Playground

Last night Billy, Savanna, Wes and I went to the playground at the community center- it was Westley's first real playground experience and we had so much fun! It was a warm muggy day and with the evening came a cool down- just right for running around. We dropped Olivia at her school dance and spent an hour and half playing on all the cool equipment:

we went on the swings

and the slides

played on the firetruck

and bumped our head on the monkey bars!

(Does it make me a bad parent that I snapped the picture before I kissed the boo-boo?!)

Somewhat real Food

After a week of rice cereal, Wes still isn't too sure about what to do with the gummy stuff so yesterday Daddy suggested we add a bit of carrot into the mix to see if the flavor would make it more appetizing. So, at yesterday's feeding I added 1 tsp. mashed carrot into his 1 tsp. rice cereal and made an orange gloppy mess. Wes didn't seem to think it tasted much better, but it did made for a different experience- that's for sure!

After eating, or rather spitting out his afternoon snack he was a big orange mess!

Flowers are Friends

Westley and I had a day off this week- we had no plans, no commitments and the weather had forecasted it to be the pick of the week... So, we trekked up to Cindi's house for a few hours.
Wes discovered this bucket of flowers on the back deck and decided it was the best toy ever! He tried to scootch himself over to it, and once he got himself there (with some help from Cindi) he played it it for quite some time!

He liked pulling himself up on the pot, looking at and feeling the flowers.

And, like everything these days, they went straight into his mouth! I felt a bit bad as he ripped this nice white geranium bloom clear off it's stem but Cindi didn't seem to mind and he had the best time just playing with his new "friend!"

Memorial Day

As usual, Billy's Cub Pack marched in the Memorial Day parade. I thought the parade was a bit shorter this year then in years past... it was somewhat disappointing to see! However, many of the people in town had turned out to thank those who have served our country, and honor those who have fought and died for our freedoms. It is such a nice little ceremony where they read the names of the lost soldiers from our town. Billy was a bit tired after marching, but we all enjoyed the morning downtown... hanging out in the "village green" chatting with neighbors and honoring those who have served.

Teenager

Olivia turned 13! It's hard to believe she is "officially" a teenager now. There has been some of the usual angst and difficulty already, and the passing of May 25th only marked the date not really the "turning" but it's for real now... we are among the many who are parenting teens!

Her celebrations got spread through the week- with diner on her actual birthday with Auntie, then out to lunch and shopping with Grandma on Friday then sleeping over with Auntie that night. Hanging out with Kateri on Saturday- we went out for Lobster at her request. I'm opposed to eating crustaceans... but the two of them really enjoyed dissecting and consuming them. Wes and I just watched!

Sunday she had her family party here at the house then back with Kateri for a sleepover there... fheww. By Monday at the parade you would have thought she was pooped, but nope. At 13 they have all the energy in the world I guess! Happy day (or week in this case) honey!

A Long Time Coming

I have been waiting for this particular piece of mail for a long time.... a bit over 5 years to be exact!

When I moved in with Bill I was smothering under nearly $20,000 worth of credit card debit. Certainly something I wasn't proud of, and was mighty embarrassed to admit. In order to stay at home with the kids, we had to work something out... I signed up with a debit consolidation agency and made a payment plan I could deal with on pretty much no income... I've been slowly, but surely paying down every month... Bill has great financial sense (well, much better than mine) and has been a big help! Finally, this month- this is what my statement looks like! Thank goodness- what a huge relief! Now, I'm going to start to put my pennies away for a Disney trip!

What else have we been up to?!

So, we have been pretty busy 'round here! Olivia turned 13 this week- her party will be this weekend but she did go out to dinner with Auntie on her actual b-day as we had the end of the year awards ceremony with Savanna's troop. I've been with some of these girls for 4 years, it's hard to believe another scout season has come and gone! They all got presented with their awards, and we had a potluck dessert party. Certainly wasn't on my diet plan, but things there are going so slowly I didn't feel too badly sampling some of the goodies. I've got to be better- I really won't loose this way!
My clematis out the back slider are blooming. I didn't get any shots of my tulips or daffodils, but they have come and gone! I love these blue flowers; they came from the clearance section at Walmart of all places a handful of seasons back. They are actually two different varieties and don't match, plus I just stuck them in the ground next to the foundation with no prep of the soil or anything. I didn't expect much from the scraggly plants, but they have done so well despite the harsh conditions here by the door! My hope is that we can train them to go up and over... we are getting closer to the top this year. They are really beautiful in bloom right now.

The horses are back on pasture and loving it! They escaped twice in the first few days so had to be locked back down here. After checking fence lines and gates I think we have the problem solved... nothing like seeing them stroll by the windows at 11pm! Beau and I have gone on a few nice rides lately- this past week it was so hot- but my pal Linda only works 1/2 days on Wednesdays so despite the heat we went out to explore a new trail. Over on Hansen's Ridge Rd. there is a cool town hiking trail- we were out for an hour or so and have a ton more to explore! The boys were great, it was hot but tolerable and the bugs were actually not too bad! My goal is to try to ride a minimum of 3 times a week... I've been on twice this week, so doing well on that front!

Wes managed ok in the heat- it was pretty unusual for us. We hit 90 two days in a row and were stuck in the humid 80s on either end of the week! May in Maine shouldn't be like this! I had him in a Tupperware tub on the deck one afternoon. The container is just bigger then a shoebox and filled with about 2 inches of cool water it was heaven for that little boy! He had a lot of naked time to beat the heat, we tried to stay cool in the shade on the deck in the evenings~ a nice cool breeze was refreshing! We had to find new ways to entertain him... including some card games with sissy!

Hum, what else? Billy got a home haircut, I buzzed the clippers over his head one evening- it doesn't look too bad... All three kids (and Bill too) had dental cleanings in the past 2 weeks... Olivia did her final evening volunteering at the soup kitchen... Bill and Billy went up to the cabin to help my Dad try to get his well figured out... Well, lets just say things here have been busy! We are closing in on summer vacation... just a few more weeks to go! Hum, I wonder... will we get more or less busy when school lets out...?