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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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?

That lake trip.

I mentioned a lake trip a while back and said I'd tell you about it then promptly forgot. Lucky for you I'm narcisisstic enough to go back and read my own blogs periodically.

July 8th we took a youth group trip to Lake Grapevine. We rented a double decker "party barge". It had a slide off the back, a grill, a bathroom, tables, chairs, stereo.....

Here's Todd sliding.















Josiah sliding.
















Todd using his photojournalism skills to document the upper deck and it's goings on. (the kids were jumping off the upper deck into the lake).



















This is the lower deck...and what's that? Could it be the pontoon boat that had to come steer us out onto the lake because the rudder was broken?
Maybe.
Too bad they didn't fix the grill too.
















Despite the glitches, the party barge was a total blast. I highly recommend it.

Internet Nonsense

Are You a Slacker Mom?

Your quiz results make you a Zen Mom

How do you do it? Even when explosions are all around, you are able to take a deep cleansing breath and chant your mantra "this too shall pass." You are a calming influence on your kids in a hectic world.

Take this free personality test by Clicking Here>> or going to www.areyouaslackermom.com

Pardon me.

You'll have to pardon my amusement at my children's political incorrectness. The boys found their rubber band guns this morning. Josiah was so proud. He was waving his around and loudly proclaiming, "We're coppers, Mom!"

Within minutes they had set up a "shooting range" in the living room. Don't worry, they're not just shooting at Bob the Builder, they ended up with a large variety of toys.

It makes me smile. Not the "I'm so proud!" smile of a redneck woman who gets a tear in her eye when her baby learns to shoot but the "That is hilarious!" smile of a woman who knows how mortified all her "politically correct" friends would be.

It's Hot.

Seriously hot. Seriously, extremely hot. Like the kind of hot that explodes a can of 7Up in your swim bag while you're swimming at the Keller Pointe with your family.
ug.

The missing photos

Here are some of the photos intended for the previous blog.


Hunter at his "birthday party" at Grandma's house.

















Josiah's special noodles.





















Todd defending the youth group kids from a killer gator.

Things I'm Proud Of

This blog is meant to contain photos. Blogger is apparently experiencing technical difficulties with photo uploading. I waited to post since they were officially "down" yesterday but I still can't upload photos and am tired of waiting. I will post this photo-less blog and try to post it's photos via Picasa in a separate blog.

Here goes:

In an effort to not be so boring, I've decided to try to post something interesting. The fact that it's only interesting to me probably makes it just that much more boring but hey, it is MY blog after all.

Here are a few things I've been proud of here lately:

1. Hunter.
Hunter has been making good decisions lately when I least expected it. He even called me from a friend's house to ask if he should get in the pool with his buddies even though both parents were gone. (The answer was obvious, but he needed reinforcement and he knew it.) I was so proud I almost busted.


2. Todd.
Todd's done some great stuff with the youth group this summer and he's done it with great aplomb. He has been trying his best to always have a good attitude, which is tricky your third week away from home, on very little sleep, with a large group of teens and pre-teens. I've had more help than usual this summer since we're here near family but I also miss him more than usual this year while he's gone.


3. My mad book-editing skills.
As most of you know, we are on this never-ending saga of book editing with Gailyn VanRheenen. It is a skill I did not have when I volunteered and I'm afraid that I've been slow in learning it. If, however, anyone is ever unwise enough to ask me to do this again sometime...I'm all over it! It should only take 3 weeks instead of 6 months next time. We're actually almost done now!




I'll tell you how you can buy it when it finally does get published but I must warn you, if you're not a "missionary type" you won't appreciate it. If you are, it's pretty stinkin' cool!


