My Daybook

For today...Tuesday, March 30, 2010

On My Mind...still really tired and going to bed after I finish this!

Outside My window...there is water EVERYWHERE!!! Thankfully we are not flooded and we didn't need to evacuate like another part of town but there is still more water than anyone could want! The water going down the road in front of our mailbox is about 1 foot wide and 2 inches deep on the road and has completely washed away the ground by the edge of the road---we're talking about 6 inches inches deep! They're saying the sun is coming out tomorrow (or at the very least, it's supposed to stop raining!)

What We're Reading...I finished Standing Tall by C. Vivian Stringer and have started The White Queen by Philippa Gregory (for The Tudor Book Challenge). With Tucker, we're reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid (he got it for his birthday) and really enjoying it! We're going to read some Easter books later in the week. His favorite book this week was Lewis & Clark: Explorers of the American West by Steven Kroll.

What We're Listening to...I finished The Help by Kathryn Stockett and just cannot say enough good things about it! I'm now listening to Jane Eyre (for the Take Another Chance Challenge) and actually really liking it!

What We're Watching...for some reason, I skipped this one last week! I am so watching DWTS and was totally shocked by tonight's results (no spoilers here! LOL); I like Nicole and Chad...definitely done with American Idol...on Amazing Race, I like the cowboys and Steve and Allie...on Survivor, thinking I'm going with Boston Rob-surprised that the Villains are doing so good! And can't believe Tyson got voted out last week!...we're also still watching Extreme Home Makeover and of course, the UCOnn women as they make their to the Final Four!

I am hoping...I make it to work tomorrow! I just barely made it home with all the road closures (and actually went around some orange barrels and went the wrong way just to get to our road!)

In the Kitchen...chicken brushetta tonight, beef stroganoff, ham steaks, not sure???

Around the house...had to get the Wet Vac out to clean up the rug down in the family room because it was SOAKED!!!...dishwasher's running...clothes need to be folded.

Coming Up This Week...need to get the pictures from Tucker's birthday party posted...soccer practice Thurs ...home visit Thurs...Tucker turns 8 on Sat...coloring eggs for the Easter Bunny to hide...Easter egg hunt at work and soccer game Sat, also taking Tucker out for pizza Sat night...celebrating Easter with an egg hunt and dinner at my mother-in-law's on Sun.

A Picture Thought...Tucker just cannot resist a good mud puddle! As soon as he came home yesterday and saw his construction site full of water, he immediately put his boots on and got out there! The water was up over his ankles and he loved every minute of it!

My Daybook

For today, Wednesday, March 24, 2010 (Better late than never!)

On My Mind...a family friend of ours passed away this weekend. He was my dad's best friend and I had known him my whole life. He was diagnosed with stomach cancer around the time my dad passed away in 2004 and had been battling it ever since. He died on Saturday, my dad's birthday, which seems fitting. His girlfriend called my mom to tell her he wasn't expected to make it through the day and that he was talking about fishing with my dad. My mom explained that it was my dad's birthday and it all seemed to make more sense.

Outside My Window...it is dark and the rain has finally stopped! After the beautiful weekend we had, it has rained for the past two days and finally the sun came out today!

What We're Reading...I'm almost done with Standing Tall by Vivian Stringer. With Tucker, we've been reading a lot of Civil War and Revolutionary war-type books lately. He seems to enjoy the historical non-fiction ones lately so that's what I'm going with. We still have a Lewis and Clark book to read, too. (It's the anniversary of their expedition this week). His favorites this week were So what's it like to be a cat? by Karla Kuskin and ...if you lived at the time of the Civil War by Kay Moore.


What We're Listening to...I'm on the last disc of The Help and have enjoyed every single minute of it!

I am Hoping...to get some sleep tonight and feel more motivated to get some stuff done!

Quotable Quote...Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being ~ Goethe

Around the House...definitely needs a lot of attention; I just haven't felt very motivated lately.


Coming Up This Week...home visit tomorrow night...soccer practice tomorrow night...Tucker's birthday party on Saturday at Monster Mini Golf (again!)...soccer game Sun afternoon.

