Ok...(aka 4,000 photos of my kid as a baby)

Well.
Today is Jack's first day of kindergarten.
They stagger the start days for the kindergarteners, so half went yesterday,
half today, and then they'll all go tomorrow.
Odd i say, but whatever works.
Making Jack believe this was a good plan was difficult,
he wanted so badly to join the brothers yesterday when they started school....
This morning he woke up singing...
"I'm going to school today...I'm going to school today...I'm going to school today..."
sigh.
So now...
I'm officially a stay at home mom....with NO kids at home.
(?!?!?!?!?)
the up side is,
perhaps my house will be clean now?....
or...
maybe I'll workout...?
or....
scrap?
who knows.
I'm just going to vote for having another baby...
is that wrong?!?
I didn't cry.
I fully expected I might today....
but I didn't.
How could I? He was so THRILLED...and excited....

Jack was my most "difficult" baby...of the three... VERY determined...VERY headstrong...but also this giant ray of light....the HAPPIEST baby...with such a sweet spirit....
he's still that same baby...
in bigger form...
still independent, and shiny....
what seems the most unreal to me,
is that he's five.
Trust me,
people say "enjoy it, time flies"...
and it is one of those things that people often say...and it's actually true.

I just REALLY love my boys!

Yesterday went well...
Colten likes his new teacher.
In Coley style everything was "fine".
"How was school?" "fine"
"Do you like your teacher?" "She's fine."
"How was lunch?" "fine"
"Do you like the kids in your class" "not weally"
"Do you learn anything?" "not weally"
Excellent O....
Jared on the other hand was a bundle of stories....
non-stop stories actually...
that is,
after he made it home.
Jared is walking to middle school this year.
Something to do w/ me not being cool, or him being too cool...
there was some cool-ness factor that I couldn't disrupt...
So he walked to school...
and at 4pm...
he wasn't home,
and i was panicking...
because that's what i do best....
so the littles and i drive around looking for him....
we're not THAT far from the school...
so i go around the block....
i call colin...
i drive to the school finally...
near tears at this point.
and there is my son....
sitting in front of the school.
he "didn't know he was suppose to walk home"
HE DIDN'T KNOW HE WAS SUPPOSE TO WALK HOME?!?!?!?
please....
please...
help me deal w/ this pre-teen boy of mine.
the male mind is sooooo far removed from the way mine thinks...
and at this age...
whoa.
he knew to walk there...but not home.
yeah.
so...
he knows to walk home today :)
we can only hope for the best.
duh.

the best Jared story yesterday by far was the one about the girl in his class named...
Shitoria....
the teacher called her SHI-toria...
and the girl corrected her every time w/ it's "SHIT-oria"....
yeah...
that was my favorite.

(as an aside....at what point did the gym uniforms become stylish? Because frankly....I think it's a right of passage...and ALL middle schoolers should HAVE to wear polyester shorts and dorky gym shirts....Jared's gym uniform....basketball shorts, and a white t-shirt w/ the school mascot on it.....sheeesh.....)

and...
Just to really drive home the fact I have nothing exciting to talk about other than my boys....
Colten was doing homework yesterday...
and was disgusted,
because it involved writing the numbers 1-25 in a grid...
and he thought he was way above writing #1-25...
(which is true...)
so he finishes and I tell him to write his name at the top of his paper...
and w/o blinking he writes the entire thing mirrored.
Now,
we are fairly certain he's dyslexic...
and he's being tested for it...
but that blew me away.
he's always just done a couple letters....
or numbers....
but the entire name.
and he wrote it just as quick as you or i would write our name the "right" way.
I said ...son, that's backwards...
"oh" he says...
erases it, and rewrites it the other way...
as though,
it really didn't matter to him at all one way or another...
because I truly think he can read it either way.....
his mind is soooo unique...
and just incredibly cool to me....
i know that it can be frustrating to him...
so it makes me sad at times....that things will be more difficult then they need to be for him....

Ok, I'm going to work on this today I think.
LOVE those girls...
even though,
I'm fairly certain they hate me...and are completely trying to kick my ass through cyberspace....(they're doing a pretty good job at it actually).....
10 pieces of patterned paper...hmmmm......xe

ummm.....

MIDDLE SCHOOL!?!??!?!
but...
he's still a baby....

just a little

blue....
feeling a little bit sad.
about nothing particular.
silly me....

had a good visit w/ the folks...
chilled....
the boys LOVED the hotel pool...
but today...
i'm
just sort of a blah...
rainy day....
just
not
a fan
of the day
today...
went to walmart...
(which did nothing to cheer me, let me tell you...
hate walmart...)
got my favorite....
"you have your hands full" comment.
now.
my boys,
who are not perfect angels by any means
are usually being well behaved when I get this
particular
comment...
which leads
me to believe
i only get it because
i have 3 boys....

other comments i get frequently...
"are they all yours?"
no.
no,
they just keep following me around....
(when did 3 kids become a side show? 3 is a lot now? i had no idea....)
and
"are you going to try for a girl?"....
THAT one
is perhaps my least favorite...
I always reply the same....
"well, not right this second."
this tends to fluster the moron that decided to ask the question....
"ooooh, well, I didn't mean now...haha....ooooh, that's funny...."
yeah,
not so much.
grrr-rr...

in other (less whiney) news.
jack got his hair cut off...
he didn't want to start kindergarten
and have anyone ask if he was a girl...
can't blame him...
and...
i like his new haircut.
it's not buzzed...
so i'm ok.
jared also got his cut,
and hates it...
so noooooo photos of the j-man.
whooopsie.
sorry j....
it'll grow...
braces and a haircut...
what a send off to middle school.
think he'll ever forgive me?
yeah,
nooooo photos of him on the blog...
that's a direct order.

