Mommy plus Five

Hello Dear Family,

Well poop!  :(

Last night we had a pretty significant storm blow through Boise.  The wind was crazy, and the temperature dropped into the upper 40's.  The plan was to get to bed early so that Blake and I could head out on bike this morning to Ann Morrison park to watch the final balloon launch for the Spirit of Boise Balloon Classic.

That was the plan...

Blake went to sleep about 1:30 AM, and I stayed up until I received a call from Brandon and Amber saying they had made it safely to their destination.  Brandon called just after 4:00 AM to say they had arrived. Yay! Keep in mind, staying up until 4:00 AM is not unusual for me on any day of the week, but I did have to be up at 6:00 AM to get to the balloon launch site. (Excuse # 1)  I had been monitoring the Facebook status of the Spirit of Boise, and the storm had done some significant damage to the balloon launch site, so they were not sure the launch was going to go on as planned.  I was pretty sure it would be cancelled. (Excuse # 2)

At about 4:45 AM, one of the dogs had to go out.  As soon as I opened the door to let him out, a blast of COLD air hit me in the face.  I knew if it was that cold already, 7:00 AM was going to be freezing! (Excuse # 3)

So yep...I went to sleep.  (Mistake # 1!)

When I woke up just before 9:00 AM, I looked out the window and was greeted by the most amazing blue skies we have had in weeks!  Yes it was chilly, 47°f, but the morning was stunningly perfect.  I immediately checked Facebook, and see this photo posted on the Spirit of Boise Facebook page...

Noooo!  Damn it!

Not only did the launch go as planned, but they launched 50 balloons in 2 minutes.  Wahhhhh! :*(  I just know the sight of that many balloons, with the foothills in the backdrop and a flawless Idaho sunrise, made for some spectacular photo opportunities.  Missed photo opportunities I might add.  I am SO mad at myself!!

There is a lesson here planet, and I have experienced this lesson so many times before.  Just a little bit of effort, always brings great reward!  Had I just made the effort to wake up on time, and bike down to the park, Blake and I would have been so happy that we did.  This has happened to us many times.  We come up with 100 excuses not to do something.  It is too hot, it is too cold, it looks like it might rain, too much wind, it is too late in the day....blah blah blah.  Then we go ahead and make the effort to do it, and we are ALWAYS so happy that we did.  That is just about every bike ride that I have forced Blake to go on with me.  lol  "Mom, I don't feel like it!"  I make him go, and he always tells me..."I am so glad we did."

Oh well, we did enjoy one earlier launch, and the Night Glow.  Next year we know...come rain or storm...we will not miss the grand finale launch, no matter what!

And remember, always live life to the fullest!  No excuses = no regrets.  :)

Hope you are having a great Sunday everyone.

Until next time...enjoy life, and be kind to one another.

My 365...
 Miss Lilly would not get very close to RayRay, even though I had him on a leash.
I assured her that RayRay is only visiting, however she was still not very happy with me.  Notice Ducati in the background keeping a very close eye on the situation.   Silly doggies.
Music I am listening to today...Julia Stone, A Heartbreak
Peace.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Love,





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Hello Dear Family,

The skies are really grey today, so I will be staying inside where the breathing is easier.

This National Weather Service satellite picture explains it all.  There is a lot of smoke blowing into the area from the fires.  I will be so happy when fire season is over.

Today there is a giant 1,000 foot water slide being set up for charity, all the way down one of the streets here in Boise.  Blake and I were hoping to go, but I think the plan for today is spending a nice easy day with some video gaming.   I am also going to bake Blake another Birthday cake...because I can.  Jack is working all weekend, so it will just be the two of us...and the dogs.  :)

And speaking of dogs...my grand-puppy RayRay is here for a few days too.  Brandon, Amber and my grandchildren are visiting Amber's grandparents in northern Idaho for a few days so they asked me to take care of RayRay.  I love little RayRay.  He is an adorable mini Schnauzer I adopted for Brandon in 2009.  He is a delightful little canine.

The plan for tomorrow, if we don't sleep through the 6:00 AM alarm in the morning, is to ride our bikes down to the final balloon launch for the Spirit of Boise, and hopefully the weather cooperates so the balloons can take flight. That will make my camera very happy!

Have a great Saturday everyone.  Hope the skies are clear in your world.

