2015 Summer Bucket List

I've been AWOL from here since last week! It wasn't my intent, but work got busy again right around the same time my arm started hurting more from my bike accident. I finally went to the doctor on Sunday and had some x-rays done. The good news is that it's not broken. The weird news is that it looks like there's an old break that was never treated. The other news is that I've got a brace now to help stabilize it while the tendons and ligaments heal and I got some heavy-duty painkillers to help with the pain.

I'm totally in the mood to be thinking about summer and breaks and warm sunshine at this point, so #TuesdayTen's topic this week is just what I need to lift myself up!

1. Get my wrist better!
2. Go camping
3. Empty out the basement
4. Get Frances' new bedroom ready
5. Visit a new state with the family
6. Paint my front porch and stain the back one
7. Read
8. Sew
9. Start a newsletter for my blog
10. Put together an awesome new training program for our student employees in the fall

Looking at that list, it doesn't seem all that exciting, but it's all the kind of stuff that makes me happy. We don't have a vacation planned this summer, but I've got time off from work that I can use to work around the house and just spend time with my family. I"m really looking forward to that. 

Do you have big {or little} plans this summer?

An InLinkz Link-up

Tuesday Ten is a fun linkup created by Lisa @ The Golden Spoons and Rabia @ TheLiebers. Each Tuesday we make a list of ten things and link them up to share. At the end of each post we post the topic for the next week. Anyone can join in! If you would like to be added to the mailing list without linking up, click here. We hope to see you on Tuesday!

RULES:
1) Link up a post, old or new, pertaining to the TuesdayTen topic for this week and add our TuesdayTen button to your post or sidebar.
2) Please do not link up contests, product reviews, or sponsored posts. Links not pertaining to the topic will be removed at the hosts' discretion.
3) Visit your hosts and follow them on social media.
4) Visit as many other linked posts as you can and show those bloggers some love by commenting and/or sharing.
5) By linking up you agree to be subscribed to out #TuesdayTen mailing list. Emails are only sent once a week and you can unsubscribe at any time. If you would like to be added to the mailing list without linking up, click here.

Don't forget to add the new #TuesdayTen badge to your post or homepage!

<div align="center"> <a href="http://www.thelieberfamily.com” title="The Liebers" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1291.photobucket.com/albums/b552/lspoon1/19cef8c1-afb5-4c38-b3bd-5f09bd4d4937_zps0e6fb14d.png" alt="The Liebers" style="border:none;" /></a></div> <p>

Click to sign up for #TuesdayTen reminder emails: http://eepurl.com/PXVtr

#TuesdayTen: Blogging Bucket List

We're getting close to the end of the year. It feels like everything is started this frantic run towards the end of December. It starts gradually and picks up the pace as it goes. I tend to get stressed out around this time, as I'm sure lots of people do. There's something about considering the end of the year that makes people go crazy!

I like to try and make as many lists as possible around now. I have lists to keep track of my lists. I even had a co-worker ask me if I had enough sticky notes on my desk the other day. I've removed a few and added a few more since then. It's a never ending cycle!

One list that I haven't accomplished much on, though is my bucket list. I guess that's not a terrible thing, since a bucket list is traditionally a collection of things you'd like to do before you die, and I don't have plans to die any time soon. But I still have a list, and every once in a while, I think about things I can add to it. My whole bucket list can be found here, but today, just for fun, I thought I'd write my Blogging Bucket List.

1. Write a post that goes completely viral
2. Be quoted or used as a reference in a national news story
3. Go to a blogging conference
4. Meet a whole bunch of my blogging friends in person
5. Get paid enough to dig us out of debt
6. Be featured in a book (DONE! The Mother of All Meltdowns )
7. Get to 500 "likes" on my Facebook page (help, please!)
8. Make friends and get to know people from all over the world (DONE!)
9. Find my childhood best friend through my blog connections (please read!)
10. Posting 1000 posts (should happen sometime in December actually!) This is post #975

How about you? Do you have a holiday bucket list? Or a blog bucket list? Or even a lifetime bucket list? Share it with me in the comments or write up your own post and link it up here!

An InLinkz Link-up

#TuesdayTen rules and such are here. Please read them if you've never participated before.

