stoop. He will be gone so fast, I won't even have time to thank him personally. I will only be able to wave goodbye as he flies off to make yet another persons dreams a reality.

So a shout out and a BIG thank YOU to anyone who purchased ANYTHING from me between March 16th and June 15th. YOU were a part of this beautiful handbag! $6,000 in make-up and skin care sales in 3 short months!

And so of course the competitive side of me kicks in and I have to look at the prize brochure for the quarter starting June 16th. I select three options: a can reach it easily, a bit of a stretch, and a gigantic LEAP for man-kind. I look at my life and all that is happening between now and September 15th. I map out my daily, weekly, and monthly goal. I print out a picture and plaster it on my desk and in my daily planner. I set out to make it happen. Can you tell I am a bit competitive and LOVE a challenge?

$4,800 in sales

$6,00 in sales

$12,000 in sales

The last one is 6 nights, 7 days in one of 60,000 resorts to select from. Airfare not included, but I do have miles to use!

Wondering which one I selected? Well you can cast your votes by simply clicking on the comment section below, otherwise I guess you will have to wait until September 16th. Now I am off to make some phone calls, book some appointments, and move some products off of my shelf!

AND wait patiently for the man in brown shorts and shirt to rap, tap, tap on my door. May be later next week?

Lazy, Crazy Summer Days

Summer is officially in full swing at our house! After last week's crazy dance marathon, school year activities are officially complete. We kicked off the week with a homemade STRAWBERRY PIE and who can have a summer without a gallon of SUN TEA chilled at ALL times in the FRIDGE? Weeks are filled with trips to the local 'farmers daughters market' to purchase that weeks home grown veggies and fruit.

School activities have been replaced by summer FUN. Swim team, violin lessons, playing with friends, sleep-overs, cousin camp, vacation bible school, hanging at the pool, sleeping IN, naps, golfing, and VACATION! And of course don't forget, MOM's daily CHORE list! Summer = mom's off the hook for much of her household duties!

Unfortunately Kennedy's track and field participation has been sidelined for the summer due to an injured hip flexor. With that, we had 4 weekends open up for relaxing and family fun, one being this weekend.

Thursday morning was our first swim meet of the summer. An early morning wake up call, aka. 5:00 AM to be at the pool by 6:30. Who in the world decided to have swim meets at 7:00 AM? Ms. Kennedy has been gritting her teeth with every early morning wake-up call, usually followed with, 'Tell me, why I signed up for this?' She knows that in this household, one must finish what they start.

Madison started violin lessons this week. Every Tuesday and Thursday we trek on over to Linn Mar HS for an hour lesson. The report of the first two lesson's this week....BORING! 'I already knew EVERYTHING, mom'. We are not at the New York symphony level quite yet, so I am anticipating that things will PICK up.

Hmmmm lets see on Kennedy's social calendar, she has already attended 3 'school is done parties', with 2 more on the calendar, a birthday party, and a bamitzvah this weekend. Those are usually piggy backed with 'Can I have a sleep-over?'

Cousin Camp! Macin, age 5 has HER reservation for next week. We pick up her on Monday for a fun filled few days! We can't WAIT! Cousin Carter is booked for July and cousins, Jordan and Olivia in August!

Vacation Bible School...probably MY highlight of EVERY summer is slated for the last week of July. I need to get signed up to volunteer as a CREW leader! Kennedy is also a volunteer and Madison will participate. CROCODILE DOCK is our theme this year.

Pool time has been NONE up to this point. Chilly 60 and low 70 degree days along with rain and wind have prevented us from ANY lounging, book reading, chlorine filled hours. I am still using my winter foundation, something is wrong with that picture.

Sleeping IN. With the thunder clouds rolling through and rain rap, tap, tapping on my window this morning = NO SWIM TEAM practice and a few extra zzzzzss for US! Naps..last week Kennedy managed to pull a 5 hour one and seems to be catching a few extra zzzzzss most every day.

