So yesterday was a busy day following a busy Tuesday and a weekend packed full of running around visiting and time zone shifting (one hour time difference messes with kids). Yesterday Fuller fell asleep on the floor of his room during quiet time. I know, I already told you this.

I just went into Fuller’s room, where he was being a super hero and spending his quiet time, to find Fuller asleep again. I guess he is still recovering from his weekend.

I’ve written before about Vista Print. They have supplied my husband with business cards before, and they were really great. We will definitely be using the cards next football season when Auburn Elvis makes his appearance at home games.

I will be heading to Orlando in September for a conference, and business cards with our updated URL is a must. When I traveled to Vegas last November, I had Moo cards, but they took such a long time to get to me.

At Vista Print they offer free business cards that look very nice. You have to stick with their designs and just put in your information, but the cards are still quality cards. (You still have to pay shipping, but it isn’t high.) The premium cards (the kind Auburn Elvis has) are really easy to create. You can pick from their designs or upload your own through the design wizard.

Also, the shipping is really fast. Damon ordered his cards and they arrived in a couple of days.

I would check out Vista Print. They have lots of products offered for free (self inking stamps, pens, magnets) and premium products like you can order checks for people who still do that (we don’t use checks any more).

Technorati Tags: Vista Print

On Tuesday Fuller and I went to play with Luke and Ben. We were “babysitting” but really it was just a chance for Luke and Fuller to catch up on their recent adventures without each other. Luke has a trampoline and his pool is getting ready for summer. Fuller took swim lessons and went to Lake Martin for the weekend.

The evening was ended with the little ones playing in the sprinkler. This was ok for Fuller, but he would have preferred swimming in the pool. This wasn’t an option because the pool wasn’t ready for visitors, so Aunt Esther told Fuller she would call him as soon as the pool was “open.”

Yesterday afternoon, Esther called with the great news. Except, I am keeping this information from Fuller since I know it is still too cold to really get some enjoyment from the pool. Maybe, if we hit 90 degrees tomorrow, we might head over there for a dip. And Fuller will be soooo happy. A little cold, but happy.

Technorati Tags: summer, swimming, pool

On Sundays we relax a lot, usually napping and watching TV. As the day moves to evening, the television is usually turned to the Food Network, since food is pretty much rated G and Fuller is running from room to room playing his imaginary games.

This Sunday, after Fuller goes to bed, I’ll be waiting for 10 p.m. so I can watch USA Network’s new original series In Plain Sight. It looks like an interesting cop-type drama. The main character, Mary Shannon, is in charge of watching over federal witnesses entering the witness protection program.

I really like Mary McCormack, who plays Mary Shannon. She was great fun to watch on The West Wing and I think she will be excellent in this role. In fact, I think it is because of her I am excited to see this show come on USA.

The show has some other interesting characters. The one who peaks my interest is Stan McQueen, Mary’s boss. Except the bio says he is more a father figure than a boss. And apparently he is boss in name only since Mary seems to run the show. I don’t really know anyone like that in real life, but in my TV dramas, it does add an interesting twist to see how much the employee can get away with when undermining her father-like boss.

If you have USA, think you will watch it?

Technorati Tags: In Plain Sight, USA Network, Mary McCormack

It is 9:45 and Fuller is in bed, but not asleep. Today he was being an absolute angel. When he was sent to his room for quiet time (playing quietly in his room with the door closed) I went in to let him out and Fuller was asleep on the floor. I guess his weekend of fun caught up with him.

When we travel to The Lake as often as we do, I sometimes feel a bit dried up in my descriptions of what we do there, especially when it is as short as a weekend. The usual highlights were swimming, boating, riding the sea-doo, relaxing, and having eggs and bacon for breakfast. We mixed it up by swimming in a heated pool (thanks, Aunt Frankie) and going to church on Sunday (not something we normally do when at The Lake). And Albert has increased his breakfast menu to include pancakes for the kids.

I’m not complaining, I really like going to The Lake for get aways. The predictability of our visits is what makes it a comfort, relaxing, and something we always look forward to. And Fuller keeps talking about going to boating and playing with Albert, so I know he is already counting the days until we go back.

Technorati Tags: family vacation, Lake Martin, Alabama

Vacation stories later.. right now I just wanted to pass along some interesting links:

~Ikea Hacker posted our paper train stations hack the other day. We have been getting new visitors all weekend, so “Hello, new visitors!”

~Subway restaurants hate homeschoolers. This is very disappointing. I understand the prize is for a group, but as the commenters in the blog post suggest, a homeschool co-op or sporting organization of the homeschooler’s choice could have also benefited from the prize. Guess it is a good thing we like Chick-Fil-A and “Happy Donald’s” (aka McDonald’s) more.

