Back to school... 19 days and counting.

Not that I'm looking forward to the kids being gone all day... I do miss them when they are at school, but I have to admit that I am tired and mentally exhausted as to what to do to keep us busy anymore. Plus my house could use a deep, deep cleaning. Which is nearly impossible when it's three against one, and sometimes even more than that depending on who is over at the time. On that first day back I am reclaiming my house! I don't even know how it happens because they do all help me pick things up but it seems like a futile battle right now.

So far we've finished a little clothes shopping and supply shopping. I have a few things left that are the weird specific things that every store is out of right now. Like the specific color plastic folders... with two pockets.... No brads.... etc. Of course you can't just go buy regular folders anymore.

For the most part it's done though. Today I got these shoes for Megan. I always slow down at the Converse shoes when I'm at Target and today these were begging to come home with us. The big sale sign made me come to a skidding stop. I love them. I only wish they were my size so that we could share them.

Thinking of you....

No you haven't stumbled upon a cooking blog, Lord knows I am NOT known for my cooking! - and yes I did feel kind of silly taking a close up photo of part of our dinner tonight.... but mmmm, I had to share.

My dad told me before we moved here last summer to make sure we bought home grown tomatoes. Something about the soil out here. My mom said when she was little growing up in Ohio that she remembered stopping at roadside stands and getting a tomato and would eat it right there, on the side of the road. I think I remember her telling me how my grandma carried a salt shaker in the car just for this purpose.

Another one of my favorite things out here is all of the local produce. There are several organized farmers markets, but my favorites are the pick up trucks you see on the side of the road somewhere selling a tiny bit of produce from the back, or the houses along farm roads with signs of what they have for sale. It's the BEST part of being right on the edge of such a rural and farmy area. But I can be in a huge shopping area in 5 minutes, or downtown Cincinnati in 20. It reminds me of growing up in the Chandler area when I was a kid and there were still farms out there.

After doing some back to school shopping today we took the long way home down Kentucky 18. It's a pretty road I like to take when we're not in a hurry to get home. Today it was dotted with people selling homegrown produce. I bought these gorgeous tomatoes, some yellow squash, sweet corn and blackberries. My car smelled so good and earthy the rest of the way home.

The best is, I was over at a neighbors house telling her about my finds, and she said she had a ton of basil growing in her backyard. I got to go out and pick a bunch. We've been eating quite a few plates of tomatoes like this, with mozzarella cheese and a drizzling of italian dressing. The basil was .... awesome.

I entertained the idea of growing a garden sometime, but honestly I like it better this way. Enjoying what other people have grown or made. I have heard that there is a blackberry farm near here I'd like to take the kids to. One of my friends said that she picks enough to make blackberry wine, pies and homemade jam. Mmm.

WILL WORK FOR STAR WARS LEGOS.

The blower and Matthew is kind of like a cat and a can opener. He hears it from inside and runs out so that I can 'blow him over' with it. He thinks it's hysterical. Today he decided to help. (Just as I was about finished which is why there is nothing really left on the sidewalk for him to blow!) Thanks for the late help. He ended up kind of pushing a couple of pieces of mulch in a circle on the driveway.

I'm just waiting until he is tall enough to push the mower up the hill.

random

This picture makes me smile so hard that my face hurts.

These insects are really bugging me....

Such a pretty day.... and nothing to do. We did stop to see these adorable baby horses on the side of the road. Anybody who has been out to visit me knows about my favorite little drive on Richwood since I've always had that as part of my 'tour of my favorite Kentucky things.' There were 6 mommy horses and 6 babies.

One thing I have learned in my temporary role of single parenting is how much I really can do. There was a line on Designing Women that I remember exactly how Delta Burke's character Suzanne said, "The man should have to kill the bug." Even when I say it to myself while killing bugs, I say it with that accent. Somehow it gets me past the gross factor and makes it possible for me to do what needs to be done.

A couple of weeks ago I was totally disgusted by my pretty topiary tree outside my door. It was covered with those same creepy cocoons that one of our bushes had last year. Last year I was feeling charitable and left them alone but gave the bush a huge berth when I walked by it. As long as we left each other alone, maybe they can stay for a short time. But then when you're done... off with you. (Until I found out that they weren't even butterflies... they were MOTHS. Double ew.) Like Mike joked with me, that line in Indiana Jones when he sees the snakes by the light of his torch, "Snakes.... I hate snakes." That was me.... "Moths.... I hate moths." This was a nightmare. Where is the man to kill the bug?

