I'd rather be

2009-11-26T22:38:00.001-05:00

Acapulco by Photo: #s 7-12

2009-11-23T18:27:00.003-05:00

On the afternoon of my first full day in Acapulco, Mandy took me to the Zocolo, which is like the town square where all the "stuff" is happening...vendors, musicians, lots of shade and benches etc., etc. A few things that really caught my attention: 1) more painted trees, except these were absolutely ancient trees, the kind that you know were there when Fransisco Chico sailed into the bay in 1521. They were absolutely stunning, with park benches built around them and massive shady canopies...and white paint slathered all over the trunk. I honestly do not get it. I can't figure out why all the trees have been defaced, except to say that Mexicans must really hate ants. 2) a men's aerobics class that was going full force in a upstairs studio gym right there on the square. It was nothing remarkable, except that the music was really grinding and those guys were really going for the gold, and we (everyone in the Zocolo) were all watching. 3) The OXXO...again, nothing remarkable, except to point out that there is a convenience store called OXXO in Mexico like every six feet. And we went in one to get a drink, and Mandy only had 200 pesos to pay with (which is like $20), and they were going to get really mad at her for paying with such a large bill. And you know what? They did, a little. I'm trying to imagine someone at a BP getting all up in my face for paying for a Vitamin Water with a $20 and I'm just not picturing it, but change is a big deal in Acapulco. Without it, you're like a leper.

The Zocolo is also where the Catholic cathedral is, which is why Mandy brought me in the first place. Most of the cathedrals I've been in are completely emptied out in the back half so tourists can walk around a look at the side chapels and such, even while a mass is going on. That wasn't the case with San Felipe's...it was a full church and they were busy busy. Try as I might, I couldn't figure out what part of the mass it was, the priest was just going on and on (which could've been the homily, or could've been the announcements if it was the priest at my mom's church). I didn't want to skulk around in the back, so we asked the lady in the gift shop (for sale: prayer cards and those votive candles you find in the grocery store) what time mass would be over and left having no idea what she said, but planning on coming back later.

It was at this point that I realized that something was going on with Michael Jackson. Okay, he had died a few weeks before, but either the news was just reaching Mexico or they were having a hard time letting him go. As we walked out of the Zocolo towards some shops to poke around in, I realized every loudspeaker in the near vicinity was blasting a Jacko song. And once we got to said shops, Thriller, Beat It, and Bad were playing on the TVs on a continuous loop. This happened essentially the entire week. It was very surreal. If you want to sum up Acapulco, you could do it like so: "Machine guns, Michael Jackson, and mangoes on a stick." Need I say more?

Eventually we went back to the church, maybe an hour later, and still no dice. Nothing had changed. Either it was the most long-winded priest in the world who was still giving the homily, or mass had started all over again and nobody had bothered to leave. The only thing different was that some people had started to melt. I was starting to melt myself, so I snapped a few pictures from the back of the church and we said goodbye to the Zocolo.

Acapulco by Photo (#s 5 and 6)

2009-11-02T08:39:00.002-05:00

I feel like I am losing all direction in my life, everything feels like it's veering in the wrong direction. Strangely, I feel dangerously unaffected by it all. So far. The lack of reaction has not given me much reason to try and deal with anything, which will probably come back to haunt me later, but for now, I'm just going to a happy place...

These two pictures are on Mandy's street. I'm not even sure they're the same building, I can't remember. Maybe they are. Anyway, it is an awesome street with lots of cool buildings like this one (though not all have matching cars). The road goes straight up (and I mean STRAIGHT UP) a mountain, so there is no walking up the street...it just isn't done. Although my word, it would be a fantastic workout...but would end with you dying of over-exertion and heat exhaustion. So it was a cab up every time--more on that later. But walking down is quick and easy, so it was fun to check things out as we strolled down every day...

Here are some things that I took note of on our daily hikes down the mountain:

1. These trees. Mandy thinks they might be ficus, and I think she might be right. Have you ever seen a ficus that wasn't growing in a living room or a bank lobby? Me neither...until now. Note that the trunk is painted white. EVERY TREE IN THE CITY has a trunk painted white. I have heard that it takes care of the ants on the trees, but now I want to know what's going to take care of the fact that this looks so bizarre?

2. Dogs. They are everywhere in Acapulco and most have some sort of severe physical deformity but are still smarter than you or I will ever be. I can tell you one thing, they certainly beat me in navigating the streets without getting run over by a taxicab whose driver may or may not be in the front seat or even the car. My favorite dog was one that had a giant tumor-like thing hanging from its belly in a sack, held on by a long stretch of skin, and it would drag the ground when the dog walked. The poor thing did not appear to care in the least. And when it lay down in the shade, it would just curl it's body around the basket-ball sized growth and snuggle up. I am not even kidding. It gives me great joy to know that Mandy crosses paths with this dog often, unless perhaps the giant growth has hatched and eaten the dog alive. Let's hope not.

3. Dentists. There was a "practice" about halfway down the mountain, and the waiting room was an open-air room on the sidewalk. Okay, this is not all that unusual, but the next time you go to the dentist and you're sitting in the waiting room, think about how you could be squatting on the sidewalk next to a stray dog with a gigantic growth hanging from its belly. I bet then you won't complain that all there is to read is Highlights for Kids.

4. Internet Cafes...lots and lots of internet cafes, where the programming and internet is OMG IN SPANISH! Talk about grossly unhelpful. I was lost the moment we went in. And I may be dreaming this, but I think we had to be let in because the door was locked...I assume to keep the riff-raff out. Except I just kept thinking if the riff-raff can just hide who they are long enough to get in, well, then there's trouble because you are also locked in until they let you out. It's a flawed system but we survived...barely.

5. No trash. And no trash cans either... because of the dogs. But they have thought up a very innovative solution on how to dispose of the trash! This is problem-solving at its finest. Every night around 10 pm, the garbage truck comes rumbling up the mountain, and ahead of it runs a man with a cowbell, ringing it with all his might--not unlike Wee Willy Winkie--to let you know that it's time to take your trash out. And you stop what you're doing, grab your trash, and plop it in the street. Voila! Trash problem solved. Brilliant.

Not-So-Picky Eater

2009-10-04T20:18:00.001-04:00

Me: Patrick, what did you guys eat for lunch today?

Patrick: We were out at Uncle Tom's house.

Me: Okay, but what did you eat?

Patrick: Oh, um....rattlesnake.

Picky Eater

2009-09-29T19:52:00.002-04:00

Ben: Hey, I love burgers!

Me: No you don't...you never eat your burger.

Ben: Well, I like gummi burgers...

You get all kinds...

2009-09-26T16:13:00.003-04:00

This weekend Luke and Patrick went camping/snorkeling with the boy scouts and Ben was feeling bad to be left out of that, so I brought him down to Gigi and Grandpa's for a few days of fun...which happened to be the same few days that my parents were having their much-talked-about garage sale. I'm not sure why this garage sale came to be, all I know is that I've been hearing about it for years and this weekend it finally happened.

I am not a fan of garage sales per se (Here's all our junk! Want to buy it?), but the cash from this one is going to the school down the road that's been underwater for a week, so I suppose that's reason enough to do it. But now I realize that not only do I have disdain for garage sales themselves, but also for the people that hit them up. Here's a sampling of what we got this morning:

35-year-old Loser: Do you have any video games for sale?

Us: No.

35-year-old Loser: My mom needs an outdoor patio table. Do you have one of those?

Us: (looking around, not expecting one to materialize) Nope.

35-year-old Loser: Can I buy this packing material?

Us: No, those are to keep the plates from breaking.

35-year-old Loser: What kind of flowers are those in your garden?

Us: Those aren't for sale.

Or there were the very nicely dressed middle-aged men who came looking for God knows what:

Them: You don't have a whole lot of stuff, do you?

Us: Buddy, you're at a garage sale. This isn't Wal-mart.

Or the people who thought they were actually at Rooms-to-Go:

Them: I like this couch. Do you have another one too?

Us: ???????

But in the end, the sale was a success because they got rid of all the big stuff and made a few hundred for the school. And I'm really glad I was here for it because I am now 100% certain that I will never ever hold a yard sale of my own.

Acapulco by Photo (#s 3 and 4)

2009-09-25T20:57:00.006-04:00

After the harrowing adventure that was the Acapulco market, Mandy took me to get tacos al pastor (shepherd's tacos? I want to say yes) at an afuera restaurant on the Costera. Very nice, very relaxing, very yum. I love the way the Mexicans serve you meals. They bring you all the ingredients and you can throw it together however you want. For tacos al pastor, you get homemade corn tortillas (they alone are worth the airfare), heavily seasoned spicy shredded meat (I think it was pork, I can't be sure...in any case, I didn't eat any gristle-y pieces, so it could have been hyena meat and I wouldn't have cared), tomatillo sauce, rice and black beans. Speaking of beans, I did not see a refried bean the entire time I was in Mexico. I'm not sure what to think about that, except to be glad for my own sake because I prefer black beans. The tacos had a major kick, so Mandy ordered jamaica (huh-MY-ka), which was a very sweet cold syrupy juice that tasted very familiar but I haven't been able to place the similarity yet. Maybe pomegranate.

As you can see, I'm still not handling the heat well. I never really did. We kept trying to set up the camera on the napkin dispenser and take a timed photo, but in nearly every shot my disastrous look nearly shattered the lens. In one picture I actually resembled a filthy pirate...quite closely. Yeah, the close-up shots were not working for me (Mandy was just fine, as you can see), so a kindly mesero (waiter) offered to take our picture for us. It went something like this:

Mesero: I take picture?

Us: Oh, okay...gracias!

Mesero: You're beautiful.

Us: Oh...gracias? Just press this button right here.

Mesero: Okay?

Us: (smiling) Si!

Mesero: click

Us: Gracias!

Mesero: You're beautiful.

Yes, he was quite taken with the little white girls, and the picture is not so great, but it was too awkward to ask him to take one more. We didn't talk to him again until we paid and left, and then it went something like this:

Mesero: Adios!

Us: Adios. Gracias!

Mesaro: You're beautiful.

Acapulco by Photo (#2)

2009-09-20T12:56:00.003-04:00

This is the market in Acapulco. I think the word market has such great connotations; in the movies they're always set in idyllic surroundings and very well-dressed people walk around with wicker baskets and buy wonderful things. Or there's the farmers market, outside with tables and stands of perfect, delicious produce just picked that morning by a farmer who's wife also just happened to make you a blackberry pie...just because. This is not often the reality, and the same goes for the Acapulco market. It had good points and bad points, but mainly it was quite the cultural experience...and well, that's always a good point.

Thankfully it was covered, because that was my first day in Acapulco and I was not yet used to the 900 degree heat (as evidenced by my face). Not all the vendors were open, but from what I could tell, each of the 60+ stands were selling the exact same things, for the exact same price. Except for one guy, who had a sign hanging over his door saying "We don't screw you too much." Unfortunately, he wasn't there, so I didn't have the chance to find out. We did stop by a stand owned by a lady that belongs to Mandy's church group, and she had some nice things, including ceramic crosses that I bought a few of for a special price just for us. That was nice of her, I have to wonder if all her other patrons get screwed, though...

I actually should have bought a big stick from her, I could have used it the rest of the time we were at the market to beat off the other vendors. It was like feeding pigeons in Trafalgar Square, except that they weren't pigeons and I wasn't giving them anything except dirty looks. They've got the pushy salesman thing down pat, and it doesn't help when you have no clue what they're saying. We emerged back out into the blazing heat unscathed, though, and I finished my shopping a few days later at the Wal-mart. Which deserves a whole post of its own.

Acapulco by Photo (#1)

2009-09-19T17:28:00.005-04:00

So Mandy says I should blog about said summer vacation. And I don't say no to Mandy. So here goes.

This is Mandy's apartment in Acapulco. It's very hip and relatively cool. By cool I mean that with all the lights off and shades drawn and fans running and bare feet on the tile floor, it's only 97 degrees with one million percent humidity. All you southerners who are reading this (and I know most of you are), you are not allowed to say "it's not the heat, it's the humidity" anymore, okay? That's a new rule, make a note of it.

Off to the right is Mandy's kitchen and behind that is a fun little room with no windows, which lowers the temperature to 96.5 degrees, except at night, when she is permitted by her neighbor to turn on the a/c. They have an agreement...at 9:00, when the hottest part of the day has already come and gone 5 hours ago, she can finally cool off because that's when he doesn't care if the condensation drips into his alleyway. So you may be wondering how this seems fair, and the answer is: it isn't. A drip-free alley is apparently more important than the very real possibility of heat stroke in Acapulco. But if I were Mandy and living in a large-ish city 9,000 miles from home where I didn't really speak the language and a strange man who is probably smaller than me but somewhat threatening nonetheless approached me and told me to turn off my a/c, I would do it. No questions asked. So we can't fault Mandy for going with it. Plus she's just nice and considerate like that.

But until 9:00, you have to figure out how to keep cool in that room, and I took care of that by laying spread-eagle (so as to increase the surface area of skin to tile) on the floor and watching season 1 Chuck episodes, and it was all good. No complaints here.

The last thing you'll note in the picture is the gigantic, delicious, back-stabbing avocado in the table. While in Mexico, I essentially became addicted to avocados because they were SO DARN GOOD. No matter that they're not quite as good here, they're still good enough and I am eating them like a fiend, even though they carry a whopping 29 grams of "supposedly-good-for-you-as-if-there-is-such-a-thing" fat. Avocados...friend or foe? That's for you to decide. I have to go eat one now.

Trying

2009-09-18T17:15:00.002-04:00

So...I suppose I haven't kept this blog for four years to give up on it now. But truthfully, in the A.D.D. world we live in, facebook is a heck of a lot easier to keep up with. But here's to trying to stick with something you started. A few thoughts:

I am doomed to catch lizards in the spare room for eternity. I don't know why they're so drawn to that room, all I know is I'm getting really good at catching them.

Who would've thought the "terrible threes" would actually turn out to be...well, terrific?

For the first time since I quit teaching to work part time, summer was actually a break for me. I'm not sure how to analyze that yet.

If my dad would join facebook I wouldn't have to do this blog anymore.

Kidding...I really wouldn't want to abandon it at this point anyway. And since every post should have a picture, here's a good one.

4th of July

2009-07-05T08:57:00.000-04:00

Ben Swims

2009-07-05T08:23:00.001-04:00

Ben Sings at his Preschool Program

2009-07-05T08:09:00.003-04:00

Whenever I watch this, I fluctuate between thinking it's the cutest thing ever and thinking these kids look like the spawn of Jason singing nursery rhymes. Try to focus on the cute.

Patrick Graduates from Kindergarten (a month and a half ago)

2009-07-05T08:05:00.002-04:00

Jennifer sent me this.

2009-06-30T09:05:00.002-04:00

So you've probably noticed my lack of enthusiasm for blogging lately. It's cool, Jennifer is picking up the slack for me. From now on, she'll be providing all my material for me. Enjoy.

Throwing Patrick from Jennifer Starr on Vimeo.

Mission Failed Accomplished!

2009-06-03T19:08:00.004-04:00

Well, my attempt to sacrifice my dignity to achieve good graces with the internet gods has failed miserably. Surely all of you who know me know that I'm too jaded to get excited enough about a website to actually write about it on my blog...so my last post must've raised some eyebrows.

The deal was, in order to access the ringtones, you have to advertise the site and then send them the URL and then they'll give you the code for 10 free ringtones. But it's either (1) the most poorly run operation EVER or (2) a kid running a website out of his parents' rec room who recently got a life or (3) just a scam with no real negative effects except that you don't get your ringtone. I'm betting on #2.

