Our Summer Vacation (so far)

I want to start off with an apology. My friends I am truly sorry I haven't been keeping up with my blog. I realize if I would blog more often I wouldn't write such LONG posts that keep you away from things you would like to do. Please accept my apology and I will try to find my bloggy voice again.

Now for the goods. LET ME TELL YOU...this summer has been so crazy. We have been going, going, going. We have been trying to stay cool in the CrAzY heat. We have had actual temps of 105+ degrees! We have been to several birthday parties (Yay for swim parties with the heat) and we have also been doing the summer reading thing at the library...OH and to help with the "Kids stay inside because it is too darn hot to be outside" by checking out toys and movies from the library. 

Now I am gonna get to the 33 yes 33 pictures of the stuffs we have been doing.

4TH OF JULY

We went to Wilmington again this year to see the fireworks. My hubby works in Wilmington so we just met him up there that afternoon. IT WAS HOT! Over 100 degrees BUT we had to get the best fireworks watching spot.

Here is Eddie and Hope patiently waiting in the heat to watch the fireworks.

My poor hubby was miserably hot. Him being a redhead makes him prone to sun sickness so he wasn't a happy camper.

My daughter Faith and I sat in the back of the van to get some SHADE. The people behind her are friends of ours. We saved them a spot so their 2 daughters could have a good view too!

Here are all 6 children at dusk. They were getting really excited.

Sure was kind of fun listening to them all giggle. Our friends' youngest daughter laughed her little head off at my oldest daughter creating arm pit farts.

We did make it to see the fireworks and we were super happy to feel the cooler night air.

SKATE PARK

We have spent several afternoons at the skate park. My oldest daughter and my youngest son love to skateboard.

Here you can see Hope mastering her skateboard.

And Sj chasing his :)

PAINT CREEK LAKE

We have spent several days fishing, hiking, swimming, picnicking, and playing cornhole at Paint Creek Lake.

Here is a tree my hubby carved our initials in several years ago. I am super happy no one has scared them over.

The hiking paths are so beautiful.

And full of bugs. My oldest Loves bugs.

A nice shot of the water.

My boys on one of the paths.

Paint Creek has a nice visitors center too. They let the kiddos get some freebies of coloring books and stickers. They also let you use the cornhole bags for free as long as you have them back before the park closes.

Here is a shot of my kiddos on a mock bridge in the flower/water garden at the visitors center.

The moon over Paint Creek was STUNNING!

Here is the top of the dam all lit up at night.

FAMILY GAME NIGHT

We also have played a lot of games to beat the heat. The boys and I love to play monopoly even though my youngest son who is only 7 years old beats us every time!

Roxy isn't thrilled with family game night. She prefers to sleep.

WATER FUN DAY

Our local fire department holds a water fun day for all the kiddos a few times during the summer.

They use the firetrucks to spray water on all the kids AND the local Community Action provides free lunches for all the kids.

DRAWING

My oldest daughter, who aspires to be an artist, drew this likeness of Joyce Meyer. I think she has done a wonderful job here.

CROCHETING

I haven't had much time to crochet but here is a pic of my hubby with his Father's Day gift from me. I crocheted him a cute little groundhog club cover.

I have also been working on the "never-ending ripple blanket". I just keep finding colors I want to add. I have also been making wash/dish clothes and I am finding patterns and planning tons of baby items for a friend of mine who is now 3 1/2 months pregnant.

COUPONING

I am still using my coupons. I got the hair color below for free.

Ok I had to pay tax but I saved over $11.00..

ROCKY FORK LAKE

We have visited Rocky Fork Lake a few times as well.

We love this dam.

It is so neat.

Love this shot of my family looking at the dam! L to R Hope, hubby, Sj, Eddie, Faith

The dam from the bottom

We also love to watch the sail boats on the lake.

And while I'm watching the boats....hubby likes to fish.

FREEBIES

I also love to get these kind of freebies. This one was a facebook promotion...it came with a bunch of great target coupons.

And that is all for right now. Other than all the stuff I have already mentioned I have been taking care of a sick child, my oldest has tonsillitis and has been running a fever. I have been taking care of an injured child, Sj has a busted upper lip because his brother decided to head butt him. And I have been taking care of sick cats. Some of our kittens have an eye infection that we have been treated with prescription meds from the vet. All on top of all my household duties and keeping up with all the stuff going on! 

I am one tired but extremely happy momma and wouldn't have it any other way.

