Happy Anniversary to Me!

Today is our 5-year anniversary and Luke and I have dropped the kiddies off with his parents and are headed out for a day of fun! It's a beautiful day, just as it was on my wedding day, and I'm taking the camera, so I'll post about all the fun later.

For now, I'll just say that my wedding day was the best day I ever had and all the days since have been great. Here's to Luke and me and many more years! Love you Luke!

Best ten bucks I ever spent.....

Patrick modeling his new "fire boots"...and boy am I loving them! They cost ten bucks and I bought them a size too big so they will fit next year too. They slip on and off easily (good for the hundred times a day we take our shoes off--and by "we" I mean "Patrick") and as long as he's in them, he's happy. Plus, I have to admit, he looks totally cool in them!

Happy Birthday Mom

Well, it's my turn to have problems with blogger, so no pictures, but I want to wish a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my mom, who today turns...ha! Like I would say!

Seriously, aren't we all so lucky to have such wonderful moms who raised us to be smart, kindhearted and (sometimes) gracious women? And for those of us currently experiencing mommyhood ourselves, isn't it true that our moms could not have been a better example in raising us, and when oh when are we going to be able to put a decent dinner on the table every night like they did? I'll tell you what, my mom sure set the bar high. My kids will be lucky if I turn out to be half the mom that she is.

Okay, this is starting to sound like Mother's Day instead of her birthday, so I'll just wrap it up with Happy Birthday Mom! Sorry you had to work, but hope you enjoy your cake with yogurt but NO peanuts!!!

JC Penney, here he comes...

This morning, we took a short little family outing to good old Berry College. When we got there, we decided to take the boys on a walk starting at the Old Mill and heading up towards the reservoir lake. Patrick was pretty impressed with the mill, so we walked around it for a while, checking out its size and sounds and noticing all the little fishies swimming in the pond below. I asked Patrick if a picture would be good and he said yes, but then when I got out my camera, he refused to look at me. Apparently he decided it would be more natural looking if he completely ignored me and gazed out over the lake into the distance like some sort of JC Penney model.
So voila...the boys and the mill.

I'm loving...

My new Picasa software...I could play with it all day!!!!

And I am TOTALLY loving fall...even though it has arrived a few days early, it is a welcome change from the sweltering summer heat. I love how the sky becomes blue again instead of hazy white and how all the "harvest" recipes suddenly sound so appealing. I love a warm day followed by a cool evening and a cold night. I love that there's an outdoor activity available to my family every weekend and that the park is virtually empty on weekdays (unlike spring, when you have to wait at least 20 min. to get a swing). I love hearing a high school band playing at halftime in the distance, although I have no interest in being there. I love putting on my favorite pair of jeans again, especially when I can still wear them with a short-sleeve shirt and flip-flops.

The thing is, I really love any change of season, because I am usually so sick of the last one that has really worn out its welcome. However, the past few years have been the first that I've really embraced fall. Before, when I was teaching, fall meant nothing but three straight months of working with little to no break until Thanksgiving. I was so wrapped up in that mindset that I forgot to notice all the wonderful things fall has to offer. But now that my job is my kiddies and there is no vacation to look forward to at all, I can embrace this season. And so I will. I will be a happy Becky, a cheerful Becky, an enthusiastic Becky, a Becky who decorates according to season...at least until January and February roll around. I hate those months.

M.I.A.

Anyone know what has happened to Katie??????

More on Matthew

Well, as you can see, my kids are rivaled in cuteness only by their cutie-patootie cousin Matthew. We made an impromptu visit to my parents' house this weekend, and David, Sandi and Matthew were there. It was so great to see them for a few hours. Katie and Joe came over for a little while too, but you'll have to check out her blog for any other pictures, since I had forgotten my camera (thanks for these, Katie!). Anyway, Matthew is such a sweet kid--he's at my favorite age--and he is all cheeks and cuddles and smiles. Love him!

