So… yesterday was our 19th anniversary. It started with a big thunderstorm early in the morning. Matt couldn’t find his personal keys. We looked everywhere (he has a special basket he unloads all his keys and phones and pagers etc. into every evening)… I ended up taking him to his office where he picked up his company vehicle (it’s only a mile from home). He was aggravated, it is not fun losing things. I don’t think he even remembered what the day was at this point. I wasn’t about to remind him … Anyway, I found the keys later in the day. Outside. In the rain. I guess he dropped them when he was doing some chores outside. He had a really hard/bad/wet day. Came home tired and hot and frustrated. I fixed grilled chicken, some broc salad, etc.

I rearranged Izzy’s therapy room/our front room. It took me all day! It looks much better and I wish I had taken before pictures. I still haven’t taken after pics. I moved the therapy table to the other side of the room so it isn’t the first thing you see when entering. It’s much better!

I finished up camp laundry and then went outside to do pool maintenance and pull some weeds. Let me tell you, it was quite a day.

I think we’ll probably go out to celebrate those 19 years sometime this weekend… and if not, it’s ok. There have been plenty of celebrations.

Mom dropped by to bring the sweetest little dress for Izzy for her to wear for 4th of July…

and also brought roses for our anniv. Sweet huh? AND my secret sister at church left a card and a pretty plaque for us … and a $20 with a note saying to go eat on her. It was a thoughtful gift! I ordered Matt a book he wanted and some other things.

The kids are recuperating from camp. Emelia had fever last night but is fine today. I think she is just exhausted. Bailey didn’t feel well when he got home, but he is better now. I think he’s had a friend over almost every day since he got home. I think they both need to sleep for a week!

What do you think about all the bloggy designs I’ve had lately? I’ve been finding great designs already made up and have been playing around trying to find the best one for my site. Are you looking for fun new wordpress templates? I like this theme too, called shopping manual.  I may try it next.  I am always looking for a design with three columns, widget ready, that is fun and easy to read.  The current template I have has black on black for comments which I’m hearing is not easy to read.  On my browser (firefox) it is black on dark gray and you can read them.  I wonder if it’s different for different browsers?

Anyway, if you are looking for a new fun design… click on the links above and check out what is available.  I think there’s something for everyone!

Like my new roses?

They were an anniversary gift.

I love flowers!

It is pretty hard to make the switch when you decide to leave one of the free blogging hosts to have your own web site. When you are looking for web hosting services there are several things to consider like what features the web hosts offers. Then you want to consider the price and how many domains that will include. Sometimes you will get yahoo or google credit with your account. You will probably want to read the reviews before actually choosing a service to use.  Trying to identify a web host can be a very daunting task especially when there are so many available nowadays and all of them promise one thing or another because looking for and buying a reliable web hosting solution is an imperative decision.  Compare and choose the best for you!

I married Matt P.

There have been fun times, happy times, sad times, hard times, easy times, more hard times, harder times, good times, a lot of laughs, some yelling, more laughs, lots of talking, a lot of loving, many tears, four children, four moves, two churches, ten vehicles, tons of pets, several deaths, one near drowning, three baptisms… thankfully God was there with us through it all.

June 16th Questions:

1. Do you think that gift cards are suitable gifts to give? Do you find them to be impersonal? Do you like receiving gift cards? If so, from where and do you cash them in right away, or do you wait for the right item/price to come along?  I heart gift cards!  I sometimes give cash rather than gc though because sometimes they limit the recipient.  I do like to get them though and I usually forget to use them when I have them.  I have three in my wallet now.  One for Chili’s that was a gift at Mother’s Day at church, I was one of four numbers drawn that day… and one for Macy’s that I found and am not sure where it came from.  I think I got it for someone as a gift and got something else and then my bank has a rewards program and you get stuff when you accumulate points, I ordered and received a $100 macy’s gc this week.  It’s in my purse, I don’t go to Macy’s much so maybe eventually I’ll spend it.  Maybe for a gift

2. Have you ever counted up all the pills and/or vitamin capsules that you take every day? How many are there? What do you take on a daily basis? Do you give your children vitamins? If so, what kind? I take a vitamin.  one. Izzy takes juice plus.  

3. What five things would you put in a time capsule?  a bible, sd card full of current pics and videos, newspaper, bills and coins, and a believe sign.

