The School Day begins...

My Bugs are off to school today. Bug started her Sophomore year in High School and turns 15 later this month.  She is chomping at the bit for her birthday to come, not because she gets presents but because she wants to get her driver's permit.

 Little Bug started Middle School today.  She is excited and ready to start a new year at a new school with new people and new things like band.  She gets to learn how to play her dad's saxophone which technically was her Great Grandma's saxophone.

We had a few eye rolls as I asked for them to get pictures this morning of the first day of school.  "I'm too old for this", "Mom, can't we do it a different day.  I want to go to the bus stop.", "Mom, Really"

Yes, really.  Reality has started to hit.  Mom and Dad don't have much longer before the Bugs want to start lives on their own.  So, the next question is where does that put me?  What do I want when they head out? The last 15 years my life has literally revolved around two little bugs and I have enjoyed every minute, or at least most of them. Next year Bug gets to take classes on the college campus and will be driving, so, our talks in the car will be more limited.

I will be starting to do things for me more often, I just need to do some soul searching.  I have to figure out what I want to do for me. I think that what bothers me the most.  I have lived most of my life for others and as they grow and mature and do their own things, I am left there too.  I have to look at the next few years as more intense training.  I have to teach them things like cleaning the bathroom.  I have to teach them how to change the sheets.  I have to teach them how to make their own meals when I am not here as they have a tendency to not eat until I get home rather then make something for themselves.  Mom needs to learn about how not to be co-dependent and just be happy for who she is...

I guess that should be the next stage of the adventure...  

It Only Took a Few Weeks...

I know that it is the 11th of November and I am well over due for a Halloween blog.  But like everything in my life right now I am just late...

It was a bit of a challenging Halloween because it was the first year that Bug really thought that she was too old to Trick-or-Treat but didn't want to give up dressing up.  I had mentioned that she would be a beautiful Snow White a couple of months back just because she has the coloring for the character.  Little did I know that she actually listened and about two weeks before the event, she had me trying to find a costume.  I gave up after the first Google search.  Nothing was going to look good on her or it was a slutty outfit (according to Bug). We searched and searched Goodwill to come up with something. No luck for Bug but we did hit the jackpot for Little Bug and Brendan.

Brendan said he wanted to be Shaggy. Perfect.  We found a green shirt and tan corduroy pants.  I also did not shave his beard for a month.  It was perfect.  We even found Scooby Doo socks in his drawer.

Little Bug just tried on all these little Homecoming dresses in size 0 and we found several that would work for her with a bit of alteration.  She decided to go with the blue one and become the Sea Queen.  We even found shoes and a pitchfork that we were able to paint into a trident. We added sea shells and a starfish for that little extra.

Back to Bug, the day before Halloween, she said that she would be Bat Girl so off to Target I went for a t-shirt.  We had black skirt and I figured she would just wear my black boots, but they were TOO ugly for her. She went with hose and flats instead.

Little Bug went Trick-or-Treating with our friends from church, the Haags and Garrett, and Bug and her friends passed out candy at home while Bren and I watched movies in his room.

Little Bug and her Bestie, Catie, as the Ice Queen. Ready to get some candy!

The whole Crew minus one who was at band practice until go time.

It was a great time even though we were all spread out. It was a bit sad for me because it is just the beginning of having a teenager.  Garrett and I have to start letting go just a bit and not always assuming that what one wants to do the other wants to do. 

'Til the next adventure...

Oh Tom...

Nana and Papa went to Hawaii this September and true to Nana and Papa form, we received a little care package with all kinds of goodies.  The Bugs got necklaces from the tent church, earring of the state flower, bracelets from the farmers market.  I got some note cards featuring lovely prints of painting from the natives and Garrett got nuts.  Macadamia nuts that is. One more thing that was in the the box was Tom for Brendan. Tom is a turtle that came from a little zoo on one of the islands.

Like everything in our life, Little Bug makes up a back story for all the stuffed animals, and even though Tom was a Hawaii kissing turtle, he had to leave his girlfriend, Tiffany, behind at the zoo and over the long journey to Georgia became angry. So now we have Tom the Terrible Turtle and a terrible turtle he is with a fondness for Tootsie Rolls.

'Til the next adventure...

Really, 15 years

I woke up this morning and found this wonderful video on my desktop.  I want to thank my husband for standing by my side for the last 15 years and I look forward to many more.

I still remember getting shocked, literally, in World History and the many notes passed back and forth in Physics to see who could gross the other one out more. Sometimes have been rough but the good times have been much more plentiful.

And I do thank God every day that I got to marry my best friend.

'Till the next adventure or I have time to write about it...

On A Big Adventure We Go...

A southerly course is where we will go

Where we stop, only mom and I know.

