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Holiday Weekend

It's been a strange weekend. Daniel had Bear Scout camp Friday into Saturday so he and Mike were gone. They arrived back home in time for dinner on Saturday and then we went to see Ice Age. After the movie was fireworks and then home for bed. This morning, we packed Mike and Jacob up for Webelos camp. They'll be gone for a few days.

The house always feels off when people are gone. Daniel and Hannah were clearly lost all day without Jacob. They didn't know what to do with themselves. Luckily, some new neighbors helped with the boredom.

A new family moved in a few days ago and they also have three kids. The oldest is Daniel's age and the middle one is Hannah's age. Their mom was not used to the sheer amount of kids that live on our street so she was a little taken aback.

It was just so nice to be outside and talking to adults. I find that when Mike's gone I get next to no adult conversation and most conversations start with "Mooooooooooooooom!" Ugh. Hopefully there will be people out tomorrow too, or I may just lose my mind. At least I know that Mike and Jacob are having a good time at camp.

Pitchmen

FYI...there's a Pitchmen marathon on Discovery Channel today. I can't believe how sad I am about Billy Mays.

Told You I'm Obsessed...

I cannot get this song out of my head. Yes, it's Blue October. No, it's not the real video since it hasn't been released yet as a single. The kids singing on it are so cute. Hard to believe it's Blue October since it's such a happy cheery song.

Hmmm..

What an interesting week. Ed McMahon, Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and Billy Mays all in one week. Crazy. While I'm really tired of all the Michael Jackson coverage, I'm all over the music. A good portion of my childhood revolved around Thriller. I showed Jacob the Thriller video on YouTube this afternoon. He'd never seen it before. He loved it. We also went through Billy Jean and Smooth Criminal. The videos are so long, though, that he lost interest after those three. Oh well.

The kids have been outside all day, everyday, all summer long. They come in every now and then to eat or get a drink or to tattle but otherwise they're gone. I love it. Of course, all the SPF 50 sunscreen hasn't kept Hannah from looking like the Coppertone girl. LOL! Her little butt is so white and the rest of her so isn't. I like to think they're having a good summer.

Really, that's about it from here. Not a whole lot going on and that's the way I like it. Just thinking about the upcoming school year stresses me out.

Where Is This Summer Going?

I blinked and June's almost over. How did that happen? We've already had a great summer, though. We got our vacation and the kids got to go to their very first concert.

Last weekend, we headed to Red, White and Boom. It's an annual outdoor concert that the radio station I listen to puts on. Mostly up and coming artists with one hit or so and then they have a headliner that's been popular for a while. Needless to say, since Mike's stuck in the 70's, he was not at all happy about going. He was a convert by the time the concert was over. Especially after Blue October played (they played just before the headliner, David Cook...although I think they could have easily headlined.)

They've become my summer obsession. Two years ago, it was Maroon 5, last year it was Twilight (although I think it was after the summer) and now it's Blue October. Their music is deep on so many levels. I wish I was able to get Calling You on video but I was too into the song to record it. I did, however, get Hate Me on video. Awesome, awesome and amazing. For those not familiar, this song is an apology from the lead singer to his parents for all of the crap he put them through while he was growing up. The lead singer deals with bipolar disorder and drug/alcohol addiction. The answering machine message at the beginning is an actual message to the lead singer from his mother. Also, it's pretty explicit so watch out when listening around young ones (Mike would cringe every time they would drop the F-word). Please pardon my singing along. Also, at the very beginning, that is NOT me screaming like a banshee! :) However, I do give out a few "whoooooos." Lyrics are below.

Hate Me by Blue October

I have to block out thoughts of you so I don't lose my head
They crawl in like a cockroach leaving babies in my bed
Dropping little reels of tape to remind me that I'm alone
Playing movies in my head that make a porno feel like home
There's a burning in my pride
A nervous bleeding in my brain
An ounce of peace is all I want for you will you never call again
And will you never say that you loved me just to put it in my face
And will you never try to reach me it is I that wanted this

Hate me today
Hate me tomorrow
Hate me for all the tings I didn't do for you
Hate me in ways
Yea ways hard to swallow
Hate me so you can finally see what's good for you

