Woes of summer

Back in April we got a suprisingly low electric bill. Well...I knew it would be short-lived with summer coming. Yesterday we got our bill and it had more than doubled from last month. $296! I just hope it doesn't get any higher but chances are it will! The attic light had been left on for more than a month so maybe that was part of the problem? Our friend who is an electrician said that probably helped with the increase and he recommended changing out our light bulbs for the floursent ones. He said it we would see a difference...we will know in 30 days!

favorite....

I just wanted to document Nate's favorite outfit. This isn't the best picture of these jeans but they are his absolute favorite! They are Lee's Pipes(they have a stripe down each leg). I forgot where I bought them(some consignment shop) and when I saw how much he loved them I looked on ebay trying to find more...but no luck!

This shirt says "Welcome to the gun show". Don't know why it is his favorite but it is! It is pretty funny though:)

Sammers the hamster

Here are some cute pictures of Sammers the hamster. This is actually our 3rd furry rodent in one year. I originally bought a gerbil (aka Sammy)for a class pet for my preschool but after I accidentally killed him the kids wanted to replace him ASAP! So we bought a cute little teddy bear hamster...well this one lasted only a few months because he was biting us! So we headed to the pet store once again looking for a furry friend. They just happened to have some babies they were giving away! The salesperson said if we held him everyday, he would get use to us and become tame! Yahoo! So we finally have a great rodent and I haven't killed him....

20 years

I just got tagged by Shanna and since this was a specific tag I thought I would actually do it:) Plus I have lots to do in the house and this is the perfect excuse to avoid the work! ha!

20 years ago...
1. I was 13 years old and going to start the 8th grade.
2. I had an awful bike wreck. (see #4)
3. I started my period....sorry can't remember much from that long ago!
4. I am sure I was playing summer softball
5. I probably had really short hair.

10 years ago...
1. We were married for 3 years
2. We took a vacation to Washington DC-our first where we didn't know anyone in the city. We thought it was so cool that we could get around all by ourselves!
3. We just moved to LaGrange, Ga.
4. I just graduated from Georgia College & State University with a degree in Early Childhood Education.
5. We were starting the process to figure out why we couldn't have children. If we had it our way we would have already had a 3 year old:)

5 years ago...
1. I was teaching preschool to Sophia and her friend Sarah 2 days a week.
2. Sophia was 3 and Nate had just turned 1. He joined our family November of the previous year(at 10 months old). I held him all of this year....poor thing had serious anxiety issues.
3. My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.
4. I was the Young Women president at church.
5. We took a vacation to Disney and had a BLAST!

3 years ago...
1. We celebrated our 10 year anniversary.
2. Sophia was getting ready to start K. On the first day of school I brought her to class and she waltzed right in without saying good-bye. I remember standing there thinking "what....i guess I leave now...". I had to call her name so she would see me saying good-bye!
3. We traveled to the hills of Virginia with some friends to make apple butter. Every fall their family gets together and make apple butter only using apples, sugar and cinnamon. After making the applesauce they boil and stir the sauce in a copper kettle 11 hours. They still use the same wooden paddle that their grandfather used. That was a great trip...such beautiful country up there!
4. Sophia played soccer.
5. We toyed around with the idea of adopting 2 children from the Philippines.

1 year ago...
1. I opened Learning Adventures Preschool in our playroom(which use to be the garage).
2. My sister and I went to Natalie's wedding in UT. It was Trudy's second ever plane ride and our first(and hopefully not last) trip...just the 2 of us. It.was.so.fun! Natalie's sister Jordan is getting married in August I sure wish we could take another trip to UT together!!
3. After meeting my new neice-- who was just adopted from the Philippines at age 3-- I REALLY wanted to adopt again. I spent one evening scouring the international waiting children lists and dreaming of adopting again. When I mentioned it to Richard he said "No" but I knew if it was meant to be it would happen. In my prayers that night I asked if we should adopt again please let me know(because at that moment I was just caught up in the emotions of looking at all the waiting children!!). The next morning I knew for sure that we were not to adopt again. I was a little sad but then happy because I had received such a clear answer from Heavenly Father. I don't know if that means we will never adopt again but for now we are complete.
4. Richard changed jobs. He worked for the hospital for 9 years and then moved to Amedysis...all in home health.
5. We enjoyed such a wonderful visit from Sophia's birthparents. They flew in from California to be here when she was baptized(November 07). There are not words to describe the bond we have with this amazing couple.

