In our own backyard

Well, not exactly. But this beautiful park is just a mile or two up the road from our house. We spent the afternoon there walking, dropping rocks from the bridge, and playing at the playground. Mollie is frowning because she's carrying a bucket full of rocks (her choice).

I decided we needed to just get out of the house and it ended up turning into the most enjoyable afternoon. Funny how that works! I didn't prepare or plan at all- just grabbed the diaper bag and went out the door. We met a woman whose son had a brain tumor when he was little and is now in his 30's. Always good to hear those kind of stories. And Mollie played with a new friend, Mariah, at the playground. Mariah's mom and I had a good conversation too.

The Big List

The major things we need to do around our house.... mostly for my own planning:

Dining room set
Replace upstairs bathtub/sink
Replace carpet downstairs (or clean as a temporary fix)
Replace/reupholster sofa
Clean up/organize the storage room
Deal with the yard (maybe hire someone to do this?)
Resurface the driveway
Think about replacing/repairing the storm windows/screens
Termite prevention
Master bathroom
Paint (inside)

Smaller (or less urgent) stuff....
kitchen curtains
shelves for Mollie's room
living room shades/blinds
move Lu's dresser upstairs
organize the office

A Birthday!

Happy Birthday T!

If I were there, I would bake you a cake. But a picture will have to do for the moment.

Hope you enjoyed your day!

This cake can also be ordered from:
http://www4.mailordercentral.com/veryvera/prodinfo.asp?number=NL

Skirt

I made this skirt for Mollie a few weeks ago and forgot to post the pictures.

The weekend

The dryer was down all weekend. And it rained all weekend, so we couldn't hang clothes outdoors either. Thank you Michelle for letting me dry my laundry at your house Friday night! You saved me from the laundromat!

Still, Saturday went like this:

Matt and Mollie went fishing; Lucy had a poop-splosion. We went out and had a very nice dinner; Mollie at a lot; Mollie barfed when we got home. We cleaned up (threw away a hopeless rug) and went to bed; several hours later, Otis (the cat) puked.

Then Sunday we went into the hospital so I couldn't do anything about the laundry anyway.

At the moment, I am *enjoying* doing laundry!

Even with all that went on, it wasn't a BAD weekend. Everyone was in a good mood. We (almost) accomplished one of our goals for the weekend- getting Lucy a dresser. I've been looking around for a used one but I haven't had any luck. I walked into Babies R' Us on Saturday and there was a perfect sized chifferobe marked down about 50%! We picked it up (it actually fit in the Volvo- phew!) before going out to dinner. We managed to get it out of the car and into the house on Sunday morning and that's where we stopped. It is really heavy and we didn't want to kill ourselves trying to get it upstairs with no help. It is currently filled with Lucy's clothes, but.... it's in our living room!

I'm starting to think we just have bad luck.

Seriously. This week, it's ants (constantly). Then the internet stops working. Now our dryer won't heat. We NEED our dryer. It's not even 2 years old. After reading about other people's problems with this particular model, I think it's probably the control board (something that will have to be "ordered"). Ugh.

We were just discussing what we might do this weekend- one of the few in recent memory where:
- it's not supposed to be blazing hot outside
- our daughter's chemotherapy is not making her feel sick
- we don't have visitors or other obligations

Well, I guess I have a date with the laundromat.

Can't life just give us a break??

Good news!

Good news from Katie and Blake!
Sending you lots of hugs from across the USA!


Picture courtesy of Webweaver

Cheap thrills

Do you feel obligated to buy something if you shop at a local shop?

We discovered a local nursery (Green Thumb West, for the locals) that has beautiful greenhouses, a few fish ponds, pottery, fountains, and wonderful plant displays. Mollie loves it. For her, it's almost as good as going to the botanical gardens (she loves gardens of all sorts).

We went the other day an she was pretending we were in the Hundred Acre Wood. I had no intention of purchasing anything, but I do like to look. So we just browsed around for an hour or so. And I left feeling kind of bad that I didn't make a purchase.

I like shopping browsing. I am pretty good at resisting the temptation to buy. However, usually I'm at larger stores that provide more anonymity.

Should I see a doctor?

I have been feeling like I have no energy, since about March really. I wake up tired, even after getting a full night's sleep.

Any ideas? I think my iron is okay (I'm taking a multi-vitamin). It could be stress related, with everything that's been going on with Mollie, but this started before Mollie was diagnosed with leukemia. I haven't been getting regular exercise (chasing kids around and running up and down the stairs, yes. jogging, swimming, elliptical, no.)

I am due for a regular physical anyway, so I guess I will discuss it with my doctor at that time.

I am enjoying watching the Olympic athletes, full of exuberant energy. It's inspiring.

Much needed break

This weekend we went to Harbor Island, SC for a mini-vacation with Matt's mom. It was very nice. Relaxing is the word. There was no pressure to do anything. We threw the trip together at the last minute and it worked. Great weather. Great beach. Great condo. Great company. I didn't get much more sleep than usual due to baby Lucy, but Matt and I got a dinner out (alone!) and Mollie had a great time with Grandma.

We definitely want to go back. I never planned to live in the South, but since we're here, we might as well take advantage of the beaches. The sand is gorgeous, the water is warm (but full of sharks and jellyfish- aack!). Mollie has been wanting to go camping so we're thinking of heading to Hunting Island State Park sometime in the fall to camp on the beach. It really looks beautiful.

I am always torn when we head to Charleston, Savannah, or other seacoast towns. I want to explore all the good shopping, restaurants, historic sites, etc. in town, but I also want to spend my time on the beach, relaxing, taking pictures, looking for shells. I guess that's a good problem to have though, so I'm not spending too much time worrying about it.