Feeling Patriotic...

Although I have threatened to move do Canada while GWB is in office, I must admit... I love living here. With every vacation, I find myself very appreciative of Michigan. We have no hurricanes, no earthquakes (well none that I can remember), no MAJOR storms. We have pleasant atmosphere most of the time. We have lakes at every turn. The humidity while it can get high, is for the most part, relatively tolerable.

As I get older, I find that I am more appreciative of the little things. I LOVE small town America. I could totally live in a town like Cedar Falls (where Julia Roberts moves to when she leaves her abusive husband in Sleeping With The Enemy). What a cool town that would be. Huge trees lining the streets. Sidewalks, where the kids can play. Quaint little stores to peruse. I am feeling quite patriotic lately. Thinking of festive recipes. Enjoying more slow time with my family. Dropping everything to do nothing with the kids. Last night, Emily and I laid in my bed, working on a Sudoku puzzle while watching Sleepless in Seattle for the gazillionth time. Definitely time well spent.

With that, remember to hang out your American flag. Be appreciative that you can walk into a store to pick up whatever your heart desires without worrying that the building will be leveled by some whack job extremist. Drop your chores at a moments notice and spend time with your family. They will take those memories with them for the rest of their lives... not a fresh load of laundry.

This post was brought to you by none other than the inspiration of this photo...

Namaste.

Outta Whack...

We made it home. We left Lady's Island at 9:30 yesterday morning. We made such good timing, that we drove straight through and made it home at 12:30 this morning. We were EXHAUSTED. We were in bed by 1, and at 7, I woke up with Greg's foot in my ribs. I have NO idea how or when he came into our bed. Regardless, we were sabotaged after a measly 6 hours of sleep. Emily on the other hand had a very peaceful slumber.

Today is Sunday. With tomorrow being Monday, I almost don't know how to act or what to do. Last Monday, I was in Hilton Head Island. The Monday before that, I was making Emily's lunch and sending her out the door. So now what do we do tomorrow? Ahhh that's right. I vaguely remember Dennis saying something to the effect of "You're going to help me with projects tomorrow, right, Ok, good!".

My biggest wish? PUHLEESE let me sleep in tomorrow. After staying in a very organized house for a week, my list is growing as I walk from room to room on what I wish to accomplish this summer. First on the list though is sleep. A peaceful slumber for about.... 13 hours would be stellar right now.

Mission Accompllished...

We are thoroughly worn out. We have run our hosts ragged... or is it that they have run us ragged? We have savage tans, and sand in our bathing suits. Greg even had tiny little shells stuck to his bum when he took his swim suit off today. It was very sad to leave the beach. We have taken a gazillion pictures, eaten a million chocolate peanut butter balls, and had the best grilled hot dogs I have ever had. Yummo!

We're ready to come home though. We miss our boys (Pumpkin and Charlie). I am a little concerned about how the lawn looks, considering my mom wrote us an email asking us if we have a sprinker system. Uh oh...

15 hours... 15 hours in the car. Stick a fork in me... I'm done.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have stopped by our house, swam in our pool, watered our flowers, picked up the mail, played with the kitties, and tortured Pumpkin by putting goo in his yeast infected ear. You have been awesome to us. Let us know if we can ever repay the favor.

Back to blogging as soon as we are unpacked!

Our Host's...

This is my brother Mike. Mike looovvveessss Better Made Potato Chips, which he can't get anywhere else but in Michigan... that is unless he orders them off the internet. Mike is the split image of my dad. He looks like him, talks like him, walks like him, has a short temper like him. I laugh when I watch him, because I've never seen a resemblance like it.

This is Mary Ann... my new (as of October) Sister-in-law. Mary Ann, like Mike was a chief in the Navy, however she retired this past January before they left Greece. Mary Ann has two daughters... Rachel, pictured below, and Jessica, who lives with her dad in Seattle. She gave me an awesome recipe for chocolate - peanut butter balls, which we made twice, and a vanilla - strawberry pudding which I am craving on a regular basis.

This is Rachel. Rachel is a licensed cosmetologist. She is 21. She is currently looking for a job here in South Carolina. Since being here, she has cut Greg's hair, Emily's hair twice (because after the first cut, we decided we wanted something sassier, and trendier), dyed my hair... and I dyed her hair. (It rained A LOT yesterday). She is a lot of fun.

Where are we?...

We're on Lady's Island . We are just north of Hilton Head Island, and about 1 hour from Savannah, GA, which we will be visiting today. I am hopeful for a Paula Deen sighting. I love that woman. She reminds me of my deceased Grandma. When I watch her, I am reminded of good things, and how awesome it is to be an American... even if there is a jackass running the country. Even if just watching her on Food Network makes my arteries slam shut... I like her anyway.

