You Know You're in NASCAR Country when...

more than 2 weeks before the race comes to town there are signs popping up all over the place saying "Welcome, Race Fans!" and posters advertising various race-related events and activities. Those checkered flags are waving e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e!

A Whole New World

This is what we found on our doorstep this afternoon:















With the following note attached:
We are so pleased to welcome you to the "family" and wish you much success in your new position! The Verian Technologies Team
It is a lovely basket from Reid's Fine Foods, a local catering outlet. Kevin? I don't think you're in big banking anymore!

Brighty Whitey

When we first sealed our deck, Kevin chose a gray stain thinking it would blend nicely with the house. Unfortunately, the shade was a bit off and it looked rather battleship-like. We lived with it for 2 years, but since the deck needed to be re-sealed, I asked that we do it in white. Practical? Probably not. Especially with all the red clay around here. But we plan on replacing the floor boards in a few years with trex, so it should be fine. And the rails look wonderful! It was another day filled with hard work, but the end results were stunning (in my oh so humble opinion). It really compliments the white trim on the house. Of course, now the trim is looking a bit dingy in comparison... but that will have to be another day!

My Gloves are Dirty Now

Yesterday Kevin dug out this new planting bed on the north-facing side of our house. I got to wheel the sod that we removed to the vacant lot down at the end of the cul-de-sac. We've got to get all of this kind of work done before they finish building around here--don't know where we'd put this stuff without the empty lots!

Today, we took a trip to the nursery and bought 3 new knock-out rose bushes, 3 rhododendrons, 6 new hostas, and 12 day lillies. We then transplanted 5 hydrangea bushes that were not doing well in the locations we'd originally planted them to the new bed, along with the rhodies and the hostas. The knock-out roses replaced 3 of the hydrangeas, and 6 of the day lillies replaced the other 2 hydrangeas. The remaining 6 day lillies went in beds near the air conditioners near the deck. And then we spread 5 yards of mulch.

It looks a bit sparse in the new bed right now, but based upon the mature size of these shrubs, it should be quite lush in about 5 years. I had hoped to put in some annuals to help fill the space this year, but our budget is tapped, and I am tired!

Fresh Leather

Nothing smells quite like fresh, clean leather work gloves. And with all the yardwork we have planned for this week, it was time to finally get my new pair. Look how white they are!

Save the Date

I need to remember to maintain low expectations because then I'm less likely to be disappointed when things don't turn out the way I imagine. For example, my ideal Mother's Day includes sleeping late, spending time with my children and other beloved mothers, and no cooking.

But this year Ryan's baseball ended up dominating the day. The girls were camping with the Zirkle's who were at a bluegrass festival about an hour east of here. Ryan was supposed to go too (and Kevin & I would have had a whole weekend to ourselves to celebrate our anniversary), but he had baseball practice Friday night and a game Saturday morning. He also had an important all-star team practice to finalize positions on the team on Sunday afternoon.

So. We got up bright and early (Kevin let me "sleep in" until 7:30), and drove out to pick up the girls. We wanted a little time to visit with the Zirkles since Kevin and Ryan didn't go with me when I dropped them off on Friday (baseball, you know). And then we turned around and headed back so that Ryan could be at the practice by 1 p.m. I did get to plant flowers with the girls, which we all enjoyed. And Kevin picked up stuff for dinner and did the grilling and food prep.

But this is what really saved the day for me: chocolate. My man knows me well. :)

Bring On the Rain

While doing some yardwork, we were surprised by a fast-moving heavy rainfall. It turned into quite an electrical storm. Kevin only had about 10 more passes with the lawnmower to finish the job, so he kept going. I ducked for cover as soon as the first drops began to fall and had to grab my camera when I saw him!

Unwinding

The kittens have developed definite rhythms to their activity-level throughout a typical day. They are wound up first thing in the morning, and then again mid-morning, late afternoon, and late evening. But the rest of the time they're pretty mellow. It works out really well because when the kids get home from school, they don't really feel like playing with the kittens, they really just want to snuggle them. And because the kittens are so mellow at that time of the day, they are more than happy to oblige.

