my boy

Kid3 is doing good.

(he really says he hates it- Im trying to be in denial)

He is adjusting well.

(not so well actually but Im trying to ignore it and hope it gets better)

We miss him.

(thats the truth-no denial there)

Doesn't he look handsome?

(also true- cute as a button!)

We enjoy every minute of being with him in New Mexico.

(not always true, but we try)

We do not enjoy every minute of the drive, I cannot tell a lie...

(now THATS all true)

It's a bear of a drive.

(true- no denial)

So worth this handsome face.

(yes true, worth his little smile)

So worth his unforgettable smile.

(yes, yes, true)

I love him.

(FOR SURE)

(please disregard the frizzy hair, thank you very much)

strange pair

What do you think?

Does it match her dress?

Too tall?

Not the right color?

Doesn't she look thrilled holding it?

(don't worry, it's Hunters and it's not real-used for marching purposes only)

disgusting dental delimma

SERIOUSLY this snaggly fang is really grossing me out!

We tried to talk her into pulling it tonight.

She says pulling her teeth makes her "nervous"

I offered her 5 dollars, she said no

I was going to offer her a doll she's been wanting...

but

I forgot what the name of it was

and

she ran off before I could remember.

We're going to try to snag it out tonight at bedtime.

Is pulling your kids choppers because your tired of looking at it hanging there wrong?

We'll see what happens.

Wish us some pearly white luck!

a very young-old, lively-dead old man who build a huge ark

When I picked up Kid4 from school today she said "Hey Mom, when Noah flooded the earth I was a baby and we just stayed in our house with the door shut tight... right?"

I said "no, God flooded the earth a very long time ago, you and I weren't born yet, it was a really REALLY long time ago, Noah built an ark and there were not houses then like there are now".

Kid4 said "Are you sure because he just doesn't seem that old to me"

I said "OH, well Noah is not only VERY OLD, he's also dead, it was a LONG LONG time ago".

She then said "mom, he's NOT dead, I saw him yesterday"

I said "you saw Noah yesterday?"

She said "yes, and he just doesn't seem that old to me, I thought he was MUCH younger than a VERY OLD man, I thought he was just a kid, he looks so young".

I said "Noah looks young?"

She said "yes! Noah, our neighbor!" (our neighbor Noah is 8 or 9)

Yeah, yeah, yeah... I already know she is smarter than me, you don't have to say it. I should have picked up that she was talking about the neighbor Noah long before I did... what can I say?

And yes, I explained that there are two Noah's.

The end

clutter

Do you ever find your mind, your heart and your house cluttered?

I do... often my stairs are covered with the girls stuff that needs to go up to their rooms.

More often than not there is a pile of junk in some corner of my house.

Often my paper bag "collection" get just a little ridiculous.

(i really want to recycle them)

Frequently the top of my fridge makes we want to gag.

many times my mind is full of useless things

again and again my brain wanders to things I cannot control

too often my heart gets busy with unimportant details

I think it's time to de-clutter, re-clean and cleanse my mind.

my view

my view.

my view has been the same (for the most part) for the last twenty years.

I like it this way.

I like waking up every morning (almost every morning) with Mr. B.

He's been gone this weekend and I miss him.

I'm not a good single parent.

I'm not good at taking the dog out alone.

I'm better when I wake up to these guys.

on the road, always on the road...

Yeah.... we're pretty much on the road again....

too bad we don't get mileage points for driving!

The girls are traveling like pro's,

Mr. B. is the driving champion

and I...

I am tired but having a BLAST with my Roswell friends.

We'll be back home Monday and back on track.

weekend lovin'

We are lovin' up on this boy this weekend!

How wonderful it is to hug him.

How marvelous it is to see his smile in person.

How magnificent it is to hear him (he's not great on the phone)

How glorious it is to watch him move.

How fantastic it is to kiss his face.

We're in heaven lovin' up on this kid!

excuses

The dog really DID eat my homework!!

BIZARRO WORLD...

I promise you, I PROMISE YOU I should NOT be blogging right now.

Im too tired to make sense.

but I HAVE to tell you about my last few days...

We headed out to New Mexico earlier than planned.

We drove for 25 hours.

I slept 2 hours on the road (I can't sleep)

we pulled into town,

went straight to school,

registered for tomorrows school festivities

AND

then visited with my parents for a little while.

I can barely form a sentence Im so tired,

I am NOT even going to try to describe to you what I LOOK LIKE (it's bad)

We went to a parent fundraiser and got to visit with my favorite Kellye!

