dreams

holy moly. my dreams have been crazy lately.

last night i was shoe shopping at a really cool mall and i over heard a lady insult my outfit. i then realized i wearing cropped leggings with a mint green shirt that was longer in the back than the front and i came in barefoot hoping to find some cool shoes to wear through the mall. i left with a scarf and slippers.

then we went to a different part of the mall where outside the entrance to the arcade was a bunch of snow and a snowball machine that shot snowballs at you. it was crazy and a little dangerous because the machine went around in circles so you had to stay out of the way. i woke up after dan got hit and fell over. he was knocked out and i was trying to move him before the machine came around again.

after i fell back to sleep i dreamed i was hanging out with robert pattinson. he was filming some things. nice guy.

see? crazy.

the night before i dreamed about a friend we haven't heard from in a while and now i know why. he was with a new woman. i don't know where his wife was, but there was no introduction to the new woman. it was almost like he was pretending she was his wife. see? crazy. and that was only half of it. i can't even write the other part even though it was funny.

sometimes i am curious where my dreams come from. other times i would just like to forget them. i do know that the kids needs shoes for school. madelyn always looks cute in her legging outfits. i would not. i don't know about the snow machine except that dan has been going through some stressful things at work? and maybe that's where that was coming from? i don't know.

i should keep a dream journal. or, maybe not.

Tidbits

it turns out madelyn is a chatty cathy when she's in the kitchen baking with dan. super cute.

glad he's the baker and not me. i'm not a fan of baking. he is though which makes it a great daddy/kids activity :)

i am also glad that this isn't a regular activity since i would then weigh 300 lbs. seriously. that is ALL i would eat.

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pms is the pits. i think i do weigh 300 lbs just since last week. i am such an antisocial weepy munchy slug during this time. it's amazing how different you feel once it's all said and done.

tmi. i know.

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i went running/walking again today finally. i did do the stepper the other day which is a nice alternative to when i can't get out of the house, but while the weather is nice i definitely want to be out as much as possible.

it was a gorgeous night tonight too, nice and cool. the sky was sooooooo pretty with the setting sun.

i've been looking forward to getting back into a routine since we've been back from vacation.

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i don't know what to call what i do when i exercise. i go back and forth between running and walking so should i call it ralking, runking, runalking, wunning? yeah. i think wunning is it. then i sound like i have a speech issue and people will think i am a runner. for some reason it seems more glamorous to be a runner. although there is a speed walker in our neighborhood who would put any runner to shame. she is tall and thin and i could never keep up with her even if i was running and she's probably old enough to be my mom.

ha ha! imagining me running to try to keep up with the super tall speed walker makes me laugh.

it's kind of like me trying to keep up with dan when we exercise together (or even simply walk, honestly), but thankfully he slows to my pace. he's nice like that.

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anxiety sucks.

i have a copy of my friends book "change your brain change your life." it's helpful.

but, ugh. anxiety is awful, awful, awful.

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elijah LOVES legos right now.

currently he is online just looking at instructions for putting together sets that he doesn't have. sometimes he goes to bed reading the little instruction books :)

last night he asked me if it would be okay if he slept with some of his legos on the side of the bed he doesn't sleep on so he could wake up and get started on putting it all together right away. when i went to see just how many he was talking about i laughed. he had a MOUND of legos on his bed. so funny. he was a good sport about bagging them all up so none would get lost in the night.

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madelyn is going to the fair tomorrow with her bff alli. alli and her family are such a blessing. alli is an only child and loves to invite madelyn along for special events like this. they are such a great family too. it's so nice to have people you can completely trust your child with and whose daughter is such a nice friend to madelyn. even while we were on vacation madelyn would say, "i can't wait to tell alli about this" or "i can't wait to show alli this!" friends are the best.

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the erwins are coming on wednesday!!!! yay!!!! this has been the summer for catching up with our maryland friends :D it's been sooooooooooo nice i can hardly stand it!! i love and miss them all so much.

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laundry never ends .... BUT i am grateful for washing machines and dryers.

the end.

vacation

things i want to remember from vacation ...

elijah and hayes were super cute tonight on the beach wearing nothing but their undies. what made it even cuter is the fact that elijah accidently had a pair of hayes' undies on and vice versa so one was a little too big and the other a little too small, nothing but cuteness :)

madelyn and addie hold hands on a regular basis. they love each other so much. they wear whatever clothes and pjs they have that match. they are each other's sister that they don't have.

i got to see my julie b. after about 4 years. she has 3 kids now and the day was just too short frankly. i love her so much and our kids loved each other so much. saying good-bye to her again was sad because i know if we still lived close to each other we would still be good friends and our kids would play regularly. they were all really cute together. of course i kept forgetting my camera so i didn't get as many pictures as i wanted to.

the weather was gorgeous during our week at the beach.

we have a screened in porch at this house and my mom sat out there and read most days. we started calling it the library because one day nick said, "why doesn't your mom just get a week at the library each summer?" we all cracked up.

we got to see the wilsons twice this week too. that was fun.

elijah rode the swing ride and every time he would come around to where we were he was making a different face, had a different pose, etc. dan and i were cracking up :)

hayes was in a super naked stage and elijah was in a super modest stage so every time hayes would be somewhere naked elijah would quick cover his eyes and yell for hayes to get some clothes on. it didn't help that hayes was elijah's constant shadow so when elijah went to go potty hayes was close behind. poor elijah didn't get much alone time.

we were at my aunt's house for my mom's retirement party and hayes walks in the room and dumps his clothes on shannon's head. she was quite surprised to turn to see a naked hayes. apparently he was ready to go swimming again, but needed help with his suit.