If I was going to be able to use my front door for the next month, they had to go. Not to mention this year I wasn't feeling nice about them being there. I learned that they ruin the plant and there is no way those mofos were going to kill my swirly topiary tree. They are too expensive to replace, and having one would look stupid.

Off to Home Depot to buy spray and find out what I had to do. I spent 3 hours on a weekend with gloves and a bag, picking over 100 of these cocoons off the tree. Then I sprayed it with the poison and stuff to nurse my sick little tree. I did it. I killed the bugs, helped the tree and felt a sense of pride.

Today I opened a window to let the breeze in and I noticed some wasps going under the fake shutters on the window. I took my can of wasp spray out and noticed that there were A LOT of them. Going into at least 4 of the 16 shutters on the front of the house. When I sprayed under one of the shutters about 20 of them fell out dead. Then I found two nests. OK... this is war. I had to go to the hardware store and buy several cans of wasp spray. We're ON wasps. You don't know who you're messing with. This girl can kill the bugs.

I knocked down the nests standing on a ladder and reaching with a broom handle. The kids were inside all crammed into a window laughing at me and pointing to wasps that were getting away so I could spray them. Megan took a video of me twirling the broom and acting tough. Those years in the color guard paid off mom.... I was like a broom twirling, can spraying wasp killing ninja.

I hope this is my last battle with infestation of any sort of bug. Even though this girl can kill them and kick their butts.

cheapy facelift

Here is my newly updated kitchen table. It looks nice, but I still have two more chairs to do. I plan on eventually putting some sort of fabric on the seat covers. Ideally I'd like to get some sort of big print/loopy floral or something for some color in the kitchen. I just don't know if my ideal fabric exists since I haven't been out yet.

I give up on trying to start and complete anything during the summer anymore. The mom countdown is on until school starts. One more month. This has been a nice summer and I think we've kept pretty busy and well rounded. I'm just ready to claim my house again.

Not that I want to rub it in or anything - you know I'm a weather geek - but we are enjoying low 70s today! Last night it was in the low 60s and we were actually cold. Which is also the first good nights sleep I've had in a long time without the help of ambien. It's supposed to be like this all weekend, and then heat up again next week. At least I know that the cooler temps get me out of taking the kids to the pool this weekend, which the boys have been driving me crazy about all week.

I'm feeling like a road trip this weekend.

Right now...

It's still summer vacation. No "I'm bored" statements yet. Some days are more exciting than others. Nothing really to blog about, so I'm going to do something I saw on Ali's blog then. These are interesting to go back and read over the years and see how many things have changed.

Right now...

Outside my window... the street is wet from rain that we had earlier, sunny, breezy. Every body's lawns are trimmed for the weekend and my neighbor has the most beautiful hydrangeas.

I am thinking... about feeling overwhelmed, but at the same time happy of my accomplishments today. (cleaned mini blinds outside on the driveway and vacuumed the house.) Made dinner and it's all cleaned up already.

I am thankful for... the boys playing a video game together so nicely. Sometimes they really do love each other! Air conditioning (it's a little humid thanks to the rain.) and a game of Sorry on the front steps with Megan.

From the kitchen... chicken breasts sauteed in garlic and butter, spinach, rice and rolls.

I am wearing... denim shorts, a brown Old Navy Tshirt and a ponytail.

I am creating... a puddle on my desk from the condensation from my cup of ice water.

I am going... to take a shower and go to bed early tonight. (with help from an Ambien.)

I am reading... The Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. - and several books on Russian Tortoises before getting one for Trevor for his birthday next month. I'm educating myself in all things tortoise.

I am hoping... for a good night's sleep, for my kids to have good solid and long lasting friendships, for Mike to be safe, for comfort and stability, less stress and a super miraculous job offer with the same amount of pay for Mike in the United States.

I am hearing... the boys in the same room as me playing a Lego Star Wars video game, a lot of laughing and Megan's phone letting her know she got a text. (She's texting a friend back and forth.) Nickelback on the Direct TV channel.