I was seriously SO excited to get to my parents by 9 and go to sleep...

BUT

Lauren said her throat hurt

AND

I looked in it....

GUESS WHAT?

Her throat was covered in blisters....

yeah, probably strep.

I'm blogging from the E.R.

good fun for us all.

poor kid, poor me, poor people I come in contact with tomorrow when Im super grouchy.

You would seriously NOT believe what we've seen in the ER tonight...

• I can't even begin to tell the size of the rear-end we saw (i know you are thinking Im mean right now- trust me it is worth mentioning)
• the lady behind the desk has SUPER long hair (to her knees) and someone who was checking in at the front desk (and needed to be seen first because her "daughters throat hurt") said to the long haired lady (Ruthanne) "Can I give you my number incase you decide to cut your hair, I have a lot of cancer in my family". Thats weird.. it's a donation thing, not a pick your own hair BEFORE it's cut thing....
• Ruthanne, the lady behind the desk is possibly the NICEST person on earth
• the lady who asked for Ruthannes hair borrowed her clothes from a Dr. Suess novel- striped socks and all.
• The hair lady.... you know the hair beggar? She is also chatty and possibly drunk...
• Im just positive that I have entered a parallel universe. I wish I were kidding.
• The vending machine only takes dollars- I only have a 20. Ruthanne got us waters WITH a straw... I think I'm going to have to send Ruthanne and thank you card that says "thanks for being the most normal part of my day"... do they make those?
• why do people with tattoos wear very little clothes? (Im not referring to ALL tattooed people.. just the REALLY unfortunate looking ones seem to have this issue)
• Does the word waiting room mean it's THE room that you should WAIT in to you? I only ask because the hair covetor keeps wandering outside and then is surprised when she keeps missing the nurse.... LADY- it's a W-A-I-T-I-N-G room.... this is WHERE you wait.
• Im grouchy. I've only had 2 hours of sleep in 2 days and 2 night.... this whole 2 thing isn't really working for me.
• my eyes are either burning from the second hand smoke wafting in from the outside OR the fact that they have been opened for what feels like months with no rest.
• (oh no- the hair craver got eye contact with me- and NO bat girl, I DID NOT smile at her- she might scalp me)
• Im positive Im going to leave her with something horrible.... like lice or the mange, have I told you lately I don't do germs well?
• im seriously re-thinking this girdle about now.... why look thin for the ER?
• have you heard camel toe?- nuff said. (one more thing- it was a man)
• no one here seems to be wearing shoes OR covering their mouths- (GEE, maybe thats why strep is "going around" here)
• THANK GOODNESS for anti bac... I don't even care if it's creating a super germ- it's giving me a peace of mind tonight...

I love you all.

goodnight... hopefully soon

Im out

wheres waldo

One of my best friends from 1st grade sent this picture to me.

Can you pick me out of the crowd?

I think my mother may have used a mixing bowl when cutting my hair....

WOW.

Thanks Shannon and Katie for the GREAT 1st grade memories!

no wedding bells for Max

Kid4- Will Max have puppies

Me- no, only girl dogs have puppies

Kid4- OH! OK!

Me- so... no puppies for us.

Kid4- yeah and he's not even married yet,

and he doesn't even have a girl friend,

we'll have to wait for ALL that to happen first....

I laughed because .....

I AM NEVER going to let him date....

and thats a promise!

Three cheers for three days off!

We wanted so badly to have a quiet day off, a day of rest.

We ate this with Bat Girl and her family.

Mr. B. and I sat around all day and enjoyed doing NOTHING, and we don't even care if you think we like doing NOTHING because we're old, we like being OLD!

Kid4 is always begging for a craft. I bought her this sponge Bob craft at Hobby Lobby as something special to do on our day off.

Max did a lot of the above...

Kid4 got a lot of help with her craft, Im telling you WHAT would she do without her big sisters and brothers?

Kid3 called and spent the day at my mom and dads playing XBOX (I know you must be relieved that he is able to play XBOX... ;))

Kid2 waitressed and made great tips on this holiday.

Lets hear it for no laboring on LABOR DAY!

CHEER! CHEER! CHEER!

the DROID does.... not.

I love Kid 4, that goes without saying of course.

She says the FUNNIEST things, I am never bored when I am with her.

Tonight Max pooped in our neighbors yard, and it was dark so I used the light on my DROID.

