I was one of those people who had to watch last night's "big announcement". I was flipping between that show and the Bachelorette. I was not surprised at all by the show. I was extremely sad. They went from being a "normal" family to................not sure what the name I am thinking of. Fame definately got to them. I have watched the show since the beginning. I used to be so impressed with Kate and how she stuck to a budget, kept the house clean and took care of 8 kids. As the show went on, I saw Kate change the most. I have always thought she talked down to Jon and treated him as one of the kids. I hated how she would tell the kids that "you don't have to listen to daddy". That drove me NUTS. I felt sorry for Jon. He definately pulled his weight. He does more than my hubby has ever done. And how about how Kate treated her family? Her brother and his wife really were there for Kate. But when she didn't need them anymore, she just shunned them. And whatever happened to her BFF Beth? Beth did alot for them. She wasn't even at the birthday party. I thought it was strange that no one was at the party except for Karla--who has folded her laundry through the years. I also couldn't stand how the show became all about how they got all this stuff. I'm sure it was all free. The motorcyles, the playhouses, cooking with Emeril, etc. What happened to their Friday night family movie night? Remember when Kate always had her camera in her hand? I have seen her even bother taking pictures. I guess she has a "personal photographer" for that now. Well, I hope that they can find peace. Especially for those kids. I hope Jon can go back to work like he wants and I hope Kate realizes that Jon wasn't all that bad. I didn't feel sorry for her at all last night. She definately played the "poor me" card. I have to do it all by myself. blah blah blah.

Anyway, the other show I am hooked on is the Bachelorette. What is she thinking? She has made some poor choices. I will save that for another post though.

Have a great Tuesday!

EDITED: I was just reading our newspaper and it says that according to divorce papers filed by Kate, they have lived apart for TWO years. So why buy a million dollar home and go through the farce of renewing their vows last year. What a bunch of phonies! Reality show? I think not.

Happy Monday!

We survived another weekend. Greg spent Friday night and all day Saturday at a baseball tournament. Guess what? Freedom won! I didn't go. Too hot for me. We have another tournament this weekend on our fields. Hopefully, they can play as well.

For Father's Day, we drove over to Clearwater and had lunch at Skyline Chili. For those of you who don't know what Skyline is, it's a chili restaurant that started in Cincinnati. It's one of those places either you like, or you don't! We LOVE it!. It's not your traditional Mexican chili. It has a greek twist to it. So, we celebrated Father's Day with 5 ways and cheese coneys. YUM.

Mark turned 9 on Saturday! Where has the time gone? I made his cake this year. Not sure if I will do that again. It was fun though and it turned out cute. Everyone who knows Mark, knows that he LOVES Spongebob. I found the cake pan on clearance a while ago. It wasn't too hard to make. I worked out on Friday morning so my arms were killing me. So, it took me a lot longer to ice the cake than I thought it would. I had to keep stopping. I was going to upload some photos but guess what? Blogger won't let me. It's probably "computer operator error". So, when I have more time to play with it, I will upload them.

I don't have much going on this week except baseball, tutoring for Mark and Greg gets his senior pictures taken Friday morning. That's pretty much how things are here for awhile. BORING.

Well, better log off here and get my day started. The kids are up now, so my quiet time is done for the day. Time to refill my coffee as well.

Have a great Monday.

Greetings!

Summer has officially arrived here in our house. Kids are on break. Kids are still unemployed and the heat is on. It is hot here in the Sunshine State. I pretty much only go out if I have to. It finally stopped raining. However, we still need the rain. Yard is drying out again and we are still under water restrictions. The love bugs are finally gone. Man, seemed like they lasted forever. How much "love" do insects need?

They passed Mark onto the 4th grade. I don't know if that is good or not but we working so hard to "catch up" this summer. He is still continuing his tutoring. Hopefully a break from the classroom setting will do him good.

