Pleasant Afternoons & Cool Nights

That is exactly what we have are experiencing now. Last night the predicted low was 50 degrees. Great sleeping weather! I love sleeping with the windows open and nothing is better then waking up in the early morning hours and feeling the night chill in the air. It makes me snuggle further under the covers and I feel all cozy. I love that feeling!

Another thing this weather does to me is make me want to clean. Not just dust and vacuum, but to clean things out. I have a list a mile long of areas to declutter. Having the windows open and a cool breeze blowing through the house really motivates me.

I like to give the house a good cleaning and to thin things out before winter. Our home is not large and if there is too much stuff I start to really feel the walls closing in during the winter.

I plan to start tackling my list today. I will let you know how it is going. Have a great day!

Bedtime Woes

We are entering a new phase in our home, and I don't like it! Megan has always been a good sleeper. She still is, but putting her to bed is becoming an issue.

Megan goes to bed about eight. We have a routine of brushing her teeth, she helps Daddy shut her blinds, pray and then into bed. She is having moments of not wanting to get into bed. The moments are becoming more frequent.

Over the weekend we had an issue with nap. She refused to go down. We tried to put her in her crib and she was crying and saying no and just carrying on. We were trying all the tricks and nothing was working. I ended up caving and put her on the couch for nap. She went right to sleep.

The last two nights we have had the same drama. This time we did not remove her from the crib. We did the let her cry it out thing. It was breaking my heart! I was ready to go get her but Chuck keep telling me that if we did then she would continue to throw a fit knowing we would come and get her. I know that he is correct, but still this Mama did not like it.

We are wondering if she needs to be moved out of the crib. We can remove the front and it becomes a toddler bed. She is now 26 months and I know in my head that it is probably time. Telling my heart it is time is another thing. Megan will be my only child and having her leave the crib means I have to let my baby go! I know that sounds crazy.

Do you think that moving her out of the crib will help? Any suggestions? Oh, and please be kind.

Grapes

This is the third year for our grape vine. I started to see these:


and became very excited! Last year we only had a few bunches and this year as I watched them develop I was so hopeful. As I was harvesting the grapes I wasn't sure there would be enough for much jelly.

Imagine my surprise when they were cooked down and there was not only enough for one batch, but two!


I can't wait until we are finished with the store bought jelly and are able to pop open a jar. I am imagining this sweet treat on toast and warm from the oven biscuits. Yum!

Peace and Quiet

Peace and quiet is exactly what I had last night. Oh was it nice! We had plans to go to Chuck's dad and step-mom's. I was tired and had a headache, so I stayed home.

I was in my pj's as soon as they walked out the door (about 5:30). I surfed the net a little bit, looked at the grocery ads and was just still. Surprising what you can hear when the tv is off and there is no one else in the house. The tick tock of the clock, the ice maker filling up with water and sweet, sweet silence.

I headed to bed at 7:30 with a book in hand and enjoyed my peace and quiet. How refreshing it is for the soul! Hope you are able to steal a little peace and quiet for yourself.

Mishap

Yesterday afternoon there was a minor mishap at my house.

Shannon was here picking up her kids. We had chatted and they were getting ready to leave when Megan and her son had a tiff over a book. I was telling Megan to give the book back when we heard a crash and glass breaking.

We both froze and looked at each other. I said I think it came from the garage. Boy was I scared! We have had a few incidents of trouble in the neighborhood and my first thought was someone was breaking in.

Shannon's husband is a police officer and she was had his number ready to call and I had my phone and had 911 punched. I still can't believe I was this brave... I had all the kids stand by Shannon and opened the door to the garage!

I never expected to see this!


It was a hot day and Shannon had left her van running. I guess she didn't put it in park and somehow after a few minutes of sitting it rolled into our garage door!



She is completely embarrassed and can't believe that she did not put the van in park. Neither, Chuck or I are mad about this. It was an accident. We made sure to tell her that several times.

The good news is that we are both insured with the same company. That should make it much simpler. At least I hope.

Chuck removed the door last night and boarded it up. So even though we don't have a door we are nice and secure.

As much of a pain as it will be to get estimates and such I am grateful.

Grateful that she had parked so she was in the center of the garage door. Can you imagine the damage if she had hit the house. I am grateful that Megan and Connor were arguing over the book. Had they been attempting to get into the van or someone walked in front of it as it began to roll... so many things to give thanks for.

Home

As my blog says "no matter where the journey of life takes me, my heart is always home." Lately I feel like I have been home less and less, but my heart has been yearning to be here. I haven't been spending time at the lake, beach or anything exciting like that. I have just been busy and been away from my haven much to often.

As I was putting up the September calendar I was happy to see that we have nothing planned for any weekend in September. Yes! We were both happy to see that. There are things we want to do, such a trip to the Apple orchard, but it is nice to know that we are able to do it at our leisure.

Hubby even offered to take me to a local teacher supply store last night. I declined and decided to send Chuck and Megan out to drop off the recycling and water my mother-in-law's flowers.

All I can say is... it is good to be home!

Time to Gush...

About my husband, but lets start at the beginning of my weekend.

There was a garage sale planned at parents house on Saturday. Friday morning at almost 8 I received a call from my mom. A neighbor had also decided this would be a good weekend for a garage sale and had started theirs on Friday. So off I go to set up for the garage sale.

We did just okay. My parents ended up running a couple of errands during the sale and said that there wasn't much traffic out. Don't know if it is because it was a holiday weekend or just a sign of our slow economy.

We ended up eating out a couple of times this weekend. That is so bad! It is a killer on the budget, but it is so nice to do at times.

I do my major grocery shopping once a month. My mom doesn't drive so we end up doing our shopping together. I got up early to head out. I was just about ready to sneak out when I hear Megan saying "Mama? Mama?" I thought for sure she would want to go, but she stayed home with Daddy. Shopping without Megan was such a treat!

Okay, here is where the gushing starts. On my way to the store I received a call asking if I had toilet cleaner on the list. Why yes I did. He was asking because he was cleaning the bathroom!

When I was checking out I received a call from Chuck saying he was on his way to sister's house to help my brother-in-law with something. One of my first thoughts was to wonder what Megan's hair looked like.

Once I got home I opened the garage door and the washer was going. Oh.my.goodness. he was doing laundry. Oh ladies it gets better. I walked into the kitchen and I could tell that he had cooked. No cold cereal was served to my baby girl. No sir, he made eggs, sausage and toast.

The icing on the cake was when I arrived at my sister's house and not only had Chuck dressed Megan in a cute dress and combed her hair, he had pulled it up into a pony tail along with a bow!

Here is the funny/cute thing. He is not a hair kind of dad. He has tried, but just doesn't have the patients. He was afraid that it might come out before I saw it, so he took a picture as they were leaving. hehe


What can I say except... I love that man!

Okay enough gushing. I am exhausted from our busy weekend. I plan to do laundry and get my home back in order. I hope you all had a great weekend and an even better week!