all better...and bringing sexy back...yeah...right ;)

I started feeling much better friday....
(with the help of a couple pumpkin spice lattes from the bucks)
thank
goodness...
we had a
VERY
important
surprise party
to attend on saturday....
my brother-in-law MIKE
turned 30!
whew....he's joined us on the dark side of twenty....
and managed to celebrate his 9th anniversary of his 21st birthday....
anyway,
we had a great time....
gabby made WAY toooo much YUMdelish food.... and aside from the midnight drive home...
it was mad fun.
(and I think he was even surprised)

So,
Jack the kindergartener has become even more independent than he originally was
(which seems almost impossible)
as I passed his door the other day...
he was changing clothes...
and exclaimed loudly...
"CANT A MAN GET A LITTLE PRIVACY AROUND HERE?!?"
excuse me sir....

Jared has informed me that his underwear is no longer "cool"...
and boxers are a must have ASAP....
clearly changing in gym class makes one realize that even undies can be cool and uncool....
who knew?!?
(i think this is null and void for chicks....because I'm pretty sure my drawers were always just fine)
but he made me laugh big time....

So today
my day will consist of getting boxers...and mouth guards
(for flag football...which I was unaware you needed mouth guards for....hello?!? FLAG football...whatever)...
VERY manly of me.
if only I could throw in a jockstrap or two....
hmmm......

I also took a look at his birthday list yesterday,
and informed him that it looked great,
but perhaps he should try to make one w/ things on it he might actually get.
(I know I'm alone here, but a 6th grader does NOT need a cell phone...I'm sorry)

And...on the soccer front....
(which for those of you that know us...is in FULL force right now
....times 3.....& Jared plays travel)
his team won Saturday 4-2.
Jared scored...
which is TERRIFIC...
except...
he's not usually forward.
hmmmmm?!?
I think....
what is he
doing playing forward?!?
this season his coach (aka my husband) has decided he will only play forward.
well....great...
now I TOTALLY agree w/ the positioning....
however I JUST ordered a new shirt from here
that says "JARED....DEFENSE....21".....
COOL.
THAT just shows you the communication that goes on when you've been together 13 years...
HA!
SO, my cute little mommy shirt (not a word about my dorky-ness level)....is a complete lie...
and sham...

darn....I guess I'll just have to order more shirts ;)
(if you haven't made your own shirt...do it...they're fabulous...just ignore the dumb shit....like "Mrs...so-and-so" and do your own thing)

Colten finished his last book of the Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot series (yeah, they're classics)
and informed me
"I finished my book. It was the last of this series. SO, I guess I'm not reading anymore."
Like ever again.
and he's serious.
SO, I REALLY need to find that kid another series he's in to
...and quick.

Jared is SUPER excited for October 13th.....
when the last Unfortunate Events book comes out....
In the meantime I got him The Beatrice Letters....
which is REALLY quite cool...

Ok,
so this is turning into a children's book review.
I'll stop....

I didn't write anything yesterday,
because I didn't have any words to express the day.
I'm going to take Ashley up and make a page for the boys...
I think everyone one should....

I think that Essie said it best.

"New York. A terrible loss then, a terrible loss still.
We can't forget even though it hurts to remember.
We can't behave like a society without civility.
We can't tell children that the world is without pain.
But, we can hope, for happiness and for peace."

I do hope for happiness and for peace.
I do.
xe

***ETA:
back from the shopping....after much deliberation I decided the boy needed to pick out his own boxers, because I’ll go for cute...and that could be very BAD (and really put a MAJOR damper on the whole cool thing he's got going on ;) wink)
On a brighter note...at the sporting good store, I not only found mouth guards...but the billabong, hurley and quiksilver rash guard the boys wanted awhile back on sale for practically NOTHING. (ok, $5.99)....they will be stoked when they get home....I’m so excited!
I think I'm becoming one of those moms that gets the clearance clothes for next year....
how about that?! hmmm....
look babe...I'm SAVING you money by shopping...$$$
yeah....THATS what I'm doing. HA!
and,
that is not the shirt I got for soccer....
just a random one from their site...
mine has a soccer ball on it....duh e....
but I'm sort of digging the one I posted.....the site is customglamgirl....

Yeah....

so I'm sick.
I'm consuming mass amounts of Naked juice and tylenol cold...
I hate being sick...which really is probably the dumbest thing ever to say...
because who really likes being sick?!
hmm..
so in my absence....
check out these videos,
by the maker of the courage video I posted earlier....




and...
if you want a funny read...
because I haven't the energy to be funny today....
check out my friend essie's brand new blog...xe

The Ants go MARCHING 2 by 2....

noooo hurrah.....

is it wrong for me to believe that terminix comes....
in their little orange bug-mobile....
with their little ghost buster inspired backpack squirt guns....
to save the day?!?
because that's what I thought....
but...
now i really think...
that
maybe...
they just spray water
around my doorways...
and windows...
because honestly.
I think I have MORE ants now...then before they came.
bastards.

