Sprinklers, Catholic Kidz Camp, and a Rummage Sale

Happy Friday! We made it to the weekend! This has been another busy, hot, humid, summer week. So what has been going on? Well...

We have been stuck at home most of the week during the day as they are doing gas pipeline construction on our road. The road behind us, where we park, dead ends into our neighbor's garage and is the only way to get to the houses on our road. Well, everyday since Monday they have been digging and working, etc. Now they have moved their vehicles/equipment if we have had to get out (like for doctor's appointments) but it is a hassle. It is what it is I guess. 

Wednesday afternoon, I set the sprinkler up in the yard so that the kids (both my own and my babysitting kiddo) could play. They had a blast running around and getting cool.

This week the boys have had Catholic Kidz Camp at our church in the evenings. (It is like vacation bible school.) This week they learned about various saints and the virtues of faith, hope and love. They did crafts, learned songs and dances, had different games they played, etc. They really enjoyed their week and last night was their closing ceremony where they sang the songs they learned and danced to them for their parents. I went and the boys did a great job! (Bill and Rebecca couldn't attend as they had a performance of The Wizard of Oz.

This morning, I took a chance and was able to get out of our street for a bit as I wanted to head to a rummage sale that a local church was having. I discovered it last year and found treasures, so wanted to go again this year. It did not disappoint. I was able to get a new winter coat for Rebecca, a jean jacket for Rebecca, a hooded jacket for fall for Jacob, 2 shirts for Jacob (including a sports jersey), a hooded jacket for fall for Ben, a t-shirt for Ben, a shirt for Rebecca to cut up and paint, a pair of snow pants for Benjamin, a Mad Gab game, a blue jar, and a small bag of sewing stuff for Rebecca. My total was only $8.25.  Each article of clothing (even the coats were only $0.25 each!). I gave them $9 and told them keep the change. 

After we put the items in the van, we walked through their stone garden, which is a nice little path with Biblical passage showcasing important events in Jesus' life and ministry. We visited last year as well.  Again it was a nice little path to walk and think, with pretty flowers scattered about. 

Now, I am just working on laundry and making out a menu plan for next week. I am walking to the farm market with a friend in the morning so I want to make sure that I know what I want to get. I am really trying to eat cleaner-- in that I am trying to eat more fruits and veggies versus processed carbs, etc. The boys are watching TV. Bill and Rebecca just headed off to perform. I need to heat my dinner up in a bit, but first I just heard the dryer so I will deal with that first. So I had better end this here and I hope everyone has a great weekend! 

I got new glasses!

Happy Tuesday! Yesterday turned out to be a quite busy one. I did end up mowing the lawn and I pulled up the weeds that were coming through our front steps! Yahoo that is done! I also ended up doing all the laundry in the house that I didn't get to over the weekend-- 5 more loads! Add in sweeping the steps that go upstairs, making dinner, cleaning the kitchen, cleaning out the freezers and organizing them, babysitting, got Bill out of the house to take Jacob to his doctor's appointment and Ben to speech, and then took the boys to their Catholic Kidz Kamp (like Vacation Bible School) they are attending this week in the evenings, went to Walmart and Lowe, and it was just overall a very busy day. 

After we dropped the boys off to their camp, Bill and I headed to Walmart to pick up a couple prescriptions and to pick up my new glasses! They weren't supposed to be in until July 11, but they came in early!  

If you remember, I mentioned going to the eye doctor last week and it had been since 2013 since I have gotten new glasses. I will say that my old purple glasses held up. But I have new ones now. They are silver and black. And oh my word what a difference everything is now. Things are much clearer both in the distance and up close. The kids noticed my glasses right away when I went to pick them up from camp. Ben wanted to know what happened to my old ones and where did I go get them while they were at camp? LOL 

OLD purple glasses

NEW silver and black glasses

Today shouldn't be as busy, I hope. I do have a couple goals that I want to get done though...including taking a load of stuff that is sitting in my upstairs hallway to Goodwill. I also want to spent 15-30 minutes working on our garage going through stuff and getting rid of stuff. They are doing gas line work on our road so it is a pain to get in and out so it seems like a good day to just stay home and get stuff done (until it is time to take the boys to their camp!). Hope everyone has a happy Tuesday!    

