College Football on TV?

Yes, you'd think that since college football has begun that I'd be sitting here watching my game. Well, I'm sitting here watching a game, but certainly not the one that I wanted to be watching. If you weren't aware, I'm a football junkie. Tom considers himself a football widower, and he has good reason to do so. But no. I live in the middle of the waste wasteland of football TV leftovers. Instead of the great games that I'd really like to watch, I"m stuck with some games that I'll just have to watch because there isn't anything more interesting on. Really though, I kept tabs on my beloved Texas Longhorns via this cool little thing:

It updates every time there's a play, and short of a radio broadcast, it's given me enough info to feel slightly plugged in...sort of. Even ESPN's GamePlan isn't showing my games this year. So between now and January you'll find me sitting in front of my computer staring at the screen, waiting patiently for the ticker to update.

Open House

The boys had their school open house and it went as follows:

3:15 Park illegally in nearby neighborhood because the lot at school and the library next door were completely full.

3:17 Wave to police officer driving by checking for neighborhood decals and shaking his head upon realizing it was Open House at the school.

3:20 Encourage kids to walk faster, even though they were loaded down with all the thousands of Post It notes, Ziplock Bags, Glue sticks, and tissue boxes they had in their back packs so that hey aren't run over by fellow parents hunting for parking spots in aforementioned full lot.

3:27 Enter cafeteria, tell kids to go figure out what rooms we need to go to, and collect #1's good buddy for a sleep over. Visit quickly with unknown staff member about number of kiddos in my possession, wave quickly through crowd at familiar parents, and head upstairs.

3:30 Enter #1's class. Smile and wave at first teacher. Hunt up second teacher, grab packet and forms and furiously fill out. Husband enters the room - have him dump #1's supplies and gather children to hit next classroom. First teacher sees #1 and give him big huge hug.

3:37 Apologize to both teachers, hand back one form, and duck out so as not to miss meeting next TWO teachers before 4pm.

3:40 Arrive in #2's kindergarten classroom. Meet instructional assistant, ask for forms, sharing that there's still one more class to hit before this shindig ends at 4pm, and furiously begin filling out forms. Instruct #1 and his good buddy to dump supplies and tell hubby to take #2 to meet teacher.

3:45 See #2 looking around room tentatively, then see him smile at new teacher.

3:48 Apologize to teacher for bolting, hand over forms, and dash to next location, dragging four kids along.

3:48 Arrive across the hall at #3's class. Fill in first available form, then second form, then volunteer form (all located in different places). Meet teacher, watch #3 dance around then run in circles in his new classroom (that's always a positive sign). Meet Instructional Assistant who speaks Spanish to #3, which mortifies him completely until she asks him in English if he speaks Spanish. See smile creep back over #3's face.

3:55 Meet teacher and finish filling out forms. Announcement comes over PA - time to go. Volunteer to come in on first day and help.

4:00 Make way to front door of school, but stop to ask about bus situation in front office.

4:10 Visit with friends while #3 and hubby hit the head.

4:25 Everyone piles in car and waits for Mom who is still visiting.

4:35 Head to grocery store for donuts and snacks for sleep over. Donuts always make scary open house / first day of school jitters fade quickly.

Beautiful Weather

Can I just mention to all my friends down there in Texas (and anywhere else where it's bloody hot right now) that it was all of 75 degrees here yesterday? Yes, that's the HIGH, not the low, and you'll notice that there was no precipitation - in other words it was a bright beautiful sunny day that was all of 75 degrees out. Couldn't have been more beautiful. In. August. Can't PAY for weather this beautiful.

Mom's Special Brownie Recipe

Remove teddy bear from oven and preheat oven to 375.

Melt 1 cup margarine in saucepan. Remove teddy bear from oven and tell Jr., “No, no.”

Add margarine to 2 cups sugar. Take shortening can away from Jr. and clean cupboards.

Measure 1/3 cup cocoa. Take shortening can away from Jr. again and bathe cat. Apply antiseptic and bandages to scratches sustained while removing shortening from cat’s tail.

Assemble 4 eggs, 2 tsp. vanilla, and 1-1/2 cups sifted flour. Take smoldering teddy bear from oven and open all doors and windows for ventilation. Take telephone away from Billy and assure party on the line the call was a mistake. Call operator and attempt to have direct dialed call removed from bill.

Measure 1 tsp. salt, ½ cup nuts and beat all ingredients well. Let cat out of refrigerator. Pour mixture into well-greased 9×13-inch pan.

Bake 25 minutes. Rescue cat and take razor away from Billy. Explain to kids that you have no idea if shaved cats will sunburn. Throw cat outside while there’s still time and he’s still able to run away.

FROSTING Mix the following in saucepan: 1 cup sugar,1 oz unsweetened chocolate, 1/4 cup margarine Take the darn teddy bear out of the broiler and throw it away– far away. Answer the door and meekly explain to nice policeman that you didn’t know Jr. had slipped out of the house and was heading down the street. Put Jr. in playpen.

Add 1/3 cup milk, dash of salt, and boil, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Answer door and apologize to neighbor for Billy having stuck a garden hose in man’s front door mail slot. Promise to pay for ruined carpet.

Remove burned brownies from oven. Collapse and call the baker for delivery.

From Joke of the Day

"Aisles of Happy"

They aren't kidding - this really DOES make me happy:

"Since we carry beers from all over the world, and since you can make your own six pack, feel free to pretend you’re the United Nations and that you’re bringing together countries from all over the world for the most delicious peace summit of all time. "

I think I love me some Bloom! Too bad they are kinda far...but I think a field trip is in order!

Oh the carnage!

