Boys

Snips and snails and puppy dog tails(and frogs), that's what little boys are made of.

Chores

I have never been a real fan of chore charts, only because through the years it has ended up as a battle of wills...

MOM: "Do you have your chores done?"..."No privileges until your chores are done"..."I'm sorry, you didn't get your chores done."

CHILD: "I didn't hear you"...."I forgot"...."PLEASE, I'll do it next time?!"

I've always just been of the mind, "when I ask, you'll do."

Until....this past week when I've been limited in the use of my hands, and I still had dishes, laundry, dusting, bathrooms, etc...on the list to clean. How nice it would have been to already have these chores assigned to be done, rather than me having to ask for it to be done. I was also informed(after being thanked for doing several loads of post-girls camp...pre-EFY laundry for Kaitlyn) that a few of her friends do their own laundry....GREAT IDEA, why didn't I think of that?!?!



So, for now...I'm a fan of chore charts!

Here are a few sites with some simple printable chore charts I found online. They have several according to age, honey do, grocery, menu planning, potty training & lots more!

http://successfulfamilychores.com/Chore_Charts/
http://www.freeprintablebehaviorcharts.com/
http://www.handipoints.com/

Warning

Do not leave a pan of hot grease unattended...





also not a good idea to grab the pan & throw it in the sink!

I was in shock as I watched the flames go from my stove to my cupboards. I quickly grabbed it off the stove. The flames were still going strong, so in panic mode I tossed it into the sink...spilling grease onto my hands and foot in the process.

My hand and part of my foot are wrapped up and lathered in ointment...hoping for a full recovery.

*Ryan's just glad I'm not going to die(his words).
*Kaitlyn(when she got home from girls camp)..."nasty"
*Cody doesn't want to see it.
*The doctor and nurses were impressed with the size of the blisters
*Casey says, "no more computer while cooking."
*I just want to hire a chef!

Escape World Tour

After much begging and pleading(on my part), Casey finally agreed to go with me to another Keith Urban concert. We went a couple of years ago but didn't think we could take cameras in, so we came home with no pictures, and we were so far up it probably wouldn't have even mattered. So, when I heard Keith was going on tour again I decided we needed to go(and sit closer)...with the camera!! Casey agreed(he actually does enjoy the concerts) and said, "HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AND HAPPY ANNIVERSARY"...I was good with that!



I took lots and lots of pictures!



Hundreds to be exact...



But I promise I won't post them all...



Just a few...



And a couple more...



He moved around in the audience a lot, which made it fun. I was looking around for a microphone near us but no such luck. He did get pretty close, and I was standing on my seat to get some of the pictures.



Taylor Swift was the concert opener.



I'm not really a Taylor Swift fan, but she was good and loved to swing her head around A LOT...



Thank you Casey for such a great date night(let's do it again sometime)!!!

Our Potted Garden

We have always been a little envious of anyone with a large garden. For the past 18 years, we have not had the space to plant our own. When we were in West Virginia we relied on others for their U-pick green beans, tomatoes, strawberries, etc..., which we would preserve and enjoy all winter.
One year while we were in West Virginia we decided to do a community garden plot. It was 10 miles from our apartment, and we were responsible for maintaining and watering it. They did not have water available, so we would have to carry buckets of water from our apartment to water our vegetables.


While we were in Calhoun(GA), the 4-H had made some raised beds at the extension office where Casey worked. They used them during the year, but during the summer they were empty, so we used several of them to plant our garden. Again, it was about 10 minutes from our house, but (thankfully) this time we had access to water.







After buying our first house we now have the room, but we don't have the sun. We have too many trees on our lot, so unless we were to plant the garden in our front yard(which has been up for debate)the plants would not survive without the much needed sunlight. We really do enjoy the fresh vegetables and trying new canning recipes(pickled okra), so this year we(Casey) decided to plant a potted garden...



We would still love to have a few acres for a garden spot, so moving is always a topic of discussion this time of year, but for now we are looking forward to a few vegetables & some pickled okra!

Swimming

School has been out for a couple of weeks now, and Ryan has been begging to go to the lake. So, Monday morning we loaded up the van & lathered everyone in sunscreen, only to find the gates closed when we arrived...they are CLOSED on Mondays!

Ryan was very sad!

So, we checked the weather, loaded up the van again today and made it to the lake for some fun in the sun!



Ryan was very HAPPY!



Seth wasn't sure about the water at first...



but, he soon realized how much fun it was, and we couldn't get him out!



Ryan could have stayed all day. He swam the entire time and didn't want to leave. He's already asking when we can go back. I think we're going to need a season pass this year!

This is what I love about summer...

finding something to do, when there is nothing to do!


Ryan's seesaw action figure launch.