So far this year....
1. We added onto our kitchen, got granite counter tops, Richard painted the majority of the house, and I tiled the kitchen floor.
2. I finished my first year with my preschool and look forward to the fall!
3. I stopped scrapbooking and now make digital picture books and blog instead:)
4. I took the training to become a RPM instructor.
5. I ran a 10K.

Yesterday...
1. We vegged out at home while Sophia recouperated from her sickness.
2. I taught a RPM class at 6pm and then took Body Pump. (i love exercise!)
3. While my family was away at Wal-Mart I thought how nice it was to be alone!
4. Stained the pantry-cabinet for my kitchen.
5. Washed, folded and put away 2 loads of laundry! wahoo....loads of fun here!

Today...
1. Went to Columbus to take Sophia and the other Activity Days girls to their day camp.
2. While the girls were at their activity i went shopping!! i got a new bathing suit and some cool skirts! I haven't been shopping in soooo long!
3. Went to Sam's and bought lots and lots of stuff that is still sitting by the door waiting to be put away...but i can't until I finish this post!
4. I went to the gym this morning and rode the elliptical while listening to the new music for the next RPM release. They have the best music.
5. Was asked by my brother if I could come help with their 4 kids while he has neck surgery on the 7th. So I will be heading to Knoxville, TN then.

Tomorrow....
1. Sleep in.
2. Do some sort of exercise:) did I mention I love to exercise!
3. I want to go to Stone Mountain to use our season passes before they expire this month but Richard wants to stay home...ugh! Maybe we can go to Callaway Gardens instead....I really want to go swimming too!
4. Richard and I are going on a date in the evening!
5. Since I finally have my pantry ready I can get my kitchen totally put back together!!

Next year....
1. Get passports and visit the Philippines. We have had "plans" to do this for YEARS but this time we are really doing it!
2. I want to have my blog printed .
3. Learn Tagalog(national language of the Philippines)....or at least some words so i can tell when they are talking about me....wait I already know that!
4. Maybe do some new landscaping....our yard needs help!
5. Hopefully not be so busy we forget to enjoy the small moments in life!

Hmmmm....I tag Natalie, Trudy, and Corley

Georgia Cup pic

PICT0007
Originally uploaded by GEORGIA CUP

Richard was looking at the pics from the Georgia Cup....from the race this weekend....and he noticed Sophia was in one of them! She is in the background talking on the phone to Grampie!

Saturday fun

Last year we just happened to be downtown while the Georgia Cup was in town. We walked around the fountain and saw the men race their bikes around the streets of LaGrange(they blocked off about one city block and the racers were just going around in a circle). It was so cool to see them going so fast in the pack! What if one crashed??!! That would be some serious road burn!


Anyway....so when I heard they were coming this weekend I was excited to watch the races again....especially since I teach the spinning classes (RPM)...although we pedal and pedal in those classes and never get anywhere:)


So we started off our day with me going to the gym and then we stopped off at Charlie Joseph's for lunch. They are famous for their hot dogs....but I think ballpark's are better! They are in their 5th generation so they must be doing something right?! Then we walked over to watch the races....the races started at noon and lasted until 9pm. There were different groups at different times-youth, women, men, etc. After watching for a while we headed over to the other booths and such the city had set-up for the spectators. One of the favorites for the kids was The Happy Dragon booth with some reptiles.

They had a ball python....looked just like this one! Very friendly. It even changed my mind about snakes...although if i see one in my yard I will still run! The kids went back to that booth a couple of times and were begging to bring a snake home! No way!!

They also had these bearded dragons that were cool. I asked them if they were social. They said they were and that they would "cuddle" with you...I guess as much as a spiky lizard could?? I will stick with my dog thanks.

Then we headed over to the face/body painting booth with Ms. Bobbie-the lady who use to paint faces at Chick-fil-a on family night. She is so good! Nate got this scary looking snake with "boy glitter":) I tried to get him to have a pink butterfly but he wouldn't have any part in that! not my macho Nate!