On a side note, can you believe how huge Midnight has gotten? He was almost 7 lbs. at his pre-op check-up on Monday (we got them fixed (or broken, depending on your point of view) this week). Oreo was not much larger than that when he was fully grown, and Midnight is only 4 months old. I wonder how big he'll end up? Bella is still rather petite and dainty, at least compared to her brutish big brother!

All About Fraction

Olivia: "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Look outside! There's a rainbow! Mommy! There's a rainbow outside, Mommy! Look outside! It's right outside! Right out front 'cause the rain isn't raining in front!"
Me (grabbing camera and jogging to the front porch): "Wow! That's really exciting. Look at how big it is--it goes all the way across the sky."
Olivia: "Rainbows come from when the light get fractioned through the rain drops. We tried to make rainbows happen at school, but they were never this big!"

And if you look really closely you can see that it is actually a double rainbow, although the top one is really faint. I couldn't get over how brilliant the colors of the main bow were!

14 Years, and Counting

Since getting married on May 6, 1995 we've:

rang in 1 new millennium
moved 4 times
bought 3 houses
voted in 4 presidential elections
had 3 children
suffered 1 miscarriage
lost 5 grandparents
owned 7 vehicles
worked for 5 (soon to be 6) different companies
taken 15 vacations
gained about 20 pounds between us
kissed at least 20,000 times
made too many friends to number

It has been wonderful sharing the past 14 years of our lives with each other (okay, 17 if you count when we were dating), and we're both looking forward to weathering the rest of our lives together.

Works For Me, 2

I am one of those people who plans their meals out for the week and then makes my grocery list accordingly. There are some items that I buy in bulk at BJs, and some from the grocery store. And I hate having to go to the grocery store more than once in a given week. Of course there are also certain items that always need to go on the list, and even though I know what those items are in the back of my head, the OCD part of me insists on having them included on my list so that I can cross them off. In fact, I only buy things on my list (although I've been known to add something to my list as I put it into my cart so that it's on my list and I can cross it off!). So imagine my delight when I found this laundry list at Target! It has big magnets on the back so I hang it on the fridge and check items off if I run out of them. And all the staples are listed, so all I have to do is X the box if I need them. It makes my grocery list super easy to make, and it even has a nice "don't forget" section at the bottom for me to list other stops I may need to make during the week.

In Full Bloom

This is the current view from our deck, and the sight that greets us as we pull into our driveway. Gotta love those pink azaleas in the front, and the knock-out roses in the back are amazing! They'll be in bloom the entire summer and into early fall. We're going to plant a bunch of these, but I'm debating between getting the double knockout variety, the sunny variety, and the white variety. We may just end up getting some of all of them! The hostas came back, much to my surprise since they get a little too much sun. I'm planning to move them to a new bed this year on the North-facing side of the house. Not sure what I'll replace them with, but I'm leaning towards varieties of daylillies. And the red maples are showing lots of new growth. This is my favorite time of year.

Cuddlebugs

Katy absolutely adores sleeping with one of the kittens. Bella, in particular, but she'll take Midnight if he's willing to stay still for that long. This is the sight that we saw tonight while checking on the kids before going to bed ourselves. I'd say they both look pretty cozy.

Satisfaction

The first few months of this year have been quite a roller coaster for us with Kevin losing his job, and then finding a new one; and Roger's cancer scare, and resolution. Throw day-to-day life stuff into the mix, add in economic uncertainty for the whole country, plus the joys of new family members (my neice!) and it made for some real highs and lows. But right here, this is the happiest, and most content I've seen Kevin in a while. I can't begin to say how seeing this expression on his face brings me satisfaction too. I think it's safe to say we're both hoping for some nice, smooth sailing for the next little while.

Friday Pizza Night, Revisited

When we lived in Virginia, we purchased a discount card that the local high school was selling as a fund raiser. On it was a "buy one, get one free" coupon from Papa Johns. For years we would go in halfsies with the McQuillan family and split the two pizzas on Friday nights. Without planning it, a Zirkle family tradition was born from this: Friday Pizza Night. We now have pizza every Friday night for dinner, and if we try to change things up, the kids protest with "but it's Friday! We always get to have pizza on Friday." Well, since traditions are part of what brings families together, we don't try to fight it any more. So when we announced that we were going on the boat tonight for dinner, we had to make a stop at Sebastiano's to pick up our pizza. Can I just say that pizza tastes really good on a boat?

