It's a hard knock life

I went to take a shower first thing this morning. This is what I returned to find.

One child doing her schoolwork and two doing her bidding. It looks like the other two were wise to sleep in. (For the record, the youngest two were having a great time. :-) )

A rare moment

It doesn't happen very often that I am caught in front of the camera. I enjoy documenting get togethers and special moments and truth be told I am more comfortable behind the camera.

But as you can see on the right side of the photo my camera was out of my hands and something much more precious had taken its place. Thanks to one of my sisters for catching this moment!

Mostly Wordless Wednesday

Do you think he was cold?

Discoveries of the Day

I am participating with Storing Up Treasures today with her Discoveries of the Day. It's really more from the last while but I agree with Courtney that Discoveries of the Day has a better ring to it. Here we go...the last while I...

• Discovered a brand of cookies that only has 6 grams of sugar each so I can have one.
• Discovered that it is difficult to have just one of said cookies.
• Discovered a love for design blogs.
• Discovered I should limit my time on design blogs to keep a lid on all of the coveting.
• Discovered that when people are unhappy with me it very often has very little to actually do with me.
• Discovered that I would like to own a Kindle.
• Discovered I spend too much time on the computer. (Well, really more of a last few months kind of thing but coming to terms with it recently. Wink. )
• Discovered that I can have half of an Almond Joy.
• Discovered that I think about chocolate too often.
• Discovered that though I miss the chubby cheeks of my kids being little that I also am really enjoying getting to know them as they grow up.
• Discovered that I actually won't miss out on anything if I shut everything down and go to sleep at a reasonable hour.
• Discovered that my husband loves museums. Who knew?
• Discovered that I would not make a good sisterwife. I do not share well with others. (Ok, not a new discovery, more of an acknowledgement really. And for the record I do like to share, just not my husband, thankyouverymuch.)
• Discovered that even though I think I can't love my kids and husband more, they and my heart surprise me and I actually do more every day.
  
  
  

So much for a great deal

We purchased this great patio set on Craig's List for $120 brand new in the box three years ago. It was a $700 set so I was thrilled. Each of the last two years, come October 1st, I have removed the chair pads, stacked the chairs and placed the table in a location that would be safe from the branches that fall in the cooler months.

Sadly, I ignored the storm report that came out last week for the weekend and this is what we opened the curtains to this past Monday.



Sad, sad, sad.

Leaf Season

The very thing that drew us to this neighborhood is the very thing that may drive us to move some day.

The trees are a gorgeous canopy in the spring and a mess in the fall. 

We are in the fourth week of leaf blowing and we have at least four weeks to go.



All of us neighbors work together to put the pile in the middle of the cul-de-sac. It makes for hours of fun for the kids and keeps the mess to a minimum until the city picks them up in December.