Then he got the sign for Auburn. Sorry Granny....I know Lisa will like it though!

Sophia got these pretty flowers painted on her face and the blue heart with red ribbons to show her American pride!

It was a fun-but HOT- Saturday....and the best part was the price. All this for FREE! They even had a huge blow-up-bouncy thing but it was too hot to play on that much....too bad because it looked like so much fun! It wasn't crowded but I wonder how much it was advertised?? I look forward to attending next year.

Summer Memories-long

Another Tuesday Tell All topic was "Summer Memories" which got me thinking about my summers. Here is what I remember (Granny and Trudy-pipe in whenever you want!)

Visiting Grandparents in Florida

We grew up in North Alabama and my paternal grandparents lived in Florida-they were Yankee transplants from Mass. So every summer we would drive 12 hours to visit them. We would swim in Blue Springs and visit Daytona Beach...this was before "Girls Gone Wild"....it use to be family-friendly!

I believe the main vehicle we drove to FL was our 1978 Datsun station wagon.(this later became the car I drove to school....i LOVED it! it would fly over railroad tracks!) The back seats would lie down and we made a bed back there for us to sleep while Dad drove. I remember thinking we had SO MUCH room with the seats down....which might have been a lot of room for my short self! Another year we drove a "ventura"....that was the year the only cassette we had to listen to was Ray Stevens! The final year we all went to visit Nannie we drove our 1990 Honda Accord(that my parents still drive today). It wasn't a very comfortable drive with 5 adults all scrunched inside! But still worth the drive!

One summer Trudy and I stayed --what seemed to be 6 weeks-- with my "Nannie". She rode 2 days on the Greyhound bus to our house and then we would ride back to FL(another 2 days on the bus) with her. We earned 25 cents a day helping her at her groundskeeper job at the cemetary....we thought we were rich!! I can't remember what we did besides pulling some weeds and picking up the "dead" artificial flowers but we loved helping her. Nannie also had an underground pool and she would never let us eat in-between meals. "You will spoil your supper" is what she would always say if she saw us eating before dinner....and you have to say it with a yankee accent! We would have ice cream every night at 8pm. Every morning we would have cereal, cut-up bananas, and OJ in a small juice cup. I can still see her kitchen with all the newspaper clippings still taped to the cabinets(they are still there I am sure!), our pictures on the fridge, and no counter space! She washed all her dishes by hand and would never let us help. She would always shoo us out of the kitchen when dinner was over. Trudy and I would sleep on cots that were in the living room. I can still see that musical-pull-down-thing that played "tie a yellow ribbon" that Nannie would play as we were going to sleep. Another fond memory of Nannie's house is the smell. Grampie smoked cigars and everything smelled like cigars!

Family Garden

Another memory I have of summer is helping with our family garden....oh how I hated it! there were many times where our whining would earn us a nice slap on the rearend! Our reward for working would be a trip to "Cowford" which was the swimming area on the river. The "waves" were created when a boat would drive by....we thought we were at the beach!! We would wear our jelly-shoes in the water because of the rocks. If we were lucky we would go to Elk River-is that right Granny?- and swim near the boat docks. We loved to "slide" down the boat ramps because they were covered in algae and you really could slide!

Swimming in the Creek

Oh....and Trudy, Frankie(my brother-the oldest) and I loved to go down to the creek behind our house. It was through our woods, over the barbed wire fence and through a cow pasture....but it was super cool! We would bring the garden hoes with us so if we saw a snake we could chop off its head...and we weren't scared to use it!! I remember one time Trudy and her friend throwing big rocks on a snake. We were FEARLESS! There were parts of the creek that were so deep that I could actually swim....but that doesn't mean it was that deep because I am so short....but it was deep for me! It sure didn't bother us that we were swimming in water the cows probably pooped and peed in! Maybe that is what is wrong with us:)

Mama would get so mad at us when we would go to the creek because when we returned (all wet and stinky)we would take off our clothes and leave them whereever they landed. She would find them a few days later....actually she would smell them a few days later. She forbid us from going to the creek but we just couldnt' resist....so we snuck out. But she caught us on our way back! She was so mad she told us to go downstairs and wait for her to come and whip us! I don't know if Frankie was scared but I remember Trudy and I were a little worried! There is nothing worse than waiting for someone to come whip you! So to pass the time we thought of ways to "soften the blow". First we put on lots of pants. Then we thought about putting books in our pants so she would hit the books instead of us(i wonder if we thought she would notice the books??). Then after a while-and no Mama with the belt- I was elected to go upstairs and ask her when she was going to come downstairs and whip us. Thankfully she had fallen asleep and was no longer mad at us! whew!