Our conversation went like this-

Kid4- I didn't know you had a poop detector on your phone!

Me- I don't honey

Kid4- then WHAT are you detecting?

Me- OH.... I see, Im using my light

Kid4- OH! well why don't you use the poop detector?

I laughed... The DROID DOES a lot of things...

but not detect poop!

never forget

September 11, 2001

Is of course a day that no one that lived through it will ever forget.

Do you remember where you were that day?

Do you remember what time it was when you realized this was happening in our own country?

Do you remember just how you felt?

I do. I remember it all every detail, I hope I never forget.

I took my children to school.

I dropped them off.

I came home and turned on the TV to see smoke and chaos.

I was confused... I was scared...

I checked to make sure my TV was not on a movie.

I stood there and watched bewildered and terrified.

I stepped back and fell unto my couch sitting there in awe.

I picked up the phone sitting next to me and dialed Mr. B.

I told him what I was watching.

He didn't believe me, he said "you must be watching a movie honey".

I wish I had been.

I told him to go turn on a TV and call me back.

He did, his voice was shaking.

I told him I just wanted to get the kids from school and be close to them.

He said "GO GET THEM"

He worked in Denver at the time, his building was evacuated.

I picked up the kids and snuggled them "safe" at home.

We waited for Mr. B.

I turned a movie on in the kids room.

I sat in front of the TV all day and cried.

I watched in absolute horror and disbelief.

We laid awake all night.

We clung to each other and our children.

I have never felt the same about so many things.

Most Americans never will.

Burning the koran is NOT the answer.

It doesn't take the hurt away, it doesn't change 9-11

It doesn't change a thing

don't forget, don't ever forget 9-11

creativity

Sometime before Summer Kid4 drew a picture of Mr. B and her in the rain. I LOVE this drawing. I usually erase the chalkboard every month and write something new but I just can't talk myself into erasing this stunning piece of art! I adore how she drew her daddys hair and how hers is long and flowing... the rain drops are huge and they are both smiling... isn't kids art great? It's a very small look into their beautiful minds.

scuppernong jam

after we picked, we boiled

and boiled

and boiled some more

and squished

and boiled again

till it bubbled

Ta- Da! Jam. It's great!

oh dear. Im so so sorry.....

(there I am in all my double chinned glory standing by my trim brother.... )

My poor parents... sometimes I feel like I should write them the hugest apology letter of all time! If you know me well, can you even imagine raising me? I must have been a total nightmare and now that I have teens, I just want to cry for them (my parents, not my teens). They deserve a chance to kick and scream and throw a fit about raising me... my poor parents!

Thanks mom and dad!

Again, sorry for the nightmares.

me.

a scuppernongerific time

Friday night we picked scuppernong grapes.

It was a beautiful night to be outside.

We took Max with us, he stayed right with us.

It was wonderful to be outdoors with Kid3, to feel the breeze, to feel alive.

Summer is about to end and this was a great way to spend one of our last summer evenings.

It turns out that scuppernong grapes aren't super yummy,

so we made jam.

Happy end of summer dear friends,

I hope you loved it as much as we did.

have a scuppernongerific fall!

Introducing...

After MUCH discussion about this little guys name…..

…….Drum roll please…..

I introduce to you

Maximus – Dinosaur

We were choosing between

Rocket (my vote)
NMMI (Kid1’s vote)
Buddy (Kid2’s vote)
Whatever we all agreed on (Kid3’s vote)
Rose, Gus, Dinosaur, friendly (Kid4’s vote)
Max (Mr. B and Weezy’s vote)
Baxter (Bat Girls vote)

Mr. B. and Kid4 came to a compromise and decided on Maximus Dinosaur and we’re calling him Max.

He is lovely! He sleeps with Mr. B and me, he hangs out near us all day, he is learning to potty outside (and doing a great job) and he loves puppy toys. Is there anything better than the unconditional love of puppy? I think not!!

Welcome to our crazy travelling family Max, I hope you can keep up with us!

we...

WE

drove 2690 miles

hugged my baby

saw my parents

visited the zoo

kissed my baby (till he probably wanted to run screaming)

saw our other favorite kid in the whole world

saw a GIANT spider

got great gas mileage

listened to a million CD's

WERE

sore

tired

a little sad

ready to sleep for a week

thinking of never getting in a car again

GUESS WHAT?

We'll do it all over again in 17 days

just to hug my boy

AND

drive another 2690 miles

BUT

he's worth every mile :)