Fragments de Friday....

.....from the Casa de Dysfunction!

There you have it, my lame attempts at remembering High School Spanish.



So...what do I have to tell you about today?

As you may have guessed if you read Monday's post, this week has been stressful. Aside from the usual annoyances I have from other doofballs in my life, now I have Pretend Mom coming out of the woodwork and it's just worrisome. I have been biting my nails all week. I don't bite my nails!
I really don't think Christina will push the issue of getting involved in Andrew's life.....she has a short attention span and will probably move on to something else very soon. And we have plenty of legal recourse in keeping her away, including testimony from Andrew's therapist.
But my mind, it worries.......



Anyway. Fortunately, we have a happy distraction coming up -Elayna's softball tournaments! Next week will be a short work week and then our Softball Vacation will commence. We just learned that we will have at least one day with no games at all, so we will definitely find some fun things to do on that day. I think we'll have a great time. I just wish my oldest son could come along, but he has to work. I probably won't be online much at the end of the next week. Don't worry about me too much; I'll just be lounging on the beach.

I think a little R & R is just what I need!

Also, this weekend our town has a huge Independence Day celebration. We'll be helping out in a booth to raise money for the softball team part of the day, and enjoying ourselves the rest of the day! One of my friends is planning on meeting us there, and of course since it's such a small town we'll see tons of friends there. I recently read in the newspaper that our little town of approximately 7000 people attracts crowds topping 30,000 people for our fireworks display.
It rocks!

If I haven't been by your blog lately, it's just because I'm behind, as always usual. Both of my computers decided to take a poop at the same time, so it's hard to find time to get online. Don't take it personally! It seems like everyone is online less during the summer though. They're out having fun in the sun!
OK, I have done enough babbling for one Fragalicious Friday. Enought about me, tell me about you! What are your plans for this Independence Day weekend?

I hope you all have a wonderful Independence Day, a wonderful weekend altogether, and don't forget to visit Mrs 4444's for more Friday Fragments!

Weekend WrapUp {Spring Break Edition}

We had SO MUCH FUN over Spring Break! In the beginning of the week the Littles stayed with their grandparents, and the Teens hung out with friends. Then we went to Busch Gardens, and then Clearwater Beach. Tim's friend Brendon came with us. We had a blast, and I have tons of pics!

Andrew

Elayna and Zoe (from Busch Gardens' new Sesame Street Safari!)

We went to Timbuktu!

This gorilla was amazing.

He was so expressive and human-like.

He was posing for the cameras!

My kids are clowns....

Andrew was pretending to eat bugs off of the monkey in front of him.

Elayna fit right in with the chimps!

This chimp was amazing too.

He would sit and stare at the waterfall, seeming to be deep in thought.

Monkeying around again....

While we were eating lunch,

this mama duck led her babies right by our table!

Elephants are so darned cute!

I can't remember what kind of bird this was.

But he was very neat-looking!

flamingos

sleeping bird

that may or may not be me on the carousel with the Littles...

Shelbie, Andrew and Elayna acting goofy by the giant butterfly

Elayna and Andrew, "flying"

And now we move on to Clearwater Beach!

They had a huge fun area set up for the kids to play on....

which cost us an arm and 2 or 3 legs....

This is Andrew sliding down the giant Shark Slide

Andrew running along the shore

{with Elayna playing in the sand in the foreground}

the Pier

Tim, helping Andrew build a sand castle

Elayna, sunburningbathing

All four of my kiddos....and I didn't even have to pay them to pose for me!

....and this is how the trip ended. Exhausted, happy kids. WIN!

**Between vacation and moving, I'm so behind on my blog reading & commenting. As much as I want to catch up, it's just not possible! But I promise I'll be back around ASAP!**

Fragging Time

For once I'm actually not ecstatic to see Friday come around! Not because of Friday Fragments, of course - I always look forward to those! - but because it means Spring Break is over. We've had a really great week! I'm going to post all about our vacation later, but right now.....it's time to Frag!

*Sorry I'm late on my fragments...I just woke up! *ah* I love vacation.

* Today is our anniversary! Five fabulous years. We're going to have a nice dinner out tonight.

* The rest of the weekend will be spent packing & moving.....we found a totally amazing house just a couple of miles down the road and snatched it up. The kids are SO excited! It's on 6.5 acres, has 4 bedrooms (one more than we have now), so many other amazing features. The one the kids are most excited about? An inground POOL!

* Have I mentioned I hate moving? I truly hope this is our last move for many years. We haven't had good luck with houses but I'm pretty sure our luck has changed this time!

* My husband is an obsessive packer. He had a ton of stuff already packed early this week. I hate living out of boxes! I think he'd have me packed in a box if I'd let him.

* I slept so well on vacation....because there were no dogs crowding the bed! I was actually able to move around and get comfortable. And yet....I couldn't wait to get home to my puppies!

* The kids haven't stayed in hotels much....Elayna was delighted to see the little hair dryer in the bathroom! It's the little things....

Alright, I think that's about it. It's time to start celebrating our anniversary! Hope you all have a wonderful Spring weekend

and are enjoying some wonderful Spring weather!

For more Fragments visit Mrs 4444's!

Do I Get An "E" for Effort?

Last night was my first night back at work after surgery. I had 3 weeks off. I really do like my job, so I was ready to go back. I got my scrubs on, packed my little lunch bag, and off I went.
I got to work and proceeded to get ill. For the first time since surgery, I felt awful. I had Potty Problems. Digestive Dilemmas. I won't go into further detail (although Krissy and her Diva would probably like it!). I was in pain, and I was running to the bathroom every few minutes. I made it four hours (at least 2 of which were spent on the throne!). And then I gave up and came home.
I am really bummed! But tomorrow night, I will go back. Armed with medications to help out in case it strikes again.
(and now that I'm home, I feel FINE! What the heck?)
At least I tried!
********************************************
Our mini-vacation was FANTASTIC. Here are a couple of pictures.

This is our cabin.....



The Squatter. He apparently lives behind the window frame and was quite curious about the weirdos on the front porch swing. He watched us for a good long time.



The lake is called Turtle Lake, and it was FULL of turtles, which I love. There were also lots of ducks. I'd love to post pics, but Photobucket is being a real jerk right now. Maybe we'll make up tomorrow and I'll add them on.
But we had a truly wonderful time and can't wait to go back!



~22 lbs.