I'm sober now for three whole months that's one accomplishment that you helped me with
The one thing that alwasy tore us apart is the one thing I won't touch again.
In my sick way I want to thank you for holding my head up late at night
While I was busy waging wars on myself you were trying to stop the fight
You never doubted my warped opinions on things like suicidal hate
You made me compliment myself when it was way too hard to take
So I'll drive so f****** far away that I never cross your mind
And do whatever it takes in your heart to leave me behind

Hate me today
Hate me tomorrow
Hate me for all the things I didn't do for you
Hate me in ways
Yea ways hard to swallow
Hate me so you can finally see what's good for you

With a sad heart I say bye to you and wave
Kicking shadows on the street for every mistake that I had made
And like a baby boy I never was a man
Until I saw your blue eyes cry and I held your face in my hand
And then I fell down yelling make it go away
Just make her smile come back and shine just like it used to be
And then she whispered how can you do this to me

Hate me today
Hate me tomorrow
Hate me for all the things I didn't do for you
Hate me in ways
Yeah ways hard to swallow
Hate me so you can finally see what's good for you

Ask For a Little Storm...(and a big vacation photo post)

Well, I finally got my awesome storm last night....on what's considered the last day of severe weather season. The lightning started a good hour before the rain and continued well after the rain slowed. The rain came down in sheets. We lost power for just a second so that wasn't so bad. We also didn't get any hail, which was good. We did, however, get some really nasty wind. Enough wind that it blew my hanging flower baskets down. And those suckers can take some wind. I thought about pulling them down but didn't want to be touching a bunch of metal in a huge lightning storm. Luckily, they don't seem injured, so that's good. I saw Jacob in his room just watching the lightning from his bed. It was cute. I joined him for a while and we 'oohhed' and 'ahhhhed' at it all. He asked me to wake him up if the storm got cooler. LOL!

While we were on vacation, they came and inspected our fence around the pool. He left us a note asking if we could get the fence just a smidge closer to the house and that otherwise, we're good. Sweet. Now I can get on with my life.

We got back from our Oklahoma trip on Sunday evening. We were barely in the garage when the kids' friends were asking if they could play. They were certainly missed while we were gone.

The trip to Tulsa was surprisingly easy. Especially since there are no interstates between here and there. We had to take 169 Hwy all of the way. Fortunately, not only was it four lane for a good chunk, it was also 65mph. Nice. We also only hit about 5 towns before Tulsa so we didn't have to slow down much. There's not much in southern Kansas and northern Oklahoma...lots of hay, wheat and little oil pumps. That was the funniest thing. We also passed signs for Independence, KS and I realized we're not that far. I'm so going before the summer's over.

In addition to the water park, aquarium, Build-A-Bear and other stuff we did, we caught up with Mike's great-aunt and two cousins, who live in Tulsa. That was really neat. Of course I took a few hundred pictures (literally)...

Daniel at the Air and Space Museum. They had a hands-on portion that they loved.
Jacob was the only one tall enough to do this. He was like an astronaut.
Hannah in a plane
Waiting for the movie at the planetarium
Okay...so on our honeymoon, we got to pet stingrays. I asked Mike to take a picture of me petting one. When the film came back, it was just my hand and the stingray. For ten years, I've been on Mike about that. Here, Mike tries to fix that wrong. Here's me petting a stingray. Of course, I wasn't paying attention to the stingrays and one of them put my hand in their mouth. It felt strange and squishy (not painful in the slightest) but it scared me enough to scream and pull my hand out abruptly and splash the heck out of Daniel, who was standing right next to me.
The kids and Mike pet the stingrays.
This was cool. They had a tunnel where the bull sharks would swim above your head.
The kids outside of the aquarium.
The Oklahoma Aquarium
At the zoo, they had a rainforest exhibit and there were tons of these little blue poison dart frogs.
There were also monkeys running around. So close we could have touched them.
The kids goof around at the lion drinking fountain.
These tigers were too cute. They had such a good time with this ball.
At the zoo.
We ate dinner at the most bizarre steakhouse. Before the steaks came hummus, pita and tabbouleh. Oh, and cabbage rolls!
Did I mention that dinner also came with a basket of ribs and smoked bologna?
Daniel in the lazy river at the water park
Jacob loved the wave pool. I have to admit that I did too.
My little Hannah was fearless. This slide emptied into a 9ft deep pool. The girl had no problem swimming to the side.
I couldn't believe Jacob went down this 7 story tall slide. Three times. That's him going down.
And at the bottom.
Here's Mike going down.
These slides were 5 stories tall. The kids loved it. Hannah comes down.
And Jacob
And Daniel. The yellow one was faster than the green one. The pink one was for the tubes...Hannah was mad because we wouldn't rent one and she really wanted to go down the pink slide.
Mike's cousin, Kenny, Mike's great-aunt Lorraine and his cousin, Robert with us in the background just after breakfast Sunday morning.
One of my favorite things from the trip. We confused the Garmin so much that it stopped telling what road we should turn on. Instead we got, "Left on road."
The kids wait for the Build-A-Bear to open. They were so excited.
Jacob stuffs his bear.
Hannah dressing hers
The kids with their finished products. Of all the things we did in Tulsa, this is the one thing they can't stop talking about.
Daniel is a happy boy.
This is the coolest sign. You'll have to click on the picture to make it bigger so you can read it. This is the border coming from Oklahoma back into Kansas. It says, "Leaving Cherokee Nation."

