brain exercise

I know there's nothing I can do about the diminishing state of my brain cells, but I decided to start working crosswords to make myself feel smarter. I am really, really bad at them, but I'm determined to conquer! In my quest, I found these highly addictive little games. My gift to you:

quick-cross & up&down words

Enjoy!

A Week in the Life

Since becoming a stay-at-home mom, people are always asking me how I spend my days. I'm going to document my time here in a weekly post complete with pictures. I got the idea here. I'm going to leave out the lazy, unproductive stuff, but you can figure in several hours of mindless tivo catching up from my comfy side of the bed.

Jon's been super busy at work. I think he needs a vacation.

Jackson's doing well in school. He's finally getting the hang of spelling tests, I think. His daily homework takes about 30 to 45 minutes- depending on how focused he is. We found a new motivational tool for him this week when Jon broke down and bought him his first set of Pokemon cards. I was really hoping we could somehow miraculously skip that strange rite of passage. No luck. He loves them.

Made polka dot pumpkins to finish off my Halloween decor. Got the idea here. I don't want to fool anyone into thinking that I have any fabulous original ideas or anything:-).

Moved my ferns into the house and replanted my urns. Jon and I also did a lot of work in the front flower beds.

Still have pansies to plant & I should really paint those faded shutters. I love fall!

Hung some fabulous new artwork.

Cooked two nights this week- spaghetti & meat loaf. Had lots of leftovers.

Spent $580 at the dentist on Monday.

Worked a contract job on Tuesday & took Jackson to a musical- Planet Funk.

Wished my mom a happy 52nd birthday on Thursday. Had lunch at a fabulous chinese bistro I've never been to.

Went to a costume party on Saturday. I have decided not to post those pictures. They are much too scary.


Posted on my blog for the first time in four months. What a week!

Jackson quote

Before I forget, I have to share my new favorite Jackson quote (said while I was cleaning his ears with a q-tip): "Man, I wish I had another ear cause this feels great!".

Time flies when you're having fun!

Wow! It's fall and I haven't blogged all summer. I'm sure the three people who used to read have stopped checking in by now. We had a fun-filled summer and have had a great start to the school year. I plan to post a bunch of photos soon. I also have something else up my sleeve... if there's anyone out there... stay tuned!

For a fun time...

Sons of the Republic is playing at Bennie's Bar in Longview this Saturday at 9:00.

Summer School

We're into our second week of summer break here. Before the school year ended, I had such awesome plans for Jackson's "educational" summer. We were going to:

1. Work on phonics and reading
2. Polish up addition skills and move on to subtraction
3. Improve writing skills
4. Make frequent trips to the library
5. Limit video game and tv time

So far, this is what Jackson has learned:

1. how to breathe through a scuba regulator
2. that he loves to skinny dip
3. it's much more fun to be thrown or pushed down the slip n slide than to do the work yourself
4. nothing fun happens in this house before 10am

He has done one math worksheet, which he aced. I'm not giving up, but I need to get a move on!

Look on the bright side...

I've been messing around with the blog. I'm trying to make it a place that I will be motivated to come often. I put some thought into the title...didn't want anything too generic or goofy. I came up with this one because I think it pretty much sums up my attitude about most things in life. It will remind me to be optimistic, and maybe it will work for you too.

P.S. I'm trying to teach myself how to make a new {photo} header for the blog in PSE. If anyone out there has any pointers, I would be deeply grateful!