Hugs,

Erin

Yarn Haul

Hi y'all!

I am super excited today! 

Yesterday while I was visiting a friend of mine she asked me if I wanted some yarn. Well you all know I said yes! She told me she would contact me today and let me know when I could pick it up.

Well, I sure wasn't expecting what I got!!!!

You see, my friend's boyfriend also crochets AND his mom crochets and when his mom visits she brings him yarn. He has two totes full of yarn AND he had two trash bags full of yarn.

Bloggy friends, my friend gave me the two trash bags of yarn.

She gave me:

25 skeins of various acrylics

3 skeins of various fluffy yarns.

These two barrel shaped skeins of yarn and this little ball.

These 3 skeins of Patons Showboat yarn. I love the color AND the sparkle!

These 10 little skeins of yarn

24 balls of various acrylics, wools, threads.

3 ziploc bags of angora (yet to be spun....hmmm....can't afford a spinning wheel...wonder how I can manage to do that....any suggestions) and 5 other ziploc bags of various yarns, threads and such

These 2 skeins of virgin wool.

8 hanks (right word?) of Persian virgin wool.

and 2 unfinished projects

Can you see why I am so excited?????

So if you lost count.....

That is 76 various skeins, balls, hanks, and odds and ends. Not counting the unfinished projects, then angora, and the 5 ziplocs of odds and ends.

 So now I am dreaming up various uses for this yarn! I am super excited to start organizing it!

I am also super excited about trying to spin up the angora! I think I will make my own drop spindle (if I can find a decent tutorial on how to do it)!

Whew....the excitement is overwhelming me...I need to go lay down!

Hugs from me to you!

Erin

Hey, You....what's going on

Hello again my friends. Just wanted to post a little update on what I have been doing since we spoke last.

For starters, I have been reading the 50 Shades of Grey Trilogy. Oh my goodness, those books are steamy and the story line is such a roller coaster...I haven't been able to put it down! I am currently on book 3. I would highly recommend these books to anyone who wants a good story line and doesn't mind the steamy sex scenes.

Secondly, I have been playing around with my new Nikon point and shoot. I keep it in my purse in my Michigan Wolverines (GO BLUE!!!) pouch! I have to say, it has been a little hard for me to transition from my D40 to my point n shoot. I am used to faster shutter speeds from the D40. But here are a few pics I have captured.

First is an onion flower from my garden. I just love these beautiful flower clusters. They look like perfectly round snowballs!!!! And guess what they smell like.....They smell like onions. Who would've thought :)

Here I have a pic of my Kentucky wonder pole beans climbing high up the trellis. I have really enjoyed watching these beans wrap themselves around and around. It truly amazes me.

Next is a simple dandelion flower.

The flag pole at the school. Look at that brilliant blue sky!!

I dunno if you can see but right in the middle is a yellow spot. I have 2 baby squash growing. I am so proud.

A blurry pic of a petunia.

 As I stated I am still trying to get accustomed to the new point and shoot but I think I am getting the hang of it!

I also enjoyed a special treat from my garden this week.

My first batch EVER of home grown sweet peas.

Here you can see the pods I picked filling a blue Easter bucket.

Big beautiful plump peas.

And here is the mess of peas after they were shelled. 

 Let me tell you, these peas were the best I have ever tasted! I usually eat frozen veggies unless I can find fresh seasonal and oh my these were a delicious treat!

My kiddos have been having fun as well. Last night they closed the curtain panels in the bay window and were reading by flash light. It was so funny watching 3 of the four in this little "hide out"

Here you can see the light of their flashlight. I swear they stayed in there for a couple hours playing and reading.

Today we had some errands to run in Chillicothe. We went to Menards and to Hobby Lobby and we took the kiddos to pet land to see the animals. I didn't get to take a picture of it but they got to play with a very cute old English Bulldog.

Here are some pictures I took while at Petland.

Oh I almost forgot...we also stopped by Sally Beauty supply. My daughter has been wanting hair feathers and I didn't want to pay the outrageous prices for her to get them at the salon so I went to Sally's and spent $7 on a pack of 4.

My daughter gave me the white one.

My daughter got the bright pink and bright green ones.

Here is another pic from the front.

My oldest got one that is light brown. It blends really well with her hair.

Here is my beautiful oldest daughter from the front.

Well that is all for my update. I hope you all are having a wonderful week. I am off now to delve back into book 3 of the 50 Shades trilogy. 

Hugs

Erin