Adventures in Permitting

I dropped Daniel off at summer school this morning and the rest of us headed to City Hall to get our pool permit. We park and head inside. I had no idea where to go so I went into the City Clerk's office and she told me that I was in the wrong building. We had to go two buildings over. Okay. So, we head two buildings over and they tell me that I need to go back over to City Hall. I told them that I had just come from there. The guy asked me if the City Clerk people had directed me to them and I said yes. He told me that she probably heard "pool pass" and sent me there as I was in the Parks and Rec building. He told me to go past the City Clerk's office and go down a hall and I'd find a row of booths with ladies sitting there. That's where I need to go. So, we head back to City Hall.

We go in and I'm still lost. A lady stops me and asks if she can help. When I tell her what I need, she starts to send me back to Parks and Rec. I further explain what I need and she directs me to a very nice lady at a computer.

When I tell her what I need, she tells me that there's no need for a permit for the type of pool I have. Ummm...yes there is. It takes three of them to figure out what's going on and what I need. At that point, one of the guys that was at the house of Friday sees me and thanks me for coming in. The lady helping me tells me that he's the main inspector guy and the boss of everyone there. Huh.

Anyway, she gives me the permit...well, the permit number and tells me that they'll have to come out to inspect the fence. Ugh. Well, we're going out of town tomorrow...she says that's no problem as long as they can get to it, they can inspect it. Fine. They'll be out tomorrow morning.

I'm so tired of this.

Bring On The Storms!

I woke up this morning to a thunderstorm. I love daytime thunderstorms. When Jacob got up he told me that he'd been up for a while, just listening to it storm. He's being taught right! LOL! It stormed and stormed until about 1:30. Lots of thunder and lightning and a ton of rain. It's cleared up a bit...enough for the kids to go outside and play.

I got the temporary fence up, for the most part, around the pool yesterday. I thought it would take more fencing than it did so I have a whole roll that I need to take back. I had called one of the code guys with a question last Friday and he called me back this morning. I told him that we'd almost gotten the temporary fence done and he told me that that was great and that that he would stop bothering me now. Yay! I have neighbors that are really mad that someone called the city on us. One neighbor, Aimee, really hates it because the people behind her are calling on them about once a week because of their dog. Oh well, Jacob2 hasn't been in the pool since the weekend.

I was changing the filter on the pool and putting in chlorine last night when I saw Guillermo running across the backyard. He was almost at my feet when I saw he had something dangling from his mouth. I took about 5 steps back and then looked when I saw that he'd dropped it. Of course it was a baby bunny. All cute and fuzzy. He batted it a couple of times and then picked it up again and brought it closer to me again. The look on his face was like "look what I got mom!" I told him to put the poor bunny out of its misery and to put the body in a place where the kids wouldn't find it (and I actually told him that out loud!) and went back in. So far, I haven't found the bunny and hopefully I won't.

Dreary Monday (and my 900th post!)

I had a great time getting my toes done and having dinner with Roxanne yesterday. I'm totally hooked on pedicures.

