Foursons

Project 52. 4/52

2012-01-28T13:31:00.001-08:00

This week’s theme: Self-portrait

Once again I was scouring the web looking for creative poses for self-portraits. I found a few…and I found a lot of things I sooooo didn’t need to know about people. Geesh, there is something to be said for modesty!

I thought about trying to get a picture of me with the boys at the park- maybe on the swings. Because aren’t swing pictures fun? Then I thought about trying to get some pictures of me playing Dodgeball with the boys. I know my regular readers are just dying to see me trying to actually dodge a ball.

So I headed out to the backyard with my new tripod and remote that I received for Christmas to get the fun, crazy, shot of that woman trying to jump. One small problem- my remote only lets me walk just so far away from the camera before it stops working.

After all that research, thought, set-up, and jumping… I went with the candid. I call this one: Is it working?!

Shot in manual with LOTS of editing because I’m still learning how that little “M” works and all my pictures are way to light. Can any of you camera geniuses help with that? Do I change the F-stop or the aperture? And which direction do I go? Please don’t get technical- my simple brain needs simple instructions.

Letters of Intent

2012-01-27T16:31:00.001-08:00

Has this been a week you would rather forget? Did you breathe a big sigh of relief when quittin’ time came around this afternoon and you headed home for the weekend? Has the flu invaded your home and everyone who lives within it? Did you stop at the store to buy a four-square ball because your son missed out on Dodgeball in PE due to his asthma and it just breaks your heart that health-issues get in the way of having fun? So to make it up to him you promised a weekend of being pounded by a ball even though you are now 37 years old and don’t have the ability to actually dodge a ball? (Yes, I’m a glutton for punishment.) Or maybe this is your birthday week and you have spent every day of the week doing things just for you!

Dear Woman Whom I’ve Totally Written a Letter to Before,

I don’t know who you think you are and why you feel you are exhalted, but believe me- you are no better than anyone else. I don’t care how much money you have, how big your house is, how much land you own, or how many horses are on it. None of those things matter when what is on the inside is downright black with attitude.

I enjoy watching sarcastic, witty women with attitude on TV. Kerri on The King Of Queens cracks me up. However, there is a big difference between someone reciting lines for a comedy television show and how you treat people in real life. And you are definitely not on a TV show and once again reminded me last night why I only associate with you when there is a scouting function to attend.

When I commented to the man (not you) standing next to me that I didn’t think Jakob’s den had finished the Forester activity badge and was puzzled as to why some of the boys were receiving it, I did not need your input. Nor did I need to hear you tell me to “Take a blood-pressure pill.” What?! Who are you? And who in the world says that to people? And why in the world were you butting into my conversation? And oh my gosh, you have no idea how badly I wanted to give you a tongue-lashing as you stood there texting on your phone and ignoring your son who most likely wasn’t behaving. But I didn’t. And one day God will reward me for my restraint because it took a whole lot of it to keep from getting all stabby on you. (Again.)

I.don’t.like.you. Period.

(Google)

Signed,

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

Letters of Intent Delay

2012-01-26T18:58:00.000-08:00

So I know y'all are sitting on pins and needles waiting for my LOI post this week. My carnival is oh-so-popular that I had all of one link-up last week, but I will not let that deter me. However, I have had a really busy week and zero opportunity today to sit down at my computer and write a letter to the woman who told me to take a blood-pressure pill. Oh.my.word. My letter just wrote itself in 2.5 seconds flat. I won't have time to pen my oh so eloquent letter to this woman (for lack of a better word) until I get off work tomorrow. So yes, you have all day to write your letters and get them linked up tomorrow night!

Things I’ve Never Done

2012-01-24T12:29:00.001-08:00

I am copying this from Mama Kat who copied it from Pioneer Woman and no one asked permission from anybody. *cough cough choke cough* (All pictures taken from Google images.)

I’m 37 years old.

And I’ve never:

1. Stayed up all night and watched a sunrise.

2. Been on a jungle safari.

3. Eaten mustard greens.

4. Watched any of the Godfather movies.

5. Heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon.

6. Seen a blue corn moon.

7. Been able to watch an entire episode of The Jersey Shore.

8. Sent in any secrets to Post Secret.

9. Had more than one sip of coffee.

10. Been able to belch the alphabet.

11. Watched Headlines on Jay Leno without laughing.

12. Eaten a Big Mac.

13. Lost a limb.

14. Fixed a kitchen sink.

15. Wrestled a grizzly bear.

16. Beaten a video game.

17. Published a book.

18. Gone hot-air ballooning.

19. Gone sky-diving.

20. Gone bungi-jumping.

21. Seen the leaves change color in the fall in New England.

22. Been to Disneyland.

23. Gone skinny-dipping.

24. Learned to play the piano.

25. Sung karaoke

26. Worn high heels with confidence.

27. Learned to surf.

28. Run a marathon.

29. Worn Daisy Dukes.

30. Danced with the devil in the pale moonlight.

31. Sent a message in a bottle.

32. Worn a wedding dress. (Yes, it’s true! *shock* I didn’t want a wedding.)

33. Joined a sorority.

34. Had a professional manicure or pedicure.

35. Been arrested. (Whew!)

36. Liked the taste of beer.

37. Piloted an aircraft.

My Memories Giveaway Winner

2012-01-23T15:07:00.000-08:00

If you are not the winner of my giveaway you can still get the software at a discount:

As a special for all of my readers, use this code that provides a $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software and a $10 coupon for the MyMemories.com store - $20 value!) Just go to MyMemories Suite and copy and paste this link when checking out. STMMMS26809

The lucky winner of the My Memories Scrapbook Software is:

Julie at Meeting God in Memphis!!! Congrats Julie (great name by the way), I will be emailing you with the information you need to download this ah-mazing software.

Project 52. 3/52

2012-01-21T11:09:00.001-08:00

This week’s theme: I Dreamed a Dream

Again, I struggled and struggled and struggled and struggled some more with this week’s theme. Dr. Martin Luther King had a dream for a better humanity. I wanted to do him justice this week by posting something more than just a picture of my dog sleeping. Although I have seen some really artistic and lovely sleeping dog shots on Google images, (Why yes, I totally typed “dreams” into my Google search bar and looked at ideas for this week’s assignment.) I really wanted to do something noteworthy.

I had a whole bunch of words typed up about living in a simpler time and place and technology and the rat race and Leave it to Beaver and I deleted it all. Here’s my shot for this week. Call it what you will. Maybe it fits the theme, maybe it doesn’t. I did shoot it in manual and then edited it into black and white and bumped up the contrast.

Next week calls for a self-portrait. I never thought I’d be happy to take a picture of myself and post it on the internet for all the world to see, but after the last two weeks, I’m looking forward to an easier theme.

Letters of Intent

2012-01-19T18:38:00.001-08:00

It's Friday! Tomorrow is the start of 2 days of rest and recuperation from the last 5 days of the daily grind. The daily battle of traffic, of angry bosses, of needy children, (oh wait- that doesn't stop on the weekend), of tight schedules and deadlines. Now is your chance to let everyone who has done you wrong this week know exactly how you feel about their indiscretions towards you. Or, and this is a rarity so be sure to let us know all about it, if you have qualified for VH1's Best Week Ever you must let us know that too. We would all love to live through you vicariously. So write up the who, what, when, where, and why of the happenings of the week (in letter form of course) grab the button from my sidebar, and link up at the bottom. I look forward to your Letters of Intent!

Dear Credit Card Company,

Your card is the only credit card I own. In fact, you are the first credit card I ever had in my possession. I have paid you off entirely at least three times and somehow I have now charged you up to an exorbitant amount of money.

Actually, I know how it happened. I had car repairs, air conditioner repairs, Josh’s college tuition, and surgeries (Yes, more than one. Actually, it is probably 3 or more that went on this card.) that I paid with it, not to mention the one time when I remember that I could not afford groceries and we had eaten the last stale cracker that had fallen on the pantry floor and so I whipped out the card to feed my family. Were there frivolous purchases on the card? Probably. Although, those charges are few and far between and haven’t happened in recent memory.

Now I am in a position that I owe an embarrassingly large amount of money to you and I can’t afford the minimum payment. I thought that it was wise to close the account and set up smaller payments with you until the card was paid off.

However, because I am current on the account you can’t help me. I don’t know how punishing the people who actually try to pay their bills is fair, but there seems to be a law that does not allow you to set up a payment plan with me on an account that is current. Your advice to me was to not pay my bill. Seriously? I have to let my account go delinquent in order to get help paying you back?

I asked what would happen if I made a partial payment and was astounded at the answer. Making a partial payment has the same consequences as non-payment. Can someone please explain this logic to me? It’s no wonder that so many of us just stop paying our bills altogether. What is the incentive to pay them? Honestly, I can’t find one at this point and am about to purposely not pay a bill that is due for the first time in my adult life. My credit history will no longer read, “Never late” under my creditors names. I’m kinda, sorta, totally not OK with that.

Signed,

Head-spinning at the reality.

(Google)

P.S. If you (the reader) are in the finance business I would love to be able to get your advice. Please send me an email at foursonsblog@yahoo.com

Giveaway Reminder

2012-01-16T08:46:00.000-08:00

Attention all you scrapbookers, movie makers, card makers, calendar makers...and all thing creative makers:

Don't forget to enter my contest for free digital scrapbooking software (but totally NOT just for scrapping). There are very low entries and if I was one of them I'd be pretty happy about my odds right about now.

As a special for all of my readers, use this code that provides a $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software and a $10 coupon for the MyMemories.com store - $20 value!) Just go to MyMemories Suite and copy and paste this link when checking out. STMMMS26809

Project 52. 2/52

2012-01-14T09:23:00.001-08:00

This week’s theme: Made With Love

Oh how I struggled with what to shoot for this week’s theme! Upon much fret and worry, I finally decided to take a picture of the napkins I put in my boy’s lunchboxes. Now before any of you heap me with praise at what a wonderful napkin artist I am, you too can make such beautiful creations by simply checking out Uncle Fred.

After browsing some of the entries for Project 52 last week, I was inspired (thanks Nicole) to shoot every single picture for this year long project in Manual mode. *gulp* Yup, the shot you see above is taken in full-blown “M.” I admit, I cheated and shot it in auto and checked out the settings so I could then set them accordingly in manual, but I’m hoping that by the end of the year these settings will become second nature and I won’t need to do that anymore. I would like to point out that it was taken indoors without a flash. *patting self on back*

Now I’m off to see how real photographers interpreted this week’s theme.

Letters of Intent

2012-01-12T18:39:00.000-08:00

Has this week been a week from h-e-double hockey sticks? Has the idea of losing weight and being on a restrictive diet lost its luster? Have all the New Year's Resolution people taken your elliptical at the gym every day this week? Did you gain two pounds the first week of January even though you wanted to start losing weight? *cough cough choke cough* Or maybe you lost weight this week and are more motivated than ever going into this weekend. Well tell me about it…in letter form of course. Write the who, what, when, where, and why of it all. Grab the button from my sidebar, and link up at the bottom. I look forward to your Letters of Intent!

Dear Baseball Season,

That time of year is quickly approaching. I will be filling up all the boxes on my calendar with practice and game days. I will be washing uniforms that will forever be stained in orange dirt twice a week, I will buy Gatorade in bulk, and checking cleats to see that they still fit the feet of two growing boys.

In return I ask that you be kind. Please end the weekday games at a reasonable hour so that my boys can get to bed on time. Let all the high-strung, overly competitive parents belong to the kids on the other teams, and allow a fair ratio of wins and losses for both boys.

(Oh how I wish I could go back four years for just a short time. They were just sooooo cute!)

Signed,
Please don't make me be Team Mom.

2011 Goals- How’d I Do?

2012-01-11T08:25:00.001-08:00

MAKE SURE TO CHECK OUT MY GIVEAWAY FOR SCRAPBOOKING (AND OH SO MUCH MORE) SOFTWARE. CONTEST ENDS JANUARY 21ST.

Learn my camera.
Well... let’s just say this is an on-going process. I learned how to use the self-timer and I learned what flash-fill is. Not a whole lot of progress in this area, but I’m hoping Project 52 will inspire me to learn more.
These are two unedited shots that I took. (Jakob was thrilled that I was practicing on him. )
Without flash fill:

With flash fill:

You may not agree, but I like the 2nd shot so much better. And were I to actually edit it- it would look a LOT better.

Move More, Eat Less
I did great with the “move more” part of this goal. I completed the Couch to 5K plan and have continued to run throughout the rest of the year. I am not running 3 miles every time I go out, it is usually around 1.5 miles but I am pretty pleased with that.
Unfortunately, I only lost 1 stinkin’ pound through the entire running program. I have hypothyroidism and losing weight is hard- really hard. And I just proved this point tenfold by only losing 1 pound. However, Chris has said that I have photoshopped my body, so there is that.
The eating part…well that’s good and bad. I definitely eat more healthy. Fruits and vegetables are a part of my daily diet now, but my portion size…well I need to work on that still. (Maybe this is why I only lost 1 lb. *rolling eyes*)
Stay off social media when my kids are home and awake.
Yeah…I failed miserably at this. *sigh*

Post a picture of myself at least once a month on my blog.
I knocked this one out of the park!!! You can see all 12 pictures here.

Learn to knit.
I did learn to knit but pearling is another story. I just haven’t figured that one out yet!

Start scrapbooking again.
I failed miserably at this one too. I did a few scrapbook pages that were required for a scout function, but scrapbooking for me and my family- just didn’t happen. However, this is going on my list again for 2012 because I was just given scrapbooking software from MyMemories. If you haven’t seen my giveaway, make sure to click over and get your entries in!

Scrapbook Software Review and Giveaway

2012-01-10T08:53:00.001-08:00

One of my 2011 goals that I failed miserably at was to start scrapbooking more. I love scrapbooking, every single part of it. Finding the perfect paper to match the perfect picture, adding the perfect embellishments along with the perfect journaling…I love it. I even used to teach a scrapbo0king class for community education. However, life has gotten busy and blogging kind of took the place of scrapbooking. But I haven’t lost my love of scrapbooking and was really hoping to find the time for it in 2011.

