Miller Time

because you shouldn't be punished just because you're not on facebook...

2011-08-12T11:40:00.002-04:00

Best. Video. Ever

You're welcome.

an eye for design

2011-02-12T19:59:00.003-05:00

Apparently, Jackson does not appreciate how long it is taking me to decide how to decorate this ledge during our living room remodel and has taken matters into his own hands...

i can't wait to see the dvd because as great as these are, they just don't do it justice...

2010-12-17T18:00:00.000-05:00

Ainsley's preschool Christmas program.

Seriously, you guys. Go Tell It On The Mountain never sounded so good. All kinds of awesome.

Christmastime, but cheer...

2010-12-17T15:00:00.000-05:00

Or is it, "Christmastime butt cheer?" Because that's how Jackson sings the song and honestly, knowing Jackson it would be the latter. In any event, Christmastime IS here and I'm still trying to figure out how that happened. Because really? We just got home from Disneyworld!

We headed up to the mountains a few weekends ago to get our Christmas tree. Remember last year? Super fun trip...picture perfect snow...everybody cold but got a great tree? Well, this year was even better! Mostly because Doug's parents were able to join us, but also because the trip provided us with one heck of a story that, thankfully, we can already laugh about.

We checked the weather the night before we left and saw that it was supposed to start snowing in the afternoon. We were a little bummed because we thought we'd miss it, as we were going up pretty early in the morning. Now, there are really only two times a year I actually wish for snow...the day we get our Christmas tree and Christmas Eve. So imagine our excitement when we arrived at the tree farm at 10am and the first flakes were already starting to fall!

It took awhile, but we were finally able to find our perfect tree...

(Sidenote: If one of your children dresses for a cold and possibly snowy day on the mountains in skinny jeans, footie socks and tennis shoes, you should make sure she wears something different, despite her eye rolls and protests that she will be fine. Because she won't. And while you might get some satisfaction in saying, "I told you so!" it won't be worth it if her crying threatens to ruin Christmas trees for you.)

This is a picture of our view out of the front windshield as we were about to leave...

And this is a picture of my happy husband just moments before...

...we slid off the mountain road into a ditch! Through a series of very fortunate events, no one was injured, there was no damage to the car, and a very nice man on a tractor was able to pull us out of the ditch so we didn't have to wait several hours (or pay) for a tow. All's well that ends well! And our tree is beautiful...

Happy Holidays!

disneyworld - a slideshow

2010-12-17T14:10:00.000-05:00

yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for them

2010-12-17T12:00:00.001-05:00

One of the coolest things we did during our DisneyWorld vacation was take Jack and Emily to The Pirates League on Halloween night for pirate makeovers.

Jackson getting his pirate tattoo.

Emily getting her nails painted. (If I have one complaint, it would be that there is only one package for girls...The Empress Package. Emily really wanted a scar painted on her cheek, but that package was only for boys. She did have a choice in colors for nail polish and lip gloss though, and she chose the black polish and the darker lip gloss (both of which she got to keep), so she was happy.)

The beginning of Jackson's transformation.

The finished product!

In addition to the make-up and tattoos, they also received swords, pirate teeth and a gold medallion from Captain Jack Sparrow's personal stash. They had a great time and got quite a few compliments on their costumes the rest of the evening at the Halloween party.

But have you ever tried to remove make-up from the face of a half-asleep six-year-old at one o'clock in the morning?

The morning after.

disney jeopardy

2010-11-03T23:35:00.002-04:00

"Because they look like Mickey's underpants!"

What is, "Why did Jackson choose these mouse ears?"

great times...not so great pictures

2010-11-02T11:19:00.002-04:00

We had a wonderful time. And you're just going to have to trust me on that because you probably won't be able to tell from the pictures. Out of the over 400 we took, there are about 6 or 7 that are good. And this is probably my favorite:

Ainsley and Snow White

I'll post more soon, after I've tackled the 27 loads of laundry that are waiting for me...

off to the happiest place on earth

2010-10-26T10:31:00.004-04:00

Can't wait to make some more memories!

after our day on friday, i probably should have seen this coming

2010-09-19T19:42:00.003-04:00

Just look at this sweet munchkin face.

From this angle, you almost can't tell that she found Jack's scissors this afternoon and decided she needed a bit of a trim...

The other missing chunks are mostly disguised in her curls and I'm sure no one will even notice if she wears her hair in a ponytail.

Thanks for keeping me on my toes, sweet girl.

it's time to step away from the craft supplies

2010-09-17T15:18:00.004-04:00

First, I had to dislodge a bead from her nose.

And then:

Sigh.

i'm pretty sure he doesn't get the sports jokes either

2010-09-10T09:00:00.000-04:00

Doug: So, Ryan, how was your day?

Ryan: It was fine, except we had to do pacers.

Doug: What are pacers?

Ryan: Oh, basically there is a beeping noise and everyone starts running and you have to get to the other side of the gym before the next beep or you're out.

Doug: Oh, so it doesn't have anything to do with Reggie Miller?

Ryan: (shakes his head and eyeroll!) Dad, you know I don't get your 70's jokes.

i knew what he was talking about, but i can understand how she was a tad confused

2010-09-09T09:00:00.000-04:00

Jackson: Hey, Emily! Have you seen my thing? The thing that is supposed to be my stomach, but really, I wanted to make it an ant farm with other bugs?

Emily: Huh?

preschool - before and after

2010-09-07T17:21:00.005-04:00

Happy and excited...

One last hit of chocolate milk before we get in the car...

Just...can't...wait!

Now, off we go!

This is the part where I thought I would tell you that she gave me a kiss and a hug and ran off to play with her new friends, because she's been talking about this day for over a year. So excited for when it would be her turn to go to school. Except it wasn't quite like that. We got to her classroom and my leg became her life preserver. I knelt down and gave her a hug and a kiss and told her that I would be back to pick her up when school was over. "But what if I need you?" I explained that if she needed anything she could ask her teachers and they would help. "But what if I want you?" Sigh. I gave her another hug and another kiss and reminded her about all the fun things she would be doing...Coloring! Puzzles! Playing on the playground! And then I passed her off to her teacher and let her go. I could hear her screaming down the hall, and so I paused for a moment outside the school administrators office. She smiled and asked, "Which room?" I told her and she took off down the hall to have a peek. When she came back, she said, "Well, she's still a little upset. But she'll be fine." And in my heart I knew that she would be better than fine. I knew she would have fun. So I held it together...until the barista at Starbucks asked me how my morning was going so far. I'm sure I'm not the first to shed tears into my Caramel Macchiato, but still...

Anyway, I managed to keep busy until it was time to pick her up. When I stood in the doorway of her classroom, I smiled. Because she was smiling. And playing. And her face lit up when she saw me and then I heard her say exactly what I hoped she would say. "Mama! I had fun!"

And then she crashed...

Update: We were doing fine this morning (day two) up until it was actually time to get in the car, at which point she began wailing that she didn't want to go to school because "school is soooo tiring!!" Heh. She cried a little longer this morning than yesterday, but the outcome of the day was the same. "I love my school! I had so much fun today! I got to dress up like a pink butterfly! I'm not going to cry next time." We shall see...

what a difference twenty-nine months makes

2010-08-17T14:09:00.004-04:00

Day 1 of braces - March 2008

Today - August 2010

mom always said one day i would pay for buying kate that snoop dog cd

2010-08-06T09:33:00.005-04:00

Jackson is really into music...well, actually, we all are. Our iTunes library has a little over 9,000 songs and it would take 24 days of non-stop listening before we could get through the entire library just one time. Jack's favorites are anything with "hard guitar" and he absolutely loves Collective Soul. Lately though, he's been venturing out and wanting to try new things at the library.

Jackson chooses his cd's much the same way I sometimes choose wine - by the label. If it looks like fun to him, he'll grab it without knowing much about what kind of music it is. A couple of weeks ago, he chose "Caribbean Fiesta for Kids" and played it at bedtime. When he woke up the next morning, I asked him what he thought about it and he replied, "Well, it sort of felt like it was in Spanish mode, if you know what I mean."

On our last trip to the library, he grabbed this cd:

I didn't pay much attention at the time. I saw that it was Jimmy Buffett and thought it would be a fun cd for him, having grown up a Parrothead myself. It wasn't until we arrived home that I turned it over and looked at the song selection. First up is Margaritaville. A little inappropriate for a children's cd, and while you might be thinking "Um, isn't most of Jimmy Buffett inappropriate for children?", I would disagree. There are lots of great songs completely appropriate for listeners of all ages. Little Miss Magic is beautiful and remains one of my all-time favorites. One Particular Harbor? Also a great one.

A few songs later we come to It's Five O'Clock Somewhere, which also pushes the appropriateness envelope, in my opinion. But I think the one that really gets me is this:

I promptly loaded the cd into the player and was totally relieved to discover this was an INSTRUMENTAL cd. (If you're not familiar with this particular song, feel free to google the lyrics. Let's just say I'm really glad I'm not going to have to explain to my six-year-old what a "snuff queen" is. Ahem.)

And then I just happened to turn the case on it's side and saw this:

Sleepytime worship? Jimmy Buffett? Why Don't We Get Drunk? Children's CD?

A little crazy, no??

vacation sneak peak and a request

2010-08-02T19:21:00.005-04:00

Our week at the lake was phenomenal! I can't wait to show you all the pictures, but it may take a few days (or weeks!) to go through all 540 pictures I just transferred from my camera to the computer. I'm so glad I took the camera out on the boat because I got some great action shots of our last day on the lake:

Emily & Ryan

Jessica & Dane

Hayden & Michael

Jessica

Emily & Ryan

Dane & Ryan

Emily, Dane & Ryan

Ryan

And now for my request...

Our local paper is holding a photography contest and the theme is "How I Shot My Summer Vacation." I would like to submit one of these photos, but I can't decide! So, which one should it be?? Please leave me a comment and let me know which one is the winner!

overheard

2010-07-22T10:26:00.002-04:00

Jackson, reading the stickers on Ainsley's potty training chart:

Great!

Super Star!

Diva!

Girl Power!

Dreamer!

Girls Rule! Uh, no they don't!

goatee, compliments of nutella

2010-07-16T11:14:00.000-04:00

mb with the q's

2010-07-12T10:10:00.002-04:00

The Quandt Family came to visit last week and we decided to take a trip to the beach. The bigs had a blast in the waves...

