Well, all in all, not so bad!

So I’ve been trying to keep up and stay on my summer bucket list.  However, with Matt working 40-70 hours a week, most of the time I’m by myself with Luke so it’s harder to get things done.  HOWEVER, the final results of my summer bucket list?  77 out of 100 accomplished. 

1. Make a list of 50 things to do this summer!
2. Complete the 31 day blogging challenge
3. Go to the botanical gardens and take pictures (solo)
4. Go on three girl dates with friends (no boys allowed, big OR small) (Thanks Yvonne and Jennifer!)
5. Send 5 handwritten letters/cards to family or friends
6. Identify 100 things that make me happy
7. Spend a whole day without looking at my phone (Thanks trip to TN)
8. Spend a whole day without tv or computer (Thanks power outage!)
9. Read 3 books
10. Try 3 new foods (working on it—down to just one new food)
11. Complete 3 random acts of kindness (Paid for parking for someone at the game, let someone go in front of me at the store and helped someone find their way out of the hospital when it was actually out of my way)
12. Bake Cupcakes (and give them out)
13. Make a list of 25 things I like about myself
14. Go a full day without swearing (Thanks trip to TN)
15. Make a list of 50 quotes that inspire me
16. Clean out the guest room  (Working on it!)
17. Hang up the curtains in the guest room (When #16 is done)
18. Pull out the bush on the side of the house
19. Get rid of 100 things  (See #16)
20. Visit a farmers market (Southside farmer’s market)
21. Watch Fireworks (Tincaps game)
22. See a parade  (Technically we watched the TRF one on tv, but we’re planning on Harlan days)
23. Play in the sprinkler
24. Blow Bubbles
25. Eat Popsicles outside
26. Go Swimming  (Jury Pool)
27. Have a spray bottle/squirt gun fight
28. Play at a splash pad
29. Make s’mores
30. Catch fireflies
31. Go to a festival (Monroeville Days)
32. Get family photos taken
33. Go to a concert
34. Go to the movies (Luke’s first trip to the movie theater!)
35. See a drive-in movie
36. Go to a baseball game (Tincaps game)
37. Go to the playground  (With Yvonne and Luke)
38. Play in the rain (It FINALLY rained!)
39. Eat shaved ice
40. Go to a story time
41. Watch the Olympics (We’ve already watched enough that I can cross this off, but we’re still watching it)
42. Make Lemonade from scratch
43. Make breakfast for dinner
44. Ice Cream Sundae party
45. Go to the library
46. Go on 3 date nights with just us
47. Try a new restaurant
48. Have a candlelight dinner
49. Plan our anniversary (weekend getaway?)
50. Play a game together

100 things that make me happy (a work in progress)

 

So I can go back and edit posts and so you might see this once and it doesn’t have 100 or you might look and it’s complete and wonder what in the world I’m talking about.  Either way---I’m not sure if a list of 100 is going to be easy or hard.  It seems like a lot, but if I get really specific, it might go quickly.  Let’s see! (in no particular order)

 

1. Taking pictures and looking back on them and thinking “wow, gorgeous!”
2. Playing with photography and trying new things
3. Finishing a book so good that I sigh when I close it
4. Laughing so hard I cry
5. Making someone else laugh so hard they cry
6. Seeing a new place
7. The smell of salt water
8. Swimming
9. Listening to music that makes me think of another place/time and smile
10. Finding ways to surprise Matt
11. Watching Luke turn into a “real person”
12. Winning contests
13. Walking in the sand
14. Camp
15. Campfires (and the smell of campfire smoke)
16. Getting through to a kid and watching them hit a milestone
17. Trying new foods
18. Making new foods
19. Cooking with Matt
20. Watching Luke try new things and like them
21. Watching Luke try new things and NOT like them
22. Carving pumpkins
23. Giving people presents
24. Stepping on Crunchy Leaves
25. Deep Dish Pizza
26. Spending time with my family
27. Making a new friend
28. Spending time with old friends
29. A well-timed, all-in-good-fun joke
30. Bad Puns
31. Komet Hockey
32. being proud of my city
33. Halloween
34. My Birthday!
35. Margaritas (high quality ones)
36. Potato Soup on a cold day
37. Walking barefoot in the grass
38. My Tevas
39. Watching everyone spaz when I actually look like a girl
40. New car smell
41. Trick-or-treating
42. Hanging out with old friends
43. Dancing with Luke
44. Dancing with Matt
45. The smell of the air after it rains
46. The sound of rain on the roof/windows
47. NCIS
48. Hanging out with new friends
49. Watching Luke dance
50. Hugs