Well, I’m adding scrapbooking to my list of goals again this year. (I am totally going to get them written out soon. ) And it just so happens that someone really wanted me to continue this form of documenting my life because I was offered some digital scrapbooking software to review for all of you and one to giveaway to a lucky reader! I was pink, puffy heart excited when I opened the email with this offer.

My Memories Suite is not only a scrapbooking program in which you can print out your pages yourself or have them printed into a book for you, but it also allows you to make video complete with audio, calendars, cards, and other features that I have yet to be able to explore.

This program is so user friendly. I immediately got into it and started making scrapbook pages from their already designed page templates as well as creating pages from beginning to end all on my own. Never once did I have to click the “help” link, I just breezed right through it.

I happen to prefer my layouts to be geometrical with clean lines, but for those of you who are more adventurous than me, you can turn your pictures at an angle, add embellishments, add journaling with a wide choice of fonts, pick your background paper which can be a solid or a print, and have an overall more creative look than what I created with these pages.

You can also fill your page with one photo or fill it with as many as you can get on.

Honestly, I love this scrapbook software. You may not see me around blogland very much this year I love it so much.

There are several ways to win the very same software that I received. Please leave a separate comment for each entry. My poor, old, tired brain doesn’t function well if things aren’t simplified.

How to Enter:

1. Required: Visit My Memories and tell me what your favorite digital paper pack or layout is.

Extra Entries:

Follow My Memories blog
Follow My Memories Twitter
Follow my blog via GFC or tell me you are already a follower.
Post on your blog, FB, or Twitter about my contest and come back and tell me you did. (Separate entry for each posting.)

(I will check and verify that you followed when choosing the winner.)

That’s SEVEN chances to win!!!!

Contest ends on January 21, 2012 at midnight CST.

Good luck!

As a special for all of my readers, use this code that provides a $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software and a $10 coupon for the MyMemories.com store - $20 value!) Just go to MyMemories Suite and copy and paste this link when checking out. STMMMS26809

Disclosure: I was provided with MyMemories software in order to test the products’ abilities and give my own personal opinions on it. The opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but were not influenced by the company or the free product provided.

Matthew 18:20

2012-01-08T17:29:00.001-08:00

For those of you who are fans of Rachel and Mr. D at Once Upon a Miracle, please take notice of the button on my sidebar. It would be an AH-MAZING thing to see this button on every blog I click on.

Project 52. 1/52

2012-01-07T11:48:00.001-08:00

One of my goals this year- which I have yet to write about because boy howdy have I been busy the last three weeks- is to link up every week with Darcy for her Project 52. It is much like Project 365, but rather than take a picture a day (wow, such a huge commitment) it is one picture each week that is assigned a theme.

This week’s theme is resolution. I generally don’t use the word “resolution” because it’s just so…resolute, but my goals fall under the same meaning as resolution and there is just no need to let semantics get in the way.

I am a day late in posting my shot. Her link went up yesterday but I just couldn’t manage to get everything done that needed to be done. Honestly though? Being a day late and not caring is a monumental milestone for me. I feel like I have just thrown caution to the wind and am living the life of a wild child by posting this on Saturday instead of Friday. (Yes, I may be a tad bit uptight.)

One of my goals this year, which I will write about in more detail soon, is to run a 10K. I completed the Couch to 5K running program in 2011, and would like to complete the Bridge to 10K program in 2012. And the starting line is right outside my front door.

Letters of Intent

2012-01-05T19:09:00.001-08:00

Has the start of 2012 made you stop in your tracks and really think about the fact that it is the year two thousand and eleven? What happened to the 1900’s? Are the Christmas bills filling up your mailbox already? Is the Christmas tree taunting you as it sits in the corner of your house asking to be taken down? Are you still trying to dig your way out of a mound of paper, boxes, and bows? Or maybe you have jumped feet first into the new year and have a new lease on life! Well tell me about it…in letter form of course. Write the who, what, when, where, and why of it all. Grab the button from my sidebar, and link up at the bottom. I look forward to your Letters of Intent!

Dear Tara,

You are Ah-MAZING. Not only did you send me the most fabulous thank-you gift for sending you used laundry scoops (apparently they don’t supply laundry scoops in the boxes in the Ukraine), but you sent them before I had even boxed up and labeled your package. I hope my package arrives to you safe and sound very soon.

You can never go wrong with chocolate. Ever.

And check out this incredible hand-painted egg ornament! This is one ornament that is not going in my box in the garage. It will be displayed all year long.

Signed,

Your ever-grateful blog friend from across the ocean.

______________________________________________________

Dear Tina,

I committed the biggest faux-pas in blogging this week. I talked about meeting you in my Year in Review Post and failed to link to your extraordinary, always entertaining blog- Twinkle Toes- De Lux. I hope you can forgive your very favorite blog friend *cough cough*. I look forward to hearing all about your adventures in Luxembourg.

Signed,

*slapping self on forehead*

___________________________________________________

Dear Followers/Lurkers/Visitors,

If you’re looking for some new blogs to read, I highly recommend Tara and Tina. Both of them are living overseas and learning to navigate their way through unfamiliar countries as expats. They write about their adventures with all kinds of hilarity as they learn the customs of the countries they are living in.

Signed,

Click the links- it’s well worth your time.

2011 Year in Review

2012-01-01T15:01:00.001-08:00

A lot of bloggers like to link to posts they published throughout the year. That seems like an awful lot of work to me. And honestly? Does anyone really click on those links…like ever? So here is my (3rd annual?) year in review in pictures. Some of them you may have seen, some you may not. They do not necessarily represent the best pictures that I took all year, but they do represent my life and my family. And amazingly, I seem to have gotten over the whole I-need-to-be-a-professional-photographer-so-I-can-have-the-prettiest-pictures-on-my-blog-thing. Until I decide to take some classes and really figure this stuff out, it will never happen. Besides, every picture I take I love because it is usually of people or places that I love. Isn’t that all that really matters?

January

I rarely take pictures in the month of January. I’m not sure why, but I think it may be because we spend the month recuperating from the holidays. Every picture in my January 2011 folder involved someone in bed resting.

Like Nolan sleeping on my bed that lacks beautiful bedding because so many boys live in my home. (He looks so little to me in this picture.)

Or me and Nolan hanging out in my bed trying to figure out the self-timer on my camera. One of my goals this year was to learn my camera more and I am proud to say that I can successfully work the self-timer button. *patting self on back*

And Jakob took the opportunity to try out the beds in the ER when we couldn’t get his asthma under control.

Yup, an entire month of pictures spent in bed.

February

Josh turned 20 years old this month. We still can’t believe that he’s no longer a teenager.

The biggest news story of the year happened this month. We had snow in S. Central TX!!!!

The boy’s very first snow day EVER. We loved every second that it lasted- which was until about 12 noon.

We also went to see Josh play baseball in a neighboring town. This is one of my favorite pictures that I took all year.

March

In March I got to meet a good blog friend in person! Tina was one of my very first followers and she has stuck by through the last 3 years of blogging. I am honored to call her an IRL friend.

April

Nathan turned 22! (Yes, he is only 22 even though he looks much older.)

We went to the TX coast for Easter.

And Jakob, Nolan, and Josh were all busy playing spring baseball.

May

My baby wrapped up his Kindergarten year with a music performance. So hard to believe how big he’s getting.

Jakob was chosen to be a presenter at a school district technology showcase. We were very proud that he was one of the few students chosen.

And Chris finally got his chance to step onto the ball field as a player instead of a coach.

Our summer months were well documented, so yes I am leaving a link that no one will click on. Thankyouverymuch.

June

I was in the middle of a running program called Couch to 5K. Three days a week you could find me huffing and puffing trying to become a “real” runner. This shot was taken after running for 20 minutes straight without stopping- a HUGE accomplishment for me.

June also had me wondering why McDonald’s was selling STD’s at their drive-through window.

July

Nathan took the big grown-up plunge and moved out on his own.

And I completed a 5K!!!! 45 minutes of non-stop slogging and I felt oh-so-accomplished.

August

Chris turned 40-something and Nolan turned 7!

I never did get around to posting our back-to-school pictures but Josh headed off to his junior year in college at a new university in the Panhandle.

Jakob entered 4th grade (a little nervously).

And Nolan started 1st grade (taking cues from Jakob on how to express a nervous face).

September

The fair rolled into town as it does every year at the same time.

Dove hunting season started.

I ran a 5K for the Liz Logelin Foundation.

Of course there was Fall Ball. And what’s baseball without a Green Lantern cape? Why it just wouldn’t be baseball at all.

October

Jakob turned 10!!!

We also went trick-or-treating in homemade costumes that were thrown together minutes before we walked out the door, bags that ripped before we were done, and a lot of complaints that we had to get up for school bright and early the next morning.

November

I turned 37!

The boys had their first karate tournament as orange belts. (Actually, I think this was on October 30th, but we’ll just call it November for fun.)

And a field trip with the scouts to a nature center.

December

Of course their were visits to Santa and all the Christmas festivities.

It is also the month that Jakob decided he no longer liked his curls. I might have shed a few tears over this revelation and even have said, “Girls like your curls” even though he is not allowed to have a girlfriend until he is 30.

I also got a glimpse of the future while we celebrated New Year’s Eve. I can’t look at this picture without seeing my boys as teenagers out at night whoopin’ it up somewhere. (Oh how I hope they manage to stay out of trouble.)

As the ball dropped in Times Square at 11:00pm our time, we celebrated as if it were midnight and promptly fell into bed where if 2011 is any indication, we will stay there through the month of January.

Merry Christmas From the Fam-i-ly

2011-12-28T16:23:00.001-08:00

Christmas was a bit different for us this year. Nathan moved out last summer and Josh has been busy during his Christmas break so that he hasn’t been home much. My annual Christmas Eve pajama picture went from all four boys and the dog

to just my two little guys (who aren’t so little anymore).

And it wasn’t until everyone was outside playing with the new basketball goal that Santa brought, (and so kindly allowed Chris to put together Christmas morning) that I realized all six of us were at home at the same time and the two older were about to leave to their grandparent’s house. So I grabbed my camera and asked my mom to take a quick picture.

But of course we can’t have a nice, normal, let’s all pretend that we are a shiny, happy family who raises unicorns sprinkled in magic fairy dust in the backyard.

Right before the picture was taken Josh (in red jacket) was standing next to Nathan (tan jacket). Nate mentioned that Josh needed to move to the other side of the group because we were uneven. Josh agreed and hopped on over to the other side while stepping on the base of the basketball goal to get there. And while Josh may be athletically fit and not have much fat on him, his size 14 shoe went right through the base and broke it. Did I mention that Chris had just spent the last hour of his life trying to decipher the instructions that were written in Chinese?

I’m so glad we were able to capture the moment in which Nathan was very smug in the knowledge of Josh’s clumsiness, Chris’ obvious frustration with his son, Josh’s feelings written ALL OVER his face, my attempt at pretending all was happy and bright by making a fat-faced smile, and the little boys (who have been well-trained to take a picture) just waiting to be released so that they can continue on with their Christmas merry-making. Yup, Christmas cheer at its finest all in one picture.

Me, the Author of This Here Blog 12/12- 12 month project

2011-12-27T11:56:00.001-08:00

One of my goals this year is to post a picture of myself at least once a month on my blog for the entire year. I am not in pictures very often because I am usually the one behind the camera. And in some weird, twisted way I always look at pictures and wonder if it would be one shown at the funeral of the person in the photo. So yes, I hope some of these may be funeral-worthy. And, I hope to overcome my dislike of every single picture ever taken of me and stop being so critical of who I am. Because I know that in ten years I will think I looked great back then and wish I had appreciated it while I could.

I did it. I managed to take and post a picture of myself every single month this year. I’m not sure what I have learned from this project just yet, but I am sure it will be full of all kinds of wit and wisdom when I take a look back at how my year went later this week.

This month’s picture was snapped by Chris as the boys and I were heading out to a bowling party. I tried to get a picture of me and the boys in front of our Christmas tree since I had fixed my hair and put on make-up, but we only succeeded in getting about 10 outtakes without a single “perfect” shot. Such is the life with children though, right?!

Why does checking off a box on the To-Do list feel so satisfying?

Letters of Intent

2011-12-22T18:30:00.000-08:00

Letters of Intent will return in January 2012.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

(Google images)

Neighbor of the Year Award Right Here

2011-12-20T17:54:00.001-08:00

Since we’re really classin’ up the neighborhood with my professional fence fixin’, I thought you might like to see our outdoor Christmas lights this year. We really went all out and tried to win the neighborhood contest for the best Christmas display.

Don’t you love how I created such a cute, cozy little scene around the trees? And I know they’re hard to see, but there are lights lining the roof too. Yup, totally winning that Christmas display award. (Please ignore the way my bushes look, landscaper I am not. Actually, they’re quite comical to look at. Think someone would hire me to make their yard look so lovely?)

And here is how it looks at night.

Isn’t it beautiful? Oh wait…. Yeah, they don’t work. Something about our electrical system and rain. I wonder if these exploits are the reason we’re never invited to our neighbor’s parties. Or as Nolan says, “Well, there’s another party we’re not invited too.”

There, I Fixed It.

2011-12-19T14:19:00.001-08:00

Last Friday I wrote a letter to my dog Rocco about sneaking out of the backyard and having a grand ol’ time while shortening a little old lady’s life expectancy by a few years. Upon inspection of my backyard I figured out how Rocco escaped. And instead of bothering Chris with the problem of the broken fence, I took it upon myself to take care of it. (Best wife of the year award totally has my name on it.)

(Backyard view)

(Front yard view)

Why yes, that would be a toy box lid shoved into the gaping hole in my fence. Completely tasteful and classy, don’t you think?

Reunited and it Feels so Good

2011-12-17T17:01:00.001-08:00

I broke my laptop a few weeks ago. I picked it up from the computer repair shop this week still broken; they were unable to find the part needed to fix it. I walked back to my van hugging my much loved laptop heartbroken over our ill-fated demise.

I was reunited with my ~~love~~ laptop today thanks to a desktop screen and a cable. There was much rejoicing which may have involved chair dancing and singing made up songs to my ~~long lost love~~ laptop. My world has been set right once again. *huge sigh of relief*

The purple hue on my laptop is pretty, but it sure does make blogging, photo editing, and Facebooking difficult. There’s nothing else a computer is good for, is there?

