Summer is officially over :(

Tonight is my first bus run. Our boys' football team has a scrimmage in a neighboring town.

This weekend is Sweet Corn Days her in good ol' Litchfield. The kids will be hanging out with friends all weekend. Alex and I have been volunteered to work in the concession stand during the 3 on 3 tournament so we'll be busy all day with that.

Sunday we have a family picnic to go to.

And Monday starts Middle School Volleyball practice.

This summer has flown by way too fast. I haven't accomplished anything I wanted to. I've just been lazy. We've had a lot of drama with the girls and their mom and it has taken a tole on me this summer. I tend to let all the little things bother me too much so when something big happens I spaz out. Not a fun way to spend the summer.

Well anyways I'll leave you with a few pictures from this summer. Enjoy the cooler months of the fall.

A Book Review: The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory

The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I love historical fiction. Some of what Philippa Gregory pulled into this book is true, most fiction...which she clearly states at the end of the book in her author's note. I am actually glad she chose to put that at the end. It didn't cloud up my enjoyment of the book.

It humors me the number of ladies that a queen had to have to help her get through her daily activities. Like dressing, and changing her dress 2 or 3 times per day. Having all these ladies and maids in waiting proved to be detrimental to several queens in this story. The queens just didn't live up the the great King Henry's expectations. Which were unbelievable when you consider his age, failing health, and size. I would have been inclined to find a younger suitor like was done in this book.

Take it for what it is....historical fiction.....and have fun with it. I did, even though it took me a month to read, I really enjoyed it and look forward to the other Philippa Gregory books I have on my shelf.

View all my reviews >>

I didn't realize that the next book I randomly picked was on my random reading challenge with Caribou's Mom, but I'll still mark it off my list. Random.org didn't pick it randomly for me but I did so it's gotta count....right. I love Maeve Binchey! Nights of Rain and Stars....hopefully it won't take me a month to read like The Boleyn Inheritance did.

Here is my list:
1. Peaches by Jodi Lynn Anderson
2. Nights of Rain and Stars by Maeve Binchy
3. One Mississippi by Mark Childress
4. The Smoke Jumper by Nicholas Evans
5. Good Family by Terry Gamble
6. Between Georgia by Joshilyn Jackson
7. Best Intentions by Emily Listfield
8. In Search of Eden by Linda Nichols
9. Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
10. The Lunch-Box Chronicles by Marion Winik
11. Table for Five by Susan Wiggs
12. The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar

Our summer is off to a swinging start. One trip to the ER under our belt. [ONLY] One day spent at the city's pool. Rabbits bought for 4H. Kitchen and dinning room painted...up next living room. The oldest step-daughter has a job.

Lots of lazy days ahead. We have a mini-vacation planned for the end of July and some camping trips. Hopefully July and August go slower than June has. :)

*thump* *thump* *thump* Is this thing on?

Anybody out there? I don't even want to look back and realize when the last time I posted was. And I really don't know why. We started volleyball practice and school and my laptop decided not to work anymore, so I've been forced to steal away time on the kids' computers. But you'll hear no excuses from me. I've just not made time.

Maybe I should be gone more often though, I got 1 new follower! :)

Now that summer is over I thought I'd post my "What I did this summer" essay. Maybe it will help me remember the lazy days when I didn't have to get up at 5 a.m. and not make it back home until 7 p.m. some nights. {Again, no excuses...we just always get way too busy this time of year.}

What I did this summer
by Heather Collins
9/12/2009

• Slept in and stayed up late as much as possible
• Visited the zoo several times. One time with my mom, sister and niece...that was my favorite trip.
• Started several quilts. I'm trying to use up some of my scraps and am making a lot of progress.
  
• Parted with my dear beloved camera. But I know she's in good hands with Julie. Julie has a long history with Kodak and actually wanted to take care of the ol' girl for me. I obliged knowing that Julie'd keep the dust off of her. {And I just bought a camera off of ebay, so be ready for all the pictures!}
  
• Spent several wonderful days with my flowers, not so many days with my garden.
• Read many great books.
• Enjoyed Simon (and Alex) as much as possible.
• Went camping only 1 time, but it was a great break.
• Cleaned out and organized the kitchen cabinets.
• Hit up a few garage sales and a couple of auctions.

I think those are the main highlights. The weather was great this summer. Cool and not so miserable that we didn't want to go outside and play. It was great getting to watch the boys play together and just have fun being brothers.

Nwo we are back to the grindstone. I am again driving the school bus, and coaching Middle School volleyball, but I have also taken on the task of subbing in our school's kitchen. I actually like it. I like being around the kids but am not stuck with them all day. So now I'm a yellow turd driving, food scooping, coach. What a combo!

Quilt A Long

AmandaJean @ CrazyMomQuilts is doing a second round of her 9-patch quilt along. I decided to join in this time. After seeing all the other great quilts from last time I wanted to join in on the fun this time.

Today is day 5 so I have 5 blocks made. At the end we will have 70 blocks (1 per day for 70 days). These are some scraps of material that I've had for awhile. I think I made a bag out of them at one time. I like the teal/brown combo, so I thought I'd use them up. I'm guessing that 70 days from now will be getting close to fall so I thought these colors will be perfect for a quilt to be done at that time.

I also got a few more blocks done to add to my kaleidescope quilt. I have a ton of smaller pieces that I've kept just for a quilt like that and I love seeing it all starting to come together.

Other than that not a whole lot going on here. The girls are here for the weekend. My favorite nephew is coming down for a few days to go to a football camp at Hillsdale College (kinda a big deal!) so hopefully he'll be able to fit in some time with us. Other than that we're just being lazy, enjoying some movies and good books.

Thanks to all of you who sent birthday wishes. Just another day. Went out to eat and the ever popular McDonald's. I've got to admit that Quarter Pounder was pretty stinkin' good! They've got their teenie beanie babies back so I'm sure we'll be making several stops. Simon really wants the Ronald and Grimace. We'll see.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

It's amazing what you can accomplish when you get up at 7 a.m. and don't take a nap during the day!

I got quite a bit done today. I finally cleaned up my craft room, which caused me to realize that I have a lot more scrap material than I thought I did so I can get working on my kalidescope quilt!

I made a sock monkey. I have never made one before and it was pretty fun. It only took me 2 hours which was way longer than I thought it would, but still it was relaxing quiet time all alone.

Simon fell asleep in brother's bed. Which I think is just the cutest thing. He just loves his brother so much. While he was napping and I was in my room in the basement I thought I heard a thud. But no crying so I assumed everything was okay. Well after later inspection about an hour and a half later I realized that the thud was Simon. He fell out of brother's bed. But he was able to grab a pillow and blankie and made himself comfortable right there on the floor.

The boys just finished a peanut butter and mulberry jelly sandwich. They both are still happy with the homemade jelly I made last week. And now they are playing their DS's. It's funny to listen in on their conversations. Simon (3) just yelled out, "Oh, yea baby. I won. Oh Yea. Oh YeA!" He is hilarious. Brother (10) is trying to help him out. They really are best buds.

I just love summer! No real schedule to keep to. Just doing what makes you happy. What made you happy today!