I wonder if I will be able to move my legs tomorrow

This morning both my son and my daughter came with me to the Arboretum to keep me company on my walk. I thought we would have a nice little stroll and chat and laugh and admire the lovely trees and flowers. WRONG! How about a very fast paced, "Come ON mom" brisk walk/run and "Let's WALK the ENTIRE PARK!" type experience. Oh my gosh.  I. Am. Tired! What started out as a little mild jaunt turned into an expedition. Well at least an expedition for me - for my son and daughter it was a mild workout I am sure.  I was willing to walk the entire 3 mile trail. Very willing.  But then they added the "OH let's walk around the entire lake!" and "OH let's climb ALL those stairs and go to the top of the observation tower!" and "We HAVE to go walk around the Japanese Garden!"  I put my foot down when my son wanted to add an extra few laps around the parking lot.  He was serious.  He was like, "Don't you want to be less jiggly? Don't you want to commit to the walk?" I let him know that the 4.25 miles that we already walked made me feel quite committed enough. He was welcome to walk around the parking lot, but I was crawling to the car!!!!
It was a beautiful day:

The Arboretum is a lovely place to take a walk -

and of course the best part is they allow dogs which makes it extra enjoyable

Here is my view of the walk

Notice that my view never changes....

I just fall further behind

The view from the top of the observation tower

Proof that I did not in fact die on the way up the stairs

I know I am lucky to have such awesome company!

WE CAN'T SKIP THE JAPANESE GARDEN!!!!

Oh joy - let's add some more miles to our walk!

Isn't that better?

And finally.....

PLEASE can't we walk around the parking lot? Can't we go add the swamp? We didn't even see the Rare Tree collection!

I promised I would go back again tomorrow. I am hoping that we stick to a normal walk.....but something tells me I better bring more water!



I wonder if I will be able to move my arms tomorrow

Admittedly, I am WAY behind the times.  I know that what I am about to tell you is probably common knowledge for many many people, but the Wii is AMAZING for working out! This is Week Number 2 of being less "fluffy".  Last week I worked out 4 days.  This week I am aiming for 5 days.  Yesterday I walked for an hour and I was going to go walk again today but Mother Nature had other plans.  Every time I had a break in my day to get my walk in, it started raining. My younger daughter had talked me into buying "Just Dance 2" for the Wii a while ago and it has been sitting in the cellophane wrapping. Well today the cellophane came off and the dancing began! Oh my gosh! It was so much fun.  We danced and laughed and danced some more and before we knew it - 45 minutes had flown by.  We have now decided to walk for an hour on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings and then Wii Dance on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Saturday and Sundays are up for creative exercise ideas.  I think I just might actually BE less fluffy by the end of the summer if I keep this up.  Last summer I was in really good shape, so I know I can get it back if I just keep at it.  The only real problem I can see is whether or not I will be able to move my arms tomorrow.  I don't really exercise my arms when I walk. Yes they swing back and forth but not with any real purpose. Today - it was a whole different ballgame. My daughter and I were in a competition with the points and I was swinging that remote with everything I had.  About halfway through our dance workout, I was acutely aware of my triceps. Evidently I haven't used them in the past decade.  They were burning.  They were actually ON FIRE.  That didn't stop me from swinging and snapping that remote as if my life depended on it.  In the end, my daughter won.  She kicked my butt actually but I was happy to lose.  I have never laughed so hard while burning calories! I am already looking forward to round 2...that is....if I am ever able to move my arms again!