These three boys threw their heart and soul into their sunflower and pumpkin garden. They planted the seeds in peat pots, watered and grew their seeds until they were mature enough to plant, planted the stems and watered and watched the stems grow into beautiful sunflowers and pumpkin vines. And yesterday nature took back some of it's own.

These next few images broke my little boys' hearts:


It was probably a squirrel / chipmunk / deer that had a late breakfast. It seems that more than one critter was involved as the damage went beyond that of the deer nipping the tops off. Needless to say the boys were very sad. But there was one very hidden survivor:

It was nestled among the bushes and was being protected by a smallish spider. So there will be at least one sunflower hanging out with us for the next few days.

Not Quite Olympic Sized Gymnastics

The little boys have been watching an awful lot of gymnastics lately, so they decided to build their own home gym. Not quite big enough for them to use though:

The Full Gym

The Trampolines

The Pommell Horse
The Vault
The High Bar

And you'll notice they added lots of pads around the dangerous stuff...

Born in a Barn???!!!

If you ask this of my three *lovely* boys they will immediately turn around and look for the door they just walked through and make sure that it's closed. Yes, they've heard this enough to understand the sarcasm in my voice when I ask if they were born in a barn, and the true meaning of the phrase - "You left the door open." Tom's grandpa would say "Heat's a dollar an ounce," which means in a polite mid-western sort of way basically the same thing. Honestly though, aside from letting bugs in and the cat out, I'm an open door kind of mom.

However, I've recently discovered that there's one place where my open door policy has fallen down. The boys leave the door open when they go to the bathroom - every time. This is probably my fault though - we never really told them to close the door up until now and those habits are hard to break. But now they are entering kindergarten, and while they will use the big bathrooms with the stalls, which they always close and often lock, they will also be using the bathroom in the classroom with a regular door. See the problem? My leave-the-door-open kids are heading into a close-the-door kind of situation. So I have exactly one and a half weeks to get them on the right track. Worst case they will go potty for the first time and the entire class will watch. Aside from the teacher telling them to close the door I'm not sure they will care if they do flash the entire class. At this stage they think it's funny to dance around nekkid (probably also my fault). So, bless you teachers who will have my kids in class. I'm sure it isn't the first time you've had this problem and I'm sure it won't be the last, but watch out - here they come!

Patrick

Ian has made a new friend. His newest buddy is named Patrick. He's a little white butterfly and lives in our front yard. (Yes, I'm aware that the picture to the left is NOT a white butterfly, but Patrick is elusive and this one was available in the year a few days back. The camera has yet to catch him.) We see Ian's little friend pretty regularly. And when there are two little white butterflies? Well, that's Patrick and his brother, of course! Ian is so cute about his little butterfly buddy that Sam and Max and I look for him and point him out too! Maybe one day Patrick will sit still long enough for me to grab a photo, until then you'll just have to enjoy this beautiful cousin of Patrick's!

And this is why I've been ignoring you...

Yeah, it's time once again for my big excuse. This time it's a good one - I promise! It comes along only once every four years, and this time the networks are absolutely killing me. The Olympics is on and they have about a bajillion hours of coverage of every event from curling to downhill. WAIT - wrong season! From equestrian to beach volleyball! And of course there's some folks that run fast, jump high, swim fast, and throw far. Then there are those that poke at each other with swords, kick and punch each other, row in these little boats, and shoot at stuff. The cool part of it all is that these folks are the best in their respective fields that our country has to offer. They are impressive beyond belief. But what's also impressive are the countless athletes that don't make the finals. They too are representing our country and are giving it their all in their sport. It blows my mind how much these folks sacrifice for their sport and their country. So thanks for not only occupying my time over the past week or so, but thanks as well for doing a magnificent job of entertaining me and the other billion or so people watching all over the world!

Fudgesicle Face!

Max

Happy Birthday to ME!

Well, it seems that 36 years does well by me! Thirty-six birthday parties, a hubby and three kiddos later I'm feeling great!

And yes, there are 36 candles on that little monster cake! Wouldn't have it any other way.

Ahhh, Bunsen.

Yes, Bunsen parks himself right in the middle of my desk, often on my keyboard, and proceeds to spread out. At least this time he didn't clear himself a spot by knocking off ALL the stuff around him. And excuse the gratuitous nipple shot - he's a black cat and they are always hanging out.

Just a bit too old for this

And this is why, dear husband of mine, that I don't get a lower back tatttoo:

Coming Full Circle

Subtitled: Revenge of the 1980's

I am almost 36 years old. I'm old enough to have kids, even teenagers that I need to buy school clothes for. And the advertisers are taking full advantage of my sentimentality. One of what I consider the defining movies of the 80's genre (might be wrong on that one but go John Hughes!) is being used to market to today's kids - my kids. Here's what I remember from the 80's:



And here's what has appeared on my TV regularly over the past few weeks:



The funny part? Well, kids that are young enough to be mine weren't even alive in the 1980's, so while the commercial is cute, it is certainly targeted at me - the person that was so much a part of the 80's. And you know what? It worked. I'm not shopping at Penny's, but I am talking about it - to my husband, to my friends, and here. They did their job and they did it well.

Happy 8th Birthday Dude!

Can't believe it, but you are now officially EIGHT YEARS OLD. It's been a wild ride and I can't wait to see what the future holds. You are truly a cool dude, and I'm excited to see you grow into an even cooler big kid. Happy Birthday Max!

The Butterfly Bush

The boys asked me to share some pictures of their butterflies and bees. We have a large bush out front that hosts many many butterflies and a ton of large bumble bees. They are beautiful to look at, and the kids wanted to share. So here they are: