Sunday, October 26, 2008

Upside Down, Inside OUT

After a Saturday of nothin' but rain, rain, and more rain, Sunday dawned beautiful and sunny. The 'boys' spent the glorious day at their playground (Ravens Stadium!) soaking up rays, and watching some football. The girls and I ventured into the backyard for some fun. Jumping like crazy....
...swinging like monkeys....
Sisterly love. Let me give you a little PUSH!!!
And what better way to eat yogurt than swinging through mid air. This definitely could be the talent portion of the show!!!!
Lucille kept watch for squirrels and strange air craft.
No luck on the squirrels, BUT.....
Strange air craft and Bob cats were found.
While cleaning up leaves we also found a new friend.
We let him go into a our beautiful still blooming garden...
Thanks to our new fire pit, we enjoyed a nice fire. Funny how this makes picking up all the sticks in the yard go a LOT quicker!!
We sat around and told scary stories. Like times before cable. And tv remote controls with WIRES! No cordless phones, and mean Mom's who made their kids wear 'dickies' to school under our scratchy sweaters. (Do you remember these things??) A great fall day!!




Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Friday, October 17, 2008

Werewolves and Vampires

Ok....so this is the 4th week in a row we have had a day off during the school week. We have managed to do something on all the other days, so I thought it would be fun to have a day of doing nothing. Actually, truth be told, I am on the last book of the 'Twilight " series, and I am dying to get it finished. I can not stand the suspense. Or the fact that someone very close to me knows exactly what happens and is REFUSING to tell me!!! So I thought trekking through the last 500+ pages while the girls enjoyed a day of play would be just what the doctor ordered. The boys were at football, so there was no one to bother them. It is nice and chilly now, so a pj day, sounds really good. But then...... This is what I had to deal with:
Janey: "You smell good, Julian"
Julian: "Stop smelling me."
Janey: "(Sniff, sniff) Ummm....you smell really good!"
Julian: "I am TELLING. Stop smelling me. Mooooom...she's smelling me"
Janey: "But you smell sooo good (sniff, sniff)"
Julian: "STOP.SMELLING. ME!!!"
Me (slamming book shut): "GET IN THE CAR. I am taking you to the woods and dropping you off!!!"
Janey and Julian: silence
Julian: " Can I bring a juice box?"
So off we went, cameras in hand (juice boxes in bag) to trek through the woods of Liberty Reservoir. If you have just read over 1,000 pages dealing with vampires, werewolves, and the woods they live and hunt in, I do NOT recommend this activity. Really. Because even if you know it is fantasy, you WILL scare the crap out of yourself!!
The trees are just starting to turn and it finally feels like fall. The girlies hunted-I mean hiked- along the trail, fearlessly running over roots, branches, sticker bushes, and the box of latex gloves we found. (I DO NOT even want to know.) The woodland creatures were no doubt scarce after hearing Janey's repeated shriek of, "I AM THE LINE LEADER, JULIAN. I AM THE LINE LEADER!"
They had funny exploring the shore, and we actually found a ton of shells ("Look at this Mom, I found a shell. Look Mom, look. Mooom. I found a shell. See my shell. This is a clam shell.Mom. I found a shell.") Did you ever see "The Land Before Time?" Janey is Petrie. On speed.
We also found a very nice spot in which to just sit and enjoy the view.
The girls discovered that the bigger the rock, the bigger the splash.
I sat back and figured out how cold the water was going to be when I had to jump in and rescue fearless Jane. Without my camera getting wet.
At the end of our trip Janey managed to capture on film the most elusive creature of all:



Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Not ME Monday!

Another installment of the fabulous "Not Me Monday" started at http://www.mycharmingkids.net/. A quick re-cap: what follows you will find all of the things that I would certainly NEVER do, say or think. EVER. Because, after all....some of it just plain crazy!

I did NOT lose my debit card, credit card, wallet and license. Again. For the second time this month. I did NOT have to cancel my debit/credit card. Again. Nope, I am very responsible and would never lose things. Again.


I have NOT spent way (way, way) too much time checking facebook and all the blogs I follow. Really. I was cleaning. My bathroom is so clean you could operate in it. And the rest of my house?? Beyond compare (or beyond repair!!)


I did NOT ignore the food I dropped on the floor, knowing that eventually the dog would find it.



I did NOT eat a bag of mini Heath bars by myself, and LIE to my children about them being gone....long before they were. They are, I have heard, very addictive AND gluten free so I could eat them if I wanted. But I didn't because I am already "fluffy" enough, and the LAST thing I need is (a bag full of) candy bars.


I absolutely DO NOT still feel sorry for myself and my dumb eating restrictions. That would be silly...I know there is much worse that could be wrong. I so did NOT cry because I just wanted a 'normal' lunch with my family. Really, how selfish and pitiful.


I did NOT read two (long) books back to back this weekend instead of doing pretty much anything else. I also did not text my neighbor to see if she was (finally) done the third book. I am NOT hoping she will stay up late and finish it so I can have it tomorrow. I know there is NO WAY she would ever have time to take a nap in the day to make up for the lack of sleep I am driving her to!!! (Are you done YET????)