Taking Luke to his first (real) parade!

So truth be told, I’ve taken Luke to a parade before.  His first fourth of July, matt and I went up to Crown Point and took him out for the parade.  However, being as he wasn’t even real food yet, it didn’t count.  This has to to be in a handbook somewhere…if you’re not even eating normal human food, milestone accomplishments are up for parental approval.

 

Oh Crap.  If I discredit his “first” parade, that means I took him to his first without Matt.  Then I have to listen to Matt complain about it.  Hrrrrm…we’ll solve this by saying I took him to his first NON-4th of July parade. 

Moving on: 

Matt had to work so ‘gram-ma’ went with Luke and I to Harlan for the Harlan Days parade.  I think I was more excited than Luke because I was interested to see how he handled it.  We almost went to the Three Rivers parade, but I chickened out at the the thought of taking Luke downtown with all of those people by  myself.  We watched on tv, however, and Luke stood pretty much right on top of the screen and waved, yelling “A-hi!! A-hi!!!”.  Since that day, when he’s on the sidewalk or waiting somewhere and he sees a car drive by, he waves and says hi to the passer-bys.  

We arrived and had to wait about 45 minutes for the parade to start.  This got a little boring, but he did enjoy waving at everyone going by.   The highlight was when the jogger passed by and he yelled “GO GO GO—RUN RUN RUN---USA USA!”.  It sounds like a bad joke but, “you know you’ve been watching too much Olympics when….”. 

Once the parade started, he did pretty awesome.  I think he was torn between thinking he had to wave to everyone, avoiding sirens and loud engines, and staring in wonderment every time someone handed him candy (or winged it at him).  For a toddler who can’t have most hard candies, he brought in a pretty impressive haul.  (Related note:  I can’t wait to take him trick or treating this year, he is going to have a blast!). 

I think his favorite part was seeing Icy coming down the street as he started jumping and yelling “ICY ICY HOCKEY HOCKEY!”

 

Some Pictures:

 Waiting with Mom

Waiting with Grandma

Practicing waving and dancing

Looking and watching

ICY ICY HOCKEY HOCKEY!

Should I feel weird my child was literally sitting in the gutter? Nah.

Hauling his candy bag to the car. 

Update on my bucket list!

 