It stormed and stormed last night. We got the thunder and lightning about 45 minutes before any rain which was kind of strange. It was super windy too. The TV stations have learned their lesson (I think) about breaking into programming for random tornado warnings because they just kept the box up. Gary Lezak on NBC would come on during commercials. ABC was running the NBA finals and you could tell that it was killing them not to break in. I think they learned their lesson after the whole Grey's thing. Every two minutes or so, they'd play the *BEEP BEEP BEEP* and a big ol' scroll across the top. Why couldn't they do that for Grey's? Oh well. Katie Hoerner on Fox (people around here make fun of her for her scare tactics...she actually told people last year to get in their basements with hard hats on) was adamant that she would be on as long as there was a tornado warning in the viewing area and that those of us in the KC metro would have to suck it up. Oh well. Now, it's kind of cold and cloudy. Hopefully it'll clear up soon.

Daniel started Summer School today. He was so not happy with me when I woke him up. It was everything I could do to get him in the van. I picked him up an hour and a half later and he had the biggest smile on his face and wouldn't stop talking about what a great time he had. He's already done the assigned homework for Wednesday and can't wait to go back. He actually told me that he wished it was every day! Let's hope it stays this fun for him!

Super Sunday

This weekend has been beautiful. Amazing temps and clear skies. Mike had the last of his testing yesterday and he did very well. Of course, he won't tell you that. He does have a nice bruise on his hand where he broke one of his boards. The kids' teacher, Lara, also tested, but for her recommended third degree. She had to break bricks. She got nervous and had to take a break but came back and broke them. There was a guy there that was testing for recommended fifth degree and he was amazing. He had to do this speed break thing where there were three or four people set up holding boards and he just went from one to another. Very cool. There's a chance that when Mike tests for decided black, Jacob will be going for recommended black. We think that'll be really cool.

After testing, we went out with Stephen and Roxanne for dinner. Their subdivision has a community pool so we went after dinner. The kids loved it. We then had game night and I got my butt kicked in Rummikub. We're going to have to pull out some Trivial Pursuit and Pictionary for next time.

Roxanne and I are going for a girls' evening tonight. We're going to go get pedicures and then have dinner. I love girls' night. Actually, I'm most looking forward to the pedi. It's been a while and my toes look like crap.

Rant and A Little Bit of Haha

About three weeks ago, we got new neighbors. The people behind our neighbors moved out and this new family moved in. Seemed nice enough...three kids (7...Jacob2, 3 and 1)...Jacob2 is kind of bizarre and annoying (see previous post) but whatever. I didn't think a whole lot about them...until today.

Around 4:30, code enforcement pulls up to the house to investigate a complaint on our pool. Interesting. I asked who it was but they wouldn't tell me. I took them to the backyard to see the pool. I look up at the house with the new family and the dad is on his deck, just a little too interested in what's going on.

The code enforcement guys were very nice. They said that I needed a permit and told me how to get one (they're free). They also told me that because the pool is (get this) less than 4 feet high, we need a fence. If it were 4 feet high, it acts as its own fence. Ours is 4 inches shy. Crap. What's funny is that our pool in the past was in bigger violation than this one! So, we went over all of the ways that we can fence that bad boy in. Since the yard itself doesn't need to be fenced, we can drag a chain link fence (another reason you have to love no HOAs) from the deck to the side of the house. Sweet. Get the permit, enclose the pool ASAP and you're good to go. We all shake hands and I walk them to their truck.

When I come back to the backyard, Jacob2 has joined the pool bunch and his dad's standing in my backyard. Paul, the 16 year old next door who mows our yard and had been edging at the time, comes over to chat with me. I told him what the code guys said and he asked why they were there. Loud enough for new neighbor to hear, I say, because someone called in a complaint. (I could NOT have planned this more perfectly) Paul says, "Who would be dumb enough to do that?" Thank you Paul. After Paul left, I walked over to new neighbor and introduced myself, being as sickeningly sweet as I could be. I don't think they're too happy with the fact that the pool's still up.

Here's why I'm pretty sure it's them. They're the only new people around. Everyone else has been here for at least as long as we've been and no one's complained before. In fact, almost everyone swims in our pool at least once a season. I can't see why they'd call on us now.

Anyway, Stephen said that he'd be willing to help us put in a temporary fence in exchange for a bottle of wine and a lasagna. LOL! So, as soon we'll be having a fence/pool/lasagna party. Stephen suggested we use the bright orange fencing material that they use at construction sites. I still think a barbed wire coil is more fitting.

Random Friday

It has been beautiful for the past two days. It seems like each day is better than the last. Today we have total sunshine and 80's. Nice. The kids have been living outside, which is awesome. Just another reason we don't have a lot of gaming stuff. They need to be outside playing and getting exercise.

