Tonight We Will Be . . .

Reformation Day, called Halloween by some, is my boys' second favorite holiday, second only to Christmas. They LOVE to dress up! Here is what they will be tonight:



Stephen is a blonde Superman. He wanted me to get black gel or to dye his hair, but I know when to draw the line. Sorry buddy. This Superman has to stay a blonde!



AJ is going as Batman. This is the second time he has been Batman. Of course, now he is "Batman, the Dark Knight!" We would have used the costume from three years ago, but . . . hello! He's grown about ten sizes! Besides, isn't this time of year all about getting a new costume!



Josh is going as Napoleon Dynamite. OK, I can hear some of you asking why he even knows about Napoleon, let me say, I am paying for that decision. Even though I know I'm not supposed to play favorites, Josh's costume really is my favorite. Maybe it's because he plays the whole part so well!! I wasn't real sure about the movie, but my son as Napoleon Dynamite totally cracks me up!



Princess is going as Princess tonight. Well, actually, she's staying home to guard the house. And while she's a pussy cat when we have visitors (a pussy cat with a very loud bark!), she's quite a mean gaurd dog. So if you're planning on coming by while we're at our party . . . DON'T!



I'm going to spend tonight with the superheroes and their best bud Karate Kid tonight. So at the moment, I'm feeling quite safe!

Sit Still !!!

This is how we have to read to AJ. His bopping around when we're trying to read to him just drives me crazy!!! Evidently, I'm not the only one.

An Unexpected Evening

Hot dogs cooked in a campfire. S'mores. Sleeping under the stars. That's what the two younger boys and I had planned for tonight. Ok, I actually had planned loading the Suburban, setting up a tent, frantically trying to get supper stuff out for starved children, exhaustedly sitting for a few minutes by myself next to a dying campfire, very little sleep on the ground in a drafty tent, and getting up the next morning to reverse the whole process only to pack up and head home (and whee! More word awaits at home!) Yes, my view of camping is different than that of the boys. But none of us got what we expected.

Florida weather as the temperature changes is unpredictable, and this weekend, they predicted rain and wind. So the camping trip with Cub Scouts was cancelled. AJ moaned, "My first camping trip!!!" Stephen wailed,"Now we have to stay inside!" Mommy was disappointed too. (Yeah right! Because I had to put away all that camping stuff I took out late last night!) But God had an entirely different plan for all of us.

First, I made a deal with the boys that they could camp in the living room. The really like doing this, so reluctantly I set the tent up. They moved the PS2 in and plugged it into the Big TV. We rented a movie. But unexpectedly, the power went out. No PS2. No movies. Lots of dark. We started lighting candles. Then we pulled out some games. And we had fun. Together. After lots of hysterical laughter over the Uno Attacks machine that kept shooting a hundred cards at a time, and the death-vengeance game of Sorry! the power came up. And once again today, we were disappointed. At least we did get to see our movies.

God had an entirely different plan for us tonight. And it was kind of fun. Makes me want to flip the switch on the electrical panel once in a while.

A . . . B . . . C . . . D . . .

Josh and Stephen just had a contest to see who could belch the loudest . . . then the grossest . . . then the entire ABC's. Seriously. You know, it never ceases to amaze me that all those things boys are credited with coming up with on their own to do . . . they really do them. I have honestly never belched the ABC's. In fact, I don't know how to make myself belch. Nor would I want to.

One Well-Loved Piggie!

Well, after seven weeks, our ginuea pig is still being well-cared for. He is often hand-fed, and the boys still argue over who should get to do it. Cage cleaning isn't quite as competitive as it was at first, but it gets done, and so far I've only had to be the calendar/alarm clock. We absolutely love having our piggie. He is so funny. We feed him piggie chow and hay in the morning, and fresh veggies and a little fruit in the evening. His evening meal is definitely the favorite, and if we forget or run late, he squeaks like crazy until we feed him. His chirping and squeaking drive the dog nuts. She seems to really love him too. Tonight she was licking him as Stephen held him and fed him. I'm not too confident that Princess would love him as much if he was loose in the house, so we are really trying to keep him secure. Oh yeah . . . the boys decided to call him Nibs. (I think it's a name from Peter Pan)

OK. He REALLY Nees a Haircut Now!

One of my ex-husband's biggest pet peeves is that I don't get the boys' hair cut often enough. I just don't notice that it's getting long, or I notice on Sundays when we finally comb it but forget during the week when we can get it cut, or I just get too busy to get it done. So anyway, I saw Josh like this today, and thought I might send it to him just to show him how much worse it could be.



What? You don't think that would be such a good idea?

My Proud New Cubbie

For the last four years, every week, AJ has asked me how much longer it would be until HE was in Cub Scouts. Last Monday it was finally his turn. He was SOOO excited to put on the uniform, and I think he has told nearly everyone since then that "he is now a Cub Scout." We have worked hard this week to learn the Scout promise, law, motto, the secret sign and handshake. What was I thinking when my others were little? I steered clear of scouts with them and let my dad do it . . .but this is fun! I LOVE his excitement and enthusiasm, and I'm eagerly looking for new things to do with him. Isn't it great that Andrew is having so much fun?

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!)