gathered these for the trip……and they are dandies, I might add. Norse mythology for the kids and a lot of C.S. Lewis for us. My favorite find just might be the Little House on the Prairie 1st season DVD’s.
stamped pretty green birds on these and mailed them to prospective book clubbers
then I gave this one a big smooch (my son Taylor) since he is not going with us this time….cross country camp is this week.
and then painted all these …..
and finally collapsed in a heap into this. Our flight leaves early so we must get up at the crackofdawn. We are very excited to get to the land of the lakes, visit with all the family, do a lot of relaxing, reading, knitting, eating, swimming, boating, did I say eating? I did say to myself (as I do in vain every year) that this year I’m gonna work out and run and not overeat. Don’t hold your breath on that one!
Ta-daaa!
The above “plate wall” is my latest redecorarranging/plagiarism project. My friend Denise gave me a link to an awesome blog site (more coming later) where plate walls reign supreme. My plate wall is a work in progress but stay tuned……you’ve not seen the last of plate walls from me…..
Unrelated to the plate wall project, this is Paul Jett and Derek Cooze riding the infamous “hotdog” at Mike Bratton’s house.
Derek is doing some wake boarding and I was so mad when I got home and realized that I didn’t have a picture of his son Sam wake boarding…..they both did great. I, on the other hand, not so great……I never progressed from this humble position in the water. More on my theory about wake boarding below….
Mike and Vicki Bratton invited us over for a little lake fun today. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and noticed many cool things…..a boat dock that looked big enough to land a helicopter on…..their eight…count them…eight dogs, which seemed hardly believable until someone reminded us that we have eight…..count them…eight children…..pin ball machineS, that’s plural, a water “hotdog”, Polly Jett in really tight goggles…on dry land, Mike on a wake board, 5 little girls chasing 5 little schitzu’s around, and no sweat bees. Twas a glorious day indeed. A generous thank you to Mike, Vicki, Ruth, and James for the wonderful food and hospitality!
Sam (Cooze), Emme (Wadsworth) and Lily (Cooze) riding on the “HOTDOG”.
Caiti takes a turn and laments the oozing of her mascara!
Daddy and Elea Grace enjoy a swim in the lake. Daddy more than Grace.
Our fearless host and captain does a little wake boarding….which I highly recommend learning in your teens, when your muscles are teachable and your responsibilities few.
Polly (Jett) who is about the “hunniest” little girl I know…..(she has a tiny speech issue with her F’s and H’s which we are begging Jeannie not to correct just yet) did the dry goggle thing. No need only using those babies in the water. Thanks Paul for cooking our burgers and entertaining our children!
The Simple Life
This is not the only time this word occurs in my house. It’s everywhere, actually. And it’s a dead give away that it’s more where I’m hoping to go than where I actually am in my life. I guess it’s good to have goals. Lest you think I’ve made no progress in this arena, let me make some careful observations. When I first placed this sign in my house I had a job, a nanny, two babysitters, a pool guy, a cleaning lady, 12 christmas trees, a chaotic heap of clothes in my closet, a chaotic heap of ideas in my head, 30 pairs of black shoes, and a very limited capacity for saying no to anything. As I take mental inventory today, I have no job, no nanny, no babysitters, no pool guy (unless you count me), no cleaning lady, 8 christmas trees, 4 pairs of black flip-flops, a smaller chaotic heap of clothes and ideas, and an ever growing discipline to saying no. Okay, I lie. What I actually say is, “Oh, that sounds like so much fun. I’m not sure it will work out, but I’d love to and thanks for asking me. I’ll try my best.” That is, in fact, how a southern girl says “no”. So, simplifying is not that easy but I won’t give up. Let me know if you see any neat “simplify” signs…..I think they help!
We’re Baaack….
from IKEA and American Girl, that is. We drove down to Hotlanta with Kimmie (our former nanny, who taught my girls all about “puskie” powder among many other funny things) and we stayed with her daughter Cara, who just got married to Drew. These two are as darling as they look in their wedding photos and that Drew has to be the kindest, most thoughtful, and most helpful boy on the planet. He was my personal assistant at IKEA (and trust me, you need one). He loaded, looked up numbers, played with my girls, loaded some more. And of course Kimmie and Cara were wonderful and most entertaining to shop with. Thank you all so much for your help! We also went to the American Girl store which was magical for the girls. The only thing more fun than going to AG is going with Kimmie who finds tiny kitchens and fake cupcakes absolutely delightful. The AG hair salon is a bit overrated. The not-so-friendly salon staff grabs the doll and says to Elea in an almost irritated voice “pick from one of these styles”. That in and of itself was a lie unless you call a spraying water and putting cheap ribbons in a “style”. Surly salon lady nowithstanding, the trip was fun for all. I then spent the next two days putting stuff together while Elea whined that her doll’s “hairstyle” was getting messed up already. The last picture is a sneak peek at our schoolroom/garage/playroom. It’s a work in progress but does seem to inspire us all to want to sit down and read a book!