Picture of the Week - 4/14/2023

 It's been a long, challenging week.  (All work-stuff, everything at home is 100% fine and all boys are good!)

But I'm tired - maybe not as tired as these dogs though...

This weekend will be a good opportunity to regroup and refresh.  And maybe plant a pretty flower or two.

Picture of the Week - 4/7/2023

 I wish I could go back to this time last week...  We were on the verge of our first camping trip with the doggos last Friday.  It did not disappoint!

Happiest thing

Getting all of our boys together - even if it was just a short visit to see Grandpa Bob and Grandma Phyllis for dinner.  Having them all together is not something I ever take for granted anymore.  I even remembered to take some pictures this time!

Scariest thing

Easily the first 3 hours of the drive on Saturday morning.  There were storms forecast to hit our area early Saturday.  Our original plan was to wait out the worst of them and then hit the road.  When we woke up we learned that the cold front had slowed down and was going to throw off our whole schedule.  So we decided to get moving (quickly) and try to get in front of it.  We failed by about 30 minutes or so and ended up driving WITH the storm for a long time before we finally got out in front of/south of it.  It was white knuckle driving in heavy rain and winds.  First time in weather like that with Harvey.  Bob did great.  I sprouted a dozen more grey hairs.  We all made it out without damage, but it was stressful!

Most annoying thing

I'm not sure I was really annoyed by anything.  I'm far more annoyed by many many things on the regular than I was on this trip.  If I had to pick something, I guess I would say that with the dogs and kids and us in and out of the camper, it was impossible to keep the floor clean.  We tracked in a lot of dirt and grass (even with the outdoor rug we have).  We need to figure out a better solution for trying to capture the muck coming into the camper - or we just need to embrace the broom every evening.

Most interesting thing

Tough one.  We continue to learn SO MUCH about the whole camping experience.  I find every experience we've had to be really interesting.  On this particular trip I think the most interesting thing I learned was probably at the Statesboro campground.  This was a small little campground without any frills.  It had maybe 50 all-grass sites with full hook-ups.  The most interesting thing was probably how many of the sites were filled with full-timers.  We met one neighbor who was living there in a teeny little camper and working in Savannah - a good 45 min drive each way.  He was doing it to save money and simplify his life.  Campground people are pretty cool - and pretty interesting.

Most heart warming thing

There were a million little things that just made me love the whole experience - and my little family - so much!  Watching the boys play together.  Watching Bob throw the football with Zane.  Watching the dogs hang out together.  Watching the dogs hang out with the boys.  Everyone just got along - no fighting...  do you even know how rare it is for Zane and Beck to not bicker for 4 straight days???  Sigh...  I wanna go back.

Nicest thing

Downtime.  I haven't just SAT and done nothing as much as we did on this trip in a long time.  I think this is, honestly what I have looked forward to most about these camping trips.  There's no expectation of constant activity.  There's nothing that "needs" to be done around "the house" and the goal is really just to BE STILL.  That's the best!  I even pulled out quilting and finished a whole handful of Granny's Garden squares on this trip!

Easiest thing

I purposely picked campsites that were pull-through sites for this trip.  There was no backing up required!  #winning

Most surprising thing

Maybe how fast the dogs adjusted to the camper life - and how well they did in the car.  Gable loves car rides.  Brutus is more anxious about it, but is a super easy traveler - he just never really relaxes.  The first night the dogs were so exhausted from the trip and all the NEW things everywhere that they crashed really hard.  Gable fell asleep on the floor and never moved when we went to bed.  This is unusual because he always sleeps on our bed with us.  At some point in the middle of the night he woke up, was freaked out, and started crying.  When he realized we were all still there he ran around the camper wagging and kissing everyone and was just SO happy.  Then he crashed on the bed with us for the rest of the night.

Luckiest thing

I'm going to say the weather - even with the really bad storm we dealt with at the start of the trip.  The rest of the trip was basically amazing.  It rained a couple of times during the weekend, but never caused us to change plans or anything like that.  The rains came at night and really didn't cause us any grief.  And the temperature was basically perfect.  We were able to leave doors and windows open for much of the weekend!  Since it is still so early in the season, the bugs weren't bad.  The humidity wasn't bad.  It was just so pleasant!  I'm not 100% sure how the camper/kids/me/dogs will do when it's blazing hot, but I am now sure that we are REALLY big fans of spring camping!

