Top Ten Update

1. Sorry for the lack of posts.  Life is good for us, but not so good for some of the people in our lives.  I have a tendency to shut down and do only what is needed when negativity swirls around us.
2. Jonathan is off on another business trip.  This time he is across the pond, which we are super excited about, as he will get to see our beloved Uncle Wes while away.  Uncle Wes serves in the United States Air Force and is stationed at Lakenheath.  Jonathan will be the first one in our family of four to actually see Uncle Wes in person for over two years!  (Thank goodness for Skype!)
3. Our English peas have sprouted.  I had seeds leftover from 2+ years ago that I decided to plant and see what happened.  Well, what do you know...they sprouted and we have a nice little crop coming in!
4. We rented a walk-behind bushhog over the weekend.  Last year, we had a bumper crop of volunteer wild blackberry bushes but we couldn't fully take advantage of our HUGE crop because the surrounding brush was too thick and thorny.   As a result, we decided to bushhog around the largest bushes in hopes that we can reap even more of these beauties this year!  (I have visions of homemade fruit roll-ups, jams and jellies swimming in my head already!) Unfortunately the bushhog literally fell apart on us so we couldn't finish the job.  When Jonathan returns, we hope to borrow it again so we can complete our clearing work.
5. I finished knitting four bathroom rugs: three small ones for the master bath and one large one for the kids' bathroom.  All four were made out of fun fur yarn.  I ran out of yarn as I was binding off the kids'...but I substituted embroidery floss in the same color and you can't even tell!  (That fun fur can be so forgiving!)
6. Last week we hit an all-time high in overnight bed buddies.  One night both kids ended up in bed with us!  I guess our one-piece-of-candy-first-thing-in-the-morning incentive wasn't cutting it.  Now the kids earn a sticker-a-night for staying in their beds ALL NIGHT.  Once they collect five stickers each, we will head to the store to pick out special treats:  Isaac can select a new Matchbox car and Kathryn can select a new shade of toenail polish.  So far it is working...but we have only completed two nights with the new incentive...
7. After dropping Meems off at work this morning (her car is in for some repairs), we visited a local Starbucks before returning home.  The kids got to enjoy a special beverage (plain milk for Kathryn, chocolate milk for Isaac) in a signature Starbucks tall!  Isaac exclaimed, "Look, Mommy!  My cup is like yours!"
8. Our little friend's last day with us was Wednesday.  She is back full-time with her grandmother and life has returned to normal (or at least as close to normal as possible) at the Hollow.
9. Yesterday evening while visiting Pop and Meems, the Roku remote went missing.  We spent at least 45 minutes looking for it...much to everyone's displeasure...to discover it had fallen between the cushions in Pop's beloved chair. 
10. We are still adjusting to "springing forward".  Bedtime is a struggle, but in a week or so, we will have fully adjusted.  I must admit I love longer days and waking when it is still dark outside.  I truly feel like I get so much more accomplished when on Daylight Savings Time.