Also, we are putting together a giveaway for our first birthday in January. You can purchase a link for only $5 and get lots of social media exposure. Click here for more information!

An Apple Adventure at Carter Mountain

The view!!

One of the things that makes a regular appearance on our Fall bucket list is going apple picking.  Four years ago when I was pregnant with Benjamin, my friend Stacey introduced us to Carter Mountain Orchard in Charlottesville and we have been back every year since. 

 

This year the magic date happened to fall on Frances' birthday.  Henry had a soccer game that morning, then we piled into the van, stopped by Burger King for a quick lunch and headed over the mountain. We didn't actually tell the kids where we were going, so we endured quite a lot of "Where are we going?"s but it was a nice change from "Are we there yet?"

When we got to the orchard, we stopped for bathroom breaks and got a map to the trees that were ready to be picked.  We hadn't picked on this part of the orchard, so we had a bit of trouble knowing where to start, but once we found some apples, we found a LOT!  I had given the kids their own bags and hoped they would stop picking when their bags got too heavy. No such luck! They just started putting apples in my bag!

We finally picked enough, and headed over to pay for them.  We also picked up some frozen cider to cool off with and a dozen apple cider donuts (yum!) for the road.  Now I have 21.7 pounds of apples sitting in my kitchen, so I need to figure out what to do with them.  I have plans for apple sauce and a pie.  What are your favorite apple recipes?

Ten on Tuesday: Fall Bucket List

The weather is changing.  It was getting hotter than it was in August, but it's changing!  In a scientific sense, Fall starts this weekend, so I figured it was time for our official:

1. Go to the Pumpkin Patch (especially this one, if you're local)
2. Pick apples at Carter's Mountain
3. Make pies and applesauce with said apples
4. Make a big pile of leaves and jump in it with the kids (Anybody got a tree??)
5. Go hiking in the woods
6. Drive around just to look at the fall colors
7. Get fall family fotos done (sorry, but you realize why I had to spell it that way, right?)
8. Not get lost in the corn maze
9. Curl up on the couch with a warm blanket, a good (i.e. smutty) book next to a warm fire
10. Find some new stew, chili and soup recipes (Got any to share?)

What fall things are you hoping to accomplish?

Ten on Tuesday: School Year Bucket List

I seem to be in a season of making bucket lists.  I like the name, because it sounds nicer than a "to do" list.  These are simply things I hope to be able to do over the course of time; in this case-the school year.  I made a similar list last year that we did pretty well with.  Today is the first day of school and I've already got a good start on at least five of these.

My goofballs, hamming it up for their picture!

1. Take dinner to the kids' teachers at least once
2. Go on as many field trips as possible
3. Eat lunch with them (which will be difficult considering their lunchtimes are separated by an hour and a half!)
4. Help in the classrooms
5. Pray for their teachers and teach them to do so as well
6. Make friends with their friends' parents
7. Pray together each morning before school
8. Eat breakfast at the table together
9. Establish and keep good morning and evening routines
10. Get involved with the new PTO

Summer Bucket List-Updated

Back in June I made a Bucket List for the summer.  I had the idea to go back and update it to see how much we had gotten done.  Then I got sad.  Summer has just flown by and even though I had a list of plans and all kinds of good intentions, it feels like we just didn't do anything!! 

Here's the list, with my notations:

