April Showers....

If April showers bring May flowers...what does this bring?

Black as night.  Winds to match.

I don't mind the storms, but dear heavens, I've had enough of the rain.

But it's motivation to work as opposed to run of to camp!

Growing up.

What do you think the world would be like if we let kids rule?

Five star restaurants would only serve ice cream and cake.  There would be one isle of frozen foods filled with only chicken nuggets.  Jeans with stained knees would be a fashion statement.  

Sometimes, I wish life was just that easy.  A life where the biggest concern is the character on the pajamas I wear to bed.

Being a grown up is hard sometimes.  

Doing the responsible thing isn't always fun.

But Jeff assures me that the payoff is great.  Today, I'm not sure I agree.

Five Firsts.

Wow, what a week!

I stayed a camp by myself.  I know that to the some, that won't seem like a big deal.  But if you know me at all, you know that was HUGE!  It was awesome.  Especially since it included 3 days with no running water.

We had our first major repair at camp.  While still work, it was fun to fix.  Jeff and I found the local hardware store, tracked down the few oddball parts we needed and we now have water.  Thank goodness that's over.

Michele, Scott and Ben came for a visit.  They got the first "official" tour of the campgrounds in the golf cart.  Ben had the most fun...and we managed not to toss him from the back!

We christened the fire pit.  While still a little too cold to sit out there for hours, we managed an hour of warm and toasty before it got cold and crazy.

We attended our first property owners meeting at Lost Hollow.  Although drama seemed to be the theme of the day, we had a ball.  I still can't believe we own a campsite!

So I go to bed tonight sleepy and happy beyond belief.  But what will make me happier is Memorial Day weekend....our first chance to go as a family!

All are welcome!!

Oh...I hope this works!

We've been saying that a lot this weekend!  Living with no water, fixing the water leak, chugging the golf cart up a million hills...all the while saying "I hope this works!"

But tonight, I'm hoping you can see this.  The hour we spend in front of the fireplace, christening the new campsite.  After an hour, even we were too cold to sit out for a minute more.

I've made it thought 5 days, most with no water, and enjoyed EVERY SINGLE MINUTE of it.

If you're reading this, you should come camp with us!  All are welcome!

See you Sunday!

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to camp I go!

I'm heading off to the wild unknown with some clothes and a camera.

Ok, so it's more like I'm heading to my own personal Holiday Inn in the woods with air conditioning (although I'm not sure I'll need it), water and festive lights!  But it is the first time that I've even done it alone so we'll see how this goes.

With any luck, Jeff's hooked me up with internet access so I'll meet you here tomorrow - same bat time, same bat channel.

But if I'm not here, don't worry!  I'll be back on Sunday with pictures, stories and probably a good laugh or two!

See you then!

Our first lacrosse game!

An evening out with two of my three boys :D

A quick dinner and a quick lesson of lacrosse later, we were having a great time watching Miranda play!  It's a cool sport.  And although LM lost, it was awesome to watch.  I don't know if that was the weather, the company, the player or just being out of the house.

But either way, thank you Jeff, Will and Miranda for a great evening!

An act of true love.

Do you want to build a snowman?

I know that I'm a little late, but Jeff and I finally got a chance to sit down and watch Frozen.  And 5 minutes into the movie, I felt like I was Reese's age.  I was singing along, enjoying every single minute.  And truth be told, so was Jeff.  But thank you honey for spending your Easter evening cooking me dinner and watching the movie of my choice :D

Who else loved the movie?  You guessed it.  I don't know if it was the music, the singing, the reindeer or the singing snowman....she was in love.

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter too.

Rockin' Robins!

Ohhhh, can I tell you how excited I am?

Normally, I get one chance each Spring to see the baby robins.  And they're always on the hardest down spout to get to!

This year, I get not one, but TWO awesome chances to catch the babies in flight.  And both of them are in great spots to set up my tripod.

The good news?  I just might get to catch that first flight once again!  The bad news?  I'm not sure I'm going to get a lot of work done in May!

Fun Fact Friday!

Oh, thank goodness Friday has arrived!

