This Week

This week is going to be very busy for us.  I think.  I only have to work 3 days this week so that will be nice (and allow me to get some beach packing done).

As for a menu, let's just say this Mama has NO CLUE.  I think we will have some sort of beef tomorrow night (Monday) and chicken legs on Tuesday.  Of course I'll do some veggies and such with those meals.

If I'm not back to blogging before the 4th, have a HAPPY JULY 4th !

Baseball 2013

It's no secret this Mama LOVES some baseball !  I love to watch my boys play it and I like to watch college baseball live (and on TV).

This year, my boys were on separate teams (Nolan moved up a level and Carter stayed at the 8U level) which caused a little stress for me because I wasn't able to go to all of their games, etc.  Hubby and I had to split and go separate ways to games.  The good thing is that hubby coached Carter's team so at least both boys had one parent at each game!  Whew!

 They do let the kids play with sunglasses on, even at this age, because the sun is SO bright!!!

 Nolan's sweet teacher came to see him and several of his friends play because they were all on the same team! 

 Carter getting ready to field a ball !

 He is SOME kind of serious about this game we call baseball !

 Some of my favorite pictures are the action shots!

 Swing !!!

There is hardly anything better than watching a good game of baseball !  Go team go!

Summer Goals

I planned to call this post "June Goals" and then I realized it's like June 24 so I knew nothing on my goals list would get done by Friday. HA!  I figured I'd be better off calling it Summer Goals so as to give myself some serious time to get them accomplished!

There are a few projects I've wanted to get done for quite some time and summer just seems like the right time to get them done.

I am SO fortunate in that I have an employer who lets me take one day per week off during the summer.  I have done this for years and it's truly the sunshine in my life.  I know in 10 or 15 years I'll look back and be SO happy that I took the time to spend at least one day a week during the summer with my boys.  Since I HAVE to work and I can't work from home, this is just how it has to be for now.  I go in REALLY early (6am) so that I am off work by 3:00 each day so I still get lots of afternoon hours with the boys as well.

This summer, I'd like to:

• Clean out the kids' closets and dresser drawers!
• Make a list of what the boys need for school clothing
• Get a window treatment of some type for my HUGE living room window
• Order a new calendar (HELLO ERIN CONDREN)
• Make a housecleaning worksheet to see if it would help break up my tasks
• Clean out my medicine cabinet
• Clean out the make up and misc drawer in the master bathroom 
• Clean out the refrigerator and freezer(s)
• If possible, clean out the shed!

 Hopefully soon I'll get at least a few of these done and I can blog about them!

Menu & Weekend

Our weekend was FULL !  Our youngest had a baseball tournament that started last Thursday night!  They played SO WELL and came in 2nd !   Baseball games took us through the entire weekend.

I piddled around the house Saturday afternoon and evening  doing laundry, cleaning, etc.

We grabbed a few groceries this evening and now I'm ready for this week, which will prove to be just as busy since we don't have a babysitter for 2 days (I guess the boys will be with hubby) and the boys have dentist and orthodontist appointments on Wednesday.  WHEW!

We did get a few housekeeping items done this afternoon such as cleaning out my truck, photo editing, bill paying, cleaning, laundry, etc.

On our menu for the week is:

Monday - snacks for dinner (a summer tradition in my family) and salad
Tuesday - pork chops, squash, okra, tomato and cucumber salad
Wednesday - roast, potatoes, and carrots (maybe some rice for me instead of potatoes?)
Thursday - chicken and yellow rice?  something with chicken
Friday - leftovers

What's on your menu for the week?

A Walk....

I've been on a BIG weight-loss journey this year.  I started in February with the help of some of my "baseball mamas" when we did a big competition.  I didn't win the competition, but it did serve to kick-off some serious weight loss for me.

My goal is to lose 75 pounds.  Yes.  75.  Well, at least 60.   So far, I'm down about 18 pounds (which is a big deal for me).

To help me lose the weight, when I have the time during the week, I like to try and walk/jog about 10 miles a week.  I'd like to do about 15 per week, but right now my time is so sparse that I'm having trouble finding time to do 5-8 miles a week.   This is also my time to think and pray.

I was on a walk last night and this was my view coming back into my driveway....

Pretty spectacular huh?  I love it.  So calm.  So peaceful.

I NEVER post truly personal things on my blog, but I've been going through a few struggles recently and I was reminded so much of this verse (from New Living Translation) Exodus 14:14 - "The LORD himself will fight for you. Just stay calm."

If this picture doesn't exude calm, I don't know what does.

I'm staying calm.  And He's fighting for me.  I love it.

Organizing Files

I was reading a blog this morning about organizing files and it made me think that mine REALLY need to be cleaned out AND reorganized!  This is probably something that I need to do each January but really, I'm happy to find the time to get it done at all, much less in January! HA!

I've talked before about "tax time" at our house and what it looks like and really, if all those papers were better organized, maybe I could get done faster!