...and the littles stayed a little closer to the shore.

We didn't get to stay for happy hour at Liberty, but after 8 attempts, we did manage to get this group shot:

As always, it was wonderful to have them here and we miss them like crazy already. Let the countdown to Christmas begin!!

beach baby

2010-07-12T09:55:00.002-04:00

the photo that turned me into a weepy pile of goo during the slideshow at jackson's graduation

2010-06-30T11:01:00.002-04:00

I mean, seriously...

Side note: Jackson refused to change out of this outfit, and I felt a bit like a failure as a mother because I've been depriving him of the pleasure of wearing a tie! He wanted to go out and shoot baskets after school and was so mad that we made him change clothes. And later that evening when I told him we were going to Target he asked, "Oh! Can I change back into my fancy clothes?"

the "graduates"

2010-06-30T10:45:00.000-04:00

So, apparently, here in the South, graduations are a pretty big deal. And it's not just for High School. There are graduation ceremonies for Kindergarten, 5th Grade, and 8th Grade as well. Which means we had 2 ceremonies to attend this year. And we were more than happy to celebrate because the kids had outstanding school years!! Both ceremonies were lovely, but you'll just have to take my word for it. My pictures are terrible thanks to the trifecta of less than stellar seats, poor lighting and a certain little monkey climbing all over my lap. Here are the best of the bunch:

Emily with the principal, Mrs. Edmond.

Emily with two of her besties, Samantha and Solteria. Not pictured is Katie, who rounds out the foursome, and she was also wearing black and white. Amazingly enough, they didn't even coordinate outfits...they are just all in sync!

Emily and her teacher, Mrs. Gettys. I can only hope Jack and Ainsley are lucky enough to be in her class as well...such an inspiring teacher!

And now here are the Kindergarten pictures...

Yes, this is seriously the best picture of Jack (and his best friend, Isabella) taken at the ceremony. The Kindergarten Team put together a slideshow set to music. It was so adorable and I managed to hold it together until there was a picture of Jackson and Isabella dancing at the Kindergarten Ball. Kerry (my sweet friend and neighbor, who just so happens to be Isabella's mom) was sitting next to me and we both started sobbing at the same exact moment. They are just growing up way too fast!

And here is Jackson with his teacher, Ms. Tavano. He had such an amazing Kindergarten experience and much of that is thanks to her.

So now our summer is in full swing...lots of swimming and camps and some great vacations to look forward to. We're going to enjoy it to the fullest. Because in just 7 short weeks, school will be starting again. And we will have 2 in Middle School, 1 in the First Grade, and 1 in Preschool. Which, if you must know, kind of makes me sad. But I'm sure I'll get over it the first time I'm able to go to the grocery store by myself...

and i kid you not, my response was, "that's great, buddy. but for next time, it only has one e!"

2010-06-02T22:35:00.002-04:00

Jackson likes to take his showers in our bathroom now, mostly because our shower has a door and in his bathroom, there is only a curtain. Which means that if he were to take a shower in his bathroom, he couldn't draw pictures and write his name with his finger on the foggy door. And school is almost over and getting him to do his homework these days is like pulling teeth. So I really don't mind if he wants to practice his spelling in the shower...we are all about multi-tasking around here.

Last night, as he was getting out of the shower, he called me over to look at his words.

"Look! B-U-T-T spells butt!"

"Yes, it does."

And then the giggles started as he pointed at the next word.

"And P-E-E-N-I-S spells penis!"

one year

2010-05-28T08:00:00.000-04:00

May 2009

May 2010

May 2009

May 2010

May 2009

May 2010

number eleven

2010-05-27T12:00:00.002-04:00

This past weekend marked the end of a six-week stretch that has been the most crazy, with the most jam-packed schedule, this house has ever seen...and that's saying something. And smack dab in the middle of the weekend, amidst all of the other activities, we celebrated Emily's 11th birthday. Cake requirements? A Marble cake, with white, vanilla buttercream frosting, decorated with blue and green letters and stars. (Actually, it was supposed to be balloons, but she changed her mind at the last minute.)

Marble cake with vanilla buttercream frosting? Check.

Decorated with blue and green letters and stars? Check.

One happy Birthday Girl?

Check.

Oh yeah.

Make a wish, Mimi. Hope it comes true. xoxo

i'm beginning to think soccer just may not be his thing

2010-05-27T12:00:00.000-04:00

Another spring, another soccer season under his belt. But I think this season may have been his last. He's really just not that into it. Oh, he likes being on the field, but not exactly on the playing field...the sidelines are much more fun.

You can build things with whatever materials happen to be around...

Heaven forbid you actually get called into the game...

No point drinking the water when you can pour it over your head...

And while your hair is wet, you must also make sure it is "flat"...

Why would you look at the ball? Everyone else is...they don't need you to do it too...

Yes, ladies...that's where they're keeping the snacks!

"Jackson, do you want to play soccer again?

"Nah. Can I do Karate??"

So, Jack is done with soccer...but I think this little girl is just getting started...

flip flops

2010-05-27T08:56:00.006-04:00

Remember these?

The cutest little flip flops on the cutest little feet. Well, after a year of wearing them, with the exception of about 2 months when it was "winter" here and I made her wear socks and closed-toe shoes, the cutest little flip flops now look like this:

I've been searching for something to replace these, because not only do they look like this, her cute little heels now hang over the back. I have purchased 3 pairs of shoes for her this spring, but she won't wear any of them unless I make her. She always goes back to these. We were at Target the other day and Ainsley was looking over at a little girl in the next aisle. "Mama! She has my shoes!" she exclaimed. And sure enough, the little girl was wearing a much cleaner version of these battered flip flops. I asked her mother if she found them in this store...because I had been looking...and she said that she had...and they had just arrived in the store this week...and they were buy one, get one half off!! So, we hopped out of the check-out line and hustled back to the shoe department and now her favorite shoes look like this:

Unfortunately, they still don't come in her big sister's size...

(p.s. - No, my kitchen floor isn't really that dingy. Early morning light, no flash, in a hurry to take the pictures so I could capture the "new" look before they didn't look new anymore!)

but honestly, i don't know how...

2010-05-12T18:21:00.003-04:00

In January 2009, I wrote this post about what the kids' beds look like in the morning. I had titled it, "how they sleep," but I should have titled it "where they sleep." Because this? This is really how they sleep:

(Photos credits to Doug and his Blackberry)

the post in which i share with you the conversation that led to my husband insulting me even more than when he thought i was older than don cheadle

2010-05-07T21:23:00.009-04:00

There is a blog I follow pretty regularly written by a woman named Ree Drummond. Also known as The Pioneer Woman. I may have mentioned her once or twice here, right? Okay, fine. I'm pretty obsessed with her. I read her blog daily, enter all of her contests (along with about 40,000 other people, so my odds aren't even remotely good, but I do it anyway!), and several of her recipes have become staples here in the Crazy House. As you can imagine, I was pretty excited to find out that she was coming here to Charlotte for a book signing on May 7th. Tonight.

Now, earlier in the week, I really thought I would go. But as the week went on and our schedules were filled with things that kept all of us up way past our bedtimes, leading to a week of grumpy tantrums, some of them even by the kids, I began to realize that my plans may not come to fruition. Which is what I told my husband last night as we were getting ready to crash.

Doug: What do you mean? You have to go! Of course you have to go!

Me: Why does it matter to you?

Doug: Well, you just have to go. You're totally in love with her! I think if you weren't married to me, you'd be married to her!

Me: Oh, I think that may be a bit of a stretch...

Doug: Okay, well then you would be her...Wait! What's that guy's name? The guy who lived with OJ Simpson?

Me: Kato Kaelin?

Doug: Yeah, that's it! You would be like her Kato Kaelin!

Me: ... ... ...

Doug: You know, you would live in her guest house!

Me: Yeah, I'm gonna pretend you didn't just compare me to Kato Kaelin and instead focus on the fact that living in her guest house would be completely awesome!

So, yeah. After Ainsley's 32nd meltdown today (Seriously, you may be inclined to believe that is an exaggeration, but I think I'm actually being conservative in that estimation), I was so exhausted that I couldn't even think about driving in rush hour traffic to stand in line for several hours, even if it was for one of the loves of my blogging life. Honestly, I don't think I could have even mustered up the energy to go see Harry Connick, Jr. You know that's saying something. And quite frankly, after the Don Cheadle thing and then comparing me to Kato Kaelin? Doug's lucky I didn't go and decide to explore my options. Because I? Would be a fantastic tenant for The Lodge. PW would be lucky to have me. I would bake cookies and bread every day in a kitchen like that and I would even knit dishcloths AND help her clean the kitchen after we tested recipes together.

Not to mention the fact that I totally rock cowboy boots...

following in his older brother's footsteps

2010-05-06T12:33:00.002-04:00

Jackson makes his theatrical debut this evening in the Kindergarten Musical, Bugs!

Just take a second to picture that, if you will. About 100 Kindergartners all dressed like bugs. I think my heart is about to explode from all the cuteness.

The kids were asked to volunteer for speaking parts and Jackson stepped right up to the plate. He is Bug 24 and has four lines.

He was telling his friend, Mason, about it the other night after soccer practice:

I'm in a show. It's called Bugs! I have 4 lines. I say:

But wait, we need a battle plan

Before we have our snack.

Better call out the army Ants

To synchronize our attack!

Do you know how I know all my lines? Because my brain tells me. And my brain...is awesome!

Oh yeah. It's gonna be good. Video to follow...I hope!

three on the third

2010-05-03T09:42:00.004-04:00

Day One:

Year One:

Year Two:

Year Three:

Your Dora the Explorer cake:

Now, make a wish...

And blow out your candles...

Happy Birthday #3, my sweet Ainsley Caroline.

Love,

Mama

almost ready to leave the nest

2010-05-01T14:02:00.004-04:00

A few months ago, we discovered a bird's nest right under the gutter by the garage. Last week, there was a flutter of new activity ...

We thought there were three, but as they get bigger, we can see definitely four, sometimes it even looks like there are five. They are usually pretty quiet and they just seem to watch us all the time.

I'm thinking this is kind of like the teenager phase...a very crowded house and a mess that seems to overflow onto everything. (I didn't take a picture of what the ground under this nest looks like...you can use your imagination.)

