My Hydrangeas

As promised, here are pictures of my hydrangeas. They are a little crazy because I haven't cut them back yet this year, but that's ok. They sure are pretty!

Hydrangea Plants

I love hydrangeas! I have two - one in my front flower bed and one in the flower bed in my backyard.

The one in my front yard was there when we moved in. It gets really big every year, so I have to cut it back quite a bit. Last year it did not bloom at all, so that was really crummy. But this year it is blooming like crazy, which makes me very happy! (The picture above is not my hydrangea, but it looks a lot like it. I'll have to post a picture of mine later when I remember to take a picture of it.)

We bought the hydrangea in our backyard a few years ago. It was a tiny, tiny plant, but it very quickly grew. It is now almost just as big as the one in our front yard. The flowers on it are different from the one in our front yard. I like it that way. It makes it interesting.

Someday I would like to experiment with the acidity of the soil and see if I can get them to change colors. It would be neat to have them bloom different colors different years.

I really like plants and wish I had more time to work in the garden.

Boys Will Be Boys

Caleb seems to be doing everything he possibly can to try to get hurt tonight. We'll see if we can make it two more hours injury free.

As soon as I picked him up this afternoon, he fell and scraped his knee (which is already scraped up from camping). Then we get home and he climbs in the computer rolly chair and falls out of it. He now has a scraped chin that will probably have a large bruise. He cried for awhile after that one.

This is wearing me out! :)

Pictures from Memorial Day Weekend

We had a great weekend of camping! Caleb had a blast running around the campsite and following around his friends Korlyn and Colton! He's a camping boy!

Colton reading a book to Caleb. They were good buddies!

Caleb getting ready to slide down the fun tube slide.
Just a swingin'!
Hangin' out under the monkey bars!
Going down the slide!
Playing with rocks with Colton!
Korlyn leading Caleb up to the slide.
Hangin' out with the boys watching Guitar Hero.

Thoughts on Ice Cream Trucks

Is it just me, or do ice cream trucks freak anyone else out? Here's why I'm scared of them:

• They always look like beaten up old vans. Kind of scary looking.
• What's with the freaky music? Honestly, it makes me want to run inside instead of running to get ice cream! The music always sounds sick. Like the battery that runs the music is running out or that it needs to be sped up. (Six Flags did a good job of imitating this kind of music in the Mr. Freeze ride when you have to stand in line for a long time. It even kind of weirds me out there.)
• I'm sure the ice cream is fine, but just from the appearance of the truck, I don't have any desire to get any. It may make me want to make a Sonic run, but not run out to the ice cream truck.

I know ice cream trucks remind us of the 'old days', and probably many people like them. I really could do without them though. I never see anyone in my neighborhood buying ice cream from them, but they are on our street almost every night. The fact that they are in our neighborhood every night probably means that people are buying from them. But for now, I'll stick with the ice cream in my freezer or a run to Sonic!

"Pick a Nose"

Over the last week or so, Caleb has been saying something about a nose in the car on our way home from school. I haven't been able to understand what he was really saying until yesterday...

Caleb said, "Pick a nose."

Which prompted mommy to say, "No, we don't pick our noses. No pick nose." I said this a few times just to get it in his head right.

A few minutes later...

Caleb says "Mommy, hold it!"

I look back to him, and he is holding his hand out with something in it. I reach my hand back and realize that he is sticking a booger in my hand. How gross!

I immediately told him again that we do not pick our noses...that it is gross, etc. I think he thinks its fun though. Or at least fun to see what I'll say.

How do kids learn these things so early?!

Memorial Day Plans

My family always goes camping for Memorial Day. I LOVE these trips and am so ready to go this weekend! I can't wait to see how Caleb is this camping trip. Will he run around and play more? Will he play with the other kids more? I'm looking forward to it!

What are your plans this Memorial Day weekend?

They're All Grown Up!

I've been out of band directing for three years now. I really haven't had many chances over the past three years to see the kids that I used to teach. I occasionally run into some of them, and there is one that I see weekly at Kroger, but for the most part I haven't seen these kids.

Well, I worked a band contest this past weekend that was hosted at the high school where I used to teach. It was so great seeing all of the kids all grown up looking now! Most of them were at the middle school three years ago, and some of them were just freshmen. But now they are big teenagers! It was great to see how much they have changed, and it was so nice to see how excited they were to see me. I also got to hear how well they have been doing the past three years (how some of them have made region & area band), and that made me feel good since I started them years ago!

So, overall, it was a great weekend!

Cast Off Day

Caleb got his cast off this morning! Yay! I had been talking to him about it for the last couple of days and cheering about the fact that he was getting it off, and he did great white they were sawing it off! He just sat there looking at it. No crying or anything. I was very proud of him! So now he just has to get used to using his left arm again. It really is amazing how bones can heal themselves!

Does This Kid Look Sick To You?

"Look Mommy!" So I look over, and see that he has unwrapped a sucker and is proudly showing his accomplishment. He's not acting like he's real sick today. :)

At Home With My Boy

Caleb started running a fever yesterday, so he and I are at home today. It seems like a good day to stay at home and relax since the we have thunder storms all day. It'll make for great nap weather! But I really hope his fever goes away today so that we can get back to normal.

