D-D-D-D-D-Dora the Explorer!!!

Will is smitten....completely, unabashedly in love with Dora the Explorer. He can't get enough of that girl. He wakes up talking about her and goes to bed talking about her. He talks about her when he eats breakfast, lunch and dinner. In fact, that is pretty much the only show he will watch. Oh, he'll trick you a little bit and make you think he's going to settle in for an episode of Elmo's World, but it's all a lie. He only has eyes and ears for Dora.

At night when I try to sing him a lullaby, he demands (oh yes he does) that I sing "I'm the Map" instead. I kid you not. He will be a snuggly and as soon as I start to sing something soft & soothing, he raises his head off my shoulder and says (LOUDLY I might add) "I'M MAP. I'M MAP."

We also have a Dora soundtrack CD left over from Maddy's toddler years that he discovered one day. Guess what we have to listen to in the car as we travel to & fro? Yep. (Oh yes we do.)

It's really not a problem....except that ALL the Dora toys & accessories are geared toward little girls. I went to buy him some new sippy cups recently (do those disappear like socks in a dryer at your house too?) and thought I'd delight him with a new Dora cup......but they were all pink and purple. Diego cups it is, then.

Oh, yes, we've tried to get him interested in Diego.....but to no avail. Only Dora will do.

Michael and I have embraced this and are comfortable with letting the saga continue (we'll do anything to keep this busy baby entertained for an entire half hour). His older brother and sister, however, are concerned and have all but demanded for this episode in Will's development to cease.

For instance, Will's birthday is in a week and I am planning to get the boy a Dora cake. I mean, really--if you can't have a Dora cake for your 2nd birthday, when can you? Can I get a witness?

Both John and Maddy are trying hard to get me to go with a Plan B.

"Will LOVES Elmo, mom. Don't you Will?!? Tell mommy that you want an Elmo cake!"

"Mom, Will told me this morning that he really doesn't like Dora anymore and that he would actually be embarrassed if you got him a Dora cake because he is a boy and boys aren't supposed to like girl toys and all the Dora toys are pink and purple and not blue and boys should like blue toys and cakes so that's why Will told me when he woke up that he shouldn't get a Dora cake. He told me to tell you this." This was from 5 year old Maddy in the car on the way to the Y this morning.

I don't care what they say. It's my baby's 2nd birthday and if he wants to celebrate his cumpleaños felices with a senorita named Dora and her monkey Boots....then that's what we're going to do!

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is...

A few years ago my brother Keith and his wife Holly came to Nashville to babysit our kids while we went to Atlanta for Michael's office Christmas party. I bought them a subscription to "Runners World" as part of their thank you gift (I think we also got them a gift card to a restaurant or something like that).



Since I am a bit of a cheapskate at times, I googled "discount magazine subscriptions" and found 1 year of RW for $5.00. Great deal, right?!? I mean, I bet you have probably already left this page in search of more discount magazine subscriptions.



CAVEAT: here's what I just discovered when I logged into my old google account a moment ago:

______________________________________
Date

Dec 13, 2006



Shipping Status

Not yet shipped



Qty

1 Runner's World - (Terms:One Year - 12 Issues,Subscription)



Price: $4.99
______________________________________



Really?!? Not yet shipped? It's been 3 years. What the heck?



I vaguely remember asking Keith if he ever received it and he would mumble something to the effect of "I'm not really sure....what was on the cover of the last issue.....I think we did, but I'm pretty sure we didn't......"



I'd like to now extend my utmost apologies to a dear brother....seriously--I owe you a subscription to RW!



The old adage rings true once again--if it sounds too good to be true....well, you know....

We'll call this one "Freewrite"

Here's a little catch up post for you. I've actually gotten back into the blog swing again this week, but they've mostly been child-related metaphors and anecdotes. Or just stories about my kids if you're not all fancy like me with your literary terms.


Anyhow. we are super busy. This is our first year to play Fall Baseball for John and his dad is the coach which brings with it a certain level of.....oh, I don't know what you'd call it, but I'll give it a whirl and say....a certain level of conflict. It's a kid-pitch season and John has never played kid-pitch. However, as you may have already guessed, he believes that he possesses a heavenly gift for the mound though he's never pitched before in his life. So, when his dad broke the news to him that he wasn't going to be pitching the first game of the season, it was not received with open arms. This season is going to be useful in helping him learn to handle disappointment, I suppose.


Two kids in school and one toddler at home has been a good thing for me so far! I still have a list a mile long of projects I'd been saving for this very moment....hoping to get cracking on that. I canceled my house cleaner (join me in a moment of silence as I mourn this loss....) because I do find that I have some "extra" time and also Will is going to Mother's Day Out on Thursdays. But still....there are all those things in the storage room/attic that I want to put in the YMCA consignment sale next week; computer desk to put on Craigslist; couch to put on Craigslist; need to go to KY to pick up couch from my parents (they're moving to a new place and we benefit greatly!); thinking about finishing off the storage room to make a bedroom for John (where the heck will I put all that "STUFF" that's in there now?!); throw in a lot of laundry, baseball and dance to taxi the kids to, PTA obligations, dinner to cook, workouts to sweat through......well, it all adds up.


However, if there's anything I've learned through the years, someway, somehow, it all gets done! I've been here before and I don't know how it happens, but all those things will get marked off my list.


