7/30/09

Jitterbug





What strange pictures.
Let me explain:

We have 3 cell phones in our family. I have one...that I only use in emergencies. Only my kids and Jeff know the number. Jeff has his, and we recently purchased a "family phone" for me to give to the person in need...who happens to be Isaac most of the time.

IT IS NOT HIS PHONE.
You understand that, don't you? Well, good, because that's one less person I'll have to remind! When we first purchased this phone, we threatened to get him a Jitterbug...you know...the "old person" phone with really big numbers?

Every time he begged for a phone, Jeff and I would start singing Jitterbug (really named Wake Me Up) by George Michael, just to drive him insane.
You put the boom-boom into my heart
You send my soul sky high
When your loving starts
A jitterbug into my brain
It goes a bang-bang
Till my feet do the same
But something's bugging me
Something ain't right
My best friend told me what you did last night
You left me sleeping in my bed
I was dreaming but I should have been with you instead

He would try SO hard to not laugh, even though he was SO mad we weren't taking his phone requests seriously.
Anyways, before he started high school, we ended up getting a NICE phone...at least it was cool and modern a whole YEAR ago...you can imagine what the ancient, embarrassing, so LAME, device looks like now.
SO back to square one. After a year of him possessing this "family phone", it has (suspiciously?) stopped working correctly. That's where these pictures come in. We are discussing, as a family, the new phone we may be purchasing. (We, meaning Isaac!) Jeff quickly put the Ipod on Jitterbug, and we are dancing to the tune in the kitchen. Isaac said, "It's not funny Dad. I'm going to be really mad if you put that stupid song on again." We turned it up.

7/29/09

A Summer Night


Look at that FILTHY face!



We have been having the best weather ever this summer. I think our AC has been on 3 times. The nights are cool and beautiful. I don't even mind the rain we've been getting here and there...the grass is green like it is in spring instead of crunchy brown, and I'm saving time (and money!) on watering all the rest of the plants.
Jeff and I usually stay home on the weekends. We are not big entertainers and although sometimes we throw a date night in there somewhere, we usually just try to do something special with the kids. Movie night, a bike ride, a camp fire. Yes, it's boring to some I'm sure, (and to us sometimes too!) but by the weekend, I just can't muster up the energy to throw a dinner party or stay up to all hours.
One of the kids favorite things they beg for is a campfire. This last time they had found a bunch of glo-sticks in one of the kitchen cabinets. (Isaac was still at his cousin's cottage so he's not in these pictures.)
And a good sign to call it a night...when you just can't stand up anymore:

7/28/09

Wouldn't It Be Funny...?

..if your brother made you laugh so hard at lunch that you "accidentally" had to spit your milk out? At this point, as long as the aforementioned brothers are getting along, laughing and having fun, I could care less what comes out of their mouths (or noses).




7/24/09

Homemade Sun Dress

Abbey and I made this dress yesterday afternoon...a perfect sewing day since it poured on and off all day. She picked out the material and helped with the hems. We really had NO idea what we were doing, but got lucky in the fact that it really is, in fact, wearable!!!
(We found the material and stretchy thing at JoAnn Fabrics. Don't ask me how I did it, because seriously, it was a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants project. You wouldn't want to follow my instructions, trust me.)

7/22/09

$1 Markers


Remember those great marker's I bought at Target last week?
My excitement comes back to haunt me.

7/20/09

I've Been Busy...

I know I owe some very important people some phone calls...Mom, Renee, Liz...
I'm still alive...they haven't tied me up and left me to starve yet...
if I said I couldn't find the phone would that be a good excuse?
Actually, we have been completing a few projects around here....and when projects are in order, all else HAS to go to the wayside....because I can't do it all.
Isaac and I painted the fence on either side of our front yard...I payed him $7/hour or $50...which ever he made out better on. ($50 by a mere $4.) If you think that is too much, you are so wrong because it was a job from h-e-double toothpicks. Poison ivy (like I need more of that...I'm being eaten alive!), hornets, branches scratching us and ripping our hair out...and then only to do the OTHER side. But it's done and looks brand new and will look that way for years and years, right? Because we both agreed we are NEVER painting it again!
I also re-landscaped the area in front of the fence...putting in my favorites...hosta, ivy and hydrangeas.
Some more landscaping in the back...ripping out some rangy box woods and planting these guys...
Matt, Andrew and I stained the swing set today...and bought a new "slippery" slide...ours had gotten dull and dirty and worst of all...SLOW.
This little guy got his last shots on Friday and conked the car on the way home. How cute is that? (Look at that red sucker...even that couldn't keep him awake!) So...good news...he has slept a LONG nap every day...bad news...when he's up, he's NOT his jolly self.
Which is why I have to go NOW...a bike ride is in order...


7/16/09

On My Kitchen Windowsill


The Holy Water is Andrew's from Vacation Bible School.

I have poison ivy so bad on my arms. This is only the 2nd time I've ever had it. But it's killing me. And it's ugly. And it itches so bad at night it wakes me up. That stuff doesn't work so well. Maybe the Holy Water would work better?

7/15/09

She Can't Be MY Daughter!

Abbey performed tonight in a play...King Midas and the Golden Touch...a theater program offered by our areas arts council. She attended every day for 6 weeks 9 a.m.- noon. She loved every minute of it...well, maybe not the waking up early part, but everything else. She auditioned for the part she wanted and got it...Sabrina, the witch that grants Kind Midas his wish.
She was SO nervous the day of the play she thought she would throw-up. Wait...actually, that was ME. It didn't even phase her. You couldn't have payed me a million to stand on a stage in front of a bunch of people and act. You couldn't have payed me a million to stand on a stage PERIOD.
She did terrific...her lines were perfect and she is a natural. I am so proud of her, Even though I think she's absolutely crazy.



Fun At The Pool




Old Mother Hubbard

One morning, faced with the task of planning my weekly menu, I had a bout of exasperation at the state of my kitchen cupboards...disorganization, and way too much stuff...lots of things I don't use but bought for one particular recipe (that I ended up never making!) Good example...curry paste. I've had curry paste in my baking cupboard for a good 3 years. Me and curry paste parted amicably..at last. What started with a bottle of curry paste, ended with cleaned, straightened, organized, SIMPLICITY.

I love the results. It's so much easier to cook and plan GOOD meals, and I like that the kids eat more of the meals, and less snack and junk food...since we are down to the bare minimum. We packed up a box of food for the local food pantry, and I told the kids, that except for necessities like milk and bread, we are going to use what we have till it's gone.



(my helper in the freezer dept...what would I do without HIM?)

7/14/09

Pluralized

Andrew was with me in the car on the way to the post office when we passed a group of teenage girls walking on the sidewalk. He said, "Mom, I just saw the biggest PATCH of girls walking by!"

Like a gaggle of geese, a school of fish, a herd of horses...
A patch of girls...
I think it might just sweep the nation.

New Shoes


7/13/09

A Couple More Reunion Pics


I feel like I failed miserably at my assignment of 'reunion photographer'...I had envisioned taking about 1000 more photos than I actually did, with every single family accounted for, and great individual pictures of the children. That didn't happen...first, I didn't want to be obnoxious...sticking the camera in every one's face, and second, Patrick's attraction to all things he shouldn't do (see last pic), set me up for failure. My wonderful sister-in-law, Rosemarie, came to my rescue and took so many great pictures...she saved me in many ways. I owe her one.

Some more reunion pics...black and white's and sepia's...it was hard for me to take good pics with glaring sun, and this is the easy way out to avoid inconsistent color.


A little artistic flair....out of necessity...









Family Reunion 2009

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