i'm persevering...

the truth is, that i'm such a creature of schedules and stability, that my "normal" life may have to wait til summer is over.

i know it sounds odd, but i've never liked summer. even as a child. especially as a child. summer meant an end to school and waaaaaay too much free time. i never knew what to do with myself and was often told to, "put that book down and go outside." in those cases, i usually just took my book outside.

as an adult, i'm learning to like summer a bit more. vacation is fun. having my kids home is a nice change (when they are enjoying summer). chuck is around a bit more,... usually. but, still, i resist this terrible urge to compartmentalize and structure our free time and "fun." so, i've been learning this about myself and, as a result, backing off. and that's a good thing. except, that once i hit summer's half way mark, i start getting the shakes and have to start, at least, thinking about the beloved fall season.

i know, i know. it's sad. pray for me.

the sure sign of improvement, however, is that most of my work is being done in my head. and in my trusty spiral notebook. inventories, lists, plans - as long as they are on paper, i feel somewhat productive. and, like i mentioned yesterday, searching for clearance racks gradually is a nice way to shop. and it doesn't hit the wallet like a bucket of cold water. i'm also starting to think about christmas. not in a psycho way. (not yet anyway). but, as people make comments about things they like or need, i add them to my list. should i find a deal, i may make the purchase. yesterday, i made a particularly strategic holiday move when i stumbled upon a coupon code for 25 free photo cards at www.seehere.com (one of my favorite photo websites). the code was intended to motivate people to send cards highlighting their summer fun, but i decided to use it to order christmas cards. and,... if you happen to have multiple email addresses, you could also have multiple accounts... you see where i'm going. let's just say, for the price of shipping, i have 50 personalized christmas cards en route to my house. i think i may keep an eye on more photo freebies... i could build up quite a collection that way. hmm....

despite my overactive brain and compulsive need for productivity, i am making progress. schedules are fun,... but for now my kids are playing with trains. tucker is still in his pajamas. and, if yesterday's course of events is any indications, he may stay like that til lunchtime.

victory!

this is all i got

not sure why my posts have been so few and far between these days - we have been keeping busy around here. maybe that's why. by the time i have a minute to sit down, i just don't feel like doing anything. i have, at least, been faithful to keep up-to-date with all our fun summer pics.

we've been home from our outer banks vacation since saturday. chloe is still there with my parents but will be returning this saturday. i'm glad. i miss her. we miss her.

chuck and patrick leave this sunday for Camp Pinnacle, a church camp held in Carlisle, PA. this is our second year sending kids from our church. patrick is less than enthused (so is chuck) but both of them, by nature, would rather be home. for that reason alone, going is a good thing. i know they'll have fun and come home on friday with lots of stories.

in the midst of living with bits and pieces of my family, i'm trying to get life back in order. there is something about coming home from vacation that makes me want to get ready for fall. a bit premature when vacation takes place in mid-july, but i'm in the zone nonetheless. most of the kids' school supply shopping is done (except for the tissues and ziploc bags - and the fat 8 pack of crayons. cant find those anywhere for some reason). the last few days have been spent taking inventory of the kids' clothes for the upcoming season - and trying to decipher who needs what, what fits whom, etc. once i figure out what everyone needs, then i get to hit up every clearance rack i can find in search of spending the least amount of money for the most stuff. even better is the "trip" i took to my own basement only to discover several pairs of shoes for lucy and tucker as well as a box of clothes for patrick. such discoveries definitely help!

i did make some great purchases at target this week (and, yes, i went to all 3 in our area for my quest). i bought 4 pairs of shoes for about $20 - LOVE their clearance shoe rack :)

with all the new purchases comes some much needed purging. i'm looking forwarded to down-sizing the kids' toy collections. since lucy will be in school this fall, she'll be playing much less with toys, which means that the girls' bedroom will take a more grown-up look. don't worry, i'm not getting rid of everything. but there's only so much playing to be done after dinner and on the weekends. patrick is down to just legos and star wars action figures. and he doesn't miss a thing. i'm wondering if the girls would be ok with just polly pockets and barbies. ok,... i'm starting to ramble now.

this afternoon, i'm going to take a break from my frantic organizational pace to sit and read. we'll see how long that lasts.

tucker and the trains...

well, this post has been a long time coming... but i'm determined to catch up on life a bit.

last month, i took tucker to the Strasburg Railroad to see Thomas the Train. this trip was a special reward for his choice to be a big boy by giving up his thumb. it's hard to believe my youngest has so quickly left that stage of his life behind, but i'm very proud to see him grow up. experiencing all the big trains in action was amazing enough for a three year old boy, but seeing the big trains along with the REAL Thomas was definitely over the top.

i gave him his choice of train hat - and although all the other kids were sporting the cute denim engineer caps,

tucker went straight for the "mr conductor" hat. and he wore it well...

our train ride was rather quiet. having me all to himself is not something tucker is used to, so he didn't feel the need to do a lot of talking.

instead he just took in the sights.

and there was lots to see...

but, by far, his favorite sight was his favorite train pulling out of the station as we were pulling back in. he was on the look-out...

"there he is!"

"bye, thomas!!"

how my garden grows...

in case you were interested, all that hard work a month or so back was not in vain!

here we have a small selection of tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, squash, and zucchini. so far i have harvested one zucchini, but the rest of the vegetables are looking good. it may not seem like much, but after the work that went into getting it all ready... it definitely makes me happy!