Most Fridays (I really do try to remember each and every week!), I send the boys a fun fact of the day.  Since Hunters at school, Will generally works and Jeff doesn't get home until heavens knows when, this is my chance to share "what I learned" since it can't be shared over dinner.

So just in case you'd like to know...

When offered a pen to write with, 97% of the people will test it by writing their own name.

A snail can hibernate and sleep for up to three years.

The first drive in theater was built in Camden, NJ and cost 25 cents per car load of people.

Australia is the only continent without an active volcano.

The name of the dog on the Cracker Jacks box is Bingo.

It's not quite the same as sharing dinner, but I hope it makes everyone smile :D

Friday Eve!

Yep, that's all I've got to say about the day.  Is anyone as excited as I am that tomorrow is Friday?  Just two more weeks until Hunter comes home.  A weekend with Will...since I don't think I've seen him in weeks.  Good weather and flower beds that need weeding.  Yep, I'm exited for that too!

Happy Friday Eve!

It was MAGICAL.

Bills.  Bills.  Bills.

That's generally all we find in the mailbox.  I know, it's one of the hazards of being an adult.  If I'm being honest though, we've been finding more and more college solicitations for Will than anything lately.  Oh, it's election season too...so those mailings are starting to take over too.

But anyway.  I was excited to see an envelope from Disney today.  Although our trip was less than perfect...it will always be magical in my mind.  It was a cute little package...which Jeff and I agreed must contain a "coupon" good on our next visit.  But instead, this is what we found....

Also included was a simple letter thanking us for visiting.  I don't know about you, but that makes me want to go back more than any coupon you could have sent!  Well that and the fact that I got to meet the most awesome princess of them all!

Yep. It's true.

The flowers are blooming.

Warm breezes are blowing.

Oh wait, that was yesterday.

Today it is snowing!

Hail to the queen!

Yipppppeeeee!  

The first bee of Spring made it's way into my trap!

I'm hoping it's the queen.

Only a million more to go.

36 Hours of Bliss! Oh wait, we took the dogs.

So sorry I missed last night!  Actually, that is a total lie (insert a smile and a wink!).

I forgot to leave the "We are heading off to camp, see you in 48 hours" note!

Mother Nature blessed us with the most glorious of weekends and Jeff and I decided to take advantage of it.  While Lost Hollow is not officially open, we were sure we could make due.  So we loaded up the trailer with the golf cart and loaded up the truck with not one, not two but ALL THREE puppies and headed out.

It was just awesome!  Oh, how I've missed camp!

Ok, so to be honest, maybe not awesome.  Willow was a complete nightmare.  The quietest, most laid back dog was the worst behaved puppy on the planet this weekend!

But outside of her crazy behavior, it really was awesome.

We're home now.  With sun-kissed cheeks and a fresh outlook.  It's amazing what 36 hours of peace and quiet can do for your soul.  More realistically, its amazing what 36 hours of being together without interruption can do for your heart.

Thanks Jeffrey for a wonderful weekend!  No water, no problem.

An evening out!

Awwwwww!

I still grin ear to ear when the boys get all dressed up!

Tonight was the RA Banquet for Hunter.  Isn't he handsome!

In just a few weeks, it'll be prom for Will.

I love this time of year!

Throwback Thursday!

National holidays.  When I was growing up, I remember there being like seven of them.  Christmas, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day and a few others.  Oh, and Columbus Day.  That was an actual no school holiday.

Anyway, now there is a holiday every day.  There's National Scrabble Day, Bat Appreciation Day (the creepy kind that hang in caves, not the baseball kind!), International Vulture Awareness Day, National Stepparent Day and even a National Wife Appreciation Day.  Ok, so I really do like that one, but I digress.

If you can dream it, it can apparently be a "National" day.

So I wasn't the least bit surprised to hear that today was National Sibling Day.  I even found myself participating and posting pictures of Michele and Charlie on Facebook and sending warm wishes to them on their special day.  Was it necessary?  Probably not.  Would anyone have noticed if I just skipped the holiday?  Probably not.

But was it nice to take a moment to look though a box of pictures searching for my favorites of them and giggling at all the others I found?  Was it nice to tell two people who have definitely watched me grow up how much I love them?  Absolutely.