Around the house... Piper is at my feet, folded laundry is on the couch waiting for little hands to take it upstairs, Legos all over the floor.

One of my favorite things... something as simple as waiting until 9:00 tonight to go sit outside and watch the fireflies. I do this nightly until they are gone for the season. Sometimes the kids go out and watch with me. Hearing the cows near the house moo.

A few plans for the following week... go to the pool, go to Cincinnati for errands, library, daily chores. Maybe scrap something.

random monday

Another week... they just keep melting into each other anymore. Today I started painting my kitchen table. That table used to be so beautiful but it has a sad abused past. It was so pretty when it was new. I was so proud of having a piece of furniture that was brand new and that I had picked out. It was my pride and joy. Then within that first week Megan accidentally dumped a bottle of nail polish remover on it and it stripped the stain on a huge area on the top.

It was as painful as that first dent or scratch that you get on your brand new car. It hurt, but I couldn't do anything about it at that point and Megan felt awful. Getting mad wouldn't have done a thing.... and she's the kind of kid who punished herself because of the guilt. (OK, but yeah inside my mind I was FURIOUS!) Mike tried his best to sand it and re stain it, but it was never the same.

Then I started finding marks on the back of the chairs that I couldn't figure out where they were coming from until one day I saw Matthew whose mouth was at the same height chewing on the back of the chairs! nooooo. Can I have a nice piece of furniture? Please? Who chews on chairs?!?!

So basically I decided I was going to work with the 'distressed top' and paint the legs and chairs black and put a new fabric on the seat covers. So far I've done the table and I'm working on the chairs. I have no idea how long it will take to complete my little project, but in my mind it will look great. I hope to be able to find fabric like I have in mind too. Then I'll post pictures.

On top of that today, I mowed my lawn and decided I'd be mom of the year and make some cupcakes. Megan comes in from being out for several hours and says:

"Oh those brownies look gooood!" (I used my silicon heart shaped muffin tin thing that I have made brownies in before, so surely she was confused.)

me: Those aren't brownies, they are cupcakes.

megan: no, they are brownies.

me: no... they are chocolate cupcakes.

megan again: No.... they are brownies.

me: Ok whatever (I'm starting to get a little irritated and wondering who she thinks she is to start getting an attitude with me.) if you are going to argue with me then you can't have one.

megan: Oh, well they smell and look like brownies.

Me.... after getting so angry I go to get the box out of the kitchen garbage to prove her wrong. "Dammit. They ARE brownies." smart alec.

I have no idea what kind of bird this is, but he's been coming back to the top of our tree since yesterday. He's beautiful, and this is one of the times I'd really love to have a zoom lens. We get cardinals and blue jays like crazy, so maybe this guy is just claiming our tree.

Today should be a more promising day for fireworks. Yesterday we had a steady rain all afternoon all the way into the night. Some people still were setting off fireworks, but it wasn't like it was last year where there was so much smoke from all of them that it looked like fog. The country club usually has a huge display that we can watch from our driveway. Yesterday when I drove by they had huge tents outside like they were expecting a lot of people. Hopefully it was just delayed until today and we'll get to see them tonight.

We ended up lighting some sparklers in the garage. Woohoo.

Yesterday was a nice day though. One of Trevor's friends had called and asked if he and Matthew could come over and play. They were there nearly all day. So Megan and I took advantage of our alone time and went to the grocery store and had Panera Bread for lunch. It may not have been the typical 4th of July (cold and rainy) but it was still nice. I hope everybody else enjoyed theirs!

4th

Happy 4th of July!

How I spent my summer. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

Remember that movie Groundhog Day? Sometimes my days feel like that. Or it looks like I rarely do laundry. Because Matthew is one of those kids who has a daily routine.

Surprise... Reds hat, another Reds shirt (we had to have two to alternate with the other one.) and the familiar sounds of Star Wars coming from the little movie player. I can't tell you how many times I hear that theme song or the song that plays when Darth Vader shows up. You know the one. I do love the little pile of Lego people next to the movie player.

If life had a soundtrack this summer.... it is Star Wars. And the kid follows me around telling me about it. You know, how Luke is really Darth's son? But how Darth started out as Anakin Skywalker, or how Obi Wan Kenobi's name is really Ben? The boys are constantly playing with the Star Wars Legos. When did things get so Star Wars crazy around here? At least when daddy is home he does the best Chewbacca sound. If you want to get every body's attention just do that! Or do that little hand thing that Darth Vader does to choke people with the force.

