In a rut...

So. I've been in a cooking rut for a couple months. Haven't really been trying new recipes. I thought it was due to the end of school and craziness. But so far this summer I haven't wanted to menu plan. I haven't wanted to cook. Nothing sounds good. No fun when cooking was my hobby! Hopefully it will pass...you would think with it being summer time that I would be spending more time cooking. But I just don't want to. I'm making myself cook easy dinners, plan the menu, and grocery shop. Just keeping it simple.

Eighteen...

Here is a pic of the Mac Clan...all 18 of us hiking in Gatlinburg last week!
18 and counting! Katie is getting married next June.

A Trip to the Library

Yesterday I took the boys to the library. They love to go! It was so funny to me their unique book choices:
Wilson- all non-fiction books (surprise surprise) about: volcanoes, floods, policemen, bomb squad
Luke- Curious George (the collection), Dr. Seuss, a book about rhyming
Ty- too busy at the train table to pick any books (mommy picked 2 for him)
Me- The Memory Keeper's Daughter, 5 easy to read books for Wilson, and the George and Martha collection by James Marshall! Those were my favorite books growing up. Yesterday I saw the Collection with all of them in one book! I was so excited. So the boys are going to listen to those too!

Back from TN

Earlier this week we took a trip with Andy's side of the family to Tennessee. We stayed in Sevierville, close to Gatlinburg. There are 18 of us altogether! 9 kids and 9 adults. We had a great time! Here are some highlights from the trip...
* Father's Day dinner @ Texas Roadhouse to celebrate the 4 dads!
* Swimming
* Shopping with my SIL's and MIL - always fun!
* Watching my boys be excited about gokarts
* putt putt golf
* hiking
* apple fritters from The Apple Barn

It was a fun trip! We had lots of time to hang out and be together. It was great! Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures!

LA - Day 4

So my last day in LA was another great one! I exercised early in the wonderful 60 degree temps and then had a bagel and Jamba Juice while reading my book outside. Later in the morning we all got in the car to drive to Hollywood! I was excited. We walked down Hollywood Blvd. to see some of the stars on the sidewalk, saw the Chinese Grauman's Theatre, and even saw the red carpet for the premier of Toy Story 3! We didn't see anyone famous but it was cool to see it all set up. We ate lunch at California Pizza Kitchen (you've probably seen their frozen yellow pizza boxes in the grocery) and saw the Hollywood sign. When we'd had enough of Hollywood we drove back to Manhattan Beach. We grilled out chicken & veggies, and had couscous, salad and bread. It was delicious! I packed and got ready to come home. And that's a wrap.

Tim McGraw, one of my old favorites!

*Andy has promised to go back to CA with me and the boys to see: San Diego, San Francisco, Yosemite, Lego Land etc! He's been to CA and has always wanted to take a trip out west with the boys as well. So it didn't take any convincing!

LA - Day 3

Saturday morning I woke up early again. I had trouble sleeping past 6 am in LA. Funny how I don't have that problem here! I got out of bed and went down to The Strand - a huge walking/running path that was down by the beach. It was an extra wide sidewalk. I exercised and then walked to the bagel shop and had a bagel. The morning was relaxing. We all walked around downtown and went in a few shops. Cara and I lounged on the deck with our books.

The rooftop deck. It also had two reclining lounge chairs to lay on. Nice!

The view from the rooftop deck. See the pier?

Cara and I also got a pedicure! It was great! Then we met up with my cousin, Allison who lives in LA. We went to Downtown Disney together for dinner. I was super excited to spend the afternoon/evening with Allison! We grew up together. We loved playing and spending the night at each others houses. A lot of my childhood memories involve Allison! So is was great to have so much time together. We were able to talk about her upcoming wedding, life plans, my boys, etc. It was great! Once we got to Downtown Disney our first stop was the Lego Store. If you know my Wilson you understand that I definitely had to go in this store! It was cool. I took lots of pictures and texted Andy from the store with pics multiple times so he could show them to Wilson. We looked in a couple other stores and then ate dinner at The Rainforest Cafe. The food was good and the atmosphere was cool! We walked around a bit more, I finished buying the boys' souveniers and then we drove back to the beach house. I went for a walk on the beach and called Andy. It was a beautiful night!