~~Anyway, never heard back from them and never got my Chuck ringtone. Bummer. Had to settle for a different song--Drift Away. Great song, but not the same. Boo.~~

Nevermind, I don't need the stupid internet, I have Jennifer! And a new Chuck ringtone!!! Woohoo!!!

Mama needs a new ringtone...

2009-05-17T13:40:00.002-04:00

Just got an awesome new phone, the LG EnV2, and I'm loving it, but it comes with the WORST RINGTONES EVER. Embarrassing ringtones. It's a bit of a problem. So I went on the hunt for a new one and decided halfway through that I want the theme song from "Chuck" to be my new one, and I'll settle for nothing else at this point. Only problem is, it doesn't exist...you have to create it. That's a problem for me, as I am technically challenged at least to this degree. But I have found the solution in the form of ventones.com, where I can create my own ringtone...or better yet, just download the awesome Chuck theme that someone else already did--for free. You can go here to check it out:

Free Ringtones - Ventones

Okay, going to get my Chuck fix...call me so I can hear it!

Celebrity Collage by MyHeritage

2009-05-11T23:50:00.002-04:00

Yeah, I'm not seeing it...

http://www.myheritage.com/collage

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Free family tree - Genealogy sites

To All the Moms

2009-05-10T23:04:00.002-04:00

YOU GO GIRLS!

Happy Mothers Day to all of you from me and my boys. :)

Political Math

2009-04-18T23:12:00.002-04:00

The Devil

+ one soul

+ another soul

=

two "great" colleges that I don't have to worry about my kids ever being accepted to.

They're dropping like flies...

2009-04-18T17:41:00.006-04:00

Patrick lost another tooth yesterday. He pulled it out himself at school, thank God. It seems I am very squeamish when it comes to teeth. I don't mind them in and I don't mind them out, it's the transitioning from one location to the other that gets to me.

Incidentally, you'll all be very interested to know about this little science experiment concerning the tooth fairy. We learned it from one of my co-workers yesterday as we were leaving school. I went my whole life without knowing it, but it's too late for me now. Figures. Anyway, if you leave a glass if water on your nightstand, when the tooth fairy comes hunting for treasure, she'll dip her wings in the water and you can find out what color your fairy is. Who knew??? Turns out Patrick's fairy is green. And so is a little bit of the carpet now.

Milestones

2009-03-30T17:06:00.002-04:00

Big boy's getting bigger...

...and just because he's so darn cute.

My Kind of Survey

2009-03-28T17:40:00.007-04:00

1. How do you like your eggs?
All ways. A treat is fried over easy but usually I just scramble (no cheese) or hard-boil for the sake of convenience.

2. How do you take your coffee/tea?
Just starting in on coffee, only when I'm really cold. I like it like dessert--with lots of milk and sugar added...caramel-colored. For tea, it's with a squeeze of lemon and a teaspoon of honey.

3. Favorite breakfast food:
Nothing beats pancakes except more pancakes. With real butter and maple syrup.

4. Peanut butter: Smooth or crunchy?
Either.

5. What kind of dressing on your salad?
Traditional mustard vinaigrette or a close variation.

6. Coke or Pepsi?
Ew. Neither. Water, milk or juice. Sweet tea once in a blue moon.

7. You’re feeling lazy, what do you make?
Skippy's natural peanut butter and all-fruit spread on whole wheat.

8. You’re feeling really lazy. What kind of pizza do you order?
Gondoliers--loaded with veggies and feta.

9. You feel like cooking. What do you make?
Chicken Marsala is my favorite.

10. Do any foods bring back good memories?
Unfrosted marble cake--sitting on Grammy's porch in the summer evening
McDonald's fudge sundae w/ nuts--trips to McDonald's with Grandpa M.
Dunkin Donuts jelly-filled donuts--trips to Dunkin Donuts with Grandpa M. (he really liked to go get his coffee)
In-season peaches and blueberries (fresh or baked into something)--summers in Old Saybrook
Lemon Italian ice--Chalker beach
Toasted marshmallows--summer nights in Madison with Gram
Crackers and soft cheeses with Merlot--appetizers with Grandpa H.
Iced coffee--summer days at Grammy and Grandpa's house

11. Do any foods bring back bad memories?
Well, I was in England once and someone served me potatoes and peas that were doused in rock salt and some kind of mint glaze. Not a bad memory but definitely a bad dinner. Ditto for all the rutabagas my mom made me eat as a child.

12. Do any foods remind you of someone?
Grammy's noodle soup
Mom's breads (specifically zucchini, cranberry orange and pineapple nut)
Mom's lime jello salad (actually lots of Mom's recipes, but she has kindly passed them all to me and I make them so frequently that they're mine now too)
Bread and butter: Grammy and Grandpa
Gram's "invisible" salad dressing
Bloody Marys: Gram and Grandpa
I have a new appreciation for stuffing and gravy during the holidays, but it's a taste I aquired only after Gram, the champ, passed away.

13. Is there a food you refuse to eat?
Haggis, liver, tongue, etc., turnips and brussel sprouts

14. What was your favorite food as a child?
Fried shrimp, especially from The Fish Tail

15. Is there a food that you hated as a child but now like?
Most veggies, beans, bean sprouts, avacados, watermelon, mushrooms, I would probably LOVE my mom's kale soup if she would ever make it for me again!

16. Is there a food that you liked as a child but now hate?
Kool-aid, Pop-tarts, Keebler soft batch chocolate chip cookies, hot dogs, Kraft macaroni and cheese, sugary cereals, breakfast sausage, all those processed foods aimed at kids

17. Favorite fruit and vegetable:
Berries (any kind) and Asparagus

18. Favorite junk food:
Those store-bought cinnamon rolls smothered in white icing, or anything similar.

19. Favorite between meal snack:
shredded mini wheats (any brand, but especially Kashi)

20. Do you have any weird food habits?
Not really weird, but I MUST finish dinner with something sweet. It kills me during Lent.

21. You’re on a diet. What food(s) do you fill up on?
Kashi breakfast cereals

22. You’re off your diet. Now what would you like?
Chocolate chip cookies or any homemade baked good for that matter, Easter candy, any dish made with heavy cream

23. How spicy do you order Indian/Thai?
Not very. I like the sweet flavors like coconut and golden raisins mixed with the savory spices.

24. Can I get you a drink?
Margarita on the rocks

25. Red or White Wine?
switched to white recently

26. Favorite dessert?
Oh, there's no way...let's see, fudge cake with chocolate ganache, strawberry shortcake (the real kind, on a sweetened biscuit with real whipped cream), caramel cake, brownie sundae, blueberry cobbler with ice cream, any kind of homemade fruit pie but especially apple, pumpkin, peach and cherry, the list could go on and on but I think I touched on the high points!

27. The perfect nightcap?
Don't have one b/c I don't usually indulge. I prefer to drink with a meal.

Sapelo Island

2009-03-28T01:17:00.000-04:00

It's Springing...

2009-03-22T23:42:00.002-04:00

...and I hope it's sprung by the time I get back...

Snowdrops...the only kind I like.

The early daffodils are gone, here are my late ones.

Phlox...first it sleeps, then it creeps, then it leaps. This year it's creeping.

The first brave dogwood bloom of the year.

Buds at dusk.

Happy Spring!

That's Affirmative

2009-03-17T20:01:00.003-04:00

Conversation with Ben has been a little maddening lately...

Ben: Does it have ice in it?

Me: Yes, it does.

Ben: It does?

Me: Yes.

Ben: It has ice in it?

Me: Yes, Ben IT DOES!

Ben: It does have ice in it?

Me: WHY LORD WHY?????

Belated Birthday Wishes

2009-03-12T20:54:00.003-04:00

Well, I completely fail at life when it comes to blogging lately. What can I say, I've been *really* busy! Especially busy keeping Patrick happy as he turned SIX YEARS OLD last week. They sure do grow up fast...sigh...

Anyway, Patrick's birthday was a week-long affair, as usual. I don't know how my kids manage this every time, but we usually end up having multiple birthday celebrations...like, even more than normal people do. Luke was working on Wednesday, his actual birthday, so we went out to eat at Olive Garden Tuesday night at Patrick's request. And we can now cross the Olive Garden off the list of places I can eat. Wow. I'm sticking to whole foods right now so I ordered portabello ravioli, which the waitress assured me were made fresh in-house. Yeah. Riiiiiight. If they were freshly made, it was in the lowest-grade fat possible and with a pound or ten of salt added. My stomach was literally screaming at me after five pieces. Anyway, the next day--on his actual birthday--Ben and I took giant colorful frosted with sprinkles doughnuts to school to eat with his class...but not before Ben decided to pull the fire alarm and evacuate the whole school. Except no one could leave the building because there had been a massive hydrochloric acid spill in a nearby plant and officials were afraid that citizens would inhale the fumes and die. Which left everyone in a quandry...burn inside or asphixiate outside? Which would you do? But after all that drama (happy birthday Patrick!), we ate the doughnuts and then the boys went out to eat with Ma and Pa for another birthday celebration.

Then on Friday, Patrick had all of his birthday wishes fullfilled and went to spend the night with Uncle Adam in Chattanooga. Adam and Kendall spoiled him rotten, and he of course loved every minute of it. On Sunday we went up there for one last birthday party and spent the day playing around town...pictures below...

Apparently the thing to do in Chattanooga this time of year is slide down the levee by the river on cardboard boxes. Laugh if you want, but it was SO MUCH FUN. Who knew? Loved it. Anyway, Patrick had a great six or seven birthdays, and he looooved the kid-sized turnout gear that we got him, so that was good. And this post is now miles longs, so I'm done. Not even gonna spell-check. Bye!

New post.

2009-03-08T20:50:00.002-04:00

Soon. I promise. But the camera battery is dead and I can't upload pictures until I get a charge.

ThisisforyouSandikaythanksbye.

Tellus About It

2009-02-17T13:40:00.002-05:00

Yesterday Luke and I took the boys to the new Tellus Science Museum. Not much to say except we really enjoyed ourselves and were fairly impressed and both wondered why in the world they chose to build this museum in White, GA? Patrick and Ben liked the dinosaurs, the air and space exhibit, and the giant dump truck used to mine the rocks and gems inside the museum. I liked the planetarium show, and I think Luke just liked getting out of the house. Anyway, it was a fun day...expensive, but fun. And that's about it on the newsfront around here.

I think she touched on my best points here...

2009-02-10T21:14:00.004-05:00

Here's one of those e-mail games that Sandi sent me, only you don't answer the questions yourself, you pass it on and let your friends answer. Mandy's take on me was not only spot-on, but deeply flattering! She knows me so well. Read on...

Where did we meet? Berryland! Ah, the good ole days.

Take a stab at my middle name? Leigh

Do I smoke? The occasional joint (she's kidding, Mom!)

Color of my eyes? brown...or as I have taught my students..."brau-yun"

Do I have any siblings? David, maybe the smartest person I am acquainted with in real life

What's one of my favorite things to do? chat with me on facebook (it is)

What's my favorite type of music? Bree Sharp type music

Am I shy or outgoing? I have never seen you shy.

Am I a rebel or do I follow the rules? oooooo. This is a good question. Major rules and laws? Yes, you follow. But, you can be talked into the occasional break-in of someone's email account. I can, as well. :) (haha...deviant!)

Any special talents? Can give birth without fainting, bake delicious cookies and cakes, and run more than a mile without collapsing.

How many children do I have? 2. Well, 3 if you count Luke. (I do)

If you and I were stranded on a deserted island, what is one thing that
I would bring? A hair straightener. (YES! and also Ryan Lochte...but I wouldn't straighten his hair)

We all have our strengths...

2009-01-24T19:15:00.002-05:00

We have been trying to wrap up the whole potty-training thing with Ben (incidentally, I would not count potty-training children as being one of my strengths). A lot of people are trying to help out...he gets lectures more than a few times a day about how big kids and grown-ups poop on the potty. Ben poops on the potty too...it's just a guessing game to figure out which day of the week he's going to bless us by doing it. Needless to say, it's on our minds these days.

So the kids were in the car with Ma and Pa last night and Ben asked the following question:

"Pa? Does Jesus poop on the potty up in heaven?"

Hmmmm...

While Pa was contemplating how to answer this one, Patrick chimed in with his two cents:

"We're going to have to ask Gigi about that. She knows everything about Jesus. Grandpa knows everything about tennis, but Gigi knows everything about Jesus."

So there you go. We all have our strengths...

Tagged again--The Bucket List

2009-01-24T12:12:00.003-05:00

UGH. I, like Jennifer, cannot resist. So here's another one. But I bet if you look back a year or so, it's already on my blog...

Subject: The Bucket List--Something Different

Hit forward and place an (x) by all the things you've done and remove
the (x) from the ones you have not. No need to explain...remember--no one really cares.

(x) Been to Europe
( ) Been on a cruise
( ) Gone on a blind date
(x) Skipped school
( ) Watched someone die
( ) Been to Canada
( ) Been to Mexico
(x) Been to Florida
(x) Been on a plane
(x) Been lost
(x) Been on the opposite side of the country
(x) Gone to Washington , DC
(x) Swam in the ocean
(x) Cried yourself to sleep
(x) Played cops and robbers
( ) Recently colored with crayons
( ) Sang Karaoke
(x) Made prank phone calls
(x) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
(x) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
(x) Danced in the rain
( ) Written a letter to Santa Claus
( ) Been kissed under the mistletoe
(x) Watched the sunrise alone
(x) Blown bubbles
(x) Gone ice skating
(x) Gone roller skating
(x) Gone to the movies
(x) Own your Favorite Car

1. Any nickname? Becks, Bexter
2. Mother's name? Gloria
3. Favorite drink? water
4. Body Piercing? ears
5. How much do you love your Car? when I bought it, it was my favorite car...now notsomuch
6. Birthplace? Hartford CT
7. Been to Hawaii? no
8. Ever been to Africa? No
9. Ever eaten just cookies for dinner? undoubtedly...probably of the girl scout variety
10. Ever been on TV? yes
11. Ever steal any traffic sign? no
12. Ever been in a car accident? yes
13. Drive a 2-door or 4-door vehicle? 4-door
14. ?Why is this question missing?
15. Favorite number? 9 or 11
16. Favorite movie? see a few posts below
17. Favorite holiday? 4th of July
18. Favorite dessert? chocolate cake
19. Favorite food? all foods
20. Favorite day of the week? who cares
21. Favorite brand of body wash? who cares
22. Toothpaste? who cares
23. Favorite smell? puppy breath
24. How do you relax? Facebook
25. How do you see yourself in 10 years? hopefully not much different than today
26. Furthest Place you will send this message? perhaps someone on the opposite side of the world will read this post.
27. Who will respond to this the fastest? uh, I'll put the pressure on SANDI

Tagged--Fourth

2009-01-19T19:15:00.003-05:00

Scintillating stuff here...this is Luke teaching CPR to one of the faculty members at work. What else can I say? When you ask for the fourth picture in my fourth folder, well...this is what you get. Mandy's was much more interesting. No harm done, it's just my turn to pass on the fun. :)

I'm supposed to tag four people. I can't do that because I'm a self-appointed blogging loser and I don't have four blogging friends. Mandy tagged me, Andrea's already done this (and if I recall correctly, she tagged me and I ignored her), Jennifer's all but done blogging, and well...that leaves Sandi. She needs a tag because she's a newbie and has nothing yet. So Sandi...you're it (and Jennifer if she reads this). Hope it's something good. :)

Swim Lessons

2009-01-09T22:46:00.002-05:00

Since the Christmas rush is over and it is the dead of winter and the mercury is falling to all of 55 degrees outside, we decided it was time for Patrick to get busy in some kind of extracurricular sport again. We settled on swimming, a good choice if you ask me. Patrick taught himself to swim this summer, driven by the sheer desire to be able to do it. I didn't want him to forget over the school year, and I also wanted him to learn basic strokes, so we signed up at the YMCA. It turned out that no one else signed up for the Monday/Wednesday class, but instead of canceling it, they just offered a private one-on-one lesson for the price we already paid, so that was good. Anyway, long story short: he's enjoying it.

