{{What a long Week}}

Boy has it been a long, funky kind of week. Monday was fine, but by Tuesday, I was already feeling as if it should be Friday. Getting up every morning has been a struggle. I was exhausted AND I even went to bed at earlier times.

We had two birthdays this week (pictures to follow). Emily turned 15 and Greg turned 17. I can't believe my "babies" are this old. For some reason, I was more depressed that Greg is his age than Emily. He's always been the easy going, no drama, all around great kid. Shame on me for saying this but of all my kids he is the easiest. Very low maintainence, except here of late where he reminds me on a daily basis (numerous times a day) that he doesn't have a car! He has put several job applications in but no luck. That's the hold up. Job=car. It also has really hit me hard that he will be a senior in high school in less than 6 weeks. Where has the time gone? So, my next year will be focusing on him and getting him ready for college. I think he will go locally though unlike Liz. That's okay with me. We have several awesome univerisities close to home. USF, University of Tampa, St. Leo University. But who knows, maybe he will change his mind.

Oh my goodness, Mark is doing great in school. Without going into to much detail, he finally (after two years), got his IEP (Individual Education Plan). He's been getting one on one, tutoring, extra time for tests and he is doing so well. You know how you have people come into your lives and just make a huge impact? Well, he has two. Ms. B. has been tutoring him since after Xmas getting him ready for the FCAT. She was instrumental, along with his everday teacher, getting someone to finally help us. This has been ongoing since he was in first grade. Ms. D. is his one on one teacher that comes and sits with him and keeps him on task. For the first time EVER, he likes school and doesn't fight me to get up and get ready in the morning. We hit a roadblock with one particular person and now that that person is gone, we had someone new to start all over with him and actually help him. It's just a bummer that I can't get all the money we have spent on our own getting him tested back. We shouldn't have had to go to that extent but we did what we had to do. On a happy note, he had a 90% on his math test last week. This week he brough home another 90%. The teacher ended up retesting the kids since there were so many other low grades. So he retook it and got a 105% (he got the bonus). This is HUGE.....

Liz will be moving back home on Thursday. I'm very excited but at the same time, we will be back to a "full house" again. YIKES. I think she will have a hard time getting back to rules, curfew and other things. I don't blame her though. I wouldn't like to move back after having freedom like she did. I think the hardest thing for her will be tolerating that we all still have to get up for school. She will just have to adapt.........I figured I would give her a few days to get some sleep before I push her hard to get a job.

Tomorrow Emily is having some friends over for a birthday party. This is when I am so happy I live in Florida. All I have to do is order a pizza, turn the pool heater on and then we are good to go. I won't have all these teenage girls in my house. Man, I love Florida!

Well, happy Friday. I'm sorting and organizing pictures. I've also purged a lot of old scrapbook supplies out. I'm hoping to have this room done by the end of the weekend.

{{The Cardinal}}

I love red birds. I always have as long as I can remember. Lisa knows my story about me and redbirds. I have a few red bird "collectibles" that I have collected over the years. Ornaments and that kind of stuff. I even have the red bird beanie baby. I think they are the prettiest birds. When we lived in Ohio, they were everywhere. I'm sure that's why they were the official state bird. But to me, they meant much more. When I moved to Utah, I missed the red birds. One day, I saw one. In Utah of all places. I would just smile. Since moving to Florida, I see a red bird every now and then. I decided to snap a few pictures to some day put in an album so that I can share the "red bird" story with my kids. Right now, if I shared with them "my story" they probably would think I was nuts.

One day I was sitting in the living room and I hear this "peck" on the window. I peak out the blinds and there's the red bird. This picture was taken through the front window....sorry about the glare.

Last month, we heard this "pecking and scratching" on the dining room window. There is the red bird. So, I grabbed my camera and took this shot. Sorry it's blurry but it was 6:3o in the morning and the lighting was awful.

Last Saturday, Steve and I hit Home Depot to get some flowers to plant in the front pots. For some reason, I was drawn to the bird feeder aisle. Steve thought we should get one and put it in the back yard by the pool. We found a nice shape that we liked. As we were looking at seed, Steve points out that there is "red bird seed". Even though it was way more expensive than the regular seed, he suggested we buy it. He knows my story! So we got it and he came home and hung the bird feeder up. I haven't seen any action on the bird feeder since it was hung.

I've been in a bummer mood lately. I needed something...a sign that everything is good. It happened earlier. Today I was folding laundry in my bedroom and I heard some chirps. I look out the window and there they were. Not one, but two red birds. I grab my camera and went outside to grab a few pictures. Aren't they pretty? I think tomorrow morning, I'm going to sit outside on the lanai and have my coffee and wait and see if "my birds" show up.

I had the zoom on as close as it would go. I hope I can figure out a way on Photoshop to zoom in closer. I'm sure there is a way but I have no clue how to do it. I can also zoom in on the picture on my camera. I don't know if I can save it or not. But, I just love these pictures. Well, I snapped out of my mood thanks to these birds. Crazy huh. You all probably think I am nuts too being cheered up by a cardinal!