But you know they will soon be gone.

And you will miss them.

hooping it up

2010-04-22T09:29:00.004-04:00

Before...

and After...

(well, after waiting several days for the utilities to be marked, finding out the gas line was right where the hole needed to be, carefully digging around the gas line, blisters, very sore muscles, 5 trips to Home Depot, 6 bags of concrete, a little swearing, and almost smashing the glass 3 times, that is...)

capturing a moment of the grumps

2010-04-22T09:13:00.002-04:00

I know, kid. Life's rough sometimes.

Having to push your little sister in the swing so I can take pictures is so not fair...

But whatever you do, don't smile...

No, really...

it's the big swings now...

2010-04-22T09:06:00.002-04:00

When Ainsley wanted to swing the other day, I started to lift her and put her in her "baby" swing. She very quickly let me know that she wanted to swing in the big swing. And then she kept asking me to push her higher. I told her I didn't want her to go too high, to which she replied, "I can go higher. I'm not a baby anymore, Mama. I'm an Ainsley!"

(The messy face is for you, Auntie Nancy!)

i think he may be a little too "plugged in"

2010-04-20T16:31:00.001-04:00

I'm reading a book to Jackson and he says, "Um, can you pause this? I need to go to the bathroom!"

lunch with the birthday boy

2010-04-17T19:30:00.003-04:00

Ainsley and I volunteer in Jackson's class every Wednesday. (Well, I help with Math and she sits at the back table, looking cute and soaking up everything!) She's kind of a rock star with the class...we usually stay for lunch and everyone wants to sit by her. But on Jack's birthday? I got to sit next to both rock stars. It was awesome!

on being 6

2010-04-17T13:45:00.003-04:00

I asked Jackson, "What's the best thing about being 6?"

"Well, opening presents, I think."

"Anything else?"

"Oh, yeah! And eating cake!"

Well said, my son.

way better than olan mills

2010-04-15T19:47:00.003-04:00

The week before leaving on our Spring Break trip, I contacted a friend from high school, who happens to be a fantastic photographer, and asked her to meet us in Danville to take some pictures of the kids. You can click here to see some of the photos on her blog. They are wonderful and I'm having a hard time deciding which ones to order!! Thanks, Jessica!

don't worry...she's not contagious.

2010-04-15T19:44:00.005-04:00

Ainsley with a case of the blue and magenta spotted fever. Also known as what happens when you leave your 2 year old "watching Max and Ruby" while you take a shower. Sigh.

there are times i'm glad she has a phone. and then there are times like these...

2010-04-13T08:55:00.003-04:00

I had some phone problems on our trip and didn't have service for about 3 days. (Which is why I wasn't able to tweet some really fun things we were doing...New Fort Wayne Tin Caps stadium is awesome...would love to see a game here! It's been such a long time since I've been in Trinity...the remodel is gorgeous...but the Chapel will always be my favorite part. The people at the Verizon Store at Jefferson Point are getting on my nerves!! Fideo and Nachos at El Azteca! First Dairy Queen of the season! Giant slide at Science Central looks so fun...Ryan and Emily heading down in under 3 seconds!) I haven't had too many problems since I've been back, but yesterday my phone was doing some weird things so while I was waiting in the carpool line for Ryan, I called Emily and asked her to send me a "test" text.

Emily's text: kgfvcjkfdl

Me: Thanks...

Emily: your welcome

Me: You're...Not your.

Emily: this is txt language it is short

Me: Never an excuse for bad grammar...

Emily: whatever

(I do realize I just opened myself up for a critique of my own grammar. I know it's not perfect...but the misuse of you're and your? Ranks right at the top with the misuse of there and their in terms of my biggest grammar pet peeves. And one of these days I'll learn how to correctly use a comma and stop ending sentences with prepositions. Baby steps, people.)

bat buddies

2010-04-12T18:58:00.002-04:00

Jackson and his cousin, Brady, on Easter Sunday. Jackson actually started out the day wearing his black Batman t-shirt, but had to change once he saw Brady's was grey.

spring break

2010-04-01T20:56:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow I'll be driving to Indiana with the kids. (Doug will be staying behind to work and try to finish all 27 items on his honey-do list!) We have a ton of plans, and I'll have very limited access to Internet, so I may not be able to post anything here until we return. However, I will be tweeting! Have you seen the Twitter bar on the left? I can update just by sending a text message. So, even though there may not be any new posts next week, you can still check in and see updates of all the fun we're having!! Now, rest assured, I will not tweet while driving!! One of my "navigators" will update for me if I have something exciting to say on the road. And speaking of navigators...Emily will be taking the co-pilot chair on the way to Indiana tomorrow. I let her know that she will be responsible for making sure we get all the directions right. (Part of our route is still closed due to a rock slide last October, so I'll need her to help guide me through the detour.) So, she grabbed the atlas and started looking through it:

Emily: Oohh! Here it is! I found Indiana already!!

Me (glancing over at the atlas) : Um, honey? That may be, but you're looking at a map of Pennsylvania.

So, if all goes well, we will arrive at our destination in time for dinner! But just in case, does anybody know any good places to eat in Pennsylvania??

the jackson dictionary

2010-04-01T12:18:00.004-04:00

The area behind your knee = leg pit.

hypochondriac

2010-03-18T17:50:00.002-04:00

march madness

2010-03-18T17:40:00.002-04:00

One on the tv. One on the laptop. Madness, indeed.

maybe we have a little more work to do...

2010-03-04T11:56:00.003-05:00

My first big "Spring Cleaning" project this year was to clean out the pantry. Yesterday, I took everything out, cleaned it from top to bottom and then rearranged and put everything back. Well, almost everything. It turns out that I have an obscene amount of cookie cutters. And baking pans. And icing colors. And sprinkles. Anyway, since Ainsley did a decent job finishing off the cheese popcorn, I decided I would re-purpose the giant tin the popcorn came in to hold all of the cookie cutters. This morning, I asked her if she wanted to help me put all the cookie cutters away. She was more than happy to help. Of course, she had to look carefully at each one before she put it away:

Ainsley: What's this one?

Me: That looks like a dog.

Ainsley: A dog. Right. This one is a star!

Me: Yes it is.

Ainsley: What's this one?

Me: That's a letter. It's the letter "U."

Ainsley: Oh, me. Right.

on stage...or, in the family room, i guess

2010-02-28T10:42:00.001-05:00

It's that time of year again...auditions for OnStage! Ryan's audition piece this year is a monologue called "Girl Crazy." Which is a little amusing to me because it may or may not be true. (Hint: It is. I mean, substitute another name for Kelly and we will have actually almost had this exact conversation.) And he may or may not be mortified that I'm telling you that. (Hint: He totally will be, but maybe next time he'll think about that before he slams me.)

He did give me permission to record and post his audition practice, so here you go!

(Apparently, I needed more light, but at least the camera is stationary and you don't need to be immune to motion sickness to watch it this time, so there's that...)

the things he leaves behind

2010-02-27T22:00:00.000-05:00

I used to be pretty obsessive about picking up toys. Well, about making sure all the toys were put away like they were supposed to be put away. Unfortunately, this is not a trait I have passed along to any of my children. Jackson has a Little People garage that came with two little cars and two little people. Back when it was new, he played with it almost every day. So every day when he had finished playing with it, I would find the cars and the people and put them with the garage. One day I couldn't find one of the cars. I looked all day and couldn't find it...it drove me crazy. The next day, I opened up one of the cabinets in the kitchen and found the little car inside my set of nesting mixing bowls. And so it began. A Hot Wheels car in the pantry. Some Legos in the laundry hamper. And so on...and so on. Now, don't get me wrong. He will pick up his toys if he's asked. Sometimes even without crying hysterically. And not to get all psychoanalytical or anything, but I really do think that he leaves things around as if to make sure we all remember that he lives here too. (As if we could forget...I mean, seriously, he absolutely has no "inside voice!!") As the third of four children, sometimes his needs aren't always the first to be addressed. He has to wait for his apple juice more times than not. And he gets dragged all over the city to the activities of his older siblings.

So, I cut him a little slack and I've learned to not obsess over the things he leaves behind. Or maybe I just don't have the energy to be so crazy-obsessive over toys now. Either way, I kind of look forward to finding his little surprises. Like the crusts of his toast every single time he has toast for breakfast:

And Obi Wan Kenobi hiding out in Emily's jacket:

And the Space Lego dudes, reminding me to refill the napkin holder:

And my personal favorite...I guess the Lego Star Wars guy has a problem with gorillas, but it was an amusing scene to find when I came to sit down at the computer one morning after dropping the kids off at school:

Jack is growing up...against my wishes, I might add. He's reading now. Actual books. And last night he had his first sleepover. He was so excited...he pulled out his Transformers backpack and we packed it together and then he carried it and his sleeping bag around for almost an hour before it was time to leave. I don't know what tugged at my heart more...the fact that he was so excited to go and was practically horrified when Doug teasingly suggested he would go to the sleepover with Jack. Or how disturbingly quiet the house was after he left. Shortly after Doug left with Jack, Ryan and I were sitting on the couch watching TV.

Ryan: Did Jack leave for his sleepover yet?

Me: Yep. Why? Because it's so quiet?

Ryan: Um, no. Because his Transformers backpack is right over there.

Yes, he's growing up. But it's nice to know some things aren't going to change.

dinner tonight

2010-02-22T08:56:00.003-05:00

Eye of Round Roast from our favorite local farm. The roast is rubbed with a little olive oil and then seasoned with salt and pepper, garlic, onion, and rosemary. The liquid is beef broth, water, Worcestershire sauce and a dash of Pickapeppa Sauce. Low and slow for about 10 hours.

I'll let you know...

Update: Yum! The flavors were great, but it was just a little on the dry side. When I bought the roast at the Farmer's Market, I was told that 10 hours on low in the crock pot would be about right...I think 8 would have done it. But the pan juices made excellent gravy and I served creamy garlic spinach and whole wheat couscous as sides. The leftover meat will make excellent BBQ Beef sandwiches later this week!!

i'm pretty sure i just got slammed

2010-02-21T21:18:00.002-05:00

So. Right. Teenagers are so much fun. And not at all damaging to my ego. Take, for example, the conversation I just had with Ryan. We were watching The Amazing Race and some sort of pet commercial came on...it may have had dogs or cats or, I don't know, maybe even ferrets or something. But whatever it was, Ryan and Emily completely jumped on it...