OK--enough with the serious. It's going to be a full weekend--Maddy is going to see Thomas the Train tomorrow with Mimi, then to a birthday party. Michael has a baseball coach's clinic for a couple hours tomorrow as well. Then Sunday we will, once again, celebrate my 29th birthday!! ;o)

The Bus Cusser

Aaaahhhhh....the purity and innocence of my 5 year old girl.....


Yesterday they ran off the school bus frantic because somebody had written a bad word on the bus. That's right....the bane of our existence has hit right here in our little neighborhood school: the Bus Cusser. I was a little worried about which word it was that was apparently plastered on the back of one of the seats and THANKFULLY, when I asked Maddy what it was, she replied....


"....well, I can't say it. It's just too bad to even speak."


I asked her to just whisper it to me softly in my ear so Will wouldn't hear it and she finally conceded to do it.


[whispering] "It said.......'stupid.' I'm sorry I had to tell you, mommy, but the word said 'stupid.' "

Now that is lovely and sweet and so hilarious that I had to bite my tongue not to laugh out loud, but the truth is that there actually was a "bad word" written on the back of a seat and so later when I asked John what it said, he spelled it out for me.... and THANKFULLY, though it was a bad word, it was spelled wrong. So he's still none the wiser on this particular verbage. [Whew! Another bullet dodged.]


So, to sum it all up, not only is the Bus Cusser a touch on the juvenile delinquent side...in a way Maddy was right. He may also be [I'm whispering now] "stupid."

Marketing Ideas

If you have a product to market to the American public and need a focus group, please consider using the people in our home. Here are a few of the conversations we've had lately:

John: "Mom, next time you go to the store, can you buy Colgate Total Plus Whitening? I've heard it's the most recommended toothpaste by dentists and that's what we should be using."


John: "Mom, you really ought to think about switching paper towel brands. There's this one brand out there, Bounty I think, and it only takes one towel to clean up a HUGE spill while the other brand on the commercial took about 5 or 6 and it was still a big mess."

My mother: "I love those Travelers Insurance commercials with the red umbrella and the guy flying all around the city! I love that commercial so much that I'd buy Traveler's Insurance even if they didn't have the lowest price, (which they do, by the way.)"

President Obama's Speech, according to a 5 year old

Maddy, did you listen to the president's speech today?

"Yes. President Obama talked about having failures and not failing anymore and remembering your failures. His wife did some failing too. But now they don't fail anymore. People shouldn't fail. Then he said to think about the times you fail. If you fail, you should try next time to not fail."

I guess I should be glad that she is no longer failing to call him by his correct name....remember when he was O'Bracka?

A trip to KY for birthday fun

Well, it's September, and if you know me at all, you know that with the turning of August's calendar page, we enter into a month-long fest of cake, presents and cake. Did I mention that we eat a lot of cake during September? Because we do. Eat a lot of cake, that is.

This weekend we went to KY for a joint-celebration of my brother (David) and my sister-in-law's (Holly) birthdays. They both turn 30 in a few weeks, so mom put together a celebration like none other to ring in a new decade for these two.

Holly had been inspired by the viral youtube video of the wedding entrance dance a couple weeks ago and decided to put together a little birthday dance routine of her own. She & her friend Jennifer spliced together about 10 songs from the '90s and storyboarded out some choreography (it looked like a football playbook, so I hear). Last minute, I was recruited to participate....which was so difficult for me because I am REALLY shy. (I kid, oh, how I kid!) But, you know how it goes...anything for the birthday girl, right?

The best laid plans, however well planned they may be, sometimes go awry, though, you know? Guy Dancer #1 came down with the flu; Guy Dancer #2 was in a car wreck the night before and showed up late to the party so he couldn't "rehearse" with us; and of course I was a somewhat last minute addition, so I learned my steps in the parking lot behind the dumpsters about 10 minutes before we were "on."

Nonetheless, we pulled out all the stops as we MC Hammered, Vanilla Iced, Michael Jackson'd (R.I.P.), Cotton-Eyed Joed, and N'Sync'd our way through some stellar dance moves.

And heaven help me if the video footage of this little ditty ever shows up on youtube...

So we are now 2 birthdays down, and about 4 to go!

I turn 29 again on Sunday, followed by my mother-in-law, then Michael's and finally Will's 2nd birthday round us off for the month.

Why I'm Failing Kindergarten

Blast it all, if I haven't already forgotten one of Maddy's assignments (6 days into the school year, mind you)!

The second day of school, she brought home a project called "Nifty Names." You are supposed glue small household items in the shape of the letters of your name to a piece of cardstock. Real scholarly stuff, I know. They gave us plenty of notice....I "filed" the paper away with other very important papers knowing, yes knowing, that I'd be sure to get that back out and work on it straightaway with the girl.

I just saw the paper on the kitchen counter with a great big "DUE AUGUST 24" stamped on top.

I am T-60 minutes until she gets off the school bus and I'm dreading it already. She is total Type-A personality and likes to have things done "just so" and on time and all that. I am prepared to be completely upbraided, in 5 yr old fashion, for not remembering to do the project.

Pray for me.

a quick post to show why it is difficult to blog these days

There is a naked baby running around upstairs!

While I carefully composed my last entry just a few minutes ago, I obviously let the rest of the world fall away. I just looked upstairs into the bonus room to check on Will who was quietly watching Dora the Explorer....I discovered he'd been working diligently to disrobe his body the entire time. No wonder it was so quiet!!! I better get up there before I regret that he took his diaper off...

