Memorial Day Fun

We had a picnic on Memorial Day to celebrate Frank and Char's very first anniversary. It's kinda crazy, 20 years old and already married for one year.

A picnic wouldn't be a picnic without the Culberts, so we grilled and ate and laughed. And of course got some good photos of the kiddies.

Leia decided that today wasn't just any normal day - today she had to have two drinks.

It was such a special day that I even got Frank and Lukey to look directly into the camera and smile. Best Buds.

Climbing in the tree is always a favorite activity during picnics. If you can't find a kid - they are most likely in the tree.

In an attempt to find something to do, I broke out the old wheelbarrow. It made for some good laughs. Leia didn't get out of the thing once she realized how fun it is when someone pulls you. All I heard was "run Ginner, run Ginner." Pulling 2 kids on that thing doesn't make it easy to run.

Tommy had a little trouble pulling both kids by himself.

Leia decided to do a little running.

Somehow, Emily ended up on top of Lukey. Not sure why though.

Here Charlotte, Lukey, and Tommy are pretending to be turtles in their shell.

After taking her dress off and proclaiming "I don't need that" we had a naked baby running around.

The picnic was great. Can't wait for some more.

Ugh, Rainbow Bulb

The dreaded rainbow light bulb has followed me around for centuries. This light first entered our house, well, I really have no idea when we first got it, but I can tell you that I hate it.

I haven't always hated the rainbow light bulb. In fact, there was once a bright time in my life when the rainbow light bulb and I were true friends. We hung out. We were chums. But now? No, no longer are the dreaded rainbow light bulb and I friends.

Mainly because this light bulb gave off no light. All it did was shoot color throughout my room. I'm not sure it was even powerful enough to "shoot" light - it was more like "drizzle." Anyway. The story with the rainbow light bulb is that it once belonged to Char many, many years ago. Somehow I ended up with the lamp in my room - the lamp in which the dreaded rainbow light bulb was residing. Actually, I'm pretty sure I stole the lamp. Can you blame me? I had no idea then that I would grow to despise this light bulb.

But don't worry - I threw it away. It felt good and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

For some reason, I just never got around to changing the bulb. There was never an absolute need. Once this lamp became my reading lamp - the need to change the bulb was dire. I couldn't read with red, yellow, green, and blue shining all over the pages of Pride and Prejudice. Mr. Darcy just wasn't as attractive under a green light or the writing as romantic. The nasty shade wasn't attractive either.

And can I just say - changing the bulb has made me feel so much better. It feels like a new beginning, a fresh start, a clean light. I even got a new lamp shade from walmart because the other one was literally falling apart.

To celebrate my new, clean light bulb I'm going to go crawl into my nice, clean bed and read my lovely, worn copy of Pride and Prejudice. Elizabeth is finally starting to see the error of her ways and I can barely hold in my excitement when I read.

Before I go, one more thing. Though our ladybug infestation is over, I still find them all over the place. They just keep popping up and have decided that they are not going to leave me alone. Even if they are dead.

My Life on Paper

I'd like to introduce you to my calendar. I don't know how I ever survived without it. I can't keep things straight anymore and my calendar has helped to keep me organized. It tells me where I need to be and when. I love it. But it's hard to keep it from getting covered up. Actually - to take this picture below, I had to move my brownie.

I've even started saying the phrase "I need to check my calendar" before committing to something. Makes me feel like a grown up - bleck. I've realized lately how much I need it since it has been packed away.

It has everything I need on it. It's interesting to see that school was only a few weeks ago. It feels like it has been months. Like on May 6th - when I had that awful speech final (which I think is the reason I got a B in that class instead of an A).

My calendar has many functions. It helps me remember important dates. Like Jess' wedding in June or the bridal shower in May. It even helps me to remember my birthday. Can you guess how old I'll be turning?

Aside from remembering important events, it also likes to remind me that I owe Cricket money for the peco bill. Boo.

I hadn't realized it until I was taking these pictures - but I have every Saturday in June booked. So If you wanna hang out in June - it probably won't be happening on Saturday.

Though I love my calendar - I don't think its name worthy.

Of all the things I love about my calendar - by far, my most favorite thing, is when I get to rip off the top sheet. I love it. A lot. It's so satisfying. Especially after I have scribbled all over it. Tearing off the top sheet of my calendar may be on my list of top 10 things to do - just below tormenting Dad and right above tickling Lukey.