Emily: Awww...

Ryan: See, Mom! We need a pet!

Emily: Yes, we totally need a pet! It could be anything...I mean a dog, a cat, a fish, a bird...it could even be a pet rock, Mom!

Me: Well, we could have a pet squirrel!

Ryan: Yes!

Me: Of course, it would have to be an outdoor pet.

Ryan: (eyeroll) Oh, come on...We NEED a dog!!

Me: What would you do with a pet?

Ryan: Um, play with it...I need some company!!

Me: There are six people in this house...what do you mean you need some company?

Ryan: I just really want the company of someone I would like to be around...

Me: ...

Ryan: Oh, I mean, someone other than you, of course...

Wow. Really.

And before you take his side and are all like, "Aww. Poor thing. He totally needs a dog!" This is the part where I say that we used to have a dog. A beautiful, if not completely gaseous, dog named Belle. Love her. But she made Emily look like she had been punched in the eyes (ALLERGIES!). And then we moved to a 900 sq. ft. condo in Myrtle Beach. So Belle now leads a wonderfully fabulous life full of people who love her to pieces...and a trombone. And the last time we saw Belle, Jackson needed Benedryl after spending about 3 minutes with her (ALLERGIES!). So, yeah, dogs are pretty much out of the question for us. So you can go back to being all...Ugh! Teenagers!!

more snow and a tasty treat

2010-02-17T16:26:00.002-05:00

More snow last weekend. This time it was real snow! Like, for snowmen, and snow angels, and sledding, and snowball fights!

And the best part about coming in and warming up with some hot chocolate was also introducing Ainsley to Nutella on graham crackers...

Mmmm...Nutella. If you've never had it, I dare you to not try it after seeing these pictures...

she has a bit of a cold, but it doesn't stop her from hitting those notes...

2010-02-11T09:13:00.002-05:00

the great snowstorm of 2010...and a winner.

2010-02-02T14:01:00.003-05:00

Friday night was our annual "blizzard!" I had only heard reports of flurries in our area, and couldn't believe how crowded all the stores were on Friday! Then I remembered I live in the South. The first flakes fell around 6:00pm and this is what we woke up to on Saturday morning...

Looks innocent enough, but there was some ice under this dusting...and instead of falling in nice, big flakes, most of this "snow" was actually tiny, little ice pellets. The temperature never rose above freezing on Saturday and wasn't much warmer on Sunday, so most of this stuff was still around on Monday, resulting in...you guessed it! A SNOW DAY! Which was great, because we really needed another day stuck in the house! We needed a project...so, we decided to build a sled with our Bendaroos and slide down the back hill while we still had a bit of snow on the ground!

No, we didn't really. We (um, Jack and Emily) played entirely too much Wii, and we (um, Ryan, Emily and I) watched way too many old episodes of Lost. But that would have been a nice segue way into announcing the contest winner, wouldn't it??

Anyway, last week I held my very first giveaway here on this website. I had big plans of going to random.org to generate my random number to determine the winner. But of the 5 comments I received, only 3 of them were actual entries, and of those 3, 2 were in the same household. So, for whatever reason, most likely because I have cabin fever, I'm going to send Bendaroos to the Q's and to Owen. Thanks for playing, guys!!

ainsley sings her abc's - the fully clothed edition

2010-02-02T13:35:00.003-05:00

Ainsley has recently adopted a "clothing-optional" attitude. Meaning, if she knows we are going to be home, she wears only her diaper. And if I do make her leave the house, like to go pick up the other kids from school, she walks two steps inside the door when we get home and takes her clothes off in either the kitchen or the hallway next to the bathroom. We've all kind of gotten used to it, and to be honest, I didn't even think of it the first time I had her sit next to me on the couch and sing her ABC's for the webcam on my netbook. And then I played it back and went, "Crap. She's naked." I briefly thought about posting it anyway, because she wasn't really exposing anything the way she was sitting, but thought better of it. I was hopeful I could get her to sing it again. It took about a week, but I did...

look what we did! and a giveaway...

2010-01-25T11:15:00.001-05:00

When you walk in the door after being away for a couple of hours and the kids say, "Mom, look what we did!" you never really know what you're going to get. Perhaps they have dumped all of the boxes of crackers in the pantry into a pie dish to make cracker pie.* Or maybe they decided that your white loveseat needed a splash of color, so they decorated it with blue, orange, purple and black crayon.** Or maybe they drew a beautiful picture on your window...using string cheese.*** Or an equally beautiful picture on your carpet using markers.**** Or perhaps they decided to decorate their bedroom door with all of the stickers in their new sticker book.*****

* = Ryan

** = Emily

*** = Jackson

**** = Ainsley

***** = Jackson and Ainsley

Kids have amazing imaginations, and while most of the time it leads to fantastic results like a truly fascinating story or a gorgeous picture or even the most fun afternoon playing outside, there is always the chance it can end in trying to clean string cheese off of your windows, which honestly, isn't as easy as it sounds.

So, when Jenny and I came home from running some errands over Christmas vacation to the chorus of "Look What We Did," from all seven kids, I have to admit I was a little nervous. I mean, the dads were here, but the crayons on the loveseat? That happened when Doug was 5 feet away the entire time! But this was truly the coolest surprise!

Have you ever heard of Bendaroos? Go ahead and check them out for a minute...I'll wait...

So, pieces of super strong string covered by some kind of wax that can be twisted and shaped into just about anything. Jackson got a box for Christmas and the kids all got in on the action and had a great time!

This is what you see when you walk up our stairs:

And right next door to that...

Jack and Ainsley's door is already covered in stickers, so the kids decided to decorate the inside of their room instead with this...

and this...

Moving on...

And then...

And my personal favorite...

You cannot get lost upstairs now. It's been about a month and everything is still up. Well, except for the decorations in Jack and Ainsley's room, which had to come down because we finally painted the room! And I feel like we shouldn't be the only ones having all the fun here, so I'm going to give away a box of Bendaroos to one of you! All you have to do is leave a comment and tell me your favorite "Look what we did!" moment, good or bad.

(Open to U.S. only. Winner will be chosen at random from all entries received by Sunday, January 31, 2010 at 8:00pm E.S.T. The prize of one box of Bendaroos (Mega Box - 500 pack) is provided by me, Carrie, Mother of the Crazy...Bendaroos has never heard of me. I just think you should have some because they're pretty cool!)

holiday wrap up (a.k.a the post in which i post all of the things about the holidays i told you i would post...finally!)

2010-01-24T14:30:00.000-05:00

Since January is almost over (how did that happen??), I figure I'd better go ahead and finish this holiday post. I say, "finish," because I have actually had all of these photos on here, ready to go, for about 3 weeks now.

Let's start with Thanksgiving...I vaguely remember...Let's see, I think there was turkey...I know there was wine...and the company was fabulous!

Hi Holly! Hi Dean!

Hi Kids!

Most of the food was the same as last year, and instead of a pumpkin pie, I decided on these sweet little beauties from Bakerella. Actually, Mom made them because I was running a tad behind schedule (shocking, I know!) and they were wonderful! The whole holiday was wonderful. It was so nice to have everyone here.

A couple of weeks after Thanksgiving, we were invited to go on a trip to a Christmas Tree farm to cut down our own tree. Our neighbors make this trip every year and we were so glad that it worked out for us to go this year. We had some hotel points, so we decided to drive to Asheville the night before, have dinner at our favorite restaurant, Papa's and Beer, and be a little closer to the farm. A couple of days before the trip, we started getting reports that it may snow, so we were even more excited! And for once, the reports were right! As we were eating breakfast that morning, it started to snow!

Ainsley couldn't believe the snow was sticking to Jack's hair!! It snowed the entire ride from the hotel into the mountains, and by the time we arrived at Sugar Plum Farms, the views were just gorgeous!

We ate lunch and then took a ride up the mountain to begin our search for the perfect tree!

Ryan and Emily helped us find the best one...

...and here we all are in front of our tree. However, the cold had begun to take it's toll on the littles and they were definitely ready to head back to warm up with some hot chocolate!

It was such a fun day! We had a great time with our friends and we picked out the most perfect tree.

We can't wait to go back again!

Finally

2010-01-16T17:46:00.002-05:00

Hello everybody! Ryan blogging. About, oh, 2 months ago I said that the winter reading list will come out soon and, well, by soon I meant 2 weeks. But then none of the books I got from the library were really that good. So then I had to go to my own personal library to see if I overlooked anything. I found about 2 books and that was it. So I made another trip to the library and fond about 3 more. So then I remembered a book I read in the 2nd grade that was pretty good. And then a trip to the school library answered my prayers. I found about 4 more there. So here it is.

The Winter Reading List

10. Holes by Louis Sacher- Ok, ok i know, this book is pretty used to the praise, but seriously this is a good read! It's really mysterious and as you read it there are a lot of "-GASP- that's how it fits!" moments. If you have trouble getting the book (which I doubt you will), or you become a total freak about the book ( like me) you should rent the movie. It's the ONLY book-made-into-a-movie film that actually pays attention to the book.

9. More Bones by Arielle North Olson & Howard Schwartz- This is basically a collection of scary stories from around the world. You're probably thinking I'm crazy for putting a horror book on here, but this is the only horror book that totally creeped me out. The pictures helped. But for those who can read the scariest book on the planet, filled with blood, screams, and things that go bump in the night, and shrug it off without any goosebumps ( I'm looking at you Ms. Maya Quandt) this is still good.

8.Weslandia by Paul Fleischman- This is a picture book. Shocking. I know. But this is surprisingly good. It's about a boy who creates his own civilization ( I'm not kidding. He makes a writing system, a sport, and his own house.) over the summer. This is pretty good.

7. Reincarnation by Suzanne Weyn- I still wonder why I read this book. It's basically these two people back in prehistorical time, man and woman, who fell in love with each other. Then they died like 4 minutes after meeting. Then throughout history the are reincarnated and each time they fall in love again. I'm not one for love stories. But this was pretty good. Enough to be ranked #7.

6. Pixarpedia (no author ) - This is a GIANT book on the first ten PIXAR films; Toy Story, A Bugs Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatoullie, WALL-E, and Up. It gives you all the facts, plots, and secrets to PiXAR. Really good.

