Red brick road

Invisible antiques

I went on another walk around the neighborhood today and I can honestly say that I’ve never seen this before. This sign sits on the side of a garage. I looked and I didn’t see any antiques. Do you see them? Maybe they’re all inside the garage and they just thought everyone should know?

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We’re going to try a new restaurant tomorrow night & I’m excited. I drove by it a few weeks ago and then again the other day. We’re usually going to the movies on Friday nights but there is nothing I want to see so we were stuck for ideas. We thought that after eating, we would (get ready) go to the (are you sitting down?) beach. You know I don’t love the beach so I must be depressingly desperate!

I love lamp

So this is not my favorite lamp in the house but at one time it was. Now it just seems outdated to me. That’s probably because I’ve had it for over 10 years. I think it’s time to get some new stuff.

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Spelling walkabout

Sometimes we just need to get outside when studying. A few months ago, Ethan was having quite a hard time with his spelling words. And he’s an excellent speller. Two-times-in-the-school-spelling-bee kind of good. But this one particular week, he was having quite a hard time and I was getting frustrated. {And that’s how I know that I’m not cut out for homeschooling. We would probably kill each other if I was his one and only teacher.} At my wit’s end, I suggested we study the spelling words while going for a walk around the neighborhood. It worked like a charm! I don’t know if it was the fresh air or the change of scenery but it really helped him. From then on, we take a walk if he’s having a hard time with spelling. Tonight was a little bit different. He had worked quite a long time on his homework and I wanted to prevent the ensuing meltdown. So I suggested we take a walk, the three of us (Ken was at a meeting).

While out, I decided to look for things in my neighborhood that I usually miss or things that I particularly like about it. Here is a statue that almost always freaks out my dog. He’s not the smartest, by any means but we sure love him.

I wish I had a green thumb so I could grow things like this:

But I don’t. Even my husband knows it as proven here. But I’m happy that others have this talent & I still get to enjoy them. 

I’m not sure if he was afraid that I would quiz him as well, but Jackson walked about 1/2 block ahead of us the whole time. Here’s proof. And yes, the boy would be shirtless 24/7 if it were acceptable. I see Key West as his address one day. 

When he’d get to the end of the block, he’d wait for us like this:

I don’t know what kind of tree this is but it’s one of my favorites in the neighborhood. I think it looks like it’s right out of a Dr. Seuss book. It’s so perfect and round. 

Then we came upon this fire hydrant. I’ll spare you the details of why it caught Jackson’s eye but it had something to do with a spider having a rather interesting dinner. All of the fire hydrants in the neighborhood are the conventional yellow except this one. It doesn’t appear to have been yellow in a long, long time.

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I like it. I like how it wants to stand out from all the others. I wonder if the person living next to this hydrant uses it as a “landmark”. I imagine it goes something like this:

“Turn right on 29th Street and we’re the house next to the turquoise hydrant.”

“Oh yes, now I know where you live.”

See, it would totally work, don’t you think?

And I’m sure it has to do with some idiot years ago, but do you REALLY think they would need to put a “do not drink” on something that looks like this?

Didn’t think so, either.

We’ll see how Ethan does on his spelling test tomorrow. Even if he doesn’t get an A, I had a really good time with him. I’m staring to think the spelling walkabouts help me more than they help him. 

Unused

Oh boy. There are many unused tools in my house. Bet you didn’t know I was going to be a painter, did you? Apparently, I was going to pull that talent out from where the sun doesn’t shine, too. I tried. I really did. But when I couldn’t paint a spiral correctly, I figured that was the end for me. Heck, I can’t even doodle so why did I think I could paint? So here sit my unused paint brushes. I think they’re lonely on their shelf. I even put them in a nice pretty vase. But they figured it out. They know that there’s no chance they’ll be used any time soon. Actually, I did use one to touch up a spot on my family room wall but when I put her back in the vase, I think she shed a tear. That’s right; they’re girls. They don’t have names but they are most definitely (can I EVER type that word correctly on the FIRST try??) chicks. She wasn’t being used to her full potential and she knew it. I’ve been found out.

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{The inspiration for this photo came from here.}

On another note, have any of you ever had your blog printed professionally? I was thinking of putting my blog in book form at the end of the year. I include lots of memories of my boys & figured I’d give their wives something to fight over some day. I’m usually a procrastinator so I figured I’d get an early start. At least I could shop around. I’m thinking I read somewhere that someone has done this. Real specific, I know. So…any suggestions?

