Matchmaker, Matchmaker.....

I am so guilty of checking out 11 year old boys. In order to stack a favorable deck for my girls, when it comes to their future prom dates, and husbands. A mom can dream, right?

This one here, happens to be a friend of the family. How convenient! Good parents, nice family, he is the sweetest thing in the world.

Works for me!

She is so disappointed in me!

(But really, does she look all that upset?)

I think she's totally busted!!

Oh, and did I mention, I am totally guilty of checking out eight year old girls?

Now aren't they cute?

Fist time at Junior Assembly

Okay, this girlie girl probably won't mind one bit learning how to dance, shake hands and use the right utensil.

But she wasn't thrilled to have her picture taken. Odd behavior for this one, I should have taken her temperature.

And you know how dogs are supposed to sense our emotions? Anxiety, fear, excitement?

Not this time.....z-z-z-z-z-z

Is this really fair?

Poor Lily! 

She has been dressed up, talked to like a baby, (when in fact she's like 56 in dog years), she's left out in the rain, forgotten to be fed, left home on vacation, (with a dog sitter),just plain old, "takin' for granted". And now that we have a new puppy, she's the last to be acknowledged in the room, even after all the fish in the tank! 

Sorry Lily! You deserve better.

 That's why I am taking  you with me every morning, to take the kids to school, so that you feel special and important. And so that I have a witness who won't blab when I finally crack and smack them all right before drop-off!

Columbus Georgia

They act really weird in Columbus Georgia!

I think it's because they sell this stuff there?

Didn't realize there was such a high demand for Disco Fashions.....

Bending the rules, a bit.

The girls are in a contest this summer. They are to have their pictures taken, at different places, over the summer, with their cheer shirts on. 

The best picture wins an Ipod craze.

We are not cheaters, by any means.. but a little gratuitous eye candy, never hurts!

Go Aviators!

Trying to grow Pussy Willow?

This is not effective...

The eyes have it!

I still just never know what is going on, behind those eyes.

Dryers, sewing machines and my little kitty girl!

Well, it has been an eventful few days since school started. I have been dutifully washing everything in the house, now that the kids are in school. But, I have been having that gross, moldy, smelly thing with my clothes and our front load washer. the clothes came out of the dryer hot, and wet, and stinky. I had assumed it was the mold problem that every one seems to have with these machines. So I cleaned it with bleach. But I was finding that I was drying them longer than usual too. So I told Honey that I think we needed to get it serviced. He said, "let me check something". So he got out the ladder and climbed up and promptly extracted at least three birds nests from the vent to the outside of the house. AND a handful of eggs(hard boiled...I'm guessing). Poor birds! But the dryer works great now. Plus I started using those Purex 3-in-1 laudry sheets, and everything smells wonderful!

Now, I have had a love-hate relationship with my sewing machine. It has always given me trouble over that past 10 years. I have sewn a lot of things, but have spent way too much time, ripping out seams, and eating Motrin. So I finally took it to a guy and said  "make me an offer". He did! He offered to sell me a way more $$$$ machine, that I fell in love with. I looked at it and saw a , BMW convertible, and heard angels singing! This machine , is .my. sportscar! Now I have to learn how to handle it's power. 

Last night, Reggie-Bear came home from cheer leading, pouty and sad. She kneed her self in the eye trying a back tuck. It was already magenta! After dinner, she asked me to take a bath with her, and I practically had to bathe her and wash her hair. What she really needed was to lay in my lap and be pet like a kitty. She used her little voice all night. Poor baby! This picture is 7 years ago, but this is what she looked like to me last night.

Back off boys, that's my daughter!

I really hope she is doing equations in the sand, or contemplating the Lord and his wonder. The equations I am contemplating, have to do with boys and their proximity to her, and I am also wondering how the Lord will get me through this.

Too cool for school...

I think very few people can carry off the, "I'm buried deeply in the sand...and it's cool".

I am sure that having three good looking sons,  is a punishment of some sort.

FIrst Day of School

I had great intentions, but the day spun out of control.