Can it really BE 65 degrees on a summer day? I mean for real. I feel like I'm going to wake up. Last week I was complaining about being a little too hot. Thank you whoever sent this weather. Can we please have this for a few more weeks?

Another thing that has become so routine is what is actually going on right now. At noon on Wednesdays the tornado sirens go off for testing. As soon as I hear it start I just yell out of habit, "It's Wednesday Trevor!" Sure enough he comes down the stairs at the same time saying, "Is it Wednesday?" He hates those things. Everybody else ignores them. I just hope there's never a real tornado on a Wednesday at noon because I'll be upstairs doing life as normal.

more summer....

Look who had their windows open today! It was GORGEOUS today. Well deserved after having a few hot days last week.

I realized one day when I was watching the photo slide show on my screensaver that I have a lot of pictures of my kids playing outside, but with my across the street neighbor's house in the background. Now their house is nice and all... but it's not my house... our house. So I thought while the kids were out front playing with some sidewalk chalk after dinner I would walk across the street and get a picture of them out in the front. This is before the driveway became covered with pictures, crime scene outlines of bodies and hopscotch.

Matthew drew an army guy, but when he was done put this red line through him. Is this some sort of anti-war protest or something? I just noticed he's about to touch a jellyfish.

Trevor stayed with us for awhile, in fact in one picture you can see the turtle that I drew for him. He ended up going behind our street to a friend's house. It was such a nice evening. One of my neighbors was going on a walk with her little girl (who loves Megan) and her baby boy. She ended up sitting out front with us for awhile. I remember when I was a kid in Phoenix and immediately after dinner my parents would pull folding chairs out of the garage and sit out front. It seemed like people used to do that more often. I brought some chairs out of the garage and we sat and talked for a long time.

Which reminds me of one thing I have to save up for. I think I am one of the only people in the state who does not own one of those circular fire pit things. On chilly nights like tonight I can smell them... and I know people are outside gathered around them on their driveway or backyard deck making smores and having a drink. I'm going to keep my eye out for one.

Another summer day down. We're just doing our best to get through them with as little boredom as possible. Days like today are perfect though.

***************

I also want to say thank you to people who have called or emailed me after hearing the news about the Yemenia plane that went down yesterday. I've had several people stop by my house today too. People know Mike is in Yemen and heard about it, and checked up on us. Thank you! It warms the heart to know that people think about us. He's fine but my thoughts are with the people left behind.

Some photos to share from the other day.

Today we went to Cincinnati to do some errands. We stopped at Costco and had lunch. We've had pizza there before, but how did I not know that you could order a whole pizza and eat it right there? So for $15 we had a large pizza, drinks to share and dessert to share. (Those frozen yogurts are so big anyway!) Then as we walked around the kids kept eating samples. Today was a good sample day - brats with buns, chips with hummus, provolone cheese, meatballs, brownies, some starbucks type cold mocha drink and juice. We should have stayed for dinner.

Then on the way home we stopped at the library. Megan is going through books like crazy this summer. She's almost done with the second book in the Twilight series, which she's only had for a week. She reads more in one week than I read in an entire year anymore. We stopped so she could put the third and fourth one on hold, and she picked up some other books. She's determined to learn French this summer so she checked out a bunch of books on the language.

The boys are into disasters right now. Matthew went up to a woman who worked at the library (I was helping Trevor look for something, and he took it upon himself to go find help.) if they had books on science. "Because I'm into science. Like weather stuff."

Our library is the best. They have a million DVDs to check out. I got Best In Show, which I've seen before, but LOVE and can't wait to watch it again, Walk The Line, and the Gilmore Girls first season. I never got into that show and everybody who watches it loves it so I thought it would be good for Megan and I to watch over the summer. They have every season. I'm also planning on getting caught up on a lot of shows that I meant to watch before... 24, Medium, etc. Oh, and we also got Charmed, which I thought Megan would like. The boys have a ton of Pokemon videos.... which all look alike to me but don't tell them that.

I have to admit that I am sad that I haven't had a frog sighting since the other day. I miss my friend. We let him go in one of the beds in my yard.

