A perfect long weekend!

We had such a nice few days off!! It was so nice being home for 2 whole days. Ok I was only HOME for 1 day but we had all day Sunday as a family too! Saturday night when I got off work we went over to Jeremy and Nicole's. The kids rode motorcycles and 4-wheelers all night and we bbq'd and had a great visit.

Sunday we took the kids out to the kart track. It was Trace's first go on the track. The boy has NO FEAR. But he did surprise us with not being out of control. He was very cautious, would stop at the end of the straightaway to check out the first big turn and then take back off. When Kaity spun out he stopped to check on her. It was very cute. Kaitlyn had a great practice, whew!

Monday we woke up and we worked in the yard ALL DAY. I ran to Bi-Mart and got a couple of planters. Rick re-did some bricks around the tree out front and then got all the bricks lined up on the side and river rock put in that area. I planted the front (THANKS HOLLI FOR THE GREAT IDEAS!!!). It is really all coming together and looking so good. Of course I am biased :-)

The school year is winding down for the kids. Trace's last day is tomorrow and Kaity's is next Friday. Cry, sob, cry, sob. Both kids have had such a fabulous year. I am so sad to see it coming to and end. We are lucky because both are bummed for summer and not going to school. I don't know how long that will last but I will take it while we have it! Kaitlyn has her spring concert tomorrow night. Trace has the end of the year picnic on Friday and Kaity has a skating field trip and a field day next week. It is going to be a busy few days for sure!!

Oh what a night...

I don't think there are words for how wonderful last night was. I left work a little early and got home right at 6. My sister and our friends Jeremy and Nicole's daughter Cheyanne met us at the house and we were on the road. The girls questioned us the entire way to Yakima on where we were going. The only time they stopped was when "Before he Cheats" came on the radio and they stopped to sing it and Kaitlyn announced that Carrie Underwood was her FAVORITE SINGER EVER. I couldn't stop smiling :-)

When we got to the Sundome we got out of the car. The girls were sure we were at a basketball game. Before we started walking I handed them their tickets. When Kaity read Carrie Underwood she started jumping up and down. The entire way in she was asking if it was the, "for real Carrie Underwood and if she would REALLY be there".

When we got in we went and bought t-shirts and then went and found our seats. And what incredible seats they were! First Josh Turner performed. The girls thought he was really good and they even got to touch him. He was really good, and well very hot :-)

When he finished up the girls changed into their new t-shirts and started the count down...

Carrie played for about 1 hour and 45 minutes. She was sooooo good. She changed 3 times (you know the important details!) she is sooo skinny and just gorgeous. I just loved the entire night. And every time I looked over at Kaity she was grinning from EAR TO EAR.

The girls were exhausted! They slept the entire way home. I am exhausted tonight, it was tough to get up and go to work this morning! But for how great last night was... it was all worth it!

Girls night surprise!

Tonight is my big Girls night surprise with Kaitlyn and my sister... Kaitlyn has no idea that at 7:30 she will be sitting front and center watching one of her favorite singers!

Yep, Carrie Underwood and Josh Turner are playing tonight in Yakima. As soon as I heard she was coming I called my sister and told her we had to go and take Kaity. I got incrediable tickets the morning they went on sale (I should say the MINUTE they went on sale) and I have kept this a surprise since! And for anyone that knows me, that is no small thing. Kaitlyn hates surprises she wants to know everything... yea yea, I have NO IDEA where she got that from.

I went and picked up this little cutie so that I can capture the entire night, from the car ride up, to hopefully her reaction when Carrie takes the stage. I'm sure I am way more excited than she is. Partly because I love that she has no idea and mostly because I too love Carrie Underwood.

Here's to a fun night!

Pay it forward....

Have you ever won a contest??? Well I haven't won very many, once I won 3rd place in a coloring contest and got a really nice ski sweater, I think I was about 8 when that happened. Well today I found out that I was the big winner on a pay it forward contest from my friend HOLLI's blog. So now I get the pleasure of paying my good fortune forward.

Leave a comment on this post and next Tuesday the 27th, I will be putting all the names of those who posted in a drawing to receive a fun thank you treat in the mail. Remember though, if you win you have to find a way to pay it forward too. How great this is contest!!! You don't have to have a blog to play so don't be shy.

Breaking Records...

Thats what we have done the last 4 days at the pool store. First we broke the biggest days record on Thursday... then we shattered that on Friday, which again was broken on Saturday. Oh and did I mention that Monday was bigger than Thursday. All these records mean one thing, I'M EXHAUSTED :-) Besides being exhausted we are happy, blessed and very, VERY, grateful!

Not too much else to report. Kaitlyn lost a tooth, finished 3rd in her go-kart race on Sunday and had a fun evening swimming with Cheyanne and Taylor. Trace gave himself a very lovely haircut on Saturday morning. Thankfully he was on his father's watch and not mine! If you look front and center on this pic you can see the white spot where he somehow managed to cut it so short it looked like he shaved it. Well the only solution was a #1 buzz all around. So this is my baldy boy.

