Followers

Wow... I still have people as followers on this blog. I feel special. Thank you.

Well, here I am and I have missed the "Thanksgiving Comes First" push!!! But let me tell you... Thanksgiving definitely was first in this household.

Our little boys (now in 2nd grade and kindergarten) really helped us focus on being thankful. The focus came through work they did at school and Sunday school, an arts and crafts event at church, an assignment they had at tae kwon do, and the five day break from school for the holiday (this was good and bad... but overall, I have to admit, it was good).

School presented us with art projects of turkeys... one globbed with glue and another covered in math facts (bizarre sounding, I know, but really very nice). Sunday school centered around how fortunate we were, so we should be reaching out to help others and be thankful that we are in a position to do so. Tae kwon do teachers asked the children to come to class with a list of at least ten things they were thankful for. So, we used a thankful book assembled at the arts and crafts event at church for the tae kwon do assignment.

The five day break helped me to be thankful for school!!! Ha ha!!! But also for time re-learning the things that remind me of the wonderful individuals we have in this little family. My husband is so thoughtful... my bigger, little guy is creative and brilliant (I am his mom, remember? I can say these things)... my littler, little guy is full of love and hugs and kisses...

So, once again I am short on time and big on wanting to write a blog post (and one with direction)... but still follow, if you want. I find it extremely touching that you have not deleted me off of your list. And I will be sure to drop by again soon to your blogs and catch up. I have missed this.

An Incredible Time

This has been an interesting summer.

Random Thoughts of Summer 2009

I thought I would stay in control of household chores and duties... that did not happen.

Both boys did really well at summer camps. (Will have to sign them up for more next summer!)

While they (the boys) kept themselves busy a lot more than they used to, I also found many of their activities more labor intensive for me.

I enjoyed pool outings... ones here at home and our two visits to local pools. (Yes, that is not a lot... but I am taking baby steps on the public pool arena.)

It went by fast... but there were still those days that seemed to last FOREVER!!!

I got even more addicted to Facebook!

I am still looking forward to school starting... but it remains bittersweet.

The love for my boys has grown. (But it does that every day anyway.)

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So... Hubby tried to go to working a few more days a month to generate some extra $$$ for us. And it worked... and WORKED! Prayers were answered for some more business and for more steady business... and now it is time to cut back again! We don't ever see him otherwise!

I guess it is good to have one thing... but I would rather find ways to make it work and see him more.

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Back to the "school starting" thing... I like the pace that the regular schedule of school brings. (But there are so many days out early and off for this and that... well, a topic for a whole 'notha' blog entry.)

I seriously have not filed ANY important papers ALL SUMMER. There is a bin where I have thrown them all. Thus, bringing about the first job on my list when I have chunks of time when the boys are at school.

I really need to establish a better system, too (obviously), that will aid in making it easier to keep track of things when life gets hectic. (If anyone has suggestions, please comment. And, yes, yes, yes... going paperless on many things would probably help, eh? Aaaargh... I have a hard time with that.)

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Closing Thoughts on Summer 2009

Some precious times with the boys were while having ice cream, swimming, touring the zoo and Living History Farms... even on short rides to get Mommy a Starbucks beveridge! :-)

Tae kwon do remained a hit with the boys... it's schedule has helped the mommy keep a cadence to the time passing by.

We got a new little kitty last week to cap off the fun of summer. (He is a rascal named Thomas... and we quickly grew to love him... like, right off the bat!)

I loved the weather we had... such a mild summer (but I know that it is not quite over... supposed to be 100 degress plus this weekend at some point) to enjoy the fresh air. It has been nice.

It was a summer I will remember as when my boys suddenly got big in the fall... off to kindergarten all day for Littler, Little Man... and second grade seems so old for the Bigger, Little Guy.

VBS

Many of you know that "VBS" stands for "Vacation Bible School." Well, ours has started (1500 kids last week... more to come this coming week) and this week is my week to help out.

I am looking forward to being a shepherd to 4 year olds... helping them to get from crafts to the gym, from snack to story time, from worship to the bathroom... and to the bathroom again, I am sure! I am asking for prayers so that the week is a good experience for my group and all the kids coming to our church. I can't wait to share the everlasting joy of Jesus Christ.

