Home Improvements

The laundry room is just about done. I won't mention the few more doors I need to paint! We finally hung the mirror on the far wall. What a difference it makes! The room is brighter and it is perfect for that last glimpse as you head out the door.

I went through all the cabinets and drawers sorting out what we don't need. It is so nice to have an organized space! The swim bag and the soccer bag ended up on the laundry room floor right in the middle of the way! We decided to move them to the garage. The big guy hung two hooks at just the right height. He had to consider the recycling and the car door before placing the hooks. They've been up for about a week and it is wonderful not tripping over them in the laundry room:)

Now, if I could just get the boys to put their shoes in the cubby in the laundry room closet!!

Red Rover, Red Rover, We Dare Buddy Over!

On Saturday, we took Buddy to the unleash dog park. It was a lovely albeit windy day. As usual, Buddy had a blast! It is so fun to watch him enjoy his freedom. He is a magnet to the water not caring about the chill in the air! After he swam for a bit, we walked around to an open field for some dry retrieving. Standing and watching him retrieve the ball was not enough entertainment. We noticed he circled his "master," David, to the left every time he brought the ball back running behind David and dropping it on the big guy's left side. In an effort to befuddle Buddy, we got in a line playing our version of Red Rover with him.

We lined up with our feet spread apart. Buddy ran out to get the ball. On his way back, we closed off his path by making sure one foot touched another foot. I thought he'd go through our legs. No way! He jumped over our legs. When he hit either boy's leg, he broke the chain. They fell to the ground pretending they were tackled. We even started saying the Red Rover chant! It was amusing. If dogs could tell us what they think. Buddy would have thought we were nuts:)

These are the activities I cherish. It says something that the boys were able to come up with some kind of entertainment out of nothing. With all the technology gadgets out there, I think we lose sight of these opportunities sometimes. The boys still have creative energy and are willing to play along!

Easter

Over the last week, we did a few things getting ready for Easter ~

The boys went to a flashlight Easter egg hunt. It was supposed to be only for middle schoolers. I don't think they got the turn out they were expecting and opened it up to all the kids that were there. Peanut was thrilled to be able to participate.

There were 3000 eggs in the field. This picture is pretty dark. They all had flashlights hunting for the eggs.

Peanut stashed his eggs inside his jacket. There were special shiny eggs with prizes. Peanut found two and Pumpkin did not find any. The regular eggs had candy and toys in them. The boys thought the prizes were geared toward little kids. All in all, they had fun starting off the spring break week.

The local animal shelter had an egg hunt for the dogs. We decided to take Buddy to it. He loved his bunny ears! Not!


There were lots of dogs there. Some were really dolled up. There was a parade before the egg hunt. We think Buddy was confused. He normally goes to the park on Sunday afternoons. He wasn't quite sure what all this Easter stuff was about. The eggs were hidden all over. Each egg had some sort of food on the outside to attract the dog's attention. Wouldn't you know it. We have the dog with exquisite tastes. He was not interested in the plastic eggs. He found two and could have cared less about the real dog treats inside them. Again, I think he was waiting for us to pull the ball out.

On Easter Sunday, we continued our second annual attendance of sunrise Mass at the Catholic cemetery in town. It was dark when we left the house just past 6 am. It was cold too. We did not need fancy Easter outfits. Our warm clothes were put to use. The boys got to wear sweaters that they haven't gotten too much wear out of. Here is a picture of my boys waiting for the mass to begin.

It was not as cold as last year. I think the temperature was right at freezing. We each had our own fleece blanket helping keep our seat and legs warm. There is just something about celebrating the mass outdoors, hearing the bagpipes play, and starting the day anew. There isn't better symbolism than having the sun rise at your back marking Easter and the rising of our Lord. It was lovely. More people thought the same this year. All the chairs were taken and it was standing room only. We'll have to remember to get there early next year!

Finding a restaurant open after sunrise mass poses a challenge. We ended up at a new tavern down near the Mississippi River. It was perfect and we had a view of the river. With all the flooding north, the river was wide and the current was fierce. It was captivating to watch.

Here the boys are trying to warm up before breakfast.