Here is a pic of Trace, Kaitlyn and Seth (the big winner in Kailtyn's division this last weekend!) at the races. It was so hot, I felt so bad for those little kids in all that gear and temps around 100!

I hope everyone had a great weekend! We are sure looking forward to the long weekend coming up :-)

Forget spring, here comes summer!

(my new favorite saying)

It's like a light switch was turned on and everyone decided it's summer! It is supposed to be 90+ the rest of the week, the store is SLAMMED and I'm exhausted. Don't get me wrong, I am soooo not complaining about being BUSY. The next 10 days will be the biggest of the year for us and with the weather having been so cruddy we will be twice as busy as past years. So exciting!

We had a very nice Mother's Day. We spent the morning working around the house and then went to a bbq at my parents. My sister and Scott and our 2 sets of "2nd parents" (Al and Mikki, Bob and Pam) joined Mom, Dad, Rick's Mom and my parents neighbors for a very nice dinner. On the way back into town we stopped at Rick's Dad's to wish Sue a Happy Mother's Day.

Kaitlyn races this weekend on the brand new paved go-kart track. The kart club board has done an amazing job on the improvements, we are so excited to see it all come together this weekend.

Here's a pic of the rocks we added to the front and side. I have to figure out what to plant in it now. Any suggestions??? I need EASY TO TAKE CARE OF, since I am like the worst ever at high maintence anything :-) But if you have any ideas on what would look good, I might just have a little something to send your way as a thank you.

A few months ago I posted about these great friends doing great things in the racing world back in North Carolina. Well I want to give a big shout out to Sam for becoming the new Truck Chief for #2 KEVIN HARVICK INC. race truck. Ok so I have to cheer for Jack Sprague, which will bring me great pain, because Sam and Heather are such good people, great friends, and of course HUGELY talented, I will do it... the things you do for friendship :-)

M-O-T-H-E-R

"M" is for the million things she gave me,
"O" means only that she's growing old,
"T" is for the tears she shed to save me,
"H" is for her heart of purest gold;
"E" is for her eyes, with love-light shining,
"R" means right, and right she'll always be,

Put them all together, they spell "MOTHER,
A word that means the world to me.

Happy Mothers Day to all the amazing Mothers I know!!!

R is for...

"R" means right, and right she'll always be

"God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers."

E is for...

"E" is for her eyes, with love-light shining

My mom, Grandma Bea, Karen and Kaitlyn - Feb. 2002

"It is not until you become a mother that your judgement slowly turns to compassion and understanding."

A Mothers journey, Bring the Rain

It seems like everyone is preparing for Mother's Day and there have been lots of posts on the subject. I found "Bring the Rain" through this inspiring fellow blogger. I will warn you, this is not a blog to read if you don't have a box of kleenex handy but if you want to read a truely powerful story and be reminded of how strong faith can be, I do suggest pulling up a chair, getting out the kleenex and starting here.

H is for...

"H" is for her heart of purest gold

"The patience of a mother might be likened to a tube of toothpaste - it's never quite all gone."

T is for...

"T" is for the tears she shed to save me

A mother's arms are made of tenderness and children sleep soundly in them. ~Victor Hugo

O is for...

"O" Means only that she's growing Old.
this is not my favorite part of this poem, like any of us need to have it pointed out that we are growing old, PUHHHLEASSSEEE!


The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new. ~Rajneesh

One more for the night...

A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops. ~Henry Adams

After my thanks for the Teacher Appreciation shout out from this lovely teacher, I thought would give one more... how lucky are our children this week to be celebrating so many imporant people in their lifes. Teacher's play such a huge role in my children's lifes and I am so greatful for the time, love, dedication and support they offer my kiddos day in and day out. They are very blessed!

M is for.....

"M" is for the million things she gave me

"Making the decision to have a child-it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." --Elizabeth Stone

5 more days to make this the perfect Mother's Day for your favorite Mother :-)

And so it's here....

Well the pool owners in the Tri-Cities have decided it is time to open their pools. Sunday was nice, mid 70's slight breeze but today was gorgeous!! The store has been busy since Friday. A fabulous kick-off weekend.

Yesterday Rick woke up early and we started on house projects. The back deck is all repaired with new posts and is ready for paint. The kitchen got the spring cleaning it was BEGGING for. I was able to get all of our gravel out back and the alley all sprayed for weeds. It doesn't sound too exciting but it was actually a very nice relaxing day. If the weather holds all week Rick is planning on taking Thursday off to get a jump on painting because the goal is to have painting done by the end of the weekend. Oh Happy Mother's Day to me :-)

Don't forget it is Teacher Appreciation Week. The other room mom and myself sent flowers this morning to Kaitlyn's class. The way her school works is when the whistle blows the quietest class gets to go in... well we were a little late this morning so I was passing out a carnation for each child to take in to Mrs. Peterson so Kaity's class was the last one in. Kaitlyn said Mrs. Peterson started to ask, "just how loud were you guys this morning...." when she noticed all the flowers coming in for her. What a happy start to the day!

Here's to a sunny Tuesday...and Wednesday and Thursday.... :-)

HAPPY MAY DAY!

Now lets hope this little saying rings true!