Well, it's April 15th. Can you believe how fast 2009 is going by? School is winding down and Liz will be moving home at the end of the month. Her first year flew by. I'm still taking it in that Greg will be a senior and I get to do this all over again. Senior pictures, announcements, and college. Emily's birthday is this Sunday and she will be 15!!!! Old enough to get a learner's permit. This just can't be. Greg will be 17 on the 23rd! I can't be getting this old.

Not much else going. I got my Easter pictures of the kids uploaded on my computer but I will share those another day. The cardinals deserve their own entry!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Last weekend while I was hanging out with Liz, we decided to go the movies. We went and saw "He's Just Not That Into You". I really had not planned on seeing that particular movie, but there was nothing else showing. So we went. I am so glad we did. What a great movie! It's one of those movies that you keep thinking about. I fell in love with Justin Long. I never knew much about him but he was awesome in this movie. Jennifer Connelly is another one. What a great role for her. Don't know much about her either but she was my favorite character in the movie. I don't know the name of the gal who played GiGi, but her character was just too cute. Loved her. She was so funny. Scarlett Johannsen played the "bad" character. I came out of there just hating her. (hate's a strong word, I know). Hopefully, the next time I see her in a movie I will like her again. I'm glad that I went to see this with Liz versus Steve. He would have hated the movie. Definately a chick movie. It's also one that I will buy when it comes out on DVD. The music is awesome. Every single song! I had planned on going home and looking up the soundtrack on ITunes and downloading it. So, when we were stocking her up at Target, I just happened to see the CD on sale. It was $11. So, I bought it. I figured it was cheaper to buy the CD and download it to my IPOD instead of downloading all 17 songs off of Itunes. That's how good the music is. So, as I'm typing this, I'm listening to the music. AWESOME.

I'm still plugging away at organizing my scrapbook room. I'm slowly making some progress. It's just a matter of letting go of stuff that I no longer will use (or ever even needed). I also am hoping to get my Easter cards made today so I can get them mailed tomorrow. I got a few layouts that I need to upload and share.

Well, that's about all for today. Just the usual stuff for me. Laundry............laundry..........and more laundry. It's never ending here in our house. Have a great Sunday!

Since I joined Facebook, I find that I spend less and less time on my blog. I really am hoping to change that. I love my blog. Since Facebook made all the new changes, I find I am spending less time there. All that information on who does what stresses me out. Way too much to read. So, I'm hoping to be a better blogger again.

Last weekend was mom's weekend at Elizabeth's sorority house. She's a Phi Mu. What a fun time we had. I got caught in traffic on my way up there so it took over 3 hours. I missed dinner so we ended up going out on our own and we hooked up with her friend that she went to high school with. We went to this awesome deli called McAllister's Deli. Had the best baked potato. Much better than the pizza that everyone else had. I stayed a the Hilton Gardens and man what a nice place. It was so quiet compared to my own house. I really enjoyed it and it was a nice break. So, I am posting a few pictures of our weekend. I took a lot more. So many that they will get their own scrapbook album.

The Phi Mu house. Isn't this the cutest pink house you have ever seen?

Here we are after the tea on Saturday afternoon.

Here we are in front of the Phi Mu founders picture in the front room.

Elizabeth in front of this year's composite. I actually took her picture and had it framed so when she comes home she can hang it in her room to replace all her high school stuff.

She has had the best year at the University of Florida. I am one proud mom of the person she has become. It's amazing what a year can do to someone. She really made the most of her first year in college. It's so hard to believe that she will be home at the end of the month. This year just flew. I'm freaking out about where I am going to put all her stuff. We have no room! So, I guess we will be clearing out the garage in the hopes that we can stack all her stuff out of the way.

We have only one more day until a much needed Spring break. We are burned out! All I can think about is sleep! I can't wait.

Not much else going on. I've been purging and organizing my scrapbook room. It got way out of hand and I wanted to really enjoy it again and actually do some scrapbooking. I am hoping to get some done when the kids are off.

I'm still working out! I still have a long way to go but I am noticing changes. I am wearing clothes that I haven't worn in years. I had to go out and get some new capris because the ones I had were too big. It's hard work. I have a whole new appreciation for those on the biggest loser.

We really need some rain down here. So say a prayer for us that we get some soon. We had a wild fire in the subdivision a couple of weeks ago. They are started to get way to close for comfort. Starting tomorrow, the city is enforcing strict water restrictions. No more sprinklers, washing our cars or pressure washing the houses. I'm really nervous about not running our sprinklers. We have sod versus normal grass and it is very expensive to replace. Once it's dead, it's dead. We just can't throw seed down and water it. It has to be ripped out and laid back down. We also have Homeowners Assocation that enforce green lawns. You will get a letter and a possible fine if your grass is dead. I think they will have a very hard time enforcing that but they can be jerks about a lot of stupid and minor stuff. One time I got a letter because I put my garbage can out too early. A couple of years ago, we got a letter because we were replacing some sod and it was when the hurricanes rolled through. The sod fields were under water and the landscapers couldn't access it. So, of course, we got "the letter". No fine though because then I had to send a letter back to them explaining the situation. Oy. We also have to get our house painted this year and we have to "get permission" to paint it and have the color approved. That's my next project. The house needs to be painted really bad. So, nex time you say a prayer, pray for some much needed rain for us down here.

Well, that's about it. Hopefully, I will get some pictures of my nice clean scrapbook space to post. Have a good one.