You know they have professionals for that

I have really long hair.  Really long very curly/frizzy hair.  When I was younger my hair was the bane of my existence.  Way back when - they didn't have gels and mousses. There was no serum or finishing products for your hair.  My hair was basically a gigantic frizzy mess. I used to run home from school during lunch and stick my head under the faucet to wet it. At least when it was wet, I looked "normal".  Once it dried however - it was another story.  When I was in 9th grade, I cut my hair to my shoulders. That was a HUGE mistake. This was back when Gilda Radner was famous for her Roseanne Roseanna Danna persona.  I pretty much looked just like her. My hair stuck out that far.  I never did live that down.  In 11th grade I went to a really expensive beauty parlor and had saved up all my money for a reverse perm.  I really wanted soft silky hair you could just toss about like they do on the hair commercials.  The effects of the perm lasted exactly one day. One day and then boing! The curl/frizz was back. In fact it was even worse and the cut they gave me only emphasized just how bad the frizz was.  I wore my hair in 2 french braids every single day for an entire school year. Once hair gels and mousses were readily available, my hair was much more manageable.  The curls were more defined and the frizz was finally (mostly) tamed. I rarely get my hair cut due to all the horrible awful cuts I received during high school and college.  I had a lot of really bad luck with stylists not believing just how frizzy my hair really was and not cutting my hair in a flattering style.  About once a year, I drag myself to the beauty parlor to get my hair cut. Well today, I was just frustrated with my hair. It was WAY too long.  The last few times I have unbuckled my seatbelt in my car, my hair has retracted along with the belt and looped itself around the metal ring. It is super thick and SO hot. It has also become just an intolerable web of tangles. I am fairly certain that bird nests are not attractive in one's hair.  I had enough. My daughter offered to cut it for me.  I thought - why not? What's the worst that can happen? French Braids for another year? I figured if she did a really bad job, I could just go pay to have it fixed. She was excited to cut my hair. Almost too excited. My sister called just as my daughter was starting to cut my hair.  She screeched, "ACK! Don't you know they have professionals for that? TRAINED professionals? Who went to school and everything? What are you doing?!!!"  I assured her it would all work out.
Before:

Enthusiastic Stylist

No more seatbelt mishaps for me

Voila!

I think she did a good job!

She says it is from years of practice trimming all the doodle doggies.

I am wondering does this mean I am a doodle too?

Flag Day

Today is Flag Day another grand reminder to be proud to be an American. We proudly have our flag waving and thank all the servicemen and servicewomen who give up their lives so that we can be free. My daughter is busy training with the Marines at Quantico. They have NO hot water at all. None for bathing. None for washing dinner. ZERO.  She said that water is REALLY cold.  She counts One Mississippi, Two Mississipi...just to get through the showers.  Yesterday she pulled 15 ticks off of her, including one in the corner of her eye. The ticks evidently are really thick and the midshipmen are all getting covered with them. The Naval Academy posted a few pictures of the training in Quantico.
I was lucky enough to find one of my daughter:

The Weapon Training

These are heavy!

They have been learning how to use various caliber weaponry

There is a lot to learn

Their rucksacks weigh around 80lbs and it has been over 100* for most of the training.  They also are in full gear - so it has been HOT to say the least.

Even though it is the hardest thing she has ever done

She is ready to become an officer and continue to protect our country

Freedom is never Free

Thank you. When I look at our flag - I think of you.

How Do I Love Thee?

How do I love thee? I love you enough to listen to you tell me every single thing you ate while at The Naval Academy during STEM. I love you enough to hear about the delicious chicken, the unbelievable burritos, the delectable chocolate tacos. I listened to you tell me about every glass of liquid you consumed, every dessert you inhaled and all about the wonderful barbecue. I relived your moments of hot dog glory, hamburger awesomeness and Oreo brownie heaven. For two solid hours of our drive home today, I listened to enough mouth watering descriptions of food that I myself became starving. I love you enough to stop and buy you a big sandwich for lunch. I love you enough so that when you asked me to not play the radio for our entire 8 hour drive home, I turned it off. But when it  really comes to the question ......"How Do I Love Thee"? No greater proof of my undying love for you my dear one and only son can be found in the fact that, I, your loving mother, is sitting here in Cabelas, next to a gigantic stuffed polar bear waiting ENDLESSLY for you to finish your shopping! How many fishing rods can be THAT cool? How are rows and rows and rows of ammunition THAT awesome? How many sinkers, flies, lures, bullets, gloves, knives, glasses, scopes, and duck calls does it take to fulfill your Cabelas sightseeing trip? Yes, I know it is a DESTINATION. I know lots and lots of people love to spend all day here. But the polar bear is looking at me. And I think the store manager doesn't want me typing whilst sitting by the polar bear. *sigh*.  How do I love thee???? With all my heart. And more importantly - how do you love me? So much that you want to talk to me all the way home. So much that I am more interesting than texting or the radio or watching a movie. So much so that we laughed all the way home and time really did just fly by. So I guess I will get up and leave Mr. Polar Bear and go ooooooooh and ahhhhhhh while you show me the 100th fishing lure of the day. I love you my son and I am so lucky to spend my day with you!

Do you need cookies? Do you need juice?