Report cards

Another summer memory I had was the anticipation of getting my report card in the mail to see if I was promoted to the next grade. I was always anxious about this! Whenever it would come in the mail, I would tear open the envelope and flip that card over to make sure it said "promoted"! I didn't have any reason to worry but I guess no one told me that in order to fail a grade you had to actually make bad grades....I guess I was thinking a student was promoted only if the teacher liked him or not!

That was a fun trip down memory lane!

The influence of the media

Last night at Wal-Mart I decided to purchase 3 of these reusable bags. I had seen them before but never purchased them because I would typically have large amounts of stuff and didn't want to pay extra for bags.....but last night I didn't have that many items so I decided to try them out. They are only $1 a piece and to my suprise they hold quite a bit of stuff. I wasn't sure how they would work for breads and eggs but I figured they could just bag those in the annoying plastic ones and put the rest of my stuff in these black ones. I get so tired of all those plastic bags and usually throw all of them away.



Now I did not buy these reusable bags because I have this strong desire to save the planet or was trying to "go green"....I don't even recycle! I did it because I hate those plastic bags! And I always try to get in the house in one trip which I could never do with those plastic ones....but hopefully I can with these larger black ones!



As I was standing in line last night I began to think about this whole "Go Green" campaign that has been going on for a while. It is interesting to me how it has picked up steam lately as well. Everywhere you look someone or something is advertising how you can be "green" and save the planet. It always make me wonder why this didn't happen 2 years ago? 10 years ago? I know there was small talk going on about it but nothing major like now. What propelled this green burst? Was it Al Gore's(*gag*) award winning documentary on Global Warming(which Granny thinks is a big lie)? Haven't we always needed to recycle and save energy? Don't you remember the lessons we had in school about turing off the water when youp brush your teeth? I guess my question is how do you get the country all on the same bandwagon? This is how I see it happening....



you make a documentary

give the flim-maker a big award for it

write a book about it

talk about it on every major news network

write another book

create a special show about it....or 2 or 3....heck a whole network devoted to it

have some big celebrities endorse it

make clothes from recycled material

REPEAT



Ok...all that for my point....wouldn't it be so wonderful if we could get all that media attention for something that would really impact the country? Say....like the miracle of adoption??? Or maybe the importance of an education? or the importance of family? or honesty? What if on those TV's that are at every checkout in Wal-Mart they were playing a message from a birthmother about how adoption was a miracle in her life and the life of her child....think how many opinion's could be changed from that!


I think I am getting old....

Happy Father's Day!

Just wanted to give a shout out to my Big Daddy! I had a very happy childhood and have wonderful memories of my Dad. I was definately a "mama's girl" and hear stories of how I would cry whenever Mama had to leave me with Daddy...i had no reason but that I was a "mama's girl". Sorry Dad! Here is just some history on my father Frank Bentley Layton III.

While he was in the Navy (20 years old at the time) he had problems with his right knee swelling. Exploratory surgery on the knee revealed nothing. They offered him an early discharge, but he wasn't interested. He was reassigned to temporary shore-duty in Charleston, SC for 3 months, to make sure he'd have no more problems with the knee. During that time, the USS Canopus AS-34, a submarine tender (big ship that services submarines; it stays tied to a pier in its home port; subs pull up along side )sailed to it's new home port, Rota, Spain, without him.
That was bitter-sweet. From his early days in boot camp, at Great Lakes, IL, my Dad was assigned to that ship. After 12 months, which included schooling and temporary assignments on other ships in the Norfolk, VA area, the Canopus was ready to be boarded by her initial crew in a shipyard in Papcagoola, MS. They brought the new ship to Charleston. He was on the Canopus for it's shake-down cruise, and for it's commissioning, on November 4, 1965.

