We've been pretty occupied these past couple of weeks. Notice I didn't say "busy". That's actually one of my least favorite words these days. I overuse it, others overuse it, it's like the word "like" that annoys us all. So, occupied, yes, that's better.
I spent several days preparing for a garage sale, then several days having the garage sale, and I'm now in the stages of trying to put my house back together, which, you guessed it, will take several days. I don't know if garage sales are really worth all the work. I still have tons of stuff to deal with, I still have a mess in my basement from tearing stuff out. I can't park in my garage yet....oh, whatever. The main goal of the sale was reached, which is school clothes money. With our economy the way it is, we've really had to make some big changes. Short of moving, I can't think of any more places to cut!
On Sunday we took one of our spur-of-the-moment road trips! We headed up to Crystal Lake, where we enjoyed beautiful scenery and maybe just a touch of envy. Some of those lots were just screaming to me! I would love to live on a lake one day! We ended up having a lovely picnic at Beulah Beach, then looked at some big ole boats in Frankfort. The girls love walking the downtown areas of the cities we visit, so we did a little of that too. We kept the trip alive by doing a scavenger hunt all the way there and back. Daddy and Natalie against me and Serena. We all came up with a list of things we had to find, then the competition was on! We had a few funnies in there, such as "dark socks with shorts"....Natalie actually found that one, which put them in the lead by one point. It was probably the most fun thing we did the whole day and it was totally free! Serena and I lost by that one point, and since losers had to supply dessert, I made a blueberry pie on Monday!
The best part was that our only expense was gas! We stopped in Cadillac at sunset and took some silhouette pictures of the girls. Then everyone except for the photographer took a turn trying to walk on the back of the park bench, causing some hysterical laughter. We arrived home around 10pm, tired, but knowing we just had an amazing day!
I am spending this week doing some cleaning, and the girls are preparing their closets for the start of school. They're doing their last bits of sleeping in, and staying up late. Soon we'll be all business again and will certainly keep ourselves "occupied"!
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Just Reenie and Me
Today was my day with Reenie (Serena to the rest of you). We grabbed our tennis racquets, some blackberry pie for G & G , and headed into town. It was a beautiful warm perfect summer day for a game of tennis with my beautiful daughter. We started out a little rough, sending balls flying over the fence and into some standing water. It was a little crazy trying to serve while stepping on weeds that were growing through the service line! We kept joking that we were playing "redneck" tennis! Those courts haven't been maintained at all. In fact, when Patty and I played tennis back in the 80's, the courts were exactly the same dilapidated mess. We didn't let it spoil our fun today, though. We just kept laughing at how the balls were getting lost in the weeds, just like golf! We got a few good volleys going, and finally slapped each other a high five to end our game. Serena said my favorite words, "That was so much fun!!" And yes it was!
We went home for a quick lunch, then to the video store to rent a movie. We both thought it would be so fun to set up an outdoor theater with our chaises and enjoy the movie in the fresh air. Well, we couldn't figure out how to do that, so I pushed our club chairs together in the living room, close to the set, we put our feet up, and watched the movie with the volume up high. At one point, she looked over at me and smiled. "Mom, we're sitting exactly the same way!!" It was cute. We really were!
These are the days that I love the most. The times when I feel most connected to my girls. When I'm spending precious time with my youngest, and my oldest sends me a text, "Hi mommy!" It just makes me all mushy inside!
Tomorrow Reenie heads up to Grammy's to spend time with our nephew, J. who's coming up from Detroit. And guess who will be home alone? Me and Steve! I won't be blogging about that date, my friends! :)
We went home for a quick lunch, then to the video store to rent a movie. We both thought it would be so fun to set up an outdoor theater with our chaises and enjoy the movie in the fresh air. Well, we couldn't figure out how to do that, so I pushed our club chairs together in the living room, close to the set, we put our feet up, and watched the movie with the volume up high. At one point, she looked over at me and smiled. "Mom, we're sitting exactly the same way!!" It was cute. We really were!
These are the days that I love the most. The times when I feel most connected to my girls. When I'm spending precious time with my youngest, and my oldest sends me a text, "Hi mommy!" It just makes me all mushy inside!
