Cindy's Life as She Knows It

This week was pretty low flying, as the radar goes.  I didn't have daycare kids after Tuesday and I had alot of work here so we stayed in during the day and had football every night.  Koda and I spent some time on the deck enjoying cooler air than we've seen in awhile and we hit the thrift store for yet more books.  We slept in, caught up on reading and Koda, of course, got bored.  Wednesday night I skipped football and went to dinner with my sister, Thursday we were all at football, including Kris and Nat and MomMom.  Friday during the day Kris and Nat took Koda to the state park to play in the river and enjoy some time outdoors while I worked, but unfortunately, after football, Koda came home with a fever, which he carried through the night.  He's been complaining of headaches lately and on Wednesday he said his ear hurt, plus he is dizzy, so I am thinking ear or sinus infection.  We bought him the Xbox Minecraft game today to play and we have to go up for a meeting and t

Today was a day that I was sure my son and at least one of the day camp girls was out to get me.  My son went to bed late and was up before me, so I knew I was doomed.  I took them to run some errands after breakfast, picking up a freecycled batch of games for them to play, and then brought them back to roll out sugar cookie dough at the table and make people cookies for our book club meeting this afternoon.  This didn't turn out to be the most fun activity for me, but they had a blast and kept sneaking pieces of cookie dough when they thought I wasn't looking lol.   After lunch, hot dogs for National Hot Dog day!, they watched part of a movie and then we headed to the library to get the room ready and wait for our friends in installment three of the Roald Dahl Summer Book Club.  This week's selection was The B.F.G. (Big Friendly Giant) and it was full of jibberish and nonsense words that were fun for the kids.  We started out reviewing the book and then brought up chara

Today was a busy day at the Baublitz day camp.  The kids played their morning Mine Craft then played some Wii Bowling and sang a little Karaoke.  Then they went outside and played toss with lacrosse sticks and then put them away and played some croquet.  This was all before 10:30am!  When they came in, I sat them down with Monsters University packets.  There were coloring pages, word games, a Monsters Math paper and a design your own school crest paper, along with a laminated placemat to do games on like they give the kids in the restaurants.  Then they each got a Kindle Fire and got to go to www.disney.go.com/Monsters-University  to design their own monsters and play some games. After a pizza lunch, 30 minutes of quiet reading time and a little more Mine Craft time, they came out and made Monster Mash faces with kleenex boxes and craft supplies.  They turned out really cute, as you can see.  Then they finished their packets and went back in for some karaoke. Dakota started footbal

This weekend was so busy it flew by and I find myself sitting in my chair on Sunday night at 8:30 knowing I have a busy week ahead and feeling as if I haven't even wound down from the week that was.  Yesterday I was up early and grocery shopping, which for me, is an every other week, more than half a day chore.  I dropped my son off early to my mother in law and picked him up around 2:30.  I tried to squeeze in some of my PCA work, clean the pool, fix the filter and get some chores down before  the husband and I got crabs to celebrate having been together as a couple for 24 years and watched a movie with our eight year old.  Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs isn't gourmet fare, but it was fun and we enjoyed it. Sunday dawned early and we had to be out the door by 9:15 for a four hour football camp that my husband had set up and that my son was participating in at Archbishop Curley.  It was hot, although not as hot as the previous seven days have been, and I was able to find a

Today we had one boy and one girl for daycamp, plus Dakota.  They got to play their Kindle Fires for a little while this morning then came out to breakfast.  They attempted badmitton, but it is over 100 degrees today and between the heat and the bickering, that didn't last 5 minutes.  While they were out, I split up the large pile of water balloons I had filled recently and gave them each a bowl with 12 balloons.  They each made Angry Bird faces on theirs, an idea I found on www.notimeforflashcards.com , and then went outside with sidewalk chalk to draw 3 pigs on the driveway.  They then took their water balloons out and had a contest, keeping score on the sidewalk, to see who could get the most points hitting the pigs.  This lasted a much shorter time than I anticipated!  I got them to clean up by telling them that when every balloon piece was picked up they could get on their bathing suits.  Of course that was incentive to clean up quickly and they got into their suits and jumpe

Wednesdays and Thursdays are my off days....meaning I don't have daycampers here.  I was in my usual summer "no set routine" funk yesterday and spent most of my day not knowing what I did to pass the time. I did watch my daughter, son and granddaughter play in the pool and took some pictures.  I did a few work folders.  I took Dakota to VBS and then I came home and watched a little Paranormal Witness til I scared myself and got cracking on my diningroom desk.  I made a good amount of progress there for our upcoming school start and tonight I hope to finish up. Today, Thursday, I got up fairly early, enjoyed coffee and did my chores before Koda and I went to see Despicable Me 2 at Hoyts theater.  I wasn't happy about the choice of movie, but I have to admit it was charming in many ways, sometimes funny and only a little bit too long.  Overall, it was enjoyable.  Afterwards I found out that a site I had posted  my trip to this morning was getting me a good response an