Today was my last day to be with my daughter. I won't see her again until her short leave in August.  We spent the day together eating good food and watching good movies. I soaked up every second of togetherness.  My son and daughter had a blast today and I laughed until I cried so many times. They feed off each other's energy and are hysterical. I don't know who laughed more.  My son is super quick and has some wicked good comebacks and retorts.  I would have to say the entire day was perfect.  Perfect right up until the moment my daughter had to pack up her stuff. *sniff sniff*  It never gets easier. It never is easy for me to say good-bye. What I want to do is throw myself at my daughter. I want to wrap my arms around her and hug her and never let her go. I want to say how I love her more than life itself and I miss her when she goes and I wish I could spend every second with her.  I want to hold onto her and never let her go.  But that isn't good for her. That doesn't help any situation. So I hold back my tears. I stand up straight and smile ear to ear. I tell her I am proud of her and she is awesome and amazing and I love her.  Then I proceed to ask her 1,000 times - "Do you need me to pack up some cookies for you?"  "Do you want some vitamin water?" "Do you need juice, sandwiches, potato chips, peanut butter?" And with each answer of "No, Mommy - I am fine", I find 100 more things to ask her to make sure, REALLY SURE, she doesn't need anything.  I said my good-byes to her as she walked off with her huge green military duffle bag. I didn't shed a tear. I waited until she was far off in the distance and then - the skies opened up and it poured and both the heavens and I cried together.  Bye sweet daughter - go get 'em!

The Joy of Learning

This morning I went to my son's awards ceremony for his participation in the Naval Academy STEM program.  It was such an awesome experience.  When we arrived there was a slide show with pictures of all the activities the students participated in this week.  They did chemistry experiments, aeronautical engineering, robotics and more.  They learned SO much and had a lot of fun in the process.  My son was just grinning from ear to ear. He loved his week.  He is now more determined than ever to attend the United States Naval Academy. He has so much enthusiasm towards his end goal. I just love it.  This is every parent's dream - to have your child self motivated to be the best they can be. It is one thing for me to say, "you need to do this, you need to do that, you need to be good at this or that" and quite another to have your child say, "I want to do this and that so I can reach my goals."  I am so happy that he is excited. I am so happy he had such an amazing time. I am so grateful to the Naval Academy to make engineering and science so interesting for my son. It was great to see all the experiments set up around the auditorium. They really worked on some fantastic projects. The rest of the day will be spent listening to my son tell his stories of his week at the Naval Academy and my daughter tell her stories of her week of leatherneck training at Quantico.  It is going to be the best afternoon ever. Thank you Naval Academy - you continue to inspire and bring out the very best in your students. I have two happy students comparing notes and excitedly sharing all that they have learned.

Made it!

I completed my epic solo journey delivering puppies in record time.  I had a few families with long drives ahead of them after meeting their pups, so I really pushed the boundaries and drove straight with NO potty breaks for me.  The puppies of course got lots of potty breaks but I kept on going. By the time I got to the hotel, the bathroom was the only thing on my mind! The puppies were all really great travelers!  They were super quiet and seemed to enjoy the ride.  I haven't traveled without company in a long time, and although I really missed having someone to talk to, I managed just fine.  One good book on tape and the journey doesn't seem quite so long. Tonight if all goes well, I will be able to see my older daughter. I stocked the hotel refrigerator to the max in anticipation of her arrival.  She will not go back to Quantico hungry!!!!  One of the puppy families made us cookies. When I read the card on top of the cookies I thought it said, "Snicker Doodles".  Of course I continue to be under the misguided notion that I do not need glasses.  So I took out a "snicker doodle" and thought it looked a bit strange for a snicker doodle cookie as there was beautiful chocolate icing drizzled on top and OH MY GOODNESS!  I was in HEAVEN RIGHT THAT INSTANT.  They are not "Snicker Doodle" cookies but rather "Snickers cookies!"  As in SNICKERS are INSIDE the cookies! Oh I am in serious trouble.  If I eat ALL the cookies right now.....who would know?  Who would know that I had delicious cookies all to myself?  But then the GUILT. How could I eat ALL the snickers cookies and not share? That is quite evil.  I mean my daughter deserves a snickers cookie! That is what I am repeating over and over whilst I take one more bite of one more cookie. Oh my. Soooooo caramely delicious!!!!! mmmmmm! Chocolate goodness!  I am fairly certain that the container of cookies could be considered dinner.  I mean somewhere somehow - something that delicious needs to be considered a complete meal.  I must save some. I must save some. I must save some.  Suddenly my pot roast, so lovingly cooked by me...doesn't seem that appealing.  SNICKERS!!!!! Oh give me strength!!!!!

How about baking another loaf of bread?