Finally!

This poor kid has been waiting forever for his first tooth to fall out. Everybody in his class lost one this year and each time he'd come home bummed and ask me when his was finally going to come out. Then when this one finally decided to get a little loose it stayed loose for months... like it was teasing him.

Yesterday we were in the car and he screams "MOMMY!" before he said the rest I about had a panic attack because I thought something was seriously wrong but then he finished up after a pause and said, "MY TOOTH JUST CAME OUT!"

I didn't even have to play the tooth fairy thing with him because he asked me this year if the tooth fairy was real. We had a very serious conversation out on the front steps. For the record he still believes in Santa but he heard at school that the tooth fairy is really your parents. I asked him if he wanted to know the truth. I mean, I would love to have that bit of magic with the last little one in our family, and especially the first tooth, but I also didn't want him going back to school and getting laughed at while he vehemently defended the tooth fairy. So I told him the truth.

The tooth fairy here rocks anyway. We stopped doing money since I was always out of cash anyway. (Megan one year got an IOU, and Trevor got a hotel bar of soap which he knew was a joke....) Those weren't stellar tooth fairy moments, but in my defense Megan lost like 4 teeth all in something ridiculous like a week.) Just when I thought I was clear and didn't have to worry for awhile she'd come show me another one she lost. And it's always late at night... when I can't run to the bank or store. Who has kids and carries cash anymore anyway?

So while Mike was here a couple of weeks ago he grabbed a Star Wars Lego kit that Matthew had been looking at and snuck up to the front of the store to buy it while I went to another register with our groceries and the kids. This time I was prepared for when the tooth did fall out and replaced the baggie with the tooth under his pillow with the Legos.

So at 6:00 in the morning after he woke up... I was tiredly trying to put together Clone Troopers and continue sleeping at the same time. Thankfully Trevor put the ship together since he loves that sort of thing.

"Kids.... can I keep him?? Pleeeease?!?!?"

Just after Megan and I were watching fireflies and I said, "Dang, I love Kentucky." she went inside and I stayed out for a few more minutes. THEN I see something moving in the dark in the driveway next door to me. I knew in an instant... and I RAN!

A froggie! Well... a toad... but isn't it the cutest wittle face in the whole wide world??? I had to catch him just so I could see him. I opened the front door and called the kids so they could see what I found. All three started making this "ooooooh he's sooooooo cute!" kind of thing all at the same time. My other neighbor across the street working in his yard was probably wondering what was going on and what we were so excited about.

So he's been inside, photographed, stared at, awwed over and now we're trying to think of where to let him go. I don't want him getting smushed by a car. But it was fun having him visit.

Nostalgia trip... circa 1980

Not too long ago I saw a facebook flair on somebody's signature line at 2Peas. It said, "I love my computer because all of my friends live in there."

I loved that, because it feels so true. There are times that I just love technology. Today I talked via IM with Mike while he was a world away in Yemen. I've had emails from friends in Arizona, and even talked to a few of my neighbors through facebook messages today. I always laugh that I sit on my computer and talk to my neighbor across the street, or have an ongoing conversation with Lisa every single day. The cool thing is, I can sit here at night all by myself by location... but be keeping in touch with people constatly. It really is awesome, and yes I love my computer because of it.

Tonight I was sending Maddy a message and I hear this 'pop' noise and a little box that comes up saying "Hi Kerry." It was my aunt in Florida. (HEY HOLLY!) I have to say, she is by far the coolest. aunt. ever. I adored her growing up. This photo above was taken when she came out to visit sometime in 1980. Holy cow, I was 10 years old - the same age as Megan right now! - I still remember this day.... we went to Pioneer Arizona on I-17 just north of Phoenix.

I got a chance to talk with her a little bit and loved being able to catch up. So I just had to blog a little bit about her. One thing I think that made her really fun was that she could whip me in a game of Pong. How is that for dating myself? I also remember going to the beach in Florida and wading out to a sandbar where she taught me how to pick up sandollars with my toes, how to braid my Barbie's hair that I got for Christmas one year, and especially our badly sung version of Debbie Boone's You Light Up My Life. See? Coolest aunt ever.