1. Make a list of 50 things to do this summer!
2. Complete the 31 day blogging challenge
3. Go to the botanical gardens and take pictures (solo)
4. Go on three girl dates with friends (no boys allowed, big OR small) (Thanks Yvonne and Jennifer!)
5. Send 5 handwritten letters/cards to family or friends
6. Identify 100 things that make me happy
7. Spend a whole day without looking at my phone (Thanks trip to TN)
8. Spend a whole day without tv or computer (Thanks power outage!)
9. Read 3 books
10. Try 3 new foods (working on it—down to just one new food)
11. Complete 3 random acts of kindness (Paid for parking for someone at the game, let someone go in front of me at the store and helped someone find their way out of the hospital when it was actually out of my way)
12. Bake Cupcakes (and give them out)
13. Make a list of 25 things I like about myself
14. Go a full day without swearing (Thanks trip to TN)
15. Make a list of 50 quotes that inspire me
16. Clean out the guest room  (Working on it!)
17. Hang up the curtains in the guest room (When #16 is done)
18. Pull out the bush on the side of the house
19. Get rid of 100 things  (See #16)
20. Visit a farmers market (Southside farmer’s market)
21. Watch Fireworks (Tincaps game)
22. See a parade  (Technically we watched the TRF one on tv, but we’re planning on Harlan days)
23. Play in the sprinkler
24. Blow Bubbles
25. Eat Popsicles outside
26. Go Swimming  (Jury Pool)
27. Have a spray bottle/squirt gun fight
28. Play at a splash pad
29. Make s’mores
30. Catch fireflies
31. Go to a festival (Monroeville Days)
32. Get family photos taken
33. Go to a concert
34. Go to the movies (Luke’s first trip to the movie theater!)
35. See a drive-in movie
36. Go to a baseball game (Tincaps game)
37. Go to the playground  (With Yvonne and Luke)
38. Play in the rain (It FINALLY rained!)
39. Eat shaved ice
40. Go to a story time
41. Watch the Olympics (We’ve already watched enough that I can cross this off, but we’re still watching it)
42. Make Lemonade from scratch
43. Make breakfast for dinner
44. Ice Cream Sundae party
45. Go to the library
46. Go on 3 date nights with just us
47. Try a new restaurant
48. Have a candlelight dinner
49. Plan our anniversary (weekend getaway?)
50. Play a game together

It was like nailing jello to a tree….

So, I’m a little behind here, but last Wednesday (a week before the 4th) we went to the zoo with some friends for the members only late night.  Awesome fun times.  Let the pictures commence. 

Riding the Carousel

Kid Jail….er…..The Kids Tree House

 

 

And finally my favorite part of the trip?  Trying to get all three kids (4, 3 and almost 2) into the pouch.

And technically, our only success:

50 quotes that inspire me

 

1. Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like – Will Rogers.
2. Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life; define yourself - Harvey Fierstein.
3. You cannot be lonely if you like the person you’re alone with - Dr. Wayne Dyer.
4. When in doubt, choose love – unknown.
5. It is never too late to be what you might have been. - George Eliot
6. All our dreams can come true – if we have the courage to pursue them. - Walt Disney
7. I haven’t failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. - Thomas Edison
8. Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ‘em. - William Shakespeare
9. Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there. - Will Rogers
10. What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
11. People who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do. - Apple Computers
12. Remember that happiness is a way of travel, not a destination. - Roy Goodman
13. When I hear somebody sigh, ‘Life is hard,’ I am always tempted to ask, ‘Compared to what?’ - Sydney Harris
14. If you’re going through hell, keep going. - Winston Churchill
15. Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. - Albert Einstein
16. Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. - John Wooden
17. Don’t let life discourage you; everyone who got where he is had to begin where he was. - Richard L. Evans
18. Defeat is not bitter unless you swallow it. - Joe Clark
19. If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way. - Napoleon Hill
20. People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily. - Zig Ziglar
21. If not us, who? If not now, when? - John F. Kennedy
22. Some men see things as they are and say why – I dream things that never were and say why not. - George Bernard Shaw
23. I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody. - Bill Cosby
24. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. - Wayne Gretzky
25. Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind. - Dr. Seuss
26. Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
27. Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things. - Robert Brault
28. Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. – Confucius
29. The only way to have a friend is to be one. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
30. You make a living by what you earn; you make a life by what you give. - Winston Churchill
31. What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight – it’s the size of the fight in the dog. - Dwight D. Eisenhower
32. Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great makes you feel that you, too, can become great. - Mark Twain
33. Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.’ — Mary Anne Radmacher
34. Turn your wounds into wisdom.” — Oprah Winfrey
35. Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” — Mark Twain
36. Whatever you do, you should do it with feeling.” — Yogi Berra
37. It’s amazing what ordinary people can do if they set out without preconceived notions.” — Charles F. Kettering
38. An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
39. Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint you can on it.” — Danny Kaye
40. To move the world we must first move ourselves.” – Socrates
41. Everybody ought to do at least two things each day that he hates to do, just for practice.” — William James
42. Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” — Joshua J. Marine
43. I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.” — Maya Angelou
44. If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.” — Maya Angelou
45. Pain is inevitable.  Suffering is optional.” — M. Kathleen Casey
46. This too will pass.” — Attar
47. When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile.” –  Unknown
48. One of the things I learned the hard way was that it doesn’t pay to get discouraged.” — Lucille Ball
49. Every day is a new beginning. Treat it that way. Stay away from what might have been, and look at what can be.” — Marsha Petrie Sue
50. You can’t leave footprints in the sands of time if you’re sitting on your ass and who wants to leave ass-prints in the sands of time? –Anonymous