Alright, so my newfound re-interest in blogging will need to be restricted to naptime, huh?

[3-2-1, action]...."AND....we're back."

Thanks for waiting so patiently for me while I pulled the good old fashioned 16 hour workdays of a stay-at-home mom in summer. Seriously. They didn't give me a break all summer. The 3 musketeers woke me up and they put me to bed.

Let's move forward from here, shall we?

This is the first full week of school and I now have a 3rd grader and a kindergartner. And it's lovely!!! They get on the bus at 7:25 and the bus brings them right back to me at 3:20. And it's lovely!!! Oh, how I love them--let me count the ways. But, let me also just say that I love the instution of education with almost as much zeal and passion. I don't know if I mentioned this yet this morning or not, but just in case....The School and the Bus: it's Lovely!!!

My neighbor Kirsten was outside this morning when I was shooing the kids down the street to the bus stop (it's 3 houses away). I guess I was getting a little overzealous about making sure they were down there ON TIME and in position because she totally called me out. "You seem a little overly intense about getting them to the bus stop, huh?" :o) But, she can only say that since she is equally excited about the institution of education as I am....(she's got 2 boys of her own, you know?!?)

I now have the nearly-2-year old at home, so my days are still full--which is why I thought there would be no tear shed on the first day of kindergarten for Maddy. (Will is still a big, busy handful!) I chuckled to myself that morning when I saw a mom leaving the school with her husband's arm around her while she sobbed. I sighed under my breath, "rookie mom..." and rolled my eyes just a little as I hurried my kids down the hallway to their classrooms. We got Maddy's stuff put away in her locker, found her name card at a table and she had no more popped the top open on her playdoh before my eyes were completely filled with tears! WHAT?!? Had somebody just sliced an onion or were my allergies acting up because I had no emotion about the starting of school prior to this moment! Well, I don't have allergies and there were no onions....which meant I was actually CRYING. I gave her a big hug, told Will to tell her goodbye (that was actually the saddest part for me because she and he are big buddies....she's his little mama!) and left as quickly as I could. I got to the parking lot before any real tears flowed...

The picture function thing is acting weird on this page right now--I'll have to post the rest of my pics later.

And I promise to attempt to write another blog post sometime before Maddy starts 1st grade...

If time were money...

Yes, if time were money, I wouldn't have two minutes to rub together this summer.

Thus, the one-day-shy-of-a-month-long blog hiatus I've involuntarily taken.

And I really have no business being on here today other than I needed to post SOMETHING so that I can say I've never gone an entire month without blogging.

I miss you, blog. I really do. I can't tell you how many posts I have thought up in my head and how many backs of receipts have little notes written on them with blog ideas....but they never make it beyond the bottom of my purse or the back of my head.

So, now that we're in back-t0-school countdown mode, (3 weeks from tomorrow, but who's counting, right?) I had to just check in and say that I'll be back.

Vacation Post #1

Flashback to June 2008. This might be my all-time favorite picture of my kids:

So, I decided it would be fitting to try to re-create the shot.

Fast forward to June 2009. I am even more thankful than ever for digital cameras where you're not limited to a certain number of shots. Here is a sampling of the photo shoot:

AND....at long last, here's the closest thing I got to the original. I'm glad you can't see their faces--you'd no doubt see a bit of anguish.

Ta Da! It might not be frame-worthy, but I finally got what I wanted!

The long overdue catch up post

Catching up on the ol' blog here. Hang onto your hat. Here goes:

We returned from Destin on Saturday night and were downright exhausted. Remember last year? Well, this year was on the same track. We did the beach olympics, talent show, and also seemed to incorporate a shopping marathon into the mix as well. Last year, we stayed in Seagrove and Seacrest and you had to drive a good ways to the outlets so we didn't do so much shopping. This year, we were about 5-10 minutes away and it seemed like every few hours, somebody was going to the outlets. That carload would return with some major deals which would feed another trip to the outlets for somebody else. (If our family is any indication of the average American, go buy some stock in Banana Republic.)

Anyways, there'll be a whole other post on vacation when I get my camera back...it hitched a ride home in somebody else's vehicle and is in the mail on the way back here as I type...



So, today was my catch-up day. I climbed Mt. Laundry and have reached the summit. Now for the ironing. However, I cannot iron when Will is awake, so that rules out most of my day. That will have to wait until after the kids go to bed tonight. Which is just what I want to do at my first free minute tonight, right? Whip out the ol' Rowenta and start pressing.

I actually can't complain about my day--it started with golf lessons for John, then we got home at 10:30 and had a few hours at home playing with the neighbors. Maddy then went to a birthday party at "Chuck E Jesus" (that's what the 4 yr old birthday boy calls it!). She had a ride to Chuck's so I didn't have to leave the home for that. John went swimming with our neighbors and Will slept, so I was able to get a lot done around here!


Ooh! I know when I'll iron: I have been anxiously awaiting Jon & Kate's big announcement tonight. I think that'll be a good time to iron. I have too much anxiety about their marriage problems--I can't just sit still & watch...ironing will give me an outlet for the nervous energy as I watch. I know this sounds crazy, but I am really sad for them! I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm just sad about the damage that has already been done by the paparazzi and their own personal bad choices.

