The Last August Weekend

Friday marked the first high school football game. We all wore our CHS tshirts to support the team. Peanut and I headed to his soccer practice. Pumpkin and the Big Guy headed to the game. Pumpkin got lots of socializing time in. He found his dad with 5 seconds left on the game clock. We won! All were excited. There was a Sadie Hawkins dance at the high school following the game. Pumpkin decided not to go. I want him to take in all high school has to offer. But, I have to admit I was relieved that he did not want to go.

After the game, the three of us watched Doubt. The subject is awful, but the movie is good. The acting is amazing. I read in a review that the purpose of the movie was to stir up conversation. And, it did. You can see both sides of the story and how the doubt goes either way.

As an early birthday celebration, we went to the drive in on Saturday night. Pumpkin had been to the drive in years ago - probably when he was about 3. It was fun! The boys were so excited. We got to see G Force and Ice Age - Dawn of the Dinosaurs. Amazingly, I stayed awake for both movies. The weather was fabulous. The only aggravation was a few pesky mosquitoes!

The boys settled in in the back of the Volvo. We brought their bean bag video chairs. They were pretty comfortable. Pumpkin was so excited he did not eat dinner at home. We wrapped up his burger for him to eat at the drive in.


The Big Guy doesn't look too excited. He enjoyed it until that chair started hurting his back. About half way into the second show, he claimed the back seat.

Of course, we had to have popcorn at the movie. We got some Starburst too. The boys are heading back to the car to get ready for the shows.

The drive in was great! Peanut declared it the best place to watch a movie. We are glad there is still one in operation that we could go to. This drive in actually has four screens. You park facing the screen you want to and tune your radio to the designated station. While we were watching G Force, I glanced over at the other screen in the distance. There was lots of skin and some hanky panky going on! None of my boys noticed. Whew!

We finished off the weekend with a family bike ride and breakfast. The Big Guy spend most of the afternoon cleaning our bikes. My bike was smooth sailing this morning. Love it! We replaced a headlight in the Volvo. The Big Guy planted two crepe myrtles that we got from his parents. And, we finally replaced the remote keypad for our garage. Our old one was not reliable. The keypad installation is very simple. They sell them at Home Depot. If you don't have one and want one, head there. It doesn't take much time at all. The only bad thing about entering a hardware store is it gets your mind thinking. My todo list just got longer...and Labor Day is just a few days away!!

I have one day left with a 13 year old in the house. Tuesday is so action-packed we are going to have to squeeze in cake. He is lucky as the celebration will continue on Saturday with a trip to Nashville to see the Commodores in action.

Why did the armadillo cross the road?

I guess for the same reason the chicken did!

This morning on my longer bike ride an armadillo crossed the road about 10 feet in front of me. He was not close enough that I thought I was going to hit him. He was not far enough away for me to pull out me iphone. It was wild. We don't even live in Texas!! He had a cute little prance to him, but other than that there wasn't much cute about him. Armadillos have longish fur underneath the hard shell - very odd. The encounter with the armadillo made me smile. I was thankful I was on my two wheels as I may not have seen him if I was in the car. He made it safely to a grassy island in the road. I hope he made the rest of the way! I made it home safely on my bike ride. It was lovely:)

The Big Guy and Pumpkin are at the first high school football game. Peanut had soccer practice. I ran him home and took him to a friend's house. This is his third Friday night out of the house. Pumpkin may go to a dance at school after the game. I don't know about all this high school stuff!! The Big Guy and I will be drinking some caffeine to stay awake!

Have a good weekend!

A Week of Variety

A took a step out and read this new book by James Patterson. I have to admit I like his writing style. The chapters are short. You can squeeze in a few when you have a couple minutes. The book kept my attention, but there are a few murders. I am in the summer's-hot-weather-is-moving-on kind of happy mood. So, I am moving on to some light-hearted fiction.

We had a bowl full of peaches left from the CSA from last week. I did some research on the internet. And, came up with this recipe. The Big Guy has a reaction of sorts to raw peaches. His mouth starts to feel itchy. He has the same issue with raw apples. If the fruit is cooked, he doesn't have a problem. I have to tell you. These muffins are wonderful! I followed the comments and added a 1/2 cup of milk to the recipe. I used 2 cups of white flour and 1 cup of whole wheat four (gotta sneak it in where you can.) I love the cinnamon. This recipe is a keeper. I imagine it would work for just about any fruit. The boys tried the muffins. They aren't big peach fans and just could not make it past that. Oh! Well! The Big Guy and I have enjoyed them.