1. Disney World--posted here and here.  We had a great time and the kids still talk about it constantly!
2. Swimming--We went to a friend's pool once and we went to the lake during my family reunion.  My kids have been swimming a few other times with my parents.
3. Enjoy my half-day Fridays with the kiddos--We had an adjusted summer schedule this year.  I got off every Friday at noon.  In theory, it was supposed to be some extra free time for me and and some extra time to spend with the kiddos.  In reality it just ended up being an early start for weekend drives or errands. 
4. Sprinkler/sand box time out in the yard--Strangely, this is probably the easiest one on the list and the one we didn't really do!  It's either been to hot, too rainy, or too buggy. 
5. Family Reunion on my dad's side--COMPLETED!  We had an amazing time with my dad's family.  My kids loved playing with their extra "aunts" and "uncles."  My cousins' kids are all between the ages of 10 and 3, and that ended up being a great range for playing together.  I am hoping we can get together more frequently, especially since we live fairly close.
6. Vacation Bible School--LOVED IT!  I planned the games center this year.  It turned out really well.  I had a lot of fun and so did my kids.  I think VBS might be one of my favorite parts of summer!
7. Catching fireflies late at night--We've done this a time or two.  I've discovered that my kids really take after me when it comes to sleep, though.  If I miss out on an hour or two, I am not pleasant to be around.  Turns out my kids are the same way.  And none of us can sleep in.
8. Family camping/hiking trip--I took the kids hiking with a friend.  We had the best of intentions for family hiking or camping this summer, but it never happened.  Maybe Fall will be a better time...
9. 4th of July festivities and parade--We spent the day downtown and had a great time.  I never posted any pictures from it, though. 
10. Summer Food: potato salad, yogurt/cucumber soup, cold pasta salads, fresh out of the garden veggies, popsicles, lemonade--Out veggies never really came in this year.  I am not a good gardener and we don't have a good space.  We have had some veggies donated to us, though. So that's good.  I've done potato salad and yogurt soup, but no pasta salads.  And I think I had my first popsicle last night after the kids went to bed.

I'm going to give myself a 7/10 for the list.  That's barely a passing grade!  But we really did have a fun summer.  The kids loved all the different camps they got to attend.  We did enjoy a slightly more relaxed schedule.  We've still got the fair this week to look forward to.  Maybe I'll just make a better list next summer!!

4th of July hats at the museum

Chilling out, waiting for the parade

Fireworks!

Bucket List

Something about the transition of seasons seems to make other people ponder other transitions in life.  Or maybe that's not the reason at all.  All I know is that I have been asked at least five times in the past two weeks about something on my bucket list. And I realized that I've never really written it down.
So here is my list as it stands today, July 23, 2013.  Things may change, things may never get accomplished, but this is what my list looks like today:

Places I'd Like to Visit

• The Vatican
• Australia
• The Galapagos Islands
• The Grand Canyon
• Egypt

 

These are, unfortunately, not real penguins.

Things I'd Like to Do

• Go on a Game Show and win money
• Sky Dive
• Scuba Dive
• Hold a penguin
• Travel across the US by train with my family
• Take a hot air balloon ride

Goals I Would Like to Accomplish

• Get married and have a family √
• Create a memory quilt for each kid out of their old clothing
• See each of my children graduate from college
• Create a welcoming, organized home for my family in a house that we all fit in
• Learn to write HTML
• Write a blog post that goes completely viral
• Retire and devote all my spare time to volunteering in school and/or after-school programs

Do you have a bucket list?  What's on it?  Have you accomplished something from your list that you're especially proud of?

10 on Tuesday: Our Summer Bucket List

I am still trying to get caught up from vacation last week. And don't worry, I have plenty of stories and pictures from Disney World to share!  I just have to have the time to do it.  So for today, you can get a look at my

Summer Bucket List

1. Disney World
2. Swimming
3. Enjoy my half-day Fridays with the kiddos
4. Sprinkler/sand box time out in the yard
5. Family Reunion on my dad's side
6. Vacation Bible School
7. Catching fireflies late at night
8. Family camping/hiking trip
9. 4th of July festivities and parade
10. Summer Food: potato salad, yogurt/cucumber soup, cold pasta salads, fresh out of the garden veggies, popsicles, lemonade

How about you?  What are your favorite summer activities?

Spring Bucket List

This weekend I read a post from Danielle over at It's A Harleyyy Life about her Spring bucket list.  It reminded me that I had made a list for Fall and should make a new one for Spring.  I did pretty well with the Fall list-I think the only thing we missed were family pictures. I am so excited for Spring weather to be here, but Mother Nature has other plans.

To jump start Spring in my head, here is my bucket list for the season (when it finally arrives):

•  fly a kite with the kids
• eat dinner outside
• jump in some puddles after a warm rain
• pick strawberries
• spend a day at the park
• help my kids learn to ride their bikes
• go for a hike as a family
• plant our garden
• get family pictures done
• open up the windows and air out the house (...and do some Spring cleaning...)

Has you weather turned Spring-like yet? Do you have a to do list for the season?