10 on friday

1.  this picture makes me sad.  she looks so lonely.  {we had just returned from playing on the swing set, eating ice cream and riding our bikes around the whole neighborhood and pond and she had a play date earlier too so don't feel too bad for her}

2. finally got to meet some new neighbors yesterday.  i had tea for 3 hours in the afternoon and a jewelry party in the evening.  while it will take all i got to get out of my "shell", i'm ready to turn this neighborhood into one of those that's super friendly.  i'm ready to be hostess with the mostess!

3.  today i've got lots of cleaning and cooking to do.  mike's mom's 2nd or 4th cousin/uncle from arizona is coming over for dinner tonight.  got the main dish and dessert thought of but not quite sure what to make for an appetizer......

4.  if i could, i would run away to a small town near a beach and open a mom + pop shop that sold pretty things.  it would look like this. [via simple + pretty ]  wouldn't it be awesome to open one right in or near our neighborhood so we could just walk to get ice cream or band-aids or an old fashion root beer float. sigh- the good ol' days 

5. finally gave in and put a tv in kaylee's room. she cant watch anything on it but can play her educational video games.

6.  mike's folks left for hawaii already.  bums!!

7.  definitely going to see lollapalooza this year.  depeche mode- who i have to see before i die. beastie boys, the killers, bat for lashes, and from my college days-jane's addiction.  i went in 1991 and 1992 and maybe 1995 or 1996.  will have to check out my t-shirts. i think i kept them all.

8.  yeah! my hair is getting longer.  still feel like frump girl.

9.  finally found new bedding that i love from target. waiting for it to go on sale.

10.  only 2 more days of school = me sleeping in!

500 days of summer

just saw this posted over on tara whitney's blog and i have to say i am in love.   i've already gotten misty eyed watching the trailer.  {i'm a sucker for "love" stories}  i cant believe, yet its fantastically delightful, to see joseph gordon-levitt all grown-up.

white kitchen love

via decorology

i love this kitchen. i love the no fuss look it has. and i love the curtains.

white sox

we got to chicago in record time.  there was like no traffic!  so we waited until they would let us in.  the second picture is of ham sitting in our original seats, caught eating.  not even 5 minutes before we left him to feed ourselves, we asked if he was hungry.  he said no.  it was super cold where we were sitting, even with my jacket on and since we were under the whatchamacallit, kaylee + i decided to be rebels and found some empty seats in the sun.  if we got busted, i was so blaming her.  the rest of the clan followed suite. {mike's dad, mike's brother and brother's girlfriend, julie}

    
trying to make mike + i better looking with some blurr edging.  and ham picking on his sister on the way.  
  

 it was a great day and the kids were good besides the ride home.  the food was fantastic and i really could of gone over board but didn't.  no funnel cake, no ice cream in a waffle cone.  nope, just had a chicago style dog and a few nachos.

monday's 10

1.  saturday spent 9 hours + 1 hour drive there +1 hour drive back over at my in-laws.  as much as i like my in-laws, someone please shoot me now.  i am NOT looking forward to 4th of july and i am trying to find a way out of going.

2.  i feel like a change is needed with me, again.  yep, frump girl has returned.  my hair, my weight, my clothes.

3.  sunday went to a white sox game.  morons! lost by 1 in the last inning.  kids were good though.

4. today was spent around the house. i got to run my million errands then headed over to my parents house. (stayed for 2 hours)

5.  sad that lauren is leaving the hills. but i will still continue to watch it. i love california!!

6.  sad that jon & kate are not getting along but can you blame him. kate can be a bee- atch!  kaylee did agree with me that aaden is cute. i hope she marries him or bwm  :O)

7.  boy was i hungry for some chocolate cake today.  {trying to watch what i eat + portions}

8.  found a lilac bush in my yard.  not sure what kind though. looks different from others that i have seen.

9.  did plant a hydrangea bush this year.  next year will be peonies. my favorites!