Better late than never...

2009-01-03T21:59:00.002-05:00

Here are some Christmas pictures...we have ones from Christmas at Gigi and Grandpa's house, Christmas at Ma and Pa's house and Christmas Eve at our house. We must be in like flynn with Santa. He came to our house while we were at church Christmas Eve and left a note telling us to open everything that night since Daddy had to go to work early the next morning. Anyway, here's pictures from all three Christmases...

A little side note here...I reconsidered opening my comments back up but decided against it for my own personal reasons (and also because no one would comment anyway), but I did add an e-mail widget to my side bar, so if you feel the dire need to say something to me concerning my blog right this very second...well, there you go.

Also, I have started another blog, just for 2009. It's only for this year, so get it while the gettin's good--ha. You can find it in the newly reinstated (but very small) links section in my sidebar.

Happy New Year!

Quotable & Answers

2008-12-27T13:35:00.002-05:00

Taking a cue from Mandy, here are 10 favorite lines from 10 of my favorite movies (in no particular order). Answers ~~tomorrow~~ below.

1. "Let my armies be the rocks and the trees and the birds in the sky."

2. "I love those moments. I like to wave at them as they pass by."

3. "It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great."

4. "My dear, never confuse efficiency with a liver complaint."

5. "I'm nice men."

6. "No more conning! No more! If you're gonna be my wife, you're gonna live a respectable life, chopping cars!"

7. "Sorry. Could you come back later? We're trying to escape."

8. "And last week I saw Cameron Diaz at Fred Segal, and I talked her out of buying this truly heinous angora sweater. Whoever said orange was the new pink was seriously disturbed."

9. "When the Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window."

10. "Have you ever heard of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates?...Morons."

So here are my answers...and as you can see, no deep movies for me, thanks. I am all about the entertainment value. I have lots of other favorite movies, none of which have won awards.

1. Sean Connery as Henry Jones, Sr. in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (listed as a favorite for all four Indiana Jones movies)

2. Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (listed for all three Pirates movies)

3. Tom Hanks as Jimmy Dugan in A League of Their Own

4. David Tomlinson as Mr. Banks in Mary Poppins

5. Harrison Ford as Han Solo in The Empire Strikes Back (listed for all three original Star Wars movies)

6. Ray Liotta as Dean in Heartbreakers

7. Ellen DeGeneres as Dory in Finding Nemo

8. Reese Witherspoon as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde

9. Julie Andrews as Maria in The Sound of Music

10. Wallace Shawn as Vizzini in The Princess Bride

Who raised these kids???

2008-12-17T19:22:00.002-05:00

More Christmas chit-chat around the dinner table tonight...I happened to mention:

"I hope I get some new slippers for Christmas."

"I'll buy you some, Mom.."

"Awww, thanks Patrick!"

"...for five bucks."

Instant Gratification

2008-12-16T20:13:00.002-05:00

We took the boys to see Santa yesterday. We have the awesomest Santa Claus at our mall. I think he may actually be Santa. Anyway, last year Ben talked to him, but wouldn't sit in his lap. This year he trusted him enough to have the chat whilst perched on his knee. I didn't get pictures though, because there are no personal pictures and the "professional" shot cost $12 and for heavens sake, we're in a recession, haven't you heard? I hear (from a reliable source) that the only way to get a free picture with Santa is to be his anesthetist during outpatient surgery and then stop and check on him while you're at the mall. We couldn't make that happen, though...so we skipped the pictures.

Anyway, here's the conversation we had with Ben while waiting in line:

Us: Ben, are you going to sit in Santa's lap with Patrick?

Ben: Yes!

Us: What are you going to tell him you want?

Ben: A green motorcycle!

Us: What else?

Ben: Just a green motorcycle!

And twenty minutes later...

Us: Ben, wasn't that great talking to Santa?

Ben: Yeah...where's my green motorcycle?

This and That

2008-12-14T00:35:00.003-05:00

So here's what's been going on with me lately:

1. A few weeks ago, Ben had his Thanksgiving program at school, in which his class sang a song about killing turkeys and danced. It was hilarious. I took pictures. I'm not posting them because it was far too long ago.

2. At the beginning of this month, we went to the Christmas parade. My camera died, so I have no pictures. Doesn't matter, though--Jennifer has helpfully provided a play-by-play of the parade that you can read here. All I need to add is: it was frickin' freezing.

3. I got a new camera last weekend and this week Patrick had his Christmas program at school. I have no pictures of that because it turned out that directly between where Patrick was standing on stage and where I was sitting in the audience was the music director's head. Not wanting pictures of that, I gave up and just watched. They did really well.

4. My poll is about to end and I have learned two things from it: (1) Nobody who voted thinks I'm doing it exactly right and (2) out of all the people in the world, only six voted, so nobody really cares. That's okay, I don't care either. I have no intention of changing my blogging habits anyway.

5. I have been using Crest Whitestrips and now my teeth constantly feel like they're vibrating.

6. We are currently sharing our bathroom with one very persistent ant colony. There have been a lot of lives lost, but they keep coming back for more.

For those that want pictures, here's one of Ben. He wasn't cold, just being strange. A friend of mine asked me if I put mascara on him before I took the picture, and I will let you all make up your own minds about that. I just want to note that this picture was taken in complete darkness, so at least at close range, my new camera's flash rocks.

Weekend Rundown

2008-12-07T21:31:00.005-05:00

We had a busy weekend with a visit to Gigi and Grandpa's house--in retrospect, I'm not sure I know why we went???? I think this was originally supposed to be a pre-Thanksgiving visit for the whole family, but that got delayed because of the never-ending renovations in Gigi's kitchen. So we went this weekend instead, but we didn't eat turkey and we're doing Christmas together in two weeks, so I don't know where that leaves this visit. But we still had a great time, and it was very convenient for me to be in ATL this weekend, because as it turns out, the USA Swimming National Short Course Swimming Championshios were at GA Tech, and I was able to take Patrick on Friday night.

A few of the Olympic swimmers were there, including our favorite Ryan Lochte, so we were psyched to watch him win his two races. The woman we sat next to was watching her daughter race and she was super-sweet to my son, talking and explaining everything to him. At the end of the individual races, she snuck away and bought him a Lochte swim cap and told him that Ryan said he was really busy and couldn't come up and talk right then, but he sent a present. She handed him the swim cap and Patrick absolutely believes that Ryan personally gave him a new cap. He also thinks it was our awesome mojo that helped Ryan win the race. If you want to see the pictures we took, click here.

Saturday morning we went to the community parade. Very cute, but VERY cold!!! They said it was going to be a harsh winter, but I swear I cannot handle this. I think it's time to go visit Mandy.

Patrick is still attached to Brendan's hip, wishing with all his might that we might give him a little brother to play with (I won't even dignify the irony in that statement). At any rate, Brendan seems to like him too, so it's all good.

Other than that, it was a typical quiet weekend with the fam. We were supposed to play a lot of tennis, but it was just TOO COLD. Hopefuly next time.

Me and the Boys are Fly!

2008-11-26T14:12:00.001-05:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Losing 10 Years of My Life

2008-11-21T16:58:00.002-05:00

This morning at 7:15, I went upstairs to get Patrick up for school. I met him in the hallway and went to close his door so Ben could keep sleeping. I peeked and saw Ben was not in bed, checked under the covers, and then asked Patrick where Ben was. He didn't know. I looked in the other rooms upstairs--no Ben. Starting to panic, I came back downstairs and checked all the exits--thinking about stories of three-year-olds leaving the house in the middle of the night for ice cream--all latched. For lack of any other idea where to look next, I headed back to the bedroom and threw back the covers...and there he was:

Sound asleep, under the bed, with only the toes sticking out. And now I may as well be 41, because I did in fact lose ten years in two minutes.

I'm always game...

2008-11-21T16:30:00.003-05:00

Thanks to Sandi for sending this my way. I'm sure Jennifer wants a piece of it as well...

TYPE ONLY 1 WORD. IT'S HARDER THAN YOU THINK!!!

1. Where is your cell phone? CHARGING
2. Your significant other? NEARBY
3. Your hair? FRAGRANT
4. Your mother? LOVEABLE
5. Your father? DITTO
6. Your favorite thing? BEACH
7. Your dream last night? BIZZARO
8. Your favorite drink? PAINKILLER
9. Your dream/goal? TALLER
10. Room you're in? LIVING
11. Your fear? FIRE
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? CARIBBEAN
13. Where were you last night? SCHOOL
14. What you're not? TALL
15. Muffins? SURE
16. One of your wish list items? CASH
17. Where you grew up? ATHENS
18. The last thing you did? BAKE
19. What are you wearing? JEANS
20. Your TV? VIZIO
21. Your pet? NEUROTIC
22. Your computer? ON
23. Your life? MESSY
24. Missing someone? SUMMER
25. Your mood? AGITATED
26. Your car? DEPENDABLE
27. Something you're not wearing NECKLACE
28. Favorite Store? OLDNAVY (sue me, it's two words)
29. Your summer? ANTICIPATING
30. Your favorite color? NONE
31. When is the last time you laughed? TODAY
32. Last time you cried : MONDAY
33. Who will/would re-post this? NOBODY

34.FOUR PLACES I GO OVER AND OVER: school, walmart, church, bed
36. FOUR PEOPLE WHO E-MAIL ME: Sandi, Stephanie, Mom, Andrea
37. FOUR PLACES I WOULD RATHER BE RIGHT NOW? beach, Greece, spa, cruising

Go USA

2008-11-20T10:10:00.003-05:00

Patrick's been spending a lot of time being Scott lately. Well, he alternates between being Scott, Daddy, and Billy Blazes from the Rescue Heroes. Anyway, today he's Scott. Click here to see the real thing.

And can I just say thank you God for eBay? Patrick has asked Santa for a toy that they stopped making in 1999.

Birthday Boy

2008-11-13T21:30:00.004-05:00

So today is Ben's birthday and we have now completed three of four scheduled birthday parties. The first one you know about, so here's an update...

Last weekend my parents escaped the headache that is their kitchen remodel and came up to visit and have birthday party #2. It was a beautiful fall day and the kids had a great time playing with Gigi and Grandpa. There was baseball...

...and cake...(and I want veryone to notice how Luke is trying to lean out of the picture. Everyone look at Luke. That's what he gets for being such a baby about having his picture taken--now we all look at him. So there.)

...and presents! Ben's modeling a shirt that Gigi got him--among other things--and checking out a new front loader set. He also opened his presents from David, Sandi, Matthew and Brendan, and loved them! Thanks guys!

We kicked off his actual birthday with a trip to the doctor's office for a flu shot. Fun, I know. Happy birthday sweetie, now here, let's shove a needle in your thigh! But I made up for it by delivering cupcakes to his school to share with his class. Plus, he got to wear the birthday hat all day, so that was awesome.

Since Luke's at work, like he always is on a day of importance, I took the boys out to eat, Ben's choice. Of course he chose McDonalds, and I'm sure that decision wasn't heavily influenced whatsoever by Patrick. So we went and ate our orders of grease with a side of processed meat, but the boys had a blast, and for once the playland was occupied by nice, normal kids who I felt comfortable letting my kids run with. Ben wore his birthday hat the entire time. Happy Birthday Ben!

I other news, Patrick's strep throat is back, less than a week after we stopped the first round of antibiotics. So now the doctor says to forget the bubble gum-flavored stuff, we're now moving on to the heavy hitters. Unfortunately, it tastes like...you guessed it...a dead cat in the middle of the road (that was for you David). Patrick managed the first dose, immediately threw up the second dose, and choked down the third dose. We'll be doing this for ten days. And that stuff cost me $40.

One last thing--Mandy now lives in Mexico. Lives. In. Mexico. How in the world did that happen? I'm so happy for her, but I just can't wrap my head around the whole thing. Anyway Mandy, I know you're having a fantastic time and we're glad you've got this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!!

My Little Republican

2008-11-04T23:46:00.002-05:00

Patrick was involved in a class project to raise money for the Open Door Home while trick-or-treating. On Sunday night before we took the money back into school, we had this conversation:

Me: You need to take some money out of your own wallet and put it in the box.

Patrick: I do?

Me: Yes, you should give some too. However much you want to put in.

Patrick: (putting some money in the box) Okay...here.

Me: Good boy.

Patrick: But if I give all my money away, there won't be any left for me!

I think you missed the point kiddo, but the good news is, you're a lot smarter than the majority of our nation's registered voters...

It's My Party and I'll Cry if I Want To

2008-11-04T22:57:00.009-05:00

Today I had a little birthday party for Ben...and in trying to keep it as simple as possible without skipping it altogether (sheer guilt is all that kept me from choosing that option), we pared it down to a playdate at the park with three friends, cake and presents.

Jacob and Mary Kate came, but poor Adam had a tummyache and had to go to the doctor. We missed him, but the three kids still had fun. There really isn't much to say...they played, we ate cake, we opened presents...voila! Instant birthday.

Everything started out well. I totally pulled it off in tricking Ben into thinking this was a real party. He was so psyched to have his two best buddies at the park with him.

Minor mishap with the cake...I spent the whole morning looking after that thing...making sure it didn't melt in the car while I was grocery shopping, etc...only to have it slip off the wagon and land upside down (in its packaging) once we reached the park. Whatever.

Ben's been paying attention to Daddy, I think. He was so apprehensive of the flame on the candles he couldn't even get close enough to blow them out. Mary Kate did the honors instead.

After cake came presents. There were only three of them, but after that experience, I'm not exactly looking forward to Christmas morning. He opened Mary Kate's first--it was a Thomas set and he was super excited and ready to open it right then. I had to convince him to open Jacob's present first and then we would get Thomas out straight away.

But Jacob's present was an equally awesome monster truck that also needed to be removed pronto, and thus the drama began. Because that monster truck packaging holds all our national security secrets or something, removing the toy was no small feat. In the end, it required a screwdriver, which I did not have and that led to a major meltdown and Ben sitting at the table crying (effectively reiterating that he is now a three-year-old) while everyone else went back to play. So that's how we ended his birthday party. And Lord knows I love that boy more than life itself, but it made me glad I didn't do more for him! Luckily, Jenny saved the day with a Leatherman-like tool in her car, so at least he was able to ride home all smiles again. Thank you Jenny!

And we never even got to the gift from Mommy and Daddy...I put it back on the shelf in my closet when we got home. We'll get to it sometime between now and the 13th.

Playroom makeover

2008-11-02T19:41:00.002-05:00

Remember a few years ago when Stephanie gave us her son's old "road carpet"? She loves to pass on her old stuff to us, and it's usually great...Polo shirts, Pokemon figures and paraphernalia, but today she outdid herself--with furniture. Today we inherited her son's very very very expensive loft.

It's actually a double-loft (goes in an L-shape), but we opted to just put up one section of it, partially for the sheer size of it, and partially because we could only figure out a few ways to position it and all those ways involved a portion of it sitting directly under the ceiling fan and it didn't seem worth the weekly scalpings I was imagining. So the remaining section is stored under the guest bed and we'll pull it out one day when we have a bigger better house.

