{no surprises from me}

well, as i was zipping through target today as i had to go in for some garden gloves...i spied something. normally, i do not think it would ever have caught my eye. but, a couple of months ago, scott carried in a very old, fragile radio that his italian grandparents used to listen to in their old country store and home. wow, life before television. it almost overwhelms me of the music, news and current events that likely filtered through that old radio. it now sits on top of my living room cabinet. how fitting? above our television. i will often look at it as i pass through the living room and just wonder.......

well, today, i saw a "replica". a crosley radio, cd player, etc. so, i toyed with the idea for a while and loaded it up in the cart to surprise scott for our 15th anniversary next month. then, as i thought all about it, i got realllllllly excited. until the last few years, you very rarely ever found a television on. it was always music. whether i was here alone, it was scott and i (days before children) or when noah arrived. i love music more than i can even express. so, as i dashed through the store (and, almost broke my hand...different story, different day) i got very excited about just having "music" back again. dancing with the kids in the kitchen. dancing with scott (when he can walk better, poor feet!), introducing the boys to my love of ella, frank, harry, etc....

so happy!

well, even though our anniversary is August 9th, i just couldn't wait. scott was very surprised and very happy with it. it's actually very pretty and so vintage-y. so, i have harry connick serenading throughout the house right now. we've all danced. scott hobbled to appease me for a few seconds.

but guess what?

it just dawned on me that it will be SIXTEEN, not fifteen. did i really just do that? and, did scott not catch my goof? uh....no.

so sad! i'm officially old!

and, the one below is not the one i got, it is a darker wood, but similar....





CORRECTION: see above, when i posted our anniversary as august 9th. well, it has not been a mere 15 and it is not the 9th either. head hurts. it is the 7th. on scott's birthday. the 9th.......evan's birthday.

i.give.up. do you think sleep would help?

{snippets}

just a quick update:

*still chasing myself in cicles. but, tonight i have no ballgames to go to. whew! big relief!
*2nd week of swim lessions for E, 1st week for N - they are both swimming like little fish! evan would live under water if he had the lung capacity! they have both done really well! so proud!
*based on the immediate above, a sweet friend from high school is the one teaching them this week. i've had to brace myself as you always want your children to make a good impression, but, she IS a teacher, so i know she's seen it all. today, when e had her in stitches, i once again blamed it on the steriods i had to take during my pregnancy. and, in her summation of noah's personality today, she nailed him as well. amazing.
*hoping to take the boys swimming tonight to show their newly acquired skills to daddy. fingers crossed.
*we got the final assessment of the storm damage. a new roof is desperately needed and some of the siding will have to be replaced. initially, i was diasppointed with just the chaos it will bring, but, stopped myself and very grateful for good insurance. so, no complaints.
*along with the new roof, i've decided to paint my front door black. {gasp} and, finally have those shutters that were suppose to have been hung, how long ago???? finally hung. so, it may look a little different. and......my ivy that i had been trying to get to adhere to the house, but, it got weed eaten down three times..is finally adhering. now, i think i will start it on the other side. not that i need to be reminded i live in the south with the 300 degree weather. but, ivy just says southern.
*i started painting the boys bathroom. again. it is peanut shell. i love it, scott not so much. but, he is appeasing me. thanks, honey!!! now, i have grand plans to rip out the cabinets/sink, replace it with a smaller cabinet sink...finally get a normal size toilet in there and hang a new mirror. we will see. i can paint, but, not so certain about all of that. well, pretty sure i can't do any of that. but, a girl can plan.
*finished phase 2 of my wild drapes in my office/entry way. ran out of trim, so will wait until it goes on sale at Hobby Lobby again. hot glue is a miracle.
*i moved the sewing machine that sat unboxed and untouched to a small, dark, hidden away corner. for now.
*about to order my own family pics!!! jess did a great job, can't wait.
*have decided...i will never be caught up. i'm not even sure what that means anymore.
*so happy with the decision not to send E to kindergarten this year. The flack I have caught is no longer even phasing me. I know it's the right decision.
*noah is begging to go to church camp....jury is still way out on that one. hmmmm....
*family dinners have become a HUGE hit here. the boys will now easily bypass their beloved Mickey D's....when we have the option to eat at home. love it!

until the next report..........

