43 Miles

That was the odometer reading when I pulled out of the parking lot and drove my BRAND NEW CAR off the dealer's lot! Happy Anniversary!

2010 Honda CR-V EX-L, 2 WD

We hadn't planned to buy a new car yesterday, but my husband just had to turn into the car lot and "see what they had." Thirty minutes later the deal was done and we drove off financed and finished in under two hours. That was the easiest and best car buying experience I ever had. 

It helped that we went into this with months of discussion and decision behind us. We knew what we wanted, we knew how much we wanted to pay, and we knew how much our trade-in was worth. The only real choice that had to be made was the color (it came down to the black one with 4WD and the blue one). They actually gave us $400 more than we thought the Camry was worth and that was with it dirty. Imagine what we could have gotten if we had actually cleaned it up and made it look presentable. And, their finance guy got us a better interest rate that allowed us to get the extended warranty and stay within our monthly payment range.

This is my car for the next decade. So, we went for exactly what we wanted...knowing this car is in it for the long haul. I drove it off the lot, but let Damon take it on its first trip to Sonic and back to Bartlesville. Damon will take it back to the dealership in Tulsa on Saturday to get detailed. With our schedule yesterday, they didn't have time to shine it up and detail it.

It was sad to see the Camry go. It was a really good car for us and put up with a lot of abuse. I took a picture and kissed it good-bye. Then, I went and took a picture of the odometer of the Honda with 43 miles on it!

The car purchase culminated our date day in Tulsa to celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary. When I got home, I also got the original anniversary gift my husband bought for me - a Gypsy for my Cricut. I hope to get to play with it this afternoon. Now, though I am not sure how to top the anniversary gifts Damon got me!

We picked up the kids and they were so excited. Jackson is happy that there are plug-ins close enough to him to plug in his DS. Reid was happy it came with an opening "windshield" (sunroof), like Daddie's car. We didn't get much play time with the car, last night, because I was hosting Bunko. But, today, I am going to put CDs in the player and make some new iTunes playlists on my phone (I can hook my iPhone up to the radio...sweet).

It's May; It's Just Busy

This is Beethoven. Tonight, he was the subject of a very intense scientific study. Jackson decided to study of what kind of blanket Beethoven preferred to sleep on. He thoughtfully laid out various blankets, of different thicknesses, and observed Beethoven in his natural habitat (our bedroom). And, in true scientific form, Jackson removed Beethoven's favorite blanket, so as not to throw of his results. Jackson wrote out three tests and concluded that Beethoven preferred the thicker blankets and preferred fuzzy to non-fuzzy. 

In other news this week, we also had the birth of triplets...birds. A robin built a nest over our patio lights a few weeks ago and has been sitting in her abode very faithfully. This week, Reid came running in from the backyard to announce the arrival of one baby bird. Two days later, there were three little beaks peaking over the edge of the nest. Reid loves to watch them and give us running commentary on their activities - breathing, eating a worm, etc.

This past week we have run from one activity to the other. Jackson and Damon are getting ready to be in a musical at church (tomorrow), I was supposed to host Bunko (we had tornados warnings instead), and the kids at Awards Night for AWANA on Wednesday night. Jackson also had three field trips this week, including a tour, orientation and lunch at his new school.

Today, we have done nothing, but tomorrow we need to get in gear. Damon/Jackson have the musical tomorrow night, Reid is singing with the pre-school choir before the musical, and I need to clean house and cook for Bunko on Monday night.

Damon and I will celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary on Monday; 13-years that have passed in a blink.

The rest of the week will be spent wrapping up the school year and celebrating Jackson's 5th grade graduation. I guess I can start crying now.

Celebrating National Scrapbooking Day

The first Sunday in May - National Scrapbooking Day. I celebrated by hanging out with scrapbookers, watching them make their creation, and working on sewing projects. Yes, I sewed on national scrapbooking day...but I organized a crop, so I still celebrated.

I put together a crop for our Sunday School class. We had 13 ladies, five from our class and 8 from outside our church, but die-hard scrappers. I took the day to work with my sewing machine and work on a project for my cougar friends. I would show it here, but that would take away the surprise, now wouldn't it? I did get 2 of the 6 done and need to go back to Hobby Lobby to get some more supplies for the rest. I had some issues with spelling, which require me to start over on the other four. We had a good day, everyone got some work done and we had some good fellowship time.

Friday night, Damon surprised me with a massage. It was much needed and very much enjoyed. I am still a little sore from a couple of places that she worked out, but my back, overall, feels so much better. My last massage was last in Denver. A year was way too long.