Some Picture Thoughts... (from my cousin's twins' first birthday party)
My Aunt Donna made Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls for Chelsea and Adam

Adam is learning to walk and loves to walk with his Grammy (my Aunt Donna)

The birthday boy and girl celebrate with some chocolate chip ice cream

Swing, Batta, Batta!

Baseball season officially starts in April around here but Tucker has been so excited to start practicing! We went to the baseball field today to get some hitting in...(check out his new sports glasses! They get dark in the sun!)

Colors

I wanted to share this with you!

Tucker was telling me that they're going to be using Color Cards* in his classroom because kids haven't been behaving and went on to say "mine won't ever be changed".

Then he asked me "did you ever have your color card changed when you were in school?" I explained that we didn't use color cards when I was in school.

He nodded and said "that's right, you didn't have colors when you were in school!"

*For those who may not be familiar, Color Cards are a type of discipline system, if someone misbehaves, their color is changed, with a consequence (I believe it goes green, yellow, orange, red. I can't remember what the first two are but I think the last two are calling your parents and going to the principal, respectively.) They use this system in kindergarten and 1st grade and it seems to have some success.

Happy St Patrick's Day

May you always have
Walls for the winds,
A roof for the rain,
Tea beside the fire,
Laughter to cheer you,
Those you love near you,
And all your heart might desire!

My Daybook

For today...Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Outside My Window...It is dark as usual and it is finally feeling like spring out there! After all the rain over the weekend, it's nice to see the sun!

What We're Reading...I'm still reading Standing Tall by C. Vivian Stringer. Tucker's favorite books this week were Cinderdog and the Wicked Stepcat by Joan Holub and My Big Dog by Janet Stevens.

What We're Listening to...I finished Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister and really liked it. Looking forward to reading Mirror, Mirror (about Snow White) by Gregory Maguire at some point. I started listening to The Help because I have heard such good things about it and the waiting list will take forever for the book! I'm really liking it and if I was reading the actual book it would be one I couldn't put down!

What We're Watching...not really into American Idol so much this time around for whatever reason, just listened to the guys for the first time last week. Not even sure who left last week and frankly not sure if I care or not...we taped Amazing Race and need to watch that...Watched Madagascar with Tucker Fri night and the three of us watched Planet 51 Sat night; it was really cute...Not sure who I am rooting for on Survivor, maybe Boston Rob at this point...also still watching Biggest Loser.

I am hoping...my elbow/arm starts to feel better. My chiropractor says I have 'tennis elbow'. I don't know about that but it sure hurts to reach for/pick up anything!

Quotable Quote...Dance as if no one's watching, sing as if no one's listening, and live everyday as if it were your last. (one of my favorite sayings and Irish too in honor of St Patty's Day tomorrow!)

In the Kitchen...tacos tonight, grilled cheese and soup tomorrow(we have scouts at 6), pizza Fri night at the Family Social.

Around the House...the dishwasher's running...it's pretty clean around here...laundry needs to be put away and a few more loads to do.

Coming Up This Week...Scout Den meeting tomorrow night...soccer practice Thurs night...Family Social/Basket Raffle at Tucker's school Fri night...1st birthday party for my cousin's twins on Sat...soccer game Sun afternoon.

A Few Picture Thoughts...
A couple of my favorite pictures this week...

Tackle It Tuesday-Family Room

Each week on Tuesday, 5 Minutes for Mom sponsors Tackle It Tuesdays where we are posting before and after pictures of a project or trouble area that we tackled this week.

The project can be little or big – whatever you want.

Basically, Tackle It Tuesday is about giving ourselves incentive, deadlines and satisfaction in getting our household tasks done.

(It doesn’t even have to be housework… just whatever is on your To Do list.)



One of the things we liked most about our house was/is the finished family room. My husband collects beer paraphernalia and for the first couple of years, it was the man cave, dart boards and all.

Having Tucker changed a lot in our lives, including the use of the family room; it became more of his playroom. We spend a lot of our time down here as a family, between the computer, playing Wii, and watching TV.

We've been wanting to make it more 'family-friendly", if you will. My uncle recently passed away and we decided to take his loveseat and recliner chair which inspired me to clean out down here to make room!

Here are the "before" pictures...(and yes I am appropriately embarrassed at the state of the room!)



