Summer Update~

Essentially, we have one week left of summer before I report back to duty.  I'm sad, but it has been a great summer!  Probably one of my favorites as both kids are old enough to really go, and I've loved being home with them.  I'm not certain we will finish out the list, as there are still some big ones left, but we have made some progress if nothing else!  It has been a blast!

1.  Go to the North Pool
2. Summer Reading Program for All-Done and prizes collected from library!
3. Swimming Lessons-Done and success!
4. T-Ball for Rowan-Done!
5. Firepit-
6. Snow Cones
7. Happy Hour at Dairy Queen
8. Cupcake Trip We stopped at Billy Vanilly one day last week.  It was yummy!
9. Go Fishing-
10. Chuck-E-Cheese  Alex took Row on an outing last Sunday for this one.
11. Vacation Bible School-This was a big one.  I was glad to see this one done!
12. Discovery Center Camp for Rowan-Starts tomorrow a.m.
13. Bike Ride at Lake Shawnee We've been on several bike rides since we got a seat to put behind our bikes for Isla!  She adores bike rides.
14. Feed the Geese:-o (Insert horrified look here-I hate geese)
15. SpRiNkLeR!
16. Bake Cookies-
17. Discovery Center-
18. Bowling
19. Paint Therapy Uncorked
20. Movie Theater-
21. Make Homeade Ice Cream
22. Picnic at Park
23. Paint own rock
24. Donut Shop
25. Go to Branson
26. Video Games with Dad

Day 29: Five songs that describe you.

I can't even do this post.  I'm so not a music person.  I grew up in the country where we seldom got more than one radio station, and I honestly don't think I owned a cd until I was at least 24.  Music is just not my thing.  I like the quiet of my own thoughts, so even still today, I seldom drive with the radio on.  Weird, I know;-)

Day 28: Only Pictures

Oops!  So I missed a few days.  The prompts were rough, and this blog everyday deal is a big commitment;-)

 We went to Tulsa this weekend to see Julie, a roommate of mine from college.  It was a quick trip, but it was a fantastic family-friendly trip, and it was so good to see her.  Maybe I'll see her in less than 2 years this time;-)

 We went to Tulsa's Discovery Lab.  They have an entire tunnel made out of packing tape.  Seriously.   It is impressive, and it can even handle big people.  The kids ran through this tunnel more times than I could count. 

Isla is in the middle of the tunnel, and Row is just about to the end of it.

Eight layers of packing tape is all that holds it together.

Bed of Nails.  So brave.

Row could have slept on it, I think.

Big Al!

Rowan, Lexi, Isla, and Thomas

Isla fell asleep on the way home.  She was a tired girl.

Day 24: Top three worst traits of yourself...

Gosh. 

1. I bite my fingernails.  I do, and I have for as long as I can remember.  It bothers me a lot, but it is a nervous habit.  I'm able to stop in the summer as my stress level comes down, but once the stress is back up, I can't do it. 

2. I dwell on my shortcomings.  I often relive choices or events that I thought could have gone better over and over and over in my brain.  Sometimes I relive these for days or even weeks until I come to an impasse that I can't change the situation now.   It is a hard character trait to live with.

3. I break out in a rash when I am placed in an uncomfortable or nervous situation on my torso.  I found this out when I was in college.  It includes any situation that is a high stress (i.e. meetings, public speaking, uncomfortable social situations, etc).  I get massive red splotches all over, and I get really really hot.  The doctors tell me it is an increase in blood pressure that causes my body to respond this way.  It is annoying to literally wear your blood pressure on your chest.  So, if I'm ever talking to you, and I have a red rash on my chest, you will know I'm upset;-)

Day 23: Things you've learned that school won't teach you...

1. I learned how to manage money from Dave Ramsey and the Internet. I'm still frustrated I learned this later rather than sooner.

2. I've learned collaboration is how almost anything in the real world is accomplished.  Rarely, do you keep your eyes on your own paper;-)

3. I learned naps really are the epitome of heaven most days. 

4. I learned one of the most important decisions you will ever make in your life is the selection of a spouse.  This will shape so many facets of your world~

Day 22: A pet peeve...

I was reminded of this one this morning while eating my breakfast!

Notice the coffee cup, and who's spot she took at the table;-)

I'm not a sharer of my food. Think Joey on Friends-you know the one where his date tries to eat from his plate in the restaurant;-) Okay, so maybe I'm not to that extreme, but it really bothers me to have my food messed with.  It drives me ever-loving crazy when I sit down to eat, and my children eat from my plate or drink from my cup.  I lost quite a bit of weight between Isla's first and second year, and I attribute it to this!  She's the worst!

 Any meal time at our house goes like this.  We all sit down with the same variations of food on our plate, but daughter leans over into my space until she steals whatever it is that she was after.  If she likes it, then you are lucky.  If she doesn't like it, then she spits the half-chewed remnants back out on your plate.  Alex and I play musical chairs at our dinner table, because neither one of us really wants to deal with this while eating;-) Sometimes, I just concede and give her my plate and go hungry.  Some days it seems like the better option than eating schmutzed on food. 

Day 21: Your favorite posts...

I maintain my blog as a record of our life.  I don't scrapbook or print off photographs, but I hope to use this as the timeline of my children and our lives.  So, I headed back through the timeline to find my favorites.

And I camped... I won't say I loved this, but it was a great memory we made with the kids.  Rowan still talks about it and wants to do it again.  Someday....

Week in Pictures-Last Edition 2012-The end is near.  It is something about the last week of summer that makes me savor it a little more than the others.  It is bittersweet. A reminder of the gift that summer is to me, but also a reminder that I will bid my carefree days of motherhood behind for the rugged pace of life teacher brings to our home.  I remember this week well and what a difference a year makes;-)

Stop and Smell the Roses-I think it was my mom that told me fairly recently, "Honey, find contentment."  So true it is.  There is always something better, bigger, or more promising, but the truth is, what I have is more than enough.  

Family Pictures-I adore these pictures!  They are probably my favorite of all of our pictures we have taken as they are just so candid.