10.  supposedly going "camping" in june.  going to clifty falls and staying in their hotel.  at least i get to do some hiking.

diy cleaners

finally found a website that has some easy "recipes" for household cleaners. check out this post from crunchy domestic goddess.  already bought the gallon size bottle of vinegar. 

i LOVE friday evenings like this

so our friends came over last night and re-payed us by overstaying their welcome.  {which we love!}  i made a semi yummy dinner.  my cooking game was not on yesterday and it started with dessert first then it spiraled down from there. christine and tad are the nicest people in the world and they threw me compliments and said dinner was delicious.  {i think i was feeling the pressure of wanting my dinner to be as sophisticated as the are. oh the pressure i put on myself}  i ended up making strawberry pretzel dessert which i will post the recipe over on my other blog- bites.  its a great summer dessert.  even though my jello was a little thick, it still ended up being yummy.

i got kaylee a surfing {of course} hello kitty sprinkler for the occasion and thought it would be a great investment for the summer and play dates.  she and ben put it to the test and i say it was a win.  video courtesy of christine.

its fun listening to them talk to each other especially since they are 2 years apart.  i think kids have a language of their own and can understand either other, no matter the age.  i didn't get my baby love on as much as i wanted since baby cameron was asleep most of the time but it was still a great evening.  we ended it with a fire and grubbing on s'mores before they had to leave.  i'm sure it was kaylee's idea though i'm not sure where she got it from but ben asked his mom if he could spend the night.  it was super cute to hear them say this.  i asked kaylee where would she sleep if ben did spend the night and she said in her room.  ben pitched in with all his cuteness "with me".  funny, coming from two kids who still sleeps with their mom's.

10 on thursday

1.  found out the neighbors house that recently got put on the market was because he lost his job. it worries me. enough to make me cut back on my spending. fighting the urge is hard especially when it comes to decorating the house.  

2.  went over to a friends house yesterday . got to love on some babyness, mooched dinner and overstayed our welcome.  i hope they repay us back on friday.

3.  been riding my bike this week and boy does my bum hurt!  and i've only been riding around the neighborhood. {its better today}

4.  my to do list: paint patio + outdoor chairs, paint kitchen and hallway walls {they're really groodie!}  lose weight/tone-up, grow my hair long again

5. love that i can open windows + doors first thing in the morning.  loving the fresh air!

6.  promised a friend's friend that i would host a scentsy party once i moved. well, she's come to redeem that promise. thinking of doing a desserts + margarita theme. if you feel the need to order something, please feel free to do so.  {those local to me, look for an invite!}  [vanilla cream  is my favorite]

7.  sneezed up a storm + my nose got all stuffy last night. thinking its from the beer.  i'm "sensitive" to brewers yeast via a doctor.

8.  still working on my wall of photos from last friday.  

9.  made a yummy cinnamon apple cake.  the recipe is from cooking light. will post it on my other neglected blog- bites.  

10.  going to a white sox game on sunday.  should be fun but bummed that i don't have a new lens to take some cool pics.

red, white and blue swap

if you haven't done a swap but have always wanted to, here's your chance.    visit sweet goodness swaps to sign up and for all the info. {don't let the handmade or vintage item scare you, its easier than you think}

monday's 10

1.  didn't do much over the weekend since it was rainy and cold.  sunday it ended up being nice, so mike worked on the yard while i did some house cleaning.  i also made it over to shipshewana all by my lonesome self, just to look around.

2.  tried a new recipe and it got family approved. i made thai curry beef skewers with white rice.  found the recipe over at steamy kitchen.  if i would of had enough brown sugar i would of made more dipping sauce.  ham said it would be good with chicken and i thought shrimp so next time i will try both.

3.  friday i got out all of ham's old photos and i ended up bawling like a baby. i want more time with him!  (it didn't help that i was listening to lifehouse while doing this) 

4.  seeing kaylee's baby pictures still makes me want another one.  maybe in the fall...

5.  need to see a doctor before the fall- see #4.  my back is aching and i'm not that old to have an aching back!

6.  found my swimming "scrapbook" from high school.  lots of mixed emotions on this. feel i let myself and my coach down. {story of my life}   i never did break the school record in my main event- 100 butterfly -nor did i make it to state in any of my individual events.  i know coach was counting on me to make it to state.  i did break the school record in the 200 I.M.  my senior year.

7.  hey did i mention how much i am in love with lifehouse? the lead singer's voice makes me weak in the knees, the lyrics swoon me and he's just the type i would go for- totally hawt in a rugged, dirty pick-up kinda way.  plus they did a cover on my other favorite band- keane.  totally dropped the ball, lifehouse was in michigan city back in april.  michigan city is about an hour away from me!

8.  still loving the house and the decorating is slowly coming around.  we have two houses near us for sale at the moment.  fingers crossed that the owners will be like us + our way of thinking- hey we're not doing anything so we'll just invite ourselves over + we brought beer!  and with girls close to kaylee's age.

9.  kaylee's friend, katie, came over for a bit on friday.  before my bawling attack.