But trust me when I say, that the hard work all day Saturday was worth it! We got rid of a falling-apart love seat and the microwave stand we had the TV on. 4 large garbage bags to Goodwill and one large garbage can full later-this is what our family room now looks like:



I'm now planning to "tackle" the rest of the house and clean out!

To see what others have tackled (or to join in yourself), go here.

My Daybook

For today, Monday, March 8, 2010

On My Mind...tired from all the cleaning I did this weekend but also feeling really good, too! I'm planning on going through the rest of the house; it definitely needs it!

Outside My Window...it is dark, of course! Today was the warmest day we have had yet! Definitely looking forward to Spring!

What We're Reading...Finished Silver Bells by Luanne Rice and now reading Standing Tall by C. Vivian Stringer. I had started it before I got the Twilight books for my birthday. I am determined to read through the pile of books that have been on the corner of my bureau before I get any others! With Tucker, I am reading Who Was Harry Houdini? When he was a baby, I called him Houdini because he could get the blanket off his feet no matter what he did! His latest 'trick" is changing into his soccer uniform while buckled in the car seat while I am driving the car (not that I encouraged this, I didn't even know he did it until he told me!) He was wondering who Houdini was and I found this great book! It's actually pretty interesting! His favorites this week were Hungry, Hundry Sharks and How George Radbourn Saved Baseball by David Shannon.

What We're Listening to...Halfway through Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire.

What We're Watching...still loving the cowboys on Amazing Race...missed Survivor so I don';t know who is gone...watched Biggest Loser but fell asleep before it ended!...Still liking Undercover Boss and now Pawn Stars on History channel.

I am hoping...to keep up with both my blogs more often!

Quotable Quote"The air is like a butterfly
With frail blue wings.
The happy earth looks at the sky
And sings."
~ Joyce Kilmer

In the Kitchen...ham steaks tonight, tacos, spaghetti and meatballs, meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

Around the House...cleaned down here in the family room BIG TIME--filled 4 garbage bags for Goodwill plus a huge garbage bag full of garbage! I will show you tomorrow on Tackle it Tuesdays!...clothes are folded and need to be put away.

Coming Up This week...PTO meeting Tues night...soccer practice Thurs...Felix to the vet Thurs...soccer game Sun afternoon.

Some Picture Thoughts...
Yesterday we went with Tucker's Cub Scout Den to make pizzas. Here he carries the pizza with the other boys to the lady who put it in the oven...

Trying the pizza-it was yummy!

I got this TV when I was 12. It went with me to 4 apartments and then here for the last 10 years. I finally admitted it was time to get rid of it-after 28 years, I guess my parents got their money's worth! (we replaced it with one of my uncle's TVs which is only 8 years old!)

My Daybook

For today, Monday, March 1, 2010

On My Mind...wondering where the time is going! How is it March already?!?

Outside My Window...the sun finally came out today! Now everything is all muddy as everything melts although I heard it may snow later in the week.


What We're Reading...I finished both Eclipse and Breaking Dawn over the past two weeks and started Silver Bells by Luanne Rice today. With Tucker we'll finish Night of the New Magicians tonight. His favorites this week were George Did It! by Suzanne Tripp Jurmain (about George Washington) and Casey and Derek on the Ice by Marty Sederman.

What we're Listening to...Finished A Lion Among Men and The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. Michael picked up Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister at the library for me today so I'll start that tomorrow.

What We're Watching...still enjoying Amazing Race (rooting for those cowboys!) and Survivor (still liking James). We did watch a lot of the Olympics and really enjoyed the skiing events! Also watched Undercover Boss for the first time.

I am hoping......spring is coming soon! I'm tired of the snow!


Quotable Quote..."Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind" ~ Dr. Seuss (in honor of his birthday tomorrow)

In the Kitchen...Beef stroganoff, spaghetti, ham steaks, tacos.

Around the House...dishes need to be done...laundry is all done and waiting to be folded...put out the St Patrick's Day flags.

Coming Up this week...another busy one!...cub Scout den meeting Wed night...soccer practice Thurs night...Cub Scout movie night Fri night...soccer game Sat afternoon...Cub Scout trip to pizza place.

No picture thoughts this week.