7 months

Third child in the fam
Won't stop Falling off the Couch
Rolly Polly Girl!

Big 10

The 10 days of Al's birthday are over, pretty much. I think she enjoyed it...one of her friend's mom came up to me this weekend and said I was making her look bad, her daughter's birthday is THIS week and she asked if she was getting the '10-day' birthday too!! She said she told her every little detail of the gifts and activities etc, so I must be in with the kids, not so much with the moms. Eh, that's my life. Everyone, always jealous of me and my fabulousness and beauty. It is tough being this wonderful, let me tell you.





I think Al's favorite was the horseback riding, which, even typing it, makes my hips squeal in pain:

That was rough! Her horse kept stopping to eat the leaves, and she was trying to pull him away from it but had too much slack, and me trying to explain this to her while she is literally wigging out was to no avail, so we both were just laughing our heads off. She is such a great kid, I wish I had her as a friend when I was growing up!

Her aunt made her another homemade cake, and as usual it was uber cool:

Then she finished the week with winning 2nd place in a 'fun' soccer tournament, and since it downpoured the entire time, I'd say that was a pretty big accomplishment for us all. Sweaty, tired drenched kids does not a fun bunch make.

This week we will be going to Six Flags where I pray we keep our ankles. Did you read about that?? Barnacles, that is completely nuts. That is the same kind of ride I rode on top of the Stratosphere in Vegas. I believe I will no longer be riding such a ride. Yowza, I'm going to stick to the roller coasters, they are SO much safer...

As Promised

Not much doing

I really wanted to post every day this week. And it's almost Wednesday already! Oh well. My grandma died last week, so we were busy with the arrangements, etc. I am very glad my father can go on with his life; he was an incredibly devoted son to her, and my parents have been caring for others too long now, it's time for them to have their own fun!! (and I don't dare ask what that might entail). ((although I'm sure it has something to do with playing Bunco and going to several church dinners)).

The funeral threw a little wrench into the 10-day Al birthday plan, but so far this week it has been good. She spent the day at the bookstore on Monday with a Cardinals game afterwards, (Hello? How many frigging people do we HAVE on the DL?) and today she spent at the City Museum in St. Louis. Tomorrow we are going horseback riding (much to my dismay) and Thursday she will get to meet up with her friends for some roller skating disco. She is enjoying it a lot so far, I'm glad. I think it is much easier than trying to figure out how to entertain 12 screaming girls for 4 hours.

I've gone back to my workout regimen, and by golly this time I'm sticking to it. That is a post for another day, but if Marcia Brady can lose it, surely I can. Oh and the One Day at a Time chickie. So I'm back on the treadmill, again, with my fixed (yay!) iPod and my new sneakers I'm Rhet-ta-go.

Annnnnd finally, if this post weren't exciting enough, the new SUPER Wal-Mart opened in our area last week. You have NO IDEA how thrilling this is. Before now, you had two choices. Pay through the nose and they will bag your groceries, or get limited selection and cheap prices with bagging your own groceries. Ya know what my least favorite thing to do is? Bag frigging groceries. So, now the Wal-Mart is here, cheap prices AND, they bag your damn groceries. It has definitely given me the forbidden fruit, and I am so taking a big ol' bite. I have my list ready. Plus, I can get my nails done, my hair cut, my taxes done AND rotate my tires. Hot dog.

Tomorrow I will remember to post a pic of Miss M at the Cardinals game because it IS the sweetest thing ever, even if 2 people asked me why I had a wig on my baby. Swear!

Today it Begins

My internet has been down for a few days. I have a guy coming today to look at it after telling the guy from customer service who doesn't even know where Illinois is that I had already trouble shooted all that and get someone out here NOW. of course, 'NOW' to them is two days later.

Hope he looks like David Beckham. Yummy. He'll probably look more like David Brenner.

I am starting my daughter's "10 Days of Birthday" today. I have had my share of big birthday parties, and sleepovers cause WAY too much drama. Since she has already become a 'tween, officially, with the constant eye-rolling and the sing-song "MoooOOOOm!!!" we needed to make sure we celebrated the now present mood swings in style.

So, instead of a party, I'm doing something every day for 10 days. Just for her.

Today we will be getting pedicures and going miniature golfing, and her grandparents are taking her out to dinner to ANY restaurant she wishes.

We also have horseback riding, water parks, movies, Six Flags, and rock climbing to look forward to. I'm sure she will have a blast.

I hope so. I am out of ideas!

hand of death

what IS it with me and iPods? I just got this iPod in May, and it is already dead. Dead. To me. Fortunately it is still under warranty and I will get a new one, but REALLY. The last one cost 400 dollars so at least I was smart this time and got the cheap one. Yeah cheap, $150. Right.

Anyway, I was planning on blogging about something or other but got too caught up in things. This weekend we had a babysitter for 3 hours so LP and I went and got some sushi, and went to Target. These are things we do with no kids. It was nice. Then we sat out on our deck and played the 80s version of Trivial Pursuit. I realize now I need to learn more about Croatia, apparently. Wikipedia, here I come.

I spent a good chunk of my day talking with a realtor about the house. We are wanting to move in the next year or so, not sure where, but we want to be prepared when we do. LP has job opportunities in Georgia, which would be interesting. Neither of us have ever lived further away from our birthplace than 2 hours. I doubt it'll ever happen but it would be so cool.