Speaking of Lukey - Yesterday we had a picnic to celebrate Char and Frank's 1st Anniversary! As we were sitting outside eating Lukey says to me "Ginner, I missed-ed you when you were in Florida." I love that kid.

Stages

Moving in has been a crazy process. I've realized that I hate moving. But who can blame me? Every year I was in college I moved 4 separate times. I moved in at the beginning of the semester, moved home for Christmas, moved back for spring semester, and moved home again for summer. That adds up people. But this move has been a lot easier. I can put things in their place knowing I'll be able to leave them there for a very long time. I won't be moving come fall semester because I'll be living here. It's a wonderful feeling.

When I tell people I am moving home for the fall I get mixed reactions. Some people say "oh ok, that makes sense" others say "ew." I must admit that the latter reaction comes from college kids. But I love home, it's not awkward or hard or strange. It's home and comfortable and easy.

Unfortunately that doesn't make moving in any easier. It still takes time. Usually to move something where I want it to go I must move 9 other things out of the way. But I finally did it. I still have a few more things to move in, but I'm confident they will fit perfectly.

Here is the crazy mess that I dealt with all day yesterday.

To fully understand the weight of this mess I must let you in on one of my personality flaws. I am the typical American - I wan instant gratification (which I think is why I like mowing the lawn so much). The reason this effects me moving in is because I look at this mess, feel completely overwhelmed, and then want to walk out and never come back.

Mom came in the room yesterday to see if I needed anything. I asked for a few desk organizers and file folders. Then she said "Do you need anything else?" and I said "Esther." Esther has this knack for getting things going and seeing the bigger picture...and making me throw things away.

This time around though, throwing things away wasn't my problem. My problem was not throwing things away. I'm so ready to have a clean, organized room that anything that didn't fit became eligible to live in the big black trash bag.

Whew, those pictures are starting to make me revert back to the "I wanna walk out" stage. Seeing this next one makes me feel so much better. Let's see how pretty and organized everything looks.

Notice how the room has gotten cleaner and you can actually see my bed. The next step became putting things on the walls. Guess I could have pushed the drawer in before I took this picture.

It's nice to no longer have middle school pictures up on the walls. Obviously, I still have some work to do, but I feel very good for having gotten as much done as I have. You can even move around in my room without tripping.

It's Time

It was grandparents day at Robeson Elementary on Friday. Mom and I were honorary grandparents for the day. Mom went alone last year, but with three kiddies in Robeson, she was worried she wouldn't be able to make it to all of their rooms. So I tagged along.

It was all very exciting. I loved it. I think some of the other grandparents thought it was a little strange when I walked into the room. The day started out with performances. The theme was the Beatles. Every grade sang a different Beatles song. The auditorium was packed. So Mom and I started out standing at the back wall. As each grade performed and more grandparents left, we slowly made our way forward. By the time fourth grade was performing we had made it to the front row, much to Emily's chagrin.

The kindergartners performed first. Since the theme was the Beatles, they all had beatle antennas on. It was adorable. It took Mom and I awhile to find our little beatle, but it was great once we found him. Kindergarten sang "Love You Do." I was too far away to get a picture of him singing, so here is one I took in the classroom. We did get his attention finally, and his little wave may be the cutest wave I've ever seen.

He's holding the picture we drew together.

It's a picture of camping and a fire and hot dogs. He wanted to draw what he would be doing in "Picksburgh."

The next of our "grandchildren" to perform was Annie. Our big 2nd grader. She came out in her skirt and pigtails and big smile. She knew all the lines to the song and all the dance moves. We were close enough at this point to get some good pictures. The video below is a portion of the song they sang. They all did a very good job. Oh, and Annie is in the very back row in the middle - look for the pigtails.

When I went to Annie's class she took me through every page of her science journal. Well, almost every page. She was going to go through every page, until Tommy said "Stop showing us this stuff so we can leave." As soon as the kids were ready to go, we were allowed to take them home, and Tommy was ready to go to Pittsburgh.

Emily's was our last performer and her class sang Shake It Up Baby. It was great, they boys were on the right and the girls were on the left, so they took turns singing. I started to take a video of Emily, but I could tell I was embarrassing her so I stopped. She did great. She's getting so tall.

