Flys have 87 Lives

Yesterday, the kids came running outside to tell me that there was "a huge bug flying around the house!" I went inside and armed myself with a kitchen towel, and went to work stalking the ginormous bug. Now, in our neighborhood, we have a tendency to congregate out front by the basketball hoops. Said hoops happen to be right in front of my living room window. So, unfortunately, my neighbors got a great view of the crazy lady waging war with a big black fly. As soon as I realized what I was doing, I was pretty embarassed, and I think I dislocated my shoulder whipping the towel, and I killed that stupid fly at least a million times (even smushed it with a shoe) but it kept coming back to life. I finally gave up, exhausted, and let my neighbors return to their daily gossip....having given them something more exciting to talk about than the HOA.

Speaking of gossip, Willie told one of our neighbors last week, "My daddy's been gone all week and I don't think we're ever going to see him again." Yikes.

The boys got new underwear the other day. On the way home from Target, they asked if they could open their underwear. No problem. Next thing I know, there are machine gun sounds coming from the back of the car. I look in the rearview mirror to see the boys, underwear on their heads, "shooting" the cars behind us, yelling, "The Stupid Poopies are coming! Get the Stupid Poopies!" At least the neighbors didn't witness this.

And finally, Samantha has learned to nod her head, "Yes." It cracks me up. Yesterday, I started asking her a barage of questions, to see if she actually knew what she was doing. Did you have fun with dad? Yes. Did you play with toys? Yes. Did you eat yummy food? Yes. Do you want candy? Emphatic yes. Are you ready for bed? Pause...."Naaaaaah!" I guess she knows what she's saying!

Twitter

*Willie swallowed a button.

*EmJ asked me when I was in high school. I told her 1996-2000. She said, "Were there cars back then?"

*Yes, my parents used to make us write essays as a form of discipline. We now subject our kids to the same torture. EmJ's most recent essay. "We should be modest. If we don't we get consequences. That is a good enough reason for that."

*Benjamin is potty-trained!!!!!!!!

*It has finally been nice enough the last couple days to wear sandals and show off my pedicure! What a wonderful birthday gift...both the pedi and the weather!

*My trip was fabulous, but I didn't bring my camera. A major highlight (besides meeting baby Lia and listening to Coleson's endless commentary on everything under the sun) was finally joining the pop culture phenomenon that is Guitar Hero (or Rock Band...I don't actually know...were we playing on a Wii, or something else?)

*Our garden is growing! How do you go about "thinning" the plants? Is there a science to that, or do I just pull out the sprouts that are too close together?

*Sam has not stopped talking for the last three days. She walks around with a book and a pen lecturing everybody.

*Benjamin asked me yesterday how food and drinks become waste. Or, in his words, "Mom, how is chocolate milk pee?"

*I got a new old bike. My neighbor was going to clean and spiff it up for me, until he found out I was a Yankee fan. I'm going to have to clean and spiff it up myself....or not...as long as the pedals and brakes work, I'm good.

*I made Willie's birthday invitations and got them sent out this past weekend. He is not able to go more than five minutes without mentioning that his birthday is coming up. His birthday list is extensive. Poor boy hasn't realized that the party IS his present!

*That's it!

Happy Easter

From our home to yours...Happy Easter!!!

Sore

So, I'm going out of town this weekend. Deserting my family on Easter. About an hour ago, I realized that we hadn't colored Easter eggs. Ack! So, this was our naptime project today. The kids enjoyed it, and this picture is me waving goodbye (or telling Gus to smile, or both...). T-10 minutes until Luke rolls in and I roll out!!!

And this is why I'm sore. Watermelon, red peppers, onions, chives, green beans, carrots, potatoes, cucumbers, and tomatoes. I decided this year to sprout my garden indoors, since we have such a short growing season. We'll see how it works. I've barricaded the room to save my "garden" from the Sam.
More containers.

The strawberry patch. At least, that's my goal. From three plants last year, the strawberries grew to this. Wowza! They were clustered in the back right corner, but in the last few days I've re-mounded and straightened the rows, weeded, and transplanted all the berry plants. Now we'll see what happens. My plan is to keep them in pretty rows, so if you live close and want any strawberry shoots (about July) let me know!

Seriously, I always thought that gardening for exercise was just a small step above "lazy-as-dirt." But I've repented. I'm sore--gluts, hamstrings, muscles in my back that I don't know the names of. Owwwwww!