10.  hmmm... i wonder who mike ended up marrying on desperate housewives.

look at my side bar!

i was trying to write a post last night and the words were not coming out so i said "oh chuck it". (my words exactly) and some how saw that i had a follower. a follower? me and my little boring blog?  and its someone i don't know? (which made me kinda leery. you never know who's out there) so after some time thinking it through, like a whole 2 minutes, i thought that it was pretty neat-o and groovy for nancy to take the time to "follow"  this blog so i added the gadget on my side bar.  WHOO HOO! thanks nancy for making me feel special and welcome to my little blog.

*as soon as i posted this, i see kristi added herself too. thanks kristi!

she could be a model

yesterday was a gorgeous day.  warm + sunny with some breezyness.  kaylee and i went around the pond then came back in for some lunch.  we decided to have a real picnic-sitting on the ground with a blanket.  i made kaylee a turkey pita sandwich, krunchers sweet onion chips {these are really really good btw} and an orange while i had a blat , chips + orange. [blat= bacon, lettuce, avocado, tomato]  of course i didn't think about getting the camera out till we were finished but here are a few pics.  i ended up getting kaylee's famous "i'm mad" face though i'm not quite sure why she's making it, she wasn't mad.
    and here we are with her teddy bears that joined us for lunch.  after lunch, i ended up scrubbing the fridge out in the garage.  the old owners left it here and it was kinda gross. i ended up bleaching it and scrubbing it with soap.  i dont understand how guys can use something so yucky without cleaning it out.  anyway, kaylee and i got the soda out of my car and filled the fridge up for ham and his buddies.  kaylee found mike's fedora and started to wear it.  i had to get a pic. to email mike.  she looked so dang cute, i knew he would love it.

    once i got the camera back out, she started to pose like a model.  she's a natural i'm telling you.  

pond findings: 10 geese, 2 very hungry ducks and 5 floating turtles.  saw a heron(?) by the river

blog love

monday i spent a good part of my morning going through making it lovely's archives.  i love her style and the colors! oh my! the colors!  it made me want to go out and start spending money again.  this is her front porch that she has entered in a better homes and garden challenge.  you can catch a glimpse of it here and get all caught up. then go and vote. it was between nicole's front porch or this young house.  i chose this one because i smile every time i see it, she hand painted the "area rug" while pregnant and yes, she used the "i just had a baby " card.  i'm a sucker for babies.

my new scent

  

pam from pure and simple asked what kind of perfume i got last weekend.  its versace's versense, their newest fragrance.  i got both the lotion and perfume. i think it makes the scent last longer. i wish they had a small size of the lotion for my purse.  the perfume lady was really good.  i told i was looking for something that was light, fresh and clean but not too flowery and that i use to wear origins- frolic and calvin klein's eternity moments but both have been discontinued.  she led me to this one right away.  she had smell a few others but i kept coming back to this one.

both kaylee and mike love it and they tell me i smell really good every time i wear it which has been everyday.  i use to be one of those people who would save this stuff for special occasions till i saw how much i was wasting.  never used them up before they would go bad plus i want to be one of those girls who just smells nice when you walk by.  the day i bought it, mike told me i smelled like what he thought an expensive prostitute would smell like. its a compliment.  this is what i get after he's been drinking for 5 hours.

weekend

 saturday was cold and windy.  went out to lunch without kiddos as a mother's day treat. went to the vine. major yum.  i could eat there everyday too and not get bored.  what can i say? i love food.  while we were out, kaylee was at the movie theatre eating popcorn and watching the movie earth with her good friend katie from playgroup.  it was katie's 4th birthday.  afterwards they went to dairy queen. then kaylee came home with a toy and some petite cakes that she shared with all us.  another yum!  i was kinda nervous about kaylee, she's such a mama + daddy's girl i was afraid she would bust out crying in the middle of the movie saying "i want to go home. i want my mom and her name is kristi" like she did for nana but she didn't.  michelle said she was really good.  {and dr. reid said i needed to take her to see a shrink and that we need parenting classes- humpff!}

after lunch, mike and i came back just in time for the neighborhood community pickup.  there were a handful of people walking around the pond picking up trash and big piles of leaves or sticks.  mike did the most work, of course, out of all of us.  i was freezing and would of stayed inside but the night before around the fire pit, i was complaining how we i wished we lived in one of those great neighborhoods where people just invite themselves over.  {we had a great fire going and no one joined us, maybe we're still too new?} so i stayed outside hoping to get to know some neighbors but we were all spread out.  i did see a group when i was heading back to our house for more trash bags when the herd moved into someones garage as i got closer.  so much for getting to know my neighbors.

