What I did this summer - Part 2

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My Girl got new skates for her birthday this summer and wanted to break them in right away! So... we went to our local roller rink and even though I called ahead to make sure they were open as with all the schools starting at different times now, some stores have changed their hours accordingly as well due to lack of traffic in these tough economic times. Well when we drove up there were only 2 cars parked in the front and it looked deserted... seriously! Hmmm, we walked up and asked if anyone was there and the gentleman said, "Only us employees", you are our only customer. The kids about fell over with excitement of having the roller rink all to themselves for the afternoon!

First order of business was requesting a polite change of the garbage music to something more appropriate for this christian music loving family and they happily obliged with christian music! Yes! They had hours of music in their files for us to choose from and this Momma said, "CRANK IT UP!!!" and the kids replied with "TURN OFF THE LIGHTS!"

We pretended that we had stacks of money and rented out the roller rink for a private party. When we needed drinks or snacks, they catered to us like we were stars!

Then the employees brought out balls for them to play with along with special music to go along with it. They played tons of games while I SWEATED LIKE A PIG and tried to burn off 1,000 calories by skating around the rink. I grew up at the roller rink every Saturday as a kid and LURVED it!

Okay what you don't see here is the picture of my biff-fall-on-my-bottom shot. Oh my stars, my tailbone is STILL very sore. This body of mine is out of shape!

We had a GREAT TIME and made a memory! Auntie Melody, we wished you could have been there with us because my Man said he needed a haircut... yea right... I think different! ha ha

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Changes...

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Well as you can see I got a new blog design today!

I think I got a N-A-S-T-Y worm virus from a blog I visited yesterday that my computer protection program did not catch, so I spent nearly all day today fixing my computer, purchasing NEW and BETTER protection, yada... yada... yada, you know how it goes. And while I was at it, I decided I wanted a new and fun design so I went to Butterflygirlms Blog and WOW, she has so many to choose from it was hard to decide. Her button is linked on my sidebar below. And bless her heart, she is free but she does accept donations... ka-ching in the can folks for this talented woman! AND THE INSTALLATION IS EASY! Let me repeat that, INSTALLATION IS EASY! Yes, I was so happy! So many of the templates out there are not user friendly so I was jumping for joy after my day of GRRRR *&^%$#@!!!! problems with the earlier virus.

I liked this design so much that I decided to re-do everything, so I'm not sure what elements I'm going to bring back but I'll probably add them over time. I think less is best sometimes, ya know. For example, there are blogs I don't visit anymore because there is sooooo much stuff on there that it is slow to load among other things.

Alright, I need to go put on a fresh pot of tea and sit back, relax, enjoy what's left of my vacation and watch one of my 3rd favorite movie of all time... "A Room With A View".

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What I did this summer - Part 1

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What I did this summer... Part 1!

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Well we got our first family pet! We went to our local adoption store and spent the afternoon looking at kittens! Here the kids have settled on one, a 4 month old boy and they wait with anticipation!

Here is the foster mom saying goodbye to her little charge. The kids look like they are ready to cry on behalf of the woman.

Ready for the big moment to release the box!

And here is Samson! We named him that because he has a really long tail and it reminded us of the story in the bible about Samson's long hair. ha ha

He is such a snuggler! I lurve it!

He is already settled in and using his litter box like a veteran!

 

UPDATE: Here is the picture that the adoption agency emailed me today from when he was previously advertised on the internet. Aweeeee, adorable next to that big dog looking so lovingly down at him. So glad there weren't any takers because we lurve him!

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Pret-Tea Gifts!

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What do you do when your beautiful blog friend Kat at Poetkat's Invisible Keepsakes says... "Janeen, I want to send you a little something..."? Well because your on vacation, you are home and actually get to see WHO your postman is... a very nice gentleman by the way... and you patiently wait in ANTICIPATION and make the chit-chat introductions QUICK because you see a PACKAGE with AIR-MAIL stamps on it in his arms that you want to RIP open as fast as you can!

See that red sticker on there that says, FRAGILE... so no ripping allowed! So instead I carefully open it with a pair of sissors.

And to my wonderful delight is a beautiful note tucked inside!


Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwe!
I LOVE IT KAT! You are too generous, it is so very sweet of you to bestow it upon me who will be using it... like EVERYDAY when I have tea!!! It is so beautiful and I love the deepness of it! It could probably hold several bags!

My Girl said, "Mommy, that is SO you!"
I responded smiling... "Yes, yes it is!"


It says THE BUTCHART GARDENS on it and has beautiful pink and red roses on it!

Note to self... put your face on (make-up) before you take pictures! ha ha
Oh well I AM on vacation...


Truly Kat, I REALLY lurve the special giftie! You are so sweet to think of me! Fellow readers, if you don't know Kat, I encourage you to visit her right away and say Hello and read her amusing, sometimes brooding poems and also fun posts on her love of food, books and you won't be able to resist her cats... if you're a cat lover!

THANK YOU KAT!
MAY YOU BE BLESSED DURING YOUR SABBATICAL THIS MONTH!

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I'm won over by Georgette Heyer!