My exercise plan in the evenings is going well. Last night, I managed 30 minutes on the elliptical. Yay me. Anyway, I saw this new piece of equipment that looked kind of like an elliptical and kind of like an arc trainer so I thought I'd give it a try. Yeah, that lasted 5 minutes (on the level 1). That thing was nuts. I don't even know how to describe it. It felt like running in really deep sand. If you don't make your stride as long, it's like a stair stepper. I don't think I'll be going back to this one. I'll keep the elliptical and arc trainer thanks. Anyway, I've also been doing Weight Watchers for the past three weeks along with the exercise. I've lost 7 pounds so far and am feeling good. 7 pounds feels like a lot but I haven't noticed any difference. That sucks. Oh well. I've only got about 33 more pounds to lose...hahahaha, only. I've done it before so I know I can do it again.

Mike starts testing for his recommended black belt tonight. We're very excited for him! I know he'll do well.

Summer Time

The kids have been on break for a week now. It doesn't seem possible. Daniel starts summer school next week (Monday and Wednesdays) and he's not all that happy about it. Of course, he asks me every day when he's going to school so who knows what's going on in his little head.

We got a new pool this year. This one is 2 feet wider and 3 inches deeper than the one we had last year. We got it all set up yesterday but it takes forever for it to fill so they really didn't get to swim. Oh, and the fact that it started thunderstorming didn't help. The new kid (Jacob 2 is what the kids call him) behind us could be a problem this summer. My kids don't like him much because he just wanders over and takes their toys (literally back to his house). He's also very mean to Guillermo, which pisses me off. Anyway, we were still setting the pool up and had about 1 inch of water in it when Jacob 2 (he's 7) comes over. "I want to swim!" he tells us. I told him, "not right now. We're still getting it set up." He disappears for 2 minutes and returns in his swimsuit and a towel. Ummm...no. After 10 minutes of arguing with this kid, he finally went back to his house to play on his slip and slide. He felt the need to narrate everything he was doing...my guess is to make the kids jealous that he was doing something they weren't. Oh well.

Mikayla (a little girl that lives behind us) came knocking on our door this morning and I heard her tell Hannah, "I saw you've got your pool set up. It's HUGE!" I wish they could swim in it...it's only 60 degrees right now. It sucks because we've been in the upper 80's. Hopefully, it'll warm up like they say it will and they can freeze their butts off in the water this afternoon. They're settling for Mikaya's trampoline right now...that'll hold them over.

I've started getting to the gym in the evenings after Mike gets home from TKD. Monday, he was upset because testing is this Saturday and he still hadn't been told he could test for his recommended black belt. He's been working his butt off (at TKD 5 days a week) and was feeling really upset about it all. He'd been texting Stephen (one of the teachers, and good friend, who was going for his third degree this weekend) and Stephen told him that he just had to buckle down and be more than ready for August. I headed to the gym, where I ran into Stephen, who was finishing up his workout. We chatted for about 25 minutes (which was awesome because I didn't even notice that I'd killed 25 minutes on the elliptical) and Stephen told me that he'd been told not to test this week. I guess he was not mentally ready. He's not a happy camper but what are you going to do?

Anyway, I take the kids to TKD last night. Jacob decided to talk to Master Johnson about his own black belt testing. Jacob asked about testing in December and Master Johnson told him that sounded good but if he was ready in October, he should test then. There's another little boy who wants to test in October and his mom and I are considering sharing some private lessons to get them ready. Jacob's so excited.

The kids and I come home and eat dinner. Mike comes home after class and tells me about it. He says that they were getting their pads on for sparring when Master Johnson announces to everyone that they need to take it easy on Mike and another guy because they're testing this weekend. Needless to say, Mike's thrilled and nervous all at the same time. He's been working so hard and I know he'll do great.

Three Day Weekend!!!

What a great weekend it's been. The kids have been outside all day long, playing with the kids in the area. Mike and the kids had a very superhero weekend...watching the X-Men movies and whatnot in the evenings after dinner. I've been into the marathons...Band of Brothers and Star Wars. Hannah fell asleep in the middle of one of the movies last night and slept until almost 11 this morning. I think she may have been a little tired.

