Thursday, June 30 ~ The Last Day of The Month

As overheard on the news.  Wow, is June really over?  Seems like it has just begun.  I'd like to see the stats on how many days the temp reached over 70 degrees?  Why am I watching the news?  It's just one "Bad News" story after another.

What Is July?

• Independence Day
• Fire Works
• Summer Swelter
• Camping Trips
• Birthdays (mine and many others)
• Outdoor dining
• Tubing (add to my wish list)
• Biking
• Boating
• Endless watering of flowers
• Ahhhhh!

Time Flies

Seems like it anyways.  Peyton is 12 weeks and starting on rice cereal.  Hoping that helps the massive spit up situation.  He's asleep right now while I'm catching up.  Sarah & Nik are returning all the Grad Party stuff that has to be returned to it's rightful owner.  Found a whole bunch of old books down the basement that we forgot we had.  Ordered some books from the library regarding antique books.  Going to see how much we can sell them for on E-Bay.  Went to the Drive In last nite to see Cars 2.  Cute movie.  Drive In is quite a place to people watch.  All the cars drving around with lights on was a bit irritating though.  Mowed 3 lawns this morning ~ whew.  Riding mower of course.  Should get on the ole bicycle later...

Summer Wish List

• Charity Island Dinner Cruise

• Visit The Shores of West Michigan
• Ride in a convertible car
• Start Exercising
• Biking at local parks
• Go to the Northville Farmer's Market
• Visit Calan & Emmett
• *Go for a luxurious weekend brunch on the Royal Park Hotel's patio overlooking Paint Creek in Rochester. 
• Eat at Red Mesa 
•   

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Summer’s here-whoohoo! What’s your favorite sight, sound, AND smell associated with summer?
Sight - The sun.          Sound - birds chirping, cicadas buzzing.              Smell - campfire smoke



2. Fireflies or lightning bugs…what are they called in your neck of the woods?
Lightning bugs for sure!


3. What is something from the past week that reminded you of your childhood?
Mowing the lawn on the riding mower.

4. Define ‘the good life’.
Living one day at a time.  Wow, like that's easy.  Being thankful for what you have and not complaining about what you don't.  Not comparing your life to others'.  Being thankful period.  Having a positive spin on things. wow, like that's easy too.  LOL


5. Tell us what we’d see if you took a snapshot of your desk/work space?
Yikes, right now there are stacks of paper everywhere.  Boxes, E-Bay stuff.  The office is a mess, and I hate that.
6. Peaches or watermelon…yes, you have to choose.
watermelon

7. Ever been skinny dippin’? Is that too much for the Wednesday Hodgepodge? Rest assured we won’t need details…unless of course you feel you must but remember, this is a family friendly blog so keep it G rated.
No way.  All that free flopin?  nope.

8. Insert your own random thought here.
I love summer!  But, I love spring and fall more.  Love the green everywhere.  Love the beautiful colors of flowers and birds.  Love to go camping - that is a summer only event.  When I was a kid I loved going to summer camp - the highlight of the year.

Check Out My New Blog

Check out my new blog:

www.4Months2DoIt.blogspot.com

Wednesday Hodgepodge

My first Wednesday Hodgepodge. A list of questions. Thanks to my sister and her friends.

1. What is one thing on your bucket list? If you don’t have a bucket list let’s pretend you do.
Umm, I have always wanted to live on a lake.


2. What makes a good dad?
He's always on your side, you know he loves you. Does what's best for the family.

3. Are you afraid of insects? Which ones?

Yikes, bees, spiders, I hate JUNE BUGS, gross.

4. We’re barbecuing…what’s on the grill at your house?

Porks chops with asparagus and pineapple.

5. Do you believe that playing is more important than winning?

Ohhh, I wish I could say yes, but I LOVE to win and HATE to lose. Enough said.

6. Do you tan? Use self tanners? Visit tanning salons? See your dermatologist at least once a year?

None, nada, nope.


7. Five years ago I would never imagine that today I would _______________.

have 2 grands.

8. Insert your own random thought:

I have none at the moment. Just want to be on the other side of the graduation party on Saturday.

Time's A Flyin

Whew! Can't believe it's June. Been busy doing the regular stuff plus extra chores here and there to get ready for the Grad Party. Speaking of, I need to kind of finish her scrap book. Yikes! Days are just flyin I tell ya. The little guy is looking good and growing stronger. He weights 9.15 lbs now. He is sweet and I'm very attached. Also, speaking of grad stuff, Nicole was asked to be a speaker at the Grad ceremony. She will do great I'm sure. Have a couple grad parties to attend this weekend. The flower beds received their annual mulching today. They are looking good.