Reading for the Masses

I'm reading a book right now that is by a big, mainstream author. I've never read one of her books before, so I might have the right take on her writing. Especially since I'm not even half-way through this book yet. But the more I read it, the more I am struck by the feeling that it is just not written very well. Or is it just that she feels she needs to dumb things down for the "average" reader? This really drives me nuts. I know that if I wrote a book, it would probably sound a whole lot like that...but that is why I don't write books. It would drive me crazy that it didn't sound as good as I wanted it to.

Hopefully the book will get better. And I'll probably have to read more of the author's books in order to get a better impression. But right now, I'm not really impressed.

Meet My Friend Blake Daniel

Born 8:56am
8lb 14oz
21 inches

Congratulations Jake & Lindsay!

Coupon Book Hunt

I used to clip coupons all the time. Then when I had Caleb, I didn't have the time or energy to deal with it. I've recently picked up the practice again. But now I can't find my trusty coupon book. You know, the one that you store all your clipped coupons in.

So, last night while I was shopping at Kroger, I tried looking for one. But they don't sell any there. Isn't that crazy?! I guess they aren't a hot item that people are needing all the time. Or maybe people don't really use coupon books anymore. Maybe they use other things to keep them in. But I happen to like the old-fashioned coupon book.

So at some point, I will have to make an extra trip to Albertson's (where I got my last book) or Walmart or somewhere else to pick one up. I just think it's crazy that Kroger didn't at least have a few in stock. Oh well.

Best Shake Ever! (in my book, or at least to date)

I had an oreo shake from Scotty P's last night, and it now holds the award for "Best Shake" in my book right now. It tasted like there was a TON of whipped cream mixed in. Can't get much better than that!

BEEP!

Yes, the title is in all caps for a reason.

I went a few minutes ago to Kroger down the street to get Caleb some diapers for school. When I went to check out, I went to the self check-out lane because I love to do it myself!

As I scanned the first box of diapers, the register beeped at me extremely loud. I then noticed that the register was then talking to me telling me to scan the next item, but it was so soft I could barely hear it.

They need to get a handle on the volume levels of those registers. Goodness gracious!

Kitchen Questions

Three electric appliances I couldn't give up:
1. Microwave - I've come to rely on it.
2. Quesadilla maker - We haven't made quesadillas in quite awhile, but this is a handy little appliance.
3. Waffle maker - we love us some waffles!
4. Ok, so one more! Toaster - Cinnamon toast - Yum!

Three of my favorite gadgets:
1. Pampered Chef Food Chopper - what did I do before this gadget? Oh, yeah! I didn't cook! This one gadget has transformed my whole cooking experience. I now feel more at ease about trying new recipes/ideas because I have this handy gadget!
2. Pampered Chef Can Strainer - makes life so much easier!
3. Pampered Chef Serving Spatulas - why did I not register for or just buy something like these when I got married?
(This makes it look like I have lots of PC stuff. I really don't. Actually, I think these are the only three things I have from them, but I really, really like them! Go figure.)

Three Favorite Cookbooks:
1. I can't remember the name of it, but we have a cookbook that has favorite recipes from many different restaurants. We have made quite a few recipes from it, and there are a few that I go back to time and time again.
2. Not really a cookbook, but the Kraft Food & Family Magazine (totally free - sign up for it TODAY if you don't have it! It is wonderful!). I get soooo many great recipes from this magazine. I look forward to getting it probably more than any other mail!
3. Online recipe sites. Really, most of the recipes I get these days are from online sites. I just don't want to spend the time digging through cookbooks. It's easier and much more time friendly for me to just look them up online.

Ok other bloggers out there! If you haven't done this yet, it's your turn! I've found everyone's answers to be very interesting, and I've also found some things from your lists that I want now! Chris will be happy to hear about that! Thanks Becky! :)

Calling All Tree Experts

Ok, I need help from all you tree experts out there. This is the tree in our backyard. When we first moved in almost 5 years ago, people told us this was a red oak tree. I've always taken their word for it. Then yesterday while I was trimming the tree, I noticed a few odd things...

First I noticed that it is now growing little balls off it. I just figured it was starting to grow acorns. You know, oak tree and all. Then I looked up...
and saw these! They are HUGE balls growing from the tree. Right now they are almost three inches in diameter even though they don't look all that big in the picture. They don't look like anything recognizable to me, so I need your help. They actually kind of scared me for a second when I looked up and saw them. I wasn't expecting to see them, so it still kind of freaks me out that they are there. And I really, really want to figure out what the deal is and what kind of tree it is. So, please help me out if you can.

My little brother came over today and said that he had just seen a tree recently that looked just like that, but he couldn't remember where he saw it.

Here's another picture.

Really, any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Another Cutest Thing Ever...

Hearing your kid singing songs. Caleb likes to sing in the car, while playing, etc. Every time I hear him sing, my mind totally stops in mid-thought and I just listen to him sing. It is such a sweet voice! His singing definitely ranks up there in the list of "Cutest Things Ever!"