Here is the obligatory picture of my goofballs.

I have done this, first day of school thing, a few times now. I figure I am a pro.

I got up early, made coffee, walked the puppy, 

made bacon,fed the puppy,

took a shower, cooked chocolate chip oatmeal pancakes, 

cooked the pancakes in the bacon grease, (just to devalue the oatmeal),

eased the kids awake, approved outfits,

took pictures, out the door.

Everyone had brushed their teeth, remembered their back packs,

 and wore underware. (Okay that was aimed at Shane)

We got to drop off at middle school and the chest tightness began.

She hopped out of the truck like a guilty criminal on the lam.

We had to sit on the car for nearly a half hour till elementary drop off.

(Try not to cry, try not to cry.)

Dropped the rest of the pack off, finally.

I nearly drove over the dean of schools making my exit , anxious to meet my girl friends at the coffee place for emotional support.

Starting to sob in the parking lot, I back into a crepe myrtle tree with my truck!

Nice! (Note to self: call Honey, much later and pepper the conversation with the many good and positive attributes of the day, while I slip in the info about the truck vs. tree).

Nice time with friends, feeling better, go home.

I see a turtle on the front lawn. Feeling very nurturing and like mother-of-the-year,

I decide to introduce turtle to my 70 lb. boxer, who has a turtle problem.

While I was focused on turtle and boxer, sneaky little puppy slips out the front door.

I see him at the door a few minutes later and am so proud that though he slipped out, he came bounding back up to door looking happy to see me.

What I didn't see was the dead mouse in his mouth.

So I spent 20 minutes chasing terrier with mouse, screaming profanities. Finally I grab terrier, who drops dead mouse and licks my face!

YUCK!

Next year I won't risk it.

 The kids can wake themselves up, eat dried cereal and call a cab, or start walking.

I am gonna go ahead and say it...

It's a good thing she's pretty!

(Because....she can not sing!)

When I wasn't looking....

This is what happens when you leave two of your kids in the doctor's waiting room with your cell phone. I never even asked if there were other people in there too!

INCUBUS!!!

It's hard to believe, but Honey and I went to Incubus concert at the ampitheater. It had rained all day and we considered dressing like pages 7&8 from the L.L. Bean catalog. Thankfully we didn't, because the place was filled with multicolored, free and easy, love children. We saw every imaginable hair color, and tattoo, and the most creative uses of teeny tiny fabric as clothing.

Anyway, they started singing... Oh my Lord in heaven! I knew every word of every song, and it was fantastic! BUT, it got even better. There he was, on several big screens....Brandon Boyd. I just knew he was singing to me and only me. Even though I am old enough to be his mother, it was clearly a private concert. Just when I was ready to rip off my clothes and charge the stage...I looked him right in the eyes and yelled,

"Back off Brandon Boyd, with your sexy siren song! I am married!"

Happy Birthday Jake!

Yes, the big 19! But he was born this way. Never one to be satisfied with his surroundings. He always knew there was a much bigger world to explore. He can do a million things, and very well I might add. I regret I never took him to Vegas, because he is luckier than anyone I know. An athlete, a chick magnet, a writer, a singer, a smooth talker, and my girlfriends do not mind looking at him. Happy Birthday Jake!

The Lake

To wrap the end of our vacation, we went to the lake. Our personal, blissful, calming, retreat....get the idea? It usually entails, long days on the boat. The Inuendo. We drag the kids around on the tube and just play off of the boat. Occasionally we restock the lake with minnows. Ahh...Lake Hartwell, take me away!

The Beach!

North Topsail is our favorite beach. We love the beach because it is not touristy, and because Katy and Vic, and various combinations of them, live there. This was the first part of our last great escape, (think Es-cape, like Dori on Nemo!) before the controlling hag, known as school begins. Casey and Regan enjoyed time with their cousin Katie. Katie lives in New Mexico, so time with her is a treasure to them. Shane makes friends with everything breathing, and Tom and his brother-in-law Vic are best buds. We also spent time with Katy, Sheila, John and Grammy. It was so much fun, we hated to see it end.