Milo is off for a few days with his ANNUAL guys out golfing in the Amana Colonies. Beer, LOTS of golfing, grilling out and no nonsense guy talk. Well, I am 'guessing' that what happens?

Vacation in August = road trip to Idaho to visit grandpa Gary and Mo-Mo! Summer vacations in our home consist of a three year rotation. Year 1 = Idaho Trip. Year 2 = Surprise Vacation (Milo & I plan a weeks vacation and the girls ONLY know day to day where we are going). Year 3 = Northern MN vacation, chilling in a cabin, fishing, and boating.

So that brings me to MOM'S summer chore LIST! I love it! Dishes, wash, house cleaning, food preparation. Each day the girls have a list of things that need to be accomplished before ANY friend time is allowed. I LOVE summer!

Whew...August 19th and the start of school will be here before we know it and if you can believe it, I will be ready to welcome it with OPEN arms.

So I best get some work done. Yes after ALL that I still have to work every week. Thank goodness for flexibility! I have about 2 hours of phone time in PJs to accomplishh and a bit of office work before tackling 'my' household chores for the day. We are hoping the clouds roll through and pool time is in our forecast for the afternoon.

Happy, LAZY, crazy days of SUMMER!

A Dance Filled Week

ok...seriously I am wondering if I will survive until Monday.

I covered for a vacation this week which meant 9 hours a day including that crazy 1 hour lunch they give you. Honestly...let me get in, get the work done, and get out! That 'lunch hour' just draws out the entire experience! I am by no means am a 'desk type' girl! Give me a challenge, some windshield time, my own schedule and I am one HAPPY CAMPER!

Thank goodness that, normally that IS my life!

So EVERY NIGHT but Monday consistented of pulling into the drive way at 5:00 to fetch Madison, then pulling right back out to head to dance rehersal until 7:30. Friday was no different, except I had an extra hour before we had to be at the auditorium.

With one performance down, ONLY three more go! By now I am pretty sure, if some one gave me a costume, slicked my hair back with hair spray and painted my lips red; I could easily pull of one if not two numbers, hip/hop of course!

Orange/Black is a Tigger dance featuring cart wheels, somersaults, and hand stands. The pink dress is a from 'Alice In Wonder Land' tapping to the song, 'I'm Late'.

Our dancer received RAVE reviews and flowers (matching her costumes) following her debut night! She was GLOWING when she was greeted by her dad on one knee, arms open wide to present her with her flowers.

She was so excited on the way home, she just couldn't believe 'that dad would remember that orange was her favorite color and he would pick pink & orange to coordinate with her costumes.'.....wink...wink....

Sometimes it is OK for dads to get all the credit! After all a daughter should ALWAYS believe that her daddy is her prince charming!

Moms are there for hair, make-up, and hours of watching dance rehersals.

Put the three together and it makes a perfect team!

Awesome JOB...Madison.
You rocked it!

Mom

To Tri or Not To Tri

That is the question?

I just discovered a sprint triathalon on August 23rd. hmmmm 1 week after turning 40 and exactly 11 weeks away. Ironically I just found a free 11 week training program on the world wide web. What exactly did we do before the world wide web? After all, got a problem? Google.com has your answer!

So the question remains do I tri or not tri?

I did tri about 4 years ago and LOVED it! Loved the training program AND I learned to swim.

Not that I couldn't swim to save my life, but I could barely swim a single lap without drowning in exhaustion. So after a few swimming lessons and some advice on tweaking my stroke I can now swim lap after lap after lap.

Swimming in a lake with hundreds of other swimmers around you. Limbs failing, waves splashing and not a pretty black line on the bottom directing you in the most effecient route possible. Challenging!

Biking is a great distraction where I can get an awesome workout and not even realize that it is happening. I got a great bike, shoes, and a helmet. No excuse there.

Running is the most challenging part of the entire process. Years of running in my younger days have done a toll on my feet, knees, back, and hips. ouch..ouch...ouch....Not to mention carrying an extra 60#s doesn't help the impact felt with every step. The training program has a walk/run program to ease you into things.

So to tri or not to tri?

To be continued......