Many of you know we are using the Dave Ramsey method to become debt-free and I've talked a LITTLE bit on my blog about it.  I came across Dave's method of organizing important documents this morning while reading.

I'm thinking my goal for this summer (as in June/July) will be to reorganize my files and see what I can purge, keep, and make an overall better system.

Are your files organized?  What system do you use?  I'd love to hear you opinions on how your files are organized!

Happy Birthday to ME

My birthday was last Friday and to celebrate, my girlfriend and I, (and all 4 of our kids), loaded up and headed to our favorite place - DISNEY.  This is the same girlfriend that I went with back in May for her daughter's birthday.  The hubby was in watermelons so he couldn't/didn't want to go and my friend's husband works out of town, so it was just us!

We arrived at our hotel on Friday morning and were able to check-in right away (YAY!).   We immediately put our luggage down, packed a few snacks and headed to the Magic Kingdom.  We had a certain sweet little girl that was begging to ride Dumbo, so that's the first thing we did.  

Considering it was JUNE in FLORIDA, and HOT as the blue blazes, the kids did really well.  And really, I've lived here all my life.  I think it was about 89 on Friday with a heat index of maybe mid 90s or so?  Maybe even 100?  Either way, I know it could have been much worse.

We rode a few rides, and visited a few gift shops, where Chip and Dale made an appearance! HA!

 For my birthday dinner, all I really wanted was to eat at Trail's End Restaurant.  They have a "comfort food" buffet and because all of us really get tired of park-food, we love to eat there.  They have lots of games for the kids to play before being seated--hula hoops, horseshoes, a playground, checkers, etc.  It's really really neat!

 Our gang told the waiter it was my birthday and at the end of our meal, he brought me out a strawberry shortcake, and had the dining area shout Happy Birthday...it was a little embarrassing, but oh well--all in good fun!

 When we travel together, we get adjoining rooms because our kids love to go back and forth between the rooms in the evenings and early mornings.  They just have a blast together and are SO well behaved.  This is my oldest and my friend's youngest one night watching a show on TV.  IT WAS SO CUTE!!

Saturday morning dawned bright and early and we hopped on a bus to head to Epcot!  The kids each had something they wanted to ride and were so excited!

We had a great day at Epcot Saturday and then headed home in the early afternoon.  What a great birthday trip to Disney we all had!

This Week and a Menu

This week is going to be VERY busy in our house!  It's just a crazy time of year for us as hubby is "in melons" as we like to say.  This really means that he is harvesting our watermelon crop.  Sometimes he will leave the house at 6 or 7 am and get home at 10 or 11 at night.  LONG, HOT days.

We have a few trips planned for the summer and I can hardly wait to share with you what they are!  You'll have to stay tuned for that!

On my menu for this week is....

Monday - spaghetti (because I already have the meat thawed and it's easy)
Tuesday - onion baked pork chops
Wednesday - shepherd's pie?  (not sure yet about Wednesday)
Thursday and Friday we will be at a baseball tournament
Saturday - up for debate! HA!

I hope to be back to regular posting in the next week or so.

A SNAKE Encounter

Growing up in Florida, snakes were a natural part of our environment.  I can remember being taught about snakes beginning at a very young age.  In fact, to this day I still remember "red on yellow kill a fella, red on black, friend of Jack".  (the Coral Snake rhyme).

I'm not deathly afraid of snakes.  I'm not terrified of snakes.  I don't "like" them, but I know they are in our environment and inevitably, I'm going to "run" across one in my every day life because of where we live and such.  Most certainly though, I'll kill one in a New York minute if I run across it though.  HA!

We've tried to teach our boys snake safety (for lack of a better term).  We've taught them not to touch them, don't try to pick them up, call an adult if you see a snake, etc. etc.

Last Saturday afternoon, I was going out the back door and felt something hit my arm.  I happened to look down right about the same time a LONG snake was slithering off my arm and fell onto the back porch.  Oh yes my friends.  A snake had slithered up the door jam and fell on my arm when I opened the door.  I.Almost.Died.

Did I scream?  YES.  Did I drop what was in my hands?  NO.  Thankfully I had Carter home with me and he went out our other back door and got a "sword" and chopped the snake's head off.  I did at least have the wherewithall to take some photos of the snake so my husband believed me! HA!

The snake looked like it had a diamond pattern to me and it sort of did, but I wasn't about to start freaking out just yet.  Carter said it was an oak snake (but I think he may have been just guessing?).  It looked like some sort of rattler to me.  Here's a photo (taken through the door of course).

Anyhow, Carter to the rescue and he was SO proud that he helped Mama get rid of the snake.  Yes, that would be a sword he's holding.  Yes, he's supervised when using it.  Don't judge.

I did get some good pictures of the snake with my good camera, but I haven't cleared the camera card yet, so these photos will have to do.  Hubby got home and thought it MIGHT have been a Pygmy Rattler, but after looking at the snake and the pictures, decided it was in fact an Oak Snake.

I'd say it's a dead snake now.