~We might be heading toward buying a new all-in-one printer. The old one we have (a Dell) doesn’t pick up paper on its own anymore. We have to force feed it sheet by sheet. Very annoying. I keep seeing this Kodak printer on infomercials, starring Caroline Rhea. Anyone have any experience with it? The ink is cheaper because the microchip is not on the printer head, but in the printer. And the ink is supposed to be more durable because it works with pigments. I also like the idea of the separate tray for the 4 by 6 pictures. I love to know if anyone has one and likes/ dislikes it.

Technorati Tags: Ikea, Ikea hacker, Subway, homeschool, Kodak printer, Caroline Rhea

When I was sharing with a friend our lake house plans, I mentioned we would be going to church on Sunday. Her response was, “You say that like you don’t go to church.” The truth is, we don’t normally go to church when we visit The Lake. But this visit is special.

The church Damon grew up in is merging with another church. Today is Faith Presbyterian’s last Sunday before their merge, so Grandma Linda asked her children to come for the last service as just the Faith church family. So this morning is a mad dash to get ready and out the door before 8 a.m.

We are all rested and happy after a beautiful day yesterday. Some of us are a tad pinker than we were on Friday when we arrived, but we will live (and I will remember to reapply sunscreen sooner than I did yesterday).

Damon’s Aunt Frankie invited us over to her house to swim in her heated pool. This was a welcomed invitation since someone put ice in Lake Martin (as Damon said when he attempted to go in yesterday morning). We took the boat to Aunt Frankie’s house, so we had a relaxing time on the lake.

And with no intelligent segue to this topic, the wireless here isn’t working correctly. I might try to fix it this evening, but I might not try too hard. Keeping my laptop off is kind of relaxing, but I do suffer from a bit of withdrawl. The downside is I’m keeping our pictures to myself until I can upload them to flickr from the laptop. If you don’t see an update from us again until Monday evening or even Tuesday morning, all should be well. And, as mentioned previously, I do update from twitter when I have cell reception (which I don’t have here at The Lake).

Technorati Tags: Lake Martin, family travel

Fuller’s awareness of the space-time continuum is getting better. When we told him we were going to visit Grandpa Albert and Grandma Linda, he waited a whole day before demanding to get in the car and go.

This morning has been difficult, with Fuller’s demands not being met. I have been trying to involve him in the packing process, but he keeps being distracted by toys or a piece of lint. And then he requests to get in the car, now.

I have given him hope we will be traveling soon after Daddy gets home and mows the grass. There isn’t an exact time for this event, but it does give him something to look forward to. Because when I put the bags in the car in the next 20 minutes, he will be disappointed again.

Travel updates found on twitter.

Gardening requires lots of water - most of it in the form of perspiration. ~Lou Erickson

After the poison ivy scare of 2008*, I suited up in long sleeves and finished clearing out the mass of growth behind our house. I was left with a rather tidy spot of dirt that looked… dirty. It was blank and boring.

I had imagined we would have a flower or vegetable garden in this area. It wraps around the side of the house going from total shade to full sun, making it tricky to pick out the perfect inhabitants. And then there was the concept of keeping up with the stuff… I would have to water and weed, deadhead blooms and keep the three year old from mutilating the pretty ones.

I worked hard last Saturday. I went to Lowe’s (by myself!) to pick up various plants- annuals, perennials, herbs, and one tomato plant. When I got home Damon had to help me get the tiller going and then I prepared the soil. Eventually I got down to digging holes for the perennials, found flower pots for the annuals, and put the herbs in a strawberry pot. Damon took charge of making an upside down planter for the tomato plant.

Originally I was really excited about the hydrangea plants, because I have always thought hydrangeas would look good next to our house. And I look forward to cutting the flowers to bring in the house to spruce it up. I bought two that already had pink blooms. We will see if they stay pink or turn blue (it depends on the pH of the soil).

However, my excitement shifted to the Sentimental Blue Balloon Flowers we planted on the side yard. They require full sun, and their picture looked pretty on the plant tag. Within a day of putting them in the yard, the blooms were starting to puff up to look like balloons. As they got bigger, they started to turn blue, and today our first “balloon” popped open.

Small blooms like that make me think our garden will survive and maybe we do have a little bit of green in our thumbs.

*I am still not sure if it was poison ivy or not. But I prefer to be safer than sorry.

Technorati Tags: garden, flowers, hydrangea, tomato plant, upside down tomato plant, sentimental blue balloon flowers