I just pulled some pasta thing out of the freezer for dinner. I should be eating iceberg lettuce and carrot sticks to try and make a dent in the calorie OVERexpenditure that I'm working on from vacation. Can you say "donuts for breakfast?" Or what about "dessert after every meal?" Try this one out: "chips & queso for snack every afternoon." Grand finale on this exercise: "FRIED GROUPER."

Lastly--in honor of yesterday's big father's day celebrations, I have to say that I have the BEST dad in the world. If I could pick any dad out to be mine....no doubt, I'd picked him! Thanks Dad--I love you!

And to my own husband and father of my children. You are the most patient, loving, and FUN dad they could ever have. I love the way you love me & I love the way you love our 3 kiddos.

A Letter to our Vacation Neighbor:

Dear Vacation Neighbor:

It's been a good week. Really, it has. We've smiled as we pass by in the street on the way to and from the beach. We've splashed together at the pool. It's been great. Truly.

But last night, you put a bit of a damper on my friendly vacation spirit.

I fail to see why you needed to stay up until 3:30 a.m. talking outside with your front porch light on.

I know, I know--it sounds like I'm in your business and need to mind my own. But, I'm not. You see, you were in my business. Your late night/early morning talking and carousing and light-blaring activity took place just a few feet away from my bedroom doors and window. And, as you probably already know, these houses have those fancy windows above the doors that are in fancy shapes that don't allow for blinds or a window covering to mask the bright early morning sunlight or YOUR PORCH LIGHT from blaring in as I tried to sleep. (notice I said "tried" to sleep...)

So, really. I know we only have one night left, but I feel like I aged 10 years last night because of the lack of sleep allowed by your antics. I really can't afford to let this happen again tonight.

And you, my friend, really can't afford to stay up that late either. You may forget that my kids like to wake up around 6:30 and immediately head outdoors in that little strip of grass between your house and mine for rousing game of baseball or frisbee toss.

Please oblige so we'll all be a little happier, a little more rested and a little more pro-vacation when we return home from our vacation.

Sincerely,
Your neighbor in the blue house

vacation preparation

We leave in the morning for Destin with my whole family! Looking forward to it.

In the meantime, however...

....you know how you do laundry a few days before you leave for a trip, then you tell everybody not to wear anything between now and then that they want to take because you won't be doing laundry again? And, then, you know how all that's left in your drawers after that are ugly clothes that you don't normally wear?

That's us this week, folks. If you see us out & about, please don't say anything about how we look.

Another vacation preparation casualty is our pantry and fridge. Because, well, you know how you don't want to go to the store and spend a lot of money on food that will go bad while you're gone? Basically, that means your menu for this week might look a little something like this:

*spaghetti with a jar of sauce, no meat
*eggs and biscuits
*rotisserie chicken and sides from the deli
*cereal

Nothing wrong with any of those dishes, by the way....I'm just sayin' there might've been a little more pizzazz this week if I'd allowed myself to buy anything at the store other than vacation food. (I do have skittles and chex mix, but heaven help you if you even THINK about opening those bags before we hit the Alabama state line...)

Wasted travels

My friend Amy just celebrated a milestone birthday last week (she's 29 again).  Anyways, her husband went all out and had a week-long celebration for her--it all started with a getaway for the two of them to Chattanooga (no kids!).  When one of my kids heard that they were going away, he asked what they would do there.  I said, "oh, they'll sleep in, go on walks, shop, eat out, maybe see some art, you know, stuff like that."  He replied:  "They're not going to the Aquarium?  Not visiting Ruby Falls?!?  That sounds like a wasted trip to Chattanooga to me!"  He was outraged by their lack of fun planned for the weekend.

Personally....I've been to that aquarium a few too many times and while it is indeed wonderful and amazing, if I ever go back again, it'll be too soon.  But of course, I am sure we'll be back because Will's never been and if you live this close, you must take your kids at least once.  I think I'll let him experience Ruby Falls on a class field trip, though...

The funny thing about all that is that we feel so strapped down by having a toddler right now and think that there's so much we cannot do with the big kids because of Will.  That theory got smashed the other day when I was flipping through some old photo albums and saw pictures of one such trip to Chattanooga when we did the Aquarium and Children's Museum.  Guess how old Madeline was?  20 months.  Guess how old Will is right now?  20 months.  Hmmmm.....  

2nd grade writing prompts: Take 4

What are your parents' jobs?

My parent's jobs are, well, my dads job is enginering. He gets payed by money. My moms job is being a mother and she get's payed by wonderfull children. Their jobs are great.

____________________

Note from the mom who apparently is very rich (especially this summer): So, my friend Sarah said it best when she posted this as her status update: "Sarah thinks that her ability to change her Facebook status will be severely limited this summer." I'd like to change one thing about that statement to make it my own (that was a tribute to AI's Randy Jackson) and say that my ability to update the blog will be severely limited this summer. Wow--the kids are BUSY and HIGH-MAINTENANCE! You go 9 months out of the year with school in session and begin to think they're all grown up until summer break.

We leave for vacation with my family in a few days....YEAH!!! Here's to a repeat of last summer's great trip!

2nd grade writing prompts: Take 3

What is the nicest present you could give to your parents?

The nicest present I could give to my parents would be is a day of sleep. I would have to feed my siblings and all that stuff. It would be this Saturday. It would be hard to watch the SEC Chapionchip. It would be as hard as doing pushps at 4:00 AM! That would be a good gift.