Second scariest thing

So we decided that we much prefer driving on back roads than on the interstates.  Maybe this will change as we get more comfortable, but on this trip we were not in a hurry to get anywhere on any of the legs of our trip and we intentionally picked routes through quiet little towns and along picturesque roads.  It was a different pace for sure - and it was awesome!  Except when we realized we needed gas and there really aren't a lot of great options conducive to pulling a 34 ft camper through in the middle of Mayberry.  We got slightly panicky about running out of gas and even discussed needing to find a place to park, unhook, get gas, get hooked back up, etc.  The unhooking and re-hooking process is not insignificant...  We finally found a gas station that looked like it would work.  Filled up and then realized we were basically stuck.  It took some maneuvering (which we really still aren't very good at) and maybe relocating a cardboard sign a bit (oops) before we could get out of the parking lot.  Yikes!  Learned a lot of lessons through that experience! 

Tastiest thing

We cooked 4 meals on the new Blackstone grill.  We did smash burgers, pancakes and bacon, chicken fried rice, and steak hoagies.  All of the meals were delicious and fun to make!  2 thumbs up!  Also - we bought ice cream for a treat one night and it was not only delicious, we were pleasantly surprised that it stayed mostly frozen on the trip back in the freezer!  

Most exciting thing

We have more trips in Harvey planned to look forward to throughout the summer and fall!  This is just the start of something awesome!

I have added a bunch of pictures from the trip.  I hope you enjoy!  I can't wait until the next one!

Picture of the Week - 3/31/3023

 Sooooo close!  We are so close to our spring break - and our next adventure.  I've been looking forward to this one for a long time.  

Originally, when we first bought the camper, we thought this trip would be our maiden voyage.  There's a very small and very flat campground just outside of Georgia Southern that (to my untrained eyes) looked like it would be easy to get/out of and would be perfect for our first trip.  (Then we pulled the trigger on Perry last month...)

This trip is the first one with the dogs - and our plans have morphed a little bit - and all of the changes and updates have made me so excited and anxious to get going tomorrow morning!  But also - so. much. planning!

We also bought a blackstone grill.  We knew we wanted to get one and had originally thought we would wait until our big trip to Missouri to get one, but then we came to our senses (maybe when we saw how nice the weather is going to be this weekend) and decided it would be great to get one now.  And Walmart to the rescue!  We got one on SALE even!

So this week we spent time getting the blackstone seasoned and took it for a drive making dinner the other night.  We made breakfast burritos and homemade corned beef hash.  :)  I case you were curious!

We head down to Brunswick tomorrow for a visit with Bob and Phyllis and are pretty darn excited that both Spencer and Quinn are going to join us for a visit.  Spencer can't stay the night, but I've enticed him with a promise of smash burgers on the blackstone!  YUM!  On Sunday we are going to relocate camp up to that initial campground that I really thought would be our first hookup.  We are staying a few nights there - and it'll give us a chance to see how the dogs do with the set-up we will have over the summer.  We bought them a dog fence to set up around the camper door and will see how it goes!  MANY firsts with this whole experience - which makes it fun and interesting - and gives my "planner brain" more than enough to worry about!

Stay tuned for more details and pictures and reports on how our trip goes!  Yay for spring!!

PS - I bought this fun pillow for the couch in the camper, but that's actually probably going to be Quinn's bed this weekend.  It IS funny though!

Picture of the Week - 1/26/2023

 This week feels a little bit like "more of same".  It's still cloudy and cold.  (I think Atlanta is on track to have a January in the top 5 wettest of all time.  Not a fan.)  We are still doing wrestling nearly every day.  Work and school.  And amazon still stops my the house to visit daily - sometimes multiple times a day!

Bob just got back from a work trip and we are gearing up for a weekend of wrestling again.  

To break up the routine, Bob's taking me out tomorrow night.  We are going to hit up Cru for wine flights and then head to the Container Store to look for bins and baskets and buckets and other amazing organizational aids for Harvey!  Might sound like a lame date to you, but I'm ridiculously excited about it!  Wine AND nesting baskets AND planning opportunities galore.  That's some kinda heaven!

Here's a cute picture of the doggos and some photos of Zane and Beck that probably everyone has already seen on Facebook.  

Have a great week everyone!  

PS - Quinn's birthday is next Thursday if you wanna drop him a Happy Birthday note!

Picture of the Week - 1/20/2023

 What. A. Week!

Lots of work - mostly - stuff took up all my brain cells this week!  

But in the middle, Bob and I took Wednesday off to go pick up Harvey, the RV!!  To say we were stressed about this experience may be an understatement.  I mean, we have never even towed a row boat!  

I am very happy to report that we had no issues.  Bob reports that towing it was more comfortable than he expected on our hour-long drive home AND (maybe even more impressive) we didn't even argue while trying to back into our storage space the first time.  Ha!  #winning!