mother's day was just fine.  very relaxing even while doing the laundry.  kaylee, my little love bug, gave me hugs and kisses while ham said "happy gimps day", aren't they the sweetest?  went over to my parents house later for a cookout. the only thing i wanted was a photo of me and the kids together but that never happened.  i miss my camera.  stupid, clumsy me for breaking both lenses!  yesterday it really would of came in handy.  as i was walking out the front door to get my mail, i saw 3 deers across the pond. i did get to take their picture with my purse camera but i know it wont be as clear or as close-up as it could of been.

mini marathon weekend part 2

being on the short side, i squeezed my way into a spot near the finish line.  i was hoping to see mike finish.  not only did i have a lane containing the 5k runners in front of me but also 3 lanes of the mini marathon runners.  at the beginning it was easy to catch people , i even saw my sister in law, terri, finish.  i decided to leave once it hit the 2 hour mark, thinking mike was probably already done.  i forgot to take in account that he didn't get to the starting line till about 15 minutes later so when i finally found him through the masses, he said the clock said 2 hour and 5 minutes.  i had just missed him.  

after showering, we ate lunch at, you guessed it, pf changs.  i'm not lying when i say i could eat there everyday and not get bored with the food.  after our delicious meal, we gave each other a kiss and said see ya around 4pm.  i was about to get my shop on!  i was looking for a purse, comfy sandals, perfume and some clothes that we wouldn't have back home.  i did end up finding a few things from h+m and some perfume. at the very last minute, i decided to check out nordstrom for some perfume {found some} and to do a make-over.  i didn't feel pressured to buy anything and the make-up artist did a fantastic job.  wish i had gotten a photo.  went back and took a bath to soak my aching feet and to not ruining my make-up.  while i was shopping, found out mike came back to the hotel and took a short nap, went to rock bottom for a beer and then headed over to julians to drink some more and play games.  he called his uncle, who is the commissioner of indiana state prisons and they went bowling.  mike came back to the hotel around 5-5:30.  he had been drinking non- stop since 1pm.

we met my sister in law, terri, down in the bar from their hotel with her college friend, christine.  poor christine!  she got stuck sitting beside mike, who had been drinking since 1pm.  he told her things he shouldn't have and he kept talking, like non-stop.  she was someone new to hear his stories and she took it all in stride.  
  

my brother dan, finally came down to join us as we all waited for our reservations  [9:30] at st. elmo's.  the boys were a hoot feeding off each other.  i find my brother to be hilariously funny while his wife finds him annoying.  the same with mike and i.  i tend to find him annoying while others find him to be funny {or just stupid}.  we finally got to sit down and eat at st. elmo's and the food was fantastic!  i love it when i get to eat this good.  after dinner, we all headed back to our hotel since it was late.  oh, we had the best service at st. elmo's and our waiter was hot.  i wish i had taken a photo of him.  hubba hubba hubba.

sunday, i woke up early again, this time around 7.  i got ready to go out and to take pictures of the city.  mike got up and went with me.  here i am sitting at the indiana workers monument, this where we got engaged all those years ago.  and mike doing the "senior year" pose.  
  

while walking around, we finally saw my other brother, randy and his wife megan getting coffee so we went in and started talking with them.   i was hoping to head over to keystone mall to check out crate and barrel since i had my fabulous gift card to use when mike mentions eating lunch again at pf changs. hmm. crate and barrel do have a website to shop from and we don't have a pf changs near by..... so i agreed till mike's mom called and said she had to be at work by 1pm.  so that ruled out lunch at pf changs too.  oh well, just means that i will have to come down to indy this summer, by myself to shop, eat at pf changs and visit some college friends i haven't seen in a few years.  

blog love

 metrodad. freak'n hilarious. freak'n rocks.  he makes parenting kinda fun. for the love of mankind, you must go and read his blog!

etsy love

    
stephmodo has some ads on her side bar and i happen to click on annechovie's. {be sure to check out her blog too}  i love and want these 3 prints.  the first one would go in kaylee's room, the second one, if done in a different color, would go in ham's room and the last one would go to mike.  what about me you ask?  well, i'm perfect so i don't need any reminders or words of wisdom.  {LOL}

ass{ets}

i wish i could get my ass {body} to look like that. 

10 on wednesday

1.  this morning started out good till i heard my phone ringing and my kid saying "god- answer the phone already"

something was going on with his car so i told him to come home and take my car.  i cut a 2ft piece from the passenger side tire. 600 bucks later, we got 4 new tires.