Letters of Intent

2011-12-15T19:26:00.000-08:00

Escaping the confines of our backyard and terrorizing an old lady walking a dog that probably weighs no more than 15 pounds and has no need to be walked but that's beside the point is not acceptable. I know you had a grand time making this poor woman think that she was about to witness the demise of her beloved pet. I also know that you wouldn't have maliciously injured this dog, but more than likely loved him to death. However, you just can't be doing these kinds of things. You must remain in the backyard if you are outside. Bark all you want through the fence, because there is just no stopping that annoying behavior, but you are required to stay put. So that immense jubilation you felt when I found you down the street today enjoying your new found freedom? Forget about it, it can never happen again.

Signed,

I couldn't help but smile when you came running to me at warp speed when I called your name to return home.

Excuse Me While I Go Crawl Into a Hole

2011-12-12T17:08:00.000-08:00

Rejection- refusal, turning down, declining, dismissal, spurning, non-acceptance.

blackball To exclude; to cast a negative vote against a candidate or applicant seeking admission to a select group.

blacklist To bar or exclude from something as work or a club.

cut off with a shilling To disinherit, especially by bequeathing a shilling or other nominal sum to show that the disinheritance was deliberate.

Dear John letter A letter from a woman telling her boyfriend, fiancee, or husband that she is jilting him for someone else.

give the cold shoulder To display indifference or disregard toward; to ignore or snub.

gong [someone] To terminate a person’s performance before its completion; to fire; to dismiss rudely.

No matter how many ways thefreedictionary.com wants to define rejection, the bottom line is that rejection just plain sucks. It can ruin a perfectly good Monday first thing in the morning. It feels personal, even if it isn't. It can make one want to go crawling on one's hands and knees crying "Why?! Why don't you want/love/need me?!"

I had a job interview last Thursday for a job that I really, really, really wanted. This was my first job interview in over 11 years. I did an over-haul on my resume, picked out the perfect outfit, studied how to have the perfect interview on the Internet, and I practiced. I practiced answering questions out loud, in my empty house. It wasn't enough. And you know what? Rejection sucks.

I Believe

2011-12-11T17:30:00.000-08:00

All of the planning, list-making, shopping in crowded stores, baking, over-eating and subsequent weight-gain, decorating, the empty bank account, stress...

it's all worth it.

Letters of Intent

2011-12-08T18:52:00.000-08:00

Has entering the month of December sent you into a panic attack? Have the holiday blues hit you full-force? Have you called all of your credit cards to find out how much remaining balance is on them so that you can go shopping for gifts? Have you told your kids Santa isn’t real so they can face the reality of a very small Christmas this year? Or maybe your company is handing out a huge Christmas bonus this year! Well tell me about it…in letter form of course. Write the who, what, when, where, and why of it all. Grab the button from my sidebar, and link up at the bottom. I look forward to your Letters of Intent!

I still don't have my laptop back, which means I can't edit my photos or adjust them to my liking in my blog writing program that I can't even recall the name of right now because it is bookmarked in my much-loved, much-missing laptop. *sigh*

Dear Jakob,

I just adore you and all your aspie ways. Last year I wrote about the way in which you decorate our tree. This year was no different. All those Simpson ornaments (Yes we have Simpson ornaments, doesn't everyone?) were begging to hang on the same branch.

I wouldn't have it any other way bub. We have the most beautiful tree in all the land.

Love,

Your #1 Fan

_____________________________________________________

Dear Scholastic Book Warehouse,

I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I walked into your warehouse today. I have been known to spend a week's salary at your book fairs, so imagine my sheer joy and euphoria at walking into an enormous metal building filled with your books from floor to ceiling. It felt like Christmas morning at 2:00pm on December 8th. The joy I felt pushing a shopping cart down aisles that resembled Costco had me *almost* skipping down the aisles while whistling Christmas tunes. It was awesome. It was amazing. It was an other-worldly experience. Let's do it again sometime.

Signed,

Thanks for the memories.

JumpStart Review

2011-12-04T12:12:00.000-08:00

Not to long ago I did a review and giveaway on this here blog for MathBlasters. What I failed to mention in that review was another website by Knowledge Adventure called JumpStart. JumpStart is another amazing, educational website for kiddos aged 3-12 years.

While MathBlasters is strictly math curriculum, JumpStart teaches everything from math to reading. And while I would love to show you pictures of Nolan navigating this website with ease, my computer is currently off for repairs because someone (*cough* me *cough*) dropped their beloved laptop onto the floor where it landed with a very loud bang. So instead of pictures of my most handsome little guy cruising through the 3D virtual world of JumpStart, you will have to settle for stock photos. I know, I know, it is such a disappoint not being able to look at the most incredibly handsome seven year old in the world but I promise to post more pictures of him when I get my ~~Christmas present~~ laptop back.

The best thing about Jumpstart is that it is fun. Yes, my child was playing a learning game (Think back to the learning games from when we were kids- Boring with a capital "B") but he was having fun while playing. We could stand in front of our children and teach until we're blue in the face, but if it is not fun they won't retain a single bit of the information.

The graphics, storylines, and many games pulled Nolan into the program and kept him interested.

And the best part? I didn't have to sit next to him as he played. The website is so kid-friendly that I could walk away and ~~blog~~ cook a healthy, all-food-groups-represented, dinner and feel perfectly comfortable that my son was on the internet using a website that was not only safe, but educational. You can't beat that with a stick.

At the risk of sounding like a commercial, I totally think a membership to JumpStart would be the Christmas gift that keeps on giving. If you have a child who has everything, or a relative ~~who thinks toy guns are devil's play~~ who likes only educational gifts for their child, I would seriously consider giving them JumpStart this year.

Disclosure: I was provided with a membership good for Math Blaster and Knowledge Adventure at no cost by Knowledge Adventure in order to test the products’ abilities and give my own personal opinions on it. The opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but were not influenced by the company or the free product provided.

Letters of Intent

2011-12-01T19:08:00.001-08:00

Has Ol’ Man Winter turned you into Scrooge? Does the Christmas music that has been playing in retail stores since October have you pulling your hair out? Does the idea of spending time with all of your extended family in the same house have you planning a vacation? Or maybe the Christmas Spirit has picked you up and whisked you off to a place where lemon drops are raining down on your Candy Land life. Write the who, what, when, where, and why of the happenings of the week (in letter form of course) grab the button from my sidebar, and link up at the bottom. I look forward to your Letters of Intent!

Dear Chocolate,

I don’t know what is the matter with my stomach, but I can no longer partake in your sweet, melty, mood-altering goodness. Every time I eat you my stomach turns upside down and hollers at me in protest. I am not happy about this turn of events and would like for it to stop. A daily dose of chocolate is necessary for good mental health and every mother needs some legal mood-altering consumption during the holidays. I think it’s time for you and my stomach to have a little pow-wow and figure this out.

Signed,

Going through withdrawals.

Me, The Author of This Here Blog 11/12- 12 month project

2011-11-30T13:00:00.001-08:00

It’s the last day of the month and I have yet to post a picture of myself. I tried desperately yesterday to get a decent shot of myself. I don’t know how other people hold their DSLR’s up with one arm, pose perfectly, and snap the shutter button to take the perfect self-portrait. It just does not work for me that way. So today I thought I’d try to take a shadow picture of myself as I was on my way out for a run around the neighborhood. I’m guessing the sun does not cast long, tall, beautiful shadows like it does in the summer, because all of my shadow shots had me looking short and dumpy. And if I’m going to post a picture of myself every single month on the internet you can be darn sure it will not be one of me looking short and dumpy.

So you get this- the only picture taken of me in November. (I’m glad the light in my closet was off so that you can’t see what that closet really looks like. Yikes!)

This was my desperate attempt to figure out how to continue to run in cold temperatures while battling asthma. It worked- kinda. With the exception of my neck getting really hot and sometimes feeling like I was suffocating, the scarf worked pretty well.

And for all of you who sent well-wishes to me after yesterday’s post, thank you! I am happy to report that I came home with a grocery bag of samples (that will last at least 1.5 months) and only one prescription that I have to pay for. But the doctor promised me that it was generic, so I shouldn’t have to pay to much. In two weeks time I’m hoping to notice a huge change in my lung function.

The One In Which I Have To Hurry Up And Think Of A Title ‘Cause The Bus Is Almost Here But I Can’t Come Up With Anything So Instead I Have This One Which Is Not Grammatically Correct.

2011-11-29T13:12:00.001-08:00

Running, jogging, slogging…whatever you want to call what it is that I do. I’m still going at it and am currently trying to train for a 10K. And by trying I mean failing, miserably.

I think any form of exercise is more mental than physical. Yes, there are physical challenges, but the biggest challenge is believing you can do it. And when you finally push through that I-can’t-possibly-run-three-miles-without-stopping thing, it is an AH-MAZING sense of accomplishment. (For me anyways.)

Things I have learned on my journey around my neighborhood:

You can push through pain.

You can push through extreme hot (100+ degrees) and extreme cold (below 60 degrees- bite your tongue, it is too cold) temperatures.

You can push through dehydration.

You can push through your app that should be tracking your every step but decides that today is not the day it will do so frustrations.

You can push through mental blocks.

But you CANNOT push through asthma. It is a fight that puts me on the losing end every.single.time.

I finally have these beautiful fall temperatures that I only dreamed about this summer and now I can’t run/jog/slog in them. Because lungs shutting down? Yeah, it just isn’t something that anyone can push through. Not even Jackie Joyner- Kersee. She wasn’t without her medication when she was winning all those gold medals.

So tomorrow I’m taking a day off work and going to the doctor, and I’m not leaving until he can fix me. Hopefully with free samples. Because gosh darn it all to heck, there is nothing more frustrating than wanting to do something but not being able to because of health problems.

No L.O.I. This Friday

2011-11-24T17:31:00.001-08:00

I don’t know if I need to say this, but I will not be hosting Letters of Intent tomorrow. I know that not all of my readers are in the states celebrating ~~gluttony~~ Thanksgiving with us, but I am enjoying my five days off and do not feel up to hosting. Oh and my birthday is Sunday. Just because I know you all care.

And this is where I should be posting a picture of all of our Thanksgiving activities, but my boys decided to have an all-out battle of the wills complete with punching and kicking until they were both in tears and Chris was threatening to take away Christmas. Somehow I just didn’t feel like capturing the beauty of the holidays on a digital image. Funny how that happens….

Summer Recap III

2011-11-20T10:16:00.001-08:00

It is half-way through November and I have yet to finish recapping our summer vacation. But to be fair, I vaguely remember saying that I may not finish until Christmas so in actuality I am way ahead of the game. To relive our adventures, click here.

Since we weren’t able to make it to the beach this summer, I took the boys to a wave pool in a neighboring town. They absolutely loved it and I need to remember to take them more often next summer. The best part? No salt water in the eyes or sand in the suit.

The boys also spent eleven weeks this summer learning all things karate and earned their yellow belts.

A visit to the river is a requirement when you live in our town. The water levels were low because of the drought, but that didn’t stop the boys from enjoying every second of it.

And our last hurrah before the start of school was going to a small (but expensive) amusement park.

We officially ended summer vacation hot, tired, sweaty, tan, and happy. We sucked the marrow right out of the months of June, July, and August and walked away with a lot of memories and a lot of smiles.

Letters of Intent

2011-11-17T19:41:00.001-08:00

Are the holidays sneaking up on you and you’re starting to panic? Are your kids making their lists and checking them ~~twice~~ a million times to make sure they’re just right? Is someone demanding money from you every time you turn around and you’re not sure how you will manage to put presents under the tree? Did you buy presents in Game Stop while your kids were browsing the games and tell the guy at the register to hurry up so you could stuff them in your purse before one of your boys walked up and saw what you were buying? Or maybe you just won the lottery and Christmas is going to be the.best.one.ever. this year! Write the who, what, when, where, and why of the happenings of the week (in letter form of course) grab the button from my sidebar, and link up at the bottom. I look forward to your Letters of Intent!

Dear Karate Instructor,

One of the reasons I enrolled my boys in karate, besides the fact that they begged mercilessly, was for the discipline that they would be taught in class. Every week for the last two semesters I sat in class and watched as my children learned to respond automatically with “Yes m’am, yes sir, no m’am, and no sir.” They learned to listen more than talk, follow directions, show respect, and act honorably. I appreciate these valuable lessons being taught to my children.

However, if you expect my children to show up on time, line their shoes heel first against the south wall, sit and stand at attention, and meet your every demand, then you had better get yourself to class on time. Of the eleven classes that my children attended in this last semester, you were late to ten of them. And this was not an I’m-sorry-I’m-ten-minutes-late kind of thing. You were 20-30 minutes late consistently. (It’s a good thing you had an assistant who volunteered his time and did your job for you.) And the last class of the semester you were 45 minutes late to an hour long class.

Not only was your tardiness a problem, but then you seemed to think it was ok to stretch class longer so that you could get all your instruction in. I have a huge problem with this. I am a stickler for bedtimes, and every Wednesday night my son was going to bed late because you kept them past the normal 7:30pm ending time. And last night you felt it ok to hold class until 8:30pm.

This is so inappropriate and unacceptable. I have zero respect for someone who can not show me or my children the courtesy of showing up on time to a class that you agreed to teach. My children know that I have no respect for you and that they will not return to your karate class, but will take karate at a different location from this point forward.

I’m not sure how big your class will be next semester because every parent I talked to said they were pulling their kid from your class. You may have just worked yourself right out of a job.

Signed,

Writing a letter to your boss.

The Shanty

2011-11-16T12:44:00.001-08:00

I listened to a message on my phone yesterday that I at first mistook for someone speaking in a foreign language. Eventually I realized that it was The Shanty calling me to let me know my lawn mower was ready to be picked up. I had Chris listen to the message and he laughed comparing the accent to Boomhower on King of the Hill.

Rachel, I’m so sorry this doesn’t translate!!!

So I headed on over to The Shanty today to pick up my now purring-like-a-kitten lawnmower. I nervously plotted how I would get stealth, Rachel-esque photos the whole drive over. I was armed with both my big camera and my phone just in case.

I pulled into the “parking lot” and snapped some shots from my van. The owners were outside working and kept turning around and looking at me so I had to be really fast and sneaky. And yes, the first shot is crooked. I was scared. But here it is, the best lawn mower repair shop ever.