My colorful scarf was perfect for Easter. It looks like it is faux rabbit too! What about that other scarf?

If you look closely, you can see that cold red nose touching my face! I think our photographer as embarrassed!


When we got home, the boys searched the house for their baskets. They found Peanut's right away. The Easter bunny stumped Pumpkin this year! Eventually, they found the second one. We ended the day with an Easter dinner here at home. My in-laws joined us. It was very relaxing and the food was yummy! We are very grateful. My husband is thrilled as his mom agreed to take home the ham and make ham salad. Apparently, she did that when he was younger. He has fond memories associated with ham salad. I am not one for ham, but oblige my family on Easter.

Happy Easter

Here it is! Out of desperation, while the Vanderbilt Commodores were losing, I pulled out the lite brite and went to town.



Happy Easter!

NCAA Fever

First of all, we'll be cheering on the 'Dores today when they play in Tampa. Some days they look like an amazing basketball team and other days we just don't want to talk about it. We are crossing our fingers for an amazing performance. The game is not televised. We'll have to watch updates on the computer! The rest of the area will be watching that number one team play in Little Rock.

The basketball NCAA fever hit our house. The boys have been out shooting lots of hoops. It was very evident that our basketball hoop was about to fall apart. I even warned the neighborhood kids the other day to run if the backboard fell off. So, yesterday we went out and bought a new one. The big boy had the day off and was on a mission.

Here is a not so good picture of the old backboard. Our hope was to just buy a new backboard. That idea was quickly squashed as the backboard cost about as much as a new system.
We've gotten lots of rain. They decided to get the old pole out asap before the ground turned to clay. Can you say get dirty? They had a blast trying to wiggle the old pole out.

It just got muddier and muddier!

We have a very young supervisor! In reality he was probably thinking about when he can start shooting again.

There it is out of its hole! With the help of the neighbors, they got it to the curb. The big truck with the grapple tines will pick it up early in the week.

There is the hole! The big guy decided to forge ahead even though it was a bit wet. We presume it will just take longer for the cement to dry.

The other helper taking the backboard off the pole. Why? They were having a ball playing with the socket wrenches, hammer, screw drivers.

The new pole is sitting in wet cement with the level on top of it. It made it through the night and looks pretty good. There is some standing water we hope evaporates quickly. I'll post a picture of the finished product when the cement is cured!

What Were They Thinking?

Normally, I am a citizen that goes with the flow. Today, was a different story. It is the boys first day of spring break and a day of nice weather. The rain and flooding are headed our way. I prodded the boys to turn off the TV and go on a bike ride with me. We've done this ride many times in the fall and early winter. We essentially ride connecting the "trails" through our city of Collierville. We go from 8 to 10 miles at an easy pace with the little guy leading! He would not have it any other way!!

We got to one of the larger parks heading to the trail that takes you back to the little river and this is what we saw

I just could not believe it said no bikes. I have to confess. I acted like I did not see it and continued on the trail. It is 0.7 miles
out to the river. About halfway, a man looked up and said that we obviously did not see the sign that no bikes are allowed. Keep in mind there are some bypasses built into the trail. We did not even go past this man and we sped up so we would not interfere with his walk. I could not believe it and told him that I was heartbroken not understanding why walkers and bikers could not share the path. After all, we are a suburb of one of the fattest cities in the USA. Do I need say more? We only saw three walkers and one was a friend of mine. On the way off the path, three older walkers said something again about no bikers allowed. I don't know what got into me, but I spoke up again. We are just innocent law abiding bikers. We notify walkers we are coming and have even stopped walking our bikes to get by. It really upset me.

When we got home, I called the Parks and Recreation folks. They passed me off saying it was just a city law for the signs to go up. I emailed the mayor and an alderman that I know proposing some alternative solutions. We'll see what happens. I don't think I can move mountains. I just know how much I have enjoyed this trail. The trail is in place and I just want everyone to enjoy it:)

I am not sure if it is something in the spring air, but I felt like I needed to speak out!!

Walk #14

The sky is grey out. It rained quite a bit overnight. The sidewalks have puddles and the ground is soupy. But, we set out on our walk anyway!