I have been busy cooking all day long. Tomorrow I am headed to the Naval Academy and am bringing along tons of goodies. Friday night my older daughter gets a weekend leave from the Leatherneck training with the Marines.  She has been so busy that she hasn't had time to eat and I have been instructed to bring food. Lots of food!  I made a huge batch of spaghetti with meat sauce and cooked 2lbs of noodles. I made a loaf of fresh potato bread this morning and I have a giant stockpot of pot roast cooking on the stove. Mr. Yesteryear Acres has a slow roasted crispy lemon chicken roasting in the oven.  My younger daughter made oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips and dried cherries.  I am thinking we are pretty set for the food fest. I made double of everything so that Mr. Yesteryear Acres and my younger daughter will have plenty of food while I am away for the weekend.  Tomorrow morning bright and early I am loading up the "puppy mobile" / "meals on wheels" and heading east. I have a few puppy deliveries to make along the way. I am traveling all by myself so I hope the trip goes smoothly. Other than the excruciatingly hot weather, I think it will be a good trip. I have all the puppy bags packed, the care packages ready and I should be all set..... Except for one small tiny detail. Evidently the potato bread smells WAY too good to be left standing all alone on the counter. Evidently the potato bread MUST be eaten with the crispy chicken. Evidently the potato bread feels neglected and sad and the only way to make it feel better is to eat it tonight.  Guess I will go bake another loaf of bread. I certainly wouldn't want to leave a lonely loaf of bread beckoning people to eat it. That would just be cruel. Back to the baking board!

Overnight Campout

My younger daughter is going to a friend's house for an overnight campout.  I asked her if she knew what this meant. Despite the fact we live in the country, my younger daughter is not that fond of bugs or insects or sleeping on the ground.  She rather loathes all spiders, snakes, insects and the like and would be the very first to complain about bug bites.  She is super excited for the campout. It is a big party for alot of her senior friends and they are having a bonfire and tents and cooking out.  I said, "that's nice dear".  And then I asked her if she was aware that she would be sleeping in a tent - outside - with the bugs - and she said that it wouldn't be like that. They are just sleeping in the backyard. Hmmmmm. Well I am going to leave the lights on. Just in case. Just in case a spider crawls into her very clean and hardly used sleeping bag. Just in case one or two mosquitoes join her in her tent for the evening. Just in case she starts missing her very soft bed and mattress.  It isn't that I don't believe her when she says she will be camping out all night long. Of course I believe her but.....I am thinking she is the same girl who today when we were on our walk through the woods was racing about 1/4 mile ahead of me waving her arms frantically trying to outrun the bugs. Sleep tight my sweet daughter....and....don't let the bedbugs bite!

Less Fluffy

Oh my. It appears as though some fluffiness has attached itself to my body. I went to put on a pair of shorts today and REALLY had to suck in the air to get the shorts zipped. Once I accomplished the arduous task of zipping and buttoning my shorts......some fluffy stuffing spilled over the top of the shorts. I am not sure how that happened. I mean it can't be ice cream -because everyone knows that ice cream just melts and fills in all the crevices so cannot in anyway add to your caloric content. It can't be cookies because everyone knows that cookies and milk are an absolute guarantee to make an afternoon better. When you are little - what does your mommy give you for a snack? Cookies and Milk!  They are psychologically good for you - so therefore could in no way add to caloric content. It can't be extra helpings of dinner because I make my dinners from scratch with LOVE and who doesn't need extra  helpings of love? Love makes the world a better place. I don't know what it is but I do know that fluffiness is all around me. The weather has turned so hot - that I cannot hide my fluffiness under sweaters.  There is no hiding fluffy in a tank top and shorts. It is everywhere! So alas - I must once again GET OFF MY BUTT and start losing some of my fluffiness.  I walked today for 30 minutes and felt really good when I was done.  I looked down and clearly - I was less fluffy! I plan on walking at least 5 days a week for the rest of the summer.  I mean I can't be this fluffy. Especially when my daughter and I went grocery shopping today and my favorite ice cream was in stock AND on sale and without my permission the ice cream THREW itself into my cart.  Then some of his friends also threw themselves into my cart.  One should never eat ice cream alone! You have to have friends! So now I am faced with a freezer full of yummy ice cream and a body that is already fluffy.  I guess I will walk with more determination tomorrow.  I will be determined to be less fluffy!  And everyone knows - if you believe - you can achieve!  So here is to believing in less fluffiness!

Oh My...Breakfast AND Lunch!