Because pictures just don’t do the place justice, I thought I’d try to point out a few things. (Yes, that is the door of my van on the right side of the picture.)

I walked up to the storefront with my camera on my phone ready to go. I can only guess that the green door leads to their bathroom. I love the plumbing.

A better view of the ventilation and plumbing. Why does this fascinate me so?

I think I upset the owner with this shot. He was sitting to my right and I was trying to act all nonchalant while taking a picture of the ceiling of his building/garage/shanty, but I think the sound of the camera shutter closing tipped him off. I quickly put my camera away after that, but he didn’t sit back down until I left. Oops.

But the whole reason I went here instead of that other fancy place with the front door, tile floors, and air conditioning that quoted me $100.00-$130.00…

$39.67. I paid under forty dollars, and I got blog fodder all at the same time. What a deal.

Just Because…

2011-11-14T17:09:00.001-08:00

I feel to busy to sit down and write a long post even though I have eleventy hundred of them running through my head.

And just because I love that my boys were working together for a common goal and having fun while doing it.

And just because I need some serious validation right about now because sometimes being a woman with feelings and emotions makes life harder than easier.

Letters of Intent

2011-11-10T19:02:00.001-08:00

Dear Fixer of Lawn Mowers,

(Google)

You are running the biggest scam. I drove up to your place of business this afternoon with my lawn mower in the back of my van. After informing you that the string pulley thing to start the mower wasn’t working you kindly walked outside unloaded it from my van and after a two minute inspection informed me that it would cost $100- $130 to fix. Before handing over $20 for a deposit, I called my husband who empathically told me to pack the lawn mower up and leave as quickly as possible.

Chris then Googled Angie’s List and found what I can only describe as a third-world country of lawn mower repair shops. A 3-sided shed with corrugated metal roofing and an outhouse that had a window cut into the siding with a hose running through it had me feeling a little nervous. However, I quickly learned that an old man ran the shop along with his even older father and his younger but still old son. And? And the old man in charge told me it would cost $60-$70 to fix the lawn mower if it needed a new carburetor. If not, then the cost would be less.

So take that Fixer of Lawn Mowers in your fancy shop, with your fancy door, with your fancy tile floor, and your fancy air conditioning blowing on the fancy display racks filled with fancy landscape products as you stand behind your fancy counter with the fancy cash register. I took my business (and my mother’s) to the dirt floor shack. I’ll be sure to have cash in hand when I go pick it up.

Signed,

I’ll take a shanty over a mansion any day.

P.S. I totally wanted to take pictures of this place but I didn’t know how to grab my phone from my van and then casually act like I was texting someone while taking pictures. I will try to be better prepared when I go back to pick up my lawn mower. This was a sight to behold for sure.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

2011-11-07T19:15:00.001-08:00

On Sunday night I found myself in the ER with Nolan. He had a 2 hour coughing spell that led to vomiting and we could not get his coughing to stop. We tried everything we could think of, including back to back breathing treatments because we thought it might be asthma related.

We got there and he pretty much stopped coughing altogether. He was miserable…but he wasn’t coughing. The PA walked in prescribed a couple of prescriptions and walked back out the door in about five minutes. We were on our way home 10 minutes later and $100 poorer.

I cancelled a sub job to stay home with Nolan today. Now we are $170 poorer. Nolan didn’t cough once all day long. I however, have felt like death warmed over. I’m still going to work tomorrow. It is an early-release day and the teacher has the last hour of the day off so there is no way I’m missing out on this opportunity. I’m hoping for another job just like it on Wednesday.

Remember my beloved tablecloth I’ve shared with you twice now?

Well, we kinda spilled a science experiment on it today and I threw it in the wash. And now…now all the orange handprints that were done with a stamp and not acrylic paint are gone.

GONE. FOREVER. GONE. I totally have someone I can blame for using the stupid orange stamp to begin with. I don’t know why I listened and agreed, but I surely won’t be calling that person and telling them to never wash their tablecloth because if I have to live through this horror so do they. If you make this tablecloth be sure to use either fabric or acrylic paint and a sharpie.

Have you ever watched a group of women you know hanging out together, laughing, and having a grand ol’ time? Do they all wave to you and say, “hi” and perhaps even come over and give you a hug and chat for a while? And then they go on about their business and you’re left feeling like the girl in high school who longs to be part of the in-crowd but just doesn’t quite fit in. Yeah, me either. I was just asking ‘cause my friend’s sister’s cousin has this problem….

I have a headache. I think it’s because the orange hands are gone and I’m being spiteful. But gosh darn it all to heck, they’re GONE.

Winner of Math Blasters Giveaway

2011-11-07T08:51:00.001-08:00

The winner of the three month trial membership to Math Blasters is:

(Thank you Gigi for teaching me how to take a screen shot.)

Sara at Domestically Challenged! Sara, I will need your most checked email address to pass onto Knowledge Adventure so they can hook you up with your membership. (I promise that neither I nor they are ax-murderers.)

Congrats!

Letters of Intent

2011-11-03T19:15:00.001-07:00

LAST CHANCE TO ENTER IS TODAY!!!!

I HAVE A FANTASTIC GIVEAWAY GOING ON TO RECEIVE A FREE 3 MONTH MEMBERSHIP FOR MATHBLASTERS. BE SURE TO CHECK IT OUT AND ENTER IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY DONE SO. ESPECIALLY ALL YOU HOMESCHOOLERS- IT WOULD BE A GREAT ADDITION TO YOUR CURRICULUM! CLICK HERE.

Dear Followers/Lurkers/Visitors,

Because I caught a little flack last year for posting about my Thanksgiving tablecloth after Thanksgiving, I thought I’d repost it for all of you today- on November 4th. You can thank me later.

Signed,

People Pleaser

P.S. Yes, I’m writing another lame letter, but my rant to the karate instructor is in the works. My keyboard is sticking today and writing a rant when I have to constantly backspace and fix errors kind of takes the wind out of my sails.

Thankful Table

One of our relatively new Thanksgiving traditions is for the boys to paint their handprint on a tablecloth and write what they are thankful for underneath the print. I started this tradition in 2007 and if memory serves correctly, I got the idea from Family Fun magazine. Tara, who writes over at Mrs. Yellow Hat, asked to see pictures of my tablecloth and because I know that my readers are fascinated with me and the on-goings of my life *cough cough*, I am blessing all of you with my tradition too.

I decided to do the handprints in a different fall color every year which I like and don’t like. I like the fact that I can easily decipher between the years because they are color-coded, but I don’t care for the over-all appearance of the tablecloth. Also, I used an orange stamp pad the year we used orange and it does not show up as well as the paints. So my next tablecloth will probably be done a bit differently than this one.

I do love reading back through what the boys were thankful for every year. Nolan was only three when we started the handprints and I think it is precious that he was thankful for his light saber, outside, and rooms.

“ I am thankful for my big, red light saber, outside, TV, rooms.”

The next year he was able to write his own name.

“ Macaroni and cheese, chicken strips, cereal, and handprints.”

And by 2009 he was able to write everything by himself.

“ GI Joe, Star Wars the Clone Wars, and making my hand.”

Last year Jakob found it necessary to write his last initial by his name in case we were mistaken about which Jakob he was. This is also the only year that he wasn’t thankful for video games.

“I’m thankful for our dog.”

This year he showed us he could write his name in cursive.

“Video games”

Nate and Josh were teenagers when I started the tablecloth and they humor me with my silly tradition with humor of their own. I can relate to Nathan with his 2007 thankfulness because I am in the exact same place this year.

“I’m thankful for a phone w/5 min. battery life.”

Josh is a year-round athlete and is thankful for the opportunity to improve his skills all twelve months of the year.

“ I am thankful that baseball is starting so I can stop losing golf balls.”

He also has a sentimental side to him. If I recall correctly, he had a whole heap of trouble at this time in 2009. I like how he took notes from Jakob’s handprint and made sure to put his last initial too. You know- because of all those other Josh’s in our family.

“I am thankful for my great family that has helped me through all the troubles I have had.”

I think there is probably enough room for at least 2 more years worth of handprints on this tablecloth before I’ll have to buy a new one. By then the boys will be 23, 21,11,and 8. That seems like light-years away, but I know it’ll be here in the blink of an eye.

Double Digits

2011-11-01T07:59:00.001-07:00

My Jakob, the son who transformed me from step-mom to mom turned 10 years old on Sunday.

It’s hard to believe this little guy who I used to just stare at in awe has hit the double digits.

He has survived my rookie parenting mistakes. Like when I didn’t take the hook off the fishing pole before handing it to a three year old and he ended up hooking his neck minutes before we were to leave for trick or treating.

And oh how I miss those chubby little fingers that played with toys instead of electronics.

Be still my heart. Could he have been any sweeter on his 4th birthday?!

I loved age 4.

He didn’t stop growing at 4 though. Why didn’t he stop growing at 4?

He did not consult me when he decided to keep on growing and getting older. Aren’t they supposed to ask permission when it comes to these decisions?

Happy 10th Birthday Jakob! You have been an absolute joy to us from the moment you were born and decided to pee all over the doctor who told us you were a girl. Alyssa Nicole may not be a part of our family, but we sure are happy that Jakob Tyler is.

Letters of Intent

2011-10-27T19:20:00.001-07:00

Have you had to act like a grown-up this week when what you really wanted to do was pound your fists on the floor and scream at the top of your lungs in two-year-old style? Have other adults around you acted like two-year-olds while you watched them wishing they would grow-up and show some maturity? Or maybe your favorite team made it to the World Series! Well tell me about it- in letter form of course. Write the who, what, when, where, and why of it all. Grab the button from my sidebar and link up at the bottom. I look forward to your Letters of Intent!
Dear Followers/Lurkers/Visitors,
I admit it. I have totally been slacking the last three weeks with my own carnival. These short, sweet, and rather boring letters have become more the norm than the exception lately. I have no excuse other than my life being insanely busy. And everyone’s life is insanely busy so it’s a lousy excuse. However, we’re in the homestretch of this month long marathon. The last weekend of the month brings two baseball games, a karate tournament, and a birthday for a very special ten year old who happens to live in my home. And then…then it’s November and I can breathe a little easier. Fall baseball will be over, Boy Scout popcorn sales will be done, and we’ll be wrapping up this semester in karate. Once again you will able to read my paragraph long rants at all the people who do me wrong in this world. I know you’ve missed it, I can tell by all the emails everyone has sent telling me so. *cough cough*. I certainly have missed writing them, if I don’t rant soon I am sure to explode.
Signed,
Hanging on by my fingertips.

(Random Calvin and Hobbs because as a mother of boys I think this cartoon is hilarious.)Source: http://www.progressiveboink.com/archive/calvinhobbes.htm

Math Blasters Review and Giveaway

2011-10-24T14:06:00.001-07:00

I do not normally do reviews or giveaways on my blog, but when Knowledge Adventure approached me and asked me if I would review Math Blasters in exchange for a three month trial membership I jumped at the chance. Math has been a source of stress for Jakob this year in the 4th grade, especially memorizing multiplication facts. A program that could help him understand the concepts that he is being taught in school while having fun was to good to not take advantage of. (Math Blasters is geared towards all elementary aged children.)

We were not disappointed. As soon as I logged into Math Blasters Jakob excitedly said, “You have Math Blasters?!” Wondering if he had played it at school I asked him, “Why? Have you played it?” And in all his nine-year-old excitement he exclaimed, “No, I saw it on TV!” I could do nothing but grin and hand over my laptop. He immediately began navigating the website with ease and not only “playing” math, but creating his mutt.

I compare his mutt to a Sims character. You feed him, rock him, put him to bed, and play with him much like you would do while playing Sims. The player is required to grow his Mutt and you would not have believed the excitement in Jakob’s voice when his Mutt was done growing. I had to come running from across the house when he shouted, “MOM, COME HERE FAST, MY MUTT IS READY!”

And there were more exclamations of excitement and accomplishment as Jakob mastered those multiplication facts with lightening speed. His favorite game is HyperBlast. A long winding twist down a corridor that has you battling monsters with quick thinking multiplication facts.

At one point Jakob was excitedly hollering, “Mom! Mom! MOM! MOM!!! Woohoo! Yeah! MOM! I got a high score!”

Seriously? This kind of excitement over multiplication? And no, this shot was not posed. The boy was having a blast. And his grades reflected it too. Since starting Math Blasters his scores on his 3 minute multiplication tests in school have been 100’s. His first 100 is hanging on my fridge with his handwriting, “Mom let’s cerbiate.” (OK, so we still need to work on spelling.)

But cerbiate we did. In grand TX style of course with a TX size snow cone.

I love that happy face. That face means perseverance through some tough concepts. I particularly love that he learned those concepts while having fun and smiling and not through tears of frustration. His age group is a technology generation. They will probably never have a need to sit down with a piece of paper and a pen and write out an essay or a letter to a friend. They have never heard of a walkman, much less have a need for a CD to play music. Everything is accessible through technology. I am amazed and thrilled at the teaching tools now used. IPads, IPods, and laptops are commonplace in the classroom. And honestly, I wish I had gotten to sit down and learn my multiplication facts on a computer instead of with those dreaded flashcards that my mother would torture me with every night.

Knowledge Adventure has graciously allowed me to give one of my readers a three month trial membership for Math Blasters.

And because I like to make things easy ~~on myself~~ for all of you, there are two ways to enter:

1. Leave me a comment telling me who you think could benefit from Math Blasters in your home.

2. Become a follower of Foursons via GFC or tell me you already are.

*Please leave separate comments for each entry.

Contest ends Friday, November 4th at midnight CST.

Winner will be chosen using Random.org.

Disclosure: I was provided with a membership good for Math Blaster and Knowledge Adventure at no cost by Knowledge Adventure in order to test the products’ abilities and give my own personal opinions on it. The opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but were not influenced by the company or the free product provided.

Letters of Intent

2011-10-20T19:38:00.001-07:00

Have you had to act like a grown-up this week when what you really wanted to do was pound your fists on the floor and scream at the top of your lungs in two-year-old style? Have other adults around you acted like two-year-olds while you watched them wishing they would grow-up and show some maturity? Or maybe your favorite team made it to the World Series! Well tell me about it- in letter form of course. Write the who, what, when, where, and why of it all. Grab the button from my sidebar and link up at the bottom. I look forward to your Letters of Intent!