Tomorrow Reenie heads up to Grammy's to spend time with our nephew, J. who's coming up from Detroit. And guess who will be home alone? Me and Steve! I won't be blogging about that date, my friends! :)
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Being a Family
Natalie is heading off to youth retreat this week, meaning we had some preparing to do! After dropping Serena off at her sleepover, Natalie and I headed to town for some shopping for camp. We hit the trial size aisle first, then the candy aisle (my personal favorite), then we headed to the cereal aisle, followed by the salty snack aisle! I think we hit all of the departments by the time we were done! After hearing the thunderstorm outside, we decided to hit the book aisle for some browsing. We then picked out some new pencils and a notebook for Bible study at camp. It was clear that Natalie was loving her alone time with me. And of course, I was loving my alone time with her too! We didn't want it to end.
After we left the grocery store, we headed over to the mall to find her some cute pajamas...for camp, of course! We had so much fun browsing the store, even finding a cute top for mom! We chose the cutest set of Hello Kitty jammies and a cute top for the first day there.
The whole time we were together, we were laughing and joking. She was trying on goofy winter hats that had scarves and gloves attached. I picked out some owl gloves I thought would be cute for a football game. We laughed over the idea of mom wearing short shorts. Yeah, right! I'd sooner expect to be hit by a meteor. We checked out the underwear aisle and had a few chuckles there as well...those will remain our little secret!! Let's just say I made a punny and some lady heard me and cracked up. OOPS. When I made some other crazy comments about grape jelly, Natalie said to me, "And you wonder where I get my weirdness from??"
I just love these times where I have one daughter all to myself, and I realized that this doesn't happen very often. It is something they clearly need, and it's something I really treasure. As Natalie and I headed out for an evening walk, she looked over at me and said, "You've been my buddy today." We laughed as we tried to skip, jump, and hop over all the "cracks" in the rail trail. We approached what we thought was a toad/bird/butterfly, and I nearly got hit by a speeding bike as I stopped. It turned out to be a leaf, and boy, did we laugh!
Tomorrow I will drop my oldest off at camp and pick my youngest up from her sleepover. I can't wait to spend some alone time with Serena, laughing and joking, giving her my undivided attention and love, doing the things she likes to do with just her mom and no one else. Tennis, maybe? I can't wait!
And when both girls will be gone at the same time this week, I will be able to have some quiet time with Steve as well. There is nothing better in my world than being with the people I love the most. One on one. And there is nothing better than when the four of us are together again, doing what we do best. Being a family.
After we left the grocery store, we headed over to the mall to find her some cute pajamas...for camp, of course! We had so much fun browsing the store, even finding a cute top for mom! We chose the cutest set of Hello Kitty jammies and a cute top for the first day there.
The whole time we were together, we were laughing and joking. She was trying on goofy winter hats that had scarves and gloves attached. I picked out some owl gloves I thought would be cute for a football game. We laughed over the idea of mom wearing short shorts. Yeah, right! I'd sooner expect to be hit by a meteor. We checked out the underwear aisle and had a few chuckles there as well...those will remain our little secret!! Let's just say I made a punny and some lady heard me and cracked up. OOPS. When I made some other crazy comments about grape jelly, Natalie said to me, "And you wonder where I get my weirdness from??"
I just love these times where I have one daughter all to myself, and I realized that this doesn't happen very often. It is something they clearly need, and it's something I really treasure. As Natalie and I headed out for an evening walk, she looked over at me and said, "You've been my buddy today." We laughed as we tried to skip, jump, and hop over all the "cracks" in the rail trail. We approached what we thought was a toad/bird/butterfly, and I nearly got hit by a speeding bike as I stopped. It turned out to be a leaf, and boy, did we laugh!
Tomorrow I will drop my oldest off at camp and pick my youngest up from her sleepover. I can't wait to spend some alone time with Serena, laughing and joking, giving her my undivided attention and love, doing the things she likes to do with just her mom and no one else. Tennis, maybe? I can't wait!
And when both girls will be gone at the same time this week, I will be able to have some quiet time with Steve as well. There is nothing better in my world than being with the people I love the most. One on one. And there is nothing better than when the four of us are together again, doing what we do best. Being a family.