(Shake-down Cruise: where drills are performed day & night in the beautiful Caribbean, pushing the ship and crew to their limits, to see if either would break; if everything on the ship works -- all systems having been pushed to their limits, and beyond, the ship is transferred to the Navy, the shipyard having fulfilled it's contract to make an ocean-worthy ship. This is how the initial crew is trained. Training is part of the life for the ship and crew, preparedness for all emergencies.)

Now the sweet. After his 3 months of shore duty in Charleston, my Dad was assigned to another sub tender, the USS Bushnell AS-15 -- in Key West, FL! That's where he found a Southern Belle named, Joann. Dad was smittened and they married in January of 1968.

Dad finished his 4-year enlistment in Key West, and was honorably discharged in Aug 1968. One reason he didn't want to take the early discharge is because he did not want to go back to his home. No one there had ever finished anything and he knew he needed all the schooling, education and opprotunities the Navy could give him so he could have a better life. I mean no disrespect to my Dad's siblings but they are a mess!

My dad was one of 5 children and he is actually a twin. All his siblings fell into alcholism and are basically married to the bottle. He is the only one who stayed married and whose children are not drunks. He has told us that he seemed to have more of a conscious than his siblings and I am glad he did! Early in their marriage 2 missionaries from the LDS church knocked on their door. They recognized the truth immediately and were baptized shortly after that. He broke the cycle of alcholism when he did that and it also saved their marriage. I am so grateful for the missionaries who knocked on their door and for them accepting the gospel into their lives. I don't know where I would be without it!

Daddy informed me that his diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis( i thought he was diagnosed with that in the Navy) came later in life but for as long as I can remember we always included this phrase in our family prayers "help Daddy feel better". Given the nature of his disease he will never get better....just worse. He had to retire at 42 which meant we were pretty poor for a while until his disability kicked in. Since I was the youngest I didn't really notice but it was hard on the rest of the family. My dad learned over the years how to take his pain gracefully. He missed out on a lot of ballgames and recitals and concerts but he was always supportive in what we were doing.

He taught himself how to play the guitar and we would all sit around and sing Ray Stevens songs. We knew all the words to "Jeremiah Peabody", "Shriner's Convention" and my dad's favorite "Guitarzan". We were the backup singers to that song! I remember one trip to Florida(to visit his Mother) we only had one cassette to listen to....and guess what it was....Ray Stevens!

We would also do skits and tape ourselves on a cassette recorder(that makes me feel old). I sure wish we still had those cassettes....maybe we do....they could be hidden somewhere in his room!

My dad has a great sense of humor....so does my mom. That is where I get all my "hardy har har" from! Bolivar Shagnastynasty(double nasty) and Snidley Whiplash were a couple of names he had....can't remember where Bolivar Shagnastynasty came from but it was a favorite. One time I had some papers I needed signed for school and guess what name my dad signed them as....Bolivar Shagnastynasty! I didn't see it until I was about to hand them in! I had to explain to my teacher who that was....so embarrassing! I learned to let my Mom sign everything:)

My dad was(and continues to be) a wonderful father and Fia and Nate are so lucky to have him as their "Grampie". Here are some shots of him I had on my computer.


Grampie has unique relationships with each grandchild and Sophia's is no exception. From the time she could walk and talk she has loved going back into Grampie's room where he would tell her silly stories or watch cartoons together. My dad is 95% bedridden with his disease so he spends most of his time in his room lieing in his bed either watching TV, working on his computer or reading so he was a captive audience for Sophia! But he loved her visits and coming up with crazy stories for her enjoyment. Grampie would also play silly games with Fia on his palm pilot. Ganny and I would be in the living room talking or working and there would be bursts of laughter and lots of giggling coming from his room brought on by some silly game they made up! It took a while before Nate would venture back there. Nate had some anxiety issues when he was younger and Grampie's room was pretty junky which probably overwhelmed him!! So he didn't want to stay back there without me. This changed over the years and especially when Grampie bought an Xbox! Now Nate can't wait to visit so he can beat Grampie playing ski jump!

