Miss Bella

Bella and Dylan keep me busy these days!  Yesterday, we painted, made playdough jewelry, played outside, watched Dora and Backyardigans, drank pretend hot chocolate with whip cream, read books, played soccer and baseball and yes.....I was worn out at 4:30pm!  I wouldn't trade it for the world!  Off to work today! Softball playoffs tonight!

New Kitchen!

Here it is!  The kitchen has been repainted and I've moved things around on top of my cabinets. We took down the vertical blinds across the sliding glass door and hung curtains.  I like it!   I bought a new table cloth and need a center piece.   I love the new chocolate wall behind the cabinets and the low wall in front of the bar stools.  I want a new kitchen table but just haven't gone out to see what I want.  We bought that one for another home a few years ago because it fit in our small kitchen.  I was thinking about painting the legs black and see what it looks like. What do you think??  I still need a few more finishing pieces as always.  The little things are the hardest for me to figure out and then to display.  I like my new kitchen!

Where did the last few days go??

The last few days flew by so fast they are a blur!  I watched Dylan and Bella which is non-stop activity these days.  Bella has stopped taking naps.  I am trying to teach her about a quiet time.  It gives her and ME a little slowdown.  I put her up on the couch in the bonus room with her doll, a book and a couple other little things to do.  As long as she is quiet she can play or just lay and rest.  She also has a soft blanket to lay with.  Most of the time she lays there and seems to rest.  

Dylan is crawling all over the place and if he can find something to hang onto he will stand up.  He is only 6 months!!  Yikes!!  We are in trouble!!

Hubby and I drove down and had dinner with our daughter, Danielle.  Her hubby was in Canada on business all week.  I love having one-on-one time with our children even when they are grown.  They do too!  

Our son, Dustin came home for dinner on Saturday night and dropped off his car.  It's not running right AGAIN!!  It was nice to see him although he didn't stay long enough for mom's liking.

We hit church on Sunday and then I showed Dallas and Selena a few homes.  They want to buy a home soon and wanted to see what was out there.  It is always eye opening for young couples who want to buy their first home.  They want what mom and dad have and don't realize that we started out with what we could afford at the time and we worked hard for what we have now.  They stayed for dinner~nothing fancy and we had peace and quiet at 8pm.  Wow! What a weekend.  

Today, we have a funeral to attend for my SIL's sister.  We met her a few times over the years and last saw her on 4th of July.  She had a brain tumor and passed away about 5 months after her diagnosis.  My SIL will miss talking to her sister.  I think they talked quite often.  

I was busy...that's why the last few days were a blur!  

Softball Champs!

We played a double header last night and ended our summer season in first place!!! When we started out playing softball it was for fun and now we like to win a little(not really--we like to win our games!!)  I pitched both games and can feel it this morning.  I'm on Alleve right now.  It numbs the aches and pains.  Boy did I have fun though!!!

Next week is the playoffs to determine the true Champion.  We can't wait and want to come in 1st Place.  I am having to take a leave from softball after this for a little female surgery on October 1st.  My first surgery ever.  I am expecting to bounce back pretty fast.  I have to!  Afterall, more softball awaits me and so does a new grandbaby due Nov. 1st!!

Here I Come Chicago!!

There is more to Chicago than Oprah!  That's what I'm telling myself since the Oprah website says that their reservations for October have been fulfilled.  So Brenda, Candy and I are going to see Chicago without Oprah and we're looking forward to it.  If you know of anything we should definitely see or do while there...just let me know.  This is my first time to Chicago and I am excited. I need to look for a coat just in case it's cool.   Cool weather and Chicago!  Sounds great!

Oprah Tickets???

I'm trying to get Oprah tickets because I get to go to Chicago with hubby on a business trip in October.  I tried all day yesterday and I'm still calling today.  It's crazy that you have to call in all day or days to get tickets. I just want to see Oprah.  So wish me luck....I'm redialing all day if I have to.  Hopefully I will hear ringing instead of "we're sorry all circuits are busy!"  That lady's voice is getting very annoying.  Every now and then I get a busy signal. Is it wrong to ask God to assist you in getting Oprah tickets???

WE'RE HOME!

Danielle, me and my mom

It was an adventure!  We took the motorhome to Arizona for Danielle's baby shower.  We have not used the motorhome since January.  It's been a very reliable vehicle with few problems.  However, our adventure began less than an hour and a half into the trip, when a hose burst from the radiator and we lost all our coolant.  It was in the low 90's at this point.  We are in the middle of nowhere with the next town or truck stop about 40 miles away.  We stop, cool down, stop and try to see where we are losing water, add more water, finally find the leak and it's not easy to get to but we use electrical tape to tape the hose(which took 30 min. maybe), we get 10 miles and it blows again, more tape, we drive 30 miles, blows again, fill up with water, drive 6 miles, we are over heating, we have 15 miles to go, it took us 4 hours to drive 80 miles.  Dwight was so patient and a good navigator through this whole time.  He kept us all calm.  Needless to say, we get to a truck stop and the little gal in the convenience store offers to call a local mechanic who comes right over.  He is able to cut a portion of the hose and reattach it in less than an hour.  $75 later and we are finally on the road.  We stop for gas, more water, a bite to eat at Burger King(where we are attacked by little flying bugs) and buy a hose,some clamps, more tape and some coolant.  We are prepared!!!  We make it to Phoenix at 11:30pm.  12 hours after we started!!!  It should have only taken us 5 hours.  What a day!

The shower was a lot of fun and Danielle is a beautiful mom-to-be.  We got to reconnect with long-time friends; Holle, Cynthia(who named her daughter, Danielle after my Danielle), Tricia-one of my best-friends and her daughter, Kristin-Danielle's best friend in the elementary years and family; Nate's mom(she rode along with us on our great motorhome adventure)Nate's grandma, Nate's aunt Maria, cousins, Kacie and Kristin, Danielle's cousin's fiance, Tonya, my sister Dawn, my mom, my dad's wife Jean, my sister-in-law Kathleen, my nieces, Angela, Brie and Cassidy.  The highlight was a poopy diaper game!  The faces were priceless as they were smelling the diapers to determine what kind of candy bar the baby most likely ate to leave that little mess in the diaper.  The cake was so cute.  Thanks to Vanlatte Cakes.  Danielle got a lot of cute things and many needed items. 

We had a great night hanging around the house watching the USC football game and eating pizza from Nello's.  The next morning, we headed out to Nate's uncle's house in Mesa to pick up his mom who stayed out there with her mom, for some breakfast and to visit.  Again, Dwight and Nate enjoyed watching some football.  Then it was back to my brother, Tim's house to see him and the girls and my mom.  It's so sad to say goodbye.  The weekend went by so quick compared to our trip over.

We are heading home.  All is going smooth when, boom!!!  We have a flat tire about an hour and a half into our drive.  Again out in the middle of nowhere because the drive from Arizona to California on the I10 is all desert.  We were able to drive 40-45 mph and got into the next town only to find out there were NO tire repair places open.  Thank goodness for cell phones and remote coverage.  We started calling for tire repair companies and found one that answered their phone only to ask a guy if he wanted to change a tire on an RV and we hear him say in the background "NO" and we were then told that they would be open the following morning at 5am.   We were finally able to locate a tow truck company with a mechanic who would change the tire for us.  $120 for the tire change!!  We drive the additional 25 miles to save $$ for them to come to us and who knows how long that would have taken.  So 7 hours later we arrived home safe and sound!!! A memorable weekend and as Danielle said, a story to tell baby Mason one day of the Motorhome adventure to his first baby shower!