I've been dreaming of going to the beach lately so I'm afraid you are going to have to put up with the palm tree in the background for awhile.

The faces of Nathan

Happy Easter (a little late)

We don't get the opportunity to get a family picture taken very often because, well, there's not usually anyone around to take it. And if there is someone around, we usually aren't dressed up fancy (well, as fancy as we get). Happy Easter!

Only a boy would say or even think such a thing...

Today at lunch I was admiring my sons and noticing how much they look alike. I don't normally notice this because their personalities are so very different--maybe you can pick up on that a little from the above picture. Anyway, I commented to them "Wow, boys, you look just alike. You even have the same color skin (both are creamy white)." Nathan pipes up "Yeah, even our butts are alike."

Maybe there is hope for them

I once heard someone say that being a skilled seamstress skipped generations. If that is the case, I didn't have a chance at being a seamstress the moment I was born. My mom is a very, very skilled seamstress--she made my wedding gown and so many other things--too many to count. I can't convince her to sell anything even though I would be more than willing to run the business side of things if she ever did. Anyway, the last time Grandma Horn visited she bought some patterns and fabric for the girls and their dolls. So when Grandma Snow visited last week she brought her sewing machine and went to work. As you can see, the kids were absolutely fascinated by the whole thing. I do have a sewing machine; however, as you can see with their awe of Grandma Snow's machine, mine hasn't made it out of the closet in awhile.

It obviously had a motor so Nathan was all over that and tried to figure out how it all worked.

Maybe there is hope for my children--they are the next generation afterall. Here's hoping my girls' spouses don't have to buy their own sewing kits to sew on their buttons like mine did.

In the last 24 hours I have ....

• realized that I'm completely out of toilet paper and paper towels
• run out of kitchen dish clothes twice and done 2 loads of white clothes
• done 6 loads of clothes (this doesn't count the ones that my wonderful husband did)
• cleaned up glass from a broken light bulb
• 5 minutes after cleaning up the light bulb glass, cleaned up broken pottery from one of our "collected" coffee mugs
• unclogged a very clogged toilet (somehow we went through a whole role of toilet paper in one of our bathrooms yesterday--maybe that's why I have none left!)
• made my new favorite soup-black bean (Thanks Garden Girl for the recipe); my kids hate it
• made at least 12 peanut butter and honey sandwiches
• cleaned up my boys' room 3 times (this doesn't count the time that they cleaned it last night)
• developed a nice little cold
• started my (oops, our) puppy on house training boot camp. I don't think she's going to like me by the end of the day
• cleaned both of our bathrooms
• did three loads of dishes and two sinkfulls
• mailed off our taxes--ugh
• decided that the calendar must be wrong and it is really the end of February instead of the middle of April--I got my gloves back out today

The Windy City

I started this post a week ago and got significantly distracted by spring break and a visit from my family and Easter. We started out our spring break with about 2 inches of snow on the ground and a nice gusty wind. So we decided to embrace the wind and go to the windy city. It was the first time the kids had gone to Chicago so we kept the visit simple and short so we wouldn't completely overwhelm them. First stop was the American Girl store (well, actually we hit the Hershey store first but only briefly as we decided we'd go back right before we went home). The girls enjoyed shopping for their dolls.

Next was the Disney Store so Nathan could get his fill of Mickey Mouse then we were off to the Lego store at the other end of the Miracle Mile. The kids were mighty troopers as we walked the whole way. The tall buildings, honking horns and cranes building new buildings kept them distracted from the cold. Here's the boys outside the Lego store with the Lego man.
On the way back we picked up the promised chocolate from the Hershey's store and collapsed in the car. Nathan got to see Ohara out his window before his eyes just couldn't stay open anymore.

To each his own

Time: 6:45 am Location: The Boys' Room
John: "I love playing with my pirate and knight legos"

Nathan: "You can have your legos. I love my guitar & microphone."

To each his own...imagine how boring it would be if they both liked legos and how loud it would be if they both loved the guitar.

my. entire. morning.

In case you are interested (which I can entirely understand if you are not) I spent my entire morning trying to print of coupons off the internet. I tried two printers, uninstalled & installed software several times, and finally got it to print only to then realize that I was out of ink so you can barely read them. Did I mention it took me the. entire. morning. It is mopping Thursday and it didn't get done today. How bad was my morning? I would have rather been mopping.

Randomness

I’m watching American Idol right now and pretty much think that I’d so much like to hear Danny Gokey sing all of Rascal Flatts songs. He’s so much better than they are.

I have totally fallen for my, oops, our, new puppy. She’s an awesome dog. Although I must say that she’s a lot less work than I thought she would be. Almost everyone I’ve talked to says something about all the work of a new puppy. Ahhh, so much less work than another kid!

I’ve gotten back on the elliptical machine and tonight I had the privilege (although I’m not sure that is the right word) of getting to work out at our fitness center while the kids had their swimming lessons. The center was packed and I think I should go then more often. My competiveness kicked in and I pushed myself much further than I do normally. We’ll see if I can move tomorrow.

We went shopping at JCPennys yesterday. Nathan just kept wandering around bewildered saying “I can’t find any pennies!”

I wore my flip-flops out in the snow the other day. It is spring afterall.

I have about 3 more closets to clean out and then my spring cleaning will be finished.

I took two truck loads of sticks and huge branches to the dump last week (maybe the week before) and now you as you look at my yard you can’t even tell. Either the wind or the trees need to go. (Actually neither will probably go. I like the trees in the summer. And, well, we all know who controls the wind.)

We’re raising butterflies and I’m not sure who is more excited…me or the kids? I’ve never seen it done before so I am finding it fascinating. The caterpillars just started hanging upside down. Soon we should see their cocoons.

I have a couple of new favorite shows now that we have a DVR…24 and Chuck. I’ve also become rather addicted to Hogan’s Heroes. Nathan likes that one too.

Well, Adam just finished on American Idol for the night. And he is just plain weird! I so cannot figure out if I like him or not.