Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Modern Day Mothering

You know how with your first child you want to keep everything they ever do in school but by the third you're throwing it out before it even comes in your front door? I'm trying to balance that. Ah, the miracles of modern science. They come in handy here. I can just scan Isaac's stuff and then toss it!

This is Isaac's second sentence. (O.K., I think I tossed the first one...oops) It was his second week in school. He is still learning his alphabet (shame on me!) and they've got him writing sentences. I love it! It's such a "Momma" thing to be so proud of such a silly little thing but, there ya' go, I'm a Momma!






















Like that leg? L-l-l-leg. How 'bout that lung too? What happened to "Lollipop" or "Lamb"? And why not "Lapriscopy"?
Doesn't matter, 'cause now we're on to "g". I don't even wanna hear it, Geraldine! Posted by Picasa

Sunday, August 27, 2006

Comics.

This is Hunter and Josiah reading a comic book together. They're not just reading it side-by-side at the same time, they're reading out loud and taking turns being the different characters. It's a favorite of mine. (I can't call it "cute", they're too old for that. ;-)  Posted by Picasa

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Happy Birthday....


....To Me!

Friday, August 25, 2006

I could just puke.

You know how sometimes you do something so stupid that you get that sick feeling in your stomach? How it just steals all the joy out of everything for awhile?
I got to experience that today. Not because I did something but because I didn't do something....last year, or last month.

I went to the Department of Transportation to wade through the beurocracy and finally transfer my license today. I went once before but had only 2 forms of I.D. instead of the required 3 and so have been putting off going back. It's far away and jam-packed and a general pain. I went back today and discovered that my Alabama license expired last month. For some reason I thought I had until 2008....maybe that's my Sam's card or something. Anyway, due to this oversight and lack of motivation on my part I am now required to re-take the written exam and the driving test. Yup. Just like when I was 17 (I took driver's ed. late).

I am sick. Sick at the time it will take and, even more so, sick at the money. I had my birthday money carefully counted out and budgeted and now a large chunk of it will go to correcting my own stupid mistake. Sick, sick, sick.

So now my fast approaching birthday to which I was actually looking forward has a grey pall over it. A grey pall of stupidity. Lucky for me I have a family who loves me even when I'm stupid so I won't be allowed to sit home and mope, which is all I feel like doing right now. We'll be eating foreign food and hangin' out and having fun. I'll probably start feeling better tonight after I get my kids home from school.

Fickle, fickle girl. How easily swayeth thine emotions.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

The Parade!

The annual Lion's Club Parade was tonight. We thought it was Labor Day weekend and had guests invited over and everything but when we saw the barriers set up on our block in preparation this morning we started making some calls. We ended up inviting a whole slew of folks over to sit in our yard and watch the parade go by. It was scheduled for 7 and at about 6:30 it started to thunder. By 6:45 it was pouring. Now we need rain in a pretty hard way so no one was really heartbroken, but the timing wasn't so great. And how cliche:

It rained on our parade!
















The good news is that the rain did stop and almost everyone showed up in time for the parade, which was able to start just a little bit late. We ended up with a good sized crowd of friends and a stranger or two hanging out in our yard and it was a total blast!

















It's fun to see the fire trucks and yell at the "Little Miss" contestants in their convertables (or pickup trucks...this is Texas) and such, but we all know what parades are really about:

It's all about the candy!














Everyone had a great time. If we do move out of this house, we'll have to make sure it's after the parade that year. Posted by Picasa

Monday, August 21, 2006

Some Days.

Some Days you're Mario....





















And some days you're Princess Peach.





















Days are just like that I guess. Posted by Picasa

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Sometimes....

Sometimes when I wake up in the morning, this is what I find beside my bed.


Posted by Picasa

'Tis the Season.

Once again pear season fast approach-eth. I've been watering my little pear tree hoping for bigger pears. I think we just have a small variety but they are definitely bigger than last year. Someone took every single pear off of our pear tree by the road. I don't need them but they could have at least waited until they were ripe! (May have been squirrels, but there were no signs.) Anyway.....anybody want some pears next month? I still haven't used the ones I put up from last year.

 Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Don't say a word.

 Posted by Picasa

Ascension.

It's been a good day for posts. I knew I needed to blog so I decided I would tell you all about Kingdom of Loathing (again) since I recently defeated the Naughty Sorceress (with only one hit point to spare). It really is a fun game. The graphics are purposely rudimentary (I think they call that "primative") but the narration rocks the world!

I'm fighting a Yeti. A "Knott Yeti" to be exact and he's pretty rough to beat, but I've got very powerful weapons! and I'm pretty experienced by now so he can't even get a hit in on me. He still tries though. Here's what I read:

He tries to gnaw on your stomach, but fails abominably. And abdominally.

