Fireworks!

DAY 182 - June 30, 2010

The 4th of July is coming up...and the boys have been VERY excited to get some fireworks. They've been looking through the fliers that have come in the mail and looking up the name of each one on YouTube to see if they could see what it did when lit. Tonight we went out to get some stuff...here's what we got. Kaleb had to set it all out in a nice little display. We got much more than this...he just didn't display the duplicates of what we bought.

A different way to "eat out"

DAY 181 - June 29, 2010

It was such a beautiful night tonight that we decided to eat dinner out on the back deck. Kaden was very excited about this and helped me get the table set up. He even folded the napkins into triangles and put the silverware on them.

Bugs, slushies, and cupcakes.

DAY 180 - June 28, 2010



This is what happens when Lilly gets interested in a bug. She was barking and pouncing and sniffing at this little spec of a bug for about 5 minutes. It was so funny to watch...as if she'd never seen a bug before. In the end...she got brave and started licking the thing...of which she quickly ate. So much for that bug!

DAY 179 - June 27, 2010

The boys and I stopped at Speedway today and each got a slushy. I haven't had one of these in quite a while...probably since last summer. I usually get one each summer and I usually good. The boys don't get them much either...just WAY too much sugar in them. But today, they sounded good...and they were!

DAY 178 - June 26, 2010

Today was the City Celebration in Greenwood. Doug always has to work traffic control at the parade so we usually ride down with him and watch close to his assigned spot. The owners of a little bakery came through with these cute little cupcakes to try. They were really yummy. Of course, I had to try a creative little picture before we ate them. I really like the way the background is all blurry and full of color from the flowers across the street.

Keeping her busy...

DAY 176 - June 24, 2010

We got this GIANT bone for Lilly...and she absolutely loves it. We've had one before and it lasted her months. It works great for keeping her occupied which is just what we need sometimes. This one should last her quite a while...

First bike ride in a LONG time.

DAY 175 - July 23, 2010




Doug and the boys found a bike recently stuck in the patch of trees between our neighborhood and the next neighborhood over. We've check to see whether it's stolen and checked with the HOA to see if anyone has reported it. Those checks came up with nothing. So, now we have a bike. Tonight the boys and I went on a bike ride...here are Kaleb and I getting ready to go. Kaden is taking the picture as Doug is at work.

A whole lot of catching up to do!

DAY 174 - June 22, 2010

This is one of the Lillis that we planted last year just off the steps of our deck back by the pool. Isn't it beautiful!?!

DAY 173 - June 21, 2010

I'm not sure if you can tell what this is...it's the sump pit to our pool. This pit is about 4 feet deep and should not have too much water in it. As you can see..it's almost to the top. We came back from Iowa and had had so much rain that this thing was just totally filled. Doug's parents had been there and had kept the pump in the pit. It needs to be "off" because it shouldn't run dry. They were there on Saturday evening and it hadn't had any water in it. By the time we got home on Sunday night we'd had so much rain that it was full! Our pump will be going for probably 24 hours straight! The bad thing is that the liner will "float" if there's a lot of water in this pit...that means that at some point we'll have to drain the pool and get all the wrinkles out from it coming up from being smooth. Guess there wasn't really much we could do about it...we just had WAY TOO MUCH rain in a short amount of time.

DAY 172 - June 20, 2010

Headed home from Iowa Doug drove for about the first half. We stopped for lunch and I took my turn at driving. And, THIS is what happened after less than 5 minutes of being on the interstate! Everything was fine but it added about 2 hours to our already long drive.

DAY 171 - June 19, 2010

Me and the girls. These are just some of my closest friends from high school. Tara, Erin, and Heidi are all looking fantastic. Tara is now living in North Carolina and travels a lot for work. I'm fortunate that Indy is one of her stops fairly often so I've actually been able to have dinner with her twice in the last year. Erin and Heidi are both pregnant and looking fabulous. Erin is due at the end of July with her 3rd child and Heidi is due about 3 weeks later with her 4th. I'm so happy for them!!

This picture was taken at the dinner on Saturday night at Greenbriar which is the nicest restaurant in Johnston. I wish some of my other closest friends could have made it. Either way, we had a great time catching up with everyone and it was so good to see the Class of '90 again.

DAY 170 - June 18, 2010

Tonight is the first night of my class reunion. Can't believe it's been 20 years! So much has happened in those 20 years and THIS is what I'm most proud of! Doug and I were headed out to see how everyone has changed. The first event is at the 'beer garden" at the Green Days, a little festival in Johnston. The boys went with my mom and John to check out the carnival for a while. We ended up hooking up with them to spend a few minutes with them. They each got to ride some rides and then Kaleb wanted me to go on the "Zipper" with him. Let me tell you, one day (probably about 20 years ago) I loved those things...tonight, I just about lost my lunch. Well, not really but I could tell I'm getting old because it wasn't nearly as enjoyable to me as it used to be. I did have fun with Kaleb though and that's what is important.