We have a bit of work to do inside before we will be ready to travel.  This is very similar to getting a new apartment ready to go!  We need bedding and kitchen stuff and bathroom stuff and a whole bunch of new camper hook-up stuff.  And I am certain we need stuff we don't even know we need yet.  Amazon loves us!!!

Here's a selfie of me and Bob at pick-up.  And a picture of the doggos checking out the couch (which is in the back in front of the bunk beds) during a quick stop at the house on the way to storage so Beck could see it.  And finally a picture of the successful parking experience at our storage spot.  

Our first trip is scheduled for the first weekend in March.  We have a campsite booked in Perry GA for Kids' State wrestling tournament.  Now we just need at least one boy to qualify to get to state!  

This weekend we are traveling over to Dallas, Ga for the All American Slam tournament.  I'm excited for this one.  There are 4 guys in Beckett's bracket and 11 (!) in Zane's.  That's a pretty big tournament and should be a lot of fun.  It's far enough away that I think we will see a whole different set of Georgia wrestlers.

Other than wrestling and camper shopping...  we are just plugging our way through January.  Hope all is well where you are!  

Picture of the Week - 8/25/2022

 Happy Thursday!

We are charging through August!  I've never loved this month.  I kinda want to get this one in the rearview mirror, if I'm being honest.

All the boys are well.  Spencer is now back at The Citadel for the semester.  Here's a picture of him with his friend Jackson (aka Bradford).  I don't have any new pictures of Quinn from this week, but I've talked to him almost every day.  He's really loving college life!  Zane and Beck are doing the school then practice, rinse & repeat routine.  And the doggos are just fun and happy :)

Have a great last week of August everyone!  We are very much looking forward to a nice 3-day weekend right around the corner.

Picture of the Week - 7/28/2022

 How in the world did we get here?  It's the last full week before school starts.  *record screech*

It's unbelievable, really!  I got a call today from Beckett's new teacher.  His !!! 5th !!! grade teacher at his brand new elementary school.  Wowsers!

We have launched into football for both Zane and Beck - and Beckett restarted wrestling practice again this week too.  He's going to do Monday/Wednesday wrestling and Tuesday/Thursday/Friday football.  Kid's gonna be sleepy!!!

And as if the end of summer and kissing farewell to lazy evenings isn't bad enough...  there's a giant pile of stuff that's all packed up and ready to move to Statesboro next Thursday.  I'll ask again - how in the world did we get here?

(We get Spencer for a few more weeks as he doesn't have to move back until the 21st.)

Here's a funny thing...  Beckett got invited to wrestle on a duals team with his club this weekend.  This all went down last night, so we weren't really able to rearrange work and stuff to take him.  But he was so so so excited to do it...  so we called up a friend and gave him some cash and sent him on his way.  We never, ever, would have sent Spencer away with a bag full of singlets and some money when he was 10.  LOLOLOL  Yes...  our parenting style has changed a bit.  HA!

Here are a couple of pictures of the doggos.  Gable is getting so big - and his PAWS are ginormous!  He's also pretty needy because he really, really, really likes to have company at all times.  Preferably touching...  :)

Have a great week everyone!  Next week we'll be tackling open houses and dorm move ins and work and football and all. the. things!

Picture of the Week - 6/17/2022

 I can't believe it's mid-June already.  Where in the world has this year gone???

All good here!  Just busy busy busy!

(Work is crazy for both Bob and I right now, which has added an unexpected layer of stress.  That's what they pay us for and I'm sure things will stabilize again soon...)

Bob left this morning with Zane and Beck to drive to St. Louis to check the boys into Purler wrestling camp.  We have heard amazing things about these camps.  I can't wait to hear how they like it - and see the results!  

This week we finally got the tile done on the backsplash in the Kitchen Reno 2022 project.  That's a story in itself that includes very crappy craftsmanship, a 10 year old casing our house, and Bob raising his voice at many people.  (If you know him at all, you know this is very rare.)  It's all going to be fine...  we have the doors and drawer-fronts off the cabinets at the moment and the lady painting them should be done with changing the brown to white next Wednesday.  I'm so excited for that part!!!  (Bob is less so, because it's probably going to make me want a non-black microwave and oven...  and maybe new lighting over the kitchen table...  and while we are at it, the kitchen table may need a new look too.   Woot!)

Also this week the dogs have become playmates - although it's still kinda awkward to watch.  Brutus is sooooo patient with Gable.  He wants to play hard, but the little guy (who is like twice as big as he was when we got him already) is just too little.  It's resulted in some funny situations.  But every day those 2 doggos become better friends - and we fall a little more in love with our new buddy.