Well, little man is squawking so I'm going to go and try and stuff the "paci" back into his mouth.

Balloon Fest & Dog Bowl

Balloon Fest & Dog Bowl = fun times.

Severe weather threat = everyone packing up and getting out of there.

Took a little trip with the Aurands up to Frankenmuth to go to this year's balloon fest. and the dog bowl competitions. Stopped at Culver's in Birch Run for a quick lunch. The first show we wanted to see was the border collie sheep herding. It was awesome to watch those dogs corral the sheep into a pen. Next up was the Wiener dog race which I so wanted to see. Can you imagine all those little "hot dogs" running a race? But, the storm clouds rolled in and rumors of severe storms were heard all about. So we headed back to our vehicles just as the first of the rain sprinkles could be felt. We drove thru some fierce rain on the way home. 5 minutes later the tornado sirens could be heard. We gathered up our stuff and headed for the basement. When it seemed all clear we gathered up again and went back upstairs. About 10 minutes later the wind started whipping the trees behind the house and it got really dark. The sirens started going off again. So back we headed to the basement. Meanwhile I was trying to bake some brownies. We did finally get to the brownies and ice-cream later. Evan said he was really anticipating them!

Busy Bee

That's me. I've just been trying to learn how to get stuff done while babysitting an infant. It's been quite a challenge. But, I'm getting the hang of it. Last weekend we took a mini vaca and took a camping trip. The campground was really nice; a private church campground. They had all their activities for free and the camping was 2 nites for the price of one. The activities included horse/carriage rides, zip line, rock wall, boating, and fishing. The activity I chose was, "sitting around the campfire." Wonderful. The best thing was that the campground had "full hook up." For you non campers, that means that you hook a hose directly to a water spicket and a potty hose directly to a sewer. Unlimited water!! Really roughing it, LOL. The first warm weekend - so enjoyable.

The next task is getting ready for Nicole's graduation party in three weeks. Yikes! Spent $100 on flowers the other day, so I must get busy planting. Yesterday we began the task of cleaning out the garage. It's all slowly coming together.

Gone Camping

Gone Camping for the weekend. Bye Bye!

Stressed Out!

That's me.
I am.
Stressed out.

Garage Sales and Grand Babies

That's what I've been up to for about the last 10 days. Last weekend the G.s. was Fri. - Sun. Since all the stuff is in the garage anyway, AND there is lots more in the storage unit, we decided to have it again on this Thur. and Friday. Altogether, we took in over $800. AND, most of that is other people's stuff. Of course there was quite the array of interesting people. People that buy the weirdest junk. Like one lady that bought a dirty, greasy 2 qt pot. yuck. One older lady was here for an hour. She walked around and around picking up almost everything and asking, "what's this?" or "how much is this?" Her patient husband would traipse around after her and carry everything she picked out. He paid each time she would finish, but added more. I think maybe she had a little dementia. He was so sweet to her! When not garage saling, I was attending to one or the other of the boys. RJ is getting so big, he is so full of smiles for everyone.
Today (Mother's Day), Katie took us out to Old Country Buffet and Sarah's mom & dad joined us. We stuffed ourselves then went home and took a nap. (Had Peyton 3 a.m. feedings for the last 2 nights.) Later, we weeded out the herb/perennial garden and planted a basil plant. Also, re potted some Gerber daisies in cool giant coffee cup that I received last year from Syd the Kid. Took the bay tree outside. Keeping the stevia plant that I bought at the Ann Arbor Farmer's Market inside based on advice from my green thumbed sistopher.

Easter is Over, and So Is April

It's hard to believe that April is almost over. It can leave and take it's winter weather and showers too. Looking forward to finally Spring, right? It's going to be busy. Nicole will go back to work in a few weeks. And then on Mondays and Wednesdays Sarah and I will be coaching a girls youth softball team. Syd the Kid is going to give it a try.
Had 12 for dinner on Sunday. I cooked a spiral ham, cheesy potatoes, southern style green beans, and made a jello salad. Others brought rolls, pickle/olive tray, coleslaw and an ice-cream cake. The ham was a Kroger brand; but very tasty!
Peyton will be 3 weeks old on Thursday. He's doing pretty good. He definitely feels a little heavier. I weighed him on the scale and he weighed in around 8.6 pounds. The Doc ordered a script of Zantac for him. He still spits up on and off. He's a good baby. He usually only gets up once in the night time.