Dear Self,
Never again should you announce to anyone that you have been winning the laundry battle. Because of course, as soon as you hit publish on that post the laundry started winning. Not only did the laundry win, but it won with fanfare. So next time you feel like bragging to the world about something, maybe you should brag about gaining weight so that you can actually start losing some.

(Google- There is no way I have such a fancy washing machine.)
Signed,
Clawing my way out of the laundry room.
P.S. Googling “laundry pile” made me feel much better about myself.

_________________________________________________
Dear Next Week,
You’re a busy one for me. Please make sure that I get every minute out of every day that I need. There is a lot to be done and I need to make sure it all happens as it should. In addition to giving me the perfect amount of time, I’d appreciate staying healthy too. Two weeks in a row have found me down and out with respiratory problems. I need a healthy week in order to get through a karate tournament, Jakob’s birthday, and Halloween. I don’t think I’m asking to much, so please oblige. Thankyouverymuch.
Signed,
Over-worked, over-stressed, over-tired.

True Story Tuesday

2011-10-18T04:36:00.001-07:00

I have made it a rule that I do not post anything pertaining to work no matter how blog-worthy it may be. And trust me, I have some truly incredible blog-worthy stories to tell. However; I’d like to keep my job and even possibly be hired full-time, so I will be mature and not spew forth into the world wide web.

I’m making an exception today for Rachel’s big True Story Tuesday comeback. (I ran it by my mother first to make sure it was benign enough to be posted. Mom’s are great, aren’t they?!)

Last week I was subbing in a kindergarten classroom. I spent the day with twenty little children who have barely been in school long enough to have things figured out, but just long enough to let the sub know that they are doing things wrong. *grin*

Upon entering the classroom in the morning a little boy came up to me wanting me to know that he had stinky feet. I looked at him amongst the other five children surrounding me and nodded my head. He insisted that I pay attention to him and repeated himself, “I have stinky feet!” I let him know I heard him and he continued, “I need to take my shoes off!”

I immediately gave this boy my full attention, bent down to his level, and let him know that if he had stinky feet then he should leave his shoes on. Off he ran, and I returned my attention to the now ten children encircling me with just as important business.

A few minutes later the same little boy ran back up to me waving a slip of paper at me. “I have stinky feet! I have stinky feet!” (Apparently, this stinky feet business was more serious than I realized.)

(I know you’re all kinds of impressed with my computer drawing skills.)

I took the slip of paper from the boy, looked at it, and the light bulb went off in my head with understanding. The boy was not telling me that his feet stunk. He was telling me he had a Stinky Feet reward for good behavior and was allowed to removed his shoes for 15 minutes at some point during the day.

No one said you had to be all kinds of intelligent to be a substitute teacher, you just have to be able to read the lesson plans and hope the teachers left the answers to the math problems (and the Stinky Feet rewards) on their desk.

Letters of Intent

2011-10-13T19:01:00.001-07:00

Did it just dawn on you that since you changed the URL to your blog, that all of your buttons and menu bar no longer work? Does the idea of fixing them all feel like a monumental task that you just don’t want to tackle right now? Do you have a bad feeling that in a year you will be changing your URL all over again because you don’t know how to fix whatever happened this time? Or maybe things are all shiny and beautiful for you in blogland and you are on top of your game. Well tell me about it- in letter form of course. Write the who, what, when, where, and why of it all. Grab the button from my sidebar and link up at the bottom. I look forward to your Letters of Intent!

Dear Time-Sucking Games on FB,

I hate you, yet I can’t.stop.playing. I need an intervention. Quickly. Help me. Please?

(Google)

Signed,

Really frustrated that I have to have social points to put flooring in my house on Sims.

_______________________________________________

Dear Jakob,

I felt just as much joy as you when you got off the bus running and screaming that you didn’t have homework today. Thank goodness for small favors.

(So this picture has nothing to do with homework or lack of it, but a fist pump definitely seems in order.)

Signed,

I hope this becomes the rule and not the exception.

________________________________________________

Dear Head and Chest Cold,

I’m glad you took the hint and decided to take a hike. I am far to busy to be sidelined by a stupid cold.

Signed,

Heading back to work tomorrow.

_______________________________________________

Dear Follower/Lurkers/Visitors,

Sorry for the short and lame letters. Life handed me lemons this week and it is all I can muster. Fake it ‘till you make it, right?!

Signed,

Only three more weeks until my life becomes significantly easier.

Deep Thoughts…or Not.

2011-10-12T12:31:00.001-07:00

If you ever fall off the Sears Tower, just go real limp, because maybe you’ll look like a dummy and people will try to catch you because, hey, free dummy. - Saturday Night Live

I have been winning the laundry battle lately. It feels good, but the rest of my house is winning the war.

I have been working almost everyday since school started. This would be why I’m winning the laundry battle (because I need clothes for work) and why my house is winning the war. I seem to have a very special talent for cleaning because no one else in my house seems to be able to do it. I wonder if I could get a reality show because of my rare talent?

Chris will not be happy that I just wrote that because he has been doing the dishes almost everyday for many months now. Thank you Chris.

I’m home sick today with some respiratory stuff that makes me feel like an elephant is sitting on my chest. It’d be nice to sit around and do nothing all day, but who can sit in a house of filth and feel rested? So I cleaned. On my day off. When I can’t breathe. And now I’m sitting on my couch in my semi-clean living room (because I drew the line at dusting) and wishing someone would get up and close the playroom doors so I wouldn’t have to see that mess.

I baked a cake because I took a nap and dreamed about cake balls. I don’t like cake balls so I have no idea why I dreamed about ice blue ones with sprinkles on top. Tell me I’m not the only one who dreams about food. Pleaseandthankyou.

My outside dog thinks he is supposed to be an inside dog. Somehow this is another battle I’m losing.

Dog hair is the bane of my existence.

The boys will be home in an hour. I wish it were two, I’d like to take another nap.

I think I’ll eat a second piece of cake instead.

Me, the Author of This Here Blog 10/12-12 month project

2011-10-10T15:09:00.001-07:00

I’m getting this month’s picture in early!

My little Nolan is finally an official scout after following Jakob around the last 4 years and doing all scout-related things but not receiving any recognition for it. He is so excited to be a Tiger Cub and have his own den to do activities with. This shot is of Nolan receiving his Bobcat badge at a Pack meeting. It is the first badge any scout receives and is a requirement to earn all other badges.

And oh-my-gosh, I’m entering a full length shot. What has gotten into me? I’m scared. *shaking*

Letters of Intent

2011-10-07T09:23:00.001-07:00

What’s that you say? It’s Friday and I haven’t posted a Letter of Intent? Well to be quite honest, I feel like I’ve been hit by a freight train and just typing out these few sentences is a chore. However, I simply can’t let a good opportunity to complain go by without a mere mention of how I have once again been wronged. It is so hard being perfect.

So while this is not the usual introduction to my carnival and I’m posting much later in the day than normal, please feel free to link up at the bottom if you wrote a letter this week.

Dear Police Officer,

If I could make a citizen’s arrest I would. Driving 15 mph below the speed limit (especially on the highway) ought to be illegal. You are a danger on the road, and quite frankly I am shocked that you did not cause an accident when you were trying to merge with traffic from the on-ramp. I think a driver’s safety course is in order.

Signed,

Totally mentioning this incident the next time an officer of the law feels they should pull me over for breaking a traffic rule.

____________________________________________________________

Dear Fellow Drivers,

If a police officer is driving below the speed limit you are allowed to pass them while driving the posted speed limit. They cannot legally pull you over and give you a ticket for following the laws of the road.

Signed,

Shaking my head at your fear.

(Google)

Summer Recap Part II.4- July

2011-10-03T17:36:00.001-07:00

Yes, I’m still trying to post all of our summer activities. And yes, I am still stuck in July. I am taking a cue from Kelli at Random Thoughts of a Supermom for my final July post and posting my favorite pictures from our trip to Houston, TX. (Get ready for picture overload…again.)

Favorite Houston skyline picture taken while in a moving vehicle:

Favorite picture in a baseball museum that was located inside a furniture store:

Favorite shot of me, Chris and the littles at the Astros vs. Red Sox game. (Yes, I became a Red Sox fan after the Astros traded Berkman. Stupid, stupid move. I hope he wins the World Series this year.)

Favorite picture of Jakob and Nolan at the Astros vs. Red Sox game.

Favorite picture of Chris and Josh at the game.

Favorite picture of Jakob at the game:

Favorite picture of Nolan at the game:

Favorite picture in front of a NASA display (for obvious reasons):

Favorite picture of Jakob at NASA:

Favorite picture of the boys with their cousin:

I now officially close the books on July of 2011. Whew!

Letters of Intent

2011-09-29T19:24:00.001-07:00

Has life swallowed you up and spit you back out? Have you read about all the cooler fall temperatures in the north and felt jealous and angry at the people who live there because your weather is still in the triple digits? Were your kids home from school this week because they were to sick to go to school but not sick enough to stop fighting with each other? Or maybe you escaped for a girl’s night out last weekend and the euphoria has lasted all week long. Well tell me about it- in letter form of course. Write the who, what, when, where, and why of it all. Grab the button from my sidebar and link up at the bottom. I look forward to your Letters of Intent!

Dear Self,

There is no way around it. No denial, fighting, screaming, or tears is going to change the fact that if you want to continue to run that you’re going to have to get your body out of bed at 5am 2-3 days/week. And guess what? You need to run. Not to lose weight (although that would be a lovely bonus), not to prove to naysayers that you can do it, but for your own mental health. Without the stress-relief that running provides (and unfortunately a nice, long walk just doesn’t cut it) you are a ticking time-bomb. Running has now become a priority in your life and priorities must be scheduled in to your day. So suck it up, set your alarm, and put your running shoes next to the bed. You no longer have a choice in this matter.

Signed,

Your ticking-time bomb self.

Me, the Author of This Here Blog 9/12-12 month project

2011-09-29T12:42:00.001-07:00

Oops, it is September 29th and I have yet to post a picture of myself this month.

I helped out with the books one Saturday this month in Jakob’s dugout. While we were in rain delay (We went all summer without a drop of rain and then it had to rain during the second game of the fall season. Go figure.) I made Chris go stand in the drizzle and take a picture of me doing such an important job. I want to make sure my kids remember how much I sacrificed for them. *cough cough* (Also please take note of the Liz Logelin shirt I was wearing. This was the day I ran the 5K in honor of her life.)

Bullet Points

2011-09-27T14:49:00.001-07:00

I am linking up for the first time today with Impulsive Addict.

I feel like I’m on a sinking ship and I’m not sure if there is a life raft available or not. Things are crazy around here.

4th grade is hard. Really hard. The workload is strenuous and the expectations are set high. Not that Jakob can’t meet those expectations, but when the bar is raised things are difficult until we all learn to adjust.

The boys have been home from school the past two days with asthma problems. *Jakob’s has been so severe that he is unable to walk from one room to another without having an attack. And that is immediately following a nebulizer treatment.

I have gotten a taste of homeschooling in the last two days and there are moments when I tell myself, “Self, you could do this!” and then there are moments when I am telling myself, “Self, there is no way on God’s green earth that homeschooling would work for us.”

We are selling popcorn from now until the end of October. If we don’t sell out of our supply soon, we will then be battling every other scout in the area who is also selling their popcorn. **If we don’t sell $600 worth ($300 for each boy) then Chris and I will be paying dues to the pack. I don’t want to pay dues. $600 is a LOT of popcorn. We can’t go door to door right now because Jakob can’t walk and breathe. *See above.

Fall baseball has started and will continue until the end of October. Both boys have games every Saturday. This is normally not a problem but we need to get out and sell popcorn. **See above.

Karate has started for the semester and continues until right before Thanksgiving. I have some serious complaints about the instructor this semester. I’m sure a Letter of Intent is in the works for her. And for the record, adding a third activity for the boys to our busy schedule was a mistake. A lesson I learned the hard way and from here forward I will never again give in to the pleas of little boys who want to try every sport under the sun all at one time.

I have not been able to find time to run. I need to run. It is a huge stress relief for me and yesterday I noticed that I am losing mass quantities of hair due to stress. Must.find.time.to.run.

And maybe most importantly, my URL has changed from a (dot)net address to a (dot)com address. www.myfourboys.com And not that the name change is bad, but one of my lifelines to the world outside my home has been lost and I fear that all of you may never find your way back. Not to mention that I tried to give people the new address in comments on their blogs and I gave the wrong one. Nice. Very, very nice.

NEW URL ADDRESS-PLEASE UPDATE YOUR READERS

2011-09-22T20:41:00.001-07:00

Long story short- I have a new domain name. I am no longer at http://www.myfourboys.net/. I am now at http://www.myfourboys.com/. Please, please, please change it in your readers. I would die a slow, painful, death without all of you. I promise more explanation will come later.

We Interrupt the Summer Posts to Bring You Parasites and Contusions

2011-09-19T19:35:00.001-07:00

Jakob has been begging to go hunting lately. Chris will go dove hunting, but that is about the extent of his hunting experience. That was good enough for Jakob and yesterday they headed out for their first hunt.

Number of ticks picked off Nolan- one.

Number of black eyes on Jakob- one.

Number of dove killed- zero.

Number of times Jakob has begged to go back out- countless.

(More pictures to come if I can ever make my way through the summer of 2011.)

Three Point One

2011-09-17T09:55:00.001-07:00

*All pictures taken with a point and shoot while running. So yeah, they’re all blurry and of poor quality.

* The term “run, running, to run” is used loosely in this post. I really mean “slog.”

Today is a big day. The Liz Logelin 5K was scheduled to be run today. And I admit, I was a bit nervous about completing this run for three reasons. First and foremost, I have not run 3 miles without stopping for a month or more. The weather here has just been putrid. Secondly, the recent wildfires in this area have kept me from even going out and trying to run at all in the last week. Apparently my asthma and smoke don’t have a desire to be friends. Thirdly, I tried to run the 5K route I was running today previously (albeit it was 105* outside) and failed miserably.

But today? Today I was determined. I got up at 6:30am, laced up my running shoes, and set out to run a route that had previously beaten me.

The starting line. (Not a soul in sight at this unholy hour on a Saturday morning.)