With a house full of boys, I end up suffering through lots of sports. They are always checking to see what football is on. Even though it is preseason, they want to catch a glimpse. This past weekend I made them break out a game to play while we watched. The game, Sequence, is lots of fun and easy to play with four. I hope we get to pull it out again soon. I've taken a hiatus from the knitting. I need to pick that up as I have some gifts to make. Once I get on the knitting mission, I won't mind if the boys are watching football.

This week when I picked up my veggies there was another booth selling apples. I remembered this couple from last year. They are the best local apples. I don't remember what type they are. I just know we are going to enjoy them this week. An apple and some peanut butter make a great lunch!

It is official. The fall soccer season is underway! Peanut starts it all off with a tournament this weekend. The league games start next week. In honor of soccer, I switched Buddy's collar to the Spiffy Collar with soccer balls. I am waiting to see if the boys notice.

We are done with week two of school. I can say high school honors classes are a wake up call. Pumpkin is enjoying it but has to figure out how to study. Some of the stuff is really hard. His school day starts at 7am. He came home this afternoon and decided to rest for a few minutes. I am sure it is all very taxing for a growing teenager. Peanut had school pictures today - already! We are still trying to figure out his homework routine. In 5th grade, they switch teachers for two subjects. It makes it a bit more challenging trying to get to know those additional teachers. He loves his homeroom teacher and is settling in making buddies.

We are off for a weekend of soccer. The weather is supposed to be hot but bearable. We've got lots of jobs outside in the yard that are calling our names!

A Two Shower Sunday

We went on our family bike ride this morning. It is the second Sunday in a row! The boys were troopers as we woke them up kind of early to beat the heat. I am marveling at my riding skills. I unzipped by seat bag, pulled out the iphone, activated the camera, took a shot, and got it safely back in the pouch. I don't think my boys even knew I took a shot. They are power houses. They waited for me a couple times, but no one seemed to mind.

We came home and I made a big Sunday breakfast. My boys love that. They showered eating breakfast all squeaky clean. It did not last long. The Big Guy went out to trim a tree branch that keeps affecting our satellite reception. The boys were right behind. I don't know who thought of it, but they decided to ride their mountain bikes in the back yard. That morphed into a path all the way around the house. We have gates on both sides of the house - perfect!

Even in the yard, this guy has his head down giving it 100% to get up the slope in the yard.

Did I mention this boy started high school this week. I love to see him out there acting like a boy - still.

Of course, the puppy dog wanted to be right there in the middle of it all.

I was inside doing the dishes and preparing food for dinner. We are headed to mass this evening. It works best if dinner is ready when we get home. I made a fancy version of baked beans with meat in the crockpot. I also whipped together that yummy cornbread made with cottage cheese. I found it in the comments of this post. You really need to try it!

The boys took a second shower to be clean for mass. Can it get any better than that? You exercise and play so hard that you need to take two!

We need to take bets on who falls asleep first. I'll just cross my fingers they don't fall asleep during mass!

Two Years and 350 Posts Later!

Who would have thought?

I started this blog with a post about rollerblades.
I thought this journal of sorts would be a great way for my family to keep up with us.

This blog morphed into a diary of sorts. And, it was a way to track our family history.
I hope to print it in a book for the boys to have for the future. Years from now, they will get a laugh or two out of their pictures.

I don't have any fancy pictures or crafts for this post. I just thought it was worth noting this milestone. I'd like to say I will still be blogging two years from now. That's the plan - technology permitting!

Here's to more! Thanks to my family who willingly pose for blog photos. And thanks to those of you who stop in.

GREEN Thoughts to all!

Off to School They Go!

To celebrate the end of the summer, Peanut had some friends spend the night Friday night. I cashed in a certificate I had for an ice cream cake. This is what we ended up with. I remembered to take a picture after the first cut. The cake was okay. The boys loved it.

Today was the start of school. He looks like a deer in the headlights! He was excited about high school and had a good day.

I think he is wondering when his mom will stop taking first day of school pictures of him!

Peanut was ready a few hours later. He was a bit leary as his buddies are not in his class. I told him it is a great way to meet more buddies.

Once he got in his classroom, he was good to go.

We kept with tradition and rode our bikes to his school. This afternoon, he was all smiles when I met him. He loves his teacher and will settle right in!!

