Eventful Weekend

This weekend has kept us busy for sure. After Brookelynn spent the night at Treasure's house Thursday night, they decided to sleep over at our house for a couple of nights. They just can't seem to get enough of each other. LOL

 Saturday we went to Paradise's 5th birthday party at the pool.

Today, Treasure went back home after we went to church and ate Sunday brunch at O'Charley's. We hung around the house the rest of the day.

Stroker has been on my back here lately about me parking in the extra driveway instead of in the grass by the long driveway. He said that I'm making ruts in the yard. So, today after my trip to Wal-Mart, I parked in the extra driveway so that I wouldn't have to hear him fuss.

At 6pm, this happened.

It pushed my car right into the fence on this side. Just scratches on this side...no dents.

The guy driving the jeep hydroplaned (in the water you see in the back ground) and lost control of his vehicle. If my car had not been there, he would have plowed straight through the fence.

Luckily, neither he nor his son were hurt.

This is how Stroker had to get in the car to get to my insurance papers and registration.

 And that is what happens when I listen to Stroker.

Oh well, it's just a car.

Guess we will be driving the truck to the beach.



Ending the week.

Here I thought we would be in for a long, dry summer. We have had rain and storms every day this week and the forecast has rain for the next seven days. I hope our vacation weather is nice, and I also hope everything is not crowded.
Looking back on the last three days, I recall dinner at El Tapatio Wednesday night was more crowded than I remember ever seeing it on a Wednesday night before. We also took a family trip to Wal-Mart which means there was a lot more junk in our basket and in turn translates to a lot more money at the register.
Thursday, Brookelynn deserted us and went to a sleep over at her friend Treasure's house, after a day at the pool. We actually spent the evening at home with a home cooked meal. This is about as involved as I get when it comes to home cooking.

As we sat out on the patio, the tornado siren began to sound. Here is a video of how "bad" the sky looked.

Today is the day that Stacia and Delano close on their house. They plan to start redecorating ASAP. We may go by there this evening to check out their new place. There is lots and lots of yard for Jett and Dash to play in.

Summer Has Arrived

Today is officially the FIRST day of summer!!! Mother Nature brought it in with a bang, with temperatures in the mid 90's and an evening of storms. High winds took the top of a tree out across the street from our house.

The first day of summer also means that today has the longest amount of daylight hours. After today, the daylight starts to slowly decrease each day. That makes me sad :(
I also had a hair appointment today. Extra blond highlights...that ought to help me get by with alot more mistakes and a lot less effort (hehehe).

Father's Day & Monday Mishaps

Several things went wrong with today. Typical Monday I suppose. It started when I got up and decided to wash the bed sheets. They are pewter in color, but I alway like to add a little beach because I think sheets and towels are two linens that always deserve bleach. 
Anywho, I must have been half asleep when I set the washer because I put the bleach where the fabric softener goes. Instead of the bleach being slowly diluted in the wash, it ran straight out and made huge bleach spots randomly all over the sheets and pillow cases. Now the sheets match the liner of the comforter because I accidentally over bleached it about a year ago. I refuse to discard them because they are waaaayyyy too comfy. 1000 thread count sateen. Everybody should own a set.

 

Brookelynn and I went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast while Devin slept in, now that he finally has the option to sleep in  this summer. We went to the Nissan dealership at 9 am for an oil change for the truck and it wound up taking them two hours to get it done. Note to self: Drop off the truck and pick it up later the next time an oil change is due. We also went to Wal-Mart, Hobby Lobby, Food Lion and Staples.
Brookelynn and I made cupcakes today to take to Paradise tomorrow for her birthday. We bought her the Justin Bieber movie for her birthday, but she won't get it until Saturday at her party. Brookelynn also had to have an extra JB movie for herself.

We went to visit my mom at 2:30 and stayed till 4:00. I had to be at the dentist at 4:15 for my six month cleaning. I have a cavity of course. I made an appointment next week to have it taken care of before the trip to the beach.
Brookelynn has a vacation countdown sheet on the refrigerator so that we don't forget LOL.

We had a few storms over the past weekend. Some tore down tree limbs and consisted of pin ball size hail, but no major damage. For fathers day, Stroker got a carousel for his Keurig coffee, a new wallet, a new shirt and tie (classic Father's Day gift), and a home cooked dinner.

We spent the biggest part of Father's Day (after church at our Father's House) at my dad's. I took my daddy a box of item labeled "Stuff Daddy Likes" and I filled it with random things that he uses. Of course, he fussed that we went out and spent money on him. Typical daddy.

Better late than never

I received a phone call from an unfamiliar number at noon today. When I answered, it was Devin on the other end of the line. "I'm done" he said. "Done with what?...the first semester?" I asked. "Done with summer school." he replied. That is when I made a u-turn and went back to pick him up. Yay!! He is finished and their is still lots of summer left. He recovered an entire year of English credit in eleven days. Now, we are both happy campers.

Brookelynn's got a new camera, so she has been playing with it all evening. She has been quiet the photographer today.

More of the Same

If tomorrow isn't any better, we are headed to the doctor.For the last three and a half days my Brookelynn has been so sick. She cannot eat and will barely drink anything.
Although Brookelynn wasn't up to it today, she managed to make it to Jennifer's mothers funeral. She also missed her 2nd piano lesson today because she said she just didn't feel well enough to sit up. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.
On a good note, we did receive confirmation that the resort received our check for the condo today, so we are now official.