The Calm after the Storm

This afternoon when Katy got home from school, Kevin and I made a very unreasonable, difficult, and distasteful request of her before she had a snack. We asked her to wash her hands.

She proceeded to throw a huge fit that lasted nearly 30 minutes and became pretty intense. During which I washed her hands for her. And then took her upstairs to sit on the stool for time out. We used to send the kids to their rooms for punishment, but with all the toys in their rooms, it's just too fun. So now they sit on a stool. Today the stool was right outside my scrapbook room so that I could supervise her while still working on the kindergarten scrapbooks.

Apparently she was tired. Whether it was from the fit or the inherent cause of the fit is not clear. But this is what I saw about 10 minutes into her sitting:

Boat People

When we moved to the Lake Norman area, it was with the intention of purchasing a boat. Well, we've been here nearly 3 years now, but have yet to take the plunge. Until today.

Kevin has found a very good new job and will begin the end of May. He has a generous severance package which we will be putting into the kids' college funds. Our cars have been paid off and thanks to their relatively low mileage should not need to be replaced for at least 5 more years. Kevin has cancelled his golf club membership due to lack of use last year (it's hard to golf very regularly with children involved in sports). And we've got a cushion in the bank. Thanks to the economy, lots of people are selling their boats at excellent rates and slips are opening up all over the place. And my cautious, slow-to-decide, but quick to move once he has decided husband made the decision to get a boat.

I played devil's advocate and raised possible arguments against the decision, but he was able to address each of them in a reasonable, realistic, thoughtful way, so I'm on board too (pardon the pun). He went out on Tuesday and found a beautiful slip for a reasonable rate just 5 minutes from our house. And then went out later and found a very nice, new pontoon boat a very reasonable price. It's a 2008 model year, but hasn't been owned. And he made a nice, lowball offer which the dealer accepted because it was the end of the month.

So we picked it up today and surprised the kids. They were taken completely off guard and were quite excited to take it out on it's maiden family voyage.

Home Working

I'm one of those mean moms who makes their children do their homework as soon as they get home. I've tried it the other way, and the moaning and groaning that ensues as a result of my pulling them away from their fun to do the homework is just not worth it. At least the way we do it now, they are still in a "school" frame of mind when they get home. They put their backpacks and lunchboxes away, I get them a snack, we review anything that they've brought home and they finish their homework. And then they're done. And the rest of the day is theirs. Perhaps if they got home later in the afternoon I would make them go outside first, but even with this routine they're outside by 3:30 which generally includes a half hour to watch some TV and just unwind! I'm still not a big fan of the early mornings, but it really does make for a much better afternoon for them given their tendency to wake early regardless.

Hang Over

This is what I discovered when I came downstairs this morning. The morning after the big birthday party. I had left the balloons, and most of them were still up, but these two that had been attached to the girls' chairs in the kitchen had gotten droopy. Ironically, Olivia's favorite color is yellow, and Katy's favorite is purple. I thought it so odd that the balloons seemed to be mimicking the girls' moods about the birthday festivities being over! And certainly my mood about having to get everything cleaned up and put away...

What They Don't Tell You

When you hear that you're going to have twins, all kinds of thoughts run through your head: "How am I going to handle 2 babies? How am I going to pay for 2 kids in college at the same time?" And you are prepared for some types of issues, like how to deal with multiple feedings, the expense of lots of diapers, sibling rivalry, the joy of having two who are sharing their life development, etc.

What they don't tell you is how some day they're not going to want to have the same kind of birthday party. And that this can be a pretty big issue since they share the same birthday. This year, Olivia was fairly adamant about wanting an animal-themed party. And Katelyn was equally insistant that the party be more fancy, and girly, and maybe a tea party. So. We had a Fancy Animal Tea Party.

Things did not coordinate perfectly, and the event was a bit of a mish mosh, but the girls all had a great time. And let's face it, that's the really important part!