As I said, it belonged to Stephanie's son. She bought it a few years back and then he immediately grew 15 inches and now it's too small for him to sleep on. So it's on loan to us indefinitely--probably until she needs it back for grandchildren, which I hope for her sake is a LONG time from now considering her son is only a freshman in high school. Anyway, the thing cost like $1,500 so it was too expensive to get rid of and we're happy to "store" it for them.

Plus I talked to my dad today and he told me that they've removed their dishwasher and it's ready for us to pick up. I LOVE that dishwasher because it's so quiet you really can't even tell when it's on, so it's a good month for us!

Nearing Exhaustion

2008-11-01T15:52:00.008-04:00

The past week has been busy for sure. We started out with a sore throat on Monday which hadn't gone away by Tuesday...and lo and behold, Patrick's going to follow in his mommy's footsteps and get strep throat twice a season, I guess. I had to cancel Ben's birthday party on Wednesday and rescuedule for this week, but I think that was for the better since it was FREEZING on Wednesday! Patrick was feeling well enough to go back to school on Thursday, but still has spent most of his time at home sleeping. Knowing my son, that kind of concerns me, and I'm thinking we'll be spending tomorrow doing absolutely nothing to give him a chance to rest, especially after the past few days.

Thursday night we finally got around to carving our pumpkin...

The finished product...

Friday was Patrick's first-ever field trip to the pumpkin patch. This particular patch is supposed to be great, but now I am glad we never wasted a Saturday going there because I was unimpressed. I think the kids had fun but Patrick was really dragging. We went trick-or-treating in Stephanie's neighborhood. Ben was supposed to be a pirate, but he had a last-minute change of heart and wore Patrick's Spiderman costume from last year. I have no idea what made him change his mind, but I was glad because he was able to wear his pajamas under the Spidey suit and it was chilly last night!!!

Patrick went ahead with his plan to be Pikachu--also a good costume since it allowed layering. They both got sick of their masks pretty quickly, which I was glad for since it would lessen the chances that they trip and fall in someone's yard and spill their candy everywhere, which would of course result in meltdowns and so on and so forth. Mask-free was okay by me!

The gang hitting up one house with an especially photographic porch...

And today we went to the annual fall bazaar at school, which was fun and chaotic as always. Patrick won another cake and I must admit that this one is a step up from last year's (click here to revisit that monstrosity), but still not at all appealing if you ask me. I miss the old days, when the women of the ladies guild at church baked all the cakes--and they were experienced bakers and knew not to slather orange icing on everything. I hold onto the dream that one day we'll win a simple bundt.

4 Boys = Cute Photos

2008-10-26T21:41:00.002-04:00

Patrick with his favorite baby, Brendan. He likes Bren so much, he said it made him wish he had a baby brother. Go figure that one out...

Patrick, Matthew and Brendan. M and B looking presh, Patrick making eyes at the camera.

More cuteness, Matthew style.

Ben works that right dimple--love it!

Silly boys! Brendan's all "What the..."

Finally, a nice pose. Or...the best we could do.

One of Baby B without the paci.

Still alive....

2008-10-25T21:35:00.004-04:00

Sooo...I have really been trying to keep the blog updated recently, but I just realized that it's been ten days (ten very busy days), so I thought I'd at least drop a quick line for all the fans. David and Sandi are here this weekend with their two boys, so between the four kiddies I wouldn't exactly say it's been a quiet day...

Sandi and I took the three older boys to the craft fair while Luke and David stayed home with baby Brendan and watched football. Then we all went to church and I seriously thought it would be not unlike the apocalypse with four boys under the age of six, but they were actually incredibly good. So we're tired tonight, but still very much alive. I'll try to post pictures of all four boys tomorrow. :)

Things that may drive me to drink...or sit in a dark room...or both.

2008-10-15T19:54:00.002-04:00

1. Paint. Let's just not discuss this one, okay? Moving on...

2. The Sno-cone lady. Who in their right mind drives around all day with gas costing $3-4/gallon to sell ice and sugar? She's not right in the head, I tell you. And her music, for crying out loud! The insane little jingle that she blasts at nine gazillion decibles to announce her arrival! It's quite possibly a key element in extreme torture.

3. My neighbor shooting fireworks out of his mailbox. It freaks my dogs out and makes them jump all over the windows and doors, tearing up the screens. I would have forgotten that one if he hadn't conveniently done so as I typed this. Bless him, we wouldn't want to forget about him.

4. Headache-induced vision loss. Had my first experience with that one today. That was fun. Here's what Dr. Joshua says about that:
Blurred vision, cloudy vision, colorful shapes, shimmering light, sensitivity to light, zig-zag or saw-edge shapes, blind spots commonly occur in migraine just before the headache begins. Even if you don’t have a history of migraine, you can still have a migraine attack.
Yep, sounds about right. Thanks for clearing that up, Dr. Joshua. And yes, I did see an actual live doctor and he said the same thing.

5. Full moons. Anyone that has been in contact with a small child--especially a boy one (or two)--knows what I'm talking about.

6. Migraines and full moons together. That's extra-special fun.

7. I'm sure there are lots more, but my head hurts.

Fall Break Pictures

2008-10-12T00:19:00.001-04:00

Speaking of dead animals...

2008-10-07T21:02:00.003-04:00

Holy Mackeral! Or...rainbow trout or whatever. We have just returned from our camping trip to NC and Luke caught these two monster fish, along with a host of smaller ones that were still fairly large but not quite good enough for a photo op.

So we'll be eating trout for a while, which is fine with me. The problem lies in what to do with these suckers. I'd rather eat them...Luke would like to hang them on my walls (!!!). Which--besides being a *little* off-putting to me--is quite expensive. So that's our dilemna right now.

More pics from the trip later.

You try and you try...

2008-10-02T19:52:00.003-04:00

I knew that lizard was severly hydrated after being stuck in our spare room for at least a week. I knew the first thing he'd do once I set him free was go looking for water. And I was afraid he'd find it in the bucket we use to catch the excess water from the heating/cooling system.

Sometimes I hate being right. R.I.P. little lizard.

It's been that kind of week, you know?

I am strong, invincible, woman, yadda yadda yadda...

2008-09-28T20:25:00.004-04:00

I remember back when Luke graduated from the Fire Academy, the chief told all of the families "There will be times when you'll need them at home, and they won't be there for you." And I thought at the time that he was talking about serious things, like tornados and exploding hot-water heaters and things that go bump in the night. But so far it's been more like not being able to find my mixer because he put it away, and needing to go to Wal-Mart for children's tylenol at 11:00 p.m., and most recently--catching lizards...

It all started last week on a day that--of course--Luke wasn't here. I went upstairs to run on the treadmill and was greeted by a little green anole hanging out on the wall. After some inspection, I saw that the window--the only one in the house with no screen on it--was open ever so slightly, just raised about an inch. Well, I figured the little guy (and I know it was a guy because he didn't have that tell-tale stripe running down the length of his body) had just come in, so I opened the window all the way and started running. Ben sat down on the floor and watched him for a little while before losing interest and going back into the playroom. I kept half an eye on him as he wound his way around the wall and eventully disappeared on he other side of the window trim. When I finished running, I checked and he was nowhere to be found. Satisfied that he had gotten back out, I closed the window and went on my merry way.

I've been upstairs running almost every day since then and haven't seen my little friend, until today--a week later, Luke at work again--when I went up and was greeted by the same lizard, in almost the exact same place on the wall, but this time when I checked the window it was closed. I knew it was the same one because a little piece of his tail was missing. I opened the window again and started cleaning the playroom, checking on his progress every once in a while. I got really excited once because he got about four inches from the open window, but then he turned around and went back, and it was at that point that I knew I'd have to intervene. So I spent the next thirty minutes chasing that thing all around the window--which is not really my thing, because even though I really enjoy nature, not so much in my house--until he finally hid behind the bookcase, which I was not about to move. I gave up and figured we'd find his skeleton when we moved and wondered just how bad a four-inch lizard stinks when it starts to decompose.

Then we had two birthday parties to go to today, and one of them was Mary Kate's and we had gotten her a new play-doh set. So of course, when we got home, the boys wanted to play with their play-doh. I got them all set up in the playroom and then looked up and saw the saddest sight in the world. The lizard was sitting on my shutterblinds, staring out the window. If there was ever an animal that had given up hope, this was it. He didn't even bother to look at me when I approached him this time. He just gazed outside. It was pathetic. I felt so bad I knew I had to do something. He wasn't going to die miserable on my watch, and certainly not in my house! So I decided to get down to business with this lizard. First things first--I called all my neighbors to see if there was any kind of man available to come get this thing out of my house. Unfortunately I live amidst a bunch of good Southern Baptists, and being Sunday night, they were all at church. Shoot! Time for the tough to get going. Long story short--there was running, there was squealing, there was a lot of wiggling (by him, not me), but in the end, I got him trapped in a tupperware and took him outside, where he hopped out and ran away, with nary a glance of thanks, the little ingrate!

Ugh--lizards in my house--so not my thing. I'm so glad it's out. Now I just have to wait for the next diaster to strike while Luke's gone, like not being able to get the lid off the pickle jar...

Fall Ball

2008-09-17T14:42:00.007-04:00

So last spring Patrick played soccer, as we all know. And it was fine, but he didn't love it. Then we got on a real casual baseball team this summer that was kind of over before it even started, and I never got pictures. But it was enough for Patrick to know that he really likes baseball. So we signed up for fall ball and now it is underway. The first game was Tuesday and it went fine. Here are a few pics...

They play two innings total...meaning each team gets to bat a full rotation twice. Outs and runs aren't kept track of, but they do try to move the ball the right way so the kids can learn what they're actually supposed to be doing.

Each kid gets three pitches from the coach, and if they don't get a hit, they use the tee. Patrick hit the first pitch both times. He's a pretty good hitter. In the summer league he only had to use the tee once in four games. But I suppose it all depends on the pitch too. There aren't any strikes or anything. Just hit what's coming at you. But he does it well.

How cool is my kid??? Yes, he did catch it!

Air Show 2008

2008-09-17T14:42:00.003-04:00

In what's shaping up to be an annual family tradition, we went to the air show for the third straight year this weekend. Well, Patrick went for the third straight year, Luke went for the second straight year, and Ben and I went for the first time. You might wonder why we keep going back? Truth be told, I'm not sure--three years from now I may be completely sick of it--but this time I thought it was fun. HOT. Very hot...but fun.

God Bless America

2008-09-11T16:39:00.004-04:00

Today of all days...be proud of this country, support our soldiers, pray for peace, believe in heroes, salute the flag, and thank God for what we still have.

It's his active imagination...I SWEAR.

2008-09-03T22:51:00.002-04:00

Patrick came home today with his third yellow light note of the year. It seems like his teacher this year is a little more strict than last year's. Which is fine, but he better watch his step a little more closely. Anyway, we had the obligitory talk about what was going to happen the next time he got a yellow light note, then had this subsequent conversation:

Luke: You should also remember that Santa is watching you.

Me: And he doesn't bring presents to bad boys.

Patrick: He doesn't????

Me: No, he brings a lump of coal instead. Is that what you want?

Patrick: What's coal?

Me: It's a rock. He brings the bad boys a rock for Christmas.

Patrick: To smash them over the head with?

Like I said, it's his imagination, and that's all.

Living With Boys

2008-09-01T22:45:00.002-04:00

Overheard in the car on the way home tonight:

"Hey! Where'd my booger go?!?"

Indian...Corn

2008-09-01T22:03:00.009-04:00

This weekend we were supposed to go to Gigi and Grandpa's house, but we won't get into that because if you are reading this blog, chances are good that you actually are Gigi or Grandpa, so you already know how that turned out. Anyway, we changed plans and the boys spent some of the long weekend with Ma and Pa. On Sunday they went to an American Indian festival and I don't know much of what happened except that they ate somethig blue that made them poop Grover-colored and they also got these headresses:

Cute, huh? Patrick looks like he took a few too many puffs on the peace pipe while he was there...

Anyway, while they were off saying "how" and hopefully learning some effective rain dances, I was busy completely destroying my house. On purpose, no less! Luke and I decided it was time to re-paint the downstairs and hallway (I'm not going to get into our reasons, but we had them and they were good), so we skipped off to get some paint and came home and proceeded to uglify the house in ways I had not thought possible. What is it with paint, for crying out loud? How does soft warm yellow turn into something that can only bring to mind a giant can of CORN smeared all over the walls??? I kept repeating the phrase from the IKEA commercial, "Be brave, not beige." And this is what I get for listening to the Scandinavian folk. Now I have corn walls. And I didn't get much sleep last night because of them. You know, if I am very very bad in this lifetime and I end up going to hell, I am pretty sure I know what's in store for me down there. I will be faced with an eternity of potty-training toddlers and picking out paint colors. Yeah...I think I'll go to confession tomorrow.

Okay, but back to the paint--it's not the end of the world. I just paint it again. It's what I do. I paint, cry and then re-paint, and I usually get it right the second time. So today I went and got a quart of a more conservative yellow and got to work on my test wall (yes, I realize I should have done this to begin with, shut up please) and I am liking it much better. I'm still not sure it's exactly what I am looking for, so I will wait until morning when I can see it with some natural light and then decide whether it's good enough or if I want to try one more shade. I'll do a little each night so by the end of the week the corn should be nothing but a horrible memory and then we'll never speak of this again.

Today we went to Ma and Pa's house to join the kids in swimming one last time this summer. It wasn't great swimming weather (thanks Gustav), but it was a relaxing day and we had a great meal, topped off by an insanely good homemade peach pie that I whipped up at 5:30 this morning in the corn kitchen. Everyone liked it and that made me happy because I was reminded that, even if I am a complete loser at picking out paint colors, there are still some things that I can do really well.

My Olympics

2008-08-24T21:29:00.013-04:00

If you ask Luke, I've been glued to the TV for the past two weeks, drinking in that spectacular event that is the Summer Olympics. It's true, I love the summer games. I'm not quite sure what the draw is, all I know is that every four years, I can't get enough of swimming and gymnastics, among other things. But of course, those were my two main draws this year. I was ALL ABOUT the swimming...and not because of Michael Phelps. We've had too much of a good thing with him and I feel like if he disappeared for a little while it wouldn't be such a bad thing. But aside from Phelps Mania, the swimming was great entertainment, I thought. Lots of action, lots of records broken, and I could watch Ryan Lochte paddle around a kiddie pool and it would still be acceptable programming for me! I was all over the gymnastics as well, but now that I am older and undeniably wiser than I was in 1992 when I first started watching those little pixie chicks, I actually felt more sorry for them than glad about their awesome performance.