LA - Day 2

Our 2nd day in LA was Silas' surgery day. Cara, Jason, and Silas left early to go to the surgery center in Beverly Hills. The girls and I woke up around 6am. We hung out at the beach house until about 8am and then headed down to Manhattan Beach! This was thew view as we were walked down! It was a beautiful morning and the beach was about 3 blocks away. We were the only ones on the beach besides the surfers! It was chilly but the girls got their feet in the ocean anyway. I sat and watched the waves and the girls playing in the water. Our day went like this: beach, shopping, lunch, beach, shopping...it was a great day! Downtown Manhattan Beach is full of shops. We just looked around for fun. That afternoon we also hung out on the deck at our beach house and relaxed. CJ took a nap and Madelyn watched a movie. We then made dinner for Jason, Cara, and Silas who arrived home at supper time. We made tacos. Dinner was especially good because Cara and Jason showed up with fresh salsa and guacamole to go with our fiesta! Silas came home in good spirits. Below is a pic of Silas after they got home. He has to wear his Nike hat to keep the cup on his ear in place and everything safe. His little Buzz doll was even bandaged up by the nurses! He sure was a trooper through all of his surgery!

LA - Day 1

Day 1 was so long! We were all exhausted by the time we fell into bed. The day began early - about 4:15am and didn't end until around midnight (9pm California time). Our flights went well and the kids did great. Once we made it from the airport to Beverly Hills we stopped for lunch at LA Food Show. Cara did some research and found several delicious places to try. This was one of them. We were eating in Beverly Hills - zip code 90210! That was so cool to me because of the TV show that used to be on. We then walked down Rodeo Dr. and saw one fancy store after another. It was so cool! We didn't go into any stores but just walked down the street. We were walking to Sprinkles - a cupcake place that is to die for! There was a long line but I loved that little shop. I had a red velvet cupcake. You can see it below!

Sprinkles Cupcakes! See the long line?!

After our cupcakes we went to Silas' pre-op appointment with his surgeon in Beverly Hills and then drove to Manhattan Beach to the beach house. Basically ate dinner and got unpacked and went to bed! We were too tired for anything else.

I LOVE California!

I'm home! It was soo good to see my family this evening! This is just a quick update. I'd like to post more about each day of my trip later this week. I had a long day of travel and am pretty tired. But I navigated the Los Angeles airport, Pheonix airport, and Louisville airport all on my own! I found the van in long term parking and drove myself home. I was proud of myself :) . Anyway, California is my new favorite place. The climate is fabulous. I loved Manhattan Beach area - such a nice town and perfect weather. 60's in the mornings and evenings and it got up to the low 70's in the afternoons. I had a great time and was glad to be of help to Jason and Cara. I loved walking down to the beach, shopping, and trying new restaurants with Cara and Co! Silas is doing so well after his surgery. More details and pics to come. I need a good nights sleep so I can hang with my boys tomorrow! There's no place like home!!!

LA here I come!

So in about 8 hours I will be awake and getting ready to leave. Cara and Jason are picking me up around 4:30am. Then we are driving to the airport and our flight leaves that airport at 7:40am. I still need to pack my suitcase. I haven't started yet. These past few days have been filled with PD, cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, and time with the boys. Now they are bathed and in bed so it is time to pack! The fridge and cabinets are full. The upstairs is clean. The laundry is caught up. The menu is planned. A list of ideas for what to do while I am gone is written on the fridge. I've told Andy things he already knows - today he said I was acting like he knew nothing about taking care of the kids! He reminded me that he is a semi-stay-at home dad! I know Andy, it's just to give me peace of mind! I totally trust you, you are a wonderful dad!