5. Warrior vs. Warrior ( no author ) - A book about the world's past warriors like the gladiators, or the ninjas. It's basically a play by play of who would win if two fought and how they lived. A little violent. But not that much. I'd rate it PG.

4. The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davis- This is a book about a brother and a sister. Brother gets mad at sister. Sister challenges brother to a contest to see who sells the most lemonade in a week. Soon, chaos reigns. This is really funny and touching. I swear, the brother and sister have a almost twin relationship to me and my sister...

3. You're a bad man, Mr. Gum! by Andy Stanton- Mr. Gum is big ole meany pants. He wants to poison a dog that ruins a beautiful garden he keeps. Why does a mean old man keep a garden? Guess. Ok, I'll tell you. If he doesn't, a mean, pretty fairy comes out and whacks him with a frying pan until he fixes the garden. DUH! This is a really funny book.

2. She Said Yes by Misty Bernall- Have you heard of Columbine High School? In 1999, two students went on a rampage through the school armed with guns and shot 12 students dead. Cassie Bernall was one of them. When confronted by her killers, she was asked the question "Do you believe in God?" and She said "yes". This is a memoir of Cassie written by her mother. You know how sometimes in books you might get teary, but not fully crying? While reading this. I sobbed so hard 3 times. I'm tearing up as I write this. If this doesn't touch you, nothing will.

1. Chill by Allan Peterkin- A book about the most crazy thing in the world... Fridge Art. This is a funny book on how to create a really cool refrigerator. Just go ahead and buy it. You'll love it.

i would imagine he's rethinking his decision to buy me a netbook for christmas right about now

2010-01-08T20:36:00.002-05:00

While flipping through the guide just now, looking for something to watch...

Doug: Don Cheadle was in a movie in 1987? What was he, like 10 years old?

Me: Um, I was almost out of high school in 1987! He's way older than I am!

Doug: He is not! Besides, you were not almost out of high school. You were a sophomore.

Me: I was a freshman...whatever. Still he's older than me!

(and so, because I am able to without even getting up, I google "Don Cheadle.")

Me: He was born in 1964!!

Doug: Really?

Me: Yes! Well...

Doug: Well, what?

Me: Well, aren't you going to apologize for thinking that I'm older than Don Cheadle??

Doug: It's just that he looks so young!

Me: ...

Doug: And so do you...

snuggled in for movie night

2010-01-08T18:49:00.002-05:00

cheese popcorn

2010-01-08T13:41:00.002-05:00

Can you imagine how relieved I was to discover her before she decided to go sit back on the couch?

you might want to get all your driving in now, because it's only three more years until he gets his license

2010-01-07T08:49:00.003-05:00

There is some utility work being done on the street we take to get to Ryan's school. They have been working on it for the past couple of afternoons and then they cover up the holes with those giant sheets of metal when they aren't working on it. This conversation occurred after I drove over the metal.

Um, I don't think you were supposed to drive over that.

Well, where was I supposed to drive?

Uh, in the other lane?! (eyeroll)

Oh, you mean into the oncoming traffic? I'm pretty sure that would have resulted in our death.

(eyeroll) I'm just saying that there were some construction workers and cones at the side of the road and I don't think you were supposed to drive there.

Well, I think if I wasn't supposed to drive there, those cones at the side of the road would be blocking my way and not off to the side of the road. But I guess I'll take your word for it because you're thirteen and I've only been driving for, what, 2o years now?

(eyeroll) Whatever. I'm just saying.

jackson getting ready for church on christmas eve

2010-01-06T18:40:00.004-05:00

Thanks, Grammy!

we're working on it

2010-01-04T15:07:00.002-05:00

Ainsley: I want some more chocolate milk!

Me: Okay, well I think there is a word you are forgetting to say...

Ainsley: ...

Me: What word should you say when you ask someone for something?

Ainsley: More!

Me: pl...pl..

Ainsley: pl...pl..More!

santa claus is comin' to town

2010-01-03T16:09:00.002-05:00

I know it's after Christmas, and in a perfect world I would have posted this before, but well, in my world, sometimes things don't always happen when they are supposed to.

This video was shot a couple of weeks before Christmas and I have to say, she's gotten much better. I really should take some video of her singing it now that she knows ALL the words and doesn't run some of them together so that it sounds like she's singing a word that has absolutely no business being in this song. I think you'll understand after you watch, and I'll just apologize in advance. I try to keep this a family-friendly site for all of my younger readers (Hi Owen! Hi Maya! Hi Megan! Hi Gavin! Hi Jenna! Hi Hayden!) She's really not saying what it sounds like she's saying. Anyway, I figured that even though it's after Christmas, I still have this song running through my head and there is no good reason you shouldn't too! Merry Christmas!

for your listening pleasure

2009-12-21T10:50:00.002-05:00

Ryan's Christmas Concert

We didn't have the tripod with us, so you may want to just listen, especially if you are prone to motion sickness.

for those of you hoping to see a photo of ainsley with santa claus, this will have to do

2009-12-21T10:34:00.002-05:00

She completely freaked out when she saw the box that contains our big, dancing Santa, and she wouldn't go near the Santa house at the tree farm. She even got a little clingy at Ryan's band concert because there was a man sitting close to us with a white beard who was wearing a red shirt and a Santa hat.

Ironically, her very favorite song to sing is "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town!"

on the plus side, he does give me a lot of blog material

2009-12-07T19:41:00.003-05:00

Last weekend, we took a trip to the mountains to pick out our Christmas tree (post forthcoming). We had some hotel points at our disposal, so we decided to spend the night in Asheville and meet the rest of the group at the tree farm on Saturday. I asked Ryan and Emily to put their things on my bed before they left for school on Friday morning because I was going to pack everything so we could leave as soon as school was out. And this is what my teenager packed. For an overnight trip. To the mountains. Where it was supposed to snow.

1 pair long pants

1 long sleeved shirt

2 short sleeved shirts

4 pairs of underwear

no socks

no pj's

no toothbrush, toothpaste, contact lens case, glasses

Seriously.

____________________________________________

Today I had to take Emily, Jackson and Ainsley to the dentist. Our appointment was at 4:00pm and so I needed Ryan to hurry out to the carpool line so I could pick him up and still have enough time to make it to the appointment.

Me: So, please hurry as fast as you can to the car. I'm going early, so I'll already be waiting. Just come straight out to the car as quickly as you possibly can, okay?

Ryan: Okay. I mean, I'll try to go fast. But just so you know, I'm going to be very irritated if I go as fast as I can, possibly tripping over people, running and carrying my heavy bag and clarinet and then we drive to the dentist and are, like, 10 minutes early to the appointment or something.

Me: ... ... ...

Ryan: ...

Me: Okay, son. Tell you what. You do your best getting to the car, and I'll do my best making sure I don't inconvenience you in any way, like not picking you up at all and making you walk home. Deal?

Ryan: ...

Me: That's what I thought.

keeping the peace in these here parts

2009-12-04T15:25:00.000-05:00

Okay...I have to give him an A+ for imagination...

While it may look to you like he's wearing a pair of shorts on his head, pj's, and rain boots, this is how Jack dresses up to be The Sheriff! The shorts are his cowboy hat, the pj's are his "sheriff clothes," and the boots are his cowboy boots. You may also see his badge at the top of his shirt, which is a large coin he brought home from the treasure box at school and is secured to his shirt with a paper clip. And, of course, the Star Wars blaster completes the look. Well, actually, his facial expression is really what completes the look.

Rest easy, family. There's a new Sheriff in town.

trying to explain a power outage to a two-year-old

2009-12-04T09:15:00.001-05:00

"Mama, can I watch Yo Gabba Gabba?"

"Not right now, the TV isn't working."

"It works!"

"Well, it doesn't right now because the power went out. We don't have any power right now."

"We have power!"

"We don't right now."

"But the candles are working."

"Yes, the candles are working, but that's different. That's not the power. See? The lights aren't working and the TV isn't working because we don't have power. But we will soon. And then the lights will work and the TV will work."

"Oooohhhh. Okay. Mama?"

"Yes, angelfish?"

"Can I watch Charlie Brown?"

the jackson dictionary

2009-12-03T12:35:00.002-05:00

Jackson's homework for yesterday was to count to 30 using pennies. When he had finished, he asked, "Mom, now can I keep all of these golden monies?"

"You mean pennies?"

"Well, I just call them golden monies."

coca-cola chapstick

2009-12-03T12:09:00.002-05:00

Birthday #13

2009-11-26T18:05:00.005-05:00

Hello Everybody! Teenager boy here. You know, the one whose mom has been moaning " Oh, no a Teenager!" on her facebook account? I am here to blog about my birthday and my presents. And yes, there was a Snuggie involved.

It all started at about 7:00 on October 23, 2009. I woke up, thinking Wow, in 9 hours, I'm a teenager. Before I went to bed that night I expected to have some sort of deep revelation of myself, some sentimental memories, and some flashbacks of my preschool years.

I didn't.

