Yes or No on Monograms?

Now that school is in full swing,

August is nearly over and

cooler temps will be here soon (hope),

we're in the hunt for long sleeve t-shirts.

Long sleeves work great for M to wear

with jeans or whatever and she can wear under 

her school uniform polo shirt for extra warmth!

Because, you know, high schoolers don't

wear coats! 

We LOVE Monograms and all of these items can be personalized

with a monogram -- who doesn't love a monogram?

We've bought these long sleeve t's

in the past and they are good quality.

I always wait for a sale and they have sales often.

In case you would think I'm becoming an "influencer blogger"

[I wish!]

who gets paid for posts -- nope -- we just like these and so 

I wanted to share!

Here are a few favorites!

This one is so Maddie -- she LOVES the Hallmark

movies and has me addicted as well!

This sweatshirt and sweat shorts look perfect too.

I kind of want this myself!

The curlicue monograms are adorable, are they not???

Miss M was thrilled that PSL is back at Star*bucks and

this t-shirt would get worn a lot, I'm sure!

Maddie has this t-shirt and actually  needs a new one as it has been 

worn so many times.  Star*bucks and Chick-fil-A* are her 

favorite places!

In case you or someone you know needs a monogrammed

t-shirt, here's the website for United Monograms! 

Fall sale going on currently!

Have a wonderful long weekend.

Happy Labor Day!

Well, Hello Fall!

And just like that . . .

Fall arrived!

At the Sunken Garden - enjoying the flowers before the frost gets them!

Amazingly enough here in Nebraska,

on the first day of Fall, our temps dropped

over 50 degrees from record highs of 96

to an early morning low of 40-something

on the first day of Fall!

Wow -- life could not be more perfect!

Yes, we were definitely ready for cooler temps!

All the rain has kept our grass looking like spring!
Holmes Lake area

Of course, the temperature has boomeranged a little in the last

week, but we are avoiding the 90s

and that's a good thing!

Someone, Miss M, has been ready for Fall for the

last month or more!

She's been putting together her plaid button-downs and vests

and sweaters and boots . . . 

you get the idea, right!

The girl likes the changing fall colors and leaves and fall clothes!

:)

Rocking that dimple!

And while she kind of hates to admit it, 

she's following in my footsteps of loving vests!

Welcome Fall --

we've been waiting for you!

Dear Fall!

Dear Fall -- 

Guess what I Like about You this Year?!

Every single thing!

Yes, even the warty-looking pumpkins!

Oh my word - we have been blessed with 

the most beautiful fall weather!

Earlier this month, it was quite chilly out,

but I refuse to turn the furnace on until at least November.

My advice . . . put on a sweater, a vest or your robe! 

An oldie from 2011 - because I love that girl AND that vest! :)

And the last two to three weeks - warm and sunny and up to the 70s!

Absolute perfection!!  

Trees are turning color,

leaves are falling,

my hydrangeas are blooming,

kids are raking leaves (ha ha)!

Another oldie from 2012

Plus, Halloween candy on the shelves and on sale!!!

What more could we ask for?

What an incredibly beautiful season!

Hope there's a wonderful weekend in your future!

2011 -- finding a beautiful leaf!

Friday Update!

Hello Friends!

 

Wow -- it's been a long time since I've

let the old blog languish for a

whole week without a post!

Did you miss me?

What am I saying . . .  

Of course  you did!

 

We left off last week with the

relatives heading to town!

Yay -- the out-laws in-laws came to visit!!

 

Maddy was not feeling her best,

so we skipped the freezing cold game

(high temp of 50 with 50 mph winds)
Brrrrr!

Cousins Clare, Maddy and Philip and Catherine. 
Connor was working -- we missed him!

Instead we made a yummy Apple Bundt Cake.

I'd show you a photo

but it was gobbled up in record time.

 

Maddy started to feel better and

guess who started to feel worse?

Yep -- moi!



Mr. Tennis and his brothers-
James, Robin and Mr. T

 It was so fun to see some of Mr. Tennis's family -

and spend a little time with them.

Maddy and I just wished we had felt better

and could have joined in all the fun!

 

I'm still feeling a little punky, but

I think I will feel well enough

to hit a pumpkin patch this weekend.

 

So . . .

what's on your weekend agenda?
Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!



Leaves are Falling!

Yes, it's that time of year -- the raking and bagging of leaves time!

Oh my word -- instead of a slow downward spiral, the leaves came down in waves

in only a day or two. 

On Monday, Maddy raked and I bagged up 6 bags

plus a huge trash can full of leaves!

We woke up Tuesday to find the  lawn covered again!

 

After school, Maddy got out her rake and went to work --
this time we bagged another 8 or 9 bags  --

plus I mowed up the remainder with the lawnmower in the dark!  

 Really, someone needs to invent headlights for lawnmowers!