Last Day of Summer 2009

Yes! Tomorrow is the day. The boys start back to school. We set the stage for a wonderful Sunday. As of late, we've been going to this little church that has mass on Sunday evening. It frees up our morning. We decided to wake up sort of early and head out on a bike ride as a family. It was fun albeit hot. Here the boys are taking a nutrigrain bar break midway through the ride. We stopped at a shaddy spot on the square in Collierville. The Big Guy led the ride. Pumpkin fell in behind him. Peanut came next and I brought up the rear. I am a control freak and love seeing all the action from the back. Peanut and I rode over 18 miles. We turned off heading home to make breakfast. The Big Guy and Pumpkin rode just under 22 miles. We all agreed this was a great way to start the day. I'd love to make it a Sunday tradition!

We sorted through the boys' clothes. It is amazing how quickly they are growing right now.
We organized their supplies. Gotta make sure Pumpkin's name is on that expensive calculator. He's got all his summer work done and ready to turn in. What is it with summer work??
We spent a few minutes reading. I just started The Associate by J. Grisham.
We got to peak into Adam's classroom. He is a bit hesitant as he doesn't really know any boys in his class.
We headed to evening mass with wonderful music. The mac & cheese was cooking in the crockpot waiting for us to come home.

It is always hard to fall asleep the night before school starts. We are going to try. Pumpkin starts school at 7 am! We'll be up bright and early.

Weeks of Activities

This post is filled with lots of photos from the past few weeks.

At times, I feel old realizing how big my boys are getting. Other times, I appreciate their age and all they can do. This summer we've taken quite a few bike rides. They can ride far and push me. I loved the scene this day peddling behind my two boys. I really wasn't that far behind! I slowed down to dig out my iphone and capture the shot.

Pumpkin was fortunate enough to compete in the Southeastern championships in late July. He had a great meet. This is what Peanut got to do waiting for his brother to swim. There is a group of them that get to play each other's games.

We are so excited that my niece and family moved close to Nashville. It was such a treat to visit with them while we were there for the swim meet. We all got to see Averie too!

I captured a tiny smile in this shot. She had been sick and the teething was getting the best of her! She is a cutie!

When we got back from Nashville, all the boy cousins from David's family were in town. They all had fun hanging out at their grandparent's house. The boys were shooting targets with a BB gun from the roof of the porch. They thought it was the best! Apparently, the mosquitoes were as bad on the roof. With all the rain we've had, those little bugs seem to rule.

We had more visitors! Early in the week, my sister and family stopped in for a few days. It was nice to have them visit during the summer as they normally come over New Year's. We had to take them to THE famous place for ribs. It was yummy!

We headed over to Beale street stopping in to an old five and dime, A. Schwab.

Then, we went to the Gibson guitar factory for a tour. The kids don't look too excited in this photo. But, the tour was very interesting. I had no idea how much manual labor goes into the production of one of the Gibson guitars.

The next day, we headed to The Incredible Pizza Company. They pretty much have it all! The boys had a blast. Peanut hit a jackpot - of sorts. He was thrilled!

The big brother pitched in to help him fold up the tickets.

As if that wasn't enough, we headed to the Redbirds for a double-header baseball game. It was wonderful! The Redbirds won and the weather was out of this world! My sister's visit was lots of fun!

Now, we are winding down. We've got the school supplies. We are trying to play every minute as school starts on Monday!

More Summer Reading

This last week, I finished reading two books. It seeems like if I am reading then I am not doing much knitting.

The first book I read was Journal For Jordan. At first glance, I knew this book would be sad. However, upon reading it, I realized what a gift the book was. Jordan's dad gave his life in Iraq to help ensure our freedom. The relationship between Dana and Charles is a real love story. The journal idea is a fabulous one. I know Jordan is too young to know how lucky he is to know so much about his dad. If you don't have time to read the book, check out Dana's blog.

I decided to lighten up the reading choosing Piece of Work by Laura Zigman. It was light-hearted. However, I don't know if I was hormonal or just the time of year. The book got me thinking about what if I returned to work. I've been a SAHM for 11 years. My professional skills are obsolete. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change a thing. But, the new school year is starting and I think about what I need to learn this year. I need to sign up for the class, How to Handle a High School student. If there only was such a thing!

We were in Nashville the week before last for the long course swim championships. My sister and family were in town this past week. It was great to have summer visitors. Picture of there visit to come this week...