Nope, just a typical, ordinary Friday morning, except it was my birthday. I went downstairs and found a box of Krispy-Kreme doughnuts with my name on them. Emily was already downstairs and as her own little birthday gift, she let me turn on the kitchen lights! I know, you're thinking What?? , but my sister prefers it very dark in the morning. Don't ask me HOW she makes herself breakfast, but hey, everybody has their quirks. Anyway, after my doughnuts, I headed off to school and my friends wished me a happy birthday. Other then that, my day STUNK. In gym, we were doing badminton and I could not serve the ball or hit it and I got run over by some rowdy jocks. Joy. So then my demon math teacher ( when I say demon, I'm not kidding. There's a rumor going around she's a vampire. ) assigned us 5 pages of homework, over the weekend! Then my science teacher gave the class a big lecture on respect and responsibility. But then I got home, where my grandparents were waiting, and even got to open some of my presents! Then we went to Emily's scrimmage soccer game, and then back home. At home we had my favorite dinner ( Sloppy Joes with coleslaw, and mozzarella sticks ). Then came present time. 13 presents for a 13 year old. I got:

1. 1 package A AA batteries

2. New headphones for my Ipod that actually stay in my ear

3. A new reading light

4. 5 pens and 1 pencil

5. The Mummy on Blu-Ray

6. A jar shaped like a skull ( comical and Decor for Halloween )

7. The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World by Susan Veness

8. New slippers

9. New pajama pants

10. 2 bags of Lindor Truffles ( Best Chocolate on Earth)

11. A Shower kit complete with a body puff

12. A Brain Teaser game for Nintendo DS

13. and 1 Blue fleece, Adult sized Snuggie

Then some other presents:

14. Diary of a Wimpy Kid 4: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney

15. 2 Composition notebooks

16. and a couple of cool cards and checks averaging around $30 each

So then I realize that with my box-tops contest winnings( $100) plus birthday cash ( $100) I could afford an iPod touch which was the first thing I wanted for my birthday. So mom asks me I have enough for it, I said yes and mom said to go upstairs and get my money so we can order it tonight. I was pretty excited about that, but even MORE excited when I came downstairs with my money to find mom and dad already purchased one and gave it to me the second I handed over the money, already fully charged and ready to play with. And then The Best Birthday Cake I've ever had the pleasure of digging into. So in summary:

16 awesome gifts + 1 Ipod touch + 1 super cool cake = 1 really happy birthday boy

beautiful

2009-11-16T10:38:00.002-05:00

Toes, painted by Mommy - Cover Girl Boundless Color in Fuchsia Girl

Fingers, painted by Ainsley - Elmer's Disney Princess Stamp & Paintbrush Markers in Cinderella Blue and Jasmine Purple with just a hint of Ariel Green

if he asks next saturday, i think i'll keep my mouth shut

2009-11-16T09:20:00.004-05:00

This past weekend was supposed to be our last soccer event of the season...a tournament in Greensboro, NC. But last Monday we received word that one of the other teams had pulled out, leaving only our team and one other. Not exactly the season ending tournament we were looking for. So our team decided not to go, which left us in an unfamiliar situation. An entire weekend with absolutely no plans whatsoever! First on the agenda was resuming Pizza-Movie night, which we had to abandon several months ago to accommodate Friday night soccer practices. We woke up on Saturday morning to the sun shining and the birds chirping and the air crisp, but not cold ...and we were still plan-less. Doug looked at me and asked, "Well, what should we do today?" And knowing it was supposed to be a gorgeous weekend, and probably one of the last of the season, I replied, "Well, we could repaint the shutters..."

Now, don't get me wrong...it's not that I really wanted to paint the shutters. It's just that we've been talking about painting the shutters since we moved into this house. And every year when we get the letter from the Homeowner's Association detailing things we can do to keep up our curb appeal, like giving our shutters a fresh coat of paint, I know the letter goes to everyone on the street, but I always feel like they are really talking about us! And after we (and by we, I mean Doug) got the garage cleaned out last weekend, I felt like we could be on a roll here...tackling projects left and right! And besides, it's not like it is a really huge project...just 10 shutters to take down, clean, paint and put back up! So, yes, I suggested it and Doug jumped on it. Within minutes he was up and off to Home Depot for the paint and a scrub brush. As soon as he got home, we got down the ladder and he started up with his screwdriver to take the shutters down. And after he removed one screw, he remembered how much he really hates to be on a ladder. I'd kind of forgotten about that part. Doug doesn't do ladders. But I wasn't going to let that stop us! I told him he was just going to have to man-up and get it done. No, I didn't really. I told him I'd be happy to get up there and take the shutters down. He seemed very reluctant to let me, but hey, I haven't been playing those balance games on the Wii Fit for nothing! And I know you probably don't believe me, but yes, I did get up on that ladder, I took down every shutter and after Doug and Emily cleaned and painted them, I got back on that ladder and hung them back up. And you know what? It was actually kind of fun. It's not very often that I get to get up on ladders and wield power tools (the drill to put the shutters back up) and while it's not like I want to quit my day job and become a contractor or anything (STOP LAUGHING), it was kind of empowering for me to find out I can do things like that if the need arises.

I really wish I had taken a "before" picture of the house...but I did manage to take a "before" and "after" of the shutters:

And then I remembered I did have a picture of the house. This is from September 2007, right after we moved in...

And here is the house now:

Not bad, eh?

for those of you needing your jackson fix

2009-11-12T19:32:00.003-05:00

We had Jack's first school conference just before Halloween. Turns out his teacher thinks he's very sweet and a lot of fun! Quite the social butterfly...friends with everyone! I know...you're shocked, right?? Anyway, she told us that report cards would be going out this week and after Jack got in the car and buckled his seat belt this afternoon, he piped up from the backseat, "Mom, guess what? I got my first credit card!!"

And the Grandmas will get a kick out of this one...as will anyone else who has had the pleasure of sharing sleeping space with Jackson...

Ainsley now sleeps in a toddler bed...that is to say we took the front off of her convertible crib, so now she can get in and out of bed by herself. We have had a few issues at nap time (meaning she hasn't taken a nap since she's been able to get in and out by herself), but we have had no problems at all at bed time. Which is why I was surprised the other night when Emily came downstairs after I had tucked the littles into bed and said, "Um, Mom? I think we have a problem." Turns out, Ainsley decided she was going to sleep with Jackson, except Jackson was less than thrilled about it. Honestly, I was a little surprised, since he loves to snuggle with her and has even climbed into her bed on occasion. I said, "Jack, you don't want Ainsley to sleep with you? Why not?" And he replied, "Ugh, she takes up too much room and she's in my space! And she kicks!"

Yes, my friends, that is the pot calling the kettle black...

because sometimes love is a choice

2009-11-10T20:25:00.004-05:00

"You didn't bring the mail in, did you?"

"No...why? You didn't get the mail today?"

"No."

"Seriously? I mean, I know you said you didn't do anything today, but really?"

"No, I said I didn't do anything except write a new blog post. Besides, you know I don't do rain."

Later, after dinner...

"So, you're going to clean up, right? And then take the kids up for a bath? And while they are in the bath you're going to fold the laundry?"

"Seriously...what did you do today??"

this one's for you, maya quandt!

2009-11-10T12:33:00.005-05:00

Wow! You're still here? I know, you probably thought I forgot that I had this little blog, right? I can assure you that I didn't forget. It's just that, well, October kind of swallowed me whole. I knew it was going to be a busy month, full of an out-of-town soccer tournament and loads and loads of soccer practices and soccer games and acting classes and school conferences and visitors and birthdays! I mean, I knew in my head that it was going to be crazy, but I had no idea how crazy. Kind of like how when we found out we were expecting Ainsley...we knew things were going to be nuts with 4 kids, but honestly, we had NO IDEA! And I wanted to write, to share with you the exciting stuff that was going on here but then Doug wanted to upgrade the computer with a new hard drive. And when he was finished the computer was faster and quieter, but I couldn't find my pictures. And then I found my pictures, but my photo uploader was gone, and I had about 100 pictures on my camera. I mean, there were blog posts just waiting to happen, but I couldn't possibly write them without my pictures. So, I finally figured out how to upload the pictures, but then too much time had passed. And the thought of posting something seemed daunting, not fun and exciting. And then I thought, well, maybe everyone else is super busy too and they don't even realize I haven't posted anything for months. And then I got the text. The angry text. In all caps. UPDATE YOUR BLOG! So here I am. Updating my blog. And here are the highlights of what you may have missed while I've been away:

1.) The entire soccer season!

Man, it was a good one! Remember the Fury team from last fall that only won 1 game all season? Well, I barely do thanks to the Fury team of this season! Emily and her teammates went 7 - 0 - 1 this fall! First place in their division! It was so much fun to watch. The girls really play well together and when they bring it, there's no stopping them! We have a bit of a break now...no practices until after the holidays. Our spring season should be fun!

And the Greyhounds had a great season too! I'll admit it was a bit dicey at first. Jackson appeared to be more interested in karate-chopping the opposing team instead of focusing on the ball. And while most of the time he still seems content to just run with the pack, he did manage to break away and score a couple of goals. He even seems excited to play again in the spring! And I'm glad he's playing in the spring...it will give me a chance to take pictures of him playing, since I didn't seem to take any this fall. Please don't judge...he's #3 of 4...he's kind of lucky we remember to feed him...

2.) There is a teenager in the house.

I know, right? When did that happen? It's still a bit surreal to me. Yes, I realize he's a great kid. Not likely to give us much trouble. But he's still a teenager, with the hormones and the angst and well, I'm sorry. I just can't talk about it anymore. Except to say that I will be devoting an entire post to the celebration. It was fun. There was even a Snuggie involved.

3.) School is AWESOME.

All three of the kids are having a great year so far. Jackson really likes his teacher, especially the fact that she rides a motorcycle to school on sunny days! He's up to about 25 words he can read, which is quite amazing given the fact that at the beginning of the year, Ainsley could say the alphabet better than he could. He's working hard and soaking everything up and having a blast. Emily is enjoying her first year in the Talent Development program. She's being challenged, loves her teacher and is making new friends in her new school. Ryan loves his new school too. He's reconnected with some old friends and made some new ones. I think his favorite class is his Musical Theater class, which comes as no surprise to me, but he's really doing well in all his classes and seems to like this school better than the one he attended last year. Not that I want to say I told him so or anything. Oh, who am I kidding...of course that's exactly what I want to say!!

4.) The death of a loved one.

R.I.P. Summit. You will be missed. But only for about another day or two. Because Doug is totally in love with his new Kia Forte. The fact that it starts every time would have been enough, but the fact that it has Bluetooth, a sunroof, Sirius satellite radio AND he can plug in his iPod??? He's on Cloud 9! Within 24 hours after buying it, he had purchased the new hanging shelves for the garage and it only took a day for him to install those shelves and completely clean out the garage so that both cars can be parked there. If only all projects around here were tackled with such gusto...

5.) Other helpful information...

You will not even be able to have a conversation with Ainsley unless you are well versed in the subjects of Yo Gabba Gabba, Cinderella, The Little Mermaid and A Charlie Brown Christmas. It will also be to your advantage if repetition doesn't make your head explode. On the plus side, she's really cute when she sings "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!"

6.) The 2 year anniversary of this blog.

On November 6, 2007, I started this blog with a post about Marie Osmond. The kids spent some time yesterday going through the archives. This post started out funny, but Emily said, "I don't think I can watch two minutes of this." This one is one of my personal favorites. This one had Ryan cracking up, practically rolling on the floor! And I think this is one of Doug's favorites. How about you? What are your favorites?