Last Tuesday, Jackson came home and said he had to go to an event at the Community Center. Every Tuesday, after school, Jackson goes to a local place called The Rock. It is a Christian non-profit organization that has built a youth center - skatepark, video games, snack bar, etc. The kids go from 3:45 until 6:45 and they can play games, skateboard and they have devotional time led by the staff. Over the last several months, they have talked about substance abuse, underage drinking and associated topics. Jackson completed the "curriculum" and as part of the ending of this program there was a town hall meeting. The Rock kids were going to be recognized for completing the program and they were serving pizza. Jackson was there, man. Damon took him and, in the car on the way, was asking Jackson why he thought they should go. Jackson said, "I just thought it was important to see what other groups in town are doing about this."

On Friday afternoon, Reid's teacher to give me the heads up on Reid's afternoon. Evidently, she had a small accident and Miss Hamilton sent Reid to the bathroom with her sack of clothes to change. Reid's bag had pants, a shirt, but no panties. So, Reid, with nothing on from the waist down, walks from the bathroom back down the hall to her classroom, opens the door and yells, "Miss Hamilton, I don't have any panties." Miss Hamilton gets Reid back down the hall, into the bathroom, and goes to the office to see if there is any extra underwear in the clothes box. There aren't any girl underwear, so Miss Hamilton brings a pair of boy underwear to Reid. At this point, Reid is in the bathroom completely in her birthday suit. Reid gets dressed, comes back to the bathroom and proceeds to tell EVERYONE that she has boy underwear on. And, when she went to afterschool care, she shared the info with everyone there too.

Just a Touch of Disney

No, I didn't step foot in the Magic Kingdom and no, I didn't talk to or hang out with any princesses'. But, I did experience a little touch of Disney magic, last week.


I was in Orlando for two days of business meetings and we were a heartbeat away from Disney properties. I have never been to any of the Disney parks - it was killing me to be so close, but yet so far away. I promised my family I wouldn't go and I promised Reid that I wouldn't visit any princesses' without her. But, I couldn't help myself...I was 1 1/2 miles from Downtown Disney and I couldn't not go. I had some free time Wednesday afternoon and a rental car all to myself. 


The shopping was fantastic and, luckily, I had the limitation of only being able to buy things that would fit in my carry-on luggage. But, holy Mickey Mouse, they HAD A SCRAPBOOK STORE. The Dallas metro area can't support a decent scrapbook store, but Disney can. It was mostly page kits and albums, but I was totally impressed. 

We are planning a Disney vacation for next year, around Thanksgiving. We have watched a DVD on Disney and several shows on the Disney parks, but the kids weren't really putting things together. But, now with pictures, Reid's very own Minnie Mouse princess doll, and my telling Jackson about the make-your-own-light saber store, they are ready to go NOW. 

I got home Friday afternoon, several hours after Damon left town for a men's retreat. We had a back-up plan in case my flights got mixed up and I didn't make it home, but we didn't have to use them. I got in on-time, had some naptime at home, and then picked the kids up. Jackson went to a friend's house for the night and Reid and I had girls' night out - dinner at Goldies, followed by some blue ice cream at Maggie Moo's. Reid was all about eating her ice cream outside, until she figured out that there were bugs. She was done quickly after.

Saturday afternoon I did a first - lead a scrapbooking birthday party for an 11-year-old. The birthday girl, Cameron, wanted to do the CD albums. The girls had a blast and came out with some pretty neat albums. 

Saturday night, we were finally all at home, much to the delight of two dogs. They don't know what to do when all of their humans aren't home.

The $64 Swim Meet

Yes, we are still the swim team parents that scream at their kid to kick their feet during a race and to go faster. Aren't those obvious goals of a race? Yes, but we still do it. And, yes we also do something that swim coaches loathe and they really recommend against - bribing! Yes, we do it and we aren't ashamed.

Jackson is NOT a naturally competitive person. In fact, it really runs contrary to his nature. He looks out for others way before himself and is concerned more about others performance than his own. Swimming has been so good for him. It is good exercise and it is keeping his health issues well under control. But, we, his swim parents, want him to achieve, to advance, to find some success in the pool. (And, we want to make ourselves feel better about spending our weekends and our $$$$ hanging out by swimming pools in towns other than our own.) But, how to motivate him.

First, we tried telling him we would buy him a Wii or DS game when he reached a B time, the lowest qualifying time. He was far enough away from a B time, the offer didn't really hold much water in terms of immediate payoff for smaller goals. So, we switched to $1 per second he took of his established best times. So far, that has cost us $10 or $20 a meet.

This weekend, we owe the little bugger $64! He had an awesome meet and we are now off to find second jobs.