So here in the second week, I have been less occupied with watching every single second of primetime NBC, but my thoughts did wander to the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta 12 years ago, and I had to get out my scrapbook and reminisce. That summer, I had the extreme good fortune of NOT being picked to dance at the Opening Ceremonies. I had submitted my resume and tried out, but was not chosen to be a performer for one of the many dance numbers. But on my resume, I had noted that I was a high school cheerleader and got a call back to audition to be an "audience leader". I had no idea what that meant, but I was game for anything that would make me a part of it. Little did I know what a great part it would be! It turned out the audience leaders were just that...people assigned to a section of the audience at the Opening Ceremonies who would guide the spectators during a few key parts of the show in which the audience was to play a part of the program. I was especially grateful for my part when I learned that the dancers and other performers would be holed up at the Georgia Dome and would only be shuttled in for their numbers. Meanwhile, I had relatively easy work--there were just a few short moments where I had an actual job to do--and the rest of the time I was free to sit and watch. It was great! I had a field-level seat and met lots of people from all over the world. I remember sitting next to this one guy who kept saying he had to use the bathroom, but I kept telling him to stay and watch the next number, having seen them all numerous times at rehearsals. I didn't want him to miss out. Finally he couldn't hold it any longer and went anyway--even though I told him not to...BUT when he came back, he was like "I just met Carl Lewis waiting in line for the bathroom!!!!" I couldn't believe it! One other memory I have was when the United States athletes came out during the Parade of Nations, I couldn't believe how many there were. It took forever to get them into their spot on the field, which just happened to be right in front of my section. I kept trying to spot famous athletes in the crowd, but it was just a massive sea of faces, too dense to see anyone...except one. Way out in the middle, standing head and shoulders above everyone else, was Shaquille O'Neal. That was pretty cool. It was a great night in general, but I didn't get pictures during the show...

However, two weeks later at the Closing Ceremonies, I had even less to do and was able to get LOTS of pictures. That night was where I really hit the jackpot! My section was one of the ones designated to seat the athletes during the show, and I got unbelievably lucky and had the USA team sitting with me! On top of that, the ones who were sitting there were...wait for it...the swimmers!!!! They were super-nice and I hung out the whole night with Tripp Schwenk and John Hargis, who were both SEC swimmers and gold and silver medalists at the games.

I also hung out with Ray, who's last name I can't remember at all, but he was nice also. He introduced me to Jenny Thompson, a major factor on the team that year, and also four years before in Barcelona. That was cool because in '92 my mom and I traveled to Connecticut together and I remember watching Jenny's race from our hotel room. Anyway, here she is in a random 7-Eleven hat, with Ray and me.

Also in my section was Kerri Strug, who--in case you were living under a rock and don't know--was the hero of the games. She was nice to take a picture with me, but I was really kinda freaked out by her size and her super-squeaky voice.

At one point in the show, the athletes got tired of sitting and stormed the field--and I think that moment kind of set the precedent for all future closing ceremonies. Now they actually start out on the field instead of in the stands. Anyway, I stayed back because I thought it was kind of a moment for the athletes, but Tripp and John came back to get me, so I was able to join the party after all. It was mayhem on the field, but in such a great way. Tripp introduced me to Beth Botsford, another swimming gold-medalist.

Me with Tripp and John...we were all out on the field for the rest of the show...

I also met Amanda Beard, who was at her first Olympics, only 14 years old. She made headlines by winning a silver-medal with her teddy bear waiting for her on the blocks. Now she makes headlines in a different way...ahem...

I have so many pictures from being on the field, I could never include them all. Everyone was in such high spirits, all you had to do was smile and they were ready to jump in front of the camera. One rower from Britain asked me to marry him. His name was Ivan. Then he signed the back of my dorky uniform vest "To my wife, Love Ivan". We got pictures with Brazilians, Russians, and these blokes from Down Under. The girls in the pictures are my pals Greer and Amy, whom I hung with during all the practices and rehearsals.

The next day it was back to reality. My moment of rubbing elbows with greatness was over, but the pictures and souvenirs from that night are kept close. I hadn't looked at this stuff in a long time, but the past two weeks inspired me to dig it all out again. I had forgotten that Tripp and John both signed my vest and John left his phone number as well. No point in putting it here--I'm sure it's not right anymore--but I can't say I'm not curious to give it a try... ;)

So thanks for two great weeks of competition and for dredging up some long-forgotten memories. Hope to see all the athletes again in London 2012!!!

Well, when you put it that way...

2008-08-16T22:44:00.002-04:00

As we came home from the ball game tonight...

Me: Let me just start recording the Olympics before we put the kids to bed, so I don't miss the swimming.

Luke: Is it on? Did you miss it?

Me: No, it's still the marathon. Some Romanian chick is about to win it, see?

Luke: What, does she run around the stadium a hundred and four times???

Me: No, I think they run through the streets of Beijing and come into the stadium for the last bit.

Luke: Good, 'cause that would be incredibly boring to watch them just circle the track over and over again!

Me: Yeah, it would be like watching Nascar.

Last Day of Summer

2008-08-10T21:39:00.005-04:00

Technically, not. I mean, there are 23 days until the "official" end of summer and 42 days until the actual official end of summer, but our summer vacation is over since Patrick and I are back to the old grind tomorrow. Since it was gorgeous out today, we decided not to take it sitting down and we packed up the kiddies and took them to a nearby state park for a hike and a picnic.

This particular trails ends in a "breathtaking" waterfall--which, although we've had a decent amount of rain this summer, was missing a key element! The boys were disappointed, understandably, because you can actulay go behind the falls, which is where we are sitting here...except no falls. We'll go back next spring.

After the hike we went creekside for a picnic and the boys played in the stream. I did too. I warned them that the rocks can be very slippery and then I showed them exactly what I meant by faceplanting myself in the water. Just call me grace! I have a picture. It's not going up.

We had a great time, though. Good last day of summer! Tomorrow we start a new year..Kindergarten! Woohoo!

On the Potty

2008-07-22T14:38:00.002-04:00

Me: Just do it Ben...just go poop. It'll be fine!

Ben: No, I can't!

Me: I'll give you candy!

Ben: No.

Me: I'll give you toys!

Ben: No.

Me: You want a new airplane?!?

Ben: No.

Me: You want some new Pokemons?!!!?

Ben: No.

Me: I'll give you anything you want! What do you want?

Ben: I just want to get out of here!!!

Beach Pictures 2008

2008-07-21T15:36:00.000-04:00

Catching Up...

2008-06-14T08:26:00.002-04:00

It's been a while, and I wasn't sure I was going to be revisiting the blog anytime soon...but I've had a few requests for pictures of the kiddies, and how can I deny anyone that kind of cuteness? We've had a busy, fun summer so far. Patrick is playing baseball on an awesome team with a bunch of his buddies. He loves it because well, it's baseball...and I love it because I know all the other moms and it's fun to catch up while we watch them play. He's also swimming like a fish--first year without water wings!!! Ben is doing all the same things, just two years behind. When Patrick has baseball practice, he gets out there on the field with him...and when Patrick jumps in the pool, Ben is two steps behind. It's been all day, every day since school got out so you'll have to forgive me for not stopping to blog. ;) Here's a few cute pictures to keep the fans happy until the next time I get a chance to post...

Sign of the Times

2008-05-11T13:34:00.002-04:00

Me: Patrick, we're going to do all sorts of fun stuff this summer.

Patrick: Like what?

Me: We'll go to the children's museum and baseball games and on the Fourth of July, we'll go see the fireworks show. Then a few days later we'll go to the beach and we'll get to see another fireworks show!

Patrick: What else will we do at the beach?

Me: Well, I'm sure Gigi will want to take you to see Shannon Tanner.

Patrick: Hannah Montana!?!?!!

Beware of Sharks

2008-04-27T22:57:00.003-04:00

School Days

2008-04-25T11:28:00.002-04:00

The other day my boss and I were out on the school playground taking pictures for our next publication. We don't ever use pictures of the Pre-K because they don't wear the school uniform, but I couldn't resist snapping this shot of Patrick and his buddies...

Pure playground exhileration!

Introducing Brendan

2008-04-15T13:09:00.003-04:00

This past weekend we went to visit David and Sandi and Matthew to meet and baptize the newest member of their family, little baby Brendan. Patrick was quite taken with Brendan--as was I--and it was no wonder because Brendan is SO FLIPPIN' CUTE!!! He is the best little baby, I swear...he is probably the closest anyone will ever come to making me want to have another child, but alas...his superpowers fell just short of that. But I did have the best time holding him and snuggling him.

Sandi's mom and sister were able to come for the weekend too, so here we all are after church. (From left to right) Sandi holding Matthew, her sister Kara, David holding Brendan, Luke looking thrilled as ever to have his picture taken, me, the priest who did the baptism, Gigi holding Ben, Grandpa, Grandma Jules (Sandi's mom) and Patrick in front.

The three stooges with their new recruit.

It was a whirlwind weekend, although we did add a day so it wouldn't be quite as hectic as it was when we went to baptize Matthew three years ago. We had a great time, though--the big boys never stopped. It was all trains and baseball and crazy the whole weekend. Next time we see them all will be at the beach in July! Only three months--woohoo!

Soccer Story

2008-04-11T22:08:00.002-04:00

Patrick's first soccer experience has gotten off to a rough start, inasmuch as it keeps raining, so five weeks in we've only played one game. We have had a few practices, though, so we're still getting a chance to see how he likes it. I'm not sure he's totally sold on the sport, but to give him credit, he tries 100%. And he looks darn good doing it...

These pictures above are from our one game back during the last weekend in March. Last Saturday's got rained out and the make-up game was tonight and it also got rained out after about 15 minutes of play. I hope they just decide to forget about re-scheduling at this point, especially for the Under 6 teams...like it really matters who wins.

The team prayer right before the game started tonight. Could it get any cuter?

Apparently it can! Ben hooked up with another little bro named Tyler and they found an unused field to kick a ball around on. We looked over and they were sitting on the balls chatting earnestly, probably about the weather. It was the cutest thing ever.

Tomorrow we're headed to David and Sandi's house for the weekend to baptize lil' Brendan. Got my camera packed and ready...let's hope it doesn't get too chilly. I've gotten used to the warm temps and I'm not sure I can handle too close to freezing! Have a great weekend!

Overheard Conversations

2008-04-07T22:15:00.002-04:00

And this is what they talk about when I'm at home with them...

#1

Luke: How was school?

Ben: Ms. Jennifer wiped my nose for me.

Luke: Oh, that was nice.

Ben: She ate the boogers.

#2

Ben: Beer? That's Daddy's beer?

Luke: No, this is liquor.

Ben: Oh. Mommy's liquor?

Imagine what they're saying while I'm at work...

Cloudland

2008-03-30T15:57:00.002-04:00

As promised, here are the pictures from our trip to Cloudland Canyon, which turned out to be a really fun day, even if it was a bit on the chilly side. It was supposed to get to 72 degrees, but I don't think it ever quite made it. It must've been the breeze that kept things cool, because down in the canyon--out of the wind--it was pretty nice. I am so over March. The month is nothing but one big tease, and I've just about had enough. It's frigid outside today, and I am ready to put on a short-sleeve shirt and keep it on for crying out loud!

Anyways, here we are starting our hike. It was a really beautiful place. Everything was *just* starting to bud, and there were mountain laurels everywhere. In about two weeks, the scenery will be outta sight. It was unfortunate that our break was not a tad later so we could've enjoyed that. But they worked it around Easter and it was early, so too bad. I move that Easter be the third Sunday in April every year, like they do Thanksgiving. I see absolutely no reason to continue to base the date on moon cycles and equinoxes and whatnot, and if anyone knows why we should still be using this ancient system, please--enlighten me. Moving on...

The park has a 5-mile rim trail that we obviously skipped, having two preschoolers in tow. But there is also a hike down into the canyon that is only two miles round-trip and leads to two waterfalls. That was great for us, and there were only about five other people in the whole park, so we took it at a kid pace...which was good, because we got to pause and check things out. We explored some caves and overhanging rocks, watched for red-tailed hawks and noticed that the forest was beginning to emerge from winter. There were ferns starting to grow back and I saw lots and lots of toadshade sprouting up, a plant I discovered last year when Luke's mom found one growing in her woods. I had never seen it before, but since researching it, I have seen it everywhere. Anyway, it was in abundance on the canyon floor.

Ben zonked out on the way home. So did Patrick and I. Altogether a very good day. Yesterday Patrick had his first soccer game and dang it--it was freezing of course! But still a great experience. I got pictures from that too. They'll come later. See ya!

Egg-cellent Fun

2008-03-27T21:27:00.002-04:00

Geez, that was corny. Oh, who cares? We have been having a lot of fun this week. Monday Luke went to work so the boys and I took a much-needed day of rest after the hectic weekend. Then on Tuesday, we couldn't get our act together and think of something to do, but that was okay because it was still kind of chilly after Monday's frigid temps. So yesterday we finally got in gear and headed to the Georgia Aquarium to let the boys see all the fishies. It was a great time--unfortunately, I have no documentation of that. I remembered to bring my camera but forgot that I had taken out the picture card to get egg hunt pictures developed. Oops. Stupid me. But it's probably for the best. Usually when I am trying to get a great shot, I miss out on half the fun. Patrick loved it all, especially the whale sharks. Ben was a little overwhelmed and spent most of the time with his hands over his eyes. I'm glad we didn't have to pay for him.

After that long day, we spent today in town, starting with a bike ride this morning. After the boys napped, we finally got around to coloring our eggs for Easter. Better late than never, I say! These were the eggs that sat unrefrigerated for over a day after the tornadoes, so I was more than happy to boil them for the sake of arts and crafts. Waste not, and all that...

Cute picture, huh? I thought the eggs turned out great. I was too lazy to make more than four colors (yellow, red, blue and light blue), but my laziness turned out to be a great lesson in color theory. We double-dyed lots of them and learned that yellow and red make orange and yellow and blue make green and blue and red and then blue again make purple. The key is to start with the lighter color. Anyway, it was a fun way to spend an hour outside.

Tomorrow we're going to Cloudland Canyon for some more good clean outdoor fun and a picnic as well. I've got the picture card back in the camera, so I'll be sure to come back with snaphots this time. Ciao!

Happy Easter 2008

2008-03-23T21:53:00.004-04:00

Easter weekend was awesome, as usual! Such a great time of year...the weather, everything's in bloom or budding...not to mention the candy! We had an egg hunt at our house on Saturday, with about twelve kiddies on hand, and it was a great time. I hid two hundred eggs and they found all but about a dozen. Not too bad! Luke was the master hider. He came up with some very sneaky spots.

Patrick and Ben showed focus from the very get-go. Patrick had watched me fill the eggs and was on the look-out for a blue one with a toy watch inside. I have no idea why he coveted it so badly. It turned out that Ben found it, but since it was not edible, he gladly handed it over.

Rebeckah came and so did Mary Kate, who brought along new baby sister Claire. Claire is so very new that she stayed asleep in her sling for the whole time--never a peep! But Mary Kate had a great time and loaded up on eggs. And yes, that is Jenny--two weeks post-partum. I know...there are no words.

The kids took a while to find their eggs, but they took even longer afterwards opening them up to see what prizes were inside. It was gorgeous outside, so everyone enjoyed lounging in the sunshine.

This morning, the kids were excited to wake up and find their Easter baskets. I had warned Patrick that when Mommy was younger, that rascally Easter Bunny would hide her basket and make her look for it. Wouldn't you know...same thing! But he found it fast and had a good time looking at all the treats. Patrick got a soccer ball to practice with at home since he's on his first team this spring, and Ben got a set of golf clubs which became permanently attached to his grip today. He is sleeping with them.

On Friday we went to Wal-mart to get stuff for the weekend and the "fake" Easter Bunny was there doing free pictures, so we were game for that. Well...Patrick was. I couldn't get Ben any further into the picture. Doesn't he look...special?

My parents came up today and they brought me some great phlox cuttings and a hydrangea from their yard, so we spent some time transplanting those and then made a killer feast featuring Luke's signature smoked pork tenderloin. It is to die for. So today was another fun day and as I said, this week is our spring break. Aside from tomorrow, the weather's supposed to be great, so hopefully we'll get out to do all sorts of fun stuff.

Happy Easter!