I've got some fun things planned for this blog. Nothing too drastic, just a few changes here and there. Probably some more posts about food, some product reviews, my life list and even giveaways! Thanks for being patient while I figure out how to make this fun for me again. And as for you not-so-patient ones? (Yes, I'm looking at you, Maya!!) Thanks for giving me the kick in the pants I needed to start writing again!

The Ryan Miller Book Awards

2009-11-07T18:12:00.003-05:00

Hello Everybody!

First off, I would like to thank everybody who contributed to my box tops contest! You really helped and I won the second prize of 100 dollars. That and some birthday money and POOF! I have myself a brandspankin' new ( well I wouldn't say new, it was refurbished) 16 gigabyte iPod Touch. Thanks so much!!

Secondly, I have gotten some requests to do a new book list. I really want to but somehow, I can't seem to get any good new reads yet. ( Shocking, I know) Don't worry, I'm requesting some new ( hopefully good ) reads from the library. So in the mean time, I'm doing

*The First Annual Ryan Miller Book Awards*

The awards that go to anything readable, interesting, and cool.

Without further ado, Here are the winners!!:

Fantasy

1st: The Percy Jackson & the Olympians series by Rick Riordan

2nd: The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer

3rd: The Candy Shop War by Brandon Mull

Suspense

1st: The 39 Clues series by Multiple Authors

2nd: On the Run series by Gordan Korman

3rd: Island series by Gordan Korman

Humor

1st: Diary Of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

2nd: Tales of a Forth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume

3rd: Soupy Saturdays with the Pain and the Great One by Judy Blume

Short Story

1st: The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe

2nd: The Twits by Roald Dahl

3rd: All Summer in a Day by Ray Bradbury

Fiction

1st: Regarding the... series by Kate Klise

2nd: Bridge to Terabithia by Kathleen Paterson

3rd: Holes by Louis Sacher

Non-Fiction

1st: The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World by Susan Vanness

2nd: Explorers Wanted: The Jungle by Simon Chapman

3rd: Greek Mythology by Greek Philosophers

Well those are the awards. Trust me, Some of those were really close. For instance, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button almost replaced All Summer in a Day. But Curious sort of dragged along.

Pretty soon I'll have enough books to compile another reading list. Until then, keep reading!

musical theater

2009-09-27T15:20:00.002-04:00

One of Ryan's classes this year is Musical Theater, which he's pretty excited about. In class, they have been starting to learn the music to this year's production of Thoroughly Modern Millie.

"Well, I'm officially a Soprano!" he said when I picked him up from school one day last week. "But I'm pretty sure that's only because I haven't gotten my "man-voice" yet."

how the crock pot saves me on soccer nights, part 1 - pot roast

2009-09-07T09:56:00.006-04:00

Welcome to the first of a series of posts about how my crock pot saves me on soccer nights! Jackson and Emily have soccer practice on the same nights, two nights a week. One of those nights is Friday, so we usually end up ordering pizza or picking up something, but the other night is earlier in the week, and if I don't plan ahead, we end up eating very late and getting everyone to bed very late. Know what's worse than the over-tired "But I'm not tired!" screaming meltdown right before bed? The "I don't want to go to school!" screaming meltdown in the morning! And if we are late to eat and late to bed, we usually get both!

So, Pot Roast!! I know...it's a little early in the season for something as hearty as a pot roast, but our grocery store had a special on the meat, and soccer season is in full swing, so what's a girl to do??

What cut of meat? I use either chuck roast or rump roast...and I think this particular day I used a chuck roast.

To brown or not to brown? I have made it both ways, and the difference in the final result was so minimal that I normally do not brown! Because really? That's just one more pan to scrub and we're trying to keep things simple, right?

As for all the other stuff...

Usually I season the meat and let it sit while I chop up all the veggies. I have used dry onion soup mix, but if you don't have any of that on hand, you can also use a good grill seasoning. (I like McCormick's Spicy Montreal Steak seasoning, which I almost always have for burgers, steaks and the homemade sloppy joes I sometimes make...ooh, I wonder how that would be in the crock pot??)

For the veggies, I use whatever I happen to have, which is usually a mix of potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic and celery. This week I happened to have some mushrooms so I added those as well. I toss everything into a bowl and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Next comes putting it all together...first, put some of the veggies in the crock pot, set the seasoned roast on top and then add the rest of the veggies all around. You'll also need a bit of liquid, about a cup or so. I've used beef broth, water, wine and, on this day, I used beer. Again, whatever you have on hand. They are all great! (Although my personal favorite is beer!) If you felt like adding any other herbs (thyme and parsley for me), this would be a good time to sprinkle them on top.

Let's get a closer look...

Mmmm...

Just set it on low for 6-8 hours and you have dinner!

I usually eat just the veggies with just a small serving of the roast the first night. They are my favorite part and no one in the house likes to eat them as leftovers. One of these days I'm going to try to make my potato soup with the leftovers...And speaking of leftovers...the best thing to do the next day is a BBQ Beef Panini! Some of the roast, shredded, with a bit of BBQ sauce and some cheddar cheese between slices of buttered bread! And if you don't happen to have a panini press (I don't!) but you do have a grill pan (I do!), you can do this...

Put a piece of foil over the sandwich and then use a pot or pan with soup cans as weights! Worked like a charm!

Have a favorite crock pot recipe that saves you during the week? Send an email to millerfam06@carolina.rr.com and I'll use it in this series!

Next week...Crock Pot Tacos!

quite possibly the only reason i could never be a vegetarian

2009-09-07T09:44:00.002-04:00

Jalapenos, stuffed with cream cheese, wrapped in bacon.

I found the recipe on The Pioneer Woman's website and first made them last fall for a party. They disappeared in record time. We just discovered this summer that they are even better on the grill than they are in the oven. Be sure to make double what you think you will need. You'll just have to trust me on this one. Oh, and when you are prepping the jalapenos, wear gloves. Trust me on that one too!

taking advantage of the situation

2009-08-26T10:25:00.004-04:00

I can remember very well the summer before Ryan started Kindergarten. We had these Sesame Street computer games...one with number games and one with letter games. He used to want to play them all the time, and Emily would always pull up a chair and watch him. I would tell Ryan to make sure he gave Emily a turn, but she never wanted to play. She just wanted to watch. On the first day of school, we all went outside with Ryan to see him get on the bus. After the bus drove away, Doug and I stayed outside talking for a few minutes before he had to head back to work and Emily quickly went into the house. When I came in, I found her sitting at the computer, playing one of the computer games. I didn't know that she knew how to start it, but she had been watching all summer, soaking it all in, just waiting for her turn.

Last week when we returned home from dropping all the kids off at school, Ainsley went straight upstairs. I came up to check on her and found her all tucked into Jack's bed with her Game-boy, her animals and her book.

She had just been waiting for her turn.

first day of school - part two

2009-08-26T09:56:00.003-04:00

Jackson was a little easier to wake up this morning, and was ready to go!

Hugs for Ainsley (who was quite annoyed she wasn't going to school!)!

I think he's really glad that his big sis will be at school with him...

Jack the Kindergartner!

And his cool Transformers backpack...

first day of school - part one

2009-08-26T09:23:00.004-04:00

The first day of school for Ryan and Emily was yesterday! I had volunteered to go in early to help at Jackson & Emily's school...it's a brand new school and they just got their certificate of occupancy last Friday! So no students had been allowed in the building for tours or open house. The kindergartners only go one day this week on a staggered schedule, and even though yesterday wasn't Jack's day to go, I wanted him to go in early with me so he could see the school. He was not too fond of getting up early ("Why is it still dark??")!

So he snuggled on the couch while Emily got ready.

Emily the 5th grader...

Doug worked from home yesterday so he could take Ryan to school, since I was going to be at the elementary school.

Back in uniform...

Ryan the 7th grader!

Up next...first day of school - part two!

off to a great start

2009-08-26T09:01:00.003-04:00

Wow! You all missed some fantastic soccer games this past weekend! Our girls took 2nd place in the tournament! We won our first three games and then lost (3-1) in the final. Emily wasn't able to play in the final game...she pulled a muscle in her calf earlier that morning and could hardly walk. She's doing a bit better. She's resting it the rest of the week and hopefully she'll be able to play this weekend! They sure played their little hearts out in the tournament and it was so much fun to watch! It's gonna be a fun season!! Go Fury!!

sweet tooth

2009-08-19T10:10:00.003-04:00

Our neighbor, Kerry, bakes amazing cakes. She and her family went out of town a few weeks ago, and when they returned, she brought down a delicious cake to thank us for looking over their house while they were gone. It was a chocolate cake, with chunks of chocolate in it and a chocolate ganache over the top. Doug commented that he didn't know it was humanly possible to pack that much chocolate flavor into one cake. It was very good. And it didn't last very long. I think it was the third day when Ryan came down and asked if he could have the "last" piece...

...when this is how much was left...

Nice try, Ryan.

water fight

2009-08-11T13:43:00.003-04:00

helpful

2009-08-10T18:43:00.002-04:00

I asked Ainsley to pour some of her pool water into my pots and she was more than happy to help!

I probably should have specified I wanted her to pour water in the pots that actually contained plants...

overheard

2009-08-10T16:26:00.001-04:00

Ryan: Jackson, do you even know what twins are?

Jackson: Um, yeah! They're kids who wear the same clothes!

la la land

2009-08-05T14:37:00.017-04:00

Almost 2 whole months ago (gasp! Man, time flies!!), I took a fabulous trip to Southern California. You may have heard me mention it a time or two before I left...something about how this was going to be the first time Doug and I were going to be away from the children since our last vacation together...8 YEARS AGO! And you may have even heard me gush after returning that it was one of my best weeks ever!! And I know some of you are starting to wonder if the trip really happened, since there have been no posts or pictures on this website. I've been meaning to write about it...really, I have. It's just that every time I sit down to write, I feel blocked. Because I know I won't be able to do it justice. Because it wasn't just the fun happenings, it was also the quiet happenings...the peaceful, calming feelings that take over when you realize that the only person you have to take care of for the time being is yourself. But because I had more fun than one should legally be allowed to have in one week, I feel like it's time for me to just get over myself and share my fabulous week with you!