The other prayers needed are for my Littler, Little Man. He still gets very nervous before activities outside the home and will likely cry about this venture every day. It will be tough for him and me... but he has to learn to be brave. Once we get him somewhere, he eventually does fine. The crying seems to always creep in there, though...

So... this week I will likely be a little stressed out... and I will likely be unconnected to the computer. Enjoy your week. I know ours will be fine in the end.

Just Right

The other day, our timing was off. We kind of wasted the sunny day inside until the afternoon and then we wanted to go outside and enjoy our pool. (The patch repair is holding up!) We got in and not more than 10 minutes later it started to thunder.

We got all packed up and back inside the house. Then, about 30 minutes later... the sun was back out. Oh well...

Today, the day started out with clouds and a thunderstorm followed. It was a short one... and I always appreciate thunderstorms that happen during the day (I don't sleep through them during the night). The sun came out and we hit the pool! We enjoyed almost 2 and a half hours of outdoor fun!

And about 30 minutes after coming in... more clouds have come in and we might just get some more rain.

Timing was just right today!

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So... hang in there! These days do come around once in a while! :-)

Fourth of July Time

So... here is the deal with me and fireworks: in general, I do not like them. I like to watch them... I do not like the noise. I don't think that it bothered me so much until I had kids. And it has bothered me more and more as there seems to be more and more of them used in neighborhoods at random.

The aspect of it not bothering me so much until I had kids definitely has to do with the noise. I got especially mad when our neighbor kid shot them off at any ol' time when we lived in Michigan and I had very little babies that went to bed early. (Who am I kidding? They still go to bed earlier than the average kid in the summer... we keep them on school hours as much as we can during the summer.)

Anyway... my husband would probably tell you that ANY noise after the boys go to bed drives me crazy. I am most likely overprotective in this area for them. That probably has to do with that every noise in the night bothers me... because I am on "Mommy Radar" and think every noise in the night is one of the boys needing me.

Silly me. But, let me tell ya... after these busy days this summer, I am sleeping much better. Did not even hear my husband come home from work last night (about 1 am) and he reported that I was snoring up a storm!

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A Summer Kind of Busy

We are taking it easy for the most part... but the boys have had things they have wanted to do. So, we are fitting these activities in along with trying to keep a relaxed pace. Let's see if yesterday qualifies:

Ran to the library to return books. Stopped by a box to mail bills that I had gotten ready during breakfast. Then the rest of the mornig was spent picking up the kitchen and stuff around the house (sorry, Larry - our cat - I did not get to the litter boxes. I will get to that today!) Then it was time for lunch. After lunch, read the boys a book to keep up with their summer reading program. (1000 minutes needed there to gain the coveted free movie tickets prize!) Then it was time to head to the pool with my sister-in-law along helping. We had a blast! (But all that happened there is a whole 'notha post for a whole 'notha day!) Got home with enough time to get changed, dry my hair, fix boys sandwiches for dinner, get them dressed for tae kwon do, throw down a bowl of cereal for my dinner and then get to tae kwon do. Dropped off baseball tickets to a friend on the way home. Read the boys 3 more books and got them ready for bed. Whew!

This morning... did some fun stuff with the boys to try to keep them up to par so school won't be such a shock in the fall... then the TV came on and Mommy took a 20 minute nap!!! Oh yeah!!!

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Poor hubby... 45+ hours worked in three days this week. I sure hope he is enjoying his golf time today... a well deserved day off.

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I'm off.... enjoy summer! We are!

What we did...

Thank you all for you input on the poll and your comments on the post. We found a repair kit that could actually be used with water still in the pool (Thanks, Becky!)... and it seemed to slow down the leak quite a bit, but there was still a very small drizzle that worked its way out on and off. Also, upon repairing the small hole, I noticed a potential problem with a seam.

So (said with another one of my big sighs), we played in the pool today. It was a cooler, overcast day... therefore, the water was pretty cold. The boys paid that no attention and frolicked for a lot longer than I expected. Then I thought to drain it to do the repairs over and in a more careful fashion... but even that had a hitch. The hose did not seem to really drain it much... or, at least, very quickly.

My husband and I decided, then, to let the thing sit until tomorrow. If there was still water in there and the weather called for some needed refreshment by swimming, we might just still hop in there and enjoy it! (Cooler temps and less humidity called for for the weekend.)