i saw kerry twice in one week!!! what?? i did. so fun. we met at aunt elaine's to go swimming the one day and then she came up for my mom's party too. good times. good times indeed. what made it even better is she bought me a 31 bag for an early birthday gift :) i love it!

poor addie threw up the day they were supposed to leave. too much junk food the night before. sadly, hayes threw up last year on the day they were leaving. i hope this doesn't become some kind of weird tradition because it looks like shannon is next on that list. yikes. their flight got canceled so they ended up staying another night.

one night my kids and i went to ihop to eat. madelyn and i like the butter pecan syrup, but elijah likes the maple. i don't typically say "maple syrup," but i did that night. well, the next day he was so excited to tell addie that at ihop "i had maple syrup and you could actually taste the maples!" he wasn't sure what those were when we asked him :)

poor addie was sad to not be able to see simon and samson during her visit this time, and she's afraid they won't live through the year until her next visit. poor thing. apparently she and madelyn had a heart to heart concerning the kitties.

simon is actually doing really well now that he is on the meds. dan did a fabulous job of staying on top of that while i was away. even now that i am home he will still give simon his meds. it's sweet.

this was the first time i left molly for a whole week. she did okay i guess. but she was super clingy when i got her back. leaving the animals and making arrangements for them was a HUGE stresser this year. ugh. remind me that i said no more cats after these ones are gone, please.

Church Mouse

Yesterday I was waiting for a call back from the pediatrician's office. You see, Madelyn has strep and that is how we started out our beach vacation. So, let's just take a moment and praise the Lord for pharmacies at the beach. CVS to be exact.

Anyway, the nurse calls back. I answer the phone and in this sweet happy voice she says, "Hi! This the the doctor's office calling. Can I speak to Mom?" Um. Last I checked I am the "mom." She was a bit embarrassed when she realized this.

So, apparently I still have a church mouse voice. A lady I called one time told me that. Nice, huh?

It got even stranger when Nick and Todd came home from a walk. Todd came in first and I said, "Hey, where have you guys been? It's been forever." To which Nick said, "Who is that? Madelyn?" Yes. Strike two. The second time in one day I was mistaken for a kid.

Oh well. What can I do? I laughed. It was funny, especially when I told Todd and Nick the story about the nurse and Todd asked me if I then got my mom. ha ha!

Good times :)

Tidbits

I've got a lot swimming around in my brain and when this happens it's best to write some tidbits ...

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I am excited. We are getting a new (used) bed. Weird. I know. But, this couple works with Dan and they had the best custom made for them, used it for a year and decided it's not working for them.

Compare that story to ours. We have been using a $500 bed for 13 years. We bought it when we first got married. It's getting old. Literally. At this point anything will be better than what we have.

And new beds cost a lot more than what we are paying them.

We went and checked it out last night and a friend is helping us get it tonight. That friend has a truck and will help Dan load it. Such nice friends.

I'm a little (a lot) excited about sleeping on something different. I may not wake up tomorrow.

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I am a princess. Dan's cousin, who we saw when we went to the wedding, has a 4 year old daughter. She is so stinking cute with her dark eyelashes, hazel eyes, and freckles across her nose that make her picture perfect.

She came up to me at the camp site that we went to after the wedding and told me she had seen me earlier in the day when I was a princess up on the stage :) Oh my. So sweet. I had NO idea what she was talking about, but does it really matter anyway? I mean, if she thinks I'm a princess, let's just let her go with that.

I asked her what I was wearing and she said "black" so she probably thought I was one of the bridesmaids, but that doesn't change the fact that she is now my favorite 4 year old little girl :)

And I may or may not have had the family refer to me as "Princess" for the rest of the weekend. "Your highness" was allowed as well.

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Who do animals have to be so stressful? I have not been able to consistently get the pill into Simon like I should be.

That being said he does seem a little better, but he has now figured out what I am trying to do so he avoids the bathroom. Then he spits the pill out.

This just makes the fact that I am leaving him for a week that much more stressful, not to mention the poor girl who is going to be looking in on them.

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Dan is going to the doctor today because his shoulder is really hurting him. It has been for weeks. I know it must be if he actually called the doctor. Plus, Dan isn't really one to complain, but his shoulder gets him.

I am sure it is cancer, but I am trying to not think that way. I tend to think everything is cancer. Yes. I am fatalistic like that.

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One of the best things in my life right now is the fact that my children still hold my hand when we are out. I absolutely love walking hand in hand with my little dumplings. Sometimes Madelyn will take my hand and then hold Elijah's hand with her other hand. Or, they will each have one of my hands.

Part of it is that Elijah just does not pay attention in parking lots. He tends to be in his own little world anyway, and parking lots do not phase him. So, he HAS to hold my hand. But, most times they just want to and it makes my heart melt because I know they are only going to be this small for a little longer.

I caught our shadow the other day too when we were all holding hands and I wanted to take a picture. I consider myself blessed that Madelyn is still so sweet and loving. She is showing signs here and there of the upcoming tween phase, what with the huffing and/or eye rolling, but mostly she is still super sweet. And, I remind her how miserable life will be if she chooses to have an attitude ;)

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Our dishwasher is done. That means I am washing dishes starting today. Waaaaaaahhhhhhhhh. I just had to get that out. I am sure we will buy a new dishwasher soon, but with vacation coming up, etc. I just don't know when. We have one picked out that is on clearance, but we'll see. We found out that if you get one with a stainless steel interior it helps fight again the mineral build up on your dishes and interior of the dishwasher so that's what we will be going for. Our water here is terrible because of all the minerals.

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And that's all for now. I can't put off this sink full of dishes much longer. Unfortunately.