Stay cool everyone!  I'm planning a lot of AC time this weekend!!!

Picture of the Week - 12/3/2020

 Turns out the only pictures I've taken in the last week are of food and my dogs.  Read into that information what you'd like... LOL

It's cold here - which I hate - and we are busy with wrestling and work and prepping for Christmas.  It's all good stuff, but between the loss of daylight and the early morning wrestling practices and the freezing temps - I mostly just want to curl in a blanket and watch TV!  So that's what we've done :)

Last weekend we took Zane and Beck to a tournament where they both had a rough time.  Wrestling is one of those 2-year per age group sports and they both bumped up an age group this year.  I expect it will be more losses than wins, but will prepare them for next year!  Zane is in particularly dire straights as there are a fair number of 12 year old 6th graders who are well into puberty and there's a VAST difference between pre and post puberty on a wrestling mat!

This weekend Spencer and Quinn are heading to a dual with the varsity team.  Spencer is likely wrestling the 220 spot, but may get bumped to heavyweight if the team needs him there.  He's in a rough spot right now too because he's the biggest senior on the team until the football kids get back (they are still in playoffs) so he's kind of covering both the 220 and heavyweight spots even though he's dropping weight like crazy so he can get to 195 for the rest of the season.  Wrestling is funny like that...  there's a whole lotta sacrificing early in the season to set up where you want to be in regional competition.  

Here are some sleepy pictures of the dogs chilling with me...  the first one is on the new couches in the living room.  The second may have been during a work break when I may have been laying on the floor with them. LOL  Shhhh - work from home has privileges!!

Picture of the Week - 7/9/2020

 Greetings!

So last week I skipped my Thursday POTW in lieu of some high quality relaxing at the beach.  I don't regret it!

We had a great time.  The weather was a little dodgy...  we got chased off the beach a few days, but we didn't have any totally rain out days.  And it's pretty hard to even get upset about some rain when you are at the beach...  The boys were all easy this year and everyone seemed to have a great time.  It's just such a shame that it goes so darn fast!

This week has felt busy and a little chaotic.  Maybe it's because it's the first week we've tackled after being away for a while in months.  Maybe it's because all kinds of things are ramping back up and need tending to.  Who knows...  

We've had lotsa medical dental appointments this week.  Nothing bad - just normal stuff for the boys - and some extras thrown in to get me ready for shoulder surgery tomorrow.  Say a wee prayer if you are so inclined that all goes according to plan.  Also if you see Beckett, remind him to do a better job brushing teeth.  I'm sick of getting cavities filled!

Thought I'd share this picture of Brutus, who was neutered on Monday.  Poor dude...  he's SO BAD at managing that cone.  He runs into walls, people, doors...  it's as funny as it is sad!  He should only be in it for a few more days though and then back to normal.  In the meantime, he's still smilin'!

Have a great week everyone!

Picture of the Week - 6/4/2020

Y'all - I don't even know what to say about all the stuff that's happened over the last week.

Protests, riots, covid...  it's just too much to try to process and put into words right now.

So I will simply share this picture of my smiling dogs and call it a day.

PS - Zane and Beck have LOVED going to camp this week, have tested negative for Covid, and are looking forward to Woodlands next Monday.  Spencer and Quinn are back to the gym/wrestling studio and motivated.  Things slowly moving toward normal in our little bubble while the rest of the country tries to implode.  

Picture of the Week - 4/30/2020

Day 49

I really wish I had something fun and exciting to share.  I've got nothing...

We are all still healthy and hanging in there.  Some days (hours) are better than others.  Georgia continues to lead most the rest of the country in opening things back up and trying to get back to normal.  We are all still just waiting a bit to see how it goes. 

I saw a picture/meme on Facebook this morning - and warn you that I will probably share this to my own FB feed in the very near future, so be prepared for the repeat.  It got me thinking, so I thought I'd ask the question to you.

What have you learned during this time that you want your future self to remember?  (NOTE - this is not a rhetorical question, I'd really like to know the answer.)

For me it is the following, in no particular order

1. My boys are all pretty interesting people.  They are also incredibly diverse.  I don't think I'd know their personalities nearly as much without watching them progress through the last 7 weeks.  Their individual approaches have been fascinating to me.

2. Having control is probably over-rated, which is a really big lesson for me that I, honestly, have to re-learn pretty regularly.  Life is mysterious and control is an illusion.  Sometimes the best thing to do is to just let go, go on, and trust.