You can see the sky in this picture. You can't see the signs of spring too well. The Bradford Pear trees all have blooms on them. The little white flowers seemed to have appeared overnight.

There is a small splash of white in the woods. I love it! Most of the lawns are Bermuda grass. It goes dormant in the winter and makes the landscape dull. It will take a few more weeks to turn green. Any splash of color is a welcomed sight!

Along the edge of the woods, I saw some bamboo. It would make some pandas very happy:) I was a bit surprised to see it as I have heard that it is quite invasive.

In my ear, I had the Shuffle on shuffle. I have not done that in a long time. It was fun to go from listening to Norah Jones, Michael Buble, the Wolf River Singers, Sheryl Crow, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I waited in anticipation to see what the next song was. It doesn't take much to thrill me! I ended with the accompaniment for my Italian song I am working on. I wonder if the neighbors heard me practicing with it. It is a very fast piece. I finally got the words down. There are a few runs in the music that don't match the accompaniment. I am struggling with it and it continues over and over again in my head. I will be glad when it is mastered!

Have a good one! The boys are on spring break next week. We are sticking around here - crossing my fingers that lots gets checked off the list. I am sure we will work in some fun too!!

Good Luck?

I had a belly laugh after dinner and needed to share it. My husband and I were sitting at the table finishing up our glass of wine. The boys were outside on their pogo sticks. I look up at his shoulder and realize a bird deposited some good luck on his shirt! It was too funny. The present was positioned just so that David could not see it clearly. I had to take a picture!

Who knew this was all going on while he watched Peanut's soccer scrimmage!

Pogo Sticks

The boys got a gift card for Dick's Sporting Goods from their Aunt Joyce and Uncle Rick for Christmas. A week or so ago, the boys finally decided what they wanted to use the cards for. Peanut wanted a pogo stick and Pumpkin thought that might be a good idea. Due to their weight differences, they each needed to get their own stick. We looked at them online. I drove all the way up to the store only to find out they don't stock them at the store. So, we ordered them and they came yesterday!

Peanut is the pogo master! In just one day, he went from a personal record of 4 to a lengthy record of 226!




I don't think Pumpkin has passed the 20 mark. The spring in his stick is very tight. He'll just have to work it out.



They boys were excited to get home this afternoon and practice. It doesn't hurt that it was beautiful with a high in the low '70s:) I don't know how long the sticks will keep their interest. For now, it is great! A big thank you to Rick & Joyce!

Spring Cleaning

Like the new look? In honor of spring, I chose a new template and got rid of all that distracting color. I hope to embellish the blog, but don't have the time today. The new clean look reflects my mind set right now. I love this time of year and all the freshness that Spring brings. Now, off to purge and clean the rest of the house!

Peanut Does the Cha Cha Slide

Last week, the evening PTA meeting included the children. The second and third grades got to perform the Cha Cha Slide for the parents. It was a great way to get parents to come to the meeting. I was pleasantly surprised with my Peanut. This participation was voluntary. This boy doesn't like to be on stage or even be the center of attention. He is the soccer team captain and doesn't like to yell out plays to the team. But, he wanted to do this! He was giddy from the time he arrived at the school. The business part of the meeting took too long. The kids were going bonkers.

They finally got to perform and the classes spread out on the gym floor and started dancing. Peanut was grinning from ear to ear the entire time. It helped that his good buddy was standing right in front of him. He did a great job. I was just so proud of him for stepping out of his comfort zone and going for it. The funny thing is he will not do it at home. We wanted him to teach the rest of us and he refused! Perhaps, we will bribe him during Spring Break.

We've been hearing the tune in the McDonald's commercials. Perhaps, you have heard it too! Peanut is down there in the green striped polo with a light blue long sleeve t-shirt underneath.

FMA Live

I have not been this excited about something educational in a long time! FMA Live just came to my son's middle school. It is a wonderful program put on by Honeywell and NASA for middle school students. You have to apply for the program, but it is free. The idea is to get kids interested in science. The stage and set up are amazing. Three cast members spend about an hour singing, dancing, hip-hopping and teaching about Newton's laws. I can't say enough about it! It was wonderful.