Sunday Sickness

We made it to church this morning, but Brookelynn didn't feel like going to her class. She spent the entire day lying on the couch, now she has migrated to our bed. She hasn't ate since 1:00 yesterday. She signed the card for Aysiah's birthday, but said she just didn't feel good and could'nt go to the party. I hope she wakes up tomorrow feeling better.

Tough Day

Today went bad first thing this morning. Jennifer's mother (Bucket's Jennifer) passed away from a sudden heart attack. My heart aches for all of them. I dread the day that I lose one of my parents.
This afternoon, Brookelynn came to me and said that she felt sick. She spent the entire evening just lying around. She didn't even want dinner (which never happens). Phase two of the upset stomach has now set in and I hope phase three doesn't make an appearance during the night tonight. The only thing worse than puke, is puke at 2am.
Tomorrow is Aysiah's birthday swim party. I hope Brooke gets to feeling well enough to go. She always has a good time at Aysiah's birthday parties.

Summertime Recipe

Ok, so I don't usually blog about recipe's, but here is a recipe that I ran across on a blog that I read. It looked too yummy not to share.
I love fresh, cool cucumbers. This recipe had summertime written all over it.

Cucumber Cup Appetizers

• English cucumber (or any cucumber) cut into roughly 1 1/2 inch pieces crosswise.
• About 4 tablespoons of caramelized onions
• Chopped chives, 1 – 2 teaspoons plus more for garnish
• About 2 tablespoons sour cream
• Bacon pieces
• Granulated garlic or fresh garlic, to taste
• salt, to taste

Scoop out the center of the cucumber cups for the filling using a melon baller. Make sure your cucumber pieces are big enough to leave a base for the cups after you scoop most of the meat out.

For the filling: Combine the caramelized onions with the sour cream and chives in a bowl. Start with just a little until you have the right onion to sour cream ratio you prefer. Season to taste with garlic and salt.

Spoon the filling into the cucumber cups, top with bacon pieces. These are best chilled a bit for serving.

The Decline

Great News! At first, I thought the cicada's were just sleeping in like they did last weekend, but as the day progressed, the cicada's swarm never appeared. In fact, there were only a few to be heard. Looks like the 13 year cicada's are finally on the decline. Yay!..My life can go back to normal.
I know you probably think that my cicada issues are lame, but to any of us who suffer from entomophobia, the last few weeks have been a nightmare.
Maybe I will plan a month long vacation next time in a region where they do not live.

Sun-Sand-Surf...Here We Come

Ok, so we found our condo for our Destin vacation and I just completed the rental agreement and put the check in the mail.

It is official...we are headed to the beach in a couple of weeks. We haven't been to the beach in quite a while, so we are all ready to hit the sand. I can't believe that we used to take a trip twice a year and these days we barely squeeze in one.

Although, I am ahead of the game this time.

We already have our Disney Cruise booked for next year too.

 Here is a view from the family room of our condo.

In other news, I sold my point and shoot camera today. Yay! Now I can find a new and improved one. Technology is so dog gone hard to keep up with :) Seems like just about the time I get a new gadget home and unpacked from the box, it's outdated.

Ten on Tuesday

Today was "Devin's Day". Unfortunately, it wasn't the same kind of fun day that Brooke had yesterday. I did try to throw in a couple of treats here and there, so that it wasn't all bad.

1. Devin's doctor appointment at 9 am
2. Visit to Petco to check out the animals.
3. 32 degrees frozen yogurt.
4. Lunch at Krystal's
5. Dropped off Stroker's lunch
6. Day off from summer school.
7. Visit to the orthodontist at 2:30 (just one visit left)
8. Dinner at Logan's
9. Brookelynn's first piano lesson
10. Took Brooke to spend the night with Aunt Darlene.

Cicadaville

When I first went outside this morning, I noticed the cicada's had quietened down.  "It's about time", I thought. By noon, they were back in full swing. Maybe they were just sleeping in this morning. We are seeing a lot of little cicada corps lying around, so they are definitely on the decline.
This past weekend consisted of an Internet search for a gulf front condo in Destin for our upcoming vacation.
Friday evening, we sat on the patio for about 2 hours while we soaked in summer and swatted an occasional cicada. Those pesky bugs tend to settle down in the trees around sunset. That's our chance to enjoy some outside time. I refuse to let them rob me of my entire summer. While we were outside, we opened up Stroker's new Keurig coffee maker and explored all the coffee flavors.

Saturday, we had dinner at Chili's with Bucket, his family, our family and my sister.
Sunday, was hot and muggy. At 3pm, high winds followed by rain popped up out of nowhere. Luckily, we did not have any damage to our property, but it split several trees of people we know. Mildred invited us to dinner Sunday evening, so we hung out there for a while.
Monday was "Brookelynn's Day". For making straight A's all year on her report card, she had a day of fun. My mom joined us for bowling and pizza. She found a shady spot to hang out while Brooke and I played a round of miniature golf and rode the go carts. We also visited the bakery and bought some goodies there and we stopped on the way home for some all natural spring water too.

8 Years Later

Here we are, eight years later. Time sure does fly. I remember our wedding as if were yesterday. You can get a glimpse of our wedding by clicking HERE.

You don't marry someone you can live with...You marry the person that you can't live without.