We fired up the grill for the first time of the season yesterday. Hot dogs and hamburgers. Yum. Right now, there's corn and chicken grilling and I'm killing time until the asparagus goes on. I love this time of year!

I also got into my gardens, big time, this weekend. The front yard looks awesome. Added a few more perennials and a lot of annuals. It took me forever to get through the mountain of weeds around my roses. I have to admit that it's the first time in almost two years that I've really been over on that side of the house. Mostly because that's where the bunny graveyard is. I finally cowboyed up and got all of the thistles and crap out of there and I could just hear the roses sigh with relief. Now, I just need to get into the backyard and clean that baby up.

Saturday night was Girls Night Out. My friend, Lynne, is moving to Alabama on Wednesday and she wanted one last hurrah. It was tons of fun. Unfortunately, I've only been to the Plaza one other time so I was very confused trying to find it. I can't believe I was only 15 minutes late. We had such a good time that we all decided to make it a monthly thing.

I guess that's about it from here for now...Return of the Jedi's on and I've got to check on the chicken.

Whew!

It's been a busy couple of weeks. Things are finally starting to wind down at the school and it's strange that the kids will all be home for the summer a week from today.

Hannah had her last Daisy Girl Scout meeting for the year last week. Melissa, her troop leader, announced that the Girl Scouts have made the Daisy program a two-year deal so Hannah will be a Daisy for another year. She'll start Brownies in 2nd grade.

This is the cake that Melissa made. When she told us how she did it, I was amazed. She spent a lot of time on it. (the bee alone is made from three different cake pan parts - the wings are bunny ears!) It was very yummy.

The girls get ready for the flag ceremony.
Saying the Girl Scout Promise.
Daisys is all about learning the Girl Scout Law. They break down the parts and earn petals when they master each one (that's what the petals on their smocks are for. They get a petal for each one mastered.) They also used this board to help them along. Hannah puts up one of the petals.
Melissa gives Hannah her awards for the year.
Hannah shows off her awards (with a goofy face)
Here are the awards she received. She was the top cookie seller for her troop!
Last night was the graduation/cookout for the boys Cub Scout Pack. This is always a good time. The boys officially get their new ranks (which means Daniel's now a Bear Scout!). It was tons of fun.

Jacob was freaking out because ashes from the campfire kept falling into his drink.
Mike gives his den their awards.
Jacob and his best friend, Andrew.
Mike gives Daniel his new Bear neckerchief
Mike and Daniel.
The Webelos didn't get anything but they were brought up for recognition.

Getting ready to roast marshmallows.
More roasting.
Like mother, like son. Jacob loves his on fire.

Ugh

We had a tornado watch for most of the day yesterday but nothing came of it. So, imagine my shock and horror when I turn on NBC (I was TiVoing Grey's for after the kids went to bed) and Gary Lezak's on with a tornado warning. Panicked, I turn to ABC and their weather guy's on. NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! Gary only interrupted programing from 8-8:30 but freaking ABC did for the whole 8 o'clock hour! For a storm that was barely in our viewing area (200 miles way up to our north past St. Joe). Not only that, but they were also covered by the St Joe NBC station. Why did we have to miss Grey's??? It'd be like WHOI cancelling programing to cover a storm in Sterling. I did get to finally watch it this morning...on my little bitty computer screen at ABC.com since our station isn't even re-running it until Saturday! Ugh!!!

A couple of hours after dropping the kids off at school, I got a call from the school nurse asking me to come get Jacob because his stomach hurts. I will admit that I didn't believe him since he's famous for crying wolf with stomach pain. I did feel bad when, an hour after bringing him home, his breakfast was all over my bathroom floor.

That really sucks because tonight is my very last MOPS and POPS (an evening for the husbands to come, we have a catered dinner, childcare, games and a speaker...tons of fun!). Mike, very generously, offered to stay home with Jacob so that I could still go. Daniel and Hannah want to go too so the three of us will be heading up there while Mike and Jacob hang out at home.

I just hope no one else gets this stomach thing.

Stressssssss!!!