Megan has also been enjoying technology lately. She has a list of contacts in her phone that she is constantly texting. I remember when I was a kid and you hoped and wished that the walkie talkies you had would reach far enough to go to your friend's house. They never did and that was a total bummer. - Sometimes she'll text somebody "Hey what are you doing? Want to play?" and the next thing you know she's out the door. Or like the other day when a friend of hers was on her way to Indiana and was texting Megan to keep her company while in the car.

Little random life update....

That's me.

We went to the pool again today and stayed from 2:00 until 6:30. Why is it the sunburn doesn't start to show until like 15 minutes before you are ready to leave?

The kids were hoping to stay until the pool closed at 8, and at first it seemed like a very good idea since they were all happy and I knew it was good for making them tired to sleep well tonight. I was lying on my little deck chair with my eyes closed at one point thinking about how wonderful this was. This is one of the first times I could remember that my kids were old enough that I didn't have to watch every minute of them at the pool. They can all swim now, and I let the lifeguards do the watching. I did get in and play with Matthew a lot, but the few moments that I was relaxing I knew we'd end up at the pool many more times this summer.

All three kids found people their age that they played with too. It was nice.

Until we got home. Then realized how badly burnt we all were. I used a ton of sunblock on all of us but man we are all red and moving very slow. I don't know if sunblock goes bad, but I wonder since this was packed and melting in a moving box last summer if it broke down or what. So after needing to go to walgreens tonight to get some aloe spray I also stocked up on brand new sunblock, face stick stuff for noses and ears and aloe spray. We're good to go.

***********

I got this email from Mike tonight:

I walked at least 15 miles today and have blisters on my feet and very sore ankles. I saw the Eiffel Tower, the River Seine, Champs Elysees, went to the Louvre, saw Notre Dame and a concert in the park, The Sorbonne, The Pantheon and ate a Royale with cheese. I took about 200 photos and will share with you.

He's in Paris for a couple of days before going back to work. It's how the flights ended up to make sure he could get back to work in time. Sometimes the flights just work out this way since he takes two different airlines to get back. Now, under normal circumstances I'd be somewhat jealous about having a couple of days in Paris without me, but remember that he's on his way to work - in Yemen. - Yeah... it's not necessarily a Paris vacay. Plus he's doing it like Globe Trekker.... on the cheap, hence the walking, cheap hotel and no food budget to speak of. LOL! I can't wait to see pictures!

*************

One more random thingie for the night.... after 9:00 at night the fireflies come out like crazy. They only seem to stay out for about an hour after that. So tonight on my way home from walgreens the fields near my house and along Frogtown were literally twinkling with thousands of fireflies. It has to be one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. Next month when the fireflies are gone it is time for the frogs! You can't see them, but you can hear them. Which to me... makes me happy too. Because FROGS RULE!

random....

Sometimes going to the airport plain old sucks. That was a fast two weeks. - Yesterday was Mike's birthday, so we at least got to celebrate that together. We went to Bruesters for ice cream after dinner.

I was thinking a little bit earlier today how weird I feel. For awhile I was anxiously anticipating my mom coming out for a visit, and knowing Mike would be home during that too. I counted down the days on my calendar. While they were here it felt good to have some company. I don't really feel lonely..... I have people I see everyday, I'm happy, healthy, well adjusted.... but tonight I was just feeling kind of let down that it's over. Kind of like a kid when you go to bed on Christmas night. You know you have to wait for it to come again next year, and you don't know what to do with those remnants of feelings that you still have. I had put so much thought into what we'd do, and just the pure excitement of it. Both visits were fun but still didn't accomplish all that I wanted to. Which is OK, but I guess that just proves that there isn't enough time... and what little you have goes by so quickly. So for some reason tonight I went out and sat on my front steps and watched the fireflies... and felt kind of alone for the first time in awhile. Man, sometimes life just gets so crazy.
********

While Mike was home, Trevor had talked him into buying a package of water balloons. Coming home from the airport with a quiet and somber car made me think today was the perfect day to fill some of them up.

Megan was sneaky and stood behind me most of the time. She was one of the first ones to get hit and I had made a rule that no balloons were to be thrown too close to the balloon filler (me!). If you want balloons filled, throw them away from me! I still managed to get pretty wet from filling. I had planned on getting in on the balloon fight, but the kids went through the balloons as fast as I could fill them. It was the knot tying that slowed me down. Next time I think I'll fill some without them knowing it and then have about 200 of them already filled in the garage.