Then she took us to see the blue birds that her class was feeding. She said the eggs had just hatched so we all took a walk to see the blue birds. It was a beautiful day. Unfortunately the blue birds had already left.

Here are the kiddies all grown up. Guess I can't be calling them "the kiddies" for too much longer. Emily is 10 now, she just made it to double digits. Annie is a very energetic 8 year old. T-bone just turned 6 and is getting wittier every day.

I loved being a grandparent for the day.

It's been awhile

Sorry I haven't been posting. As of right now...things are a little messy. Alright, that's a big lie. Things are really messy right now. I'm in the process of finally moving home. Finally. It took me a couple tries to figure out exactly how I wanted my room, but I've finally done it and it's pretty satisfying.

Don't worry....I'll be posting pictures. At the moment my camera battery is charging in the bathroom. Once it's done I'll post the horrible pictures of the mess that is my room. I'm really happy with the set up though, there is a perfect place for the crate I am soon to buy for my dog. It'll fit perfectly right next to my bed :)

My room is a wreck. But the unpacking will have to wait until Sunday. We are lugging the trailer to school on Friday night to get the rest of our junk and then we'll be lugging it all home. And unfortunately, next we'll be lugging it all up the stairs. Yippee.

I think it's time to see how that battery is doing. Posting just isn't as fun without pictures. And after seeing my room through a lens, I can't believe I'm about to share what it looks like. So brace yourself Mom, what you are about to see will no doubt shock you.

The picture below is the back of my room, the window you see faces the deck. I put my desk there so that I can see the TV easily. TV is often my background noise, but every once in awhile I do like to watch, so I don't want to be straining my neck. Also, you will see the mess that I warned you about - but just wait til the next picture, because it will get worse.

That big double bed will be gone and will be replaced with the bed I had at school. And it'll leave the perfect amount of room for my dog's bed. My dog's bed.

Wow, I know, the mess is incredible. But someday soon it will all be gone and I'll hopefully have some pictures on the wall. See that nice flat screen TV on my dresser? Yeah? Take a good look because it won't be there tomorrow. It's Mom's TV and tomorrow she will find it back in the basement where it belongs. I stole it.

As of right now, nothing has a place to hide, so I'm content to leave it all just hanging out there. Like the towel hanging on the fan.

Picture Time!

Today is our last day in Florida and tomorrow we begin our long journey home. Long journey, like 18 hour journey. To sum up what has happened so far would be a very long and detailed explaination. So you will be getting pictures, lots and lots of pictures.

Say hello to the car - it was packed.

And so it begins...this is one of many car pictures.

I will not tell you the quote that goes along with this picture - because I'd have to beep a word out, but to say the least, Crick and I were very excited when we finally made it to South Carolina. The flag lets you know when you reach your destination!

In S.C. we ate at a place called T-Bonz. They had huge forks.

In S.C. we also got to see an 800 year old tree. Pretty Cool.

When we finally got to Florida, we hit the pool and so did our toys. Mom bought us goodie bags and there were some toys inside.

This is the amazing pool we spent the week in. It was awesome.

Then we headed to disney, where we met some unusual characters. In total we met Timon, Balou, and King Louis. I wore my cubs shirt that day, the one I got in Illinois for 5 dollars, and about 5 people cheered for it. Weird. Too bad I don't watch baseball and I don't like the cubs, and I'm not from chicago.

Esther tried on the Captain Jack hat. It was all over disney that day.

Hey Char, guess what - there were birds everywhere.

Here we are with the Castle in the background. We had a good day in the Magic Kingdom.

We spent the next day in Animal Kingdom. This is us in the Bug's Life 3D show. It was hilarious and so were the glasses.

See the mountain in the background? That's Everest - the sweetest roller coaster in Disney. Loved it!

We walked around Animal Kingdom and got to see amazing animals. This is my favorite animal - the tiger.

We roasted at Animal Kingdom. It was very, very hot. So hot that we decided to get some drinks - we needed em. We all got carded :)

Tonight we went to downtown disney to shop and walk around. The Lego store was awesome, and for a mere $499.99 you could own the Millenium Falcon.

This one is for our biggest Buzz fan - everytime we saw Buzz we thought of our own little Buzz at home -Lukey.

I told you it would be a lot of pictures. I hope you enjoyed them though. It was hard to pick the favorites. There are many, many more.