Muffy wanted to help us, but she has a hate/hate relationship

with rakes, so had to stay in the backyard. 

More rain, wind and . . . you guessed it . . . more leaves!

 

Plus -- leaves from the neighbors' trees are now blowing over!

 

 

 

 Fall in Nebraska --

 

We love it!

 

Painting A Pumpkin!

Maddy and I had a special fun day on Sunday! 

We had an opportunity to join in a Family Art Day sponsored by the

local hearing impaired school-age support group.

The group provides activities for various ages throughout the year.  

Since there are not very many students at Maddy's school with an impairment and hearing aid, the activities provide a chance for Maddy to see other students like her.

Anywhoooo -- it was a Family Art Day -- painting pumpkins! 

So much fun!!

 

The art teacher had a huge variety of pumpkin-art projects --

pumpkins with moustaches, pumpkins with spider webs and paints of all kinds.

Maddy decided to paint her pumpkin white and

 then do a stencil of a black horse! 

 

Turned out fabulous!!

Favorite Photo Friday- Holmes Lake

Fifth grade has been busy and sometimes hard, and I've been busy at work too -- all good, of course,

but I just knew that lately

Miss M has been loving some simple times hanging out together. 

Last weekend, we ran errands, worked at the church art sale together,

visited some open houses and

have been reading an American Girl mystery together. 

Besides the unspoken benefit of both she and I feeling connected

 and good,

my heart soared when she told me she had so much fun and 

each day was the best day ever! 

I love her so.

Earlier this week, we took a little venture out to a favorite location of mine,

near a lake where the light is simply lovely as the sun goes down.

Miss M was in a happy mood and we had so much fun getting a few photos. 

 I think these are some of my favorites and show her true smiles

 (not her forced ones that I often get)! 

Rain forecast here for the weekend  --

hitting the Redbox today and hoping for some movie fun!

Happy Weekend!!

 

Check out Lisa's blog for more Favorite Photos!

 

Falllllling Temps!

Definitely fall around these parts! The number of leaves that have fallen and clogged up my gutters and the lawn is at an all-time high right now. We rake and rake and clear the lawn off and then more leaves fill it up again sometimes within an hour or two!

Last Friday evening the torrential rain that we'd been hammered with decided on a whim to turn to snow!! Yep -- snow! Mark your calendar -- first snow of 2010 season on Nov. 12! At least it was about a month later than the first snow of 2009, so that made me happy! Unfortunately, not all the yard work has been completed . . . really, is it ever? So, these poor roses met an untimely demise due to snow and ice!

Little Miss Muffy, our Scottie puppy, did not know what to make of the snow and alternated between giddy delight and downright annoyance. She ran, barked, rolled in it and barked at it some more! We had about 10 towels on the kitchen floor to dry her off repeatedly after her many visits outside. It may be a long winter and am thinking the washing machine is going to get lots of use!

Haven't posted about Miss Muffy lately and it is so difficult to get a good photo of her because she's always on the run.

She is a sweet girl and goes to bed so nicely at the same time as Maddy . . .

mainly because Maddy wouldn't have it any other way.

When Maddy goes up to bed, Muffy climbs into her kennel

because it really would not be "fair" if Muffy got to stay up later. Works for me!

B&W Wednesday - A Hint of Fall!

Just last week, there was a little hint of fall to come.

Maddy and I went for a run . . . well, I ran, she biked.

It was a cooler day and leaves were falling (probably fainting due to the

really hot temps we've had the past month!)

But yesterday, yesterday was another day like that.

After some extremely hot and humid days, we have been blessed with

cooler temps, a lovely breeze and lower humidity!

While I really hate to see summer end (and it's not really over until

after Labor Day, right?), the hint of fall in the air is heavenly.

Do I smell pumpkin pie??

Since we're not exactly there yet, I'm revisiting some photos from last year

to remind me of how much I love fall

(it's winter that makes me crazy)!

Fun in the Fall!

Finally . . . a fall weekend with decent weather, even though we had to wait through nearly all of October to get one! Yes, the weather has been very, very strange this year, but we love the nice, warm days whenever we get one or two!

This past weekend, we actually had two (count em, two) marvelous and warm sunny days! Instead of going after the leaves that again accumulated in the yard, since I already filled 15 bags, Maddy and I headed to our neighborhood school playground. There are a ton of kids in our neighborhood, but maybe the others were all home raking leaves, as we were the only ones there!

Monkey Maddy loves to climb and swing and is really showing some upper body and arm strength. She’s one little dynamo! What a beautiful blue sky and beautiful girl too!

Hats + Fall Weather = Cool!!

October really says fall to me! One of the things that I like about fall is that you can wear a hat and not look like a total dork!! But, I have enough bad hair days without "hat head" days too! Miss Maddy, on the other hand, has perfect hair -- hats don't mess it up at all!