So while I may find all of the "National" days a little silly, maybe they're just a reminder to appreciate things we should already be appreciating.

My final thoughts on National Sibling Day?  I thank God every night for the pair of siblings I created.  It warms my heart to know how close they are.  And this throwback is one of my very favorites of them.  Although they'll never remember that day, I'll never forget it.

So good night.  Happy Sibling Day.  Happy International Safety Pin Day.  Happy National Farm Animals Day.  Happy Couple Appreciation Month and National Straw Hat Month.

Whew, I think I got 'em all!

Happy Days!

Happy days are here again!  The skies above are clear again!

You're welcome.  You'll be singing that song for days.  As will I!

But that's how I felt when I saw this guy pull into the driveway today.

The surest sign of Spring is TruGreen.

Now, to just get out and clean up the remnants of Winter.

Just ran out.

I ran out of time. Not a picture, not a story, not a thing.  We're preparing for school to get out for Hunter, the ACT test for Will, the OSU Spring game, twelve tag orders and two custom orders for sewing, 5 sessions in 10 days and a complete re-org for Jeff's office.

Needless to say, I couldn't take or find a picture that expressed "Holy cow, we're too busy to sleep!".

I promise to be back tomorrow with something warm, fuzzy and funny!

In the meantime, send some hugs our way.  We could all use 'em.

Find a good book.

I don't know which is worse.  The fact that I'm sitting in front of the TV, puffy eyed and miserable because another one of my shows has killed someone I love.  Or the fact that I couldn't find a meme that accurately described my feelings so I took the time to make one.

Five long years of waiting for a happy ending and instead I get "shot and killed" and a two minute good bye.  This is on the coat tails of one of the WORST series finales that I've ever seen.  Thank you CBS for ruining not one, but two wonderful shows.

Here's what I can promise you.  If you love a show, check with me first because if it's one of my favorites, it's destined to end badly.

I'm off to read a book.

Hams!

I promised some birthday love and here's a bit! 

Kids!

Grandkids!

Hams!

Happy, Happy Birthday.

Keeping a secret is such hard work!  I'm far more tired than I realized.

But let me tell you how successful today was!  It's not often we get to surprise mom so we're all a little more than thrilled.  It was a day that she won't forget...and I won't either.

I'm thrilled that I got to spend the weekend celebrating with her.  That doesn't happen often enough.  And it's even less frequent that all of our favorite people are in the same room together.  We have an awesome family and amazing friends.  We are all blessed with the wonderful people in our lives. 

I wanted to sneak some of Scott's pictures of the day into tonights blog, but I'm sure he's a tired as I am!  So tomorrow I'll share all the love from today.  Instead, I will just wish the happiest of birthdays to my best friend, my confidant, my soft place to fall.  I love you more than words can ever express.  Together, we can get through anything.

Happy Birthday, Mom.  

Brotherly Love!

Will ditched school a little early so we could take of on our road trip.

This was our final destination.

It's Sibs Weekend at Ohio State!

Have fun guys!!  Don't do anything I wouldn't do!

Playing games!

It's a little game we play.  I leave the door cracked.  She pushes it open and then looks away like she has no idea who opened the door.  She's smarter than all three dogs.  And just as cute.

Way to go, Will!

Today, I'm pretty positive that I was born before dinosaurs roamed the earth.

In my day, if you were dating someone, that's who you were going to prom with.  There was no formal invitation, no pomp and circumstance.  Just a quick conversation on how we'd split the cost of tickets and dinner.  Oh, and another quick conversation confirming the color of the dress and the coordinating cummerbund.

But today, that's not the case.  The more outrageous and creative you are in popping the "Will you go to Prom with me?" question, the more brownie points you get.  And that applies whether you've been dating for a day, a month or a year.  No expense is spared, nerves are shaky and you hope she says yes.  Even if you've been dating since Kindergarten.

Thankfully, we've raised a sweet, romantic and realitvely shy son.  He had no interest in renting the jumbotron at the Reds game or hiring a sky writer.  He was simple and sweet.  Although he did spent a long time in the back of Build a Bear trying to record the perfect message!

And this was her response :D  Way to go, Will!