everyday moments

Hangman's Curse

Against my better judgment, I let Summer buy a Perretti book.  I tried to get her to pick out something a little less intense, but she was determined.  At first, she loved the book.  And then yesterday, she'd get up from the couch and shiver before settling back in with the book.  She read all evening.  I kept telling her she might want to put it down before it got too close to bedtime.

But she didn't.

Instead of going to bed, she went to sleep on the couch because it's the room I was in and she didn't want to go to bed alone.

And at 2:00 AM I had a very scared kid standing at my bedside.  She was trembling.  And near tears.  Poor kid.  She's too big to let in, so she settled in on the floor by my bed.  I told her to pray for comfort and a clear head.

And I held her hand.  It was clammy.  And trembling.

An hour later, she woke me again.  "Mom, I still can't sleep."  I told her to pray for every friend she has.  And the leaders of the dance convention she's going to this weekend. 

{{Somewhere in there, SuperGirl got in my bed, too.  I don't remember it, but she was there, stuck to my back like glue when I tried to turn over.}}

A while later, I could hear Summer tossing and turning again.  I whispered, "Think of bunnies, balloons, and teddy bears..."

And then around 4:00 AM she said, "Mom, can we go get in my bed?" 

I stumbled out of bed, grabbed my pillow, and listened to my knees and ankles as they creaked and cracked their way across the house.  I think that by this time, she was just plain exhausted.  I know I was.

We settled in.  And the cat decided to go exploring in the bathroom, knocking things down, and making a fair amount of noise.  Amazingly, Summer didn't budge.

{{At some point, SuperGirl must have realized I left the other room, because she joined us again, crawling in the bed with such skill that she didn't knee or elbow either of us.  I don't know how she does that.}}

7:30 AM.  The dog wakes up.  She wants out.  NOW.  So once again, I stumbled from the bed, let the dog out, and try to decide if a shower or coffee is more important. 

The shower won out.  I was thinking I'd let the girls sleep in this morning to make up for such a crazy night.  And when I got up, those two stinkers were already awake.  And what do you think Summer was doing?

FINISHING THAT BOOK!

flashback friday

 

5th out of 8... wow... I was good, huh?   

we're back

Camp was great.  I took a zillion pictures.  Seems I have a photography disorder, too!!

For now, this picture, my favorite "action shot" of camp, will have to do...

gone to camp... be home tuesday...

 

wednesday wackiness

all american girl

Summer's birthday was last week.  And she has a sweet friend whose birthday is one week after hers.  A's mom called and asked if we'd like to go to the American Girl store in Dallas to celebrate their birthdays.  I've wanted to go there for years, but the store in Dallas is fairly new and the closest one other than that one is Chicago! 

Truthfully, I wasn't sure Summer would want to go.  Being 12 is tough - you're not a teenager, and you're not a kid anymore either.  When I took the idea to her, she was so excited!  And that made me happy, because I wanted to go, too!!

A and her mom, BigA, picked us up early Friday morning and we hit the road, headed to Dallas.  I like traveling with BigA.  She's got her GPS and she is okay with making frequent potty/Coke stops.  And the conversation is always good!  We had a 12:30 lunch reservation at the Bistro, and we made it to the store in time for the dolls to get their hair done and a have a little pampering. 

While Samantha and Kaya were getting their hair done, Summer and A did a little shopping and looking at all of the historical dolls.  We were amazed at all of the accessories available for each doll.  Summer has always treated the American Girl catalog as her favorite magazine, so seeing all the doll stuff in person was fun.  We discovered that she has a little too much of her daddy in her, though, as the prices were a little high for her liking.  Picking out a special birthday gift proved impossible... but the experience was fun anyway!!

After getting the spa treatment, Samantha and Kaya joined Summer and A (and the moms) for lunch.  We perused the menu, made our choices for each course, and waited for our lunches to be served.  The food was great - my favorite was the pretzel pieces and cheese to dip them in!  YUM.  Summer got the spinach dip and that was great, too!

We ate lunch and then shopped.  I think we looked at every little shoe, pair of glasses, accessory, shirt, bed, pet, and book in the whole store. 

I can't wait to take Pickles and SuperGirl.  They'll totally be into the whole dressing like your doll thing.  Summer's just too old for that, but she still appreciates the dolls and enjoys the stories.  Guess I should start saving my pennies for the next trip!!

back on the bandwagon

I'd fallen off the coupon bandwagon.  Being gone for a week last month just started a cycle of feeling behind and out of the loop with the couponing world. 

But my dear couponing friends have been shopping and sharing their finds and I just couldn't help but think I needed to do something to get going again.  I really had not shopped much in the past month, but the few trips I made to the store were painful knowing I could be getting out for less money than I was spending.

I was just in such a funk.  I couldn't get the energy together to clip my coupons.  Or file them.  Or even look at an ad.  The thought of it all just made me want to crawl under the blankets and not come out!

Then I realized that my very hard earned ECBs from CVS were to expire today.  And when I say hard earned, I mean, between the coupon clipping, the ad reading, the confrontation last month, and the phone call to the manager, they were well deserved ECBs.  I'd even lost $10 in ECBs because of it all.  So I needed to spend those bucks!

I went in, got the all-elusive toilet paper and paper towels straight away.  And then I proceeded to get free Band-Aids, shaving cream for next to nothing, and cheap detergent.  I was very nice to the check out girl and had not a single problem with my coupons - even the ones I had three of!  Pickles was helping me today, so we went for a $1 drink at McDonalds on our way to Kroger... where I saved 50% on my bill. 

It felt so good.  I'm back, baby!

no more dish washing!

So tonight after dinner, I was washing the dishes. 

Hubby was taking out the trash.

The girls were clearing the table and bring the dishes to me.  I was working on a cookie sheet that we'd used earlier.  It had baked on cheese from the English muffin pizzas we had for lunch.  And boy, was it baked on.

So I scrubbed.

And scrubbed.

And scrubbed some more.

I must have really been getting into it.

Then I heard Pickles come up behind me and say, "Shake it... shake it..."

And Summer busts out in a litlle hiphop music singing, "Shake it, don't break it, it took yo mama nine months to make it..."

Anyone want to take a guess at who is going to be doing the dishes around here for the next month or so??

go get a box of tissues...

strange things falling from the sky...

It's been so long... I almost forgot what this stuff was. 

The low rumble of thunder...

The smell of rain in the air...

And the feel of drops on my arms, hands, and face...

I love the rain!