Clean Freak... NOT!

Great plan, deep clean one room of my house a day. In theory, I should have my house "cleaned" in 12 days. In reality, I may have it "cleaned" by next year at this time... maybe. As most of you know, cleaning is not one of my top priories in life. So far this week, I have deep cleaned my bathroom and the laundry room (the two smallest room in the house). Because I don't like to clean, I have been taking cleaning advice from my family. When I say deep cleaning I mean scrub the floor with vinegar and baking soda, thanks Ed; wipe the walls with my new Wet Mop Swiffer, thanks Lindsay; dust everything; and mop. WOW! I have overworked myself this week, I think I should take a break until next week. I still think Aunt Julie has the best cleaning advice, but it is still a secret! I would also like you to know that none of these tips are from my mother, wonder why?

Table Talk

At the supper table tonight, we discussed the activities from the day. The girls did not have school, but mom did. They had a dentist appointment this afternoon, so super dad took them. After the appointment, they were killing time, so decided to stop by and ride Grandpa Jim's new ATV Ranger thing. (if he knew, he might "poop") Not only did they ride it, but they drove it. To hear the girls talk about the experience was a hoot! I guess Brett was pretty good, but her foot bounced with some bumps... and so did the gas pedal. It sounded like Bri had trouble reaching the gas pedal (not such a bad thing), and got a little close the the neighbor's bean field. Shhhh! I love when they tell the story. Speaking of supper, I tried to make baked sweet potato fries for supper, I would not recommend them. I was the only one that ate them, and I ate most of them, not because they were good, only because I hate failure!

Fly away!

About a month ago, we found 5 monarch caterpillars, you know, the ones that are black , white and yellow, found on milkweed plants. Well, we is more like I, I walked in the ditches along the road, and the girls walked in the yard and yelled to me, "Did you find one yet, Mom?" every two minutes. We also drove to Grandma and Grandpa's house looking in the ditches, and found two tiny ones (Grandpa needed his glasses to see them). Any way, 4 out of the 5 make a chrysalis in their jars. So far, 2 of the five have turned into beautiful, orange and black monarch butterflies. That's amazing to me, how a little worm-like creature can turn into a beautiful, free butterfly. So here's to nature's beauty... spread your wings and fly... FLY AWAY!

Things

... the important things are not things at all. It is so hard to see past all the material things here on earth. The most important "things" in life are not what we can touch at all. We should truly count our blessing every single day! It is so hard to focus on "things" like faith, family, friends, love and laughter, with a society like ours. No, I have not lost it or went off the deep end... and yes, this is deep for my simple little mind and life... but my simple little life had a "look at your life" experience this weekend. And I must ask myself (we should all ask), "what am I really about?" So let me end with this... LIVE like there is not tomorrow... LAUGH everyday... and LOVE one another!

Back to School... FLU!

Wednesday should have been Briley's first day of Kindergarten... but Tuesday night she starting puking... THE FLU HIT! She was sick until about 2 a.m. and ran a temperature until about noon, by 1 she was ready to go to school. Briley was devastated that she was sick and had to miss the first day of school. She has watched Brett get on and off the bus for 2 years, and been waiting to go to school forever. The last month we have been counting down the days until Bri goes to school. This morning, she ran into my room and jumped on the bed and whispered, "Mom, do I go to school today?" And I finally got to say, "Yes!" She went to school, ran to that big, yellow bus and never looked back!

As for mom, she puked for almost 6 hours, laid on the couch for 12 hours, had a temperature for about 24 hours, took a 3 hour nap, and missed 2 days of school! We are hoping the other two have better immune systems, only time will tell!

Believe it or Not!

You will never believe what happened to me over the weekend... let me set the stage. August 22 was the last Midwest Family Rodeo. Our family had a successful year, not necessarily with price money, but in other ways. Brett is becoming more confident with her riding everyday, and actually wants to ride everyday. Briley has a love/hate relationship with her pony, but loves to ride by "herself." Blake has had a "personal trainer"... thanks Steve, and is learning more and more. And for myself... Saturday, I won a buckle. I wish I could tell you it was my excellent horsemanship or speedy goat tying... but that's not it at all. I won the buckle for being 'the runner" and yes that's really funny. If you know my "track record," you know I am a slow runner, always have been, always will be! Never a track star in high school, and I haven't gotten any faster over the past "few" year! Anyway, in Ribbon Roping, a roper ropes a calf, then the runner takes the ribbon off the tail of the calf and runs across the line... that's me, the runner, I'm the 2009 Champion Ribbon Roping Runner at the Midwest Family Rodeo. Thanks Rog!

Good news, bad news!

Well, let's start with the good news... my computer is working again... so I can blog. The bad news... for me, summer is over and I am back to school. I have been in meetings for 2 days and tomorrow is the big day... the KIDS come back. The good news... they (the kids) are so excited on the first few days of school, new clothes, new supplies, getting to see their friends, and most of all smiling and ready for a new year. As much as I dislike getting up with an alarm, and going back to the working world... I must admit the excitement and energy of the first few days of school is amazing. Can we bottle that enthusiasm up and save it for cold February days?