 

The Stairmaster

Ben's new trick: crawling up the stairs at a very fast clip. Unfortunately, he has no clue whatsoever about how to get back down (other than falling--he's mastered that). Nor does he have any interest in learning how to go down. So this presents a dilemna. I can't put a gate at the bottom, the bannister is too narrow and the engineering just doesn't work. He's so fast and sneaky that sometimes he's at the top step before I catch him. So instead of bringing him back down, which will inevitably inspire him to go right back up as soon as I turn my back, I just lock him up there and let him play in his room. Eventually I have to go retrieve him, but by then he's gotten over the stairs for the next twenty minutes or so. Then the whole cycle starts again and well, this is my day in a nutshell.

My new image...

Hiya girls...like my new profile image? It's part of my new program to try and be a better person. No--haha!! How could I get any better than I already am? Seriously, I was getting tired of the "maxipad flip-flop" as Katie called it and I thought I'd try just doing a picture that matched the season, instead of one that matches me. So I did a search for acorn (since they are falling out of my trees 24 hours a day) and I found this one, which made me laugh. Hope it makes you smile, too! If not, don't despair, you only have to look at it for a month or so...

School Days

Well, I haven't had too much to blog about lately, as you know, but I'm gonna try and break the dry spell with a picture I took a few weeks ago. This is Patrick's teacher this year, Mrs. Cindy. I love her because she is very laid-back and casual (she wears shorts and flip-flops to work! My kinda gal!) and she is not so sugary-sweet that boys can't relate (which is good--she has 13 students and 11 of them are boys!). So here's to Mrs. Cindy! Good luck this year!

Ben Earns His Keep

Finally, Ben learns a useful skill!
Here's a task that Mommy is only too happy to give up.

That's right sweetie-pie, the bills go in the first folder, then the receipts, and after that the insurance forms...

All done? Okay, let's tie some Swiffer pads to your hands and knees and have a go at the kitchen floor...

Amateur Photog

Patrick came downstairs after his nap today and since I hadn't napped like I sometimes do, we got under my covers together and snuggled while I rubbed his back. Evenetually I dozed off and he got up and started playing around on my desk. I remember telling him he could play with the tape measure, but after that, he pretty much had the house to himself. So he decided to get my camera down and I guess he figured out how to use it, because when I woke back up, he showed me the FORTY pictures he had taken ALL OVER THE HOUSE while I was blissfully sleeping!!!! I'm telling you, they are hilarious! You could tell, looking at the sequence, that he got better at aiming his shots as he went along. I wish I could share them all with you, but we all know how Blogger is about photos lately and my computer's slow as all get out anyway. But here's a little sampling for you...

Ben's prescriptions on the kitchen counter.

The entertaiment center.

Savannah's forehead.

What can I say--he had a vision...he's an artist!!!

Ben Pulls Up

Oh yes, my friends, he is mere days from walking!!! Ben is pulling up and loving every minute of it. So many new things to explore 24 inches off the ground! And so many different ways to come crashing down to the ground...nope, he's not going to come out of this without battle scars!

Winnie the Snooze

Today I took Patrick to see the play "Winnie the Pooh" at the local theater and let's just say he was right in the demographic. However, I loved it because the theater was dark and quiet and the seats were super-comfy. Patrick wanted to leave at intermission, and I was almost game for that, but then I thought about forty-five more minutes of dark comfiness and persuaded him to stay with "But Piglet's going to fly in the air!!!" Which he did.

I didn't bring my camera, but it wasn't really worth a picture anyway. Besides, the real highlight of our day came before the play, when we went to the mall to kill some time. We walked in through JC Funny (that's JC Penney for those of you that don't speak the 3-year-old dialect) and Patrick's internal radar went off. Minutes later, he was the delighted owner of two new shirts--one covered in fire trucks and the other in construction vehicles.. The only downer was that they are long-sleeved and I wouldn't let him wear them today, which was unfortunate, because after the show he really wanted Tigger to see them. Alas, they were in the car and Tigger will be forever left wondering what the cute earnest kid was trying to say...

