Take time to smell the roses

I find it nearly unbelievable that it's already August. The year and the days go way to fast for my liking.
I am also guilty of trying to cram way too much into my life, and not be able to just enjoy the "simple" pleasures. I especially realized that twice this last week & a half. As I mentioned in my last post, we are very busy getting ready for our daughters wedding, and as they were engaged the first part of June, and planning a Aug. 30 wedding, that doesn't leave a whole lot of time.
A camping trip, even just an overnight one was really a little more than I wanted to think about or deal with. You may wonder why that is such a big deal to me, but in thinking about it I realized that this is the reason:
*We have a 7 passenger van.
*We have 5 children & 2 adults
*We have to haul a tent, as we don't have a camper/trailer
*That means that along with the passengers & tent, we also have to haul:
**suitcases/bags
**sleeping bags
**air mattresses
**camp chairs
**coolers with food
**cooking supplies
**water
**7 peoples MISC!!
Remember, it's only a 7 passenger Ford windstar van...Read that NOT VERY MUCH SPACE FOR ALL THE ABOVE!
That means find it, buy it, load it, travel, unload it, put it up, use it, take it down, pack it up, travel, if you're lucky you get your kids to unload it, dump it in the house, then the kids all go to bed, you crash, the house is trashed from all of the above, & the next day the older kids all go off to their various "necessary" activities, & you are left to put away and clean house. HMMM
Just how relaxing is all that. Makes me tired to think about it, and so I'd rather stay home.
Well, anyway if you read the lower posts, you know that I didn't balk and stay home, and that I (along with everyone else) had a great time even if I did end up sleeping in 4 feet of the backseat van space.
So what I'm really saying here is that once we got across state to the lake/camping destination, it was beautiful, calm and quiet, good company & relaxing along with being so much fun that It was worth all the above. Was it work? well maybe, but it didn't matter. It's summer, we enjoyed family time together, It was great fun.
Saturday (yesterday) was another one of those "ahhh moments". My niece & sister hosted Jeanne's bridal shower, and it was an outdoor lawn party. That generated more busyness for me since it added more commotion to my household with two daughters & two grandchildren being here, a shopping trip on Friday out of town & more misc shopping & getting ready Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon found us out at my sisters lovely country home with many guests wearing their "as requested" hats for a lawn party shower. As we sat out side under the shade of the trees in the heat, sipping our cold drinks, enjoying the breezes, watching Jeanne opening her gifts & having a great time just relaxing & visiting with friends near & distant who were gathered, it hit me that I was unaware of what enjoying a mid-summer day outside really felt like. I stay inside in the air conditioning, I work all day on one thing or the other, if I have to run an errand (which I avoid if at all possible) I hurry to the van, hit the air conditioning, rush thru the errand, rush back home & hurry into the house again. (And probably complain along the way about how hot it is.)
Thank you Raimie & Gay for a lovely day. I truly enjoyed it. Was it hot? well, maybe, that didn't matter. It's summer, we were together & had a great time.
So what I'm really saying here is, I'm tired of living like this. I'm not tired of all I choose to do, as I do it because I like to. I'm tired of having too much other clutter/stuff in my/our life that hinders my enjoyment of doing something for fun. Flylady describes STUFF as "Something That Undermines Family Fun". I have way too much STUFF in my life, and it really does cause me too much stress, which truly keeps me from enjoying my family and the days as I should.
It's a new month, a new week, and tomorrow's a new day. The year is 1/2 over plus a month, and I have not near accomplished what I wanted to yet. The top of my list is un-burying myself from the clutter of my house & mind & life so I can enjoy my life more. My husband, kids, grandkids, family, friends, house, hobbies, and yes even my "chores".


Two of the other things we did this last week were birthday parties for little girls. Yes, we were plenty busy with "other things". But..."Let them be little".
Enjoy the moments....in the blink of an eye they're grown up!!
Felicity's 4th birthday party (my great niece)

The invitations..."Fancy Nancy" is a big hit with our little girls around here! If you have little girls, you might want to check out those books for a hilarious funny read!

The little butterfly girls surrounding the lone little boy (aka my sweet grandson) who had to come to the party with his mommy! (Anita, if you're reading this, you'll want to check the picture out!)

Making butterfly artwork

The cake...a work of art by my multi-talented niece!

This little butterfly thought she'd check out the presents!


Pinata fun!

If you noticed at the bottom of the invitation, it reads: "P.S. My brother will not be there because he only knows how to be plain and messy"..... He's cute as a bug, but the messy part fits him very well, and he would have liked to have been right in the middle of it!

We finally had a birthday party for Kara and Kaela too. Since their friends from Lincoln were in town this week with their Grammie, and Kyrie was here, it was the perfect time to have a little girls tea party. "American Dolls" were top of the list for these girls, and since most of our other girls got one, we decided this was the year. I actually bought Kara's doll off e-bay, and then could have kicked myself because I didn't really end up saving that much money anyway, and it didn't get here in time. I did get her some of the accessories tho, so she got those & knows the doll is coming. I asked the other girls to bring their American dolls with them, and we got out the dolls my older girls have here.
Happy Birthday AGAIN Kara & Kaela, the years are flying by way to fast for your mommie!


The "older" girls making place mats using an American doll catalog, scrapbook paper & a page protector


Kara 9, Kaela 7.....Best friends, cousins & niece.

The girls & their dolls.

Kaela & her new Bitty twins... "Derek & Elizabeth" and Kara and her doll "Josephina"