As much as I'm looking forward to the end of the school year, I hate these last weeks before the end. It's like the school waits to have everything in a two week period of time. Today, I have a parent volunteer luncheon to go to. That's not bad because it's just sitting and eating lunch (with Daniel's teacher...Ack!!). Next week will be insane...actually, mostly next Tuesday and Friday. Tuesday is my last MOPS ever. :( So, that's in the morning and then I run to the school to help with the 4th grade Colonial Day. I'm actually happy it's in the afternoon because I thought I wouldn't be able to help. There was no way I was missing my last ever MOPS meeting. Wednesday, Jacob has his last strings concert and his last Hebrew School for the year. Friday is Field Day and what was I thinking when I volunteered for that!?! Luckily, we don't have to do the OWLS site training (we volunteered to take care of the garden for a week again this summer) since we did it last year. The following week, we have Hannah's class picnic at Deanna Rose that I have to attend. Ugh!!!

In the middle of all of this is tae kwon do and gymnastics. I know I'm forgetting something, I just don't know what. I just have to get through these next few weeks and then we can relax for the summer. We're not doing Day Camp this year (yay!) but the boys are doing overnight camp. I just can't wait to get to summer!!!!

Homemade and Stuff

We're getting spot audited for our insurance so I had to go up to Mike's office so he could photocopy my driver's license. After stopping there, I decided to hit Whole Foods to pick up a couple of things.

I'd been reading Better Homes and Gardens yesterday and they had recipes for body scrubs and hair masks that I wanted to try. I picked up some sweet almond oil and some avocado for the hair mask and then looked around. I also ended up getting a bunch of local honey, some Earl Grey tea and some soy milk. I thought I'd try making my own London Fog drink (from Starbucks).

The hair mask turned out really well (1/2 avocado, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup sweet almond oil. Mash and leave on hair for at least 30 minutes.) It was a little strange to have these huge chunks of avocado in my hair (and randomly falling out onto the floor)...next time, I'll put it in the blender to get a smoother consistency. My hair is nice and soft and it's actually got a ton of curl in it. I'll definitely be doing this one again.

I love the London Fog drink from Starbucks...with a few modifications. I use soy milk and no water. They always look at me like I'm nuts but it's just tastier that way. Anyway, I made my own this afternoon and it tastes exactly the same!!! So, for the price of one of Starbucks London Fogs, I can make 4 at home! LOVE IT!!!

I can't wait to try the honey bubble bath I made! LOL!!!

Crazy Weekend

Mike's nephew, Bryan, and his fiance, Marlaina, got married on Saturday. Hannah was so excited because she got to be the flower girl. Quick funny story:

Thursday night, Hannah had asked me a question.
Hannah: Is there going to be a reindeer at the wedding?
Me: Ummm...I don't think so. I think it's too warm for reindeer.
Hannah: No. A REEEEEIIIIIINNNNNdeer. Will one be there?
Me: Sweetie, maybe at a winter wedding but reindeer don't come to spring weddings.
Hannah: MOM! Seriously! You know...a reindeer. They walk down the aisle with a pillow!
Me (finally getting it): OH! A ring bearer? I don't know if there will be a ring bearer at the wedding.
Hannah: Geez. That's all I wanted to know!

We left for Atlanta on Friday morning. We were nervous because the rehearsal was to start at 5 and we weren't landing until after 2pm. We then had to get the car and drive to Commerce, GA which is where we were staying and where the wedding was taking place. We made it to the hotel at 4:45, we checked in and headed straight to the church.

Amazingly, we were the second people there...Mike's parents were the only ones that beat us. That was fine because the kids got to run around a little and Mike and I were able to change.

Here are some pictures from Friday night. Click the photos to make them bigger.

Mike and his brother, Marc

The bride and groom, Marlaina and Bryan
Hannah and James, the "reindeer."
Hannah waits patiently with the bridesmaids.
The kids loved this huge chess set outside the chapel.

So, we head back to the hotel and are told to be back at the church at 11:30am. Seriously, we could have shown up at 1:30 and we would have been fine but that's okay. The wedding was beautiful and we got some great pictures. It was the first time we got the whole family in for a picture. Here are some photos from the wedding.

Jacob, Daniel and Hannah before the wedding.
Hannah and Marlaina
I can't believe how nice this one turned out. I'm going to put it in a sepia tone and get it blown up. Hannah was looking out the window to see Marlaina getting her picture taken outside.
Hannah and James walk down the aisle. James was so fascinated by what Hannah was doing.
The start of the wedding.
What a big group!
David and Hannah
Daniel and Maurice
The five of us after the wedding.

It was a fun weekend but it's so good to be home.