We saw the Wizard of Oz

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a good weekend. We had a busy one complete with a "Mommy-Son" date night on Saturday night. We went to see "The Wizard of Oz" during it's opening night.

However, before that we did some running around in the morning. I met my mom, dad, sister, brother, niece, and nephew at the Saturday morning farmer's market where I got some yummy produce. 

Saturday's haul: cherry tomatoes, 2 large slicing tomatoes, snap peas, green beans, and assorted hot peppers

Then after coming home to get the kids, I met them at the book warehouse (which is run by a group of volunteers and all the profits benefit the library programs.) At the warehouse you can stuff a grocery bag full of books for $5. I found a few treasures as did the kids. :) 

only a small portion of the warehouse

My books

After the book warehouse it was time to head home to rest up for the night adventures where we were of to see the wonderful Wizard of Oz. We had a wonderful evening. 

The boys and I-- 3 rows from the stage. Although right after this Ben abandoned us to sit one row up next to an older woman who had an extra seat and offered it to him so he could see better. 

Before the play started they let the kids come up on stage to take a bow.

All the actors, including Bill and Rebecca have worked really hard getting ready for the show, putting in really long hours of practice. They have been practicing for 6+ hours a day for the last 2 weeks... and countless hours before then. It really is a labor of love. I didn't take any pictures during the production, but I did "steal" a couple that included Rebecca from their preview shots that Broadway World Columbus shared on their website. (Bill was hidden in the photos posted).

Rebecca is right in the center with  the white skirt and green tank top shirt.

Rebecca is the Ozian in the back who is saluting

The production was a huge hit and very well done. The only complaint that I had was that I felt that the girl who played Glenda the Good Witch was not a good fit for the role; she looked the role but I didn't enjoy her acting. Other than that everyone did an amazing job! After the show all the characters were outside to do a meet and greet. Jacob wouldn't go near any of them except Dorothy and Toto. Ben wanted his picture with all of them. LOL 

Winkie Bill, my boys and my Ozian Rebecca

Rebecca's Ozian costume

Mommy and Ozian Rebecca selfie

Ben and Glenda the Good Witch

Ben and the Wizard of Oz

Ben and the Wicked Witch. This actress was FANTASTIC! She made the witch her own-- think glamorous, evil witch. 

Ben and the Tin Man

Ben and the Cowardly Lion. This was another amazing actor. He was perfect for the role.

Jacob, Scarecrow, Dorothy and Toto, and Ben

Yesterday, I missed church as I was so tired. I spent the day doing laundry and cleaning up the house. It was just the boys and I at home as Bill and Rebecca were at the theater from 11:30AM to almost 6PM for Sunday's performance. I was going to mow the grass (yes I still haven't done it!) but again I ran out of time. That is on my list of things to do today-- in fact it is what I am going to do next since it isn't supposed to be as humid today. I have a long list of things to do today, so I guess I should wrap this up and get that list started. Have a wonderful Monday! 

Fingernails and Fourth of July Fun

Wednesday was kind of a lazy type of day in that I really didn't do anything too productive. I went to the eye doctor and then picked up stuff for salad for dinner. 

The eye doctor was interesting. I knew that it had been a few years since I had been, however was dismayed to see that it had been 6 years since I had last been. Oops. Life happened, no insurance for a while, etc. It is what it is. My eyes have gotten worse. In fact I am one step away from needing bifocals. Again, oops. I hopefully will have my new glasses at the end of next week. 

Wednesday night, Bill and Rebecca had another dress rehearsal and I just chilled with the boys. I took the opportunity to use Color Street nails on my fingernails. I haven't painted my fingernails in years, but decided to support my cousin's new business and ordered a couple sets of nails. 

They were pretty simple to put on. I am not sure how often I will buy them but it was a nice change and something out of the ordinary for me. 