4. Would you rather be overdressed or underdressed for a party? Why? Tell us about the last time you were overdressed and/or underdressed; what happened? Did anyone notice you were over/under dressed?  Probably overdressed. Although really neither.  I know I have felt both underdressed and overdressed at times and after scanning the crowd realize there are people who are less dressy and more dressy than I am.  The last time I thought about it was at a play.  I felt underdressed when riding the elevator with a group in formal dresses, I was dressy casual.  I then looked around and saw people very casual to very dressy.  So it was no big deal!  

With Bailey and Emelia at camp all last week… and Amanda working and out with Lorenzo, meal planning is different… and easy!
This week things will be more normal. We had a great Sunday. After church we ate leftover Chinese food and then napped for a long time! We planted the hostas that Matt’s mom brought down Saturday and worked outside for a while and then I ran the kids to Blockbuster. Bailey rearranged his room today. He also unloaded his suitcases from camp and I will spend the majority of my Monday doing laundry! We have our anniversary this week too!

Monday I plan to order the one topping large pizzas from Mazzios for $6 (monday special)…
Tuesday is our 19th Anniversary! I am not sure if we will go out this night, or if we’ll wait until the weekend. It will depend on Matt’s schedule. If we stay home I may grill some steak or something.
Wednesday I’ll put some chicken in the crockpot for an easy meal before church. *Happy Birthday Darla*
Thursday baked bbq chicken…
Friday either date night or carry out something?

My goals for the week are to help Amanda with a couple of projects in her room… get a new area rug for Bailey’s room… and start unloading and reorganizing Emelia’s room. I hope to paint it. Also need to empty out the pantry and reorganize it. I should have a few days before I get more CAD’s to do. (CAD’s btw are drawings of oil wells that I make into computer images on the computer for a spill plan.) 

That’s my plan. It is subject to change. Have a great Monday!

My friend Sheryl has started a new meme! 

Week’s Weather   weird! hot, dry, humid, rainy, sunny, windy!  90ish.

Sunday Sermon     All about fathers.

Life lessons    – giving it all to God.  

Favorite Meal(s)  Chinese food on Fri. night!

Treasured Moment(s)  watching grown men have a water and potato gun fight! and enjoy themselves so much looking like little boys.  

Impacting News

    National     Meet the Press Anchor, Tim Russert dies of heart attack at age 58

    Local   Two little girls shot to death close to home while out for a walk.

    Personal  Bailey & Emelia spent the week at camp!  Izzy tried “kid walk.”

Things I Read   Bible, preparing for class.

Talked with  Amanda… with two away it left us a lot of quiet time to talk.

Places We Went  Panera for lunch with brother Mike, shopping with mom…

Blessings -Kids home safe from camp, with lots of good stories and fun memories!

Challenges – Insurance and equipment.

Accomplishments – finished all the CADS I had to do.

Family Happenings – Father’s Day party at moms, Matt’s birthday party, Mom’s birthday party!

Photos  Love this pic of my brother Mike, enjoying the water gun fight!

We had such a fun night tonight. Mom planned a father’s day extravaganza. She had us all bring a small gift for each of the six fathers at the party. I took a gift bag with potato guns, a potato, and socks. After they opened the gift it was instantly a potato gun fight. My SIL brought flashlights and water guns. So, we went from potatoes flying through the air to water! I don’t remember laughing that much for so long in a while. It was tons of fun! I left to get Izzy to bed and was surprised that Matt stayed for another two hours! They kept playing and he was soaked. He said it was the funnest party in a long long time.

Saturday 9: Happy Father’s Day Eve

1. How long since you have been with your dad? a day or two.

2. How many siblings share your dad? two brothers.
3. Will you see your dad tomorrow? most likely.

4. Do you give him gifts on Father’s Day? yes!

5. Have you ever had a tough time in your relationship with your father? nope. He’s the bestest.

6. What was the last thing that you did with your dad? talked.

7. Growing up, was your dad tough on you? no. he was a cupcake.

8. Are you close to your father? very.

9. How long since you have spoke to him? a few hours.

~~Creative Adventure XIV ~ Fill In The Blanks~

1. On a vacation at a private seaside lodge, I decide to jog along the seashore and up ahead I see what looks like a cave in the rocks. I jog to the cave and pop open a cool can of coke?

2. Once in the cave I wait for my eyes to adjust and along the wall in front of me I see a flashlight, using it I walk slowly and suddenly come to a souvenir shop?

3. With wonder and awe I continue to drink my coke?

4. Upon leaving the cave and replacing the flashlight I think to myself there really are souvenir shops everywhere!