I laugh...all the way to the bank (I get over 300 meat every time I defeat him). I'm thinking about how clever I am until Isaac walks in and bowls me over with this one:

"Mom, this day is just crying out for us to do something together."

He's 5. He still has a little baby-talk left in his words so things like "dis day" make the whole sentence somehow out of synch with reality. "Crying out"? How amazing.
What would you do? Exactly what I did, I'm sure. Grin broadly and ask, "What would you like to do?" The answer? "I don't know, but not snuggle. That's just boring." Do you chuckle? Of course not. The male ego is fragile, even in a 5 year old. He goes to the garage in search of a project and comes up with sidewalk chalk.

Here's what we did together:

















It took at least 30 minutes and we worked up a good sweat out there in the sun. I think it was an admirable "together time".

Afterwards Todd came home early for lunch and drove Isaac to school on his scooter. Isaac lives to ride his Daddy's scooter. I have the greatest photo. Blogger, of course, will not post it for some reason. It will be in a future post, I promise you. When you see it, please remember the reference to the male ego and know that I did not laugh out loud. I simply asked if I could take a photo.

Friday, August 11, 2006

And the answer is.....

Sort of.

Am I normal? According to the quiz I took, I am half-way normal. Exactly half-way. On a scale of 1-100, 1 being wacko and 100 being normal (or vice-versa, I couldn't tell because of my score) I scored a 50. Just weird enough to be interesting but not scary.

Here is the official report:

Your Normalcy Quotient is: 50 out of 100.

Your quiz results make you a Wonderful Eccentric

You've earned the title of wonderful eccentric, and while you're not a wild, gun slinging maverick, you certainly like to follow your own way. Of course, you probably don't think of yourself as eccentric. As Einstein might say, "It's all relative."

Take this free personality test by Clicking Here>> or going to www.chatterbean.com/runormal/


The fact that I didn't receive more than 2 comments ( both on and off-line) sort of makes me grateful. ;-)

P.S. The week went splendidly. The boys are all happy with school. We had a youth group back-to-school party tonight at NRH2O, a waterpark in North Richland Hills. We rented out the whole park and it was an absolute and total blast. So fun, in fact, that I may need Tylenol to be able to move tomorrow. The kind of fun that makes you feel old but fiesty.

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

First Day - Part 2

I think today went quite swimmingly. Everyone is now home and happy....and stuffing their faces with after-school snacks.

Isaac just walked right in and gave his teacher her apple and proceeded to act like he owned the place....in a sweet way. I think he's gonna love Kindergarden.


Here's what Ike does in the mornings while his brothers head to school.















Headed that way, apple in hand. Those blue eyes.....

















Walking in with Dad. There was a huge gaggle of Kindergardeners and their parents in the atrium when we got inside. We loitered a good 5 minutes before we were directed back to the class rooms. Just long enough for the scared ones to get good and scared. Luckily, Ike was not one of those.






















He went in (as mentioned before), found his nametag, picked a seat and set to work. In the background you can see the yellow throne he had recently vacated in order to find his nametag.

















He informed me this afternoon that they did not have a math test today. He sounded disappointed. I'll have to remind him of that when he's in 8th grade.....ew, let's not go there just yet. Posted by Picasa

First Day - Part One

Two down, one to go. Everything was smooth as glass this morning. I think it's gonna be a great year.






















Not sure why Josiah's eyes are closed in every picture today. Just luck of the draw I guess.

This is his aid. She has a nice, easy to remember name. I can't remember it.
Note the apple in his hand. He decided he wanted to bring an apple to this teacher today....all his own idea! He's so cute.


















Hunter tried not to be embarrassed that I wanted his photo. I did humor him and let his Daddy take him to school instead of making it a family event. Will we be dropping him off a block away in Jr. High? sigh.




















Notice the laughing teacher. Probably the reason Hunter didn't want us taking photos. He was a good sport, though.

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Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Random Photo





















If there's one thing I never do, it's post photos of myself. I thought I'd shake things up a bit.....and maybe help you with that "Am I normal?" question.

P.S. the dinosaur moves, just not in my photo. Posted by Picasa

Are you normal?

From the same people who decided I'm a "Zen Mom" comes a normalcy quiz. I took it so long ago that I don't even remember what the questions were. I remember that it was breaking down my answers for me and shooting ad's at me between each one so I just shut the window. Tonight I found my "report" from the quiz in my Inbox at Yahoo, which I only check about once a month or so.