I love going on vacation. It makes you appreciate things that you take for granted. I want to call my sister in law, Pattie and wish her well. I want to do lunch with a country bumpkin friend. I am looking forward to Milford Memories with Mel in August. I'm itching to go scrapping with the Road Runner and friend in July. I'm also thinking of Fourth of July. Although I have to work, how fun would it be to have a bar-b-que.

I am inspired... my wheels are turning.

It'll Grow Back...

That's what I was told anyway... by EVERYONE. I can't believe I agreed to this. I LOVE smooching on this childs soft silky hair. BUT... he wanted to be bald. Just like his Daddy. Emily agreed to let Rachel (Mary Ann's daughter and licensed cosmopologist) cut her hair into an inverted bob (shorter in the back and longer on the sides)if Greg shaved his head. I have NO IDEA how this came about. But... there was NO getting Greg to change his mind. After all... I did have Purple hair once. Oh and RED too. Then there was black. I LOVED having black hair. with pale skin in the winter, it is so cool and trendy. Wish I had the nerve to do it again. Regardless, I gave them the thumbs up and Rachel went to town. Greg was ALL SMILES. As you can see... the shirt he is wearing is DEAD ON.

Good for you Greg. Now you have a Man's Haircut - as you wish.

Near Miss...

Today we went to Hilton Head Island. What a BEAUTIFUL island! However... the drivers are freakin nuts! We were almost broadsided! Literally. This car darted out attempting their illegal left hand turn, and almost nailed us. Den said going the speed we were going, they probably would have rolled us. It totally freaked us out. Regardless, we saw numerous accidents, due to boneheaded drivers.

We had a GREAT time there. We shopped the local shops, then played a speed round of putt putt golf. It turned out nice and slow, but there were 7 of us playing, then other people started to show up so we had to expedite. Around the 14th hole, we went from keeping score to just getting smiley faces.

Tomorrow the boys are going golfing while the rest of us are going shopping in the cool little town of Beaufort. Oh one little tidbit... Rachel is Mary Ann's daughter. While passing through Beaufort, I mentioned that I was here when I was 16. Rachel had to add that she was 2. How nice. lol.

Beach Bums

We have arrived!

We arrived in South Carolina last night. We had intended on staying in a hotel overnight, 100 miles and 5 stops to find NO VACANCY, put us very close to Mike & Mary Ann's house.

15 hours... in a car. We have decided that we are going to fly from now on. It wasn't bad, but more exhausting.

After a GREAT nights sleep, we woke up, had breakfast, and spent Father's Day at Hunters Beach. Emily and Greg LOVED it! We had a blast battling waves, building sand castles, and taking photo's. Thanks to Mary Ann, she sent this photo of us so I could "blog it".

I wonder if our housesitter is having as much fun as we are???

The End...

Today marks the end of Second Grade for Emily. Yesterday was the end of Begindergarten for Greg. I am an emotional wreck. Most parents think... Ohhh I can't wait to sleep in, or are just excited to have the kids home for whatever reason. Oh, don't get me wrong. I LOVE having my kids home, but here is how my head works...

Today is the END of Second Grade for Emily. She was 7 when she started, and is now 8. When she was 3, she was in nursery school. She was so terrified that she actually vomited on the A-B-C rug in Mrs. Dunning's room. Since I had to drive her to school, I would talk about ANYTHING and EVERYTHING to keep her from dwelling on the fact that we were INDEED heading to school. She was so little. She was still a baby. Today marks the END of Second Grade.

In Kindergarten, Emily blew everyone away by reading the word metamorphosis. To this day, I STILL hear about how blown away parents were at that. Apparently some mom's were helping out in class that day. I was just questioning her teacher from this year about how the MEAP tests are graded (in 3rd grade) and what their meaning is to my child as an individual. Of course, there was one of those mom's who pipped up and said, "YOU'RE worried about how YOUR child is going to do on the MEAP tests? The child that read the word metamorphosis?" Yep. Still in second grade and still hearing about it. She's exceptionally bright. I accredit that to the Mozart effect. I would put classical music on the CD player, put the headphones up to my tummy for Miss Girl and I would watch Wheel of Fortune.

Did I mention that TODAY marks the end of Second Grade? Mom? I wonder if you ever got emotional about your children moving on and growing up? I feel like I'm a basket case. Today is the last day that Emily will ever set foot in the Lower Elementary wing. She is moving to the classrooms by the bigger kids. ;o(

I have been fairly distracted by our preparations for a vacation, so I felt that my emotions were well in check. That is until I walked into Mrs. Smiths room for one last photo of she and Emily together. Mrs. Smith was crying, and that's all it took. She was an AMAZING teacher. I am so relieved that my child finally was able to have a school year that didn't involve constant vomiting and high doses of Prilosec OTC. She was a fun teacher and I LOVED helping her out in her classroom. She would have let me come everyday if I so chose. She loved her parent helpers and really did an amazing job with her students.