3. Speaking of trust, I have grown my faith/religion/beliefs 100 fold over the last 6 months.  To be fair, this really starts probably around this time last year, but the job loss and now this Covid situation has accelerated everything.  I feel closer to God than I ever have before and have found incredible peace.

4. Being busy is not the same as being happy.

Your turn - what have you learned during this time that you want your future self to remember?  Just for fun, here's a picture of Brutus that I took while on a walk (during one of the no so good hours if I'm being honest). Brutus is living his best life and if/when we all start to leave the house again that dog may need therapy.

Picture of the Week - 4/16/2020

Day 35 since everything got turned upside down.

We are all doing fine here.  There are up days and down days for all 6 of us.  It's unusual for there to be more than 1 or 2 having a bad day at any time, so it's pretty short lived before we all get back to it.  

Let's see...  this week we found out that the entire wrestling summer season is cancelled.  We had yet another round of SAT testing cancelled.  We found out that both West Point and Naval Academy were cancelling their summer seminars.  They cancelled Quinn's mission trip.  They announced a new grading plan for the rest of the year which removes finals and basically makes almost every assignment optional.  

Grocery stores are slowly returning to normal-ish stock levels.  The pasta aisle is rebounding nicely, but now it's almost impossible to find sugar.  So apparently everyone is baking these days...  still no toilet paper stock although we have gotten lucky a couple of times and bought enough for the next few weeks at least.  Also of note - people generally prefer chicken ramen to beef, because the chicken has been gone for a month, but the beef is always there.  Weird...

We are all coping in our own ways.  Bob is, as always, unflappable and patient about 98% of the time.  He spends his non-ADP time washing a million dishes a day and playing the role of tech support for ZnB. 

I have spent way way way too many hours putting together electronic puzzles on my phone and eating cheezits.  The Covid-19 (lbs) is real, y'all!  I've also started a daily devotional and spend a fair amount of time on zoom calls with my new small group.  I wish I could say I've been productive on my current quilt project, but for some reason I can't motivate myself to pick it up.  I am going to really try to get back into it this weekend because it's supposed to rain.  I have also dubbed myself "in charge of online purchases" and have become a ginormous fan of wayfair.  This morning I decided the wall behind my desk (which you can see on conf calls) was WAY too boring.  Spent an hour trying to figure out what to put back there and looking at many peel and stick wallpaper designs...  before finding and buying a handmade (from a small business) quilt hanger so I can hang up my Bloom quilt.  Pretty exciting.  LOL  (finding joy in the little things here!)

Spencer is quiet and stoic and increasingly anti-government.  He spends his free time researching random topics and watching youtube videos.  He has also spent a TON of time walking Brutus.  He takes Bru out almost every night and they are gone for hours - literally.  One night they were going on 3 hours when I felt the need to text him and remind him that Brutus was thirsty - and it was dark.  They spend most of their time int he fields surrounding our neighborhood.

Quinn spends his free time (which is plentiful) talking to people on Snapchat and playing basketball in the backyard.  (We have no grass left back there, so are now contemplating just paving the whole thing...)  He also spends time with ZnB almost every day too.  He lets them play with him outside or plays video games with them - or just picks fights with them.  

Zane and Beckett are together 90% of every day.  Of that 90% about 90% of it they are best friends.  Then they turn on each other and it gets pretty ugly...  Sometimes we let them go and sometimes we step and and redirect.  I'm forever grateful that they have each other to play with right now, but I also completely understand when enough is enough.  They have both pulled the BB gun back out and spend time messing with it regularly.  Neither of them are getting enough exercise (but neither are Bob and I so it's tough to be too upset).  Pictures are of Zane shooting stuff and Beckett on a conference call with his teacher - and Brutus.  

Brutus is living his best life.  He loves having everyone here and all the attention!  Ozzie is turning great before our eyes and is anxious or asleep.  He just looks at us like "please go back to work" and spends hours every day at my feet in my office hiding from everyone else.  

We are all OK, but looking forward to the day we can get back to some level of normal.  French fries just don't travel well and the melty cheese dip from our favorite Mexican restaurant is cold and lumpy by the time we get it home.  The kids miss their friends.  So do I!

I'm starting to worry (more) about the summer and what things will look like.  Will we be able to find some summer camps for Zane and Beck?  (Nothing cancelled so far...)  Will we be able to keep our beach house in July?  It's an unsettling feeling to not know what even next week, much less next month, will look like.  

OK - enough rambling.  Back to work and reality.  Hope you are all well.  Anyone picked up any new hobbies or done anything fun with the free time?  Take care!  Be safe!!