Soapatopia and Blogging Blush

For those of you who are here because of Clan Donaldson's Theme Thursday link-up, this post was written last summer, but since it was one of my favorite memories of the boys playing together, I thought I would share!!

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Happy Monday, Friends!  How was your weekend?  We spent ours mowing, swathing, working with the boys' bucket calves (the fair is this week!), swimming, searching for the laundry room floor, baking and enjoying the simple pleasure of grilled hamburgers and cold beer.

The highlight of the weekend, by far, was discovering that while I was distracted Sunday afternoon with work at the desk, the boys had created what they called their very own "Soap-a-topia."

Sunday was a scorcher, and I knew that we wouldn't have time to hit the pool before it closed. Because of the heat, I wasn't surprised when he boys decided to have a mega water fight in the yard. I was, however, surprised to discover as I headed outside to throw some burgers on the grill, that the water fight had morphed into this:

As Steve and I stood on the porch in complete stitches, the boys shouted out, "Hey, mom, we've made an old-time bath tub.  We call it our Soapatopia! Aren't you excited, mom? We won't have to shower tonight!"  Genius!

Reason # 821 why I love life unplugged - because SOAPATOPIAS happen!.  It's what kids do when sitting in the a/c on the couch eating chips and playing brain-warping video games is not an option. Go ahead, report me for depriving my kids of real fun. Don't they look like they're in pain??

  

Also, over the weekend, I discovered that I was nominated for the "One Lovely Blog" and the "very Inspiring Blog" awards from Jillian at Hi It's Jilly. The "rules" of the award are that I must nominate 15 other blogs for the awards, ones that I think you will love, appreciate or enjoy in some way, and I also have to share 7 random facts about myself.  Without further ado, here's my list of nominees:

* Blessed With Full Hands    *Arma Dei     * Hello Paper Moon    

 * JOYfilled Family        * Martin Family Moments     

* In the Heart of My Home  * Raising Memories     

* Raising Real Men     * Life, etc.    * Blossoming Joy  

* A Fly on Our Chicken Coop Wall     * Hello Paper Moon

* House Unseen, Life Unscripted    * The Modern Mrs. Darcy   

* Garage Sales R Us

And.... rounding out the requirements...7 Random Things About Myself...

1.  I am a HUGE Jane Austen and Anne of Green Gables fan.  Books, movies all of it. If you don't already love Mr. Darcy, you will! What more can I say??

2.  Baking makes me really happy.  Cookies, pies, cakes, bread....I would bake every day if I didn't have to do the dishes or constantly pretend that I don't want to sit in a quiet spot watching Sense and Sensibility while I consume every last morsel with an oversized mug of piping hot coffee.

3.  I hate shopping, unless it's for shoes, kitchen gadgets, books or random treasures at thrift shops. This is kind of a recent thing for me. Shopping with five boys is just madness. Hell, shopping with one boy is madness.  I need someone to say, "That's pretty, Mom!" Not, "This is boring, can we go to the food court?" I'm socking all of the mall money between the mattresses and saving it for traveling (see #7).

4.  The annoying thorn in my shopping side isn't really my kids, it's trying to find things that fit, especially jeans.  If I had the time and money I would start a company that designed only jeans, and dress pants for athletes.  It's hard to find pants that fit comfortably over muscular thighs yet aren't huge around the waist.  Anyone else out there feel my pain??

5. As a result of #3 and #4 I've become a big fan of skirts and dresses.  I'm talkin' for every day wear. They are a surprisingly practical alternative to sweats.  I think that my grandmothers and June Cleaver might have been a bit smarter about every day wear than we give them credit for.  Skirts are comfy, cool in the summer, figure forgiving and look cute with the right tee and a little Tarjay accessory. (But, no thank you on the pantyhose).

6.  I love music.  In high school and college, I played the tenor saxophone, clarinet, piano and had fun singing in choirs.  I'm waiting for my boys to learn to play the guitar so that they can teach me.  

7.  Topping my bucket list these days is the dream of destination running - traveling to beautiful places and running cross country.  Right now it's Ireland (inspired by my friend Susan Flavin), New Zealand (inspired by the scenery in Lord of the Rings) and Boston (inspired by my son Ben, who keeps nagging me to take him on a historical tour of Philly, Boston and New York).

If I have nominated you for the awards listed above, please pass on the love!  Just link back to me, nominate 15 of your own, and don't forget to share 7 things about yourself, too!

Before you go - if you haven't already signed up for our fabulous giveaway - please take a moment to do so! All you have to do is become a follower (be sure to select "follow publicly" so that I know you are there!) and you're in for a chance to win! You can read more about the prizes here.