4. The return of my long-lost cooking muse.
I used to love cooking. Really love it. For some time now I've been dreading it at every meal. I guess it's because I can never make everyone happy....or, sometimes, anyone happy. I know that this is not necessary. Kids will eat what you fix if there's no other choice. However, it's nice to have your food appreciated when you fix it. Josiah's dietary restrictions also make cooking a real thinking excercise and that tends to wear on me.
Lately I've ventured out a bit, however. It helps to get some good ingredients....like Josiah-safe mayonaise. Here's what I made for him tonight:



It's corn noodles and sauted chicken with "vegan-aise" and Italian dressing....and it tastes fantastic, if I do say so myself. Just FYI, mayo and Italian makes-a one-a tasty sauce-a.




5. My brave venturing.
I've been driving up a storm this summer...mostly without Todd. This may seem minor, but I really don't enjoy driving, especially through the Metroplex. I'm intimidated by my lack of anything resembling a sense of direction. I am overcoming this! (the compass in my van helps) I'm not saying I want to become a bus driver or anything, but not being afraid to leave the house is definitely freeing!

I think it's cool how thinking of things to be thankful for/proud of opens up a floodgate of thankfulness. The more I write about, the more I think of to be thankful for. I must say that it's good to feel good about myself amd my family. I think I was depressed there for a little while. I definitely feel better now. I'm thankful for that most of all.

It's hard to shoot a photo while you're driving.

I just couldn't resist, though. It's so fun, but somehow this photo doesn't look like Josiah to me......except for the ever-present Mario costume. 

Happy Birthday Hunter!!!!

It's good to include the link, eh?

http://picasaweb.google.com/mamateresa

Sorry 'bout that.

Web Albums

I posted a few more albums at my Picasa site. There are photos of the lake trip yesterday, the Snyder trip Tuesday and Ashley's birthday last Saturday.

I'll try to blog about the lake trip later on. This afternoon we're headed to my parents' to celebrate Hunter's birthday....which is Tuesday! 11. no comment.

Fourth of July

Can you tell I'm trying to catch up on my blogging?


For the Fourth, Todd's sister and I packed all 6 of our kids and my Chihuahua up in our van and headed to West Texas to see our family. I didn't wait on Todd for this because his step-mom begins radiation and chemo tomorrow and we really needed to get out there before it all got rolling. The doctors are anticipating a rough time of it....they even installed a feeding tube before hand. Yikes. She'll be needing lots of prayers to get through this.

Meanwhile, we packed up all 6 kids and the dog and headed out. It took about 2 hours longer than it should have to get there but we all survived the trip. Being there was so worth it. We had a really nice visit with the family and got to see some fun fireworks....even in Snyder! We were worried about Josiah because of the noise so earlier in the day we had gotten out PaPa Les' ear plugs and head phones to help. He used them while they were popping fire crackers at the house and wore them right up until the fireworks started at which point he whipped them off and ran in circles and jumped up and down and cheered and basically had a total blast (pun intended).

The trip home was even more exciting than the trip out. The kids were all.......o.k., MY kids were extra cranky and we had an extra dog since Colby had gotten his long awaited puppy from his grandparents. It also rained on us and we missed the exit for McDonalds in Abilene. Did you know that there is NO McDonalds between Abilene and Eastland?

But, once again, we all survived the trip and Hunter's already asking when we can get all the cousins together again. I'm so thankful that I enjoy Todd's family so much. How boring life would be without them.



Here's PaPa Les and Grangy Jan cookin' supper Tuesday. (Yes, I meant "Grangy")
















Erin draws a picture for her Great-Grandma Jean.




















The fam' at the park waiting for the show. It sounds funny when you try to explain who everyone is......step-sister-in-law?, step-neices?.....whatever! They're all family!













We had a great time. Hope you did too.

Some things in life.....

....really require a video camera. One of those things is an "American Idol" birthday party for your niece at which all your relatives sing karaoke. Unfortunately, I did not have one with me.

One of the best parts was Alicia "singing". She really hammed it up.






















The kids really "appreciated" it.














The absolute best, however, was Josiah "doing the Mario". He sang the music from the game and jumped around like Mario, making all the noises of going down tubes, getting a power star and everything. He make it all the way to the final round, but seeing as his competition was the birthday girl........ :-)