The Proof!!!

Here are a few photos from vacation. Thanks blog police!!!


Stephen sporting a "water beard."


The comment I got on this one was about how much energy Andrew has and how do I ever keep up with him. I don't. And yes, welcome to my world. He wakes up with his engines revving in the morning, and doesn't slow down or have an unoriginal thought until he literally passes out at night.


Auntie Donna told me she wants to draw a little black nose and doggie ears on Josh. He didn't think that was real funny. Hmmmm . . . maybe I'll print a copy and do it.

See? We really did go on vacation!

Trip Highlights

This is kinda how our vacation went:

Saturday 9/9 finally left the house at around 10am. Squeezed a 6.5 hour trip into 9 hours (too many pit stops). Arrived at Nana and Grandpa's house at about 7pm. Had dinner, watched a little TV and went to bed.

Sunday 9/10 got up and went to church with Nana and Grandpa. Spent the afternoon resting and watching TV. Went to see a movie with Grandpa that evening instead of going back to church. (Shame on us!)

Monday 9/11 everybody was at work, so the boys and I slept late, laid around watching TV, had a late lunch out, then went to the Mall of Georgia after we picked Lilly up from school. That evening we had dinner at the house and watched MORE TV.

Tuesday 9/12 we got up a little earlier and did some schoolwork, then ran some errands. After we picked up Lilly, we went to an indoor swimming park, but thunder closed it down after a half hour, so we got a pass to go back. We spent the evening . . . guess what! Watching TV and playing PlayStation. (Hey! We were on vacation, right?)

Wednesday 9/13 we did a little more schoolwork, then went back to the mall. After we picked up Lilly we went swimming again, but got home in time for Nana, Lilly, and Josh to go to church. The other boys played PS2, while Mom worked on laundry and packing herself for a conference.

Thursday 9/14 we did some schoolwork, and Mom worked on picking up our stuff and finishing laundry. After we picked up laundry we ran to Walmart for a few things, then to the playground to take pictures of Lilly and her boys (which I, of course, later DELETED!!!). Then we returned to Nana's house where the boys would stay while Mom went to a Presbyterian Women's Conference. I left about 6pm, but got lost in downtown Atlanta, finally arriving at my hotel at about 9pm. After a quick bite to eat and a little TV, I went to bed. The boys mostly played PS2 and watched TV. (Are you noticing a theme yet?)

Friday 9/15 Mom attended the pre-conference sessions, enjoyed her hotel room overlooking Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, and then went to the opening session. The boys spent the day with Grandpa. I'm not really sure what they did. About all I've gotten out of them is something about PS2 and that they went to the mall and bought stuff.

Saturday 9/16 Mom continued with her conference. The boys were with Grandpa in the morning, then went with Aunt Donna to a nearby park-festival kind of thing (You just don't get many details with boys!), where they drank at least two cokes each and got wet (I got at least THAT out of them!) They spent the evening with Nana. Betcha can't guess what they did.

Sunday 9/17 Mom attended worship service at the conference while the boys went with Nana and Grandpa. After the conference, Mom headed back to the house where she began packing stuff up and loading the car. We left Atlanta around 8pm, and settled into a motel room in Macon around 11pm.

Monday 9/18 Got up and had breakfast at the hotel. The boys swam while Mom had quiet time. Then we loaded up the car and hit the road around 11:30. We got home about 5:30pm after picking up the dog at the kennel where she was boarded.

We didn't do anything too exciting, but we got a lot of rest, spent a lot of money, and even got a little school done. It was a great trip!

A Loss Caused by Ignorance

I had it all planned out. We have been on vacation to Atlanta the last nine or so days. I was taking pictured like crazy . . . planning, of course, to post them on my blog so I could prove we had taken a vacation. And then, one afternoon, as I showed all these gorgeous photos to my sister-in-law . . . I got stupid. I decided to delete one very bad photo of the ground. Without really paying attention to what the super-smart camera was asking me . . . I DELETED THEM ALL!!! Yes all my wonderful pictures of the water playground and of cousin Lilly and her boys at the park and who-know-what-else are gone . . . forever. Guess I'm kind of wishing I had read that camera manual instead of jumping in and playing with the camera. Alas, I did not.