I started out OK and tried really hard to slow my pace down so I would not burn out by the second mile. I am so used to running on hills that flat terrain tends to trick me into going faster than I should. The start of this route is relatively easy and before I knew it I was at “The Hill.” Going down this hill is dangerous to say the least. One misstep can send the not-so-graceful (me) rolling all the way down to the bottom. Going up it? Going up is hell on earth.

Mile 1 complete. Finally.

And as a reward, the sun decided to peak up above the trees and smile down on me.

The turn-around point. This corner is where I get to start heading back from where I came. This is also the point in which I am thinking about Jenny’s “Middle Mile” and trying to push through the desire to stop pounding my feet on the pavement. My mantra: I run because I can started playing on repeat in my mind. All the people who wish they could wake up and run three miles early on a Saturday morning but physically aren’t able to, kept me going. I.can.do.this.

Mile 2 complete. Whew. (It was humid. Humidity= strawberry face)

But still to come is “The Hill.” I may be on my last mile but my biggest challenge is to come, the stretch of road that caused me to fail the first time. Hell on earth.

I made it. I ran as fast as my legs would take me up that beast. I was met by a man who was on his way down and I tried desperately to act like I could breathe and that I was just out for a casual jog, but I don’t think I succeeded. For some reason the smile on his face tells me that I looked like I was on death’s door. But I carried on and recovered. And just as I was catching my breath another runner on the road bit it. Hard. I thought she was going to hop up and keep on going but she kind of laid there and then slowly got up. I asked if she was OK and she nodded she was and pointed to the rock that was her demise. And since she didn’t look like she needed medical help I continued on my way because up ahead was the point in which I quit the last time I did this route. The trashcan. The point in which I said NO MORE in 105* heat. But this time? This time I blew right past it and smiled at the ~~hotty~~ nice man who was running past me.

I was on the homestretch and feeling good. I would finish this time. A quick glance to my left at the amazing artwork in my small German town,

had me doing a double take as the woman whom I had just passed because she had fallen was now sprinting past me. (Some people are just show-offs.)

The crowds were cheering me on though. Can you hear them? They were there lining the streets, clapping, and yelling as if I was the gold medal winner in the Olympics.

Then ~~Chris’ truck~~ the finish line came into view. And I smiled because I had made it. I completed the 5K that had previously chewed me up and spit me out.

And it was good. It was really good.

Letters of Intent

2011-09-15T18:55:00.001-07:00

Are you wishing you had another three-day weekend this week? Have you tried to conjure up a virtual maid to come clean your house but for some reason your efforts keep failing? Are you running a 5K this weekend but haven’t actually been out for a run all week long? Are you running a 5K this weekend and you haven’t even run that distance in some time because the weather just hasn’t cooperated for you? Are you traveling for two baseball games after your 5K this Saturday and wondering how you will survive the day? Or maybe the idea of struggling through a 5K is laughable to you because you will be running a marathon on Sunday. Well tell me about it- in letter form of course. Write the who, what, when, where, and why of it all. Grab the button from my sidebar and link up at the bottom. I look forward to your Letters of Intent!

Dear all old, new, and future friends of mine on Facebook,

I recently read this on a friend’s status and thought it necessary to share with you. Especially considering that some recent conversations in my life have revolved around status updates that I wrote.

WELCOME TO FACEBOOK...The place where people add you as a friend & walk past you in the street. Where relationships are perfect, affairs are started, & liars believe they are telling the truth. Your enemies visit your profile the most, yet your family & friends block you, & even though you write what you are really thinking, someone always takes it the wrong way, & people always think your status is about them.

Scary how this kind of slaps you in the face with the reality of social networking.

(Google)

Signed,

I better not get in trouble for this letter.

Reason #4071 Why Little Boys are Awesome

2011-09-14T12:09:00.001-07:00

Because baseball just isn’t baseball without a Green Lantern cape.

(Picture taken with phone.)

No this is not my child, although I kind of wish it was.

Summer Recap Part II.3- July

2011-09-12T11:01:00.001-07:00

Oh my gosh, am I really still trying to get through the month of July? *sigh* I definitely need to revisit our summer vacation after struggling through 4th grade homework. How come no one told me that the jump from 3rd to 4th grade would be so difficult? On top of the struggle that is 4th grade, I am picking up every sub job that someone dangles in front of me. Yes, I’m desperate for money, but we’ll call it motivated. Too bad that work and blogging don’t play nice together.

Jakob and Nolan’s cousin spent three weeks with their grandmother during July and so we signed them all up for an Xtreme Sports Camp.

I wouldn’t exactly call their activities extreme, but they enjoyed the camp and I enjoyed the four hours of quiet every day for five days.

They also attended their very first karate tournament. The tournament was a winner’s tournament in which there was one match for each child and there was a first and second place winner for every match. Everyone goes home with a medal- which is really important to my kids. Never mind this business of teaching them to be good losers. Give my kids a medal- every.single.time. Thankyouverymuch.

Nolan was a bit nervous while he waited for the tournament to start.

The boys were each in different rings so it was a bit of a juggling act to make sure I was at each ring to get pictures of both of them. Jakob’s match was first. Here he is scoring a point on a boy named Joshua.

Jakob did really well in his first match and won first place!

And as soon as I snapped this picture I had to run to Nolan’s ring and take pictures of his match. He (in red helmet) came in second to a boy who outweighed him by 20 lbs. at least.

Yup, those medals are important. Could you imagine going home with only one medal and two kids?!

And believe it or not, July is not quite done. We took a trip to Houston, TX in which I didn’t just take eleventy hundred pictures, but I took eleventy hundred and one. And then? Then we have August. Yup, it’s gonna be a while folks, but those first day of school pictures just may be posted by Christmas.

Letters of Intent

2011-09-08T19:11:00.001-07:00

Are you wearing white after Labor Day despite what some antiquated rule says? Are you already battling your kids to get their homework done before it’s five minutes to bedtime? Has the bedtime routine been a failure every single night this week? Did you decide to give up on cooking dinner because the effort to make it is not worth the temper-tantrums that ensue after you set it down in front of your family to eat? Or maybe you sent your baby off to their first day of Kindergarten this week and they came home all smiley and happy with good things to say about the teacher. Well tell me about it- in letter form of course. Write the who, what, when, where, and why of it all. Grab the button from my sidebar and link up at the bottom. I look forward to your Letters of Intent!

Dear Karate Teacher,

Last night was the first night for my boys to walk into your class. Yes, they are eager and will make mistakes out of their excitement. In my opinion, mistakes from enthusiasm and being engaged in an activity is much better than non-participation because of boredom. I doubt you will ever see my boys bored and “checked-out.” Last night you were quizzing the students on the history of the sport and felt like you could one-up the kids who had their hands raised to answer a question before you ever finished asking it. Yes, some kids fell into the trap of not knowing what to answer because they did not wait for you to finish. However, you were schooled when you called on a young man named Jakob whose hand never left the air as you fired off question after question. You said, “Karate is….” and called on Jakob expecting him to stutter and eventually say, “I don’t know.” But what happened next made me grin from ear to ear. Not only did Jakob finish your question, but he gave you the answer too. I must say, it was hilarious watching you try to back-pedal your way out of that situation. Just so you know- that is typical for Jakob. He can give you every answer to any question you want to ask and come up with more questions and answers you weren’t even thinking about. Appreciate him and enjoy him. He’s one in a million.

Signed,

The mom of THAT kid.

Welcome to Texas, and by Texas I Mean Hell.

2011-09-06T07:05:00.001-07:00

Not long ago I wondered if TX was actually purgatory. Turns out I wasn’t so far from the truth.

(Google- Bastrop, TX where 500 homes have burned down and there is 0% containment on the fire.)

TX is on fire y’all. There are fires burning to the north, south, and west of me. All within relatively close proximity. I tried to go for a slog this morning and my lungs seized up with the smoke in the air. We need rain something fierce down here.

Letters Of Intent

2011-09-01T19:36:00.001-07:00

Have your kids finally gotten into a good school routine only to have an extra day off this weekend for Labor Day? Do you wonder why you ever bother to clean because you know that as soon as everyone is home from school and work it will look as though you haven’t lifted a finger in three months? Did the weathermen promise four days of rain this week and then say this morning that they was wrong? Or maybe someone finally looked at your resume and decided you were perfect for the job! Well tell me about it- in letter form of course. Write the who, what, when, where, and why of it all. Grab the button from my sidebar and link up at the bottom. I look forward to your Letters of Intent!

Dear Car Mechanic,

You may have found it amusing when I told you that I needed to know if my van was worth fixing or if it was time to trade it in for a new one, but I was completely serious. If it is going to cost me eleventy hundred dollars to fix the brakes, and the rear wheel thingy, and new tires, and the windshield wiper fluid (the most important problem in my opinion), and whatever else may be wrong with a vehicle that is 10 years old with 100,000 miles on it, then it might just be time to go looking for a newer model with fewer miles. Please, please, PLEASE be kind though, because we really aren’t in a position to start making car payments at this time. If you can give me another two years I promise to never take another vehicle that needs maintenance to anyone but you.

Signed,

Fingers Crossed

Dear Car Dealership,

While approving me for a loan on a new vehicle is really nice, I can’t help but laugh and wonder what kind of new math y’all do. I know what kind of income we have and what our bills are and honestly, if I were you I’d be telling me no. Kind of like my bank did. I’d be nicer than the bank was, but I’d still say no. However, it is fun to car shop and I appreciate the pipe dream.

Signed,

Hoping to not officially meet your financer for two years.

P.S. I like this one. In any color. Please and thank you.

Summer Recap Part II.2- July

2011-08-30T10:40:00.001-07:00

For those of you who love to read and reread every word I write- by all means click on the links.

Part I

Part II.1

Before it got oppressively hot here, Chris took the little boys and Josh golfing. Chris starts the course with Josh and when they hit the back nine, I meet up with them so Jakob and Nolan can join in. They aren’t ready for 18 holes of golf just yet, but 9 seems to be perfect.

Nolan spent a couple of days every week reading with his Grandmother. We are very thankful that my mom is a reading specialist and Nolan really benefited from working with her.

Of course we fit in as much swimming as possible, and invited friends whenever we could. Nolan’s buddy moved away in August and this was one of the last hurrah’s with him.

We also went to the zoo with the same family. They were season pass holders, so while it was hot they knew the secrets to getting in and out of the place before any meltdowns ensued. (Very important knowledge to have by the way.)

We had plenty of map readers to help us navigate our way around.

And I made sure to try and recreate the misery the boys felt in the African exhibit when they were babies. Because isn’t it these memories of childhood that make us long to be young and carefree again?

Of course the boys went to VBS ~~so I could have a break~~ because they love it and talk about it all year long. (Love the girl picking her nose behind Nolan.)

And believe it or not, July is not close to wrapping up yet. The boys still had Xtreme Sports Camp, a karate tournament, and our family vacation to Houston. Yes, I totally overbooked us. I should have let the boys be bored more often, but the older they get the more I long to hold on tight and make each moment memorable. Of course the memories that stick in their heads will probably be ones that I couldn’t create and be something like an all-day marathon of Scooby Doo or something similar, but I try.

Summer Recap Part II.1- July

2011-08-29T05:22:00.001-07:00

Before I accept that my kids are back in school for their 4th and 1st grade years, I am reliving our summer vacation. The month of June was filled with scout camp, swim lessons, and the start of karate.

July had a lot to live up to after the very busy month of June and it did not fail. (Hence the multiple posts for July.) I mentioned our backyard exploits in a previous post. We are very good about partying it up like the rock stars we are in our very own backyard.

Our bowling alley allows the kids to bowl for free (with free shoe rental) one game a day, Monday-Friday, all summer long. We try to take advantage of this offer as much as we possibly can. The boys are starting to get really good and are trying to bowl without the bumpers.

And since I don’t have to pay for the bowling, I am more than willing to hand them each 50 cents to play a game in the arcade. Thus, a new love of air hockey was born.

We discovered geocaching and I quickly learned that this is an activity for cooler weather and not the infernal heat that TX has to offer in the summer. Geocaching is a real-world outdoor treasure hunting game. Players try to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, using GPS-enabled devices and then share their experiences online. I really enjoyed these hunts but found it was more enjoyable for the boys if I located the caches before I took them out to hunt for them and then played “hot and cold” with them until they could put their hands on the cache. Otherwise it was a lot of turning in circles and frustration.

Using the GPS on my phone trying to find our first cache.

Jakob hunting for the cache.

We found it!

The bigger caches usually have fun trinkets for the kids to pick from. We checked it out in the car so muggles (non-geocachers) would not discover the hidden treasure. Tip: If you take a treasure, you must leave one behind!

The boys picked chapstick (yuck!) and an origami bird.

And they left behind marbles. Marbles have become our “signature” treasure to leave. They are small enough to fit in even the tiniest of caches, they can be bought for really cheap (although we have eleventy hundred of them in the house), and the boys love picking out which color to give away.

After signing the book that we had found the cache and carefully replacing it out of the sight of muggles, we did a little victory dance for finding our very first cache Well Nolan danced a jig, Jakob acted embarrassed.

We have found four more caches since this first one and each find makes me more excited for the next hunt.

Stay tuned for Summer Recap Part II.2- July….

Spontaneous Combustion

2011-08-28T12:09:00.001-07:00

Just because it is 107* at 2:00pm here right now and will only get hotter before the day is over, I felt the need to post this diary entry. I have read similar entries about southern people moving to the north and dealing with snow, but this is the first I have read for the southern heat. The Austin news (which is about an hour north of me) is reporting grass spontaneously combusting. It is so hot and dry here that you can go for a walk (which would be an insane thing to do in these temps) and watch grass burst into flames right before your very eyes. That.is.crazy. And I’m wondering- is this purgatory?

UPDATED TO ADD: IT IS NOW 110* AT 2:57PM.

(Google images)

Dear Diary,

June 15th, 2011: Just moved from Minnesota to Lubbock, Texas! Really heating up. Got to 100 today. Not a problem. Live in an air-conditioned home, drive an air-conditioned car. What a pleasure to see the sun every day like this. I'm turning into a sun worshipper.

June 30th: Had the backyard landscaped with western plants today. Lots of cactus and rocks. What a breeze to maintain. No more mowing the lawn for me. Another scorcher today, but I love it here.