I am excited about the trip but nervous and sad about leaving my boys at the same time. It will be really good for me to get away but I am definitely not used to this! I cried putting Tyler to bed tonight. Wilson and Luke are a little easier because we've talked about it and they understand where I am going and when I will be back. Plus, they will talk to me on the phone! Tyler's just so young still! But he will be fine. (I've left 2 nights with Andy on our 7th anniversary before Ty was born...but we saw the boys on one of those days b/c we were in town. Then I left for less that 24 hours for a women's retreat before Ty was born...but that is it. Except for when I was away from wilson overnight at the hospital having Luke! And away from W&L when I was at the hospital having Ty! But they came to visit me!) So now you have perspective on why this is so hard for me :)

I am so happy to be going along to help Cara and Jason with the kids. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to travel with them and help them out. Here is a link to where we will be staying! They are there 2 weeks, I will be home in 5 days. I am also looking forward to seeing my cousin, Allison who lives in LA! I'm excited to be travelling to the West Coast as I've never been further than Texas before.

Just pray for Andy and the boys over the next 5 days. It is so hard being the "single parent" when the other parent is out of town. For safe travel for me and my sister's family. For me to be able to enjoy my time away from the kids and just enjoy CA! Time to pack and sleep!!

Tyler

Well, Tyler found out something he likes about the pool today. The snack bar! After my PD today I came home and our whole family went to the pool for a couple hours. Andy bought a cinnamon sugar pretzel to share with the boys. All 4 of them ate it. Every chance Ty had, he tried to walk back over to the snack bar. It was hilarious! I guess he thought we'd buy him another snack if he kept walking over there! He loves his food. :)

At home, before we went I tried to get him into his swim gear. He kept fussing and fighting me. Then when we got to the pool he was acting the same way as he did Saturday, wanting nothing to do with the water. We finally got him in for a bit and then he just walked around the edge with me following closely behind! It's going to be hard to go with all 3 alone unless he realizes he can stand at the side in the water and play or sit in the super shallow part...

See Gayla, I already ppsted again!

Wilson, 1st Grader!

Wilson finished Kindergarten! He is so excited about being a 1st grader. He made so much progress this year in Kindergarten. I am SO proud of him. He went from not even being able to walk to his classroom b/c of his fear to leaving as soon as the bell rang to go help Mrs. Dowd. His teachers were wonderful with him. He made several friends, one best friend, and was a nice helpful boy. He received so many compliments for his behavior, being a friend to his classmates, and being helpful by sweeping the cafeteria and helping in the classroom. Those things are SO important. He also made lots and lots of progress with his academics! He learned so much in reading and math. I got to look through his writing journal on Thursday and see the sentences he had written. He earned an award "Non-fiction Enthusiast" because he loves reading non-fiction books. Since Luke had an end of pre-school celebration Wilson planned one of his own! It was adorable really. He chose O*Charley's for dinner Thursday night and wanted to get his free scoop of icecream from Grae*ter's for dessert. He tried to talk us into a new Lego as well...but we said no! I forgot my camera for his Kindergarten recognition ceremony and am too lazy to try and figure out how to get the pics from my iphone onto the computer. Maybe I can add it to the post from my phone? So proud of you Wilson!

Summer Time!

So happy that summer is here! I finished packing up my room on Friday. Tomorrow I have PD all day and then I'm free! Thankful that this year is over. It was tough! Wilson is so excited to be a 1st grader, but more on that with his own post. The boys and I went to the pool yesterday to get summer started off right! It was fun. Ty did not like the pool at ALL for about 20 minutes. He stood on the wet concrete next to the pool and wouldn't even play with his toys. Finally somehow Andy was able to get him on his lap playing catch with me. He got braver and braver. As we played Andy kept inching in a little bit further until the water was on Ty's legs quite a bit. He realized that the pool is a fun place and did not want to leave with Daddy for his nap. Wilson, Luke, and I stayed an hour longer. The big boys jumped right in and did so well in the water! I was proud of them.
I leave for CA on Thursday morning way early and will be home Monday night. That week is our church's VBS so I'll be helping with preschool VBS Tuesday-Friday. This summer I'm just looking forward to time with the boys, going to the pool, reading some good books, and just relaxing! I've also started my morning exercise routine I'm going to try and make a habit over summer break. I woke up Friday and Saturday to exercise. Sunday is my day off from exercising I guess because I let myself sleep in today! Hoping to stick to my plan.
Our other plans this summer include going to Gatlinburg with all of Andy's family. We're also hoping to take a couple day trips as a family. Summer flies by - I want time to stand still!!