This morning bright and early I drove my son to the airport as he is off to Annapolis for the week. He is attending the United States Naval Academy STEM program all week long and is super excited about it.  If you were to ask him what he is looking forward to most about the program.....he probably won't say the AWESOME classroom experience. He probably won't say all the really cool labs they do. He probably won't mention the mechanical engineering, chemistry, oceanography or aeronautical engineering classes that he will be attending. He probably won't even mention the field trips he gets to take.  As strange as this is - my son LOVES the Naval Academy food. Now granted - the Naval Academy saves all their best food for the STEM program and summer sessions. My daughter and many of her friends all drool over the sight at what the summer attendees get to eat. Evidently the mids do not get to eat anything even close to that. They long for the yummy selection that the summer attendees are given. But even still - I cook EVERY day for my son. I make delicious meals every single night. So why is he so excited for the food? Because they make BREAKFAST. And LUNCH.  And not cold cereal or oatmeal but full breakfasts with eggs and pancakes and waffles and hashbrowns. He piles his plate to the ceiling with pancakes and devours them all.  At lunch they serve HOT lunches with big man sandwiches. They would never serve a peanut butter and jelly sandwich made with homemade strawberry preserves on homemade potato bread. NO WAY! YUCK! Oh how I torture him at home.  The Naval Academy also have people who CLEAR the table.  He doesn't even have to do the dishes or clean up after he is done eating. Oh my. What luxury. I am hoping that when I see him next week I will be able to hear all about his experiences at the Naval Academy. I hope I will hear about the experiments they did in the laboratories. I hope I will hear about the robots they built or the amazing things he learned. I hope I will hear something other than OH MY GOSH MOM I LOVE THE NAVAL ACADEMY - they make me BREAKFAST AND LUNCH! I hope I will - but I doubt it.  He IS a growing boy after all!

In a Blink of an Eye

Today was my daughter's high school graduation. In my defense - I was doing REALLY well with the, "I will NOT cry" idea until the featured commencement speaker began reading a letter he wrote to his daughter. He started crying as he read his letter of devotion to his little girl. Now I ask you - who can remain stoic watching a father's love pour down to his little girl? There wasn't a dry eye in the house. It was a really meaningful wonderfully written letter and it exemplified what all Mommies and Daddies were feeling that day. I couldn't have said it better myself.  Even the high school graduates had tears rolling down their face. There is just something about the expression of true love, of a Daddy missing his little girl as she heads off to find her own path in this world, of all the hopes and dreams and wishes for the future that just touches your very soul. We were all moved. I watched my little girl cross the stage and receive her diploma. All I could think was - it all went by so fast. In one instant she went from

Coming home from the hospital

Snuggling with her big sister

Catching snowflakes with their Daddy

Snuggle time with their baby brother

Playing in their awesome fort

Loving all the sweet Yesteryear Acres puppies

And then I turned around and the next thing

she was off to her Senior Prom

High School Graduation picture with

her "little" brother

and for just a few precious moments more

Our little girl

The High School Graduate.

Congratulations!

We love you!



Nice to be with friends and family

Today was my daughter's high school graduation party. The morning was spent doing hair, painting fingernails and toenails and making sure we had all the memorabilia ready for the party. We had gathered all her ribbons and medals and plaques and had everything loaded into the car for the big event.  We have been planning the party for months, but even so - it felt like it was just yesterday when we first started talking about it. Time just flew by. We shared the party with my daughter's good friend and her family and that was just the best idea ever.  Both my daughter and her friend have many friends in common and the friend's mom and I share many of the same friends so sharing the party was a brilliant idea.  We ended up sharing all the costs and doing 1/2 the work. Genius! We had the party at a lovely little Victorian house and the whole thing was so nice.  Almost everyone on the guest list came and we were able to spend the entire day chatting and laughing with friends and family.  The food was delicious, the weather was perfect, the room was beautiful and I feel so blessed to have so many loved ones to share the day with. I want to say the iced cookies were my favorite part of the whole party - but even though they were REALLY REALLY REALLY yummy and I ate WAY TOO MANY cookies - I think my favorite part of the entire day was the big slideshow that was running for the duration of the party.  The girls put together a slide show that was about 35 minutes long and kept it on a continuous loop. There were pictures of my daughter from when we brought her home from the hospital all the way through her senior year of high school.  You could hear the collective, "Awwwwwww" in the room whenever a particularly cute picture showed up on the slide show. My daughter said she could feel all the happiness of her childhood in every picture.  That just melted my heart. I hope tomorrow I will be very brave when Pomp and Circumstance starts to play and I watch my daughter cross the stage to receive her diploma. I will not cry. I will not cry. I will not cry. I mean my eyes might be moist and some wetness may fall - but I will not cry!