Since Grampie can't go outside and play he had to buy the Zbox so he could interact with the grandkids....and they love it!
Daddy took up photography as a hobby when I was about 12 I believe. For as long as I can remember he was always saying "let's get a picture!". This request was always at a bad time....like when we were running out the door for a football game(we were all in the marching band) or a sporting event. So most of our pictures are of us sulking because he was making us late:) Now we can't leave his house without a "photo shoot". He not only sets up the camera on the tripod but he has concocted a backdrop that is hung on the curtain rod. he is too funny! We will appreciate all the pictures he has taken of us when we get older....that is if we can get a copy of them, right Trudy???

Happy Father's Day! We love you Daddy!

can you believe they both had a perm back in the 80s?? afros!! and we have the family picture to prove it!

TV sucking out brain

(Trudy-could you twist a pic of Fia and Nate like this for me??)

Last night Fia and Nate were sitting on the couch, eyes glazed and fixed on an episode of "Tom and Jerry". I started making this sucking noise with my mouth.

me: Hey....did you hear that? (i had to repeat myself a couple of times to get their attention)
me: sucking noise again
me: Do you know what that is?

Fia and Nate: ... blank stares...

me: That is the sound of the TV sucking your brains out. That is what happens when you watch too much TV.

Now Fia wasn't phased but she did crack a smile. Nate had a look of confusion and then worry. He grabbed his head and asked me "is that true?" Of course I had to play into his gullibility so i said "it sure is" followed by the sucking noise again:) Then he started to confess that he wasn't watching that much TV today but he did play his game cube some also. I started laughing(usually the cue that Mom is joking) but he was still a little worried and started asking me if his brain was actually shrinking....the whole time "feeling" his head to see if he could feel his brain's size:)

Then this morning Nate was lying on my bed watching TV and I was in the bathroom fixing my hair. I did the noise again and he smiled but then had to ask me "is my brain really shrinking?" just to get my reassurance that I was in fact teasing.

I love this age! they are so gullible!
But I heard this morning on the news that they were taking "gullible" out of the dictionary??

Tuesday Tell All

I just remembered I was doing the "Tuesday Tell All" but have slacked for so long!! I went to their blog and will pick a couple of the ones I missed. These questions are to be answered in one word.

. Where is your cell phone? here
2. Your significant other? working
3. Your hair?....brown
4. Your mother? .cancer-free
5. Your father? witty
6. Your favorite thing? cake(first thing that popped in my mind:))
7. Your dream last night? pet-sitting
8. Your favorite drink? diet soda
9. Your dream/goal? millionaire
10. The room you're in? sunroom
11. Your children?. old
12. Your fear? dark
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? here
14. Where were you last night? gym
15. What you're not?.fake
16. Muffins? no
17. One of your wish list items? winter
18. Where you grew up? Alabama
19. What you read last? Ensign
20. What are you wearing? capris
21. Your TV? new
22. Your pets? shaggy
23. Your computer? laptop
24. Your life? wonderful
25. Your mood? content
26. Missing someone? richard
27. Your car? paid-off
28. Something you're not wearing? socks
29. Favorite Store? on-line
30. Your summer? HOT
31. Like someone? everyone
32. Your favorite color? red
33. Last time you laughed? today
34. Last time you cried? Sunday

Swingset

Ever since we got our swingset delivered at the beginning of the summer I have wanted to create a play area that wasn't surrounded by dirt. Our backyard never took the grass seed that was planted when we bought the house so it has always been a dirt patch. This has not been a problem until now when we put our new toy back there. I was getting tired of the kids shoes being all dirty and dusty and then they would track that dirt in the house! So I have been thinking of a way to put mulch down around the swingset and use railroad ties to hold it all in.



I told my mom what I was doing and she said, "oh be careful...those things are VERY heavy." I said, "well I am a lot younger so maybe they won't be that bad". I really did think I could lift and move them on my own....oh was I wrong! So Saturday morning I got up earlier than usual and went to Ace Hardware and purchased 10 RR ties. When I saw how the 2 men were wrestling them into the truck I knew I was in trouble! I called Richard and asked him to postpone his trip to Home Depot so he could help me unload these!