Until next time...enjoy life, and be kind to one another.

My 365...

Peace.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Love,





My 365 Blog.

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Hello Dear Family,

Today was a great Friday.  Blake and I enjoyed an early evening bike ride down to Anne Morrison park for the Night Glow event for the Spirit of Boise Balloon Classic.  This is our favorite event of the entire year. This year we decided to stay up high on the Boise Bench, and look down upon the balloons, rather that ride down into the park.

After the event, we enjoyed a night time ride to our favorite Mexican restaurant for some nachos and enchiladas. There seems to be a lot of smoke in the Valley from the California fires, so we were feeling pretty exhausted by the time we got home.  The skies were pretty overcast.  However, I had a wonderful time with my youngest son.  :)

Sunday morning we plan on riding our bikes back to the event at 7:00 AM to watch the final launch.  It is supposed to be 50 balloons on Sunday, so I am sure it will be amazing.

Hope you had a great Friday planet.  Have a great weekend!

Until next time...enjoy life, and be kind to one another.

My 365...
The skies were a bit grey with smoke, but beautiful none the less.

 


 Beautiful downtown Boise.
 Total ride 7.02 miles.

Peace.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Love,





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Hello Dear Family,

Throw Back Thursday is always fun for me.  I love going back through old photos.  Unfortunately, most of my photos...almost all of them prior to 2001...are gone forever.  I had them all in a single box, and the box was lost in a move.  :(  This was the age before digital photography.  Luckily I had scanned a few for forever keeping.

This was April 1986, the birth of my first child and only daughter, Meagan.  My goodness, she was a beautiful baby girl. Growing up, I never wanted to get married, and I certainly did not want to have any children!  Oh heck no!  Then I met Jack, and everything changed.  I did not want to STOP having babies...lol

I am a forever mom, and I love it.  I can not imagine life without my precious children...and now grandchildren...in it.  My daughter, four amazing sons, two grandsons and my precious granddaughter...I am very thankful for my family.  And of course my daughter in law Amber, I love her so much too!

Hope your day has been a good one planet.  Casey stopped by for lunch today, so that made my day. Tomorrow morning at 6:30AM, Blake and I are riding our bikes down to the park to enjoy our favorite event of the entire year, The Spirit of Boise Balloon Classic.  I love hot air balloons!  It will be awesome to watch the sunrise, and all those colorful hot air balloons take flight.  Yay!  Blake has school, but there is no way we are missing our Balloon Classic.  It is the one event of the entire year that he and I look forward too.  There is no school on Monday, so I am going to enjoy having my boy home for four glorious days.  I miss him.

Until next time...enjoy life, and be kind to one another.

My 365...

Peace.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Love,





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Hello Dear Family,

Happy Wednesday planet!

Unfortunately, I have been feeling a bit under the weather since Saturday. A killer headache that won't go away, and a bit of a sore throat. The sort of headache that involves every inch of real estate on my brain, and one that causes my hair to hurt. It may have been a combination of jumping back into bike riding with too long of a ride, and breathing in a lot of allergens on the ride.  Was it worth it?  Heck yeah!  Garrett says my problem is that I do not start slowly, then work up to longer rides.  The problem with that theory is that I have never thought 11 miles to be a long ride?  Maybe I do need to slow down a bit.  :)

I was downstairs this morning preparing Blake's breakfast for school, when Casey surprised me by stopping in for coffee on his way to work. It was nice preparing breakfast for him too, and having a little chat with my number three son. I do miss my Casey now that he lives in his own place.  It was also awesome because he offered to drive Blake to school. Blake does not mind the walk, but it was nice to get a ride instead.  "Thank you Casey."

Hope your day was a good one!

Until next time...enjoy life, and be kind to one another.

My 365...

Peace.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Love,





My 365 Blog.

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Hello Dear Family,

Happy Tuesday planet.  Day two of school, first full day of school, and Blake is still excited about this year. This is good.  It amazes me how organized he is. He is one of those kids who knows what he needs to do...and he gets it done.  He is smart, dedicated, ambitious and determined.  In other words...I think he is pretty darn amazing.  :)

Today is also National Dog Day.  Goodness, we are a house of dogs. When it is just me, home alone with the dogs, they are perfect.  If we have anyone over visiting, they are impossible!  Hmmm...they behave likes dogs.  Imagine that?

