A Quick Survey

I'm not trying to nose all in your business, but I was just wondering.....what is the going rate for babysitters? I don't mean daycare, just a teenage girl coming into your house to watch the kids for a few hours. Or, as was my situation yesterday, an 11 year old coming to just entertain for a few hours, while I was still here, totally available in case she needed anything, etc. (Obviously, I would never leave my child with an 11 year old if I were not here on the premises!)

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

My House Has Been Invaded....

....by a crazy lady. It's the same one who came last summer. Last year, she came in and took down the wallpaper border in my guest bathroom and repainted. Now she's back with a vengeance. This time, she has started tearing down ALL the wallpaper in my master bathroom, and we're talking full paper and border. Oh, wait....I think that crazy lady is me.

Yep, I have started the master bathroom re-do project. Let me just say, there is no easy way to take down wallpaper. There are lots of theories on the best way to remove it, but none of them are easy! Oh, wait, yes there is.....hire someone else, but that takes lots of moolah. More than I have to pay someone right now, so that means if I want it done, I have to do it myself. Actually, I'm starting to feel a bit like a pro. I've figured out what works easiest for me, and things were going great until my steamer died today. So, the progress has been slow. But at least there's been progress today. Matthew spent the night with my mom last night, and I was wondering how on earth I was going to manage to keep Luke entertained (i.e., out of my way) enough for me to be able to work on wallpaper. Tracy suggested I hire our young cousin to babysit. So I did, and it's been great. She's only 11, so obviously, I'm not going to just leave him with her, but all she had to do was keep him occupied and entertained while I worked. It's been great, and she really doesn't want to leave!

Here's how it's going so far....

This is only time I wish I didn't have 9 foot ceilings! And a word of advice, never, ever, ever put up wallpaper! When we built our house 10 years ago, everybody did wallpaper, and this was quite stylish....the jewel tones...blue, green, burgundy. Now, probably not so much. Honestly, I don't hate the pattern, it's just that it matched my comforter set and everything in my bedroom, and I'm ready for a change.

Hopefully the next time I write, this will all be finished!

Summer Projects

As I was going through my mental "to-do list", a question came to mind: Does everyone else have summer projects and things they want to accomplish during the summer months, or do they just relax and take it easy?

For teachers, or me at least, summer is a time for projects around the house! My mom was that way when she was teaching too, and still is, since that's her break from having Luke every day. My list is not coming along very well, however.

1) Pressure wash the eaves, etc. of the house. (This one requires Tracy...hasn't gotten done yet!)

2) Trim shrubbery. (Again, requires Tracy. I know most people do this in the spring, but we are so busy with school then, that it usually has to wait until summer.)

3) Put out new pinestraw. (Really don't want to do this until AFTER the trimming is done!)

Hmmm....noticing a pattern? All the stuff that is outside is not getting done! It has been soooo hot already here, that we just haven't felt like working outside much.

4) Re-do master bedroom. (Have the bedding and curtains in place, need to work on accessories...so this is in-progress.)

5) Take down wallpaper in master bathroom and paint. This is the biggie! I had wanted to work on it this summer, but Tracy didn't think we'd have time to get it finished just on the weekends. Well, when he got laid off, I thought, "At least maybe with him being home, we can work on that bathroom!" I think I'm going to start on that next week. This weekend is our last trip of the summer, so I think I'm going to start tackling it next Monday. I'm hoping that it won't be as bad as taking down the border in the hall bathroom last summer. Even though this is full wallpaper, it's a different type than that border was, and has already started turning loose at the seams. I am really kind of dreading it, but I really want it done, and don't want to pay someone else to do it!

6) Clean the carpet. I don't think this will be too bad, I just need to find a day that my mama can keep Matthew and Luke so that they're not walking on damp carpet.

Then, a constant on my list is to work on getting caught up on my scrapbooking. I am seriously considering trying the digital scrapbooking. Do any of you do that? Any suggestions on which sites are best? I use Creative Memories for my paper scrapbooking, and I know they have digital products. Anybody tried them?

So is summer a lazy time for you, or do you pack it with projects?

Making a Splash!

**My apologies if any of you read this before the edit. I started this post last night, and suddenly it disappeared! I just assumed it was totally erased!

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Long time, no see! We've been off on a little vacation at the beach. (Now I know you're thinking, "Is that such a good idea for them to be going off spending money on a vacation when Tracy is out of work?" Don't worry! The condo was paid for before the layoff, so we decided we might as well go ahead! Just keeping it real here!) Normally, I prefer Destin over Panama City, but on the recommendation of a relative, we decided to try Splash in Panana City. It was fantastic! The resort is geared to families with kids, with lots of things for the little ones. In addition to the pools, they have a mini water park, complete with water slides, water guns, and a huge bucket of water that fills and dumps every few minutes. They also have a lazy river, and a little fountain play area for the really little ones. We loved it! I didn't take my camera out on the beach or to the pool, but here are a few shots from the condo. If you're interested in learning more about Splash, you can go here and click on the photo tour. It takes a bit to get to the pics of all the water activities, but they're in there!