I am sooooo NOT secretly hoping Janey's cough is just a little worse tomorrow. Forcing us to skip our normal gymnastics day and avoid the crazy mother who is really NOT driving me completely, totally insane. It's 45 minutes.....she can't be that bad, right?? WRONG.


I did NOT wash three sweatshirts on the deep clean wash cycle because they kept smelling a little funky. Really, three shirts on a cycle that takes TWO HOURS AND TWENTY THREE minutes...that would be wasting water and energy.


I did NOT go back to sleep on the sofa Saturday until almost noon while the girls watched Sponge Bob. I would NEVER let them watch this just so I COULD get some sleep!! (If this was the case, I would have had an excuse since I had to pick up the boys at a concert and didn't get to bed till 2 am AND drop off for football early. But....I was awake. All morning.)


I did NOT miss both my son's football games this week. I was there at each one. Teddy's when they won, and made headlines for their upset of Perry Hall, and Tucker's on Saturday morning. Early. Awesome games. Go Indians! So much fun!


I did NOT drive Tucker to school for football at 7 am, bra-less and in a nightgown. Even though I do live 4 minutes away, and the likelihood of being pulled over, being in an accident, or running out of gas is slim.


I have NOT neglected to clean my hamsters cage for a very, very long time. He is such a sweet little fellow, and it is really enjoyable dodging his rabid attempts to kill me.


I did NOT deliberately drive over the end of my neighbors newly paved driveway minutes after it was poured. Even though she has threatened my family several times, I would NEVER stoop so low. Although she did have her driveway paved well into the street. The public street.....


I did NOT wash a huge, hairy wolf spider down the bathtub drain, and run the water for 15 minutes to ensure his swift arrival in Spider heaven (my septic tank). I know that even if they are as big as a half-dollar, spiders are beneficial. I also did NOT obsessively check in sinks, tubs, toilets, beds, etc. in case any more appeared. Betcha check your drains now, huh??

Friday, October 10, 2008

Where are you going?

With the kids off school yet another day, and my eardrums bleeding from the constant whining of "I'm boooored" I had to dust off my cob-webby old brain and find us SOMETHING to do. Thanks to Peg for her great idea on making splatter maps !!! These are fun AND easy!(http://peggyfussell.wordpress.com/2008/09/20/accidental-cartography/) We decided to try some of our own.
Some children were a little unenthusiastic at first. But after it was discovered that we were dripping paint with reckless abandon, the fun began.

In Peggy's link you will see the process, but here are some pics to show how our blobs o' nothing went onto become uncharted lands. Janey's guitar shaped island is naturally called 'flower island'.
Julian's had so many prickly points of land, it became 'Porky Pine Island'. Mine is named 'Fantasy Island', and at first was going to include such things as spa-ville, and the children's penitentiary, eight million book stores, and signs prohibiting anyone under the age of 21 from entering. Alas, I realized that was not quite in the spirit of things. PLUS it is way too mean to even invent a place like this that does not, and can never exist!!!
After your 'blob' has dried, trace around it with a good black pen (that you once had a whole box of, but now seem to only have one of). Or, if you throw a big enough fit, I am sure your Mom will trace around it for you.


After you are done, label all the cool things your island has to offer, and voila..a WHOLE NEW WORLD!
Charmingly enough, my island has a peninsula that looks suspiciously like a large green penis jutting out of it. I so would have picked another island had a realized this earlier. I named it 'fairie pointe', but it still looks obscene. Oh well.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Homecoming 2008

What a weekend. After getting the cheerleaders ready for the big homecoming game, the heavens opened up and down came the rain. And down, and down it came. Soaking through umbrellas, hats, raincoats, shoes, and everything else. Never in my life have I been so glad to be standing out in the pouring rain and hear THUNDER. The game was postponed at halftime, and we went home to dry out before the boys left for the dance. The dance. Wouldn't you think it is pretty easy to decide to go to a dance or not??????

Teenagers are so fun. Really...if you feel the need for some conversation, pick one up, and see how chatty they are. A wealth of information, really. Or not. Regarding the dance, to actually find out if they wanted to attend took TWO FULL WEEKS.

Q- Do you want to go to the homecoming dance?
A- I don't know. Maybe. Probably.

Q- Do you want to take anyone?
A- I don't know. Maybe. Probably

Q- Does she want to go?
A- I don't know. Maybe. Probably

Q- Is she able to go?
A- I don't know.Maybe. Probably

Q- Did you buy tickets yet?
A- I don'tknow.Maybe.Probably

Q- PLEASE, PLEASE just buy tickets, okay?
A- I don't know. Maybe. Probably

Q- Did you FINALLY buy them?
A- I don't know. Maybe. Probably

Q- Did your date ask her Mom if she could go yet?
A- I don't know. Maybe. Probably

Q- ARE YOU GOING, AND WITH WHO??
A- uh, Tucker, I guess.

Question to Tucker:
Q- Do you want to go to the dance?
A-NO!!!!!!!!!!
Well, tough. You BOTH are going, and you WILL have a good time. And I will Take your picture. OR ELSE.
And fun they had. A limo ride, and a nice, nice Mom who drove them to and from the diner after the dance was WELL over.