I have weird kids

I had this great brainchild of an idea to have a "Job Jar" this summer chock full of activities to give a bored, trouble-making child something to do when they seem to be getting into trouble. We also have an official chore list for each child (not Will...YET!) of things they are responsible for each morning and each evening. It's been really great so far! John has been very compliant and though he says the garbage can smells like skunks when he has to take the trash out, he doesn't complain.

The "Job Jar" is full of those tasks around the house that I don't particularly care for. The whole intent is to try to dissuade unruly behavior, so the jobs in the Job Jar are less than savory. For instance...

*Wipe down bathrooms with Clorox Wipe
*Clean baseboards with a dust rag
*Spot clean the kitchen floor
*Clean out the bugs from between the window and the screen (thank you, Sarah U., for that idea)

HOLD UP. Before you report me to child protective services, I have to tell you that Maddy has actually been CREATING TROUBLE (oh yes, she has) because she thinks these chores are a bundle of fun. Seriously. She will do something naughty only to immediately look up at me and say, "Can I get something to do from the job jar?"

Today, as she was spraying the glass door to the patio with Windex, she finally admitted that she has a problem. She actually verbalized her plot:

"Mommy, do you know why I get in trouble so much lately? It's because I love to get jobs from the Job Jar."

I have weird kids.

15 minutes of fame

Last week, Maddy graduated from preschool with much pomp & circumstance.

Literally.

They played that song while she marched down the center aisle with her classmates in their caps & gowns. It was precious!

Figuratively speaking, she did as well.

They had been rehearsing some songs to sing for the parents and I had heard some of the tunes, but had yet to see the hand motions.

Did I say hand motions? What I meant to say was that I had yet to see the full-body-action-move-and-groove-to-the-music-shakin'-what-your-mama-gave-ya dance theatrics that accompanied the songs. The rest of the class performed the basic hand-motions, but my daughter added that extra oomph and pizzazz that we all know she's capable of.

The video camera was shaking from the laughter of its operator (me) and you can hear the whole crowd giggling at the display. Afterwards, I had people coming up to me asking where she takes dance lessons (she doesn't) and how long she's been dancing like that (it was a first).

Today at the Y, I had a complete stranger come up to me and ask if my daughter was the one dancing at the preschool graduation last week (her daughter was in a different class at the school).

So, I guess it's safe to say that she has had her 15 minutes of fame and it was absolutely delightful!

Also, today at the Y, I left John with my friend Kirsten at the pool while I went to check the other kids out of the nursery to go swimming. When I came back to the pool, John was being filmed by News Channel 5 as he took a swim test, then they wanted to interview ME. AAGH!!! I had just finished a weight lifting class and was sweaty and all "ew gross"....yet they captured me on camera discussing the benefits of the new swim test safety procedures at the YMCA.

I have yet to see it air (we're an hour away from showtime) but I am predicting a heavy southern accent and some mascara smudges underneath my sweaty eyes. I always get a thicker accent when I get nervous....

The Curse of being firstborn

John had been wanting a Nintendo DS for quite some time before his Mimi made all those dreams come true this past Christmas. He was almost 8 years old and we had built up all the responsibility that goes with owning a small, expensive electronic item as something that he would have to "earn" by being mature enough for the task. So, he was delighted to no end when he opened his great gift a few months ago.

Thankfully, he was a doll and shared his DS with his little sister--she liked to play some of the games and he was fine to let her play. Well, then she started wanting to play a lot. And we started looking at our calendar and seeing all the long car trips we had coming up and realized what pleasant travelers we could have in the backseat of our mini-van if someway, somehow, somewhere, we could have one DS for each big kid.

Hmmmm.....

You know, Maddy is awfully mature. I mean, really--girls just are. They are. Seriously--she could handle the DS. She's good about keeping up with stuff. Uh huh. She's ready.

Next stop: Gamestop.

Yes, our 5 year old daughter BOUGHT HER OWN (pink, of course) Nintendo DS a few weeks ago and she thinks she is hot stuff with it!

It's hard to be the starter child!

Behavior-wise, Will gets away with murder compared to what we used to crack down hard on John about....at this rate, he'll be playing MarioKart in no time!

2nd grade writing prompts: Take 2

Where will you be in 10 years?

In ten years, I predict I will be 5 foot 11.  I will be graduating from high school.  Mabey I would even get a basketball scholership to Vanderbuilt. I hope I get a basketball schallership to a SEC team.  I will look super young.  I will love collage.  It sounds so fun!  I will have some idiot friends thoe.

2nd grade writing prompts: Take 1

Writing prompt from John's school composition pad:

What are some rules at your house?

Some rules at my house are not going into the woods by myself. I also can't go to my friends' house without asking. I can't yell when Vandy is playing and Will is sleeping. My dad doesn't like that rule. I don't like it either. Rules keep you safe. RULES.

Thanks for the memories

I know, I know. I haven't posted in a while. It's not for lack of thought....in the words of Willie Nelson, please know, faithful readers, that you were always on my mind. (I love being able to incorporate random old country songs into my blog...seeing as how the title of my blog is named after an old Eddie Arnold song "Welcome to my world, won't you come on in?"). Anyways, I have been a busy bee and have every intention in the world of keeping this up, but life gets in the way.