Dozer is the oldest of the bunch, our senior citizen.  He is definitely the sweetest dog of our home. He loves everyone, and everyone loves him. My only complaint about Dozer is that he loves to roll in all things stinky. I don't know what it is about this dog, but if there is a pile of poop on the ground, he feels it is his duty to "roll baby roll!"  He is also a wanderer. Great Pyrenees are guard dogs. They are primarily nocturnal creatures, and they spend their time patrolling the perimeter of the property they guard. That is Dozer...minus the guard dog part. He will patrol the perimeter, all the while inviting every stranger in the county over for dinner.

Ducati is number two.  Oh that Ducati! He is an extremely demanding Nervous Nelly, and wants things done his way and NOW. He is very smart, and crazy sensitive. I have adopted him now that Casey has moved out.  Ducati stays in my room, but I have to keep him confined next to my desk, or he goes crazy looking to harass Miss Lilly.  Otherwise, he perfect. If it is just the two of us, he is calm, sweet and content. The micro second anyone walks into my room, the dog has a complete nervous breakdown. I am hoping that as he settles into this life with just mama, he calms down a bit.  I am sure he will. Now that Blake is back in school, I have been trying to see if Ducati and Miss Lilly can co-habitate peacefully.  He did really well today. Miss Lilly spent the day lounging on my desk chair with Ducati curled up on the floor next to the chair.  He was not completely obsessed with her, and they got along swimmingly  He did great, and I am really proud of him. I would say we are off to a good start.

Next we have Supra the Wonder dog. Being a Great Dane he is definitely the most powerful dog of our pack. He looks like a formidable, vicious canine, but truth be told, he is the biggest baby. Supra is huge, so he gets everyone's attention. He is also extremely vocal. He communicates by his deep growl. It can be a little intimidating if you don't know that he is simply complaining to the world like a diva, or just trying to say hello. When he is prancing around the yard like a big macho dog, everyone thinks he is Cujo.  What I see in my mind's eye is the scene from Birdcage when Robin Williams is dancing on stage, "You do Fosse, Fosse, Fosse..."  Shhh...don't tell Garrett I said that.  lol  :)

Finally, the diva extraordinaire, Miss Lilly...the queen of the castle.  She is without question, the sweetest little dog I have ever known.  Miss Lilly is perfect.  She is extremely intelligent, and obedient to a fault.  Miss Lilly never gets in trouble. She has never run away, she comes when you call her, and is the most eager to please little creature on the planet. I adore this little bitch.  We all do.

Happy National Dog Day! We have a tendency to take our furry friends for granted, and on days like today, as I spent a little time taking their photos, I was reminded to give them back all the love they give.  And as they start to drive me crazy...as they often do...I simply need to pause, and look into their sweet loving eyes and realize they only need a little love.  And perhaps a piece of cheese.  <3

Until next time...enjoy life, and be kind to one another.

My 365...

Peace.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Love,





My 365 Blog.

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Hello Dear Family,

Happy Monday planet!  Today was the first day of school for Blake.  Fortunately, he slept well last night. He was up at 5:00 A.M. to get ready, and was out the door by 6:45 A.M.  We only live a few blocks from school, so he will be walking, riding his bike or skateboarding this year.

It was only half a day today.  He called me as soon as he got out, and shouted..."Mom, school is AWESOME!"  This makes me so happy.  I knew it would be.  When he got home he was starving, so I made him four chili dogs.  Yep, you read that right...four chili dogs.  He is a growing boy after all.  It is going to be a great year for Blake.

***Update***

I got a surprise visit from son Brandon, daughter-in-law Amber, and my precious Cooper and Penny!  They came in to Boise to visit the Boise Aquarium, and stopped in to see me.  Needless to say this grandma was very happy to see my babies!

"Thank you Brandon and Amber for stopping by!  I love you guys."

Hope your day was a good one.

Until next time...enjoy life, and be kind to one another.

My 365...
 So he gave me one.  It is official, I am a mama raver.  LOL :)
 "Thank you Casey. I love you too honey."
 Silly Cooper.
 I LOVE this face!

 My sweet granddaughter Penny is so beatiful.  :)
 Two of my favorite people in the world!
 Penny and mommy.  :)

 Playing some checker/chess with grandma.


Peace.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Love,





My 365 Blog.

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