Caramel Delight

Today we pretty much worked all day long.  We had a big list of things to get done and I think we just might get most of the things checked off before we head to bed.  There are a few items still on there but we are getting closer.  Trixie's double doodle puppies all start going to their new homes right after the weekend.  I got all 13 of their puppy care packages ready today complete with baby blankets, collars and puppy food.  The puppies are almost ready to meet their forever families.  You can tell they are excited about it!  They are doing great with housebreaking and are being just the very best puppies. We have one sweet caramel boy still available and he is just a sweetie.  We took a few extra pictures of him today to try to capture his beautiful green eyes. He is a handsome boy!

Caramel Delight!

Profile Shot

Smile for the camera!!!

And please don't forget our summer special.......

bring home a doodle puppy......

and a free kitty to love can be yours!

Awwwwww!

Darn Video Did Me In

So I have been the ultra cool and not weepy mom during my daughter's college orientation. I have been the "Oh this is my second child to go to college and I am fine" mom. I have been the "You are going to live" mom. I am so cool. I am not even worried about her leaving home. I am sitting through the 1,000 college orientation lectures/seminars/breakout sessions with nary a question. I am that cool. Or I WAS that cool until the housing and dormitory person had to show a video. They just had to go and show a video of kids sending their love back home to their parents. UGH!  I am not strong enough to sit through "HI MOM! I MISS YOU SO MUCH!" videos! She also read a letter that one of the Resident Advisors wrote to a parent over Christmas about how well their son was doing because the RA knew how much that mom missed her son. It made my eyes leak RIGHT there in the seminar meeting room full of people. UGH!  How can I be the ultra cool mom when now all I can think about is how much I will miss my daughter? How can I be the "You will live" mom if I need tissues??? This is so not fair. Obviously I know I will survive my second child leaving for college but *sniff sniff* I AM GOING TO MISS HER!  I guess the only thing for me to do is dry my eyes and go buy some more college memorabilia for her.  And a coffee cup for me. And a t-shirt.  And a sweatshirt.  So I can sit around and drink coffee out of her college mug, wearing my college gear, all the while missing her. WAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hand Holding

I am out of town today and tomorrow for my younger daughter's college orientation. Having already sent one daughter away to college, I felt quite prepared for the 2-day orientation session.  Maybe too prepared.  My daughter and I had already read through the course book with a fine toothed comb. We filled all the matrices in, figured out her class schedule for the next few semesters, crossed our T's and dotted our i's and were ready. When we arrived it seemed that we had already done all of the things that were going to be discussed at orientation. Our sessions started this morning at 7am and I didn't get back to my hotel room until 9pm this evening.  I think I walked 100 miles. I think I listened to 100 hours of talking. It was a nice experience but......um.....well....there was a lot of hand holding for the parents.  Oh how I would have cherished so much attention when my first daughter went away. How I longed for someone at the Naval Academy to care about how the parents were feeling and wanted our input.  Oh how nice it would have been to be greeted with cookies and coffee and buttons and posters. But NO - none of that happened with my first child. Basically the Navy takes your child away and tells you to suck it up. Your child belongs to the Navy and that is that. No hand holding.  No discussions about "feelings". The child you so lovingly raised, and adore, and cherish, and love, shows up on I-Day with a toothbrush and then you don't see or talk to them again for months. OH how I suffered!!!!  Today it was clear that this experience would be NOTHING like my first experience. In fact it was so focused on the parents, and their feelings, and their contributions, I almost felt like standing up and saying, "YOU ALL WILL LIVE!" I mean if I can say good-bye to my oldest sweetest baby - and not see or talk to her - surely we can all say good-bye to our college kids here.  Where you can call them in less than 2 minutes from walking out the door and talk to them. Where you can text them and visit them and see their dorm rooms and meet their roommates and talk with their professors and see their classrooms. I mean it is a big open door of welcome here. I felt quite certain I would survive.  Well at least today anyway.  Check with me at the end of August when I drop her off at her dorm room and drive away.  I am sure you will be able to spot me. I will be the one sobbing, "WAH I WANT MY BABY BACK!" all the way home!!!!!