That Tongue

We've been pretty busy with baseball of late. On Thursday night we found out that Ryan was selected to be on the Challenge team for his age group in our district. He'll be playing shortstop and doing some pitching. This is the equivalent of an all-star team and they will be playing in several tournaments in the next few months and could even play for the state championship depending upon how they do!

Obviously we're proud, but it adds a whole new layer to our schedule. Now, in addition to the normal 2-3 games a week, he has 2 practices with the Challenge team. And the few weekends during the season that we had thought were baseball-free are now filled with multi-game tournaments. It makes for a busy couple of months! For example, this week we had opening night Monday, a game on Thursday, practice on Friday, two games on Saturday, and practice on Sunday. Whew.

And since my son is utterly incapable of throwing the ball without his tongue sticking out in concentration, I guess we'll need to be sure to bring along the aquaphor to keep the chapped lips at bay.

Daddy's Little Girls

We found out that our elementary school was having its first annual Father/Daughter Dance a little over a month ago. The girls were so excited, and I think Kevin shared their enthusiasm, but on a somewhat different plane. I helped out with decorating for the event all afternoon (inflating over 200 helium balloons with another mom and making various 'bouquets' with them for table tops and poles). The entire area was done in hot pink, black, white and a zebra print. There were punch bowl fountains for the pink lemonade and over 100 dozen (!) cookies were sent in by school families for refreshments. The guests got to walk in to the dance on the "pink carpet" and pose for professional pictures. Oliva and Katy agreed that their favorite dance was the YMCA, and Kevin impressed them with his Macarena and Electric Slide. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall!

Father & Son

Even though Kevin coaches Ryan in both basketball and baseball, there is something special to me about watching them on the baseball field. I'm not sure what it is that makes it feel different. Their shared intensity? Knowing that this is Kevin's favorite sport? Observing Kevin's pride in Ryan's accomplishment? Or maybe it's just that I enjoy baseball more than the other sports. Whatever it is, it adds a whole different dimension to watching them at play.

Stain Cocktail

Are you the mother of a stain-prone child? You know the type! Always manages to find the mud on an otherwise dry field. Never just falls down, but rather sli-i-i-des across the grass. Tends to drop food, and then sit upon what has been dropped. Enjoys painting and often forgets to keep the paint on the paper. Lives life with exuberance and is quick to remind you "that's what washing machines are for, mom!"

If this sounds like you, then perhaps you have also discovered the need to use a stain treating cocktail to get rid of those stubborn smears and spots. For those really stubborn stains, I use a 3-part combination of Zout Triple Enzyme Foam + Oxyclean + Zout Triple Enzyme Liquid. It gets just about everything out. Except watermelon.

Where Shopping Meets Fun

Grocery shopping used to be one of my most annoying chores. Between children whining and nagging for every sugar-laden item they laid eyes upon and multiple potty breaks, it was hard to get it done quickly, much less efficiently.

Now, thanks to having all three kids in school and our new grocery store that's less than 2 miles away, grocery shopping is actually not bad. In fact, thanks to the gadgetry at Bloom and my reusable shopping bags, it's even a little fun. And very efficient!

Old way:
* wander the aisles
* fill my cart
* empty the cart at the cashier
* reload the cart with bags
* unload the bags into my van

Bloom way:
* pick up scanner at front of store
* scan each item as I pick it up
* place each scanned item into a re-usable bag that I have set up in my cart (items go where I want them to go for easy unloading at home)
* hand over the scanner to the cashier and pay
* unload the bags into my van

I can finish the chore so much more quickly, and the little scanner keeps a running total so I know exactly how much I'm spending--makes it so much easier to stay within my budget! I actually almost enjoy grocery shopping now.