2.  kaylee's invading my personal space hardcore.

3.  my relaxing weekend seems to be fading...

4.  my car has a nice scratch on the bumper. ham tried to get it out of the garage this morning.

5.  went to mccormick and schmicks saturday evening and found myself a new drink called basil grape refresher.  and its just that, refreshing.  everything is fresh so it takes some time to make but its worth it.  been drinking one every day.  (i'm currently drinking a double batch)

6.  last night i realized once again how much i need to lose weight.  seriously.  i have 3 rolls.  the bottom roll holds up the middle roll. the middle roll holds up the top roll.  the top roll is holding up the boobs.

7.  speaking of boobs.  the other day kaylee asked when will she get bigger boobies. (wth?) what made her concerned about her boobs and their size?

8.  i'm thinking i might go ahead and start painting the kitchen and when it comes time to do the part over the cabinets, i will take care of it then.

9.  loving the warmer weather and fresh air even when it rains.

10.  i went to go and buy a carrot cake from the bakery but then remembered #6 and turned the car around and planted flowers instead.  (this craving for texas sheet cake + carrot cakes are all christine's fault for telling me about the bakery)

* i forgot to add that the two gentlemen working at discount tire this morning thought i was in my mid-20's, 28 the oldest.  i love discount tire!

mini marathon weekend part 1

yesterday was get back in routine day especially having one of the best weekends ever.  we managed to get out of dodge [is that used right or is getting out of dodge, mean getting out of state? my understanding of the english language confuses me still] and made it down to indy around 5pm.  after checking into our most awesome hotel, the conrad, i suggested to mike that we go and get his race packet then hit pf changs.  went and got his packet, ran into a mom from playgroup and then was told it would be an hour and 45 minute wait- prom night.  since this is what i've been waiting for- to get my grub on at pf changs, we said ok.  half hour in, i was starving. i started to whine to mike that i could feel a hole in my heart from starvation.  after waiting an hour and 10 minutes, we finally got seated. while placing our order, i happen to see one of my brothers walk in and getting ready to walk out.  we had them join us which they were grateful for since they were told it would be an hours wait. the food was fabulous!  everytime we have eaten there, we have not been disappointed.  after dinner, we all headed back to our hotels so the runners could rest up.

we got up around 5:30, don't ask me why i got up that early but i did.  the neat part was that everyone had to line up on our street before starting so i could see everyone out of our hotel window.  this is how crowded it was.  35,000 people entered.  its the largest mini marathon and second largest running event in the U.S. pretty exciting stuff.

 

that's my running nazi sister in law, terri and mike before the race.  terri ended up running her personal best of an hour and 55 mins.  while mike ran his second worse with a time of 1 hour and 47 minutes.  it took him around 15 minutes just to get to the starting line and he said by mile 3 there were so many people that he had to weave in and out of to pass that he just said "oh chuck it" (not his words)  and ran it for fun.  next year, hopefully, he will be in one of the faster corals and not have to worry about passing all the slower people.  mike said that he saw some guy with a busted up nose. someone tripped him and he fell head first onto the pavement. my other brother, randy ran it in 2 hours and 15 minutes while his wife ran it in 2 hours 33 minutes.  not sure if i'm convinced enough to run it myself next year though i have given the 5k a thought.

i'm ready

photo by me, hawaii 2008

another image i would love to get big canvas'd and use as part of the head board series.  i know i've posted this similar image before and i love it.  not only does it take me back to the greatest vacation ever but each time i see it, i wonder what is this little 3 year old thinking while looking out into the wide ocean. what made her stop playing in the sand with her daddy to stand and soak it all in?  {mike got cropped and she stood there for a solid 5 minutes}  it takes my breath away just thinking about it.

so this morning i am getting bags packed for our mini get away to indy.  i told ham i would leave him some money for meals.  he asked if i could just pick him up a few subway sandwiches which i wouldn't mind but i know they tend to get soggy if left over night so i asked him why he couldn't go and get them so they would be fresh?  he got all moody with me and said fine, don't.  so now i'm worried he wont get himself food and will be living on a diet of doritos, candy and ice cream all weekend.  he is going over to a friends house at night so hopefully they will feed him.  {oh, we do have neighbors and friends looking after the house and they have guns and know karate so no funny business while we're away}  i'm so ready for the weekend.  

* all of my images are copyrighted so please do not steal them and use them as your own. be polite and give me credit for my work.