July 10th: The temperature hasn't been below 100 all week. How do people get used to this kind of heat? At least, it's kind of windy though. But getting used to the heat is taking longer than I expected.

July 15th: Fell asleep by the community pool. Got 3rd degree burns over 60% of my body. Missed 3 days of work. What a dumb thing to do. I learned my lesson though. Got to respect the ole' sun in a climate like this.

July 20th: I missed Lomita (my cat) sneaking into the car when I left this morning. By the time I got to the hot car at noon, Lomita had died and swollen up to the size of a shopping bag, then popped like a water balloon. The car now smells like Kibbles and Shi**. I learned my lesson though. No more pets in this heat. Good ole' Mr. Sun strikes again.

July 25th: The wind sucks. It feels like a giant freaking blow dryer!! And it's hot as hell. The home air-conditioner is on the fritz and the AC repairman charged $200 just to drive by and tell me he needed to order parts.

July 30th: Been sleeping outside on the patio for 3 nights now, $225,000 house and I can't even go inside. Lomita is the lucky one. Why did I ever come here?

Aug. 4th: Its 115 degrees. Finally got the air-conditioner fixed today. It cost $500 and gets the temperature down to 85. I hate this stupid place.

Aug. 8th: If another wise ass cracks,'Hot enough for you today?' I'm going to strangle him. Damn heat. By the time I get to work, the radiator is boiling over, my clothes are soaking wet, and I smell like baked cat!!

Aug. 9th: Tried to run some errands after work. Wore shorts, and when I sat on the seats in the car, I thought my ass was on fire. My skin melted to the seat. I lost 2 layers of flesh and all the hair on the back of my legs and a** . Now my car smells like burnt hair, fried a**, and baked cat.

Aug 10th: The weather report might as well be a damn recording. Hot and sunny. Hot and sunny. Hot and sunny. It's been too hot to do sh** for 2 damn months, and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week. Doesn't it ever rain in this da** state? Water rationing will be next, so my $1,700 worth of cactus will just dry up and blow over. Even the cactus can't live in this da** heat.

Aug 14th: Welcome to HE**! Temperature got to 115 today. Cactus' are dead. Forgot to crack the window and blew the damn windshield out of the car. The installer came to fix it and guess what he asked me??? "Hot enough for you today?" My sister had to spend $1,500 to bail me out of jail.

Freaking Texas. What kind of a sick demented idiot would want to live here?? Will write later to let you know how the trial goes...

Me, The Author of This Here Blog 8/12-12 month project

2011-08-27T09:47:00.001-07:00

Chris took this picture of me while we were celebrating his and Nolan’s birthday with the family at the bowling alley. Yes, my double chin is showing. I’m trying to learn to accept myself for who I really am. So there it is, hanging out in all its glory for the whole world wide web to see.

Letters of Intent

2011-08-25T19:31:00.001-07:00

Are you getting back into the school routine and relearning where the snooze button is on your alarm clock? Is packing lunches and backpacks part of your nightly ritual again? Is the pick-up/drop-off lane in front of the school ruining your day every.single.day? Are spelling tests reappearing as the bane of your existence? Did you send your child off to their first semester of college and the empty-nest syndrome has become your closest friend? Or maybe you sent your child off for their fifth semester of college and you’re just thankful they have a school to attend! *cough cough Josh cough* Well tell me about it…in letter form of course. Write the who, what, when, where, and why of it all. Grab the button from my sidebar and link up at the bottom. I look forward to your Letters of Intent!

My Dearest Jakob,

(If you are reading this on Blogger- sorry for all the formatting issues lately. Seriously- I need to get this worked out.)

I know we’re just finishing up the first week of school and it takes a while to get back into the routine of things. But please, for the love of all that is good and holy, quit forgetting you planner and take-home folder at school everyday. Yes, I could be one of those mothers who lets you suffer the consequences for forgetting your homework at school. But honestly, I remember leaving my math book in my desk many times when I was young and the stress and punishment that goes along with that forgetfulness is not something I wish to bestow upon you just yet. So yes, if it is in my power (and the gas is in the gas tank) I will drive you back up to the school to get your homework. But honestly, the forgetfulness is getting old and tiresome. Let’s do better next week, OK?!
Signed,
Running on “E”.

Dear Followers/Lurkers/Visitors,
I am well aware of the fact that I am not the best photographer. And yes, I make my pictures obnoxiously big on my blog ~~for your viewing pleasure~~ so that they can be seen easily. I do not have any false notions that I am a professional and that I know how to use that fancy camera of mine. However, I will never tire or apologize for capturing every single moment possible in my family’s life. I read a blog post recently that reinforced the reason why my camera is always within reach. One of my new favorite bloggers at Simply Life Photographs wrote an open letter to anyone with a camera. It poignantly reminded me that life can change for anyone in the blink of an eye and those last pictures taken- with a DSLR, a point and shoot, or even a disposable camera- can become the most treasured possessions we own. So yes, I will continue to take pictures. I will continue to try to learn my camera, but I will no longer compare my skills with professional photographers. Because in the end it just doesn’t matter. What matters is the shot that was captured that will be treasured for a lifetime.

Signed,
It’s worth the read, take the time to click.

Summer Recap Part I- June

2011-08-22T18:43:00.001-07:00

I hope you’re ready for picture overload. I’ve got eleventy hundred of them from this summer and will probably try to post every single one.

Not far into summer vacation found me and the boys getting up to the sound of an alarm clock and spending four very hot days outside at Cub Scout summer camp. I mentioned it briefly earlier in the summer, but those snippets did not represent the whole experience. And since I’m not letting go of summer vacation just yet, I may or may not repost pictures from those earlier posts.

Mornings in June are still relatively cool (80ish degrees?) and so I was able to coerce the boys into taking a picture with me before the heat of the day and the impending dust bowl that made us hot, tired, and miserable.

I was a Walking Den Leader for Nolan’s group and so most of my days and pictures are of him. There was fishing, rocket bottle launching, flag football, and riflery.

There was archery, team building, and arts and crafts.

And after four ~~incredibly long~~ fun-filled days, my boys walked away with new friends, great experiences, and a whole lot of achievements completed for scouting.

After a week’s rest we headed off for two weeks of swim lessons. Jakob is in a class that prepares them for competitive swimming. He has no desire to compete, but he loves the class. I love that they are taught to swim in the river. Believe it or not, just because your kid can swim in a pool does not mean that they will be able to swim in a dark, cold, deep body of water. Jakob sunk like a rock the first year he tried. After three summers of experience he is much better. He still doesn’t like it, but he can do it and that is all that matters.

Nolan will be in that class next summer, so this summer he was honing his skills in the pool. He was busy building his endurance and perfecting his strokes so that come next summer he is ready to swim in the more challenging class.

Behind the swim lesson pool is a little pond with some enormous fish. The fish swimming in this very small pond averaged about 20 inches long. And no that is not a “my fish was thhhhiiiiiiis big” story. They are huge. If you have any doubts, the look on Nolan’s face should erase them.

And this summer the boys started karate.

Which included going to a Judo camp and getting thrown around for a day.

We are so busy during the school year and I felt as though I could not add one more activity into our busy schedules. I didn’t plan on them falling in love with the sport and wanting to continue. I thought it would be a fun summer thing to do. That’s what I get for thinking.

Although it doesn’t seem possible, July was even busier than June. Karate continued, bowling, geocaching, golfing, vacation, swimming, VBS, and more filled our days. I didn’t leave much time for the boys to say, “I’m bored.” In fact, I don’t think I heard it leave their mouths until the last weekend of summer.

It’s Not Over ‘Til I Say It’s Over

2011-08-21T18:05:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow is the first day of school for these guys.

And this one just left for his junior year in college.

But before I can talk all about the first day of school and the stress of getting Josh into a university, I need to recap our huge summer. The little guys and I were busy all summer long and they accomplished a lot.

So while it’s back to the grind of alarm clocks, homework, packing lunches and backpacks, and running from one activity to another while still trying to get the boys in bed on time I am going to continue to relive the glorious, lazy, hazy days of summer.

Letters of Intent

2011-08-18T19:35:00.001-07:00

Has the heat index forced you to run inside and hide in your air-conditioned home? Is the temperature of the pool water hot enough to make it a hot tub and not a swimming pool? Did your husband drive your 10 year old van and freak out because it is completely unsafe and in need of tons of work? Do you intend to use the same opener for your blog carnival all summer long? Well tell me about it…in letter form of course. Write the who, what, when, where, and why of it all. Grab the button from my sidebar and link up at the bottom. I look forward to your Letters of Intent!

Dear Bully,

While I can appreciate the fact that you are probably picked on unmercifully at home, that does not mean it is acceptable for you to approach my boys while they were playing nicely in the ball playland thingamabob.

(What is up with this spacing?! *sigh*)

You see, I have taught my boys to play nicely with others. While this does not stop them from fighting with each other, they do treat other people with respect. They also know that when we are out and about I am always nearby, always within earshot, and usually easily spotted. So when my boys were sharing a ball shooter cannon thingy I happened to be nearby, within earshot, and could be seen.

For some strange reason you decided to walk up and put balls in the boy’s ball shooter cannon thingy while they were using it. My boys, being the kind boys they are, allowed you to join in their play and stepped back a little to include you. And then out of nowhere you pushed Jakob to the ground. The look of shock on both Jakob and Nolan’s face (as well as my own) immediately put me on alert. As soon as Nolan put his hands up to fight you (by the way, so proud of Nolan for sticking up for his brother even though this boy was TWICE the size of Jakob) and you started going after him the entire establishment heard me yell, in what I can only describe as a teacher voice- low, loud, and can be heard for miles- “HEY!”. Both of my boys looked at me immediately with one eye while keeping the other one on you because of course you did not think I could possibly be talking to you. So I repeated my you-could-hear-me-for-miles, “HEY!” and you turned around. When I asked not so nicely what was going on and you replied, “I was here first!” there were so many things I wanted to say. Things like get your filthy hands off my kids or just who do you think you are or you want to push someone around why don’t you come down here and try to push me around or you stinkin’ little brat, you better run before I get up there or you’re going to know just what a bully feels like!

But I didn’t say any of those things. In fact, I just let you know that “No, you were not there first. I saw them there first.” Luckily you decided to take your bully self elsewhere. But you know what? I didn’t let it end there. Oh no I dinnt. After pacing back and forth for a few minutes trying to keep my cool, I waved to the attendant in the ball playland thingamabob and told on you. To a teenager. I pointed you out and said that you pushed my kids around. And he said he was gonna keep an eye on you. So there. I hope you got in trouble- you big, awful, mean bully.

Signed,

You’re lucky I’m a grown-up and decided to act like one that day.

Perspective

2011-08-17T19:36:00.001-07:00

Have I mentioned we’re in a drought? (Insert sarcasm here.)

I took the boys to the river the other day for the first time all summer. Kind of like an end-of-summer bang, but not. Because if you’ll look at the picture below you’ll see that the water was ankle deep. Do you see the cliff on the opposite bank? In the past the water has been higher than that cliff. The spot that I’m sitting in taking the picture used to have a house built on top of it that washed away in a flood. Our last real rainfall was in November of 2010. That was nine months ago, nine long months. And the current weather we’re having (100+ every single day with not a chance of rain) is predicted to last at least through the end of the month. I know it’s hard, but try not to be too jealous.

7 on the 7-year-old

2011-08-15T14:40:00.001-07:00

My baby boy turned 7 years old on August 9th. He is entering into 1st grade, can tie his shoes, ride a bike, swim like a fish, and hit a fastball. OK, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit on that fast ball, but he’s good for a seven year old.

However, I’m still trying to figure out how this baby boy,

has turned into this big kid.

In honor of his 7th birthday:

7 Things I Love About Nolan

1. He hugs so hard it hurts.

2. He loves any and all sports.

3. When I asked him if we could wait 3 days to buy his birthday present because it was dropping in price $80 on the 12th, he said yes without hesitation. I did not have to even throw in a bribe about being able to buy him more gifts because I was saving so much money.

4. He is funny. I mean really funny. He makes me laugh everyday.

5. Not only does he let me torture him with photo shoots, but he often requests for me to take his picture while he hams it up for the camera. As a camera-totin’ Mom, this trait is near and dear to my heart.

6. His love is pure.

7. He is happiest when all of his family is together.

Happy 7th Birthday Nolan! Of all the Nolan’s in all the world, you are my favorite one.

Letters of Intent

2011-08-11T19:56:00.001-07:00

Dear Followers/Lurkers/Visitors,

I don’t know what the written criteria is for a “successful” blog carnival. I know bloggers who run the carnivals like a lot of link-ups and I would certainly love to have eleventy hundred link-ups every week; however, my carnival seems to have lost its charm over time. This week’s letter is my 96th blog post for my Letters of Intent carnival. And while some weeks I only get one person to link-up with me I am going to continue writing my letters every Friday. I like my letters. I like the outlet it provides me to rant. I even like when it allows me to be wishy-washy and nice when the situation calls for wishy-washy, nice behavior. So I will continue to write my letters and continue to insert a link-up code at the end of them until I no longer receive any link-ups. At that point I’ll just continue my letters without the code. And yes, y’all can all leave me comments about how mature and grown-up I am now.

(Google)

Signed,

No longer in the fight for popularity.

Summer is Almost Over and I’m Marrow-Sucking Again

2011-08-11T09:27:00.001-07:00

My youngest had a birthday on Tuesday. I have yet to do a birthday post because when I look at the calendar the box filled with “The First Day of School” screams at me. So I have gone back to sucking the marrow out of every day remaining of summer vacation until I drop my boys off with the people who will spend more time with them on a daily basis than I will for the next nine months. *sigh*

But my youngest child is officially seven. 7. SEVEN. Seven? Oh my word, how did that happen? I suppose I can no longer tell people that I still have baby-weight to lose. I guess I can officially call it mine. Although that doesn’t seem very fair seeing as how he thinks everything else that belongs to me is his. So he should be able to claim the baby weight too, right? Right?!

Anyhow, my precious, bouncing, bundle of joy made his way into this world seven years ago. SEVEN.

Waxing Poetic

2011-08-08T07:36:00.001-07:00

The boys and I went on a bike ride last weekend.