Whew! And Then Some

Had RJ from Fri. afternoon til Sunday. I can't imagine people who have multiple babies. Crazy. We had to have stations. Feed/burp station #1. Change station #2. Swing station #3. Crib station #4. Jumper station #5 (only for RJ of course) Repeat every 30 minutes. So we just watched movies all day on Saturday. Then Sunday we went with the girls to the mall; they wanted to take the babies to see the Easter Bunny. Man, inflation. The least you can spend is $20 for 2 5 x 7's. So they each got one and split the cost. Then Sarah and I were off for a little escape time. We went to Lansing to go to "Five Guy's Hamburgers." We had gone to one of those in Ft. Myers in Feb. They are pretty awesome hamburgers and fries. (don't get more than a small) We like the Cajun fries. The fill up a cup place them in a brown paper bag & then dump a whole bunch more in the bag. Then we drove around MSU campus. Then we took the loooooooong way home. Driving very slowly of course. It was a much needed break...

Mimi's Boys

Got both boys tonight. RJ is like a giant compared to Peyton! LOL He is such a good boy. Peyton is snoozin away and RJ is playing with his sippy bottle. Fun times!

I Don't Like ...

Snow past Spring. What else I don't like:

• leftovers


• smelly lotions and perfumes


• scratches in my glasses


• incompetence


• cloudy days


• headaches


• bellyaches


• and waking up and not falling back asleep!

Welcome PRT

Welcome to the world Peyton Russell Terry. He was born on April 7, 2011. His mom had quite an easy time. 8.1 lbs., 20 inches long. Quite an amazing process to watch. The doc turned him upside down and he let out a wail. He's a sweetie. He: sleeps alot & poops alot. LOL This is short for now because I have many things to do to get my house back in order!

Fine, I'll Write Another Post

It's been pretty crazy busy around here. Getting ready for the new arrival and all. Plus the play last weekend. We had rehearsals all last week, dress rehearsal on Friday and even an extra rehearsal on Saturday afternoon because the dress rehearsal on Fri. went so poorly. We finally got our act (no pun intended) together. It was actually quite a funny play and there was lots of laughing and compliments. The best part: chicken dinner each night! I had an An upper gastrointestinal (GI) scope or endoscopy (esophago-gastroduodenoscopy a.k.a. EGD) yesterday. Then I went home and slept all day. Doc said everything looked okay. Did a biopsy to check for something called Barrett's disease. Check back later...

Magical Ice Kingdom

Last night on my way to play practice I was overwhelemed with the beauty of the ice on all the trees and bushes. The sun was not yet set so it created a kind of sparkly magical Ice Kingdom effect. I called Sarah and asked her to take a few photos. Alas, I finally had a subject for my next blog. I only hope all that heavy ice doesn't wreck havoc on the trees.

Last night's dish:

Thai Shrimp & veggies over pasta

Really awesome and healthy.

Soak the shrimp in the Thai Curry paste (2 - 8 hours)

put oil in the pan - heat up 2 minced garlic

add veggies: - I used mushrooms, onions, broccoli, cut up tomatoes

after veggies cooked add: 3/4 cup white wine, lime zest and 1/2 lime juice

add shrimp - cook another 4 minutes or so

top with more lime juice and cilantro

serve over whole wheat spaghetti

80/20 Rule

Embrace the 80/20 Rule ~ From Biggest Loser
Why perfectionism can stop you in your tracks

It's a struggle our Biggest Loser Club weight loss coaches help our members grapple with every day. As Greg Hottinger, RD, and nutrition expert told a BLC member recently, perfectionism is not the road to long-term weight loss success. He urges members to strive for meeting their plan's goals 80% of the time, and to give themselves a little slack 20% of the time. If they follow that principle, over time the weight will come off.

On a more personal note, I was so happy to see the sun and feel it's warmth today. I even went for a walk. It was quite a gang. Sarah, Katie, RJ in the stroller, Bailey and I all took a walk. Very nice. I had a nice Dr. visit today. I am on a new injectable diabetes med. My sugars are heading in the right direction; down. We have RJ until tomorrow night, that should be fun.