Inside our house...

Nothing too exciting goin' on, which is nice for a change. Madison, Bailee and I have been adjusting pretty well to Madison being away at school all day. Madison really hasn't had any problems, so that's a relief. The house is a bit quieter and I'm able to accomplish more tasks. I have started to work on the big chore that I keep putting off, organizing the paperwork that has piled up on the computer desk. Blah! I've also completed 20 pages of pictures in the family photo album, so now I'm only a year behind. I hope to get all caught up soon.

I've also been trying to build up my physical strength and endurance. I heard on Oprah (which I don't usually watch, but did because Dr. Oz was on) that a woman of about 40 years old should be able to do 11 push-ups. So, I tried and was able to do 7. I wasn't too excited about that, so I've been trying to do them more often, and am now up to 15. I do girl push-ups by the way. How many can you do? Bailee and I have been walking the neighborhood a lot. We enjoy getting out.

I finished reading The Host, by Stephenie Meyer. I liked it once I finally got into it, it took a few chapters. It was a pretty serious book. On one page towards the end, I was totally crying with tears running down my face. I was sitting on one end of the couch reading and Jeff was on the other end reading, but I was so quiet he didn't even know I was crying. It's a good thing the girls were in bed or they would have been wondering what was wrong with mom.

I took this picture of Bailee watching Madison out the bay window. She loves her big sissy and gets so excited just watching her.

First Day of School

Madison's first day of

First Grade.

Madison and her friend Faith, at the bus stop.

Bye Madison. I'm so glad she enjoys riding the bus. She's growing up so fast, I can't believe it.

Redford Look-alike Meter

I thought it was interesting that both Bailee and Madison look equally like Jeff and I. That was a fun website, thanks Melanie.

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family tree software - Family history

Celebrity Collage by MyHeritage

http://www.myheritage.com/collage

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Family photo sharing - Family name origins

Celebrity Collage by MyHeritage

http://www.myheritage.com/collage

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Free genealogy websites - Genealogy search

Redford Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celeb - Collage - Morph

Just stuff

Madison was taking funny pictures of Jeff and I. I guess I'm in the mood to embarrass myself and let you see this one. The face goes well with the dishwasher story.

Stuff #1

My house is messy right now and I should be cleaning, but instead I'm blogging. I finished Breaking Dawn yesterday. I liked it, I laughed out loud quite a bit. I'm kind of sad to be finished with it, but I have more time to tend to other things now.

Stuff #2

Sometimes I'm too efficient for my own good. Yesterday evening I was frying bacon for dinner. So, I thought, while the bacon is frying I'll make good use of the time and unload the dishwasher. Am I the only one that gets tired of unloading the dishwasher, I know it doesn't take too long, but it gets old, ya know? Anyways, I started to unload the dishwasher, and I noticed there was a film on some of the bowls, so I thought, "I better try a new kind of detergent soon." When I was almost completely finished putting the dishes away it dawned on me that the dish-washing cycle had not ran all the way through because I'd stopped it for some reason and couldn't even remember why or when. So, all of the dishes I'd put away were dirty. Oh, what fun that was pulling all of the dishes back out and putting them in the dishwasher. Later I remembered I'd forgotten to put the dirty silverware back in. So, I still need to wash that by hand. Ahhhh!

I'd like to write some more but Bailee needs to take a nap and I'm in her room.

Finally...

Well, I'm finally back to blogging. I've been having to deal with a few things, so I haven't been able to post anything for a bit. First of all, some Cyber-Hoodlems tried to take our computer hostage with all of their junk, happily we got rid of it all. That was sure a relief. It's amazing what a personal item a computer can become. I felt kind of violated with them putting their filth on our computer and trying to steal our confidential information. Anyways, glad that's over. The next thing that's kept me away from our pc is illness. We've had two types of illness attacking our family for the past couple of weeks. I won't go into details, gladly most traces of the germs are gone. So, anyways, I like to keep somewhat of a journal with my blog, so here's what we did in July. It's a good thing I have pictures to jog my memory. :)

Madison learned how to ride her bike without the aid of training wheels. Good Job!

Here's sweet Bailee watching big sissy out the window.

Madison hugging her cousin Becca, whom she adores. She told me she wished Becca could live next door to us so she could play with her all of the time.

Family photo with my Uncle Ron, Aunt Jo Ellen and cousins Brian, Brad and Brooke (plus her spouse Ryan and daughter Becca, with another daughter due in December) along with my parents and my own family.

Jeff holding my cousins baby, Harley. Her cheeks are so chubby and cute. You'd have to see her in person to get the full effect.

Homemade pesto (made with spinach from our garden).


Zuchinni, Zuchinni, (sideways Zuchinni) I was doing so well that day with garden goodies, although I have yet to use all the zuchinni, it's still sitting in the fridge. My food processor has come in very handy.

4th of July

Sitting with Grandad and Laona, waiting for fireworks to start.