This morning I ventured out to Joann Fabrics and just walked around. I love all the new fabrics out there. The colors are so happy. I used to sew. Small things. I actually worked at Joann Fabrics when the kids were babies. It was my night out of the house. I used to have a whole trunk full of fabrics but I got rid of them when we started moving around. So, I've decided to attempt to sew again. Before I do, I have to clean up my scrapbook room. I'm still scrapbooking. I will never give that up. So, we shall see if I actually follow through.

Not much else happening here. Baseball season is here. From now until the end of July it's baseball, baseball and more baseball! Unfortunately, it's so hot that I really don't enjoy the games. They do have a tournament scheduled in July in Key West. Never been there so I have to decide whether to let Steve an Greg go or make it a "family trip". Mark does not sit very well through baseball games so I'm not sure it will be worth it to take him. It's also a 7 hour drive each way. At least I have some time before we have to decide.

I'm also getting used to the idea that I have to do the whole "senior year" thing again. We should be getting our card any time to schedule pictures. Cha Ching.

I think I mentioned awhile ago how I found this TV channel on our Verizon. It's called Retro TV. I'm obsessed with watching Emergency. I remember watching that show as a kid. Yes it was cheesy but hey it was the 70's. Fun stuff.

They also have lots of other shows on that I grew up watching.......Battlestar Galactica, Hardy Boys, Black Sheep Squadron, Buck Rogers in the 20th Century. Those are just a few of the shows.

Also, two new movies that I have just fallen in love with. New In Town is hilarious. I have watched at least half a dozen times so far. Total chick movie. I'm not a big Renee fan but I actually liked her in this. Harry Connick, Jr. is one of my favorites and he is so cute in this movie. If you haven't seen it, you should. I especially love how they are "scrappers" in the movie.

"He's Just Not That Into You" is another good one. Jennifer Connelly, Justin Long and the girl who played Gigi were my favorites. Again, I've seen this one a couple of times. Chick movie. Hubby's will hate it.

I didn't mean to make this a movie review post but if you haven't seen this you must.

Well, have a great weekend. Make it a good one!

ONLY TWO MORE DAYS............to get up in the morning and get everyone out the door. Tomorrow is the last day of school. Can I get a Woo Hoo! Greg is a senior! It's official now since the graduation was on Monday. A senior!!!! Emily is a sophomore. YIKES. Where has the time gone???? Still no word, of course, on Mark. Still no contact from the school. Big surprise.

Speaking of Mark, I took over "room mom" duties last month. The night BEFORE teacher appreciation week. So, I made sure on Monday morning to get up to the class so that each kid had a flower to give to the teacher since no one was ever told what was going on. So, I was able to get a note sent home asking for a "small" donation to get her a gift card. Guess what? Only 4 kids sent in a donation. Out of 18! So, I new I had to be creative for the end of the year gift. I had this brilliant (and most of all FREE) idea to have each kid send in their favorite recipe and a picture of themselves and I would make her a "Class Cookbook" since I had heard from another teacher that she loves to cook. Guess what??? Only 5 kids sent in recipes. How sad. So, off to Barnes & Noble I went and picked up a cookbook. It's actually a pretty cool cookbook. Very kid friendly--she has 4 young kids of her own. Then I went to Williams Sonoma and got some cute silver measuring spoons and a lion shaped spatula. I'm just going to type up the recipes from the kids that I have and clip them into the back of the cookbook and put a ribbon around it with the spatula and spoons. I'm NOT making it from the class. She will know who it's from. It's just so sad. She's a great teacher, IMO. I know Mark struggled but she did everything she could to help him. I was impressed.

I'm still working out twice a week. I know I should do more. Now that school is out, I'm hoping to up it or at least work out on my own. Our neighborhood has it's own community center and facility so I really should use it. I also have invested in some weights that I can do at home. I have noticed subtle (sp?) changes. It still takes me a day or two to recover after the workouts but it's so worth it. I have noticed my blood pressure has come down. Now my goal is to get off the meds totally.

Anyone watching Wipout on Wednesday nights? I love that show! It's fun to watch. I love the commentaries that they do with them. Such a different show to watch. Last summer we watched that and the Japanese game show one. Too cute.

Well, better get off here. Lots to do today. Have a great Wednesday!