Am I normal? I'm sure it all depends upon who you ask. Compared to Kat.....but compared to my cousin Lisa.........

I'll open this for debate. Use the comment button to share your opinion.

If all goes well tomorrow with the first day of school, I'll try to remember to post the answer that I was sent.

Remember, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."
That doesn't mean you can't be honest.....just be nice about it. After all, my Mom reads this blog.

Monday, August 07, 2006

School update.

Well, I think we're ready. We've bought the supplies, washed the socks, gotten the shots and met the teachers. We've even chosen an instrument.

I think everyone's teachers are going to be great this year. They all seemed really nice and really "together". There's nothing quite as scary as a teacher who's as disorganized as I am. Those make me think, "That's why I'm not homeschooling him." None of those this year!

Josiah and Isaac will be at the same school, which will be handy, and Hunter doesn't start until 8:45 every day. The fact that I'm supposed to be at work at 8:30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays worries me a bit, but I can probably work something out. Isaac will be in afternoon kindergarden so he doesn't have to be there until noon. Once again, Josiah will have to be the early bird, but he's my most suited to the task. He'll need to be there between 8:10 and 8:20. Todd's talking about bringing him on his scooter. He'll love that!

Hunter has decided to play the cornet in band this year. It's a small trumpet. The band director tried to talk him into a euphonium (small tuba) but it was bigger, took more breath and had more buttons (valves). I, personally, would opt for tuba over trumpet on the coolness scale, but he's thinking practically. Smart kid.

We start on Wednesday so we'll know soon enough how it'll all go. I'll let you know.

Saturday, August 05, 2006

From the Washington Post

This was interesting enough to share.


5 Things to Do With This Newspaper

Sunday, August 6, 2006; Page M01

Sure, you can always pop the paper in the recycling bin, but why not use yesterday's news to . . .


-Fix a flat tire. If you get a tear in your bike tire while riding, fold a quarter page of newspaper into a square big enough (and thick enough) to cover the hole. Slip the paper between tube and tire. Inflate the tube enough to hold the paper in place, then put the tire back on its rim and inflate the tube fully. This quick fix should keep you going for several miles.

-Keep weeds out of your garden. Layer three to four sheets of newspaper next to your plants (at least two inches away from the stems to prevent rotting). Water the entire area. Add a top layer of mulch, grass clippings or straw. The newspaper blocks sunlight -- which weeds need to grow -- and will help keep the soil moist.

-Quell the smell. Line the vegetable drawer of your refrigerator to keep it smelling fresh, or put newspaper in your shoes to absorb moisture.

-Ripen tomatoes. Wrap green tomatoes individually in a couple of sheets of newspaper. Store in an airtight container in a dark place at room temperature. Check them every three to four days.

-Wash your windows. Mix a solution of equal parts water and white vinegar. Separate the newspaper into pages (avoid those with color pictures or ads). Crumple it into a ball, soak it in the solution, squeeze out the excess, and rub windows in a circular motion. For extra shine, wipe the window with a clean sheet of newspaper. (My grandmother does this. It works.)

-- Michelle Hainer

Movie Reviews

I've been meaning to post about a movie I watched last weekend but somehow never got around to it. I saw another great movie last night and decided to blog about both of them at once.

The first is The Constant Gardener with Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz. It's a romance/thriller/social commentary set mostly in Kenya about a man trying to find the truth about his wife's murder. I watched it at home with a friend and we spent the first 30 minutes trying to decide if it was worth continuing or not. We decided to go ahead with it because of all the shots of Nairobi. My friend was a missionary in Argentina, not Africa, but she could relate to a movie making you homesick so we drank our chai and tried to pay attention. Then it got good. About 30 minutes into it the action really picked up and the story line developed and we started enjoying the movie.

It's a good movie and if you've ever been to East Africa, it's a must see. Just remember: don't judge Tessa until you've seen the whole movie!












Last night I succumbed to popular culture and went to see The Lake House with my mom. It's "tax-free weekend" here so getting to the mall and finding a parking spot were both nearly impossible but we waded in and got it watched! Really, really great movie. If you can ignore all the impossibilities and those nagging thoughts ("...if she told him....and he didn't.....then she never would have.....") you will love it. It's sweet and romantic and very nice visually (I don't mean Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, I mean the landscapes and architecture). I came away from it with a big, romantic sigh.

I'm guessing it's almost done with it's run in theaters since there were very few showings available. Maybe you can wait for it to come to the cheap theaters. Sweet movies are even sweeter for $2.50 instead of $8.50!








P.S. I read that Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock really are pen pals, like real pen and paper and mail pen pals, and have been since Speed. How cool is that?