Epic Potato Failure

I have been cooking for as long as I can remember.  I was quite the accomplished maker of Macaroni and Cheese by the time I was 8.  That little blue box and I were best friends and my little sister and I had our fill of mac and cheese growing up. From there I grew as a cook and my skills increased with each passing year.  I entered contests at fairs and won ribbons and I make it a point to create really delicious meals for my family every evening. I love to cook and you can pretty much count on having something delectable at our house any given day of the week. Just the other day, I made twice-baked potatoes.  I make really good twice-baked potatoes.  My family is always REALLY excited whenever I make twice-baked potatoes.  It is one of those things you can count on to be really yummy. Well evidently....there was yet another potato conspiracy at my house. Last year the potatoes conspired to give me a wicked wound under my fingernail.  I know. I know. Injury by potato - unheard of, but yet I was a potato victim.  Well here I am again - another victim of a potato conspiracy. When I opened my oven to remove my perfectly baked potatoes.......

This is what I found

Two of my baked potatoes EXPLODED.  They decided they did NOT want to be baked again. Once was enough.  Before you ask me if I poked the potatoes before I baked them...YES, Of course I did.  I mean how hard is it to make a baked potato? Why in the world I had 2 potatoes literally explode all over my stove is a mystery.  The potato gunk was everywhere.

 It took a while to clean up the potato confetti and I just had to laugh as I scrubbed the oven walls. I told my daughter, you are never too old to make mistakes. No matter how good you think you are at something, things can go wrong. The only thing you can do, is clean up and try again. And so we did. Happily for us, the rest of the potatoes were willing to be twice-baked and once again....dinner was served. 

Memorial Day

Here we are as another Memorial Day comes knocking on our door. Memorial Day holds deep significance for us here at Yesteryear Acres.  We are thankful for all the brave men and women who have selflessly served our country and to those men and women who continue to keep us safe. We are grateful to all the families of our military who keep the home fires burning and hold their family members close to their hearts. This week the United States Naval Academy Class of 2011 walked across the podium and simultaneously received their Bachelor of Science degree and their Commissioning as an Officer in the US Navy or US Marine Corps. They are off to serve our country by land, air and sea. My daughter is now just one year away from her Commissioning date.  Tomorrow she heads off to Quantico for Leatherneck where she will train with the Marine Corps. This is an extreme boot camp type training and my thoughts will be with her each and every day.  It will be tough - but she is up for the trials that lie before her. Other midshipman are headed for surface warfare training, aviation training and submarine training. It will be a busy summer for the Naval Academy midshipmen. It brings them one step closer to fulfilling their dreams. With the deepest respect, gratitude, awe, appreciation, and heartfelt admiration - thank you to all that serve. And to my daughter - we love you. YOU CAN DO IT!

78 Reasons to Smile

Last night we celebrated Mr. Yesteryear Acres dad's 78th birthday.  We had at least 78 reasons to smile! We had a lovely evening with NO rain whatsoever.  The temperature was a perfect 78*.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres cooked his ever so famous steaks while my daughter and I prepared twice-baked potatoes, honey oatmeal bread and fresh sweet corn. It was a delicious feast. After dinner we headed out to the pond so Mr. Yesteryear Acres Dad could catch some fish. He hasn't been fishing in a really long time so we drove him out to the pond, set up a chair right on the dock and let him fish the evening away.  He thinks he caught 78 fish - the perfect number to celebrate his big birthday. Everyone joined in on the fun.

My son with his catch

Mr. Yesteryear Acres Dad....landing a big one

My daughter with her fish

And what she is really saying is....

DADDY take my fish off!

My son and his doggie fishing from the row boat

The newest babies at Yesteryear Acres

5 Little Goslings

My favorite picture....Father and Son

And as with all good Yesteryear Acres celebrations....we ended the evening with dessert. Mmmmmm Ice Cream Cake!

Happy Birthday!!!!!  We love you!!!!!

And....yes....we ate alllllll the ice cream cake!

KittenDoodle?

Hey look what we have!!!! KITTENDOODLES!  Evidently this is a very very RARE species and only we here at Yesteryear Acres are able to have such rare and beautiful creatures. We found these kittendoodles out by our barn. They were left here by someone who knows that we are a bunch of SOFTIES and will take good care of the precious kittendoodles until they find a new home.

Here is "Milo" kittydoodle

And this is "Fluffy" Kittydoodle

I mean honestly!  They are like calendar kittens!

I hope we find homes for them REALLY SOON because they are quickly turning into.......

"CAN WE PLEASE KEEP THEM?" Kittendoodles

And before you know it....

I will turn around and my bathtub will look like this!

KittenDoodles anyone?