(below) right before Matthew got nailed in the head. I love the "in flight" balloon.

Poor Trevor never catches much of a break. I was trying to get him to get more balloons and keep them in his shirt. Megan came up right beside him and got him. (And the balloon filler and her camera. Bad Megan.)

Swimming....

There is something about that first smell of chlorine during summer. Not having your own pool makes you appreciate that smell so much. It hits you when you go swimming for the first time. - All of the kids have been invited over to friends houses already this summer to go swimming, but today all of us went to the little public pool that is about 1/4 mile from our house. It's up a hill and tucked away behind a line of huge trees, so I never paid it much attention. Today Megan and I drove by on our way home from dropping off books at the library and noticed nobody was there. A storm was supposed to hit later in the evening, which is the only thing I can imagine must have scared most people away. But we had this pool to ourselves today. We were only outnumbered by lifeguards. Which thankfully makes for some pretty awesome pool photos without a bunch of unknown people in the background!

Matthew was not mad or emotional, but for some reason I love this picture of him. It must be the colors with the bright orange and yellow that he is wearing and the pretty blue and green in the background. He does look pretty serious though....

But not in this one. Here's my normal happy Matthew.

Mike and Megan went off the diving board several times. Trevor took a little prodding. He had gone off diving boards before in Phoenix, but he was cautious today. The lifeguards were even playing with him and telling him he wasn't allowed to back off of the board, that he had to just run right off the end if he wanted to get off. It didn't work. It took a few tries, but finally he went off.

Finally committing to jumping off... he's at a run.....

Check out that form....

Saturday - Ironton, Ohio.... a little bit of my history too.

My mom was born in a town called Ironton Ohio. One thing I wanted to do when we moved here was to take a little road trip there (It's not far from Cincinnati) and see if I could get a peek into my mom and my grandma's past. Especially after losing my grandma last year, I kind of felt like I really wanted to see this place and feel a little connection.

I was thrilled when it had been put of long enough that when my mom said she was coming out here for a visit I asked her if she would be interested in going. I knew it would be a much better experience with somebody who had been there and could tell me stories. I really couldn't get enough of them, and hope to get more from her. It's strange to have heard about this place for as long as I have and actually be there. There were times I could almost feel the past. It was a great experience. I'm so glad that we went... it had to have been one of my favorite days of the entire visit.

Here is downtown Ironton from a lookout on a hill. It is a beautiful little town, and happily is experiencing some renovation.
(below) These are the killer stairs going up to the lookout. Mike and the kids ran right up. My mom and I stopped every few little landing areas to check out the sights. (We couldn't breathe!! Haha! But we made it look like we had a good reason to stop.)

A little history on the area: (for the fam, click on the image to enlarge it)

My mom has a great memory. We drove by several houses that once belonged to people in my family. My favorite - the one below - was my grandma's house. In this house my mom grew up as a little girl. (She said the Ohio river summers were awful here with no a/c at the time.) but the coolest is knowing that at one time my grandma as a new mom, carried my mom up those stairs into her first house after coming home from the hospital.

She told me stories about what was behind the windows that we could see, the blue spruce tree that my grandma had planted to the left of the front porch that had grown so big she had to cut it down one winter and used it as the Christmas tree. She told me about the hours spent rollerskating on the sidewalk and the fruit tree that is still in the back. Along with the garage that is still back there that she couldn't believe was still standing. I look at these pictures and I feel my grandma. I miss her.

I saw the high school that my grandma went to, which was being restored and having an addition built onto the back of it. It's one of those beautiful buildings you see in movies. It was fenced off or I would have LOVED to have gotten closer to it. Maybe even peeked in.

We also stopped at the cemetery and found some relatives. Old town cemeteries are such a story in themselves. Families stayed together even then and weren't scattered about the country like they are now. It was interesting to hear my mom point at a stone and hear her say, "This is my uncle..." etc.

It was a great day, and an experience I'll never forget and I couldn't be happier that I got to see a glimpse of my family history. I know how I feel when I would go back to childhood homes that I grew up in. I made sure to take pictures of them and visit them one more time before I moved out here. I guess it's part of being a family historian. These kinds of stories and things are amazing to me and I love the links to the past.