Oh boy! Oh Boy! Oh BOY!!!

Today.....

This happened....

It was like little elves arriving when no one was looking...

My Doorframe

One of the things the kids loved doing was having themselves measured. They proudly stood in the doorway of the pantry while they were measured. If the whim to measured happened, they would measure themselves...one of things I will miss is this "Growth Chart." I decided to take a picture and then realized...we didn't date the measurements and we didn't have any height markings! AGGGGGHHHH. So now, I have a picture...with a few dates...but no idea what the height was...typical double blonde move...I'm including the husband in the blonde move because he didn't think of it either and he is the detail oriented one...me? I'm big picture oriented. I will have to start a new tradition as soon as the house is built and hopefully, the kids have a few more inches in them...

The Porch

I snapped this picture on our last day at the house. I will miss this porch. Every morning before school I would go out and wave goodbye to the kids while their bus drove by our house. I will miss sitting on the porch and handing out candy on Halloween...putting the snowflake lights up for Christmas...planting pretty pots for the porch....I will miss taking a picture of the kids by the porch and watching them get bigger and bigger each year. I will miss watching the dogwood by the window bloom and willing my Japanese Maple to grow taller after a deep freeze caused us to cut the damaged top off...I will miss my phlox popping up and the irises with their sweet smell...I will especially miss the scent of my gardenias...I tried planting scented flowers by the front and the back porch. The back porch had the best scent with the lilies and David Austen Munstead Wood roses...Roo keeps telling me I can have more at our new house but I have to confess the heat and humidity of Summer has sapped most of my gardening joy...Perhaps a smaller lot will rejuvenate my joy...I do know there will be a hydrangea or two, a few azaleas, at least one gardenia, a dogwood, OH, and my Yoshino Cherry tree and Redbud Tree must be repeated... but at this point, they will be planted by the landscaping company subcontracted by the Builder.

I digress,  I will miss this porch, it has provided some sweet memories and has been good to us. Very very good.

Decisions Decisions Decisions

We are still waiting on the Architectural Review Board to approve our house plans for our new home but we have been busy choosing colors and looking for ideas. 

The kids loved the game room in a model home...sorry kids, we don't have a bonus room on our new house. Once the Builder said it would add $40,000 to the cost of building, we moved right along to picking the roof shingles. M loved this room but wants a hockey theme so I took a picture and am putting hockey themed items in my head. I loved the little desk set for H. She is going to have a huge room with a little cubbie by the window which will be perfect for a desk. One option is to put Matthew downstairs and skip the guest room so the kids could have a game room...however, I'm not real big on removing a bed to escape to when the Big Guy takes all the covers...

On the bright side, my builder thinks he can get me a door like this for my pantry for about the same price as a normal door. Color me happy...or a really serene color of blue.

My Twitter Star

http://video.predators.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=741&id=628718&lang=en

I found this on Twitter today. It has Matthew and Michael in it from Hockey School last week! Matthew is in a few shots but you have to be quick. The easiest one to find is the absolute last shot of the clip. His mouthpiece is half black and half yellow for the Bruins...and he is trying to fight the camera. That's my boy.

12 More Days

12 more days until school starts...sigh...I am praying for a double portion of patience, wisdom, and discernment. I love my little darlin's but their bickering and quarreling is about to do me in...I'm too old for this...there is a reason most people have their children young. Energy. Pure and simple. My tank of energy is almost empty.

Time to get ready for the day. We need to go pick up H's school schedule, they both have a skating lesson, and I need to work out. I keep telling myself if I exercise I will have more energy. I haven't seen any proof of this theory yet. I keep hoping my thyroid medicine will kick in and I will be a buzzing bee of energy. Alas, no.

I will shower, pray for my double portion....and pray some more. Love my blondies but I cannot seem to get them to understand it is easier to be nice. Maybe today will be the day it sinks in...

My Little Darlin's at the Atlanta Aquarium.

New Skates

H got her new skates today. Her feet are growing and as you go to higher levels, you need a different blade. Who knew? It is longer and has more picks at the toe. I am probably not using the right terminology. I have a lot to learn about figure skating. (You should have seen me trying to register the kids for the upcoming competition. I think smoke came out of my ears.) H put them on immediately and used them to learn her routine for her upcoming competition. H picked the music, I was skeptical but I think it is going to be great...now if her new skate dress would get here...