Excuses, excuses. Let's move on.

This past weekend, we went to KY to see my family and my 2 big kids got to spend loads of quality time with their 5 cousins. It was fabulous--I felt like I was on a "getaway" with Michael. My parenting requirements were minimal for those 48 hours. We stayed at my sister's house with Will (going from ordinarily having 3 kids to just 1 baby is a breeze!) and John & Maddy stayed with the cousins. During the day when we were all together, the kids were so enamored with the cousins that they needed me for all of nothing. They get along charmingly--no fights, they don't get tired of each other, and it's just fun all around. I need not take that for granted! They really do have a sweet relationship with each of the kids-

So, when we were getting ready to leave yesterday, my sister Beth asked a pensive Maddy if she was sad about leaving. (They are perpetually asking why we can't live closer to Louisville!). She thought about it for a moment, then looked up and said, "No, because I have memories."

PRECIOUS.

Today when I was unpacking their stuff, I came upon a note that one of the cousins had written for her before she left. It is a keepsake! It says, "I love you so much. You are the best girl cousin ever." Let's just focus on the sweetness that is involved here and not let her know that she is in fact, the only girl cousin for this particular family.

Post-race euphoria

I've decided that running a distance race is a lot like giving birth. You very quickly forget the pain involved and focus only on the exciting parts of the experience--often wondering how soon you would take the opportunity to do it all again!

I'm about 48 hours post-race experience and have all but forgotten the torture I faced just a short time ago. I keep looking up my results online and staring at the numbers and splits, partly wondering what I could've done differently and how I could've trained better to knock a few minutes off that time. I also look at the final number and am in awe that it wasn't much higher, considering how hot it was that day and how I hadn't had a training run anywhere close to the high temps we experienced.

My legs feel great today. Yesterday was sore and I definitely took the elevator at church to avoid the long steep staircase, but today I feel good. I met my friend Amy at the trails and went for a 3.5 mile walk to eke out the final soreness and now I'm feeling real good.....good enough to plot out my next race, I do believe.

I'll leave you with this picture of my crew soon after we all finished--smiles all around!

If you've ever thought about running, but don't think you could do it....please take a note from me: If I can do it, ANYONE can do it. I never ran a day in my life until about 4 years ago. Right after I had Maddy, I was looking for a way to lose the baby weight and have a hobby I could keep all to myself. I went to Fleet Feet and bought a pricey pair of shoes, knowing that the right equipment would make a big difference between quitting and sticking with it. I signed up for a 5K race and it began from there.

July 4, 2004 My first 5K (Firecracker 5K)

Labor Day 2004 My first 10K (Franklin Classic)

October 2004 My first half-marathon (Louisville, KY)

I am by no means an athlete--I have had to learn how to do this the hard way, but it's something that I have learned to love. I did not love running the first year or so that I did it, but I stuck with it and now am at the point where I CRAVE the sweat and feeling you get when you are done. Give it a try!

4:45 a.m. came awfully early this morning...

Timeline of my race:

8:45 p.m. Night before the race: the "team" (Michael, our neighbor/friend/fellow running maniac Victor, my brother Keith, his friend Ben) and I spend a significant amount of time getting our race numbers appropriately centered and attached to our running clothes and attaching our timing chips to our shoes. We go through a dress rehearsal of what we're wearing and why we're wearing it. It's a successful venture. We all feel ready for the next day.

4:45 a.m. There's my alarm. I was sound asleep in dreamland. WHY OH WHY did we sign up for this type of torture? Sadly, the true torture hasn't even begun.

5:00 a.m. Slam some breakfast, Diet Coke, and water.

5:15 a.m. In the car with Keith & Ben (who looks an awful lot like Zac Efron, would you know?) We're following Michael & Victor downtown. No traffic! We're golden!

6:00 a.m. On the shuttle bus to the start line! SCORE: there is a bathroom on the bus!!! I will gladly use this facility and avoid the port-o-potty line. Have you seen the lines for those things?

6:30 a.m. Well, we made it to the start line, but I have to go to the bathroom again. Dang! OK, off to stand in the line. Keith and I size everybody up in the line around us--wondering who we'll be passing and who will be passing us.

6:55 a.m. I finally make it into what has to be the NASTIEST portapotty known to man. I am serious--it was rank. Hold your breath, hold your breath, hold your breath......break out!!! Now, a mad dash to the start line.

7:00 a.m. The Carter Twins sing the national anthem. The funniest sight I saw all day was the huge crowd of people in line to go to the bathroom standing at attention during this sacred moment of Americana.

7:01 a.m. BANG! And they're off. They are--not me. I am in corral 14 and will have to wait about a half-hour until my group is sent off.

7:25 a.m. I cross the start line!

Mile 1: MAN, it's hot.

Mile 2: Well, hello hill! I must remember to apologize to my guys--I told them Miles 1-2 were downhill. I grossly misrepresented the race course. This is VERY hilly!

Mile 3: Water station ahead! Cytomax is gross. Where's the gatorade?!? I appreciate a little Gatorade when I'm needing some electrolyte therapy. I'd rather pass on the Cytomax, but will have to make do, at least for the next 10 miles.

Mile 4: Hey! There's my friend Micah! Wish she were running with me. Darn her IT Band.

Mile 5: I guess I was in the zone. I don't remember much here.

Mile 6: Still in the zone.