St. Paddy's

2008-03-18T12:40:00.003-04:00

Another year, another St. Patrick's Day...and I did get Patrick his annual St. Paddy's t-shirt from Old Navy and attempted to take his picture in it as well. However, we were in a playful mood and I got in the picture too and effectively covered up his logo with my arm, so instead you get shamrocks splattered all over the picture. I also realized that I don't have a single scrap of green clothing, so we know what I'll be adding to my wardrobe this spring. Nothing like a holiday to make you see gaping holes in your closet.

This weekend a monster storm came through the South and we kind of dodged a bullet inasmuch as an F3 tornado demolished a good chunk of our neighborhood. When I say neighborhood, I don't mean the group of houses on my street, I mean the area of town where I live. The main carnage occurred about 1.5 miles from our house, and I was totally clueless as to what was going on. Good for me, since I probably would have FREAKED...bad for Luke, who was at work and all he could gather is that a tornado hit our road. The power was out and I had INconveniently forgotten to switch on the ringer to the wall phone, the only one that worked. So as he called and called, I had stashed my cell phone, purse and flashlight in the closet under the stairs and was vigilantly watching for a reason to cram in there with the kiddies and dogs, wondering what the hail and the wind and the faint smell of smoke in the air really meant and completely unaware that the actual reason was just down the road. I became a little bit more aware of the situation a few minutes later when every emergency vehicle in the county plus some from surrounding counties started screaming past our house and continued for a steady hour. And it was at that point that Luke finally got hold of me and gave me the scoop. We were lucky, though...I found out just how lucky later that evening. With the power still out, the sun setting and nothing to do, we got in the car and drove down to see the wreckage and oh my gosh. It is amazing how one side of the street could be completely obliterated and the other side untouched. It was the kind of stuff you usually see in Texas and Oklahoma, and not a single trailer involved. Brick houses torn to the ground. Hundred-year-old oak trees either uprooted or snapped off of their huge trunks. And when I saw the power lines--the huge main lines that look like ski lifts--scattered across a pasture like tinker toys...well, I told Patrick it would be a while before we had power again. But the power company did an amazing job, and it was only a little over 24 hours that we had to go without. So as I said, we were lucky. A lot of people weren't.

Wilson was so freaked out he was practically molting, and had been since early that morning when the first major thunderstorm rolled through. I'm amazed he didn't have a heart attack sometime during the day. Even after everything had passed, it took him a little while to muster up enough courage to come out from underneath the end table.

So spring is here, and along with the blossoming trees and budding flowers comes occasional bad weather. It's truly a shame when people lose their homes and their lives to mother nature, but sometimes the humanity that comes out of it is the silver lining. The relief efforts from people in the community have been stellar, and the power company and the county trucks have been going by day and night working as fast as they can to get the area back to (relatively) normal.

Our spring break is next week and we don't have any concrete plans. We are going to take a lot of day trips, which are loosely planned depending on the weather. I had planned on taking the boys to the children's museum in Atlanta, but I'll have to check to see if it's open since the first tornado of the weekend ripped right through downtown--crazy. If not, there's an equally great discovery museum in Chattanooga we could go to. Whatever end up doing, I'll try to take some pictures and document the fun we plan on having. Hope everyone is enjoying this warm weather!

Contentment

2008-03-16T12:01:00.000-04:00

Five Years Later

2008-03-04T22:09:00.003-05:00

Then...
...and now.
And I thank God for every second in between. Happy 5th birthday Patrick. I love you.

Birthday Boy

2008-03-04T09:13:00.005-05:00

Well, on Sunday we had The Birthday Party--which has earned its title inasmuch as it will go down in history as one of our better parties. I have to give myself credit here...I took the easiest route I could think of and it turned out GREAT. What more could a mother ask for?

We had the party at school and I raided the gym storage room for all the fun stuff the kids love to play with. I set out the hoola-hoops and yarn balls, blew up balloons for them to smack around (and hopefully not choke on) and made a maze for them to climb through. And then there was the piece de resistance--the scooters. Those kids LOVE the scooters. And we only had two minor injuries--one of which was my child--but it happens, ya know?

Then there was the requisite pizza and cake, most of which was thrown away after the kids made sure to breathe all over their slice, but not actually eat it. They were much more interested in getting back to the games. Eventually I was able to drag them outside for a treasure hunt that I had set up on the playground. I totally underestimated these kids' skills--they found everything in .3 seconds. But that was okay, because after that they just ran around the playground. The weather was gorgeous all weekend--we were so lucky. On March 2nd it can either be snowing or verging on hot, and we were definitely closer to the hot end. We couldn't have planned a better day.

Patrick's VERY FAVORITE present of the day was a total scream. His buddy Lucas' parents are both German and his dad makes frequent trips back to the homeland. Whenever he's there, he picks up a Donald Duck comic book (in German of course) for Lucas to look at. Well, Lucas has been bringing them to school to read during rest time, and Patrick thinks they are the coolest thing ever. Well, Lucas' mom bought Patrick a present and all, but Sunday morning he decided that he wanted to give Patrick one of his Donald Duck books too. So they picked one out and wrapped it up and I wish you could have seen the look on Patrick's face when he opened it. He was so excited, and he hasn't put it down since Sunday. It still warms my heart that Lucas thought to share his books with Patrick--what a sweet kid.

The kids spent the rest of the party running around the playground and enjoying the sunshine, and after everyone left and Luke and I got everything cleaned up, we went back outside to let the kids play more while we sat on the picnic tables to unwind. I was exhausted yesterday, but it was a great party, so it was totally worth it. Now I just have to figure out how to top it next year...

The New Guy

2008-02-26T13:00:00.002-05:00

I'd like to welcome the latest little guy on the team roster--our new cousin Brendan!

His name is Brendan Kirby and he made his arrival late yesterday afternoon in all his 9 lb, 4 oz glory--two weeks early, mind you--earning an instant nickname from his mommy...the BK Whopper!!! Too funny!

Welcome to the world Brendan!

How Wii Hibernate

2008-02-16T21:44:00.007-05:00

Today's weather was pretty nice and the boys got to be outside and play Better Batter Baseball! but it gets dark a little after 6:00 and the temps started dropping even before that, so we were still driven inside early. Spring cannot come fast enough. The boys decided to play Luke's Wii to pass the time after dinner.

Luke took on a little tennis and then switched to boxing. He KO'd the opponent (who was quite a thug) in the first round. Not too shabby.

Now I pretty much hate the Wii (and every other gaming system for that matter). But I will play some tennis every once in a while, 'cause I've got mad skills in tennis. Tonight I took on a doubles team comprised of a look-alike of that dude Gordon from Sesame Street and one of those cavemen from the Geico commercials. Weird combo, I know...but I smeared them all over the court. My avatar is a sassy lil' thang with pigtails and some rockin' eye makeup. She's hot. And she averages two aces a game. My serve is killing my rotator cuff, though...I may actually have to ice it tomorrow.

Patrick is pretty good himself. He plays more than any of us, since whenever we get the Wii out, he demands a frequent turn in the rotation. Therefore his rankings are the highest at this point. I may have to make an effort to play more, just so I can secure my spot in family tennis domination.

Ben used to hook himself up to the remote and swing it around aimlessly, but I think he decided there wasn't much of a point, because he prefers to watch now. If Patrick puts on baseball, he'll play that...but for all other games, he's our #1 spectator. And he cheers for me when I win a point. Sweet kid.

So it was fun and all, but I look forward to warmer (longer) days when we can go outside and physically play all these sports (okay, maybe not boxing) instead of gaming them. In the meantime, Gordon and Caveman better be ready, cause I'm bringing my A-game.

Just Like Daddy

2008-02-15T20:58:00.002-05:00

Pure Comic Genius

2008-02-09T20:01:00.001-05:00

It's really my grandparents that caused me to love "Peanuts". They held on to my dad's and uncles' old comic books from the 1950's and whenever we'd go visit them--for lack of anything better to do--I'd read them over and over again. I absolutely love those books. Thank goodness my dad made sure to hang onto them after both my grandparents passed away a few years back. Now they're in his basement and someday they'll be mine.

I have a later reproduction of some of the strips, published in the late 70's. I don't even know where I got it, but I know it must've been kind of recent since it's stamped from a secondhand book store here in town. Anyway, Patrick's really into comic books lately. He suckered Luke's parents into buying him a Pokemon book. At first I resented his attraction to Pokemon, and then I realized that kids that are into Pokemon are usually also into computers and Dungeons and Dragons and techy stuff and less into Nascar and killing hapless woodland creatures for sport in their spare time. So now I see that Pokemon is the lesser of two evils and I am in support of it. But the point is, Patrick is digging comic books, and so I pulled out my one "Peanuts" book for him to look at and have been thumbing through it myself whenever he leaves it lying around for me to pick up. I came across this one and it struck me as too funny not to share, especially in light of the book I'm reading. Lucy would've made a great 21st century chick.

Update

2008-02-08T14:50:00.000-05:00

So I'm coming out of my blogging coma--which I was in because I was having a really hard time believing that anyone truly cared what I had to say--to do a survey that Katie put on her blog. Because I love these surveys. And for some reason, I honestly do believe that you all need (and want) to know this stuff about me. But just in case you don't, I'll put pictures of the boys at the end of the post. Here we go...this is riveting stuff...

1. Do you like blue cheese? Cheese practically rules my life, but I don't like this one. Gorgonzola is okay on some occasions...feta and goat cheese rock my world.

2. Have you ever smoked crack? No, but I do bake it into my chocolate chip cookies, which is why certain people have developed a severe dependency on them after just one bite...complete with withdrawal symptoms.

3. Do you own a gun? Luke owns about a half dozen of them. Patrick has one too. He won it in a raffle. I was not present.

4. What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic? I can't say that even the allure of adding things to my drink makes me want to go eat at Sonic.

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? Why should I? If I was worried about very bad news, then you'd think I'd be worried about it for quite a while before the appointment. The only thing you could possibly be worried about is the doc telling you you're not feeling well because you're pregnant, and you'd have to be a complete bonehead not to know you're pregnant.

6. What do you think of hot dogs? I think I better stay away from them. But I appreciate them because my kids eat them for lunch sometimes.

7. Favorite Christmas song? Carol of the Bells

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? I do not get thirsty until lunch time. It's weird. I have to make myself drink a glass of water in the morning. Patrick is the same way.

9. Can you do push-ups? Sure, how many?

10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? My big silver hoop earrings.

11. Someone living or dead you would like to meet? That's a toughie. I can't think of anyone right off the bat. I know I could stand to learn a few things from Mother Theresa. Or maybe Stacy London, just to see if she thinks I act as much like her as everyone else says.

12. Favorite hobby? I wish I knew...I would do it more often. Perhaps sunbathing?

13. Favorite Author?

14. Do you have A.D.D.? Don't we all have a touch of it...?

15. What's one trait that you hate about yourself? I don't really *hate* anything about my personality. I wish I had longer legs, but I'm coping.

16. Middle name? Leigh

17. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment. I can't think of my favorite author/Why are my kids acting like this way today/I ate too many pancakes at dinner

18. Name 3 things you bought yesterday. I only bought one thing yesterday--a fried chicken salad in the school lunchroom. It was good.

19. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink. Water, skim milk and more water.

20. Current worry right now? How the next four days will go since Luke is out of town until Tuesday evening.

19. Current hate right now? The fact that it's 7:00 and not 8:00 (bedtime).

22. Favorite place to be? Beach. Fo sho.

23. How did you bring in the New Years? Listening to my neighbor shoot off fireworks wishing he'd get it over with and hoping it wouldn't wake my kids. Luke was at work.

24. Where's # 24???

25. Name three people who will complete this? No.

26. What you would do if you didn't have to work to make money? I'd probably do the same things I do now, but I'd do them better and at at slower pace. Maybe when the kids got a little older, I'd find a good volunteer position that would benefit both me and the organization. But I do have to work, so we won't worry about that.

27. What shirt are you wearing? A white tank top and a turquoise hoodie.

28. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? Ew. No. I like cotton sheets that have been worn thin.

30. Favorite color? Brown.

31. Would you be a pirate? Only if I got to be Captain Jack's first mate.

32. What songs do you sing in the shower? I don't sing in the shower. I try to be quiet so nobody realizes I'm in there, which gives me a better chance of actually being left alone.

33. Favorite girl's name? Summer

34. Favorite boys' name? Benjamin

35. What's in your pocket right now? No pockets on me at the moment. And all the ones off of me are empty, I'm sure. I don't ever find a random fiver.

37. Best bed sheets as a child? I did not have cool sheets. I remember that Strawberry Shortcake was a theme in my room, but I think she was on the curtains maybe.

38. Worst injury you've ever had? Either when my boyfriend's grandfather's dog attacked me and tried to rip me limb from limb (age 17) or the time I was riding on my dad's handlebars at the beach and he told me not to put my feet in the spokes and so of course I did (age 4?? 5??). The bike incident left a much bigger scar than the dog.

39. Do you love where you live? NO WAY.

40. How many TVs do you have in your house? 3

41. Who is your loudest friend? Katie is my loudest friend. By far. And she's that much better for it.

42. How many dogs do you have? We have one dog (Wilson) and one prima donna who we treat like a dog (Savannah).

43. Does someone have a crush on you? Jeez, I hope so.

44. What do you miss most? I miss the beach for the 51 weeks a year that I'm not there.

45. What is your favorite book? My favorite kids' book is The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. Totally awesome read, even for a grown up. As far as adult books, not many have had the impact that To Kill a Mockingbird had on me.

46. What is your favorite candy? Plain M&Ms. They've tried all sorts of variations (mini, huge, w/ peanuts, w/ crisp, dark chocolate, etc.), but you just can't beat the original. It's perfection.

47. What is your favorite sports team? I'll defer that question to someone who actually cares.

48. What song do you want played at your funeral? Huh? I don't want a song played at my funeral. I want a hymn played at my funeral. It's tacky to play songs in church.

49. What were you doing 12 AM last night? Sleeping. A lot of nights I am watching Scrubs at that hour.

50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up this morning? "Where's Luke?"

And now for the kiddies...

As you may know, we had a few snow showers here a couple weeks back. They were not much. I was very embarrassed for the reporters on TV who were trying to make it sound like a big deal. What a humiliating job. One girl actually said "When we get hit, we get hit hard." Yeah, lady. One time...like 15 years ago. Then once before that in 1983. So zip it and get back to my regularly scheduled rerun.

The first one started at about 6:00 p.m. one evening and it was melted by midnight. It was too dark to go out and play for more than 10 minutes, but we did what we could. Ben had never actually seen snow before, but he knew what it was.

A few days later another system came along and gave us a repeat of the first, but this time it was during the day. As you can see, it gave us a fine dusting and then melted. So we made do and made a very small snowman, then Luke and Patrick made snowballs and played baseball with them.

I actually hate snow--have ever since that time 15 years ago--so I'm hoping that will be all we see. The boys were content to come back in the warm house and watch their monster truck DVD, so maybe they got it out of their systems as well. We're definitely ready for spring. I was pleasantly surprised to see my crocuses blooming down by the mailbox today. I think I may add a What's Growing in My Yard feature to my sidebar.

Speaking of my sidebar, I'm updating it today as well, so have a look. I'll try not to wait another month before I blog, but what can I say? I blog as the spirit moves me. Patrick's birthday is in a few weeks, so I'll definitely post about that. Catch you later!

We're so glad it's Christmas vacation...over.

2008-01-06T18:18:00.001-05:00

Really, we're so glad it's over. Tomorrow is back to school, and we're ready. It's been a veeeery relaxing break (translation: we didn't do much), but we needed that.