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This has been a good year for me... turning 40 yrs old that is, because I have won 3 giveaways in the last year and up until then, I RARELY won anything! And this particular win was truly the highlight because I won 10 BOOKS! That's right ~ books! (Everybody swoons...)

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About a month ago I entered this drawing at one of my favorite blogs ~ Jane Austen Today ~ and last week it was revealed that....(drum roll please...) the winner was ME! The prize is 10 books written by Georgette Heyer! (Everybody sighs now...)

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And if these pictures don't reveal how excited I was to allow myself to be filmed in my evening gown for ya 'all to see, then I don't know how more real it can get here... I absolutely could not wait to open the box when my Man brought it in from the mailbox. Seriously, how could I have missed the size of this thing... perhaps I was distracted by two little people in the backseat... yes, that's it! I didn't change my clothes, put my hair back down or put my jewelry back on, I just dove right in!

THANK YOU MS. VIC & LAUREL ANN!

THANK YOU!

THANK YOU!

I called my sister to share the news and she said... "Oh I wish it were raining today, it would be a perfect day to read a crisp new book!" I couldn't agree more!

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Slowing down...

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Slowing down now...

Did I mention I've been busy this summer? I was working on my photos to post here (I promise they are coming!) and saw this one from a couple of weeks ago and it brought me right back to the moment of....

Peaceful... Quiet... Recharge... my favorite indulgence...

Tea Time and a movie!

Light a candle... now choose a tea flavor...

1/2 lump for me...

Did you know that the phrase "1 lump" means 2 sugar cubes...

a few Gingersnap cookies...

(I know the kids will sniff out my cookies so I plate some extra!)

and now the movie... a little Christopher Reeve.... sigh....


Hope your having a great week!

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I'm a Great Auntie!

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Hi everybody! I am sooooo behind in my posts! I've got lots of pictures to transfer and memories to post here from all our summer activities but this one couldn't wait....

I'm a Great Auntie!

Check out my sister Melody's blog for the news and more pics!

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Priceless memories...

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Kids: Mom, what are we going to do today?

Me: How about going fishing?

Kids: YESSSSSSSSS!!!

Me: And I can read a book... YESSSSSSSSSS!

 

My Girl writing in her journal while she waits for bite on her line...

 

My Boy... "Mom, whatcha doing?"

Me: "Reading... what are you doing?"

"Fishing... Mom, have you taken any pictures yet?"

Me: "Yep, just a couple"

My Boy: "Can I take some?"

Me: "Sure!"

Since I'm the Queen of self-portraits, my Boy took a turn at it....

Hmmm, we'll have to work on that.

My Boy: "Mom, let's do a goofy picture."

Me: "Naturally!"

My Boy: "Mom, I love you.... smoooch!"
Me: "I love you too Son!"Memories Are Priceless!
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Funny Friday!

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My girlfriend Suzanne, who unfortunately doesn't blog ~ but if she did, would probably get a million visitors a day cuz she's just that funny ~ just sent me a link to a story called “Left Brain Grocery List”. Can I just tell you that I sat here and HOWLED with laughter!

REVISED INSTRUCTIONS! Thanks Sparky! I think you will! To LISTEN click here and it will automatically take you to the page, wait for just a moment and if you have speakers you'll HEAR Jeanne tell the story in her Southern drawwwwwwwwwl about how they do things in the South and she sends her husband to the grocery store, hence the title... Left Brain Grocery List. Enjoy!

P.S..... I'm doing good, just busy working and raising this family! How can it be that there is only 6 more weeks of summer left? Lord, please slow life down just a weeee bit for us. Amen!

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Weekday Timesaver

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I thought I would share with you one of my weekday timesaver tips!

Like most of us, I work full time and already get up at O'Dark-Thirty during the week. In fact, I'm already dressed with my hair and make-up done before my kids wake up at 6:30am because once they are up, I have to keep them focused on the morning routine otherwise they are easily swayed to play with a toy or morning cartoons. So to make my weekday mornings go smoothly, several years ago I started doing this....

On either Saturday or Sunday, I ALWAYS make a double batch of pancakes or waffles so I have some already-made breakfast choices that are easy to reheat and serve. I also make a BIG batch of bacon about once a month too. We eat some on the weekend and the rest get packaged up and put in the refrigerator to use that week.

For both the pancakes and the waffles, I slightly undercook them so when they are reheated, they finish perfect everytime. Waffles go in the toaster and pancakes go in the microwave. I'll serve them up with eggs done in a variety of ways and Voila, breakfast is ready in less than 8 minutes from start to finish!

I package them up 4 per bag as my kids will each eat two and my Man will eat all 4.

Thankfully, my family doesn't get tired of pancakes and waffles but when they do, I can easily serve the old standby... milk and cereal.

What do you do to make your weekday routine easier?

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Be back soon...

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Hello my friends! Well as you can see my blog is looking a bit different now but not because I planned it that way. My computer recently took a nose dive (thus the reason I haven't been on here and visiting you all in over a week) and I had to do a clean sweep with new software protections that change my old design here. I'm still tweaking some of the items but at least I'm up and running again. I'll probably spend some more time on it tomorrow but for now we are off to visit family and friends for the holiday. Enjoy your holiday as well!