My son got selected to participate in the program. He helped illustrate the law of inertia. He donned a velcro suit and jumped into/onto a wall. They had a little competition with another student to see who could jump the highest. The jumps were fairly close, but Pumpkin pulled it off.

Pumpkin is in the red velcro suit getting introduced.

Here he is getting ready for the jump.

Stuck on the wall!

The winner is announced!

My Weekend

Wow! We started the weekend with the kids getting out two hours early in preparation of snow. And, we got it! I was the one who went out in it on Friday night. I had to go to choir rehearsal. It was our first and only rehearsal with the brass. We all had to brave the storm. The condition of the roads surprised me. Fairly large roads were covered with snow. They just don't have the equipment here. It was a slow go, but the scenery was beautiful. After rehearsal, the roads were in much better shape making the drive home a non-event. When I got home, I was wound up. I convince the Big Guy and Peanut to get their boots on. We grabbed some beers, snapped the leash on the dog and went for a walk. It has to rank up there as the prettiest walk. A blanket of snow covered everything. Buddy was just giddy with all this white stuff around. The wind was blowing and the snowflakes pelted us in the face - not the best conditions!

The boys spent their mornings playing in the snow. The slightest slope in the grass was a target for the sled. Snowmen popped up everywhere. The snow was perfect for building and for snow balls. We have morphed into Southerners. We don't have the clothes needed for the snow. We did so many loads drying off the boys' wet stuff.

I had my concert on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. We commissioned a piece by the chorale composer, Wayland Rogers. He flew into the area from Chicago just for the event. It was wonderful. The music was very challenging. It was nice to have the support of many friends at the show. I am just glad it is over. I need to see if I can get a copy of the recording to listen to it and to send to my mom. It is amazing how tiring all that singing is!

When I got home last night, my wonderful hubby did it all. He grilled burgers and did the entire dinner thing. I just sipped my wine and zoned out. All the singers were begging for a Monday night off. But, we did not get anywhere. We have to get new music and start rehearsing tonight. I wonder how many folks will really be there.

This week, I have to take charge here at the house. Off and running on this Monday...

SNOW!!

The S word is in the forecast. I just took the dog on an abbreviated walk. For a minute, I thought I was back in PA! The wind is howling from the North. The sky is grey and the clouds are ominous. They look like they are filled with snow. Nothing has started and it not supposed to until later afternoon. This is very exciting. The weather folk are predicting anywhere from 1 to 5 inches! The schools are dismissing two hours early. What a great way to start the weekend. I hope we get to play in it:) I will post some pictures if the prediction becomes a reality.

It is amazing what this has done for my psyche. I was in a slump and the thought of a blanket of white has just made my day!!

Walk #6

I was tempted to bag the walk today and head out on my two wheels. The weather is just beautiful albeit a bit windy. They say it is supposed to turn back to winter tomorrow. If it does, I am crossing my fingers for some real snow!!

I felt sorry for the puppy dog and decided to stick with my plan of walking. I had some Norah Jones Not Too Late in my ear. I love her voice. I saw some things on the walk too!

Look at the daffodils behind the iron fence. Their yellow just adds a splash of color to the scenery. We are still waiting for the daffodils in our yard. Their green leaves are about 6 inches high with no buds visible.

This is a Bradford Pear tree starting to wake up from a winter siesta.

These are the maple trees in our front yard. They cast a rosy pink hue this time of year.

It is amazing! Spring is not too far away:)

Walk #5

We got out there right after Peanut went to school. The ground is very wet from all the snow drizzle yesterday. The weather is a bit nippy, but the glorious sun is shining. As I am posting this, Buddy is sound asleep paws twitching. Do you think he is dreaming of running through an open field? I used the walk to help me memorize some Italian. I almost have one more verse down!

I have my voice lesson today. Too bad I don't have the music memorized to go with the Italian verse:( I plan to run some errands afterwards. It is a crazy week as the full press in on at choir. We have our spring concerts this weekend. I hope people come to hear us sing!

