Life Skills

Amazing how those small skills one learns in middle/high school can make a sudden reappearance down the road, as was the case tonight when I whipped up a few paper bag book covers for Catholic Girlie who blurted out, “You’re so GOOD at that, Mom!” Funny how that happens. Aw shucks.

Wacky for School

Yes, so today my sweet Catholic Kiddos were raring to go for their first day of school, as witnessed here in this photo taken on the front porch just before taking off in the Mom Mobile:

Faces only a mom could love, don’t you think? 😉 What a perfect way to start a new school year!

Visions of Go-Carts Dancing in Their Heads

After holding to my word and posting a blog every single day of the Catholic Kids’ summer break, here goes our last day and night before school officially starts for the 2009-10 term. And guess what? We’ve created a new family tradition by ending the whole thing with enough excitement to send everyone off to Dream Land without a hitch: GO-CART RACING.

Gone Off the Edge

The big news of today? Mom Jumped Off the Diving Board. Really now. The Catholic Youngsters have been getting onto me all summer for lounging poolside reading those favorite novels of mine but NOT GETTING INTO THE POOL. So today I actually took the plunge:

Not so bad after all! (Ok so I held my nose and had a tag sticking out of my bikini bottoms, but who said I couldn’t be a total dork while jumping?)

Cat-and-Mouse Business

Stormy weather kept me inside going all crazy updating calendars, completing registration forms, rolling over files from previous school years, etc. etc. So yes, the bad weather really was a blessing-in-disguise for getting things done before the new school year starts… ON WEDNESDAY.
Of this upcoming week.
Sill in shock.
I know.
Anyway, Smokie had ideas of her own while all of this work was taking place in the Catholic Homestead:

Dude? Who put in a request for this?

The weather people predicted 100 degree temps for the Heartland of America today, and guess what? This snapshot of our rear-view mirror on the way home from mass today confirms it:

Cue the Washing Machine

The worst thing about returning from amazing week-long vacations? Laundry. 48+ hours of it, and still counting.
(Note: Photo shows only a smidgen of it.)

Bouncing Back

This Girlie didn’t miss a beat in getting back to the pool for more swim-time action back at home:

On the other hand, Mom is all done with swimming & tanning for now:

Home Sweet Home

Well… we made it back home, but not without a few hitches along the way. First, Hub’s suitcase detoured to Rapid City, SD instead of following the rest of our luggage. Straggler. Second, as a result of our lateness in leaving the airport, we were too late in rescuing Smokie from her posh Pet Hotel, meaning she was forced to stay yet another night partying it up with her feline diva friends. Otherwise all went extremely smooth, and we’re happily shaking off the sand that hitched a ride home in our duds. Seashells, souvenirs, memories, and all.

Another childhood dream fulfilled. *yay!* 😀 (The adults thought it was pretty dreamy, too.)

Caution: Zombies Ahead

Just taking in the sights while waiting for Catholic Son to complete his last baritone lesson of the summer. From the bulletin board to the hanging electric guitars, how could a completely zombied-out-mom fall asleep? *zzzzzz*