So, here is what I love about Southern California...

(btw, these are mostly in chronological order...not in order of fabulousness...)

1. Santa Monica

After we landed at LAX, Doug and I rented a car and drove to Santa Monica. It was a Saturday, and very busy. Our first experience with LA traffic...FUN! But once we got there and found a place to park, we walked to the beach and it was all worth it. The beach, the activity, the shopping...so fun to watch everything. We had lunch at a fabulous Mexican restaurant right on the Pier and then did a little shopping. My favorite store?? Yummy Cupcakes! Check these out...

2. The Gibson Inn & Suites

After our day in Santa Monica, we made the "quick" 40 mile/2 hour jaunt over to Kate and John's apartment. It's nestled in the back of the complex, and surrounded by these awesomely huge trees with gorgeous purple flowers. Since you all know how well I do with tree identification, I won't even try...but really, they were beautiful! We had a very yummy dinner - spaghetti and meatballs, bread and of course, yummy cupcakes! We talked a lot, laughed a lot, ate a lot and listened to some really great music. A wonderful end to a great first day!

3. Del Mar

As much as I loved Santa Monica, it doesn't hold a candle to Del Mar. It's such a sweet little town just north of San Diego and only about an hour and a half or so from LA. With our husbands both working, Kate made plans for us to head down to Del Mar on Monday. She was going to be visiting one of her nearby stores on Tuesday, so she made reservations for us to spend the night at an amazing inn called Les Artistes, just blocks from the ocean and within walking distance to the heart of the town. We stayed in the Zen Room and the room totally delivered on it's promise of a calming and relaxing experience!

We walked into town that evening and had dinner outside, over looking the ocean, at an amazing restaurant called Pacifica Del Mar. I don't know if it was the ocean, the wine, the food, the company...probably a combination of all...but it was probably one of the best dinners of my life!

The next morning, Kate went to work and I stayed behind to do a bit of exploring in Del Mar. I grabbed a cup of coffee and headed to the beach! I couldn't believe how blue the water was...nothing like Santa Monica. I sat on a bench for awhile, listening to my iPod and watching the surfers, the people playing volleyball, and there was even someone attempting to parasail. After a walk on the beach, I headed back into town, did a little window shopping, and then met Kate for lunch for one of my all-time favorite sandwiches: California BLT!

4. Hollywood

Okay, even if you don't get into the whole "celebrity" thing, Hollywood is still a very cool place to see. I loved seeing the Kodak Theater, which is the home of the Academy Awards, Grauman's Chinese Theater and the hand and foot prints outside, all the stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and other landmarks I've seen on TV and in movies. Kate and I also took one of the bus tours through Hollywood, up Mulholland Drive, Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive and of course, all the stars' homes. And we even managed to see Quentin Tarantino, in his car, fighting the same traffic we were!

5. Glen Ivy

I'm not much of a spa girl. I've only ever had one massage in my life and I'm not normally one for manicures/pedicures. So I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about spending the day at a spa. But Glen Ivy is simply amazing and not like anything I could have imagined. After Kate and I checked in, we grabbed a couple of chairs by one of the outdoor pools and began our day of total relaxation. Reading by the pool, floating on a raft in the pool, a couple of drinks at the pool bar, lunch on the terrace, Club Mud, The Grotto...I don't believe there was one ounce of tension left in my body when we left.

6. Disneyland

I think Doug and I love Disney just as much, if not more, than our kids do and we would have loved to have had an opportunity to spend a day at Disneyland. Unfortunately, we didn't have an entire day to spend there, but on Thursday night, Kate dropped me off at Doug's hotel, which was within walking distance to the park. We decided to spend the evening at Downtown Disney, which is basically a lot of shops and restaurants. After walking around for a bit, we settled on eating at Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen for dinner and waited a few minutes for a table out on the upstairs balcony. So glad we did that, because just before dessert, the Disneyland Fireworks started and we had a front row seat!

On Friday, we had a few hours to kill before heading back to Kate & John's, so we walked back to Downtown Disney to have lunch and see a movie. The movie, Star Trek, was phenomenal...and not just for the movie, but for the fact that I didn't have to get up once to take anyone to the bathroom or to get more popcorn. Plus, it wasn't animated, so that helped too!!

6. In-N-Out / Sprouts

Two places I would frequent if they were anywhere near here...so I guess it's a good thing for my waistline and wallet that we don't have them on this coast!

If you ever have an opportunity to eat an In-N-Out burger, you should. No, you must. Even you vegetarians, you can still have the fries! I mean, we have good burgers here (Five Guys!), but there's just something about this place. It took every ounce of my willpower not to make Kate drive me back there 5 more times!

And Kate's store, Sprouts Farmer's Market is wonderful...just wonderful.

But the absolute best thing about Southern California and the entire trip was...

My sweet sister Kate. It has been way too long since we've had a chance to hang out...just the two of us. She made everything about the trip even better and I think my cheeks still hurt a little from all the laughs.

So thanks to my wonderful husband for working for a company that has conferences in cool places (next summer, Washington DC!), and for letting me tag along. And thanks to Dennis and Mary, who spent the week wrangling all four kids and taking such good care of them that I didn't have to worry about a thing. And thanks to Kate, for knowing exactly what I needed, even when I didn't...from the hummus & pretzel chips to healing my soul and everything in between.

If you want to see all the pictures, just click here.

a lesson learned that was taught by my 5 year-old brother

2009-07-19T20:18:00.003-04:00

Hey Everyone! Special Guest Blogger Ryan here. Just to entertain you with a story from this afternoon...

So, me and Emily were in charge of Jack & Ainsley for a while this afternoon. Unfortunately they aren't old enough for me to crack that whip and make them clean my room, so we actually had to entertain them. A couple minutes into playing "let's trash Jackson's bed," Jack turned to me and asked a simple question: " Hey! Ryan! Can we do Au-Plex?" Au-Plex is JackandAinsley-ese for: "let's run down to the end of the upstairs hall and then run at lightning speed (well, almost ) back to Jack's bedroom and jump onto his bed" And wise brother Ryan said something like "Oh, what the heck, sure."

At first I was like Aw, little kids and their odd little quirks... but when it was my turn to Au-Plex, I loved it. When you're running as fast as you can, the air whips around your head. When you jump, you feel like you're flying and you land for a soft landing. It was quite addictive.

Lesson: Do your younger sibling's odd little physical activities. They may turn out to be very enjoyable!

summer fun in indiana

2009-07-19T17:20:00.002-04:00

And here are the pictures from the Indiana portion of our trip! This time I managed to pull the camera out twice...once for a pool party at Rachael & Jeff's house and the other for our day at Dad & Kay's house.

The Southern California pictures are coming...there are quite a few more of those!

summer fun in kansas

2009-07-19T17:14:00.002-04:00

Here are the pictures from the first part of our vacation in Kansas! Unfortunately, I only pulled out my camera for one day, but I still managed to get some great shots of the kids (and adults!) having a blast!

and just in case you haven't had your fill of jackson stories this week...

2009-07-17T23:04:00.002-04:00

We were eating corn on the cob for dinner tonight. Emily took a bite and I could see juice flying across the table. She and I looked at each other and we both started to giggle a little. And then Jackson said, "Um, I just felt a raindrop on my face!"

another miscommunication

2009-07-17T14:57:00.002-04:00

At the grocery store this afternoon...

Jackson: Hey Mom, do you think you can get me those lockers?

Me: Lockers?

Jackson: Yeah, those locker things...

Me: Like you put things in?

Jackson: No, like the police officers use to take the bad guys away!

Me: You want handcuffs??

Jackson: Yeah, handcuffs!

Later I asked him what he would do with the handcuffs.

Jackson: (giggling) I want to lock Ryan with them!

Which was kind of what I was afraid of...

quite possibly the yummiest thing i've ever made with leftover grilled chicken

2009-07-17T14:31:00.003-04:00

Personally, I love leftovers. Most of the time, there is just a serving or so of the previous night's dinner. Sometimes I make something like enchiladas or lasagna and that will be lunch for a couple of days. But most of the time I have to try to come up with a new way to serve the leftovers because, unfortunately, no one else in the house shares my enthusiasm for them. Taco meat becomes taco salad, a tray of veggies becomes stir-fry, and so on. We grilled chicken the other night and I made too much, as usual. Instead of just slicing it for salad or quesadillas like I sometimes do, I thought I'd try a pasta salad.

Here's what I had to work with**:

2 grilled chicken breasts

1/2 box penne pasta

fresh roma tomatoes from my neighbor's garden (Thanks Wini!)

a tub of pesto

lemon

Here's what I did:

Cooked the pasta, saved about 1/4 cup of the pasta water and then drained it.

Sliced the chicken breasts.

Seeded and diced the tomatoes.

Combined the reserved pasta water with 1/2 cup of pesto. Then added the zest of the lemon, the juice from 1/2 the lemon, about a tablespoon of olive oil, and a little salt and pepper.

Tossed the pasta with the pesto mixture and then folded in the chicken and tomatoes.

YUM! It was great for dinner that night. Even better for lunch the next day. And still even better for lunch today! Normally, I would be annoyed that no one else even wanted to try it, but in this case I'm glad...more for me!

**Know what else would have been good? If I had added some roasted red peppers. Or maybe some mozzarella cheese. Or take out the chicken and add tuna instead.

the post that starts with my heart melting and ends with me unplugging the tv

2009-07-15T14:41:00.003-04:00

Jackson and I were walking through the library yesterday, looking at books when he turned to me and said, "Mom, would you like a snuggle?" I smiled and said, "That would be nice! You mean when we get home, just me and you?" And he said, "Yeah! Well, you can hold your other children too. And the telephone. Or even read a book."

I thought about that for a minute and asked, "Jack, do you mean a Snuggie? The blanket with the arm holes?"

He laughed and replied, "Yeah! They are so cool! You can even operate a remote control AND it's good for cold-weather camp-outs!"

Sigh.

all by herself

2009-07-11T10:11:00.003-04:00

It's getting harder and harder to pretend she's still a baby...This morning, she refused all help getting dressed, including putting on her own Pull-Up. (We are easing into the potty training thing while we have company, but are kicking it up a notch next week. That should make for some fantastic blog material! Stay tuned!) Anyway, this is Ainsley after she got her own cup of water...

And a view from behind...