Opening Night

Lake Norman Sports league hosted an Opening Night celebration for all the baseball and softball teams in the area. Free hotdogs, chips and beverages, and cotton candy for everyone who attended. Plus a live band, moon bounce, and face painting. The teams all assembled on one of the fields for a brief ceremony which included singing of the national anthem and a ceremonial first pitch thrown by some NASCAR driver (no idea who!). And to wrap it up, the coaches formed four teams and played exhibition games to show off their skills. Kevin claims "I've still got it at short." Yup. He does. ;)

Kitten Love

Katy was very excited to come into her room this afternoon and discover this scene. Can you believe how big they're getting? Midnight is nearly 6 lbs. and is growing taller all the time. Bella is about 4 1/2 lbs and maintains her more petite bone structure. They are cute, and playful and hillarious to watch when they're awake, but growing takes lots of energy so we find them sprawled or curled up (almost always together) often. Best of all they are both "lap" cats so far--their favorite spots are with us.

Sometimes You Get it Right

There are lots of days that I go to bed thinking "man, I really blew it today." But not today. Today, I know I got it right. And I couldn't be more proud.

Last summer, the girls (mine plus their BFF Sydney), were desperate to raise money to purchase a snowcone machine. They wanted to go door-to-door in our neighborhood selling candy. Old candy. Leftover from the previous Halloween. And they wanted to set up lemonade stands. And various other schemes like selling their stuff. Whatever it took to get money to buy a snowcone machine. (Note: this fascination with a snowcone machine arose after our visit to Gram's where my girls got to experience homemade snowcones). We humored them. To a point. But I don't think any of us parents wanted them going door-to-door -- especially with their nasty candy! Eventually the schemes died down when they realized that their efforts just weren't going to get the desired results.

Fast forward to this afternoon. I came in the house for some water (yard work is thirsty business, you know). I discovered Olivia skulking around with something behind her back. I asked her (very calmly, mind you), what she had. She pulled out one of my old, large, glass mason jars with a sign taped to it reading "Money $2."

Me: "What's that Livvy?"
L: "Nuffin."
Me: "Well, it looks like something that is mine. What are you doing with it?"
L: "Ummmmmmmmm. Well. Ummmmmmmmmm. You see, we were learning about homeless people at school, and how you could raise money to help them out. So we decided to do that. To help them. And people can put money in the jar."
Me: *gulp* "Wow, that is a really nice idea, honey. But how are you going to raise money?"
L: "We're going to sing a song for people. And then they can put money in the jar."
Me: "Well, I like that idea, but I don't like you using my jar. It's breakable, and you could get hurt if it accidentally fell and broke. Why don't we get you something that won't break?"
L: (kind of surprised) "Okay!"

So I got them a plastic container. And moved the little paper sign from the jar to the new container. And sent her back to our curb with her friends. Then I said a silent prayer of thanks, and went to my purse to get $2 and my camera.

I went out to where they were gathered and told them that I'd like to hear them sing. And that I was very proud of what they were doing. And that once they collected $10, I would take them down to a local soup kitchen so they could give them the money.

They looked so excited! And they proceeded to raise $11 (okay a good portion of it was from us and Syd's parents, but still). I was so proud. I am so proud.

But it gets better. Before dinner I got to hand out two birthday cards that had arrived from their Aunt Jeannie. Each contained a crisp $5 bill. They were quite excited. And then Livvy said "I'm going to put mine in our jar so we can give $16 to the homeless people."

Wow. I will be matching her gift in honor of her generous heart. I am beyond proud of these girls.

Six Years. And Counting!

I am forever grateful for these two little girls who joined our lives six years ago today. What a trip it has been so far, and our journey has really only just begun.

Praise God!

Roger had his biopsy this morning. The surgical oncologist told Linda and Roger that they would have results back today, before leaving the hospital.

When the phone rang at 12:15 this afternoon, it was with dread that I answered it. Imagine my surprise to hear Linda's voice bubbling with excitement! God has heard our prayers, and answered them in the affirmative. The enlarged lymph nodes do not contain any sign of cancer. The enlargement shown on the PET scan is the result of an infection of some sort, but it should be completely treatable.
It is just a coincidence that the scan was done at a time when he had a non-symptomatic infection.

I feel such a sense of lightness today--almost giddy, really. Today is an even more special day for our family because of this news. The anxiousness of the past weeks has helped us all to remember the importance of all our family. I am also so grateful for all the support shown by every person in our circle of family and friends. We are all truly blessed.