Tuesday was a day I was not feeling the love for anyone or anything.  I was flat out grumpy and got worse as the day progressed.  I let the daycamp girls and Dakota play Mine Craft on Kindle way too long then took them out for a quick errand and bought them donuts for breakfast.  Not feeling cooking either.  They fought, whined, tattled and were snarky to one another and, come to think of it, maybe I didn't start out grumpy, but they made me that way!  My son especially was on his "A" game, being flip, rude and sarcastic. I brought them out and had them do their packets, but they didn't like them, needed help doing things they were perfectly capable of and fought some more.  Okay.  Definitely had enough and it wasn't lunch time.  I wanted to send them outside, but it was 100 degrees and they had to wait to get into the pool until my granddaughter went down for a nap.  So in the room they went to pay Sorry and Guess Who until lunch, which they threw all over the

Today the kiddies started coming at 7:45 and we had three girls, 8, 8 and 10 and two boys, 8 and 4 for the morning hours.  We had breakfast at 9, did birthday packets with find a words, answered questions about each birthday, coloring, ABC order and more. Then we made kooshies to put over our water bottles using foam cylinders from A.C. Moore and foam stickers so that we would know who's water bottle belonged to who over the course of the day.  These were a big hit! Bathings suits on by 10 and outside in the 95 degree heat under the tree for badmitton and water balloons.  Into the pool by 10:30 for swimming (and screeching and jumping and wave making!) and onto the trampoline at 11:30 to dry off so we could come in for some cupcake decorating. Inside and dressed back in shorts and tshirts we decorated birthday cupcakes and then got ready for lunch, when we welcomed another girl, age 9 and her 4 year old brothers, new homeschoolers who, with their mom, were coming to meet us and

My husband and I had a belated birthday date planned Saturday and I was really excited about it.  We left the house around 1pm and took the light rail into the city and then walked down to the harbor to Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. for lunch.  It's a new attraction in Baltimore City, but we had to wait for a table, so it must be popular.  It turned out to be a fun place with great quirky ambiance, fun and friendly staff and good food. I got Shrimper's Heaven, which was coconut shrimp, breaded shrimp and cold steamed shrimp in 3 upright basket with an additional flute of fries.  My husband got shrimp scampi over linguine and we both enjoyed out meals and the fun conversation we had with a wide eyed, eager young man who was working for the summer from Serbia and was asking about the "match" we were going to in our Orioles shirts. We walked back up to the ball park and took our seats under the scoreboard in section 92 just as the National Anthem got underway.  We enjoyed each

So today is my 48th birthday.  I like the date of my birthday....I have always thought July 12 had a nice ring to it and I've only ever met one or two people with the same birthday.  It's not been a great day, but that's how it goes sometimes.  Nothing special was planned here for the day with my family and I think my oldest son doesn't even remember, as he has had to work almost straight through the last two days and my little son never feels the need to do anything special for me because I am mom, you know....mom.  I feel a little hurt by the lack of attention, but my family tends to expect much more from me than they give, which is how I have raised them.  Hmmmm, a counselor would have a ball with that one, now wouldn't she/he??  ;-) So the day started with a kiss from the hubby and a phone call from my mom and oldest sister.  Both my best girlfriends were in touch and my daughters called.  Facebook has a way of making you feel popular for a day, as well, with

Today started out with me oversleeping because I had bad dreams all night when I actually did get any sleep about the nightmares from Rise of the Guardian movie stealing my granddaughter away.  When I was just staring at the ceiling I was worried about my travel consultant business and the commitment I made to do my first trip that I am not sure is going to be successful. After waking late I had to rush to get out the door on time to take Koda to VBS, only to realize I had no money, no gas and no key to the truck to see if it had gas instead of my car. I had to call my husband to meet me with money, had to get gas and then hit traffic and every red light and was 20 minutes late for VBS and 20 minutes late for my breakfast date with my girlfriend.  She was kind enough to meet at my house and bring me a Dunkin Donut muffin and after sending in another report to work that they couldn't find, I finally got to sit down and chat and it sure did feel good.  There is something to be said

Yesterday was our second meeting of the Summer of '13 Roald Dahl Book Club.  For the first book, Danny, Champion of the World, we only had the day camp kids.  This time we had Dakota and the two girl campers, my friend Jackie and her three boys, Jennifer and her two kids, my friend Jeanette and her five kids and a friend from baseball and her two boys.  The book was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and we had fun with it.   We set the tables with bright colored tablecloths and I sat out brightly colored bowls of all sorts of candy, including Wonka Gobstoppers and Nerds.  There were gumballs, M&Ms, Skittles, gummy bears, gumdrops, licorice, chocolate chips and lollipops.  The kids arrived and got started on a coloring picture of Willie Wonka and a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory word search.  Then we talked about each of the characters and as a group, answered some questions about the story.  The kids were excitable and seemed to love the story...but who doesn't love Will

