Mom's Cleaning Tip

My mom told me to use liquid fabric softener as a glass cleaner, so I tried it. It worked and made my house smell grrrreat!!! You have to use elbow grease to rub it off, but it does work. My favorite is the fresh smell that it leaves in the house. I hardly get it in my wash cycle, I'm always too late. So, its nice to have another use. She told me a bunch of other uses. I hope somebody drops by today, so they can smell the freshness.

Gas

If gas prices don't stop going up, I'm not going to be able to take my kids to the beach this summer. Darn gas prices. Glad I don't own a big truck or suv though. Too bad our country can't just stop using our vehicles to protest. These prices are an outrage! We depend on our vehicles too much. I wouldn't be able to get to the store to buy food without my vehicle. It is too far to walk. My brother doesn't need a vehicle where he lives. They have really good public transportation. I wish we had that here. In Alaska Sara and I used to take public transportation all the time. Met some interesting people on the people mover. That is what the buses were called. I miss the people mover.

Sad News

Found out on Saturday that Rory's granny Lil passed away. It was sad news. We are heading up tomorrow for the funeral and returning on Sunday. It is a really long drive, but we'll manage. Its hardest on the kids in the car for 9 hours. I was going to cut and paste her obituary, but it didn't say much about her at all. So, here is what I remember about her:
She was a very sweet lady. Willing to do anything for anybody. The first time I met her, she gave me a big hug and started telling me stories about Rory growing up with her. He was the apple of her eye. He was the only grandchild to have his own room in her home. He stayed with her a lot growing up. He liked her "granny tea." She made iced tea that would give you an instant boost of sugar energy. It was so sweet, it was a dessert in itself. There was not a time that I went into her home that she didn't give me something. She was always pulling something out of a drawer or cupboard, so that I didn't leave empty handed. She loved to tell stories. Half the time I didn't know who she was talking about, but I just liked listening to her talk. Before she moved into the nursing home, she used to call us. Most the time Rory was at work and she was always worried she was bothering me. After I convinced her that I had time to talk, she would ask about the weather, tell me about the weather up in Pennsylvania and then get off the phone. I can't write about her without mentioning that she was a master scrabble player. Or if you were stuck on a crossword puzzle word, you could always ask granny. Most the time she knew the word. She was a beautiful lady.
I think an obituary should be a joyful remembering of who the person was. When I read obituaries that all is to it is a long list of surviving relatives and not a word about the person it is about, it makes me sad.
We will miss Lil, but she is not in pain anymore and celebrating in heaven.

Ranch

Today we packed a lunch and took the kids to a ranch about 30 minutes away. Colleen had a blast. She loved seeing the animals. It was such a gorgeous day too. Sunny and in the 70s. Perfect day for a family outing. There was the funniest lama there. It hung around the porch where guests come out with their buckets of food for the animals. It followed everybody that came out with a bucket until it got some food. I wish I would of got a picture of him standing on the back porch.

Nolan update: He likes to blow raspberries now. Soo cute. He also babbles "da da da da da da" But when he's tired or hungry he whines "ma ma maaaaa" He's been rolling all over the house for about a month now. He can also get on his hands and knees and rock back and forth. He thinks Colleen is the funniest person on the planet. He laughs at her all the time. He loves to give hugs. I've never held a 6 month old that just puts their arms around you and gives a big squeeze like nolan does. He's always happy and smiley. Super sweet and fun. He doesn't like to sleep. He cat naps and still wakes up at night. He is not a sleeper at all. Colleen wasn't either. They are both also early morning people. Its all good though, because I've always been a morning person myself.

Peaches are Yummy

Pregnant Memories

Reading Emily's blog brought back memories of my pregnancies. Such a wonderful time. Couldn't sleep, Couldn't move, Feet hurt. Now that Nolan is 6 months old and I see his smiling face everyday and Colleen brings sunshine and laughter to my days, I think that it wasn't so bad. Here is a picture of Nolan in my belly. This is for all the women with big babies.

great trip

We got back on Sunday from Spending a little over a week with my folks in Maryland. We had a blast. Just got to relax and do whatever felt good. Last Sunday Colleen threw me a princess birthday party. It was so sweet. She thought hard and planned stuff with my mom for my party. She made my mom and I dress up in dresses and Rory and my dad put on ties. She also made up party games. My favorite was pin the tail on the bunny. It was fun.
Then while we were up there my mom took me shopping several times and watched the kids while I shopped. I got some cute summer clothes. Its hard to shop alone with two small children. My parents also bought kites before we came up, so we flew kites with colleen several times while we were up there. She loved it. We also went ice skating a couple times. She loves ice skating with grandad. Rory and my dad went up to philly for a flyers game. They stayed over night, so Colleen, My mom, Nolan, and I had a pajama party. We bought new pajamas for it and played games and had a blast. My mom and I also took Colleen out to tea. She loved getting all dressed up and going to a fancy place. It was fun. I don't think any of us wanted to come home. We were having such a good time.