Fortunately for me, the blog police took my boys to play on Saturday while I was at the convention, and she took tons of pictures. So you will have the proof eventually. Right blog police?

A Profitable Loss

Just in time to remind me that big kid firsts aren't the only important firsts in the family--AJ lost his first tooth! He was SOOOOO excited, even though the whole prospect of losing it has filled him with anxiety (over the possibility of pain). He just HAD to call someone to tell them (Who does THAT sound like?. Thanks Mr. Mike! He's decided to wait to put it under his pillow because he wants to show Nana and Grandpa and his daddy. That's a relief, since with both of his brothers Mommy has made a small Tooth Fairy pillow, and his is not yet made. Guess I know one thing I'll be doing this weekend!

Reminder!!! I'm NOT YET FORTY!!!!

Yesterday we ate out to celebrate selling our van. We went to this wonderful little hamburger place, and while we were ordering, I heard "Footloose." It reminded me of my great high school years, and I said, "Wow! I haven't heard this song in a long time."

The young girl taking our order responded to me, "Oh, yeah. They play these REALLY old songs here!"

I looked at her funny, laughed, stopped and tried to calculate exactly how old I am, then picked up my cane and hobbled to the table.

A Fly on the Wall in My House

"That's it! You're fired!" I heard Stephen announce this to AJ for some reason (it had to do with a new double-barrelled sticky-dart shotgun Stephen just got).

"No, I'm not." AJ answered calmly.

OK. I waited.

"You are too!" Stephen said firmly.

"No, I'm not. You can't fire me," AJ said as clamly as before.

So I sat thinking: if a boss came in to fire an employee, and the employee didn't get mad or upset, but just said, "No," what would the employer do? Hmmmm . . . . Of course, AJ isn't making much money at this, so he's not going to miss the paycheck.

And if you're worried about AJ being unemployed, his brother rehired him a few minutes later.

"Andrew, you're hired again. I need you to be my target!"

Not much room for advancement, but it might be a fun job . . . if you're fast . . . and camouflaged well!

One thing I LIKE about my boys growing up . . .

. . . all the hot, stinky, dirty, heavy, tiring, boring, repetitive, exhausting, loud, icky jobs I hate doing! Isn't that why you have kids?

No, I Haven't Fallen Off . . .

. . . the face of the earth! I'm sick. I've been sick for weeks. Ok,not really, just for days--FOUR days, to be exact(but it feels like weeks!). And are there any signs of it going away? Nope. I'm tired of being sick. Know what I've learned from being sick?

• You can spend too much time in bed (or on the couch--it's all the same thing!). My neck and shoulders hurt from laying down too much.


• Even though you're only supposed to take Ibuprofen every eight hours, it only works for six.


• Kids really stink at givng neck rubs. (They're cute trying, but when your sick, you're not looking for cute!)


• They can't go grocery shopping, and somehow you always get sick when the groceries are low.


• You can get stinky doing nothing.


• If you sleep all day, it's hard to sleep at night--even when you're sick.


• When you need help, people really can't read your mind. (Figured if I was married, I'd be blaming my husband for that; instead I was blaming the rest of the world!)


• While I work hard to get my kids well when they're sick, I think they are deliberately trying to keep me down. After all, it's like a holiday. Hmmmm. . . maybe I need to make them work really hard tomorrow!


• My family targets holidays and holiday weekends for crises!


• Chicken soup, applesauce, and toast are comforting even when you don't have a stomach bug. (Mine is just fever, aches, congestion, and sore throat . . . and I'm thankin' the Lord for that!)


• God's plan is VERY different than mine!

Ok, I'm whining. I'm going back to bed. (Ouch!)