And so it begins (again)

I’m not the kind of mom that doesn’t allow their kids to have ANY candy at all. But I’m not the one that gives candy to their kids all the time, either. Because of this, we’re usually eating the “wrong” candy on any given holiday. For instance, this chocolate Easter candy (along with the jelly beans and duck shaped Smarties) will last us until Halloween. In fact, I think we may have some candy corn in our candy jar. So the cycle begins again. Another holiday, another specific color wrapped candy. It’s a good thing my kids can use a calendar. Otherwise, they’d be all screwed up. Whose kids are still eating candy canes in April? Mine. And they’ll be eating pastel chocolates for Halloween. Good way to really freak out the trick-or-treaters.

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We colored eggs today since yesterday was jam-packed. After the coloring was done, we had our own little egg hunt in the house. The boys LOVE this. It’s become a tradition in our family. We’ve collected quite a stash of eggs and this year we even found some new hiding places for them. Luckily for us, we don’t hide any of the hard-boiled eggs. That way, we’re not in danger of a mysterious foul odor in about 4 days. Like that one time in Stars Hollow when Kirk was in charge of hiding the Easter eggs. There’s a bonus if you can tell me what TV show I referenced. {Disclaimer: There’s not really a bonus so don’t sue me if I don’t have a name generated by a random generator in the next day or two.}

Egg hunt time

Our church hosted a block party today and my brother, sister-in-law and two girls came for the fun. Here’s the stash my niece, Molly, scored.

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Yep, that’s nature

Today I took my mom, 2 boys and grandmother to the Florida Botanical Gardens. We got an “early” start because it’s been quite hot these days. I say “early” because we didn’t leave until 9:00 but that’s early for a no-school day. The mornings and evenings have been really beautiful but it’s hot in the day if you’re not in the shade. {I’ll dodge the nasty comments your northerners are giving me because you’re waiting for your last snowfall to melt. Just know this: as much as you hate the winters lasting so long, I hate the summers starting so early & ending so late. Trust me on this.}

For the last two years we’ve gone to the Botanical Gardens at Christmastime to see their lights. They have a spectacular light display during the Christmas holiday but I had never been in the daytime. If you plan on going, I’d advise you to bring lots of water and walking shoes. It’s much bigger than I thought it was.

These greeted us as we entered the gardens:

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Nice touches like this were throughout the gardens:

I don’t know what this flower is but it caught my eye. At first I thought it looked like lace along the edges but upon further inspection, I say it looks like bacon. Is this a sign that I need to start to diet?

Jukavo, over at Ocean Soul was talking about finding inspiration in nature. Specifically stripes. Lookie what I found:

Here are some other things we found along the way. There aren’t any great stories to go with the pictures, so I’ll let them speak for themselves:

A rare photograph of my grandma. Too bad the chair was facing directly into the sun:

This little guy has a cute story to him. After we walked all over the paved pathways in the garden, we found an off-the-beaten-path pathway. This one was actual ground. You know the kind: dirt, leaves, weeds. (My German friend, Seffie, asked me one day if there were any places around where you could walk on the ground and not a sidewalk/road/pavement/etc. I had to tell her that there weren’t any that I knew of. That’s when you know you live in the city!) As we were walking on this path, we came across this little guy. He was just sunning right there in the grass. We all gave our ooohs and aaaahs and my grandmother reached down and touched him. Just as she did, he quickly whipped his head around to her hand. Nothing was bitten but we all jumped back. Just then, Jackson says, “Man! This is just like nature!”

I need to get this guy into some nature and soon. 

Hugs and kisses

Today’s picture is actually a recreation of an older picture I have of Ethan. Really creative, I know. I actually like the older one better. Oh well, this one will do. Here’s the backstory: One time while eating at McDonald’s he says to me, “Look mom, hugs and kisses” and then did this with his fries:

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Geez, Louise I love that kid!

Since the boys are out of school tomorrow, I thought I’d drag them along with me to take my grandmother to the botanical gardens. Everyone’s beautiful spring flower pictures have inspired me. So tomorrow’s picture will probably be another copy cat.

Tea time at 100 mph

Almost every night, I like to have some Sleepytime Tea. It’s just herbal tea with chamomile and spearmint and blah, blah, blah. It’s probably just placebo to me. I like to drink some on nights that my mind is going 100 miles an hour or if I’ve had coffee late in the day. Both are true tonight. It seems like this week has flown by and I’ve had 100 things to do every day. In fact, Jackson had his 8 year checkup today and I totally missed it. They even called yesterday with the obligatory reminder. So now I have one MORE thing to do this week: reschedule the appointment. That means a phone call. I don’t think you know how much work that really is. It’ll go something like this: I’ll remember to call them but will be in the car or in the shower or won’t remember till after office hours. Then when I’m at home, I won’t remember to call. That’ll go on until sometime next week. 

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Maybe they have tea that helps with remembering to keep your schedule. I should look into that. Crap. That’s one more thing I have to do.