The Last First Day...

Here is my last first day of school picture. He was willing, but barely.

Ahhh, there is the smurk.

It seems like such a milestone, but so far I am not crying. Guess I am saving it all up for the last, last day of high school. Or maybe it is the fear from everyone telling me to "hang on"... senior year is quite a ride. What does that mean?

I am not sure what the year ahead holds for us, but I am hanging on and trying to cherish every moment.

What I wasn't expecting... but I know I should have (after finding last years 1st day of school post)... to find how low the dogs would be hanging today without him! At least there is no puking yet... cross my fingers!!

...and eat your broccoli!

Sunday I decided to re-commit myself;

after way too many "I'm on vacation" decisions regarding food.

So what better way to start it off than to make some of those yummy dessert recipes I got at girls camp to tempt me?

I know, what was I thinking? But I had really wanted to try some of them since I had been home. Especially to share with my boys... I just knew they would fall in love with me all over again, over how good they are. And they aren't totally off limits... moderation Beth, extreme moderation!! I was very relieved to pack the last 4 turtle cookies in Jim's lunch today! Goodbye turtle temptations!

Whew! I got away with only eating one cooked one out of the batch (I sacrificed dinner for that one on Sunday)... and one out of the dough when I was baking them. How else are you supposed to know if they are any good unless you eat some of the dough? I just wrote it in my food journal and moved on! All is well.

To make up for it, I bought a huge Costco size bag of broccoli and in an effort to figure out how to eat the entire bag by myself before it goes bad, because my strong silent mysterious man doesn't eat green food, and the teenager isn't diving into the broccoli these days (I suspect his annual new fit buff body plan will kick in about 2.5 seconds into the first day of school right on schedule... must have something to do with how pretty the girls get over the summer... just a thought).

Anyway, the broccoli... I tried a healthy casserole recipe, it wasn't too bad.

But not really anything to write home about... but a step up from the broccoli smoothie I tried a couple of years ago.

And nothing to make a girl feel better than a little trim. The "locks" were getting unruly! Thanks Katie!!

She will be Mrs. Cody Bishop next time I see her... congratulations on Sept 5th Katie!! ... we are so happy for you and Cody to celebrate your wedding day.

"I got it"

I love it when my strong silent mysterious man cleans our carpets.

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I get the job of moving the furniture out, cleaning up all the stray misc hidden treasures I find when I move said furniture. And vacuuming up all the dog hair that finds it's way behind, under and through every crack and crevice... I can't believe there is anything left of our dogs after all the hair I find they lose! jeesh! Surprised they are not hairless by now.

And then moving the furniture back into place. This job I don't usually mind because I am a self confessed furniture mover... I love to re-arrange furniture. My boys can normally find at least one room of the house moved around about 3-4 times a year... one time I switched my office and Jacobs room just for a change of pace. Our little house isn't very conducive to furniture moving, so this past year when I got the guitar wall up, I haven't changed much. (I am really over due... I might have to knock out a wall soon).

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But the best part of cleaning the carpets, is that for a short time... we can play ball in the house!!!

These guys love it!

No surprise, Taylor is the ball hog!

But Morgan and Rudy enjoy that we get down and roll around on the floor with them!

A good time is always had by all!!

Something interesting I discovered is that I have more consistant, interesting, self motivating, deep thoughts posted in my hand journals from right after we cleaned carpets than any other times. It must say something about a clean house that leads to a clear mind. I always think better with clean carpets!

Life from inside the bubble...

Well we did it... Jim has been threatening for over a year now to quit paying for a local land line, and satellite TV. He gets so frustrated with the outrageous prices for what you get. So we finally did it, we turned off our home phone, we are wireless now, and only get local channels with rabbit ears (I never thought I would ever say rabbit ears again!!) if the teenager stands just right with his mouth open (ha ha ha).

We figured we would spend more time together as a family and playing with our dogs since we have less channels to surf.

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And really we got tons of wrong phone calls, as our number was very close to the public defenders office. I can't say I will miss all those 3pm collect calls from the jail everyday. Although I think I could get a job for their office with all the experience I have re-directing Spanish speaking callers to get their court dates. Jim would just hang up, but after 6 years I felt a connection and obligation to help them find their way out of trouble.

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Anyway, we are now among the proud and the few that no longer need the telephone company or an answering machine!