Happy Easter everyone!!!

P.S. Who was the genius who thought to put dirt in a bag and sell it? I want to get in on that action. It was probably the same person who thought to put water in a bottle.

My Loot!

I love my birthday! It's at my favorite time of year...early spring, bright days, baseball, Easter, and spring break. Maybe I chose to be born in April.

Birthday #27 was fabulous (even though I realized last night that I am officially OLDER than all but one American Idol candidate, as well as the contenders for rookie of the year, and last year's MVP...yikes). I got to have a little celebration at my mom's house on Sunday...and recieved a LABELMAKER!!! Then on Monday, I enjoyed the sunshine. Seriously, it was the first beautiful day of spring, and it was perfect timing. I sat outside all day, reading and visiting. My mother in law came to see me and brought the beautiful necklace and awesome vase...isn't that perfect for me?! Monday night, Luke took me out to dinner and on a small shopping spree. My new running shoes are beckoning me...And finally, EmJ wrote and played me a song for my birthday. It was so sweet, and, of course, Willie and Gus, copied her and improvised some songs, too.

I loved my birthday! (Except the Yankees lost.)

*And one funny thing to record before I sign out for the day...I ran to a crying Gus this morning and asked him what was wrong. He said, "I want Joshua to be dead!" heeheeheehee I'm pretty sure he meant make-believe dead, but judging by the amount of argung they have been doing lately, that's up for debate.*

*One more thing...My cute mom did a photo-story about me on her blog in celebration of my birthday. I tell you this not so you can see A. Dor. A. Ble. pictures of me as a kid, but so you can see how much Luke resembled Zack Morris when he was in high school...seriously!

www.puppygrandma.blogspot.com

Great Wolf Lodge

Every time I look at this photo I start giggling...

This past week we went to Great Wolf Lodge (lots of water, lots of fun, lots of everything for everyone...).

It was fantastic, family-friendly, and made me forget for a minute that it's still 30 below outside.

One of the worst things about theme-parks is that you play all day and then have to trek home when you are all tired and worn out...but having your hotel room within, er, 30 seconds of the water park sure saves a lot of grief!

The kids took a few minutes to warm up to the idea of a water park, but ended up loving it. Joshua was somewhat less dare-devilish than last summer, but I attribute that to the lack of Luke-throwing-him-down-the-waterslide-without-regard-for-rules-or-feelings.

Benjamin was the most masochistic of the kids, allowing himself to be squirted, sprayed, or dumped on repeatedly.

Emmeline refused to have any fun. No, just kidding, she was quite content to paddle around in the kiddie or wave pool, but was adamant about avoiding slides and sprinklers.

Samantha wasn't really diggin' the adventure. But she loved being with Grandma, Grandpa, and Alivia.

I learned a new trick. If you cover the pack and play with a nasty hotel bedspread, then the 1 year old sleeps a bit better! (Don't call CPS.)

This weekend reaffirmed my belief that the two best places for people-watching are airports and waterparks. Seriously. This weekend I saw it all. I could have gone without seeing...well, use you imagination...or not. Green and white striped tankinis are all the rage this year...I think I counted 6. My personal favorites, thought, were the guy in a racing cap (I don't think that makes you go faster on the slide...) and the lady in a wetsuit (?!?).

Good fun. Well done, mom!

(Oh, just to clarify, my mom wasn't the one in the wetsuit...she's the trip mastermind!)

The Yankees

The next time I blog will most likely be after opening day...so I thought today it was fitting to do a Yankees spring training recap or photos of the new stadium or something. However, I read this on Peter Abraham's blog (sorry, I don't know how to link it, and I doubt you are really that interested) and I figured that, of all the Yankee stuff I could post, Luke would be most appreciative of this:

Greetings from the Warren Sapp International Airport and Waffle House here in Tampa. I’m waiting for my flight back to New York.

As we were in the car headed here from the stadium (which is two miles away), a police cruiser came racing past with its lights flashing and siren on. A bus followed closely behind.

Yep, it was the Yankees. Rather than run the risk of stopping at one of the four red lights, they received an escort to the airport. I didn’t check, but there were probably a squadron of fighter jets overhead. Can’t take any chances.

HAPPY OPENING DAY YANKEE FANS!!!!