Peek at our Week {July 6, 2013]

I lost my nose ring Sunday night.


I’ll admit I was busy scrubbing the peeling skin off of my burnt nose and forgot to be careful, when plop!  it fell in the bathtub and found it’s way down the drain before I could grab it.


What followed was a panic stricken search through my jewelry box to find an earing that would be acceptable to keep the hole open until I could get a replacement the next morning.  Yea.  You can imagine what I came up with was less than fashionable.  I’m like the hoop/dangle/oversized earing Queen, and don’t even own anything tiny.  I spent the night dreaming of ridiculous drawer-pulls being put in my nose and couldn’t wait until the mall opened at 10 am to find a replacement.





Lucky for me, the mall had several options, and for the low low price of $9.99, I now am the happy owner of not one, but three nose rings, therefore relieving any worry about being in this predicament again. 

A girl can hope anyway.



While we were at the mall, I thought I’d drop off my ring to be cleaned.  They politely declined and urged me to have my ring re-set/re-pronged.  I hadn’t even realized how bad it was!  Yikes!  I have put it away for now, worried I will loose my diamond, and waiting for the money to fix it.  I’ve been wearing this ring for about 15 years and it’ll be weird not having it on.





I’ve been learning how to wrap my hair with a scarf.  I’m trying to leave it alone as much as possible and not use the dryer or curling iron very often.  Hopefully I can grow it longer again that way, without causing too much damage in the process.  In the meantime, that means finding ways to wear my hair other than a messy bun or a hat.



I’m not totally convinced that I can rock the head scarf thing, but I’m giving a good try. I feel like I either look like a 50’s housewife or a pirate with too much makeup on.  Though if I hold myself to Jack Sparrow’s standards, I may not in fact be wearing too much makeup…



Maybe some beaded dreads to finish off the look?    It is helping cover up my horribly peeling forehead.  Did I mention how much I hate sunburns?




We kept Monday and Tuesday pretty low key, knowing the rest of the week would fly by with busyness. The kids did lots of playing while I did chores around the house.  Monday was First Day.

(click here to see the post.)

 

I love seeing this smile!





Elaina is coming along nicely with her reading lessons.  We are staying consistent with our “No technology until you read” rule, and that is doing the trick.  I guess we’ve found just the right button to push.  Finally.

Even though she does look like this when it’s reading time:



That pouty little smirk isn’t getting her as far as it used to though. 



It turns out boys cats are just as dirty as boy humans are. 

Duck has stopped grooming himself these days.  Don’t let that shiny white fur convince you otherwise.  The rest of him is a matted, stinky mess, and no doubt has a lot do to with him staying outside all night long, perusing the neighborhood.  One of these days I’m going to actually give him the bath that I keep threatening him with.



Nate mowed the front and back yard.  He did really good until the last 15 minutes or so.  He was just pooped out!



We left on Wednesday for Greeley to take the kids to the Independence Day Stampede.  We surprised the kids with a trip to the carnival, and Uncle Dave and Aunt Veronica spoiled them with lots of rides.  I’m sure this is a trip they won’t soon forget!

The highlight of the evening was when Isaac rode the “SkyHammer” with Uncle Dave and Andrew.  They waited in line for a really long time and when he finally got his turn, they put him in the very front!  He did okay for the first swing pass, but after that he closed his eyes, plugged his ears, and bowed his head. 

We were so proud of him for being so brave, but once he saw us he started to cry.

I’m not too sure he will think of rides quite the same after this.





We got back late Thursday to get ready for our company: our family from Wisconsin and my very special Aunt Linda!  Even though she isn’t really my aunt…. I get a bit lost in the translation of relations.










We had a picnic at Garden of the Gods and also went to visit Focus on the Family.  We are having an amazing visit with them!  The boys are having a blast playing together and I am loving this special family time together!  They will be staying until Monday and then I’m sure there will be a few tears when they go…. 













I didn’t do a lot of cooking this week, mostly because we were either out of food or out of town.  I made breakfast for dinner one night and grilled chicken the other.

Do you ever doctor up your pancakes?  I like to put cinnamon and vanilla in mine sometimes.  The kids like miniature chocolate chips in theirs.








While we were up in G-Town, we were spoiled with some delicious Mexican food.  The kids love the sweet bread and the time with their cousins.  They all got to try out Cotton Candy for the first time and I got to witness firsthand the reason why I’ve never bought it for them.

sugar high….



Still waiting on the dishwasher.

I was really hopeful it would be replaced before we had company coming, but alas, no such luck.  So we are still setting the table with paper plates about once a day, and I’m letting the rest pile up, as per my style.  ‘Cause I’m lazy like that. 



I finally got to the store Friday morning, just in time for our family to arrive from Wisconsin.  I cooked up an Asian themed meal with Teriyaki Chicken, Fried Rice, Asian Cabbage Salad, and Grilled Pineapple.  Delish!

Don’t forget the Banoffee Pie for dessert…








We’ve got a couple of more days of fun planned and then next week we are back to the grind of school.  It’s been so fun having Saul off this week, I’m sure it’ll be really hard when he goes back to work on Monday.