DAY 169 - June 17, 2010

This little guy decided he might want to tag along to Iowa with us. We stopped a few hours in to get some gas and a quick bite to eat. When we came back to the truck he was sitting on the windshield! I have no idea where he came from...he just appeared. I had gotten out to get pictures (of course) and try to get him off. Doug and the boys were apparently scheming inside the truck and decided to see what would happen if they turned on the windshield wipers. So, of course the little toad jumped...as did I! This is where he landed which was awfully close to where I was standing trying to reach for him before they played their little trick. We eventually got him off the truck and put him someplace safe. It didn't last long though because he quickly hopped back onto the sidewalk. He was fine when we left...hopefully he found a comfortable out-of-the-way place to be.

DAY 168 - June 16, 2010

Today we had to drop Lilly off at Arbor Lane Kennels for the weekend since we're headed to Iowa for my class reunion. It was her first time going to a kennel and she was a bit unsure about it. Both the boys had a really hard time with it and didn't want her to go. Eventually they said their good-byes and Kaleb and I took her in. Here's Kaleb settling her in to her kennel. We got to bring her pillow and a couple toys to help her pass the time. I know she'll do fine but be SO EXCITED to see us when we come back to get her.

DAY 167 - June 15, 2010

These are some of the plants in our butterfly and hummingbird garden. This is Monarda and they stand pretty tall. Right now they're probably about 3 feet tall but will get a bit taller than that. It looks like there are individual petals on the head of the flower but they are actually each individual little flowers that a hummingbird can stick their beak into. We've already seen some butterflies hanging out at the garden and will be putting up some hummingbird feeders to help attract them as well.

Crazy weather, great team, and a new sport.

DAY 166 - June 14, 2010

Look at this crazy sky! It was getting ready to storm and the sky was looking scary and beautiful at the same time. I really like it when weather comes in...I love to watch the sky and then hear the rain. Of course, if I have to go anywhere I want it to be nice weather. But, we didn't have anything to do so I liked it today.

DAY 165 - June 13, 2010

Coneflowers...in our butterfly and hummingbird garden. I really like these tall flowers and can't wait for the plants to fill out. One whole corner of the garden has got these flowers in it and will be just fantastic once it all fills in. Butterflies...your feast awaits!

DAY 164 - June 12, 2010

Kaleb's last baseball game with the Minor League Cardinals was today. They put up a good fight but ended up losing. So, that's it for the tournament. Here he is with Coach Sullivan...

And with the team and trophies...Great season Cardinals!

As I mentioned...Kaden will be trying football this year. Today was the day he got his equipment. He'll always be our "Little Bit" and I'm not so sure I'm ready for him to put all these pads on and get pounded on the field. We keep telling him (and I keep hoping) he'll be one running and with the ball. He's small and fast so here's to hoping he can outrun those trying to tackle him!

This and that...

Day 163 - June 11, 2010

The boys attended Vacation Bible School with some friends this week. Megan and Rachael Goldman from our neighborhood invited them to go along. So, every night from 6-8:30 they went and had all sorts of fun. Tonight was the last night and the kids all put on a little show of all the songs they'd been working on all week. They did some songs with just their age group and then with everyone together. Here are Kaleb and Kaden up front doing their thing.

DAY 162 - June 10, 2010

Doug used to occasionally deliver flowers to me at work. Now that I work on-site at Lilly it's not an easy task. I wouldn't even know how to go about having anything delivered there. So...he found an alternative. These are all flowers from our yard that he's grown. He picked some, arranged them, and took a picture and sent it to my phone saying "Since it's impossible to deliver flowers to you at Lilly here's a different approach. They'll be waiting for you at home." I thought it was so sweet! And, I love that they're all from our yard.

DAY 161 - June 9, 2010

The boys borrowed this snow cone maker from a friend that lives in the neighborhood. They treated us to whatever flavor we wanted. It was so easy to use and they had a blast making a special snack for each of us. They worked together on it making each one and proudly handing it to us.

Checking things out.

DAY 160 - June 8, 2010

The blue heron is back again. I snapped this picture of him as he ventured out of the pond onto this grassy area. He walked around a bit and then headed back to the water. I guess he just wanted to see what was over the little hill on the bank of the pond. He hasn't been around this year as much as he was last year. I miss coming home and seeing him standing in the water. He always looks so peaceful and I loved watching him.