I understand....it's hot.
I understand WHY the ants come in....
and I would be fine if they just wanted to come in briefly to enjoy a little AC...
BUT....when they start messing w/ my food.
yeah,
they're out.
and frankly terminix...
noooot really helping my cause.....

so in an effort to be bug-free...
I am going w/ a terminix/RAID combo.*
we shall see.
after the tiny moth episode this weekend....
(it wasn't a tiny episode, but rather tiny moths)
which I can not discuss in detail, because it makes me itchy and COMPLETELY grossed out....
(picture IN MY CUPBOARDS....IN MY FOOD)
I'm in what you might call...
an OCD-esque cleaning and organizing frenzy....
which may last another 24-48hours...it's hard to say.
many things were lost in the war against the bugs....
much of my baking goods surrendered....
all other food has been tightly secured in tupperware.

the bugs have been quiet....
a little too quiet....
i think they are planning their next attack.
the RAID and I are standing by.

*please note....before moving south...the thought of pesticides and harmful chemicals near my babies would have NEVER been allowed......but.....it's amazing what almost five years here will do to you.....

Ok,
on an unbug related note....
--------------------------------------------------------->
this game is a must have if you have kiddos.
OMG.
I laughed so hard last night I was crying.

I did realize that i am a horrible mom though....
because while my five year old knows Beastie Boys and Jet,
we struggle w/ the songs that perhaps he should know the title of....
wheels on the bus anyone????
OOOhhhh well.....
I never could get into listening to Barney in the car....
Bad momma.

Yesterday, Today....and Tomorrow

Jessie challenged everyone to
"make a list of what you did and will do...
thoughts you had
literal or not
funny or serious
a written snippet of your life
...then make a scrapbook page out of it eventually"

LOVED this idea....

Yesterday:
Was a "rain" day for the boys, so no school (flooded roads)
Colin came home early from work
We checked out a gym
(I remembered when working out a gym was a daily thing, and I
didn't feel as uncomfortable there as I do now...YIKES!)
Hung out a Barnes and Noble
Was convinced by Colin to go to "ladies night out" with the women from church
(got past my initial hesitation about large groups of women, and actually had fun)

Today:
Stayed up until 2:30 am
Woke up to Jehovah Witnesses ringing the doorbell, telling us that God create
the world.....and I thought he gave me Saturday to sleep in....silly me....
Decided to update my blog in an effort to avoid picking up sticks in the yard with Colin from the storm that de-branched my trees....
Planning to go to the music store to look in to guitar lessons again for Jared, so
he'll quit asking...
Excited about movie night w/ the boys

Tomorrow:
We'll go to church
We'll have lunch at Panera
Jared and his team will be ball-boys for the ECU women's soccer game.
(the littles and I will watch the game)
Colin and I will examine the finances to see if there is enough money each month for
that gym membership I really want (perhaps we should give up the Panera after church...hmmm)
I'll work on a card for my friend that moved to Washington state...(she's sad)

Page to follow....thanks Jess. xe

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

Her race was BRILLIANT

Taking a little break to update....
I always think pictures speak louder than words...
So...

The hardest thing for me
was that a part of me still expected to see Alex come around the bend....

I do know that she was proud of us that day...
Thank you all for your support. xe

***ETA---I should have said earlier, I did not make this amazing video. It was passed on to me by a dear friend, who when she noticed that Alex was in it thought I might like to see.

Leaving on a jet plane

Tomorrow.

We leave tomorrow.
I can't believe it's already time for the race...

So tomorrow we will be flying...
I'm terrified of flying..
I'm so excited.
I may throw up....
I can't wait.
I will cry...
It's going to be great.
I may in fact have a nervous breakdown...

and...
The race is on Saturday.
I'm praying it all comes together and everything goes smoothly...
It's amazing to me, that it's time....

Oh...

I mentioned not being overly fond of the black tshirts...
but,
I had to get Jared a new one because the printing was crooked,
and the new one,
well, I love it.
The reason I didn't like the first,
was that there was a "box" around the winged"A"...
well,
low and behold,
there isn't suppose to be a box.
Much better when you have the right shirt.
So, I take back the earlier dis on the black shirt.
and...
if yours has a "box" around it...
ask for a new one..
they'll fix it.

After the race,
we're heading to the lake for a little r&r...
when I return...
tons of photos.
xe
ps.
thankyou ALL for your support.
thankyouthankyouthankyou.

Well said.....

"I'm sick of this nonsense" -Jack.....(couldn't have said it any better myself...My house REALLY needs to sell)

The Good, the BAD, and the Ugly...

Heeeheee....
Thanks to Jen, I got to do a little self reflection...
her CJ theme is based on a blog entry Meg wrote,
about her personality traits, the good, and the not-so-good.
WELL, wouldn't you know...
I'm mostly bad.
Sort of like Stitch.
My bad-level is unusually high....
It is sort of pathetic when the list of "bads" doubles the list of "goods"...
yeah,...

So, I had this concept in my head back when she first said what her theme would be,
of basing the pages on my scorpio "traits"...
because I'm pretty true to my sign.
I had in my head angel wings, and a badass scorpio....
and when I couldn't find what I wanted online,
I was forced to draw.
You can ask Gab...you just can't sway me once the image is set in my head.
BUT
I'm a lazy artist,
I drew one wing,
scanned it
and printed the mirror image...
whoa...
Bad e.
I'm a little stressed though,
and cross-hatching is sort of cathartic for me..
so it was all good.
Hope you like this CRAZY entry Jen...

And if you're meeting me next week for the first time...
I'm really not all that BAD! :)
xxe

*Jack said he'd like the wings much better if I would have colored them,
"like a blue jay maybe"....

HAPPY Birthday to YOU!!!!

HAPPY Birthday dear SUPER SPICY spazmafraz....Happy BIRTHDAY to you....
I LOVE YOU. xxxxe