Squeezo

I am in desperate need of a lazy moment or two, so here I am. Not that I don't have plenty to do, because I really, really do. For instance, my bathrooms haven't seen the business end of a mop in probably three weeks. But that's cuz my mop broke so all of my floors have been just disgusting. And sticky. But let me back up. It is canning season, which means that all of my keeping-the-house-in-a-at-least-somewhat-decent-state-of-cleanliness efforts go into picking, chopping, preparing, boiling, sanitizing jars, etc, etc, etc. So my house has been filthy, and I do mean filthy. Yesterday Wes walked around barefoot for a few hours in the morning and the bottoms of his tiny feet were BLACK. Gross, I know.

But that brings me back to the mop. I have had no mop and no time to mop. This weekend I canned (with some assistance) four batches of grape jam and two batches of applesauce. (This is after a month of canning jar after jar of marinara sauce and salsa). By Sunday the floor was so disgusting that even the dogs wouldn't walk on it. It was so absolutely awful that my sweet husband waited until after midnight to go to the store to get me a new mop.

Why didn't I just get down on my hands and knees and scrub it the old fashioned way, you ask? Well, I had actually done that shortly after the mop broke, and it hurt. My knees, my back, my neck, you name it, and it hurt after scrubbing that much floor on my hands and knees. So when it was that disgusting, I needed a mop.

So that is what I have been doing all day today after a weekend of canning. Mopping. Don't you wish you had my life?

I am very happy that some family were able to put to use the abundance of Concord grapes that grow in my backyard. I am also very, deeply grateful to everyone who helped with the new shed we have been building. I now have hope it might actually, just maybe, be done in time for winter. I have the very best family in the whole wide world.

Some of you may even know that we went on vacation in September. I have, several times, sat down to blog all about it in great detail with a zillion pictures and all. The tasks was so overwhelming that I never got very far with it. And then it dawned on me: no one really cares that much. So I will post some of our favorite photos from one of our favorite vacations. Oh, we went to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, in case you were wondering. And yes, it is beautiful, and lush, and warm, and wonderful. Put it on your list of places to visit sometime in your life. You won't be disappointed.


We didn't go on our trip alone! Grant's sister, Jessica, her husband, Shane, and her two utterly adorable girls Jada and Chloe, drove over from Tennessee to play with us! It wouldn't not have been even remotely as fun without them. It was wonderful to spend so much time together, especially since we don't see them very often.
This photo makes the list of favorites because it always makes me chuckle. Grant's brother-in-law, Shane, has these remote control airplanes that are kind of interesting to me but are fascinating to males in a way I will never quite understand. Even these random old men on the beach loved them. What really makes me laugh, is that the old guy's black swim suit looks like a black censor block over his bum Don't worry. I promise we were not taking any pictures of naked bums. ESPECIALLY not old man naked bums.



This was the neat pattern in the sand left when the tide went out.

Bike riding is a must in Hilton Head. There are miles and miles of scenic bike trails, as well as bike rental places right on the resort properties. To rent a bike for a week: $25. The fun and the memories created: priceless.

I love how happy Grant looks in this picture. I also love how he is not pedaling at all. Poor Shane may never recover. I guess he needed to work off all of those packages of Double Stuf Golden Oreos. Seriously. We went through six packages of them while on this vacation. (Okay, okay, FIVE packages of Double Stuf Golden Oreos and ONE package of disgusting, gag inducing normal Stuf Golden Oreos that I bought. Sorry, Shane.)

Aren't my boys handsome?

We went on a pretty-cool dolphin tour while in Hilton Head. It was a beautiful day for it, and we did, indeed, actually see some dolphins!

Wes and water... nothing makes him happier than playing in the bathtub, the swimming pool, the ocean, you name it. He and Grant had some good times together in the water.

I love, love, love this picture. It is Jada dancing in the waves at sunset. It is so free and uninhibited. It makes me wish I was five again.

This is one of my favorite sunset pictures of all time. I love the way the wet sand is reflecting the colors of the sky.

Another beautiful photo by Grant. It is just so beautiful! It makes me wish I was back there. The weather was so beautiful and the water was so nice and warm.... Ahhhh.

Jada has to be one of the cutest, smartest, sweetest kids I have ever met. Evidently she's a little silly, too!

I wish I was sitting in one of those chairs right now.