Oh... and this does not even cover the fact that I wasted $20 buying the wrong kind of chlorine tablets. Perhaps I will be ending up taking my cousin's advice (from her comment in the previous post) and just take the thing down and head for the public pool. (But I would really much rather head for the Keys!!! Okay... that REALLY is not in our budget... especially after this fiasco!)

Pool Dilemma

Help me out by participating in my poll... cast your vote soon!

SEE POLL IN RIGHT HAND COLUMN.

What Can I Say?

First of all, let me plug my Cafe Press shop here: www.cafepress.com/Heidistufforama. What can I say? I need money and if there is anyone who has some to spend, I would hope they would consider my shop. Hee hee!

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That was pretty blatant and I apologize... somewhat! :-) (Wow! I went to look up "blatant" in the dictionary - I do not trust my spelling - and I had to blow dust off the cover. Sad! And, yes... I know that there are online dictionaries, but I prefer the old, fashioned method of turning pages and sifting through words... more interesting that way.)

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Yesterday was a good day with the little men... we are doing what we call "Mommy School" and yesterday was the first day. We get up, have breakfast, and then start Mommy School. I have planned practice with writing and math, some art projects, book reading, and other fun stuff to keep the boys on their toes... so that they don't lose all their education in front of the TV and computer this summer... oh, and sometimes we spend time outside. ;-)

I have said it here before and I will mention it here again, I am not one of those mom's that is too willing to go to the pool nor take them everywhere, everyday for lessons of this kind or the other. I think we are plenty busy enough. Tae Kwon Do is two-three times a week... they had zoo day camp last week and will have vacation Bible School in July. I will try to get in some swimming lessons sometime before school starts in August.

It is terrible, but I always feel the need to justify my choices with the boys... probably because I feel like we are so different from everyone else in our world around us.

ANYWAY (said with a big sigh)... I was going to talk about what a GOOD day we had!

Mommy School had the boys writing, doing math, figuring out word sounds, doing fingerprint art, solving a maze, reading, learning about parts of the body, playing catch and "Red Light, Green Light"... we had fun! And then after lunch we headed to the zoo to see The Birdman show and riding the zoo train. The rest of the day they were spoiled with a couple of TV shows and some computer game time. (It was too miserable to go outside!)

BUT... I did promise the Slip 'n' Slide and we ran out of time with Mommy having Hope Stampers (a card making ministry at church) and Daddy coming home late from work. So... we will have to find time to do that today... but probably after Tae Kwon Do??? We will have to see.

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Quick post here for now... it's time for Mommy School!!! (No one at school in the fall will understand what the boys are talking about... oh well.)

Anybody Out There???

Well... hello!!! I have not blogged in a LONG time... and I have been missing it. Of course, I am coming back at a time when the computer is tied up often with the boys playing games and at a point in the summer when I will be very busy and involved with them from here on out... so, I may have to adopt some craftiness in getting myself on to the computer to get my creative juices out!

How are you? I have been fine. I am really at a point where the biggest antagonist to my heart is cancer. I thankfully do not have it (that I know of), but many lives around me have been touched by this horrible disease and I have been praying against it, praying to support those dealing with it, and praying for guidance in case there is something God wants me to do about this.

God bless those who fight cancer... who do research to end cancer... and those who raise money and awareness to deal with this awfulness.

Summer has had a lot of rain so far... thankfully, that means that there has been little pressure to take the boys to go swimming! :-) I am not a fan of the crowds at the public pool... nor dealing with the boys on my own. (They really do not know how to swim... I have been a mommy that has not been super good about getting them into lessons.)

OTHERWISE (said with a huge sigh)... the boys really enjoyed zoo day camp at the Blank Park Zoo so I am feeling pretty good about that decision.

Well, now I have been invaded by the little men and should spend some time with them (as I have been on the computer for a while now... mostly over at FaceBook). Cheers and hope to hear from ya, if you are interested in leaving a comment.

Not Totally Back...

Just a little blurb here to say that I will be adding posts to my card blog... the one thing I am doing away from blogging is more card making and artwork. It has been fun!

Hope all is well with everyone! Happy Easter!