Another Sleeping Beauty

I have never been willing to risk taking my kids' pictures while they are napping for fear of waking them, but today Ben slept so late I had to go upstairs and wake him. When he didn't make a peep after I opened the door, I saw my opportunity and went for the camera.

I hate waking a child, especially when they are sleeping so peacefully, but sometimes it has to be done. Like Ben's pink bunny? It was an Easter gift from Gigi. When I pointed out the feminine hue to her, she said she didn't even notice the color. We should all be so open-minded!!!! Anyway, Ben loves it, so who cares?

"I'm not tired, Mommy."

Today I told Patrick he didn't have to take a nap because he said he wasn't tired. I figure that he will probably drop his nap by the end of the year and for the time being, skipping one or two a week would probably be okay as long as I still get my "mommy" time. We agreed that he would stay in his room and play very quietly because Ben was going to sleep.
Cut to thirty minutes later...

Incidentally, his bed is exactly two steps from where he was laying.
I guess he was just too tired to get there...

To the Rescue!!!!!

Today Patrick was out in the shed and discovered Luke's old EMT helmet, instantly catapulting Luke to God-like status in his son's eyes. I think he would have worn it the rest of the day, except his tiny little neck was about to snap under its staggering weight. There'll be no peace now that he knows it's there...

Tagged By Mandy

ONE BOOK THAT...

. . .changed my life?
To Kill a Mockingbird made me fall in love with that genre.

. . .I've read more than once?
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

. . .I would want with me on a deserted island?
I am thinking the Bible would probably be the most helpful.

. . .made me laugh?
Any book by Dave Barry makes me laugh out loud.

. . .made me cry?
I'm sure Where the Red Fern Grows would have mede me cry if I'd had the guts to read the end.

. . .I wish had been written?
A cookbook that claims to have cheap and easy meals and actually does.

. . .I wish had never been written?
Lord of the Yawns...I mean Rings

. . .I am currently reading?
Every Inch of Her by Peter Sheridan

. . .I've been meaning to read?
Kiterunner. My boss gave it to me and said it was horribly depressing. Can't wait!

Tag Five Others:
Andrea
Jennifer
Jenny
Ashlyn?
Haley?

A different kind of Friday's Feast

Well, I went to do my weekly Friday's Feast and sudenly I couldn't stomach the meaningless questions anymore. It had definitely run its course for me. So I'm saying adios to the Feast with a pic of my boys feasting on their lunches.

Besides, who could ever get tired of looking at these gorgeous mugs?

Okaaaayyyyyyy........

Just in time for the 2008 Summer Games, we've got a new sport. I had seen this before (on Webjunk 20, I believe), but had dismissed it as sheer idiocy. But wait, it seems that sheer idiocy is actually in vogue and Nascar is no longer the stupidest "sport" out there. Nope, now there's SPEED STACKING!!!!! Go here to check it out and make sure you have your volume turned waayyyyyy up to get the full effect.

Okay, have you checked it out? Good. Now we'll chat. First off, did you notice the empty stadium seats? Yes? Okay then. Did you also notice there was merchandise to be bought? Well, that's actually what brings me to this post. This morning while Patrick was watching Tom and Jerry (current favorite), a commercial came on for this "sport"...kind of advertising the sport and kind of advertising the cups. And at the end, they mentioned the retail stores where you could spend your hard-earned money on them (for shame, Target). And I thought "They're selling.....cups? Plastic ones? Seriously....CUPS?"

And indeed they are, folks. For more money than you'd probably want to spend on a good steak dinner, you can instead go out to Target (SHAME!) and buy what you already have in your cabinets and a carrying case!!!!! And the fun doesn't stop there, oh no! You can bring them home and make pyramids out of the like a complete los--ahem!--like a one-year-old! And then you can pretend you're an athlete, just like all the Nascar drivers do.

And the best thing is, after all this, nobody will care. Have fun!