…then my husband helped our son round the bases….

Thanks to the generosity of a friend of ours, we took Luke to his first real baseball game. Now, as a die-hard hockey family, we never dreamt that he would be nervous about going to a baseball game.  But, sure enough, when we walked through the concourse, our normally happy sports fan, sported this face:

Yup, that’s the face of a toddler who wasn’t sure if he should be enjoying this at all. 

I need to pause here and state that I don’t normally dress my son (head to toe) like a Woodstock reject, but it was 70’s night and being the hippie I am, my son has a bit of tie dye hanging in his closet.  We took a loop through the stadium and then made our way to our seats. 

Decent crowd, but not as crowded as I thought it would be.  We made our way to our seats and were relieved to see that we had a little room to spread out.  Matt went to grab us some food to munch on and the game was mostly uneventful.  Mostly because there was that one point where the entire bat flew up and landed three rows in front of us, but thankfully, no one was hurt.  Luke spent the first 6 innings snuggled up on one of us, but finally came out of his shell, even making a new friend!

Just in time for the fireworks. 

As soon as the first rockets red glare, he was back in Daddy’s lap like he was the last lifeboat from the Titanic.

However, they were beautiful.

Once they were over, Luke and Matt went to go run the bases and give Johnny Chapman a highfive. 

 

All well that ends well!

A fun night, good food, fireworks, a TinCaps win, friends (old and new) and beautiful weather---all is well that ends well!

Summer Bucket List

 

Much like blogging, I have a habit of letting the time get away from me before I even realize it.  So, in an attempt to continue the theme of accountability, I’ve made a bucket list of things I want to get done before the first day of fall.  50 seems like a nice even number, right?

 

1. Make a list of 50 things to do this summer!
2. Complete the 31 day blogging challenge
3. Go to the botanical gardens and take pictures (solo)
4. Go on three girl dates with friends (no boys allowed, big OR small)
5. Send 5 handwritten letters/cards to family or friends
6. Identify 100 things that make me happy
7. Spend a whole day without looking at my phone
8. Spend a whole day without tv or computer  (Thanks power outage!)
9. Read 3 books
10. Try 3 new foods
11. Complete 3 random acts of kindness
12. Bake Cupcakes (and give them out)
13. Make a list of 25 things I like about myself
14. Go a full day without swearing
15. Make a list of 50 quotes that inspire me
16. Clean out the guest room
17. Hang up the curtains in the guest room
18. Pull out the bush on the side of the house
19. Get rid of 100 things
20. Visit a farmers market
21. Watch Fireworks
22. See a parade
23. Play in the sprinkler
24. Blow Bubbles
25. Eat Popsicles outside
26. Go Swimming
27. Have a spray bottle/squirt gun fight
28. Play at a splash pad
29. Make s’mores
30. Catch fireflies
31. Go to a festival
32. Get family photos taken
33. Go to a concert
34. Go to the movies (Luke’s first trip to the movie theater!)
35. See a drive-in movie
36. Go to a baseball game
37. Go to the playground
38. Play in the rain
39. Eat shaved ice
40. Go to a story time
41. Watch the Olympics
42. Make Lemonade from scratch
43. Make breakfast for dinner
44. Ice Cream Sundae party
45. Go to the library
46. Go on 3 date nights with just us
47. Try a new restaurant
48. Have a candlelight dinner
49. Plan our anniversary (weekend getaway?)
50. Play a game together