It's a new adventure with lots of fun,

Just be careful not to get too much sun.

There will be so much to see and plenty to do,

Each day will be something new.

The first day planned is sure to please,

But don't be confused, you're not really at Sea.

The second day will be too much to handle,

It's just not the same watching them on their own channel.

So sit back, relax and enjoy the ride,

Cause if you get too excited, you'll be kicked outside.

Oh Lord, Help ME...

The Duncan Family is off for an other adventure... this time in our back yard (which is a very scary place).


Bug wanted to camp out in the back yard for her birthday last weekend but they all got scared because they heard gun shots. In they came.

Well, the tent stayed up for one reason or another and now, the Bugs want the Duncan Family to camp outside.  I figured that Garrett would ca-bosh the idea but so far we are still on.  The Bugs are working on the air mattresses, Garrett is working on the fire and I just finished dinner. We will see how this ends up...

'Til the next adventure...

So far we have only had one yelling match so things are looking up...

Summer's Over?

I can't believe that the Bugs are back in school.  It was a very short but fun summer.  Let's see...

 Both Little Bug and Bug made the Honor Roll for the whole year. They did very well in the world of academia. So, as a reward...

 They got to die their hair crazy colors, just the bottom and one strip on the side with the understanding that it would have to be cut off when school started if there was still any color left.  Little Bug picked REAL RED and it worked out for them that they swam every day and the color bleached out on it's own.

Bug and all her glory did PURPLE. I really liked hers.  You couldn't see it except when the sunlight hit it.  If they keep making honor roll, I would be willing to let them keep doing it for the summer.

The cousins came to visit and we did fun things like going to the beach, Six Flags in Atlanta and even...

The Coke Museum.

Road Trip.  The Bugs and I took a road trip to Indiana but we had a few stops along the way. We visited the Louisville Zoo. We also visited a high school friend of mine that I had not seen in a few years so that was fun.

Riding the train at the Zoo. After this we had about 8 more hours in the car before we got to Indiana.  

We went to a small amusement park called Indiana Beach with the other cousins.  It was like Joyland only bigger.  The little kids had a blast with the kiddie rides and I took the big kids on the roller coasters.  We rocked it!

Dinner at the Indiana Beach.  It was this little retro joint that had air conditioning and a sit down meal.  Then back to the rides.

Crazy Aunt Lynn... need I say more...

The whole gang... except for Lei but someone had to take the picture...

We had water park day which was a blast.  The park closed a bit earlier than we thought so we played as long as we could inside and then we had a picnic in the park... ing lot.  It was really fun and no one seemed to mind.

Little Bug has gotten to celebrate her birthday with the cousins for a couple years now. We did little cupcakes with America sprinkles.  Little Bug loves her red, white & blue.

We finished the trip with a trip to the movies to see Brave... All the girls loved it but Bug was so tired from the long week of fun that she fell asleep for a tiny bit.

Nana came home with us and was brave enough to handle the car ride so she got to pick the half way point to stop at and she picked Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's house in Virginia.  It was beautiful. We did the regular tour and the the behind the scenes tour.  I really can't get my head wrapped around what it would be like to live during that time.

  

The back of Monticello.  Check your nickels and two dollar bills from Papa because it might be on some of them. 

Practicing our penmanship with the quill and ink.  It took a bit more practice than I thought and a lot more messy.  I would not want to do the laundry and try and get that out of the white ruffle shirts. After that we started to head home and who would have guessed that Virginia had a tornado and trees were covering the highway, we almost ran out of gas.  Thank goodness for Janet Evanovich and books on CD.   

On Nana's last day in Georgia, we went to Wormsloe Plantation or what was left of it.  There aren't any plantations left in the Savannah area because General Sherman liked to burn them in the Civil War. 

 Wormsloe has this drive with over 400 live oak trees and 1.5 miles long.  It was so amazing.  However, Little Bug had a bit of an attitude and it was a bit steamy so things were a bit rough. 

   

We finished up Nana's trip with a bit of painting pottery.  I have always loved to do this and so do the girls.  Nana made the sunflower bowl, I made the blue owl, Bug the green owl and Little Bug the flip flop.  Nana's bowl almost didn't get shipped to Wichita because we liked it so much that the bugs thought she would never know if we said it broke and kept it.

After Nana left at the end of June, we still had the month of July.  I can't really tell you what we did besides, yard work, swimming, and painting the master bath.  We had friends over a couple of times and Little Bug got to have a friends' birthday party were we went bowling. We haven't been to the beach in a while so we might have to do that this weekend....

The Bugs started school on Aug. 1st and Little Bug starts soccer on Tuesday so I guess things just keep going. I will never forget the quote I once heard that sums it up the best, "The days are long and the years are short."

'Til the next adventure...