Last week for school pictures, Maddy said she wanted her hair curly. She announced this around 7:15 A.M. the morning of school pictures! Hot rollers to the rescue! She looked in the mirror after the magical hot rollers had done their work and believed her hair to be curly! To me, it looked like it had a bit more oomph to it and was not quite as straight as usual. She loved the "curly" look, but said no one at school noticed! Gosh -- same thing happens to me -- except no one notices when I get my hair straight!

This sweet knit beret is from last year. Don't you love a beret? Does it make you want to go to Paris? It does me!

Flashback from last fall! Looking for more hats soon -- a girl can't have too many hats, can she?

Weekend Update - Leaves are Falling!

Hey -- news alert -- leaves are falling!! That is definitely better news than snow falling! Last Sunday when the Rickster was out of town, I mowed the lawn in order to pick up leaves. It usually takes me about 15 minutes to mow the front lawn. It took over an hour because I had to empty the bag thingy about 15 times. But, the lawn looked so lovely when I was finished and I do like a nice-looking lawn. Well , guess what . . . the neighbor's tree finally started losing its leaves and my lovely lawn was covered with way MORE leaves than last weekend! Leaves were at least 2-3 inches thick! At least Mr. Tennis was home to assist and we used one of those bag things that basically sucks up the leaves -- way faster than mowing.

Isn't this fun -- watch me toss the leaves that Mom just raked into a big pile!

All the neighbors were putting up their holiday lights and decorations today. How are they all so organized?? Usually, we wait until it is bitterly cold and then quick throw some lights out and hope it looks ok. Our street is a little bit like Chevy Chase's -- everyone (and I mean everyone -- even the little old ladies) puts lights up for the holidays. The Rickster and the guy across the street get especially competitive some years and add new things and more lights weekly. It is crazy ... but fun! And, I'm planning on copying some of the really clever holiday ideas from other bloggers -- you know who you are, right? Will update on that at a later date.

Double, double . . .

Having a little first-grade girl is so much fun and SOOOOO different than boys! Do you remember when you were in grade school and chanted rhymes while jumping rope?? Some things don't change much.

One of the things Maddy and her friends do involve criss-cross hand-clapping and slapping rhymes. If you don't have a girl (I'm assuming boys don't do these -- mine never did anyway), you probably have no idea what I'm talking about. She and her little buddies rattle off the rhymes and clap hands so fast, it is almost unintelligible. But, the sweet girl that she is, she tried to teach them to me. Believe me, some are quite complicated! However, I have figured out the easiest and it goes something like this. You crisscross slap hands, forwards and backwards and do some other crazy hand motions to the rhyme of: "Double double dis dis, double double dat dat, double dis, double dat, double double dis dat." Repeat -- now faster; repeat--faster and faster until the Mom [moi] gets very confused and the little girl collapses in a heap on the floor giggling her head off at how incredibly silly and slow her Mom is doing the clapping/slapping rhyme. Yes, first graders are fun!

And just because it seems weird to have a post without a photo, here's another one of M doing a little dance on the bridge at East Campus!

This and That and Photos!

Last Sunday, Maddy took a little cooking class sponsored by our local school system's hearing impairment services. Since Maddy is the only child in her whole Catholic school with a hearing aid, we thought it might be a good idea to be involved in activities where she can see other kids with hearing aids [and I do think it made her feel good to see that other kids have hearing aids -- she's not the only one]. She was a bit hesitant and wanted me to stay. And, believe me, I thought of that and had offered to help, but they said they had enough helpers. When I went to pick her up a couple of hours later, she reported she had fun and wanted to go to the next one too! YAY!! Can I just say -- I am so proud of her! Not that long ago, she would have never wanted to go to something like that by herself when she didn't know anyone at all. But, she walked right in and then waved bye to me as I left! Plus, she made some wonderful treats -- pretzels, caramel corn, vanilla corn and a rocky road treat made in a cupcake liner. Yum!

Then, we went to part of our University campus known for having a good background for photos. There were so many people there with exactly the same idea. It was a perfect fall day!! We actually had to wait for a location on a little bridge. It was lots of fun! Maddy and I had a good time and I got some sweet photos -- at least I think they are sweet. Or I guess, sweet and scary -- as she tried to jump out and scare me!! :)

And in other household-type news, I removed the wallpaper border from the kitchen. I thought at first . . . this is so easy!! HA! But then I realized that I also had to remove the gluey residue as well. It wasn't really hard to get off, but time-consuming (and we have a small kitchen). It took me about 3 hours Saturday night. When I finally went to bed, I couldn't get to sleep because my arms and shoulders hurt so much from being extended over my head getting the wallpaper glue down for 3+ hours! Mark my words, I will never put wallpaper up again!! Haven't even started the painting yet, but that is next! Keep repeating to myself . . . it will all be worth it when it's finally finished.