Mile 7: Hmmm. Wonder why my achilles is talking to me? What's it saying? I'm doing my best to ignore it because I'm sure it's not good news.

Mile 8: MICAH!!! There she is again! What's she holding out there for me--what is that? I can't quite see.....must get closer.....It's Gatorade!!!! Oh mercy, it's Gatorade! Micah is my Angel of Electrolytes. I can carry on!!! Only 5 miles to go.

Mile 9: Zone.

Mile 10: OK. I am so done. Not digging the race anymore. This is not fun and I hurt. My legs are sore. My achilles hurts. My brain is fried. AND IT'S HOT. It had to be 80 degrees at this point. DONE. At this moment, I started telling myself..."it's 30 more minutes. That's it. In 30 minutes, you will never have to run another minute in your life if you don't want to. Just finish these 30 minutes and you can hang up your racing shoes for life. Just 30 more minutes. You can do anything for 30 minutes." But I didn't much believe myself. I didn't think I could do it for 30 minutes, but on the flip side, I knew I would want to run again. Just not anytime soon.

Mile 11: I started talking to random people at this point and trying to find someone interesting to talk to. ACHES AND PAINS. My legs were screaming.

Mile 12: ONE MORE MILE. Cytomax still tastes gross and I am convinced that I really won't ever WALK again, much less run again. WHY IS THERE A DARN HILL IN THIS RACE AT MILE 12?!? Who's great idea was it to put a hill at mile 12?!?

Mile 13: I can see the finish!!!

2 hours, 12 minutes is my time. I am more than pleased. I ran it in 2:15 last year and was hoping for 2:10, but 2:12 is just fine with me, considering the torture I felt from Miles 10-13.

Want to hear something just delightful now? THEY HAD OREOS IN THE FINISHER'S VILLAGE. Oreos, people. O-R-E-O-S. And the heat of the day finally came in handy for something--the cream inside the oreos was soft and warm like a cookie right out of the oven. It was delicious.

I found my team of guys and we all exchanged battle stories. Ben schooled us all--this was his first half-marathon and he killed it! He finished in 1:32 or something close to that.

And, that's the story of my race today!

Does anybody know where I can find a discount code for early registration for next year's race?

Am I ever glad THAT'S over...

Finished in 2:12-ish range.

More later.

OUCH.

Race Expo

Michael & I went down to the Expo this afternoon around lunchtime to pick up our race packets, numbers, shoe chips and all the soybar freebies one girl can handle.

And just how many soybar freebies could I handle? Well, half of one to be exact. And it wasn't even full-sized...it was a sample. Darn those things--I always want them to taste like a candy bar and would you know, they never do? I'm just waiting on a healthy candy bar to be invented and I shall give them all the free advertising they'd ever want on my blog. Which is very tempting, I'm sure, seeing as how there are at least a dozen of you out there (Hi Mom!). Anyways, the "peanut butter cookie" Luna bar or whatever brand they were dishing out tasted like.....soy.

I managed to train these past 4 months or so and stayed completely injury free. It was remarkable. However, I almost blew it all today at the Expo when I stubbed my toe on Will's stroller. Seriously--how devastating would that be?

Old Friend I See in Kroger Check Out Line: "Hey Ellen, how'd you do in the race?!"
Me: "Well, I didn't get to participate: injury."
OFISIKCOL: "Oh, IT Band? Achilles troubles?"
Me: "No.....not exactly...."
OFISIKCOL: "Tendonitis? Runner's Knee?"
Me: "No, I stubbed my pinkie toe really bad at the Expo when I was picking up my race packet."

Thankfully, I think I'll recover in time for the race on Saturday.

T-3 days and counting: race day!

So, I wrote my big post the other day all about resting my legs for the race this Saturday and honing in on some good dietary choices.


A little less talk and a lot more action, Ellen!


I downed 1/2 a bag of Cheetos yesterday afternoon.


I was also weak about my resolve to not go to my strength training class to avoid any muscle soreness....but I'm addicted, y'all! I can't NOT go. I was on my way into the Y and had bigs plans to do a short, easy run on the treadmill. But then I saw my friends' cars in the parking lot and I knew they'd be there....so I went. I lunged, squatted, and crunched my way through the class and am now hoping I don't jinx my performance on Saturday.


ANYWAYS, the most important thing, however, is my OUTFIT!


I got a new outfit for the race on Saturday. I went with a red "technical fabric" sleeveless top and some black shorts. I went with red because, like Tiger Woods on Sundays at his tournaments, it signifies......well, I don't know what it signifies. But Tiger wears red and I am going to as well.


I will do my best to get some action pictures on Saturday to post.


If you happen to be in downtown Nashville on Saturday morning.....if you see a flash of red zip by you so fast you couldn't see who it was.....well, it's probably not me. I'd be the one jogging by waving and smiling at the crowd.

American Idol, Top 7

Well, this is the Top 7 again, but really, it's the first time for me since I didn't do the blog recap thing last week. Here we go:

Lil Rounds: "I'm Every Woman." First things first: can she rock a pantsuit or what? Lookin' Good, Lil! The song was fine--entertaining enough, but I'll agree with the judges--a touch on the karaoke side.

Kris Allen: "She Works Hard For the Money." Seriously? He is singing a chick song? OK--I stand corrected! It was original, fun, new, and completely believable! I really, really like him!