There was nothing special about this weekend, which was just fine with me.  It had been a busy week, so low key was welcome.  My granddaughter came to spend some time with Nana this morning and Dakota went with Dad to football workouts.  It was extremely hot, but they are tough, I suppose.  Definitely tougher than I am!!  When Dakota got back he took a quick bath because he smelled to high heaven and then I took him, his friend and Natalie to the Arbutus library for a Mine Craft club.  The older kids went into the meeting room and Natalie and I went to the kids section where she loudly named each food item in the little kitchen area, put the baby to sleep and called the cash register a piano repeatedly.  Love her!  It took 40 minutes of telling her to talk quietly every time she yelled, which was considerable, but she finally seemed to get the idea and we went out into the main area where she built with Duplos, played with the train table, colored, read books and then she and I played

Yesterday my husband, sons and I left the house around 11am for our day trip into Philadelphia's sports section.  We had a 2pm tour of Lincoln Financial Field where the Eagles play and although it was very hot, the tour went off without a hitch.  The stadium is, unfortunately, very unimpressive, but both boys really seemed to enjoy it. After the tour we needed to get out of the heat, so we went into the Xfinity Live center, which is a large building filled with smaller pubs and grills, with a huge tv screen on one wall.  we got drinks and appetizers and asked for a pitcher of water.  The waitress brought us this huge, tall cylinder that must be their signature container for beer, but ours, of course, was filled with water and everyone was looking at us.  It was a bit embarrassing, but pretty funny.  Afterward we went out back and played corn hole together, which was alot of fun and passed the time. At 6pm we headed across the street to Citizen's Bank Park and it was a sharp

Today started out well, sleeping in til 9:15!  That's really late for me!  My daughter texted me yesterday at 6:45 and I scolded her because I could have slept in.  Today she called laughing at 9:15 and said "I KNOW I didn't wake you up today".  Yep!  Sure did!  But we had to get up anyway.  Did some chores, checked on my new business at www.facebook.com/SunAndSportsTravel   and then my mother in law came over with 2 dozen donuts for breakfast.  I guess she thought we were donut hogs, lol, but we will be eating donuts for days!!  We all left for the Arbutus 4th of July parade at 11:45 and were sitting in our chairs waiting for the parade to start by 12:00.  It was an okay parade, slow starting, but with some good bands near the end.  There was a large float with a man dressed as Francis Scott Key sitting at a desk with his name in big letters on the sides.  A mom next to us called his name to take a picture and the young lady, about 11 or 12 years old next to her, ask

Soooooooo I did it!  I went ahead and took the leap and made my hobby a business!  I woke up this morning knowing today was the day I was going to take off and get my business off the ground.  I have now started Sun and Sports Travel and I have insurance and a FB page and I have notified all the friends and family in my network and I hope they will continue to spread the word.  Our first trip booked trip is for September 1, 2013 to New York to watch the Orioles take on the Yankees in Yankee Stadium.  We have a 90 minute all you can eat party before the game and group tickets for section 406.  I have put Hubers Bus Company on stand by and I am ready to rock and roll.  All I need now is to fill the seats on the bus and get all the contracts in hand.  If you would like to see what's happening on my facebook page, you can check it out at www.facebook.com/SunAndSportsTravel or email me for more information at Cindylouwho712@gmail.com .  I'm nervous, but super excited!

Today is day two of our patriotic week.  We got a late start and then had breakfast and Dakota and the girls got started on their packets.  There were coloring sheets, word games and math, all with a patriotic flavor.  They did red, white and blue pipe cleaner link necklaces and made bookmarks.  Then they headed into Dakota's room to watch Dolphin Tale and make bead art while they sat at trays on his bed.  Things are going very smoothly today, which is good, since I have little get up and go. This afternoon the kids had lunch and patriotic cupcakes and then wound down quietly in Dakota's room, reading and drawing and playing games.  Once the girls left, Dakota and his brother and father had a man's night, playing baseball and watching baseball together, and my good friend and I had a girls night planned to celebrate both our birthdays.  I stopped at Bakery Express and bought us both a piece of Oreo Dream Cake/Cheesecake and got two forks and I picked her up, parked the ca

After a slow day at home yesterday and a late night watching the Orioles spank the Yankees on ESPN, it was up and at 'em for a busy Monday.  The daycamp girls came today and they all played Mine Craft in Dakota's room until breakfast at 9:30.  They started working on their themed packets for the week, doing the word search and coloring the front page.  At 10:00 we headed out to my work and then back to the library, where they did a scavenger hunt, got books and wandered around.  We checked out and headed to lunch at Sorrentos with Kris, Natalie and Brian David then from there everyone went to the Ice Cream Cottage for a treat.  The older kids played checkers and I enjoyed watching my granddaughter devour her ice cream.  She's a beautiful child and I could stare at her all day.  She's talking so well now and learning something new almost by the hour. When I got the gang back home they worked on their packets for 90 more minutes, doing adjectives, math, coloring and cra