Do all kids love to ride the luggage carts? Mine do!

This is what Luke did every day after lunch.

A few hours of the beach totally wore him out!

Luke also got to sit on the barstool like a big boy. He only fell off once!
(Don't worry, he wasn't hurt!)

He also got very good at using the fork

to feed himself, even if it did take two hands!

Can't you see I'm rotten?!?

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We've also been busy with swimming lessons. This is Matthew's first year, and I'm totally amazed at how quickly he has learned to swim. After just two lessons, he was swimming! Tomorrow is our last day, and there's going to be a little "graduation party" with watermelon, snow cones, and their teacher will present them with a certificate and medals. I have enjoyed watching him learn so much and have so much fun, but I will also be glad when it's over. His class is at 11:00, which kind of messes up the day. He has had a ball though!

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And if that wasn't enough, I started piano lessons last night. I have been playing the piano since I was in second grade. However, my playing is mostly "by the book". A few weeks ago, at our neighbor's funeral, I heard a lady play who was outstanding, and I talked to her about giving me a few lessons, to add some "style" to my playing. You know, that old fashioned, southern gospel sound? Last night was my first lesson, and even though it's a challenge, I did pretty well on picking up her version of Amazing Grace. The hardest part for me is going to be memorization. She says that's what's helped her the most, and I can see where it does, but it's going to take some work....and some prayer!

Gotta get ready to go to swimming lessons!

Guess Where I Am...

Be back soon!

Drumroll, Please!

Ta-da! I'm finally posting photos from my photography trip to the mountains. I had a fabulous time, and learned soooooo much in the three days I was there! My mind is now full of information about aperture, shutter speed, exposures, bracketing, highlights, depth of field, you name it! Estal taught us to shoot entirely using the manual settings, and I'm going to try to continue to do that so that I can stay in practice. It was exhausting, but oh so much fun! We stayed in Cades Cove for 13 hours taking photographs!!!!! And we got there at 6:15 a.m.!!!!!!

I really branched out of my comfort zone that week. I don't normally go out in public without my hair being fixed, all my makeup on, and "dressed" for town, but that week, it was minimal makeup and cool, comfortable clothes and shoes. I know I looked like an elderly lady/tourist with my ugly Reebok tennis shoes on, but sandals just wouldn't cut it on moss-covered rocks and going in the woods! You know what, for once in my life, it didn't bother me! I was there to learn about photography and get some great pictures, and that's what it took! I even got within 20 feet of a REAL, LIVE BEAR!!!!! The first time we saw bears, I was pretty tentative, but as we saw more and more, I got more comfortable. I still made sure there was somebody between the bear and me though! Ha!


There are some of these that aren't as good as others, at least to the technical eye, but I wanted to share them anyway. My little bear cub is an example of that, but I thought he was cute. I am going to have some of them framed to go in my office at school.

So here they are....enjoy!

Update

Things are looking up a little bit since my last post. Didn't mean to depress y'all, but I was just in need of some prayers! Still are, but more on that in a minute....


Tracy finally passed the kidney stone this past Tuesday. We had just about given up on him passing it on his own. I had to run a few errands, and we had decided if he hadn't passed it by the time I got home that afternoon, we probably needed to go ahead and call the doctor to get on his surgery schedule for Wednesday. (The doctor was leaving Thursday to go out of town for 10 days, so we really didn't want to push it any further!) While I was in town, my phone rang and it was Tracy giving me the good news. This was our first experience with kidney stones, and what struck me most about the experience is how quickly it hit him, and then how quickly he recovered after passing it. He passed the stone about 1:00 p.m. or so, and in a couple of hours, he was as good as new. Praise the Lord!


The job situation: Well, he still doesn't have one. However, he has had an offer. We're just not sure that it is the job for Tracy. He is also seriously considering starting his own business, doing the same type of work he's been doing--industrial and agricultural repair , i. e. forklifts, bulldozers, tractors, farm equipment, etc. We feel like if he ever wants to do this, it might be the right time. Ordinarily, it would be hard to leave the security of a steady income to branch out on your own, but that decision has already been made for us!


Please continue to pray for us during this time of transition. We are still very secure of the fact that we know God will take care of us, and have done much better lately with accepting this new reality. We know there's a job out there for Tracy, whether it be working for someone else, or working for himself. However, please pray for guidance for us, that we'll have sense enough to know when the Lord is leading us in a particular direction. We just want to be sure that we do what is His will for our lives.


Thank you so much for the prayers that have already been lifted up for us! We have certainly felt them, and I know it's because of those prayers that we are dealing with this as well as we are.


I'll leave you with one of my favorite photos from the photography trip. I'll try to work on getting some more ready to post soon! Good night!