{we had a visitor for lunch}

apparently spiderman decided to drop by and eat his veggies. Not certain where Evan was? he never showed. but, in the pics below spidey tried to talk noah into trying a tomato. it didn't go so well. see by the expressions below.

{technical headache}

well, i'm without a cell phone. again. i think i managed to keep this one alive for about 3-4 months. it's a miracle God ever gave me children. i dropped my little red blackberry on the cement yesterday. again. it had a quick and immediate demise. so......another one has been shipped. i think this will be my 5th in a year. crazy. some have been totally my fault, others have not. needless to say, if you need me.....you may want to send an email. it is working today. but, wasn't last week when yahoo decided to eat over 1500 saved emails. or, you could call me at home. however, it may be safer to send me smoke signals.

i really do not make this stuff up.

{weirdness}

as strange as it is......i think that's probably what makes it so great. yesterday was the topper though.

angela and i have very, very similar taste. (except in food and it is as different as it could possibly get. a different story, for a different day. but, i continue to dispute the idea of fruit being mixed with "real food". yuck.)

you can walk into either of our homes and see several of the same things. our closets, ditto. sometimes, that happened while we were together shopping and we just both liked it that well - but, more often than not - it happened by chance. she called me recently and told me about a set of curtains she was looking at at pier one. i had just bought them the week before. that was out of about 30 different ones to chose from. and, that's nothing really. a couple of weeks ago, she brought me a "surprise"...a new apron! so, i went to my closet and pulled out the one i had got her. from the same store. of all the things in that store.......aprons. we just laugh. it happens over and over.

but, yesterday when she came over. she was wearing "my" new glasses, the ones i just picked out friday and have of course, not even received them yet. it was the very first time i had seen hers. we go to two different eye docs. neither of us had described them to the other. she had narrowed her selection down to 4 and ended up with those. i had a pile of about 20+ and narrowed mine down to those.

it's kind-of freaky. but, in a good way.

{over-scheduled}

i'm sitting here yet again. will i ever learn?

last week was horrific. yes, it could have been worse, but, it was p-r-e-t-t-y bad all on its own. let's see......3 MD/dental appts, 4 baseball games, 5 swim lessons (one of which I was 30 min late for because of dental appt. the session was 30 minutes long. no swim that day. which broke my little guy's heart. which broke this mommy's heart) then.....the usual work, sessions, edits, church, and a wedding. whew!

i look at this week. let's add five more days of swimming (for both this time), VBS x 5 days, 5 baseball games (I think?), appointments with insurance adjusters/contractors for recent roof damage...more trial work, sessions, church, etc.

i am not a happy camper with what i've allowed to happen again. i did skip out on the signed-up, paid-for baseball camp a couple of weeks ago, because there just really wasn't a way to juggle and he needed to concentrate on the absolute basic of hitting......but, the guilt was heavier than heavy. vbs tomorrow......they both are dying to go.....it is so very important.....but, i truly cannot expect to drive over twice a day, actually locating and picking up early because of the swim lesson time conflict.....again, something they both desperately need....then race off to a long week of baseball games.......expecting to get my work done. and, all that time in the car? where is my time with the boys? ugh. head hurts. three trips to FS on Friday ALONE. pretty much two every other day.

something has to give. vbs? i know how incrediably important that is..especially when they are both so excited. swim? it's a necessity too as the lack of could be fatal. baseball? the commitment has been made.

i know what choices i will have to make this week, it will not be easy, because i will have two very disappointed little guys. but, someday, i will breath a little easier when i realize that i truly cannot do everything.

severe case of mommy guilt. need to let it go!!

{deal of the day}

i had to call H from the parking lot. i was so excited. but, i have been looking at luggage for months. i am determined to get busy taking the boys on weekend trips and a real vacation this summer. i have extra hands that have offered to travel with us as scott usually does not do travel very well with the migraines, nausea, etc.

today, i "ran" into my beloved, tjmaxx....look what i saw.....



of course, the first tag i looked at was the original...i was immediately sad, and put it back because if the three piece set was orignally.......$880.00 there was no way i could afford the tjmaxx price...but, i looked again just to see and it was....












$99.99. woo-hoo! i could swing that! but, who in their right mind would have EVER paid the original???? i love tj.

now, where to go first????