Out of Everything

Oh noooooo!  We are out of just about everything!  We have less than 1/4 gallon of milk - which in our house doesn't even constitute an entire serving.  We have no eggs.  We have no bread. We have no orange juice. We need paper towels and toilet paper. We need a major run to the warehouse club. I would be just the best wife ever if I got into the car and drove to the warehouse club and loaded up our SUV with all the essentials. I would be the very best mommy if I crossed each item off the list as I put them into the cart and brought them home for my family. I would be just the very best friend if I were to do that wouldn't I? BUT....... maybe just maybe, I bribed my son to go with his dad to do the shopping this evening.  My son has the biggest weakness for fast food.  Honestly - he would do anything for a hamburger.  We never go out to eat. He is constantly SO disappointed that once again, his thoughtless mommy didn't go buy fast food for dinner but instead prepared a nice home cooked meal. He asks at least once a week if we can have take-out - and the answer is always no. It isn't that he doesn't like my cooking - because he really loves it - it is just that fast food is such a rare occurrence that he craves what he cannot have. Our warehouse club has a small cafe inside where you can get a huge horribly fattening meal for very little money.  A gigantic soda that would quench the thirst of like 10 people is less than $1.00. Pizza is less than $1.00. It is a fast food heaven of economic goodness. So maybe I offered to let my son eat at the fast food cafe ...in exchange for a cart full of much needed items.  He eagerly agreed. So now I just have to work on Mr. Yesteryear Acres.  If all goes according to plan...they would be able to leave here just in time for my daughter and I to finally watch the entire recorded finale of American Idol before they returned from the store.  Very sneaky right? The club closes in less than 2 hours. I have my work cut out for me.  Here is hoping for a successful run to the store.....by the boys!

Matrix Matrix Matrix

Today my younger daughter and I poured through the gigantic course catalogue book for her college classes. We started the arduous task of filling in her 4 year matrix of class choices. I know it sounds quite Type A to be starting this already but her overnight College Orientation is next week and her first semester of classes will be scheduled at that point. She needs to have a concrete plan of what she will be taking for the fall semester.  Her college has several mandatory matrices of classes that must be taken.  She has foundation classes, College of Arts and Sciences classes and then general education requirements along with all her classes within the zoology major.  Some classes satisfy all the requirements across the board and some only fulfill the one section.  We were trying to find the best classes that fulfilled the most categories and ended up making piles upon piles of notes. We spent most of the day doing that with small puppy breaks in between for sanity relief.  I think we have a pretty good grasp on what she will be taking and she is super excited about the class choices.  It was fun to see her so enthusiastic about what she will be learning.  She feels more confident each day and ready to take the leap into college life. We know we will miss each other but the adventures that await will be amazing for her. When we were finally wrapping things up for the evening, we headed outside to tell Mr. Yesteryear Acres that we had done all we could for the day. Right at that moment, a sunbeam broke through the rainy grey clouds and created the most beautiful brilliant rainbow. It actually ended right in our field.  You could see the end of the rainbow right by the pond. My daughter and I just stared at the beautiful colors pouring down into our green field and we both knew......the pot of gold which for us has always held nothing but love.....lives at our home.

Elusive White Dress

My younger daughter's high school graduation is just a little over a week away. There is so much to do before the big event. Today I went over all the decoration needs, double checked the cake order, the cookie order, all the food we need to get, floral items etc.  I also went over the floor plan for how the tables need to be arranged for the party and made a list of all the things I still need to do.  The biggest thing on the To-Do list for today was to find the elusive white dress. The high school requires that all the girls wear a white dress for the graduation ceremony.  Do we have a white dress? No. Have I looked everywhere for a white dress? Yes. We have had absolutely NO luck in finding a nice white dress for the ceremony.  Or maybe I should say, we have had absolutely NO luck finding an affordable white dress for the ceremony.  I am just not willing to spend tons of money on a dress that will get very little use. My daughter has never wanted a white dress. She doesn't like to wear white because it gets dirty so easily (especially with cute little puppies running around the kitchen) and so we don't have one. I certainly don't want to buy a white dress just to hang it in her soon to be empty closet. We have been looking for one for the past month with no luck. Today we were down to thinking maybe we would buy a white coverup "dress" used for bathing suits coverups! I mean honestly - it is going to be UNDER the graduation gown. Who would know?!  Every coverup we found was sheer and very see through- so that idea was out.  We were just about to give up when we finally found a cute white eyelet dress at Target. Yea for Target!  It was actually just what we were looking for.  They just got some new summer dresses in and there it was. It looks great and now that is one BIG thing I can cross off the list!  Now only 1,249 more to go!