It had been a loooooong time since I stopped by one of my favorite Monday Muse sites: Miss Aimee over in Artsyville. While there, I saw she had posted a new weekword: Flavor.  I hear that word and I think of big international festivals with lots of food, music, dancing, and more food from different cultures. However, yesterday afternoon, while enjoying the quintessential summer playdate at a friend’s – sunshine and  sprinklers in the backyard. So after making wet butt print art on the fence, the kiddos chilled out with a frozen treat. It was the first time either of my girls ate a Fudgesicle (or is it Fudgsicle?) and the results were hilarious, and full of flavor!

And thank goodness there was a handy sprinkler nearby for cleanup afterwards!

So it was just a perfectly wonderful moment this weekend when Miss A discovered she enjoyed the pure bliss that can be found in some quiet time with a book.

We took a little trip to the Botanic Gardens (that’s the place the girls are frolicking in the current title bar pics) and while the husband took Lil’ G on a stroll through the apple orchard, Miss A and I found a couple of chairs by the lake and settled in to read for a bit.

It was awesome. We were shaded by a lovely little arbor, there was a nice misty breeze from the fountain on the lake, and Miss A, my super talkative-chatty-squirmy daughter, relaxed in her chair with her book and didn’t say a peep.

I can totally handle more moments like that.

If this is what having a 7 year old will be like, I’m diggin’ it big time!

Now pardon me, I need to find a new book to read.

Wearing a swim suit.

In public.

I haven’t done it in nearly 10 years…2002 was probably the last time that much of my skin was exposed at one time outside my own house.

The idea of strolling around with all my imperfections on display for anyone’s inspection makes me more than a little queasy.

I know, I know – I need to get over myself.

We are heading out for a lil’ vacation this summer – and I really can’t avoid it – I’m going to have to wear a swim suit.  I promised my husband I would.

So it’s time for my personal boot camp – I swear I am more motivated to look good then I was for my wedding! (Maybe because I already looked pretty darned good then?)

Started this morning with a 5am alarm so I could squeeze a workout in before Mama duties called. I may have been a bit overzealous with the alarm…my husband made some comment along the lines of “I think you just woke Jesus up.” Whether the King of Kings sleeps on U.S. Central time lies beyond my knowledge…but I got his general point. So, I managed to get out of bed Day 1…let’s hope I can do the same tomorrow.

Cuz’ you know what’s looming ahead of me, don’t you?

The thing I fear only slightly less than wearing a swim suit in public…

shopping for one.

Sound like it might get a little stressful? It did.

So it was a moment of joyous excitement when we found out that Miss A had been accepted into a local charter school. We had hoped to enroll her there for junior high (after homeschooling her through 5th grade, but decided since the chances of getting in the school were so slim, we should start trying now).

Well, the stars aligned and things worked out in just such a way that a spot became available for her this year. We jumped at the opportunity, and I’m so glad we did.

Adjusting to life  in “regular school” (though this school is so far from regular, I don’t think it can really be called that – which is one of the reasons we like it so much) took some work for both Miss A and myself, but overall I have to say I am very happy with the switch.

One of the “benefits” of no longer being Miss A’s teacher for everything, is that now I can join the ranks of all the other moms who get treated to special surprise school projects on Mother’s Day!

Miss A made me a lovely Mother’s Day painting in art class, a card with a picture of the family and a poem written inside…

and a really neat card with a note written in Spanish!

She was so proud to present me with all her surprises, and I was so proud of her.

To all mothers – while we are the ones being appreciated today, may you appreciate your home, your family, and your life everyday (and take advantage of your special day in every way you can)!

Yeah, that’s kind of what I thought when the husband and I were doing a blind search of possible lakefront vacation spots in the mid-west…

Check out this beauty:

Wow. What luxury!(Turns out this baby isn’t on Lake Michigan, but the Mississippi river instead.)

For a little background info, Wildwood is that lake neighborhood we all know – it’s sort of a modern white-trash (if you’ll excuse such an un-pc term) Wild West (or Wild Mid-West). Fireworks every night, garages turned into dens of iniquity (well, if guzzling beer, watching sports and burning stuff in portable fire pits qualifies as iniquitable), and kids buzzing around on various noise polluting scooter-type vehicles.

I joke about Wildwood, but places like this are in many ways great neighborhoods to live in – there are no annoying regulations about what color mailbox you can have, what type of wood your fence should be made of,  and whether that plastic Elvis is allowed to take up residence on your front lawn.

Sure, such freedom comes with a price, and you have to endure noisy fire work-drenched nights and navigate streets filled with boats parked on the curb…but overall, the character and flavor the freedom in these neighborhood allows is refreshing.

Except when you’re planning a vacation.

At least for me anyway…when I think of vacation, I think of spas and maid service and leisurely breakfasts in which I don’t have t do the dishes.

I certainly don’t think of shed-like buildings miles away from the nearest restaurant.

But that’s just me.