And when I slung my camera around my neck I had visions of a Kelle Hampton type post in which I combine my beautiful, professional, artsy pictures with poetic words that result in a love-fest of sorts here on my blog.

Except that I seemed to have forgotten that I am more prone to falling and breaking than I am to catching rainbows while riding on winged unicorns. So as I was riding one-handed while trying to snap pictures I heard Rachel’s voice in my head telling me that she wasn’t going to take pictures while riding a horse because she wanted to remain on the horse and not on the ground beside it.

I did get off my bike to take a picture of the sunburst. However, the sun was so bright I wasn’t aware that Jakob was “taking a call” on one of my old phones. And yes, my boys wear long pants in 100+ degree weather. It was at least 102* on this ride. Is there any wonder why we shiver and wrap up in coats and hats when it is 65* outside?

A glance to my left gave me a glimpse of the moon and had me trying to find just the right combination of words to wax poetic. Perhaps even commenting on the waxing and waning of the moon itself. Alas, the Kelle vibe just wasn’t coming.

So I tried again when glancing to my right and seeing the sunset. But then I realized that Kelle would not have taken a picture of a random house and a bunch of cars lining the street. She would have captured a ray of sunshine on a newborn dove’s head as it was taking food from its mother.

So I tempted fate one more time and popped the lens cap off as I rode down a long, fast hill with the wind in my hair and a smile on my face as memories of my childhood raced through my head. My tires turning so fast that my feet couldn’t keep up with the pedals and the street passing by in a blur.

And it was glorious.

Kelle Hampton has no idea who I am. I read her blog faithfully but never comment. I am not in any way, shape, or form making fun of her. In fact, I wish I could be a little more like her and her fabulous self.

Ann’s Squirrel Bars

2011-08-06T19:31:00.001-07:00

Because so many of you asked and I am a people-pleaser here is the recipe I used to make I’m-jonesing-for-chocolate dessert. I took pictures of the book and recipe because ~~I’m lazy and didn’t want to type it all out~~ I wanted to give proper credit to the author. I even edited the pictures to make the recipe as readable as possible. Yup, just call me a people-pleaser.

One of my favorite cookbooks:

I don’t know why this huge space is here. *rolling eyes*

The recipe:

Enjoy!

Letters of Intent

2011-08-04T19:45:00.001-07:00

Dear Chris,

Happy Birthday! This is the 16th birthday I have celebrated with you. When I met you I thought you were soooo old. Now? Now I’m five years beyond the age you were when we met. Funny how that happens. We’re still young though, right?! Just to prove how young and hip we really are let’s go out and paint the town beige (because painting the town red is for fools and we are far from foolish *cough, cough, choke, wheeze*).

Everyone will be so impressed and wish they could be like us. We’ll take pictures with our faces really close together to prove how fun we really are. (10 bloggy points if you can name that TV show.) And when the town is sufficiently taupe, we’ll ~~promptly fall asleep after the 10:00 news~~ go dancing until the sun comes up like the rock stars we are.

Love,

Your better half *grin*

Because….

2011-08-03T19:27:00.001-07:00

Because it’s 101* at 9:00pm at night.

Because it’s 101* at 9:00pm at night and it’s too hot to go slogging.

Because it’s 101* at 9:00pm at night and it’s too hot to go slogging and I am jonesing for chocolate.

Because it’s 101* at 9:00pm at night and it’s too hot to go slogging and I am jonesing for chocolate and there is an ever-present supply of peanut butter and chocolate chips in my pantry.

*contented sigh*

Can you hear the siren call of the confectionary fairies? It’s beautiful.

*contented sigh*

This Explains So Much About My Life.

2011-08-02T15:48:00.001-07:00

“Hey Chris, we need to change the air filter.”

Yeah, that’s not quite what I meant. Thanks though.

Letters of Intent

2011-07-28T19:36:00.001-07:00

Dear Pastor Joe Nelms,

About 10 years ago my husband was a big Nascar fan and being the amazing wife that I am, I have seen many races live and about eleventy hundred on TV. You gave the best pre-race invocation I have ever heard. Seriously.

“Heavenly Father, we thank You tonight for all your blessings. You said in all things give thanks so we want to thank You tonight for these mighty machines that You’ve brought before us. Thank You for the Dodges and the Toyotas. Thank You for the Ford’s and most of all we thank You for Roush and Yates partnering to give us the power we see before us tonight. Thank You for GM Performance Technology and the RO7 engines. Thank You for Sunoco Racing fuel and Goodyear tires that bring performance and power to the track. Lord, I want to thank you for my smokin’ hot wife tonight, Lisa. And my two children Eli and Emma, or as we like to call them the little E’s. Lord, I pray and bless the drivers and use them tonight. May they put on a performance worthy of this great track. In Jesus’ name, boogity, boogity, boogity, Amen!”

Pastor Joe and his smokin’ hot wife.

(Starcasm.net)

Signed,

Hoping that the sponsors of Nascar make you their new spokesperson.

Me, The Author of This Here Blog 7/12- 12 month project

2011-07-24T10:59:00.001-07:00

A hot day at the zoo. Very hot. Even the African animals were seeking shelter in the shade.

Letters of Intent

2011-07-21T19:56:00.001-07:00

Dear July,

Are you really almost over already? How does that happen? That means the boys will be back in school in less than a month and honestly, I’m just not ready for that. Yes, I’m one of those parents who likes having my kids home during the summer. I know some parents just don’t understand, but despite the bickering, whining, and messy house I like being home with my boys. I think the state of TX needs to go back to the school schedule of my childhood and not start until after Labor Day. Life would make so much more sense to me that way.

Signed,

Summer-lovin’

**************************************************************************************************

Dear People Who Think Their Opinion is Exalted,

It’s not. You make my life difficult and I’d love to knock you off your imaginary pedestal.

Signed,

You’re this close to catching my wrath.

** It seems as though the link-up app I use is no longer working or is temporarily disabled. I will try to get this fixed as soon as possible. You may leave your link-ups in the comments if you would like and I will visit every last one of you.**

"They used to call me Piggy!'"

2011-07-20T18:32:00.001-07:00

Faces are blurred because I do not have permission to post them on my blog, but every time this group of boys is together I am reminded of The Lord of the Flies. We only wish that these blurred faces weren’t moving across the country next week. Rachel, if you run into a family with three blond boys with matching blond parents who are incredibly nice and congenial, tell ‘em I said hi. And while you’re busy looking for people who might know me, my cousin and her family have moved to your area too. If this keeps up I’m packing my bags and following them all.

Score One for the Boys

2011-07-19T14:42:00.001-07:00

(Google)

A summer afternoon with no pressing timelines or places we have to be led to a few minutes spent in Dollar General perusing the toy aisle for the boys and the purses for me. And not totally unexpected but embarrassing all the same, the sound of whoopee cushions deflating repeatedly echoed throughout the store. The sound of my voice could be heard over the short shelves and narrow aisles, “Boys, that’s enough.” And not totally unexpected but embarrassing all the same, the deflating whoopee cushion sound continued despite my repeated requests to put the things away. As I found my way to where the obnoxious sounds and giggling came from, my boys looked at me and immediately threw the toys back on the shelves and gave me ten push-ups as punishment for not listening to me. This has quickly become a favored consequence to hand out because not only does it embarrass them in public (And isn’t it my duty as a mother to embarrass my children in public?), but it stops the unwanted behavior immediately. As we walk past the glaring cashier empty-handed and out the doors of the store the boys continued to giggle until I informed them that if they had broken one of the whoopee cushions (do you realize how easy it is to pop those things?) than they would be paying for it out of their own money. Their solemn mood continued until I turned on the van and pulled out of the parking lot.

Nolan whispering to Jakob, “That was funny.”

Jakob whispering back, “Yeah it was.”

I just can’t outplay potty humor.

Boys= 1

Mom= 0

Mission Accomplished

2011-07-17T18:04:00.001-07:00

On April 27th of this year I began a running program called Couch to 5K (C25K). It is a program that promises to take you from a couch potato to a 3 mile runner by following the outline three days a week for nine weeks. Had I started the program before the end of April, I probably would have finished it in nine weeks, but by the end of May it is blazing hot here in TX and my running times were limited to very early morning or after 8:00pm. (Actually only after 8:00pm because I am not a morning person.) So it took me eleven weeks to cross the finish line, but I never had to repeat a day or backtrack because I was unable to meet the goals set before me.

I admit, when I began the program and was jogging for 60 second intervals I thought I was going to drop of a heart-attack right in front of my house 15 seconds into the jog. It wasn’t easy by any means. But I kept at it and made this my mantra:

This morning I got all ambitious and set my alarm for 6:30am. Oh my gosh, what an unholy hour when one does not have to be up for any other reason but to lace up the running shoes. I was on the road in my neighborhood (and by neighborhood I mean hills) and on my way to running a 5K by 6:45. The humidity was high this morning and I felt like I was running through a haze but the sun had not risen yet so it was almost bearable. I still don’t know what is better- running in 90+ degree heat or running in high humidity. Both together is miserable, but one by itself is survivable. Barely.

Through the entire program I have been running for time and not distance. The longest time I have run to this point (not on a treadmill) is 33 minutes and I am averaging a 13 minute mile. A 5K today is not only the furthest I’ll have run, but also the longest amount of time I’ll have run without stopping.

So the run? The run went so much easier than I thought it would! There was one section of road that was a loooonnnng uphill that I really struggled on, but the short quick hills really weren’t any problems and I recuperated well on the downhills. And I did it! I ran 3.1 miles this morning in 38:48. I even managed to quicken my pace and run about a 12 minute mile.

Confession: This picture was not taken this morning. It was taken at 6:00pm after a shower, a nap, and dinner. And I was running harder and faster than my normal slog. But wowzer, check out that muscle in my forearm! Who would’ve thought that running would give me muscles in my arms?! (Blatant attempt to take the attention away from my thighs.)

Resale Therapy

2011-07-16T16:34:00.001-07:00

I went resale shopping this morning and kinda feel like I hit the jackpot. The first shop I went to had all children’s clothing on sale for 50 cents. EVERYTHING. And while I had to hunt for the treasures amidst the trash, it was well worth my time. It is usually very difficult to find used clothing for boys ages 5-12 because boys are rough on their clothes. Really rough. However, the resale-powers-that-be were shining down on me today because both shops I walked into had plenty for me to pick and choose from. Granted- it was mostly blue but it was name brand, new with and without tags, and cheap. With the exception of shoes, my boys school clothes shopping is done. (Luckily they still have some good shirts in their closet that are not blue.)

The breakdown:

4 pairs of shorts

8 pairs of jeans

9 shirts

1 pair of pants

Total: $75.00

Letters of Intent

2011-07-14T19:40:00.001-07:00

*Note to my readers* For those of you who don’t know- Jakob has Aspergers (autism). Issues with food is common with these kiddos.

Dear Volunteer at VBS,

I appreciate you spending 3 hours everyday this week with a group of children who may very well be complete brats (like the one who slammed Nolan into a wall) and are being dumped off at your church because it is free childcare. Despite the heathens, my boys come home everyday excited about what they did and learned that morning. Jakob has taken the biblical lessons to heart and worked very hard on encouraging others this week. It has truly been a good experience for him.

However, today he wasn’t my happy little boy when I picked him up. Everyday he has gone to VBS with a small snack in his pocket because he has a lot of aversions and textural issues with food. He does not like the snack the church provides and I am more than happy to send one with him every day. Apparently today was the day when he got “caught” with outside food. I do not understand why you took his snack from him, threw it away, and told him he had to eat the fruit kabobs. First off be happy that he didn’t actually eat them. I’m sure the vomiting that would have ensued (yes, I can guarantee you that he would have vomited right there on his plate) could have turned into a chain reaction and you would have been not only a witness of it, but the cause of it. Secondly, why didn’t you just talk to him before you took it? Why didn’t you ask him where he got it and why he had it? He’s 9 years old and perfectly capable of having a reasonable conversation with you.

I will be chatting with you tomorrow morning, the last day of VBS, about the snack in my child’s pocket. I sincerely hope that you allow my son to eat his snack which was brought from home and provided by his mother.

Signed,

A mom who had to stop for an Icee on the way home to make up for a stolen snack.

P.S. It’s not just fruit he doesn’t eat, it’s pretty much everything. Unless you have 1 of the 5 foods he eats, he just won’t eat. Thankyouverymuch.

It’s All an Illusion

2011-07-12T14:05:00.001-07:00

In case I haven’t mentioned it *rolling eyes*, we’re in a drought here in TX. And along with a drought comes water restrictions. We are in stage 2 or 3 of water restrictions. ~~I don’t really know because I don’t pay a whole lot of attention to those kinds of things.~~ What that means is that we are only allowed to water our yard once a week (I think?) after 8pm. Basically, we can water enough just to keep the ~~weeds~~ grass alive.

So childhood rite of passages like Slip-n-slides

and running through the sprinklers on a hot summer day are not allowed.

But my photoshopping skills are really improving aren’t they? You’d never guess my kids didn’t get to experience these childhood favorites. I think they’ll appreciate me fabricating their summer vacations for them when they’re older. After all isn’t that what childhood is about- false memories that parents plant into their brains?

Relocating

2011-07-10T18:19:00.001-07:00

There’s some big changes going on around here this summer.

Yes, that moving truck is in my driveway. No, I’m not moving.

Nate is.

(Yes, he’ll probably be mad that I’m posting this picture of him. )

He is flying the coop and spreading his wings a few miles down the road.

And the fight for who gets his room has begun.

Letters of Intent

2011-07-08T09:09:00.001-07:00

Have you been disappointed by your favorite blogger lately? Have you received nasty comments on your blog that are worthy of a whole blog post devoted just to them? Has life thrown you some curveballs? Does your spouse write things on Facebook that embarrass you? Speaking of Facebook, are you tired of people airing their dirty laundry disguised as a status? Or maybe you won the lottery and you want to let me know you plan on sharing your windfall with me! Well tell me about it…in letter form of course. Write the who, what, when, where, and why of it all. Grab the button from my sidebar and link up at the bottom. I look forward to your Letters of Intent!

Oops. Is it Friday already?

Dear Self,

I know it’s summer and days run into each other but to totally forget that it is Friday is a bit much.

Signed,

Loving the lazy, hazy days of summer.

(Google)