Yesterday we celebrated the Fourth of July at my parent's house. My brothers and sister were there. It was a fun afternoon. We live in a great country where we can choose how to celebrate our freedoms. The kids enjoyed the cookout, eating lots of stuff-- bomb pops, brownies, etc, and playing with their cousins. 

When we got home, it was bath time and bedtime for the kids. After they were in bed, Bill went to work and I took a shower and relaxed. I realized that Hulu has "Home Improvement" episodes on there so I watched a few of those. 

Today, I have a laundry list of things to do. I need to go to the grocery store, do at least 3 loads of laundry, mow the lawn, etc. Hope everyone has a great Friday! 

We saw Toy Story 4

Yesterday I did get off my bottom and got something done. I did get both bathrooms deep cleaned as well as both litter boxes. Glad to have that job done for the time being. I am liking this idea of having a goal for that day and getting it accomplished. 

In the afternoon, I made dinner for Rebecca and Bill to eat before they went to play practice and then I surprised the boys with a trip to the movies. 

We went to see "Toy Story 4." I love taking the kids to the movies on Tuesdays as it is $5 Bargain Tuesday. With our UEC card (not a credit card, but like a store rewards card) each ticket is only $5 and it comes with a free small popcorn per ticket. So it only cost us $15 for the movie and popcorn. I then paid $12 for the drinks-- I let the boys have orange pop so they thought that was awesome. LOL So for under $30 we had a nice night out seeing a new movie in the theater. (If I would have went on a normal night tickets would have been $21.25 and food (popcorn and drinks)would have been at minimum $25 so a total of $46.25 so we saved quite a bit by going on a Tuesday. 

As for the movie, I went in with little to no expectation on it. I didn't even really know what the story line would be. Let me tell you that the story line did not disappoint. It is really well done and without giving anything away it was a tear-jerker and really wrapped up the "Toy Story" movies in a great way. I really enjoyed it. The boys LOVED it as well. Jacob was crying at the end and Ben said it was awesome. They both gave it an A. I would highly recommend seeing it. 

I am going to leave this post as a movie review as I have to get ready to go to the eye doctor. I am not really looking forward to going but it has been a few years and needs to be done. Hope everyone has a great Wednesday!  

More decluttering, Rebecca's new glasses, and playing

Yesterday afternoon I ended up getting more done than I thought. I actually got a burst of energy shortly after writing my blog post so I started tackling the "closet of doom" off the bathroom. I have written about it before and it is my nemesis. Maybe I was inspired by doing Rebecca's room or maybe I just wanted to not feel guilty about not doing anything. I don't know. Anyhow, it desperately needed a good cleaning. 

I spent a couple of hours in there (sweating like a pig as there is no a/c in the upstairs and it was HOT) and came out with 10 bags of donation items for Goodwill. I think the after pictures look good. Now to just keep it that way! (And I should add, it is not perfect as there are still a few totes and things to go through but that will wait to another cooler day!) 

I only stopped for a little bit to run Rebecca to Walmart to pick up her new glasses. She picked them out last week after her eye appointment and she loves them. 

Monday night Bill and Rebecca had play practice. I had to run Bill's work pants to him as he forgot them (and he leaves straight from practice to work). As we were coming home, I stopped at our church (as we literally pass right by it) to let the boys play on the playground. It was still close to 85 degrees at 8:30 at night but they had fun running around. 

We then came home and they took baths and relaxed until it was time to go pick Rebecca up from practice. She finally got done at 11:30. (Welcome to tech/ dress rehearsal week!). She came home, ate a snack, took a shower and was in bed around 1AM. 

Today, we are just relaxing here and keeping it low key. With Rebecca's and Bill's play schedule I am trying to make sure they have down time. Also it is another dangerously hot and humid day, with heat indexes reaching to 100 degrees. I have been reading blogs and relaxing this morning. I need to clean the bathrooms and deep clean the litter boxes today. So I might do that and then make the kids lunch, or maybe I will just chill and read for a bit. 

What are you up to today? Whatever it is make it a good one!