Sunday, November 30, 2008

Thanksgiving Weekend- Day 1

Our Thanksgiving weekend started out with the arrival of my sister Kim, her husband Justin, her kids Caleb and Gracie, and Justin's mom Darlene. They arrived late Tuesday night from McMinnville, TN. Wednesday morning, after some sleep, I took them to one of our favorite new spots, Pine Lake. (See link for details.) We almost didn't make it since my car began overheating just minutes after leaving the house. But we doubled up in Kim's van and off we went.


We had a nice picnic lunch and some play time on the playground.




We took a stroll around part of the lake. We couldn't go too far since Kim is 34 weeks pregnant. The kids loved running around and using up lots of energy. Travis really took to Darlene, refusing to hold anyone's hand but hers. Even though the sun was shining bright, it was a little cool and an even cooler breeze that would pick up now and then. But it was so nice to be out, nobody seemed to really care.






We stopped at the dock to feed the ducks and swan. It didn't take long for them to come. Not many people were out that day, so they were on the lookout for people with food. Within minutes we had a huge flock all around us. Justin showed the kids how to get the swan to reach their necks up and eat a piece of bread from their hands. What a great day.


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We stopped for a quick break and to find the turtles, only 2 of them made an appearance. It was a nice day, relaxing, beautiful, and more important, tired out the kids so they slept great later!


Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Brown, Chop, and Mix My Way to the Freezer


Today



this . . .



became this . . .




18 meals ready to heat, bake, or simmer. 18 meals that I don't have to wonder, "hmmmm, what to have tonight?" 18 meals that won't be cold cereal or McDonald's because I didn't get around to it.


Plus, my new freezer, which I've been dying to get for years now, finally has a purpose for something other than that lonely box of popsicles!

Sunday, November 16, 2008

ramblings of an insomniac

It's 2:30 in the morning, here I am at the computer, sitting in the dark, hoping the light of the screen won't wake up Bruce.

I finally went to bed around 1:00 after starting to fall asleep on the couch, watching all my shows that were recorded on the DVR. I quickly got into bed before the sleepiness could wear off. For the next hour I proceeded to have quite a conversation with myself. It's not anything too unusual, I talk to myself pretty frequently. I just try not to do it out loud for fear of looking too weird. (Although the technology age has relieved me of some of my fears, strangers will just think I'm using a hidden ear phone thing. Oh wait, my hair is pulled back into a ponytail.) Anyways, back to my pleasant conversation. I redid an unpleasant conversation I had with someone, using some great comebacks to make myself come out ahead this time. I had a few converstaions that haven't happened yet, may never happen, but I'm ready if they ever do. I had converstations with people that didn't happen but I wished had. After an hour of this, and sometimes repeating the same thing multiple times, I got bored with myself, (really it should have happened much sooner, these things weren't that interesting,) I got up.

I try to get out of bed if I'm not asleep within 20-30 minutes. That's what all the experts say you should do. (And I've read plenty on what the experts say you should do for this problem, and I've tried many of them.) Don't lay in bed forever, it will only make it worse. But the problem is nothing seems to work, especially lately. The lack of sleep has gotten pretty bad. I can function fine during the day, at least after the hour or so it takes me to actually wake up. It's just the annoyance of being tired all the time, of being up so late with nothing to do, of having thoughts of my pillow all day yet thoughts of everything else all night.

I'm plenty tired at night, I just can't get my brain to shut off. Bruce is asleep within 5 minutes of laying down. That really annoys me. How can someone fall asleep so quickly. It takes time to find just the right spot. Many turns of the body, fluffs of the pillow, blanket on, blanket off, blanket half on, what's that light over there, did I check on the kids, this pillow is so uncomfortable tonight, I hated that thing that happened today . . . and there starts another conversation with myself.

I've thought of going to a doctor. First I have to find a good one, and that's a huge issue itself. I have to decide what I'm even willing to do, pills? I don't know.

And so I sit here in the dark. So far so good, Bruce hasn't noticed this noisy keyboard. I'll get to sleep eventually. I've only gone with nothing 2 or 3 times. It will come, it just won't be much. I've gone on 3 hours of sleep more times then I like to remember. Church is at 9:30 am. Perfect, I can take a nap tomorrow afternoon, which will guarantee I'm up again tomorrow night. Ah the vicious cycle. Although if I somehow force myself to stay awake all day in hopes of a good nights sleep, I still manage to be wide awake as soon as my head hits that pillow.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Pine Lake, a great find!

I wanted to do something fun with the kids on Veterens Day to get us out of the house, have a little fun, but not spend much money. I found this blog all about a great little spot, Pine Lake, only about 15 minutes away. It's small, with a paved path all the way around, about 2 miles long. There's a playground, lots of picnic benches, ducks and geese and turtles and squirrels. We walked around the lake and fed the ducks. We found the turtles sunning themselves on a log. Then we had a little picnic and played on the playround for a while. It was just a perfect fall day, crisp air, just cool enough for jackets but still beautiful enough to not want to go inside. I told the kids we'll have to go back another day with their bikes so we can walk further around the lake, (the 2 boys got a little tired.) I took a ton of pictures, but something was wrong with my camera. Most of them came out with a pink hue and too exposed. I was able to use a few of them by turning them black and white, and then the last few were okay. So here's what I was able to salvage, but I'm sure we'll be back lots for more pictures.





----- Feeding the ducks -----














----- Fun on the playground -----











Sunday, November 9, 2008

Halloween '08

I finally got my pictures from Halloween, so here's a peek at the kids. They had a great day, even though Mom isn't known for making much of a big deal. This holiday frustrates me. Unlike Christmas, Thanksgiving, or some of the other big ones, there is no point or meaning in the day. To me it's just a day to spend way too much money on a costume they wear once, and eat way too much candy. I just don't get it. But then, I've never enjoyed dressing up. I'm just the Halloween Scrouge! But the kids were cute anyway and we had fun Trick-or-Treating.


Courtney, the fierce ninja.



Dylan, aka, Darth Vader.



Travis, the way-too-cute-to-be-fierce ninja.



from left to right, Courtney's (her own design, and lots of help from Grandma Jo), Travis' (with help from Mom), Dylan's (with great help from Dad.)



Monday, November 3, 2008

Visit from Grandma Jo

My mom came to visit for the weekend. We had a good time shopping, eating out at a new yummy restaurant, and just relaxing at home. The kids had so much fun with their Grandma Jo around. And she even babysat one night while Bruce and I had a much needed date night. It was a great weekend that went by way too fast.



They had a hard time sharing Grandma Jo. All 3 of them were on top of her pretty much the entire time.


Courtney really misses having her Grandma around. They are very close. She cried all day after we dropped her off at the airport.


Dylan talked non-stop the whole time, telling her about all his TV shows and toys and school adventures and who knows what else.


Travis had no problem warming up to his Grandma right away. Someone new to read books with!


She helped take the kids Trick or Treating. I'll post those pictures as soon as I get them. Unfortunately they are on her camera, so I have to wait for her to send them to me.


So now we've had Aunt Kim, Grandma and Grandpa Cook, and Grandma Jo all come to visit, and all in the same month! We can't wait for more people to come!