We spent the weekend in Fayetteville, AR, swimming at the AquaHawg Long Course Meet at the University of Arkansas. Nice pool (unless you are a photographer - then it is a crappily lit pool). He swam eight events, total, four each day and took time off every single event he had a time established in. There were three races he had not done on the Long Course season, so he didn't have established times and our checkbook was given a reprieve.

His races and times:
100 Freestyle, Previous time of 2:10.78; new time of 2:01 ($9)
50 Backstroke, Previous time of 1:16; new time of 1:03 ($13) only 7 more seconds and he will have that B time
200 IM: new time of 5:30
100 Breaststroke: new time of 3:30
100 Backstroke: previous time of 2:38.11; new time of 2:18 ($20)
50 Freestyle: previous time of 56.20; new time of 52.00 ($4) only 8 seconds away from his B time
50 Breast: new time of 1:34
200 Freestyle: previous time of 4:46; new time of 4:28 ($18)

He is still swimming at the bottom of the pack, but he made some major strides this weekend and his coach feels like Jackson is just on the verge of putting speed and technique together. Once he makes that connection and picks up his pace on his different strokes, he will dropping time even faster. You could tell he was working really hard in the pool and pushing himself.

Jackson really wants to be on the Silver Team (he is currently one of the older and more experienced swimmers on the Bronze Team). He gets a little frustrated at Bronze Team practices because of the younger kids, less focused, more time spent on teaching stroke rather than perfecting technique and building strength, endurance and speed. We talked to him this weekend about setting an appointment with the coach, sitting down together and finding out what it is going to take to get on Silver Team. Then, setting goals (with the coach) on how to reach his ultimate goal of being on Silver Team. He is also going to ask the coach about working out with the Silver Team at least one day a week. Their practices are longer and would definitely challenge him.

The rest of the weekend was spent enjoying a really nice room at the Fairfield Inn and Suites, swimming at the hotel pool (Reid's reward for behaving so well at the meet on Saturday), and trying to decide where to eat. Fayetteville is a college town, so the number of unique restaurant options was quite high (highly recommend the Flying Burrito!). The challenge in eating was Saturday night was prom for Springdale or Fayetteville high schools. We ate at Outback Steakhouse and Reid was very mesmerized by all of the "princesses" in the restaurant.

Good weekend. Expensive, but good!

Nothing Special Kind of Week

I keep waiting for something semi-exciting to post and this week it just never came along. It was just an average week.

Easter was a quiet weekend for us - we stayed home and just hung out all weekend. EB came and actually hid eggs outside this year. For the first time in 10 years, we weren't wearing coats to church on Easter. We went to church, I cooked a big lunch, and we stayed around the house.

Thursday night we went to the Splash Club Spring Banquet. Jackson was recognized as one of the top five achievers for the Bronze Team for the Spice Program. The Spice Program is the incentive program they do for the swimmers and the kids get points for attending practice, participating in meets, reducing their times, etc.

Last night was First Friday at church, so the kids had activities from 6-9:45 and we went out with another couple. We hit the new Bville restaurant, Buffalo Wild Wings, and came to our house for dessert. I made some awesome cupcakes Martha Stewart's cupcake cookbook. The WW points were completely out the window, but we had a fun evening.

We are on the downhill slide for school. The kids get out of school May 21, so they have six weeks left. Jackson's school schedule is full of middle school visits (they get to go on a school day, have lunch at Madison and hang out with sixth graders), field trips (he has three between now and May 21) and finally 5th Grade Graduation.

I am working on putting together several activities for our Sunday School ladies ministry group. We are having a scrapbooking day on May 1 (National Scrapbooking Day, in case you are keeping track). And, we are going to have an overnight retreat in August at www.urbancampout.com. It is the coolest place. All the fun of camping without the annoyance of bugs, variable temperature, critters, and with the conveniences of indoor plumbing, electricity, temperature control, and cooking devices.

The Past Box

Last week, I was pulling up to Ranch Heights Elementary to drop Jackson off and I said, "Reid, this will be your school in August." I hear from Jackson in the back, "And, I'll put this place in my past box." Ouch, little man, that hurt.

Jackson is ready for middle school. His parents are not. On Tuesday evening, we headed to Madison Middle School for orientation and Jackson walked down those halls like he owned the place. We listened to the band, orchestra and choir's perform, had the opportunity to talk to all of the elective teachers, checked out the lunch room, and walked through the six grade hallway. He also checked out the list of clubs.

Jackson picked his electives - band (trumpet or percussion), tech ed (computers), keyboarding, and PE. His requirements are math, earth science, English, and world history.

The general feeling among the parents seemed to be, "how did we get here," "do we really have to do this," and "wow, slow down, this is happening too fast."