Obviously my writing has suffered here today, but I find it oddly necessary to write, even though this is ending up sounding like one of those awful Christmas newsletters no one ever wants to read. So sorry to have wasted to your blog time.

In the meantime, kissing the back of a baby's neck is about the greatest thing ever. That and brownies, natch.

You've gone HOW LONG without a picture of Miss M?

oh dear, let me fix that for you.

Wild Card Wed- K!

See, now, I spent all week ruminating on the letter "K" and thought immediately of this picture, and then I thought, Oh, yes, it was 1990, so I could be "Knarly"!!! Then, I realized, "Knarly" actually starts with G, "Gnarly". But dammit I still want the credit, so we can go with a few "K" words here.

We can go with "Keepsake" which is not what I would consider those blue sparkly shoes to be. In fact, this entire get up was borrowed from my friend. Except the hairspray that made my hair stand up that way.

We could also go with "Karma" because the doofus I went to prom with was a royal pain in my arse the whole night, or rather, the whole time we dated, culminating in him not even going to my high school graduation, and us getting into a big fight. And since I know Karma is a bitch, I am totally OK with it.

Lastly, we could go with a word I looked up, "kapok" which means a fluffy fibre for stuffing things. Needless to say, there are some serious shoulder pads going on in this dress. 'nuf said.

Did YOU play?

LIfe time Reader

As I mentioned, I went to the library yesterday. My daughters are hell bent on reading their summer away, which, of course I'm happy about but seriously? AIR people. Fresh AIR. It's out there while I'm inside typing. When I was a kid, my mom opened the door after breakfast, and told us she did not want to see our mugs until lunch. My kids needs ta go OUTSIDE! (so I make them have a mandatory hour outside, in which they usually take their books and read. Outside)

Anyway, Al won 1st place this year in her class for Accelerated Reader. That means she read more books and got more points than anyone else in the class. She's a nut I tell ya.

Now Rug, she's not my reader. And that is totally okay. She is my 'pretender'. She will go down to the Polly Pocket table in the basement and play for hours, making up elaborate and sometimes tragic plays and it usually ends up in a big huge Polly mess, with at least one Polly missing a head.

But at the end of the year this year, all of a sudden she was INTO books. I couldn't figure it out, but wasn't asking any questions. She was reading like a fiend.

Last day of school, and I found out why. The boy she has a huge crush on, C, apparently is the winner in the Accelerated Reader in her class. Aha! Reading books = taking AR tests = sitting next to C!!! It all makes sense now.

She enjoys Magic Treehouse books, and if you have a 7-year-old or there abouts, there is a website for them and if they read one of these books, they can answer questions and get a 'passport' for that book. You print out the passport book and get the 'stickers'. That should occupy Rug for a few weeks anyway. She is already on #4.

Al, well, she needed a new book to read. I asked her if she had read "Blubber" yet. Nope. This was one of my favorite books as a child. I had the 4 book set of Judy Blume books, with SuperFudge, Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great, Blubber, and of course, Are you There God, It's Me, Margaret. I read them over and over. Mostly to figure out the whole 'pink belt' thing (careful boys---it's girl stuff) and to digest the characters Ms. Blume created, some of the first fallible characters I'd encountered. So I figured Al, who reads books like "Inkheart" and "Doll People" would enjoy Blubber. Buttttt, knowing and remembering Judy Blume as I did, I re-read it first before giving it to her.

I was amazed at how mean the main character was, and was surprised at myself for holding her so high in my memory, not remembering her calling her teacher a 'bitch' (which, oh my gosh, in my Catholic household was a HUGE no-no) and her brother a little ass. She also eggs a house, and torments another girl in the classroom unforgivingly.

I gave it to Al to read, because it shows how someone can justify their own actions even if they are deplorable, and that inevitably, these actions result in huge consequences.

Now then. Books for the summer--check. Sanity--hopefully intact for at least a few more weeks.

Passing Time

I could just post a picture, but I won't.

I have a tremendous headache and I can't sleep. the only sounds in the house are of me typing on the keyboard. Everyone is asleep.

The neighbor just pulled up. I wonder where he was.

I could tell you about my brother, Boy Wonder. He is 3 years older than me and was supposed to become something great. He still lives with my parents, which is fine, but he does not pay rent and causes them a lot of stress. That makes me so sad. We went out to dinner with them the other night, and I could feel the anger emanating from him as I sat by him. Tragic.

I had such a lovely weekend with my family. We spent last evening at a nice Chinese restaurant, eating with chopsticks and sharing each other's food. We laughed and giggled at each other, and Miss M, and poked fun one by one...none were spared. Miss M loved the chopsticks, waving them like a baton.

We went to a local carnival and the girls rode rides that took them upside down and sideways. I held my breath. Again I am cringing at the things I put my mother through. Aiyiyi.

I know I need to go to sleep, but this headache is unbearable! I need an oil change tomorrow, have to go get stamps from the post office. Sigh.

Last week I got "Hannibal Rising" from the library. Last night I finished it. Today I rented the movie. He is quite a character for sure. I went back today to read "Hannibal". Hope it's as good.

There goes the ice machine in the fridge. I think it's telling me to go to bed!