Living Better One Day At A Time

On Monday, I had the privilege to meet a fellow blogger. I got to meet "Sluggy" from DON'T READ THIS; IT'S BORING!. She and her hubby were gracious enough to come visit me, Bill and the kids in our town as they were heading back toward their home at the end of their month long, cross country road trip.


She is as genuine and wonderful in person as she is on her blog. My kids loved her and Ben told me that he missed her when she left!


We had a lovely visit and I got to hear several funny stories from their road trip and from her life. We treated Sluggy and Dan to a home-cooked lunch--- pasta bake, garlic bread and green beans.

After lunch, Sluggy gave us some treats....including shampoo from her toiletry stash and her homemade relish for my hubby. She also gave us a lightbulb from one of her stops in Idaho! She also gave me 2 books that I look forward to reading.


She also blessed the kids with some fun treats that she had picked up for them on her travels! They were so…

This weekend I took some time to just relax and spend some time enjoying the fleeting moments of Summer break with my kiddos and Bill. The kids start back to school this week and with the events in Virginia, I just felt the need to be present with the kids and relish in the good things.


We spent time going to the grocery store where they got to enjoy some fresh fruit while I shopped. Then Rebecca went on a lunch date with a friend of hers.



Friday afternoon, the kids spent time doing what they love. Rebecca worked on arts and crafts. Ben played with some building toys. Jacob spent time watching recorded preseason football on TV. That evening we watched "The Lego Batman" movie for our family movie night.  
Saturday I ran over to the kids' school to see if the teacher lists had been posted yet and they had. The kids are happy with their class assignments so that started our day off well. Then I spent some time doing laundry and doing some cleaning. After that I sat down with …

This morning, the kids were being brats and picking on each other and all 3 got sent to their rooms at one point. I just had had enough of bossing each other around, not listening, etc. It was not a great morning at all. Then, this afternoon I went to a client's house for a tutoring session, (after leaving the library where I had 2 different tutoring sessions) and no one was home. I texted and called this mom and left a message. She texted me back that she had forgot and was at the pool with the kids. Seriously, I have been working with your kids for the last 2 years. I am now working with your youngest son, the same son that I have worked with every Thursday this Summer. URGHHH!!! It totally frustrated me, so when I got home, I told Bill and the kids to get ready because we were going to go walk. After the day that I had I needed to get outside. 

So we headed out to Gambier and took in one of the trails that is part of the Brown Family Environmental Center. At one point as we were…

Flowers and chocolates surprise from my husband today! Made this tiring, don't feel it, overwhelmed day a bit brighter!

Today has been one of those days where I feel like I haven't gotten a lot done, but I really have. So I decided to list what I got accomplished so that I could feel better about today. 

This morning, I took the kids to the farm market to get corn, tomatoes and cucumbers for dinner. Then we headed to the library. The kids picked out books and then they also got to play on the computers.





When we came home, I stripped our bed to wash the sheets and comforter. Bill got the kids lunch. 
Then Bill left to take Jacob to the eye doctor. Thankfully his prescription hasn't changed much and his eyes have not gotten worse. They are still turning in just a tiny bit when he looks at something up close, but they are not getting worse which is a good thing. We will take him tomorrow to Walmart to look for new glasses and order them from there. 
While Bill was gone, I had Rebecca go through all of her clothes and get rid of the ones that don't fit or that she will not wear. We will pass the cl…

Hard to believe that this is the last full week of Summer vacation before school starts back next Thursday. Time flies when you are having fun, I guess. We are trying to make the most of these last few days before school starts. So earlier today we took advantage of the weather (temps were kind of on the low side-- 70s-- and although there was high humidity it wasn't too bad since it wasn't hot) and took a nature walk.



We headed out to Wolf Run Regional Park and took in a 2.8 mile hike. The bugs were out in full force and we had to spray Off on us 2 different times, but it was worth it. 



The flowers were blooming and the butterflies were plentiful.





We also saw what we believe is a red tailed hawk, a caterpillar, a grasshopper, and a snake in the pond. 



After, we left the park, I suprised the family by heading over to Wendy's for their 50 cent Frosty's. Nice surprise for the kids and cheap for the family!


It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon! Now, I should get ready fo…