i think living close to dave mirra might be rubbing off
on my children....
coley has been working on some "tricks"...
some bike skillz if you will...
we managed to finally make it to the bike shop
he's been begging to go to
this weekend...
and found a bmx bike he now "needs"....
however...
gabby's comment about dave mirra not being in the X-games this year
because of a lacerated liver...
hmmm....
sort of stuck in this momma's mind.....

lastly...
project runway.
can i just say
what a crime it was to kick off allison
(loved her)...
and
keep the freak (aka vincent) !?!?
who said his dress was like a "child's painting"
and that he "got off on it"....
yuck....
my
favorite line
was allison saying
to laura "it's a good thing you're wearing your riding outfit in case it's horses"
sigh...
i shall miss her.....
xe

That's great,

it starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes, an aeroplane...
It's the
end of the world as we know it.
It's the
end of the world as we know it.
It's the
end of the world as we know it
and
I
feel
fine....
Jack was walking around the house singing that this morning...
pretty darn funny if you ask me...
pretty much the refrain...
but still amusing.
I especially like the emphasis given on the "I feel fine"...
very funny.

I spent the weekend doing a lot of nothing....
although...
if someone could please remove the damn exacto knife from my hand...
that would be GREAT.
not sure when i decided handcut titles would be fun...
but i guess i'm mildly obsessed with that now.
it was much more fun to just admire Erica and Shannon's work...
next I feel a paint obsession coming on...

Oh,
in unrelated news...
I'm upset about the whole Shana
Moalker/
Travis
Barker
divorce...
looks like no more Meet the Barkers for e...
totally sucks.
loved them....

Lets see...
more
complete
and
total
randomness
for a monday...

jared is getting braces on wednesday.
did anyone realize braces cost almost $6000?
yeah.
neither did i.
just about choked when they pulled that figure out....
and
let's times that by three...
shall we.....
because someday they all three will need them...
thankfully the mother-in-law is helping with that this time round.....
i mean the boy can't have a messed up grill...
but seriously...
how is anyone suppose to afford THAT?
however this explains the X-box 360 in the waiting room.....
hmmm.....

getting braces...
starting middle school...
making me sad....

on a happy note--->
the jack taught himself to ride his bike w/o training wheels
on
saturday
....
just one of those
"hey momma come look"
type things.
actually it was
colten who came inside and said....
"could you take off jack's training wheels so he'll give my bike back ...please!?"
to which i said....
"jack is on your bike????"
and went outside to see jack cruising around like a pro.
i distinctly remember it taking awhile to learn to ride a bike.
the other boys were the same way....
just sort of got it after a few tries...
but always w/ our help.
we REALLY need to work on braking though....
just a little bit....
or i need a bigger band-aid supply....
one or the other...

this is when i have digital camera envy...
wish i had photos....
(of the biking..
not the band-aids)

ok, well that's our show.

Song change.....

jack's head is still wonky.
well,
his neck...
making his head wonk.
not good.
"DONT touch it Momma!"
got it buddy.....
me thinks the valium is not fixing the problem....

It's rainy today...
so i may just scrap...
all day...
and
stay in my jammies.
ETA....I tried to post this earlier but blogger was hating on me...card by the boys...

Soooo.....

Jack's on valium....

It seems the jack tweaked his neck a bit...
and can no longer turn his head to the right.
He looks kinda silly walking around
w/ his head tilted to the side.
The doctor thought a little valium might help.
I said thanks...
what about jack?
So he's sleeping now.
Hopefully it does help,
because his
cute
little
pathetic
teary
eyes have just been breaking my heart.

Thursday little bit o'Randomness......

My favorite quote from last night....

"We were all happy with the sort of toned down Angela version of the fabric selections that would be more appropriate for this particular challenge than the full tilt boogie Angela quilted extravaganza of puff"
...heehee....

That's really all I want to write....

but I'll leave you with a question....
(please give a little feedback if you happen to have a tattoo...
OR...know anything about tattoos...)

Can't go into too much detail yet...but...
A 6 inch tattoo is BIG isn't it?
I feel like that's GI-NORMOUS....
My husband has ingrained in my mind that 6 inches is huge...
so maybe it's just me...
I don't know.
(heehee....little joke babe)
Advice?!
I've been holding up a ruler to my leg....and I think I'm fairly certain.....it's a big tattoo.....
but in the world of tattoos...
maybe it's not....

And because far be it for me to have a photo-less post....
I leave you with some shots of my littles in Gabby's wedding....
w/ their flower girl cousins....
How stinking cute were they?

Happy 3rd Anniversary Gab and Mike :)

ok, it was yesterday....
but I sent a card...

ok, it was an e-card...
but it's the thought...
right?

Yeah, and btw... the bride and groom were really cute too. xxe

happy....

THIS is making me HAPPY today....
I feel SO honored that Heather asked me to be the August guest designer at
POPPY INK...
actually,
I'm probably the only guest designer that emailed back
and asked if she was sure she meant ME?!?!?
DUH....
huge dork am I....
HUGE!

and
while we're on the topic of happy....

THIS...
has put a massive smile on my face....
HOW CUTE IS SHE?!?!
Nice work Wrens....
She is just beautiful....

these also make me smile....

glasses from the glove box on the boat...what year are these from?!? I like to refer to this photo as Goose and Maverick......the next photo is Jared trying to be covert....yeah, we can't see you J....nope, not at all...veryvery sneaky bud....

Ok, happy August y'all....xxxe