Where in the world has Nicole gone? I have been inundated by emails asking me where I went to. The sad part is, I didn’t even really mean to disappear. Isn’t that what everyone says when they disappear?
Life just got in the way, but I’m here.
Things I’ve Been Up To:
Camp Stuff
Our two oldest leave for Teen Camp on Sunday (yes Father’s day) so we have been busy trying to find all the crap they have to take to camp. Do you know it is nearly impossible to find ROBES (yes you read that right) in the middle of the summer that actually FIT children. *sigh* They are required to wear a robe if they want to leave their cabin in the evening to go to the bathroom. No PJs can be showing. Boys are not adhered to the same rules. We had to buy a crap load of stuff to get them ready, and the worst part is that next month the other kids go and we have to do this all over again!
Work
I took on two new writing jobs. They have required a whole new level of learning, researching and writing to work with the various systems I have been required to learn. In addition, it is taking up a LOT of my time because well - quite frankly I suck at time management. I’m getting there.
School’s Out
Summer break with five kids has been hectic. Trying to keep everyone amused isn’t as easy as it sounds. They joined the summer reading program, so that has consumed a lot of time (you know they just have to earn those prizes!) which has been nice and quiet. But when they get bored or they’ve spent a huge part of the day reading, finding things to do with $80 tanks of gas has not been pleasant.
Sad Stuff
Most of you who have followed my blog for any length of time have noticed that our family has a slight addiction for horses. And you would also know that my daughter is an English Hunter rider. Well, her amazing, wonderful, can-seriously-never-be-replaced trainer moved to New York. We were all devastated and she hasn’t had a lesson since. Friday is the day. Cross your fingers and say some prayers. I need her to love this new lady. I don’t want her to give up. I had no idea how much we loved her trainer until the day I read the words that she was leaving. It has been a really difficult past few weeks trying to recover from that unexpected blow. (heck I’m getting teary right now!) UGH! I have pictures from her goodbye party here.
Max Turns 1
My baby turned one. He is such a great little dog. So smart, so trainable and such a sweetheart. He turned one on June 4th. Happy Birthday Max. I baked him a doggie cupcake. He loved it.
Oh, and we’re currently raising tadpoles as if I don’t have enough things on my plate. LOL
I’m going to be back sooner rather than later.
Most of my regular readers know that we escaped to Lake of the Ozarks for Thanksgiving week. We got home yesterday and had a fabulous time!!
We made a new friend while we were there, providing her with loads of cereal and marshmallow snacks. I’m sure quite healthy, but she kept coming back for more. Every single day at least four times a day! The kids absolutely loved her and we took dozens of photographs. These were rated our favorites of our cute little squirrel friend.
I wanted to include a few more photographs that I got back from this past weekend. We are all still so incredibly proud of her.
This is perhaps one of my favorites. Waiting for her turn was so hard. Here she is watching her friends compete.
Dixie and Brielle with their first win - third place ribbon.
Right before she competed.
This was her as she took home her second win - FIRST PLACE! woohoo!
Thirteen of my Favorite Lake Pictures
Side note: Those of you who frequent my blog, already know we are purchasing a house out by the lake. We are so excited, it’s just been a long haul to get there. It is certainly my dream house, simple due to the natural setting, the tree’s and the water. But beyond that, it is a healthy, safe and fun place to raise kids. We go out to the lake frequently, thank you to the blessings of two friends that live there (it is a gated 24 hour secured community so we have to be called in until we actually BUY the house), and each visit creates a greater yearning for this to be where we call home. Hopefully through some of these pictures, you will see the love and beauty that made us fall in love with this area. Besides, I’m an author and writer, and the scenery is sure to inspire great things (I hope!).
Kids playing in the sand on the beach.
Melissa caught her first fish, a blue gill.
Lake Sherwood
This is the beach I talk about a lot!
Just look at that Fall view! We aren’t buying this
house, but we do know that when our house is
ready, we will have an amazing view!
I love this picture. My daughter has powdered sugar (from
a donut) in the corner of her mouth, and on the rim
of her hat. But that hat brings out the blue in her eyes
and captures a sun-kissed, happy summer!
Boat rides are frequent, when our friends aren’t busy.
That is my Mike in the green shirt, our youngest daughter
Jessica behind him and our friend Ken.
While this is not the lake we are moving on, I couldn’t
help but fall in love with the scenery here. It is a park
pretty close by our new home.
This is the same as the photo above. At the park
that is nearby our new house. I just think the way the
tree’s are is cool. Plus you can see the tiny little house
reflected in the water.
On the Fourth of July after the fireworks show, we were
the last ones on the beach. Even though this isn’t one of my
better photos, I just love the happy looks on their faces.
Just a gorgeous view from the boat.
If you look past my son’s head, this picture (taken the end of last year) shows the beach from the water.
Probably my favorite photograph of all time, even though since then we’ve taken better. This photgraph was our first official family photograph, taken by our friend Ken in front of the marina. 
Now that I have had a chance to go through all those photographs, I have decided its time to spend more time with the camera in hand out there. I would love to capture the beauty of the lake and the scenery out there. We’re heading out there again this afternoon, so we’ll see what I can capture with my lens. Maybe in a few more weeks we’ll have another Thursday Thirteen just like this one, but with new photographs. Have a great Thursday!
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I couldn’t think of ANYTHING I had to post for “hair”. In fact, the whole topic left me frustrated…
Until I remembered this photograph taken last year when my friend decided to shave my son’s head. Now he has long hair. Too funny. Oh, wait - I decided to do a before and after. Here is before:
And here is just under a year later:
Personally, I think he looks better WITH hair
I’ve been trying to preplan these Photo Hunters entries, because usually on Saturday’s we are so busy. Well today was no different, so I’m getting mine up a bit late. We went to the lake today and we had NO shoes all day. LOL
However, here is my contribution to this interesting theme.
Apparently, this is Oprah’s shoe collection. Not only do I love this because it is so darn organized, I’d love to have some of those shoes. And I’m not even a “shoe person”. Love it!
The theme this week was Art. And I do not have any personal photographs of any art, except my kiddo’s so I used that first and then found a picture of a piece of art I’ve always loved.
enjoy!
These pictures are from Young Rembrandts, the drawing class that my children participated this school year. The first one is done by the 7 year old, the second one was done by the then eight year old, and the last one was done by the then nine year old.
My kids art is my favorite - but beyond my kids art, the following two pictures I’ve always been drawn to.
They are by Pieter Cornelis Mondrian and they are called “Red Tree” and the other is called “Grey Tree”. I don’t know why I love them, but I have a certain fascination with abstract art.
I liked this theme a lot. In fact, the kids all helped this time. We decided that these were the most colorful pictures (part of a series of colorful pictures) that we have. Unfortunately, Bandit is no longer with us, so the pictures are particularly special to us.
Cooked. Cooking. I browsed through five years of pictures for something that stood out to me, but I just couldn’t come up with anything eye catching. So I chose two. These are my two most favorite things to make. Deviled Eggs and Chocolate Peanut Blossoms (among about a million other kinds of cookies!)
Oh. And I don’t snack on these at the same time.