Waiting, crafts, and cake

DAY 159 - June 7, 2010


Kaden is going to try football this year. He's never played it before and is looking forward to giving it a try. He had to have a sports physical this time around. He's never had to have one before for Tae Kwon Do, soccer, or baseball so this was a first for him. Here he is hanging out waiting for the doc to come in.

DAY 158 - June 6, 2010

Kaden just loves crafts...this is one of his creations from a while ago. He stuck this sun catcher on the window by the front door and there it's stayed ever since.

DAY 157 - June 5, 2010

Today was Kaleb's 11th birthday party. He wanted a "pool party" theme and the best we could really come up with was luau stuff. I think his cake turned out great. Thanks to Mamaw for getting it for us. We stopped by the craft store and picked up some sturdy scrapbooking stickers and stuck them into the cake to add to the luau feel.

The second picture is all the kids that came to his party lined up and jumping simultaneously into the pool. They did this about 6 times and loved it every time.

Only half-way done...

DAY 156 - June 4, 2010

I was looking at our pool today from the deck after the boys had closed the cover after swimming. I know that I only got half of the cover cleaned in the spring...that was all the time I had when I started cleaning it. You can obviously tell can't you?!? It really does look like night and day and I know I should really clean the other side. I will....one day...

Coming home to this...

DAY 155 - June 3, 2010


Doesn't this look like a dream?!? Doug works really hard on the yard and this is the result. I'm amazed when I step back and let it soak in that this is our house. We are very proud of it and the work we've put into it. The yard is definitely Doug's "baby" and I can completely understand why he always gets complements while he's doing the yard work. I can't take credit for any of it though...because while I help, all I do is the weed eating and some of the edging. That is, I help with that when we work on it at the same time. Sometimes I'm at work he'll do the yard work and I obviously don't help out then. Days like that...this is what I come home to. Yep, I'm a lucky girl!

Where does the time go?

DAY 154 - June 2, 2010

Kaleb's 11...where does the time go?!? Unfortunately Doug had to work so we met him for dinner at Cheesecake Factory - Kaleb's choice of course. Kaleb's party is coming up this weekend so we celebrated as a family tonight. He got cheesecake (of course, it's Cheesecake Factory after all!) and they really did it up good for him. They wrote Happy Birthday Kaleb in chocolate and sprinkled the plate with candy confetti. It is probably hard to see in the picture but it was really neat.

A rewarding but hard day's work and some other random things.

DAY 153 - June 1, 2010



Ahhh...Silly Bands! They're the latest craze with the kids. Basically they're rubber band bracelets that are formed into specific shapes. They hold their shape when they're taken off again. The kids collect them and trade them. Here Kaden is checking out the bracelets that Megan and Rachael have and will be negotiating a trade.

DAY 152 - May 31, 2010

Doug's mom picked up this cool topiary for us from Target. She felt it would go perfectly in our living room and she was exactly right. It looks great up on our mantle.

DAY 151 - May 30, 2010


The boys are out of school now and home for the summer. They enjoy putting together a trail mix to have as a snack they can get. I love that it's a bit healthier than other things they could choose to snack on. They also like making it their way. Kaden doesn't like chocolate (crazy right?!?) or dried fruit. Kaleb likes those things. We get a variety of things to put together and they make it how they want it. Here they are with their giant bags of their concoction.

DAY 150 - May 29, 2010

We're getting ready to put in a butterfly and hummingbird garden along our side fence inside the back yard. This is the last remaining area to be landscaped and when Doug saw some plans for this garden he knew I'd like it. The orange line is where we'll cut out the grass and put the garden. Consider this the "before" picture.

After we got the grass cut out of the area we headed to Dammann's to get the plants we needed for the garden. The boys really took an interest in this project and didn't complain at all the entire day. It was a very hot day and it was hard work and instead of complaining, we all had a great time working together. Before we headed to Dammann's Kaden asked us if we could get some Milkweed. He explained to us that it's a plant that butterflies like and can grow on. We were both in the dark on this and, as far as we knew, Milkweed was a "weed" and we wouldn't be able to find it. Well, he asked while at Dammann's and the lady was VERY knowledgeable when it comes to this kind of thing. She took a real liking to the boys and really let them help pick things out. She led us in the right direction and was able to substitute for things they didn't have. She also explained that we didn't need nearly as many plants as the plans called for.

Consider this the "after" until things fill out more. This is the product of all our hard work. It will be really fun to watch grow and attract the butterflies and hummingbirds. By the way, Milkweed is a "weed" but because it acts as a "host plant" for butterflies and they can support the pupa, larvae, etc (all that stuff I've long forgotten from biology class!) they did have them at Dammann's for exactly this purpose. Kaden was so excited! We got 2, one white and one pink...each of the boys chose their color.