Here is a typical day...

I know that everyone is like this and if you aren't I want to grow up and be more organized like you!

Read on...

First I made a list of all the things I wanted to accomplish today.
5:45am - I started off by putting in a load of laundry.  I also folded the load in the dryer. 

Halfway through folding, one of the girls asked if I had seen her lunch card.  I had just found it inside the dryer so I brought it out to the foyer to set by her backpack.

I noticed a burned out lightbulb on the stair lights so I went to the basement to get a new bulb.

While in the basement I emptied out the dehumidifier and whiped up the dribbles of water I spilled along the way.

I went upstairs to finish folding. I forgot about the light bulb because I got distracted by the water! Upon entering the kitchen I realized it was now 6:00am and I needed to get breakfast going.  I filled the coffee pot and laid out some food that the girls could eat now or take with them in the car.  When I opened the drawer where I keep the ziplock bags, I remembered that I needed bags and parchment paper so I put them on my grocery list.

My grocery list was still in the family room where I had left it the night before so I went in there, found the list and tidied up the room.

Being closer to my bedroom, I decided to also tidy that up, find my shoes and get prepared to be out in public driving the girls to school.

By this time the coffee maker had finished warming up and had produced a fine cup of coffee.  I entered the kitchen at the same time as the girls.  We all grabbed our stuff; coffee, breakfast, school bags, instruments, cash, purse, etc and headed out the door to go to school.

6:30am - As we passed the laundry room on our way out, I realized that load of clean clothes from the dryer was still not folded.

This is why I get nothing done!!!

Celebrating our arrival back in the USA!

 

After our travels in Europe and the UK this past summer we finally moved back to the USA!  We spent the 4th of July at an Indianapolis Indians baseball game, watched fireworks and cooked out in 102 temperatures.  The weather didn't matter.  We were just happy to be back.

 

Then we decided to see some of the beauty the United States has to offer.  Bob had to be in Las Vegas for business so we tagged along.  I think we only have a few pictures of Vegas but we did have a good time.  Nana and Papa came along too.  The girls went on a date with Papa to see Circ du Sole.  I have a cute picture of them which I will have to post later.

 

The Grand Canyon is so close to Las Vegas so we rented a car and spent a long weekend viewing the entire area including Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon National Park.  It was a wonderful experience and I am so glad all 5 of us got to see it together. 

 

This is us after a very hard 5 mile hike.  We started at sunrise from the El Tovar Lodge and walked along the rim of the Canyon.  The national park has really provided a beautiful area for the public to view this natural wonder.

Mom Dad and Maria

Jennifer Maria and Leah

 We were also lucky enough to view the Grand Canyon from a helicopter.

 

Just a few of the wild animals we saw in the Grand Canyon

Oporto, Portugal

 

 

 

 

After we went to London this summer, we went back to Belgium and checked out of our lease and said goodbye to our home of 4 years.  Then...it was off to Oporto, Portugal!  It was beautiful.  If given the opportunity I would get on a plane and go back right now.  We loved it.



The path we took from our hotel to the Douro
River.

We took a boat ride to get a lay of the land.

Those tiny little people by the door are the twins standing in front of the Bell Tower.



That white building is the bookstore where JK Rowling wrote parts of Harry Potter.

The bookstore at street level.

The staircase inside spired JK Rowling to write about the interior of Hogwarts.

It was hot in Porto but the ice cream was cold.

Many interior and exterior walls were entirely tiled.

We walked across the very top of this bridge.

We visited many port wine caves.

We bought a few bottles and tested every variety!