As I walked into her room and saw the bare walls, I took one last breath of that classroom smell. Pencil shavings, markers, glue sticks, crayons and paper. The building will be empty. We will get on with it and Mrs. Smith probably already has. Next year, we will start up with great excitement. Plus Mrs. Smith gave us a little tidbit secret... She gave Emily the teacher Emily wanted for next year... Mrs. Fischer. That is unless Mr. Principal changes it. But for now, second grade is over. Things will get more challenging, and Emily will keep studying and throwing out the "wow" factor here and there. I should have bought those awesome lunch boxes I saw at Costco yesterday.....

Officer Lover Pants

He's 5. He's only 5. I know it and he knows it but for some reason, he has a thing for girls. Remember "Alexandra"?. Well the lovely Miss Alexandra came over yesterday to swim with Emily & Greg. Here is the conversation with Officer Lover Pants...

OLP: "Alexandra, my cutie pie came over yesterday"

Mom: "I heard... Daddy told me"

OLP: "She's so cute. Maybe I should spend the night over her house"

Mom: "I don't think so G"

OLP: "She can spend the night at my house... but she can't touch my toys".

If that weren't enough... Here's a photo of him showing his pipes to a girl on Emily's baseball team... He has a real "thing" for her. I've never seen him with blushing cheeks before! Photo blurred to protect identitys (aka I haven't asked her parents if I can publish her photo on the internet!).

Regardless, I'm a bit concerned about how my 5 year old precious little dude has such a thing for girls. You know this is only going to get worse. Not to mention... anyone he dates later in life will have to meet my requirements. lol.

Tastes like feet!

Light bulb over my head after reading Katrina's Blog... BTW, for any Pioneer Woman readers stopping by, thanks for clicking my link. Feel free to reply as you wish...

So back to Katrina's Blog... She has a lot of newbies in her office and some of them have been saying some pretty stupid things lately. Instantly I was transferred back to the early days in my ER career... The stupid thing I did?

A patient was released from the hospital (the upper floors). She's not home 1 hour and has something happen and has to return. Instead of being seen in the ER, I took her back up to the room she was in. As we approach her room I said, "See, it's EXACTLY as you left it!". It would have been helpful to know that the woman was blind!

I would LOOOOVVVVEEE to know one of your most embarrassing moments. We're all adults, and if we can't laugh at ourselves, then we're MUCH to critical. Share yours and I will freely admit something that I did once that is the MOTHER of all embarrassments. Post away my friends... Post away.

Recipe Review...

So Pioneer Woman now has this new website... The Pioneer Woman Cooks.com. Occasionally before she would post recipes and cooking lessons on her original site The Pioneer Woman.com. Yesterday I needed to bring something to a surprize birthday party we were going to. So I used the recipe from her cooking website for Chili Con Queso Revved Up!

OMG... LICK THE CROCK POT CLEAN I TELL YA. It was INCREDIBLY easy to make, although I did omit the Jalapeno for fear out of it being TOO hot. I also tweaked it by adding my favorite herb ever... FRESH Cilantro. YUMMMMMMMMMYYYYY. I could eat it for every meal! It wasn't spicy on the tongue, but after a few bites of it on tortilla chips, you could feel the heat, and PRESTO... your sinuses are clear and you are breathing just fine.

I highly suggest visiting the cooking website for that recipe. For my next venture, I'm going to try and make her bread pudding. I've never had it, but the photo's make me want to try it to see if it's as good as it looks. That will be a dish to be served with company.

Cheers!

Left Alone for Mere Seconds...

And this is what she does with my camera......

Cat Nap...

nar·co·lep·sy (när'kə-lěp'sē) Pronunciation Key n. pl. nar·co·lep·sies A disorder characterized by sudden and uncontrollable, though often brief, attacks of deep sleep, sometimes accompanied by paralysis and hallucinations.

New Look...

Inspired by Pioneer Woman... Actually last week, she posted on all the banners her blog has had. I started thinking about the warm latte colors mine had, and here the air conditioning has been blowing snow out of the vents for a couple days. So I decided to update for spring/summer. The photo was taken on Emily's birthday. You have to love a camera with a timer!

Today the kids and I went to see Shelby (our niece, their cousin), in her first dance recital. It was AMAZING! Out of the smaller kids, there was always just one girl that knew the entire routine. Shelby was that girl. Watching the dance company perform was just amazing. I wish I could post it here for all to see, but that won't happen for legal reasons. I must say... if you like musicals, and plays, by all means... go see a dance recital. You won't be let down.

I'm now inspired to see more plays, and would LOVE to go see the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for the first time. I have heard they play at Greenfield Village during the summer... with fireworks! Love to see you there!

Have a great weekend! Oh and on Tuesday this week, Emily is having her piano/voice recital. I will record those and post them for all to see.