Family

You know so many of us feel guilt if we don't take our kids somewhere for a big vacation every year or every spring break. I try to explain to a friend of mine that sure your kids will remember those trips but they may not be the ones they cherish the most. Growing up we only took one big vacation that I remember and that was to Florida - I was ready to move and luckily as a adult my daughter and I got to spend two years in Florida and honestly that was the hardest part of the divorce - leaving the beach. My family also took trips to Branson and to Magic Springs - a local amusement park here in Hot Springs, AR and those were great times too. The time I remember as the most fun was when we had a family water fight. My Mom and I were on one side of the house with a water hose and my Dad and brother was on the other side of the house with a water house and the fight was on. I don't really remember any other specifics of it but the laughter and the giggles. That was a great time and a great memory.

I hope that Erynn will have memories like that to remember. I know from our big trip that we took one of the memories that I will always have is of her "stealing" rocks for me on the trip. It started with the Petrified Forest and them telling us that you couldn't pick anything up to take home and we didn't, but after that everywhere we went we took at least one rock with us. When we were coming out of a motel in Jackson Hole, WY Erynn said, "Mom I've found the perfect rock for you. Pull the car over here for me." So I moved the car to where she was at and she put in this nice round rock. She was so proud of herself and that's really when it began. I kept hearing, "Mom, what do you think of this rock?" My back floorboard by the time we got home was full of rocks, but she had rocks to share with her Nana too of the trip. What an inexpensive souveniour but I hope that it always brings back memories for her of that special time we spent together.

What's a memory that you have of a special family time?

August 5, 2008 - Wow where did summer go?

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This is what I worked on this weekend - making a bird bath look like aged copper. I used metallic folk art acrylic copper paint and sponge brushed the whole thing and then used calypso sky blue where I would think water would run down the bird bath and then to age it I sprayed it with black spray paint here and there. I sealed it with clear acrylic spray paint - twice but I'm still scared to put water in it!LOL

I got out the sewing machine this weekend too. My sewing machine and I have a love/hate relationship and usually the machine really hates me. I have been needing to make a curtain to cover the shelves over my washing machine and have had the material but just haven't done it yet. So I cut that and started working on it but nothing finished yet. I also cut material out for two pillows to put on the bench on the front porch. In the Lowes magazine I got several months ago they had pillows they had decorated with acrylic paint for chairs on the porch and had house # and then Welcome on another and I'm thinking of doing that with these. I think I will spray them with scotchguard first to try to keep them from molding and then paint the info on them and then stuff them.

Erynn will start 9th grade on the 19th of this month. Where does time go? It seems like it was just yesterday when I dropped her off for Kindergarten. She has been wanting her hair blonde so we did it at home this weekend with the Loreal Dream Blonde they came out with. It looks good. She was a blonde until the last few years and it had darkened up to a dirty blonde/light brown. She went to cross country practice yesterday and all the girls were "oohhhing" and "aahhing" over it so it made her happy.

It's been pretty quiet around our household this summer. I haven't taken any summer classes and we did our vacation in June. So we have just been soaking up the quiet before the storm hits again. Erynn starts back the 19th and I start back the 25th. I have 5 business classes I need to take before I can get into the college program I'm wanting in. So I'm in no rush this time, I'm just taking one class this semester and going to enjoy life a little.

Hope all is well in blogger land with all of you! Enjoy the last days of summer!