First Day of School

I was just reading a post on my husband's family website and one of his family members was saying how her kids came home from their first day of school and saw how clean the house was. They commented on how great their mom had done. She explained that there was probably a correlation to them not being home and the house being clean. They were making the mess!

I looked at my house when the kids got home from school and it was not so picture perfect. So, this is my dilemma. If the house was cleaner all summer when the kids were home, and the kids go to school and my house is more messy, does it really mean that I am the one who is a mess?

Please tell me it is just because I am getting back into gear after being at the lake this weekend. I have been doing laundry all day, and there are still many loads to go before I sleep.

The good news is that at 39 and after fifteen years, I was able to water ski. I was so proud of myself I could hardly stand it! At least my husband was impressed. I had told him I could ski, but he said it was way cooler to see it! I got in one semi-decent run after several failed attempts. I am so sore it hurts to sit down, stand up, bend over, cook dinner, do laundry, walk, reach for food on the top shelf, and move my eyes. Honestly, it is even a little painful to sit here and type. I think I need to get back in shape. The only video I have is of one of my failed attempts. Right after this I did much better, but the camera ran out of battery! I had a great time though!

So did the kids. Thing 1 caught a fish,

tried wakeboarding,

and swung from the awesome rope swing.

Thing 2 played in the sand,

jumped off the high dive,

rode on the Big Bertha,

and put on too much sunscreen.

Hubby did the best cannonball!

Aren't those good reasons for my house not to be clean?

She's 9!

I threw a small birthday party for my daughter. I offered to let her invite more friends, but she only invited 5 people and 3 of them were able to come. Here is what we did:


We started with a craft I found from Family Fun magazine several years ago. The girls had a little bit of a hard time with it, but they turned out great.






You get 20 guage wire and cut 2 1/2 feet. Make a loop at the top for hanging. Then thread beads on about 1" apart making a "z" shaped bend in the wire (bend in one direction at the top of the bead and the other direction at the bottom of the bead) to hold the bead in place. At the last bead wrap the wire around the bead two times to secure the end. Then wrap the wire about a thin spice bottle from your pantry. When you slide it of your spice bottle you will have a corkscrew shape suncatcher like this:

Then, we played games. I found this great game when surfing the internet for great outdoors games for the kids for summer. It is called Bucket Blast. The genius is in it's simplicity. They give instructions for 15 games to be played with buckets, beanbags, cones, and blindfolds, all of which are provided with a nifty little mesh bag to keep it all in. The games are great. At first I thought only my 9 year old would love it, but now see that my soon to be 13 yo would have fun with this with his friends. Perfect for family get togethers. Here is the link to their website:


http://www.lolofun.com/products/games/Bucketblast/bblast.htm


Read the reviews on Amazon too.

I even baked and decorated the cake myself. I love Baker's Joy spray! Look for it in the grocery store near the Pam products. It is oil mixed with flour that you spray right into the pan! You don't have to grease and flour anymore. It is so easy and cakes come out of the pan easily every time. I took the picture from the top so you can't see how lopsided it is. After I did my goofy job of decorating I remembered I have the Pampered Chef cake decorating stencils, which would have been easier, but, oh well. On the inside it is pink and blue swirl party cake. The box said best if used by '06, but it was just fine in '08!

All in all, it was a simple success.