After Christmas Day, we skipped down to Gigi and Grandpa's house to do another Christmas with them and also with David and Co. That was on the 29th...and Ben had still not taken off his new Spidey slippers...or Man shoes, as he calls them.

The boys had a good time together...one last time before we throw another one into the mix. Baby #2 is due in just two months for Sandi, so next time we see them, we'll be one step closer to the family basketball team. I'm still pulling for him to be named Cal, but I hear that's out because it means "bald guy" or something. Too bad...it's so cool.

Patrick and Ben got a Better Batter Baseball (Better Batter Baseball!!!) from G & G, but it's been sooooo cold, so we have yet to play with it--unfortunately. They are going to love it. Matthew got a Thomas laptop, which Patrick was extremely envious of, so I thought we'd have to get him one for his birthday. He hasn't mentioned it since we came home though, so maybe not.

For New Years we stayed home--except for Luke, who went to work--so not much exciting to tell there. There was a party, but I opted not to go dateless, because it seemed kind of sad...but maybe next year I will, since Luke will be working again (leap year throws the rotation back a day).

Other than that it's been reeeeeaaal quiet. Lots of playtime and Candyland and watching movies (anyone need me to recite the last Pirates movie?), but it's been good. I feel rested and ready for the new year. My resolution is not unique at all. Last year I lost the extra weight, this year I'm going to try and lose the extra tummy...eww. The last bit of pregnancy that I'm carrying around with me. And you know what that means--crunches. We'll see how well I do when I post beach pictures in July!!! I'm also going to plant an herb garden. That should be infinitely easier, except for the drought and all. I don't think herbs mind dirty dishwater.

Ben wishes all of you a safe and happy 2008!!

Merry Christmas 2007

2007-12-25T21:19:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post to comment on our Christmas festivities...

Yesterday we went to Luke's parents to exchange gifts with his family and then last night after 4:00 Mass, his entire family (or a lot of them anyway) gathered at Joan's house for their annual dinner and gift swap. The boys looked so cute yesterday. Adam and Kendall gave them matching John Deere hoodies--which they put on immediately, wore again today and will probably wear again tomorrow! The only reason they took them off was to change into their church clothes...and my, did they look handsome!

Patrick was psyched because he got to hang out with Rebeckah at Joan's house. She looked beautiful. We really do not see her enough anymore. He was so happy to see her! He also got in his Caleb time, although from the looks of these two with their heads together like that, does anyone else think we ought to be worried?

My boys lookin' so smoooooth...especially Ben with his Rico Suave chocolate milk mustache!

When we got home, we put out our milk and cookies (and oats for the reindeer), read The Night Before Christmas, sang a Christmas lullaby, and then nestled our sleepy heads snug in our beds. It was a late night, so the boys slept in this morning. I hated to wake them, but Luke had to be at work at 11:00 (we were lucky to get that--his shift usually starts at 8:00), so we went up to drag them out of bed. We needn't have fretted. Patrick shot out of bed like a cannon and ran downstairs. He was not disappointed! I won't bore you with details, but it was a fun morning and the boys were thrilled with Santa's goodies. Patrick's favorite gift was two truck sticker books. It was all he asked for this year. We were glad Santa could deliver.

One of Patrick's presents was a scooter, but since it was raining outside, he and Ben took it for a spin around the kitchen. Ben had a ball opening gifts...this is year has been the first time that he's even begun to grasp the idea of presents, so that made it all the merrier. Altogether, it was a really sweet and cozy Christmas morning with just the fam.

Merry Christmas to everyone out there in Bloggerland, as well as to any random readers. We have had a truly blessed year. I was listening to The Christmas Waltz by Frank Sinatra the other day, and the chorus ends with "Merry Christmas, may your New Years dreams come true..." and it struck me that in 2007, ours did. Last year at this time, Luke was getting ready to tackle full-time school plus full-time job--which left me full-time alone--and we didn't know how things would turn out, or if there would even be a payoff. I'm glad to say there was, and now we're happier than ever. I hope for all of you that your New Years dreams come true. Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday Jesus, Delmos and Joe

2007-12-14T21:25:00.001-05:00

Patrick's first "real school" Christmas program was this week, and boy was it just darling. I was a very proud momma because he did so well and was sooooo handsome while he did his thang. The Pre-k and kindergarten classes did the "pre-show" (because they are just not cooperative enough to actually be in the program) but it was cool, since theirs was the best part anyway. They sang Rudolph and then a sweet song called Happy Birthday Jesus. It was actually a completely cheesy song, but when sung by 4-year-olds it was transformed into a tearjerker-and-a-half. It went something like this:

Happy Birthday Jesus
I'm so glad it's Christmas
All the twinkling lights
And the presents are nice
But the real gift is yoooooouuuuuuuuu....

And Patrick sang his little heart out.

After that the program took a turn for the worse, especially when Joseph appeared on the scene sporting a beard so heinous that I was sure they'd stolen it off a Hasidic SNL skit. I swear I expected him to bust out in a Yiddish tap number at any point. Unfortunately, I did not get a picture, so you'll have to use your imagination. Joseph--who was lucky enough to be Brennan, my boss son--later told us that the loud whoops and guffaws coming from our row were just the icing on the cake for him. Whatever. We had a great time.

So tonight Delmos came over to play X-box with Luke, but he always eats dinner with us too. And polite Southern boy that he is, he always offers to bring something. Tonight I told him to bring dessert and make it chocolate, so he showed up with a German chocolate cake--yum! Then we found out that tomorrow is his birthday, so it turned into a birthday cake, and of course Patrick was more than happy to help with the candles and such.

And tomorrow is also another little guy's birthday...sweet little Joe, who I think is the cutest thing ever, is turning the big FOUR tomorrow! And this is huge, as any of you who have survived a three-year-old will know. And if you haven't yet experienced the age of three...consider yourself warned. Two is just a warm-up, okay? So Katie, I raise my glass of skim milk to you--you have made it girl, and it's all uphill from here! Happy birthdays to D-to-the-elmos and the one and only Joe!

The First 48

2007-12-08T22:44:00.001-05:00

Luke pulled his first 48-hour shift this weekend...ugh. He called me at 7:15 this morning and asked if I cared if he stayed on for another shift--with overtime pay. What's a girl who's hard-up for some Christmas cash supposed to say? It's probably been great for him, since on Saturdays they're required to do absolutely nothing unless there's a call, but for me...well, today was less than thrilling. However, it is 24 full hours of time-and-a-half pay, and Christmas is but a few short days away, so...whatever. He'll be home in the morning and I'll make him watch the kids all day while I sleep off the past two days.

But we did get to see him tonight, since it was the annual Fire Department Christmas dinner. Nothing exciting, but the boys were on cloud nine amidst the throngs of firefighters. The highlight of the night was when Santa came around to hand out goodies and Patrick told him we'd be leaving him a beer and some cookies on Christmas Eve. Gee, I wonder who put him up to that??? They also had a really great slideshow, with lots of pics of the guys doing cool things and looking very sexy in their gear, but in true Luke fashion, he managed to avoid being in every picture but one:

As you can see, there was nothing he could do to avoid being snapped here, so I guess he just decided to embrace it for once. And look what a cool picture it turned out to be! My favorite part is all the other guys' heads peeking out over the platform above. In the grand scheme of things, they are just boys being boys...and they're lucky enough to get paid for it.

I have no idea if this is Luke or not (probably not), but we'll pretend it is, because I know that this was taken during the physical test that all the applicants had to pass before they were accepted into rookie school. Among a slew of other things, they had to slam this tire with the sledge hammer until it moved quite a good distance. I can't recall how far, but I know I wouldn't have moved it an inch, so I guess I'll never be a firefighter. Too bad. I remember Luke saying this day kicked his butt, but he got through, and the rest is history.

I'm not sure when this picture was taken--I'd have to guess at the opening of their newest station--but I just think it is really cool.

So that's it. Thanks for reading--I'll catch you all later!

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat...

2007-11-28T17:15:00.000-05:00

The thought of shopping for Christmas gifts popped into my head today...and let me say, I've never been less excited about spending my money on other people. Not to say I don't love you all (especially those of you with whom I will be exchanging gifts)--it's just that I've got no clear direction and that takes all the fun out of it. When you know what you want to get someone, it's exciting to hunt for the best deal, wrap it up all pretty and put it under the tree. Then you wait for the suspense to just eat away at the recipient for 25 days or so, because you know they're going to just love it. So a gift card--even a gift card wrapped up in a pretty box--just doesn't do it for me in terms of gift-giving.

I've already got a few gifts purchased, and a few more with a definite plan forming in my head; but by and large, there are a lot of blanks on my list. So I begged a little help today. Someone told me about a gift-finding website where you enter a person's info (age, relationship, interests) and it spits back literally thousands of gifts to choose from. I thought I'd try it out and see how many hits and misses I'd get. I'll let you be the judge. Would you like to become the proud owner of the Little Pink Pig BBQ Grill this Christmas? Or what about some shoe-shaped party invitations, does that sound like a treat you'd like to find under the tree? Wait--I know just the thing! You've been dying for this pewter lizard paperweight, haven't you? And you can't say the lip-shaped toothpaste squeezer isn't practical, if a little costly. One thing that I actually did find was for Sandi--a Warhol-syle painting of her dog, Schaeffer. She would love it. Unfortunately, I don't have $99 to spend on her, or anyone else for that matter.

Sadly (for you all), this is the best I could come up with. But just think, you'll be all set for next year's Dirty Santa gift exchange, and you'll have me to thank.

For the Holidays, You Can't Beat Home Sweet Home

2007-11-25T13:49:00.000-05:00

As is the tradition, I headed home for the holidays this past weekend--to Atlanta that is--where David and Sandi were also going to spend Thanksgiving. As soon as we all got there, Mom got down to business and herded us all out on the front stoop to have a family picture...which will soon be outdated. Yes, in a few short months I'm going to once again become....an aunt. Hah! I know you were all thinking I was going to say mother! Nope, it's Sandi's turn, and she's due in March. Another boy for Gigi, who says we only need one more and then we'll have a basketball team. So I wonder how long Sandi will wait after this one before she has our little shooting guard...?

The picture-taking was less than successful. Nobody ever looked at the same camera, and at some point one of us was pulling a face--usually Luke. But you know, that's how it goes. I should point out that Matthew is not wearing an Obama shirt. I don't think that David and Sandi are big supporters of the O-man. So know that they're not exploiting Matthew's cuteness--the shirt says "Thomas", as in the train.

On Wednesday, we had a joint birthday party for Ben (13th), Luke (22nd) and Sandi (Dec. 2nd). And in case anyone's wondering what to get Ben for Christmas, I'll just tell you that he likes toys and all, but the boxes are still where it's really at.

Incidentally, I did not make the cake, it was from Publix. Sandi loves their cakes, and pregnant birthday girls trump everyone else in terms of choices, so that's what we had. But I did make an apple pie and pumpkin pie for Thursday, and they were insanely good. I liked the apple one better, but we discovered on Friday that the pumpkin one tasted better cold out of the fridge, so next year we'll remember that: hot apple pie, cold pumpkin pie. Either way, the crust on the pumpkin pie was to die for. It had a stick of butter in it and it tasted like a cookie. I also put in a layer of crushed gingersnaps and pecans that was supposed to keep the crust from getting soggy, but it didn't work and didn't change the flavor, so next year I'll skip that step.

Boys # 1, 2 and 3 (aka Patrick, Matthew and Ben). We had much discussion over #4's name, which has been narrowed down to Roger (after Roger Federer) and Jeff (after Jeff the Wiggle). I should point out that David and Sandi came up with the first name and Matthew came up with the second one. Right now they call him RogerJeff. But no matter what the kid's named, all I know is that next Thanksgiving is going to be an experience, with four boys (all five and under) running around. I better start catching up on my sleep now.

Ben has a Birthday Party and the Blog Gets a New Look

2007-11-20T19:48:00.000-05:00

Sunday night we had one of a seemingly endless succession of Ben's birthday parties. This one was for all the folks in Luke's family, and we had it at his parents' house. I am so glad they were willing to take care of the hosting responsibilities, because the thought of having all those people crammed into my tiny house was almost enough to make me take a long walk off a short cliff.

It turned out to be a really mild day, so we were able to spill out onto the deck, site of the "Kiddie 500". At that point I was very glad that we never considered having a clown or anything, because I don't think any hired entertainment would be nearly as fun as racing in circles and competing to see who could claim the most spectator toes.

After dinner we opened presents. It was the usual mind-numbing chaos, and we got the usual motorized stuff...which my kids can never get enough of, so that's fine.

After presents we did cake--or cupcakes in this case. I hate store-bought birthday cake, and this is the one instance where I can flat-out refuse to have it. At least until next year, when I'm sure Ben will insist on some nasty sugar-laden confection decorated with tacky designs on top. BLECH! Yep, I was definitely going to squeeze in one more year of yellow cake with fudge frosting. Ben is completely mystified by the whole candle thing. He has got the present thing down pat, and he knows all about the cake, but put the candles in front of him and he just stares. We try and coax a breath out of him for about 30 seconds, then I get tired of the charade and blow it out myself. Let's eat already! I'm sure Ben is thinking the same thing.

There's no relevance to this picture except that no one ever takes a picture of me and my boys...so here you go.

Well, this month has kind of been my blog's birthday as well, so in honor of the occasion, I decided yesterday that it was high time for a makeover. Enough with the teeny-bopper colors I've had for two years now! Out with the old, in with the new! So after a looooooong search on Pyzam, I finally settled on this sleek brown and blue template and set to work making changes. I am really happy with the finished result, except that I was totally bummed when I opened it at work today using Internet Explorer and saw that it looked completely different than it does using Mozilla Firefox, my browser of choice. I couldn't see the pretty brown stripe down the side, and the words in my header were all messed up. Upon further investigation, I realized that Jennifer's blog also looked weird in IE (it had a blue background instead of the polka-dots) and that Katie's looked a lot better than it does on my home computer...leading me to believe that Jennifer uses Firefox and Katie uses IE. So you know what I say to all this? BOO! Boo to the fact that we don't all see the same thing, and double-boo to the fact that people looking at my blog on IE think that I don't care that my header looks messed up. Which I do. I care a lot! In fact, I am very OCD about stuff like that, but if I'm going to make it look good, it's going to look good on my browser for crying out loud!!! Once more, with feeling: BOOOOOO!

On to happier topics, I also added some junk in the sidebar--which is very fun for my narcissistic self--but I'm also hoping it will help me update the blog more often. I'll have to log on to change my widgets...after all, I don't want anyone thinking it takes me two weeks to read a book. Except in this case it might, because that book is a snooze and I have no desire to pick it up. Anyway, hope you enjoy all the stuff about me on the right.

So, we'll have one more b-day party for Ben at Gigi's house this week, and of course it'll also be Thanksgiving, so I'll catch you all on the flip side. Hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving! If you're looking for a little entertainment, you can alway try deep-frying your turkey--more often than not it results in a big old grease fire, and then a hot firefighter will have to come and take care of business. It's just a thought.

How to Keep Busy at Night After the Time Change

2007-11-16T09:09:00.000-05:00

Play with your child's birthday presents. On the odd occasion, your children may actually join you, thus entertaining the whole family at once (a rarity). We suggest motorized toys with a penchant for crashing. Any toy that comes with a warning on the label can also be fun if you use your imagination.

Practice patient assessments on your child. This will not scare them at all, nor will it make them cry hysterically. Try thinking of something you never ever want your child to attempt in his or her life and making this the accident scenario. It should prove to be highly effective.