Reward

Matthew received an autographed puck for working so hard at Camp this past week. It is signed by the Preadators' Captain. I have no idea who that is nor can I decipher the signature...I guess I could Google the information but what fun would that be?

Matthew collapsed (NOT literally) after a drill. He is really resting but I thought it hysterical he did it under the Mellow Mushroom sign that reads "Mellow is a state of mind." I took a picture of Mellow Matthew.

Hockey Sister

H was a good sport all week...I got her up early, she sat in a cold rink (with an iPad), she shared her blanket, and went to lunch with us (her favorite part). She demanded some frozen yogurt on Thursday. I figured she deserved a reward (she got a new pair of shoes on Friday, also).

Day One of Camp

 First Day of Camp. A few pictures from the first day of Camp. The afternoon session had JP Dumont (Predators alumni) and Predators Defense-man Seth Jones. The Camp really worked the boys hard. I was so proud of M, he gave each session all he had. We came home each night with some very sweaty gear. Ah, the smell of stinky boys and hockey gear on a long drive...Thank goodness Tide gets the smell out of the undergarments and jersey...the pads? Well, they stink...a lot.

Preds Hockey Camp

I got M signed up for the Preds Hockey Camp (committing myself to drive to Nashville for 5 days) and his friend joined us. We had to move the boys up to the 11-14 age group since the 8-10 group was full and didn't have a spot for Michael. This turned out to be a good thing since I think they would have been bored with the younger group. The boys fit in quite nicely  and skated/played with the top boys...Michael had the disadvantage being in a group of REALLY big boys. I think his mother was a bit concerned he was going to get squashed. The biggest danger is the big guys that don't skate well. Michael's dad also plays hockey and got a few stitches after being run over by the equivalent of a gorilla on ice skates. So we stayed close by during ice sessions and only leaving the Rink for lunch during the off ice sessions.

Matthew was the best skater (thank you, figure skating lessons that have caused him to be bullied and teased endlessly, but it has all paid off). The coaches had fun with Matthew and would work him harder by getting the stick pounded during his drills. Good practice for the real thing when he advances in higher play.

Matthew had a blast during Camp. I have never seen him skater harder or hustle more. He played better than I have ever seen him play. I guess the 13 hour days were worth it. He was one happy boy.

Videos, I hope

I worked and worked and restored the videos and pictures from my phone...let's hope the upload works...

Hard Week of Hockey

First One

Second One 

Success

Predators Hockey Camp

M has been busy at Hockey Camp the last 5 days and I took some pictures and video. I was very excited to show the pictures of him and the funny ones of Hannah but...I also got a new phone...which I took the pictures with...and lost the pictures with...My ringtones didn't transfer and I was trying to transfer them...but I lost the pictures and videos...this stinks. I want so much to be able to manage my technology...but I seem to fail...each time. Roo is busy trying to recover the lost photos and videos. I will try not to cry. I did post a video to my Facebook but I can't manage to pull that one video off. Ah, for the simpler days. I could manage that humongous video recorder and 110 camera. Little phones that do everything that are a wee bit bigger than a deck of cards perplex me.

Turncoat

Once upon a time when I was really young, I wanted to work for the CIA, spying around, saving our Country...the other day, I got my haircut...the girl used a fine tooth comb on my long wet hair...I realized...had I become a spy and been captured...I could have been turned by one bad hairdresser, wet hair, and a fine tooth comb...in fact, I almost gave her my passwords to my bank account to get her to STOP!!!!!

Test Subject

The new pool ( one of them ) being tested by M. It works. This pool doesn't have as many teens as the other so this will be our hang out. The other pool is huge but I like quiet. I think the kids do too, so far, no complaints.

Last and First Pool Day

Well for our old HOA pool anyway....

Just before the business of moving took over. I sat at the pool wondering "What have we done?"

We have visited our new HOA Pool. Actually there are two with our new HOA but this will always be my favorite. This is where my babies learned to swim and spent their Summers. I also loved watching the ducks and turtles and seeing the trees bend in the wind.

Happy Birthday!

Roo is 25! How fun!!! Life gets much easier after 25. I wouldn't be pre-25 for all the money, clear skin, and toned muscles in the World. I think she is going to like the rest of life much more now!