I didn't think i could carry them like this lady
but I did think I could just move them around from top to bottom...well I was wrong again! Richard and I were laughing most of the time we were trying to get them out of the truck-just because they were do darn heavy-and after they were on the ground we were scratching our heads wondering how to get them around the swingset! There were many times I wanted to quit and just have someone help us later next week....but as we got 1 in place we tried #2. Then we tried another and another until they were all in place! I could not believe it!

The heat was UNBELIEVABLE and we took many breaks and drank lots of water but we did it! I was sunburned on the backs of my arms(tricep area) because that was the part that was exposed as I was pulling and racking and pushing:)

Here I am spraying weed killer on the weeds before I got the mulch. Like that shirt?

And here is the finished product! Too bad the kids can only play on it from the hours of 8PM-7AM! Oh well....it will be perfect in the Fall! They do play on it in the afternoons but only for a few minutes!

I just wanted to record these conversations with my children so we could laugh at them later:)

Me: Sophia you need to take a shower this morning before your friends get here.
Sophia: Oh, man. I hate showers.
Me: OK, then take a bath.
Sophia: Oh man, I hate baths.
Me: You know what will happen if you don't take a bath?
Sophia: what?
Me: You will not have friends anymore!

This whining went on for a while until I had to say "1.....2.....3...."
Why doesn't this kid like to bathe??? She really makes me laugh!

Later this afternoon Nate got mad at me for something and before he could say anything I said "I know...I am the meanest mom in the world"....because that is what he has been telling me lately. But he corrected me and said,"No you are the meanest Mom in the WHOLE world".
I guess I will be taking the title from this woman.

New paint....having doubts

You know all those paint chips and brochures you can pick up at Home Depot? Richard loves to collect them when we are looking for paint. I tell him we don't need so many but his reply is always "well they are free". We hardly ever find a combination of paints in one of those brochures that will work for us but this time we were excited to find these colors together and decided to go with it!

I am so thankful Richard loves to paint because it isn't something I enjoy. I much rather do the floor and will start on our kitchen backsplash soon which is exciting to me....anyway...I am grateful at how hard he works to get our house painted and looking good!

He has spent the last 2 evenings on this wall and on the kitchen(it is the same red). We love the red but when we got the yellow up it was a little bright! But that could be because we have lived with beige or khaki walls forever. I love color but this really doesn't go with our decorations either. It is growing on me though and will definately take some getting use to. It is a bold color combination...we just don't have the bold furniture to match. I guess we have to go shopping for more:) in my dreams!

My answers

So here are my answers to the Pay it Forward game....

1. What characteristic describes me? I am short! A whole whopping 60 inches tall! I can remember being around 3feet and some inches in the 3rd grade! One of the children I babysit in the summer is already 5 ft tall and wears size 8 shoes! She just turned 8!! Our son Nate is going to be pretty tall also which will be funny when he is grown and is standing next to his short parents(Richard-the short Filipino- is only 5'3)! It is obvious he doesn't have our genes!

2. My dream job would be to have my own preschool in a really cool building with a great play area outside. I would have the best staff who were just as passionate about teaching and children as I am. They would also be well-paid because we all know teachers aren't paid enough! I would also have the perfect students so we could focus on academics and not breaking up fights or character education....hey....I did say it was my dream job:)

3. One thing I spend money on is comfortable tennis shoes. I love to exercise and need to have the support in my feet! I also like to buy stuff for my house. I would rather spend more money in the beginning and have it last longer (or done right) than to get something cheap that will break next month!

Thanks again for playing! Trudy, Granny, Elaine, and Natalie...time for you to host the game:)

And the winners are....

the scientist

the free lance writer




the pastry chef





the photographer

the teacher

the Rockette

and the night-shift nurse-trainer

I know...I know....I was only suppose to pick 4 but everyone is a winner tonight! Wahoo! And I only have to mail to 4 people so it works out anyway! I need addresses from Shanna, Elaine, Natalie and Rebecca, please. I may have your address somewhere but if you could just email it to me again???? bowhair@bellsouth.net

Thanks to everyone for playing!!