I got my Real Simple yesterday. I normally "save" the magazines to read some special time. This issue us all about travel. It sucked me right up. Now, my list of places I want to see is even longer. I also got my Southern Living last weekend. They changed the format and it is going to take me some issues to get used to it.

Anyway, off to sing some tra-la-las...

It's Snowing

This morning, after I rode Peanut to school, after I did the dishes, after I made the grocery list, and after I spent quite a bit of time practicing my music, I decided to brave the outdoors. It is a very cold grey day. At the end of February, I challenged myself to get a walk in every day in the month of March regardless of weather or any other excuse I could come up with. The month of March marks the start of spring and the best way to see it is with my eyes as all starts turning green. I am happy to say that today is March 4th and I have walked all four days. Today was a challenge as it would have been better to curl up reading a book!

Like the Greenhills cap? The Big Guy wears it quite a bit jogging. I decided it matched perfectly with my pullover:) Looking at the picture, the cap doesn't seem to match. Oh! Well!

The four legged dude, Buddy, did want anything to with the pictures for the blog. He was ready to go!

We got out there and the most amazing thing happened. It started snowing!!! It was cold, but it was wonderful. There were slow flakes on Buddy's fur. We walked for about 30 minutes and it snowed the entire time. No accumulation, though! It is just too warm. I was glad I went for the walk getting to enjoy the magic of snow. I know lots of folks are sick of the snow by this point of winter. I yearn for just one good one. I miss the snow from our days of living up North!

Spanx...This Way

Photo taken from the Spanx site.

This may be more information than you need to know. But, I took the plunge and ordered by first pair of Spanx yesterday. My choir concert is coming up next week. Our formal attire is a sleeveless black tank dress covered by a sequin jacket. The dress reminds me of the travel wear from Chico's. It is very comfortable. The jacket is a bit flashier than what I normally wear. But, the outfit is flattering on all body types and looks great in performance. I was thinking about the dress and realized a pair of Spanx would be the perfect compliment. I ordered a pair without feet thinking I'd get more use out of them. We'll see! When I worked many years ago, pantyhose were a daily necessity. Being a SAHM now, they are the farthest thing from my mind. I am lucky if I make it out of my sweatpants! I did not select the expedited shipping option. I am crossing my fingers that the package makes it here on time!

Now, for the shoes. I have to get looking for a comfortable pair. Last spring, I wore my old black pump standards. Wow! My feet were aching by the end of the first show. I hope there is something out there...

Tupelo, Mississippi

Peanut had a soccer tournament in Tupelo this weekend. Lots of his teammates stayed overnight down there. We did not have the flexibility to do that. It is less than an 1.5 hour drive. On Saturday, his games were at 12pm and 6pm. The rules of the tournament were interesting and did not work in favor of Peanut's team. They did show improvement with signs of some "real" soccer coming out. Peanut just loves it. We keep telling ourselves that is all that matters.

Tupelo is just far enough that we could not drive back in between the games. So, we hung out? What is there to do you ask? There is the Tupelo Automobile Museum or the birthplace of Elvis. The boys choice was unanimous. We headed off to see the cars. I don't know what I was expecting. It turned out is was a large warehouse decorated somewhat with about 60 cars in it. There were audio boxes in front of each car. It is a good idea, but you grow tired of listening to the boxes. Peanut lost interest early on. There was a survey for your favorite car. We each selected different ones.

I chose this 1939 Ford Convertible. I liked the color, shape and details of the car.

The Big Guy chose the 1964 1/2 Mustang. It is the ugliest color car there! But, that is what is first car was and it brought back all those memories. I don't think there were too many parking memories!

Peanut chose the BMW Izetta. He loved the idea of entering the car from the front. It was a creative microcar. I don't think he knew his mom has her eye on a Mini (my irrational choice of a new car!)

Pumpkin chose the Ford Fastback. I think he did it just to get a reaction from his father.

I guess if you have an hour to kill in Tupelo, head to the museum. It used up some time. We were able to go to mass right before Peanut's game. He played very well. We headed home for a night's rest in our beds. The Big Guy and Peanut returned for an early morning game. Pumpkin and I stayed here to do PRE.

The weather was great! Spring must not be too far away.