For more suggestions on how to pass the time, tune in all winter as we while away the hours as only people with two preschoolers can do.

Happy Birthday Ben!

2007-11-13T14:11:00.000-05:00

Today is Ben's second birthday and we are playing it low key since 1) Luke is at work today and 2) he really has no idea what a birthday is anyway. We're having a party for him next Sunday and then again at Gigi's house over Thanksgiving, so that's enough. It's been a quiet day, but we've had fun together, just him and me. This morning we met a friend and went for a looong walk around the baseball stadium and then went to storytime at the library. It was the cameraman's birthday and everyone sang to the guy but I let Ben believe they were singing it to him...because even though he's clueless about birthdays, he still knows enough to get excited when that song is sung. And I'm thinking that once his two parties are over, he'll be a lot more savvy about birthdays from then on. Yes, two cakes and two sets of presents ought to do it.

So Katie tagged me to do a thankful post in the spirit of the season, and I'll just take this opportunity to name 7 things I am thankful for involving Ben. Kill two birds with one stone and all that. Anyway, here goes...

1) I am thankful that Ben is bigger than his brother was at this age, because even though they were born in opposite seasons and are two and a half years apart, Ben is fitting quite nicely into clothes Patrick wore exactly two years ago. This is great because his wardrobe is ready and waiting for him at each change of season.

2) On the same note, I am thankful that Ben really looks up to Patrick but has never let his big brother push him around.

3) I am thankful that when the sunlight strikes him just right, it picks up the red highlights in his hair. He got that from me and I got it from my red-headed Irish grandmother, and I think it's a cool trait to be passed on through the generations.

4) I am thankful that he's a good stroller kid. I rely on my daily walks to burn nervous energy as much as I do to burn calories, and he makes it easy to fit them in.

5) I am sooooooo thankful that he got the whole nap thing figured out. The first five months were touch-and-go with my sanity, but he's been a dream ever since.

6) I am thankful that his blankie is made of sturdy brushed flannel, and there is slim-to-none chance that it will end up looking or smelling like Patrick's.

7) And finally, I am thankful that he's mine, and that he's happy and healthy. Children can be tough on a person, especially two-year-old boys, but there are times when I look at him and the world seems to stand still. When he laughs and throws his arms around my neck, or as we kiss goodnight and zip up his snuggly jammies, or when he and Patrick delight in the same activity, whether it be tossing a ball or the destruction of an unsuspecting toy...having him nearby, an extension of myself that I can hold and love, those are the moments when I know all is right in our world.

Ben with his family on November 13, 2005.

Ben today. Happy Birthday baby!

Halloween and the Aftermath

2007-11-02T20:45:00.000-04:00

So Halloween was fun, although it was so long ago, by this time I don't have much to say about it. Patrick surprised everyone by saying he wanted to be Spiderman (or as Ben calls him--MAN!), and I though he looked really cute in his costume. I thought the mask was a pain in the neck, and he apparently agreed, because he ditched it really quickly.

His Pre-K Halloween parade was first thing that morning, and they went to all the classrooms to collect candy. Very cute, but I ditched them after a few minutes and went back to work. Can I just say that I'm so glad our school is not afraid of Halloween? Ben's bible-beating preschool called it "Fall Costume Day" or some crap like that. And the preschool next door to him had "Cowboy Day", which really limits your dress-up options if you ask me.

Then we went trick-or-treating with Brian, Jenny and Mary Kate over in Jim and Donna's neighborhood. It was a great trick-or-treating neighborhood, except towards the end, it got really congested with people driving their kids around. What's up with that? Mark my words...give it a few years and we'll start seeing headlines about kids being hit by cars on their own street. Not to mention that there's something inherently wrong about driving your kids around to collect candy. At least make them burn a few calories before letting them gorge themselves on sugar. Ben was Superman, by the way. He wouldn't go near Patrick's tiger costume from two years ago, so we put him in his pajamas and went for the whole superhero theme.

Luke and Brian had matching costumes...they went as Mormons. Or at least we think that's why no one would open their doors to give our kids candy. Kidding...Brian came straight from work sans tie and Luke had just served as acolyte at the vigil mass for All Saints Day.

So that was the last bit of fun that we had, since the kids have been sick ever since then. Patrick came home at 11:00 on Thursday and has been laying low ever since. Ben got over the croup, but now his nose runs constantly and he's picked up Patrick's nasty cough. Oy vey. Cold and flu season has arrived.

Not Your Everyday Common Cold

2007-10-27T20:55:00.001-04:00

This week was "Fire Safety" week in preschool--perfect time for us to score some brownie points with the teacher. The local fire department brings their truck over and gives the kids a pep talk about not playing with matches, etc., etc...but on top of that, Luke had access to kid-sized turnout gear through his department, so on Thursday all the kids got to try them on while Patrick's teacher put on Luke's full gear--tank, mask and all. I understand pictures were taken, but I've yet to see them. Anyway, here's Patrick--a little crazed with glee--modeling the kids' gear for me at home.

Also this week, we finally got around to doing our pumpkins...and just in time, I would say, because apparently Halloween has passed and I somehow missed it. Yesterday I was at Walmart and they were removing all the Halloween stuff and putting up Christmas stuff. Now this is nothing new to me--I realize that the Garden Center becomes Holiday Central on the Tuesday after Labor Day and not one minute later. But they were wiping out any sign of Halloween...even the candy aisle. It was Christmas stuff everywhere. Not to mention that they're completely skipping over Thanksgiving. I guess if you can't capitalize on a holiday then there's no use acknowledging it. There's no money to be made off of Turkey Day, after all. It's a very puritan holiday. Moving along, though...we finally did our pumpkins, but this year we painted instead of carved. Much less messy. Jenny gave me some awesome crafty ideas, which I was grateful for since I am unable to come up with that kind of stuff myself. Here's the little man again with the finished products.

Can I just mention that we had to go to three stores to find pumkins? No one was selling them any more. Sheesh. Anyway, for the big one, we cut out triangles of painters tape and then painted the whole thing black. When it dried, we peeled off the tape and voila! Instant art! For the little ones, we used leftover paint from my bedroom (which is actually powder blue, but on the pumpkin it turns out white...weird I know...but Jenny is all-knowing), and then more black paint to make ghost faces. Patrick's is the ghost of Groucho Marx.

So the week ended with Ben coming down with a speedy case of croup. Yesterday morning he woke up with nary a sniffle and by 6 pm he was getting very close to that barking cough and wheezing in a very scary way. I had called the doctor earlier that afternoon, but they just said to give him Albuterol and that I might have to go to the ER this weekend. Luckily, I have my ways around that. I took him over to the boss' hubby P.J., who showed enough concern to call his buddy at Urgent Care and tell him we were coming over. One of my kids had croup last year (I think it was Patrick, but I really can't remember), and I had forgotten that it is just a wee bit more frightening than just a cough due to cold. So even though the after-hours doctor visit was a breeze, the night was still tough. I was reminded of all the warnings my pediatrician had told me last year: listen for the breathing, if it's strained get him in the shower fast or stick his face in the freezer--just the face!--if that doesn't work, get to the hospital, watch his ribs and neck muscles for signs of distress, his breathing passage is extremely small right now, you might want to sleep next to him on the floor...

...which spells out a tough night for me. Ben actually had a very good night. When I picked up his steroids, I got a steam vaporizer too, which transformed his room into a tropical rainforest overnight. So he woke up all dewy and pretty refreshed. I was not quite so refreshed. Since Luke and I are mean parents and have made our kids sleep in their cribs since day one, I did not foresee that sharing a room with Ben would go so well. I settled for putting the monitor right by his crib, and the receiver right by my head and turning it all the way up...which was very effective, much as if I had broadcast his breathing over the loudspeaker system at Phillips Arena or something. So I heard every sound possible. But it wasn't the sounds that woke me up, it was the worry, and I spent a lot of time creeping into his room to make sure his breathing was okay. Which it was, thanks to the balmy temperatures and relative humidity of 400%, a la Vicks. Anyway, I knew it would only be one rough night and that the steroids would really take effect today, so we're on the upswing.

Tomorrow, we're going to the annual harvest craft fair, but I'm not taking pictures, since I'm sure it will be just like last year and you can see those pictures here. I guess I'll catch everyone on the blog after Halloween. Later!

The Chattanooga Pics

2007-10-23T14:06:00.000-04:00

So as I said before, last Friday we braved the "rain" and went to Chattanooga for a family outing. You can see how rainy it ended up being...but that's okay, because we needed the pretty weather and it's raining now...so everybody wins. First stop was the Chattanooga Zoo...

...which is so much better than Zoo Atlanta, primarily because they call themselves the Chattanooga Zoo and they don't interchange the parts of speech in their title like BellSouth and Team USA and all those other names that people give themselves thinking they sound edgy, but really they sound dumb. Zoo Atlanta being one of them. I also think Zoo Atlanta is waaaay overpriced. When I was a teenager (which was not that long ago) you could get in for $7--which seems about right. The last time I went was two years ago, and it had not changed a bit except they added two pandas which are never in the mood to be seen and the price tag had been inflated in a major way. Boooooo. The Chattanooga Zoo cost $15 for all four of us to go into, and although it didn't have elephants or giraffes, it wasn't like they were trying to show us dogs and squirrels and stuff. It still had enough exotic animals to give my kiddies a major thrill, which of course thrills me. Also, there were like 50 people there...no thousands upon thousands of screaming school children in matching shirts blocking my kids' view. Nope, it was just us and the animals, strolling around at our leisure. Nice.

They really loved it all equally, except the Patrick was totally enamored with the macaws, which he is familiar with because Diego saved one at some point in time. He sat and talked to that red macaw for about 20 minutes, and to give the bird some props, he held up his end of the conversation. He also showed us how he could peel a grape and eat just the pulp with his beak--no hands! It was highly impressive. My favorites were the African crane (the large bird with the crazy hair in the fourth pic), because he was into some wild and crazy antics--all up in your face and such--and the jaguar, who was completely geriatric but still breathtakingly beautiful.

The other great thing about the Chattanooga Zoo is that they have kept up with the standards for animal sanctuaries, but they have still preserved that old-timey zoo feeling. In the early days of zoos, they were kind of what you would see in a Curious George or Richard Scary book. They were built right into the heart of the city, and the design was basically a cement landscape with cages scattered in a circular path around one large central cage (which usually held monkeys). Not so great for the animals, but eventually people wised up and starting building something a little more like a natural habitat. As we walked around, I could definitely see the structure that had once been there...but was now covered with much nicer surroundings. So all in all, I give the zoo two thumbs up, and we'll be going back in a year or so, because they're adding on a new section so that'll be more to see.

Moving on, our next adventure was not quite so cost-effective, but fun nonetheless. We went on the Chattanooga Ducks, one of those old war boat/car contraptions that have been renovated for tours and are now sprinkled across the country taking money from suckers like me. I actually really enjoyed it--it was a great day to be on the water--but I think maybe half of what they charged would've been appropriate for what was delivered. But ya know, wherever boats are involved, there's also a hefty fee...so if you can't escape it, you might as well embrace it.

In the picture of our reflection, I'm the one sitting up front holding the camera out. The driver was babbling about how if someone took a picture, we might end up on the internet (gasp!) and I wasn't going to make a liar out of him. We learned a few things, including the fact that the Tennessee River is actually a lake called Nickajack Lake...something about its flow pattern or whatever...and the guide told us about some prominent residents of Chattonooga who had built fabulous houses along the shoreline. Very informative all in all, and let's face it, who doesn't love a boat ride?

After that, we had an hour to kill before we met up with Luke's brother Adam and his girlfriend Kendall for dinner, so we headed down to the riverside behind the aquarium to play at the park. We had just learned on our boat ride that the city had spent millions renovating the riverfront to make it more accessible to people, so who were we not to put it to good use? Waste not, want not, that's what I always say. Most of the time.

Luke and I were talking about how Chattanooga has done a good job with itself. There's a lot of history and natural beauty there, and they've showcased it well. It's really easy to go for just a day or a weekend and do a lot and learn a lot too. We both think our town could take a few chapters out of the how-to book and do a little bit better. However, since Luke used to work directly under the Downtown Development Director and we both know her work ethic, I doubt that's going to happen anytime soon. But I digress. I'm glad Chattanooga is nearby for all the fun it offers. We had a good day trip and we'll be going back soon.

Boo for Blogging.

2007-10-20T21:48:00.000-04:00

To all you naysayers out there who are giving me a hard time about my recent lack of blogging, let me just say that we've had a really hard time with internet connections lately. As most of you know, we use dial-up because the phone company still considers us "country" and the cable company wants to charge an arm and a leg and we just won't have it. Our other two options are using Verizon's new high-speed, which which would also require giving up said arm and leg, or HughesNet, who say they can give you broadband no matter where you live by using satellite technology, but the last time I checked, the start-up fee was over $700. Um, no thanks.

So for now we're sticking with old dial-up, unless someone wants to cough up $65+ per month for various forms of high-speed, but it isn't going to be us. It's not been so bad in the past, but as I've said, lately the connections have been really slow. You try uploading even one picture at 26.5 kb per second and then we'll chat.

Also, I've been really busy at work learning my new software and it's taken a lot of time, but I've gotten one publication out and I'm close to the second one being finished, so it's been worth it. But whenever I sit down at the computer--even at home--I'm pretty much working on that...not the blog.

So when I finally work up the energy and stamina to sit down and create a post (which usually takes about a week...to get my stamina up, not to create a post...that only takes 4-5 days), then I get codes like this from Blogger:

bX-9pjt6o

...which translates literally to: I'm not blogging tonight. Too bad because we went to Chattanooga yesterday and I took lots of pics and who knows when I'll feel like sitting down to share again? Perhaps tomorrow.

More Fall Fun for Everyone

2007-10-14T13:08:00.000-04:00

We've been very active as of late...this is a busy time of year, it seems. Last weekend we went to Gigi and Grandpa's house for their church fall festival, which of course was loads of fun for the kids. I didn't take any pictures because as you can probably tell, blogging's not on my mind like that anymore, but here's a few of the next day at the fabulous park down the street:

And this weekend holds the various fall festivals at our church and school. Yesterday was the school's, and I spent all day Friday getting things ready for the bake sale and the cake walk. My boss Stephanie and I made sure everything was labeled and packaged nicely and ready to sell. Most everything that the parents brought in looked wonderful and delicious, but there are always some questionable items. One in particular this year was a cake that looked like it had been through the Battle of Bunker Hill on the way to school. The top layer had fallen off and cracked, the bottom layer was unrecognizable, and the orange frosting was all over the place. I told Stephanie we had to toss it, that no one would want to take that cake home, even as a prize for the cake walk. Can you imagine the letdown of opening your box and seeing a big orange mess piled inside? But no, Steph said...we were short on prize cakes and we needed all that we could get...it had to be included. I fixed it up the best I could, getting rid of the bottom layer completely and putting some Halloween decorations on top to mask the unappetizing ugliness of it all, but I repeatedly maintained (loudly) that someone was going to be very disappointed to take home that cake. And I was right. Someone was...and that someone was me.

So here's the disgusting cake that Patrick won. I could not believe the injustice. There were fifty other cakes on that table and the stupid volunteer had to pick up that one. I should have thrown the darn thing out when I had the chance on Friday...then I would have been the happy owner of a simple bundt or something. I will admit though, Patrick thinks it's the coolest cake ever. He loves it and he is going to eat the whole thing. Better him than me.

Other than that, the festival was fun. Today is the church picnic--also at the school--and if Ben wakes up from his nap in time, we'll go to that too. Ciao!