As for finally reaching a desicion on where to have an enjoyable vacation  – I’ll tell you more about that later.

But right about now, I need a vacation from trying to plan a vacation.

I’ll tell you one thing though, we won’t be going here:

If this is your idea of a getaway, that’s cool – have fun lightin’ some fireworks and burning stuff.

I plan to be chillin’ on my balcony off the lake, without a garage door party in sight.

I am never ever “not busy,” but lately I have been even more “not busy” than ever (did that makes sense?). So my blog isn’t even on the back burner – it’s stuck somewhere in the back of the Tupperware cabinet.

I know it’s important to make time for things you love…so I need to find a way t0o balance it all and get back to posting. I have a pile of awesome Monday Muses I want to start showcasing, my Disney reviews have been at a standstill (oh how I wish I was planning another trip right now!), and I have lots of neat little crafts and projects I can’t wait to share with the world (or at least the 20 or so people who read this).

I hope you have a Happy Valentine’s Day, and I hope you get to spend time doing stuff you love, eating things you love, and being with people you love.

And now…some of my favorite Valentine photos:

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

So, this is it, the start of a new decade, and one in which I don’t want to waste anymore time wishing I’d look better in a swimsuit or running in terror from the thought of trying  to find a pair of jeans I look good in.

I have always been active and enjoyed exercise, I have never been a “bad”  eater, I think I have more bad habits than anything else – mainly not eating all day and then, since I’m starving by dinnertime, eating too much.  I won’t even get started on genetics and all that – I know that my inherited DNA makes losing weight an extra hard uphill battle, but I refuse to let that be an excuse for me not to go for it.

Yep, that's me on the scale before I'm even a year old.

Besides, there’s a lot of cash on the line!

And I really love to win.

Hope you all had a holly jolly holiday full of love, laughter, and lots of great memories!

Aside from the fact that we’d have no money left for college (or next month’s electric bill), some stuff she asks for is very spur of the moment, Gimme! Gimme! – and that’s the kind of stuff I know she can simply do without. For the most part, though, I make sure she gets what she really wants – and will go out of my way (like ordering Charlie and Lola dolls from the UK, or digging up vintage Littlest Pet Shops on E-bay) to find and buy something if she sticks with a particular request for awhile.

Here are the two items she asked for from Santa this year:

She saw this at a friend's house and calls it a "Dog Dress Up Set." Thanks Christine for helping me locate this!

Front and center you can see the dolphin I managed to find on e-bay...apparently Sea World put out a series of LPS toys in the '90s.

Overall, I think I earn my gold Mama star in the gift department. Our Santa policy is that you can only ask for one or two things from the big man in red, because he has a lot of kids to take care of, and there just isn’t room for too many toys per kid in his sack. This way, she keeps her list with Santa (whether writing a letter to him or sitting on his lap) short and sweet – and I know the things she asks for from him are what she REALLY wants, more than anything, and that’s what I will work extra hard to make sure she finds on Christmas morning.

So I kinda brought the difficult toy hunt upon myself, because it seems Miss A has decided that if a toy can be found in a store, than that doesn’t go on the Santa list. For example, she originally planned to ask Santa for one of those FurReal cats…but then she saw it in a certain store that starts with a W and told me, “I’m not going to ask Santa for that. If it’s here in the store, you can get it for me!”

That kid is sharp.

I have to admit, I like our Santa policy – sure it can make me have to frantically hunt for things not commonly sold in stores – but it also lets my husband and I enjoy the lion’s share of credit for presents.

And yes, I admit to enjoying basking in the glow of juvenile gift gratification.

Well, I fell in love Saturday night.

Don’t worry, the husband was with me…and no, things didn’t get kinky…(though the 2 of us have been propositioned by others to join in such activities…more than once ).

I fell in love with a little place called Cooper’s Hawk. It’s a winery and restaurant that I want to move next door to so I can get a little tipsy and toddle on home every night. Well, the food is so divine it wouldn’t be long before I did more than toddle, I suppose I’d roll like an overstuffed butterball turkey.

I first learned of the place when I tried their rhubarb wine at a wine festival over the summer.  I finally got a chance to check them out for my birthday (yes, I have said goodbye to another year – or hello to a new one if you’re feeling optimistic).  Oh let me tell you, it is a wine lush’s heaven.

They have a tasting room and you can sample away while you wait for a table. Then once you are seated you can sample a few more to see if the one they recommend with the meal you have chosen is one you actually like. And – if I wasn’t already smitten – and it’s not because I was more than halfway to tipsytown already, but they serve yummy wonderful warm pretzel bread before the meal. I could make a dinner out of the wine and bread, quite honestly.

We had the Viognier with dinner, and it was perfect.

I knew I already loved their rhubarb wine, and tasted (then bought) their cranberry wine. I plan to sample their cherry and plum wines the next chance I get.

I’m thinking of doing quite a bit of holiday shopping there, so if you’re on my gift list, try to act surprised when you get a couple of bottles of their wine.