Danny Gokey: "September." I got up and DANCED to this one! So much fun!!! Not to sound like a broken record, but I really, really like him too! I couldn't stop dancing. He's just a flat out good performer.

Alison Iraheta: "Hot Stuff." She's too young to sing this song, in my opinion. I do not like her outfit, I do not like her song. But, I have to admit, the girl can throw out song vocals!!!

Adam Lambert: "If I Can't Have You." I did not even recognize this song--and I am normally considered quite the songstress. Michael had to sing the "real" version for me. Paula's reaction (teary eyes) was a bit over the top, but I'm not there, so I don't know. Maybe that's how it came across if you were there live...but I didn't get that same feeling. He is an excellent vocalist, performer, bla bla bla bla bla....he's just in it to win it.

Matt Giraud: "Stayin' Alive." Fun. I liked it! I liked it a lot better than what Simon did. He kept it true to the Disco theme, but modernized it a bit. I had fun with it. I'm glad he stuck around another week.

Anoop Desai: "Dim All the Lights." I have never heard this song either. He hit some great notes, but it was a bit boring. Loved his pink sweater tonight!

I don't know who's going home, but I think Adam, Danny, and Kris are definitely safe. The others....well, it could be anybody. Two people will go home tomorrow night and then it starts to get down to the wire! I'm still thinking Danny & Adam will be in the finale.

Your thoughts?

Bachelor for Life?

The other day on the way to church, John said he was planning to come into "big church" for worship and then he'd see what the sermon was about before he decided whether to go to Sunday School or to stay.

Basically, his one and only condition for leaving was if it was about marriage.

"If he starts talking about marriage, I'm leaving."

WHICH reminds me of this great conversation John & I had one day not long ago. It involved marriage and Fred & Wilma Flintstone.

I watched the Flintstones every afternoon in the summer growing up. I would go to the pool, come home, get a nice unhealthy snack and sit on my pool towel (still in my wet bathingsuit) and watch The Flintstones at 2:35 pm. (Remember when TBS did their viewing schedules on the :05 and the :35?)

So, I was quite happy when I saw that Comcast On Demand had some episodes of the Flintstones. It was a childhood memory I couldn't wait to share with my own kiddos.

I never before realized what a terrible marriage Fred & Wilma had! There is so much lying and deception going on between them. He treats her as his slave and there's lots of yelling when he doesn't get his way. I have to say if this cartoon were made in 2009, I would not dare let my kids watch it.

But of course, it was made way back when and I continued to watch an episode now & then with the kids thinking they were as oblivious as I once was about the lack of harmony between the stoneage couple.

The other day John looked at me and said, "They don't seem to like each other very much, do they? It's like they aren't happy to be married to each other."

So perceptive for an 8 year old boy. Every once in a while, he'll surprise me with some astute, mature observation and I am shocked to realize how fast he's growing up!

T-5 days and counting....

The Country Music 1/2 Marathon is almost here! I have been training seriously for about 4 months. I've put lots of miles on these legs & feet and am actually really looking forward to Saturday! We've got family coming into town and my brother Keith is running with Michael & I, along with several neighbors and friends from church. It has taken much coordination to get the kids in the right place so we can just wake up, eat, and run, but I think I've finally gotten it all figured out.

My mother-in-law is keeping Will overnight on Friday night and part of Saturday; My parents will take care of John & Maddy and get them to John's baseball game at 10:30 that morning; we're still trying to work out the parking situation/shuttle. A few years ago, Keith & Michael ran the race together and followed the advice in the race literature: they woke up at 3:30 in the morning, parked at the finish line and rode the shuttle from the finish to the start line only to arrive before the volunteers did and so they had about 2 hours to kill before the race started! They stretched by the Parthenon; talked to the media folk there to cover the race; were first in line for the port-a-potties. We still laugh about that one. We'd like to avoid that if at all possible, however, we'd equally like to avoid the mistake I made last year. I did not have a car at the finish line (because there was a wreck at the exit to get off there earlier that morning), couldn't find a ride back to the start line where I'd parked and ended up PRAYING (literally) for someone to come along to give me a lift back to the start line.

OK, moving on:
This week, I hope to be wise with my diet and exercise--I plan to make it an easy week...skipping my strength training classes and will probably only do two short and easy runs to save my legs for Saturday.

The diet part, however, is a little trickier for me. I made the mistake before my last long run of fueling up past the point of fueling up and boy did I pay for it during my run! We were in KY at my parent's house and the option is available to just eat all day if that's what you desire. And, so I did. BIG MISTAKE. Banana pudding, strawberry pretzel salad, jelly beans galore, cupcakes, and a huge Easter dinner. The next day as I ran my 11 miles, I also did a lot of praying. I was actually longing to come upon a port-a-potty, if you know what I mean.

So, I'm planning to avoid that scenario as well.

Last, but not least, another one bit the dust. I lost another running partner. I am the kiss of death to someone's running career, apparently. If you are looking to get into running....don't ask me to train with you! Last year, I trained with Kirsten for 4 months and she woke up in the middle of the night before the race with a terrible stomach virus.

This year, I trained with Micah for 4 months before she dropped out because of her IT Band (don't ask me to explain the IT Band....just know that it is along the side of your leg from your knee to your hip.)

So, I'll be running the actual race solo again. Which.....could be good. I am a very social runner, so when I'm running with a friend, we just chat, laugh, tell life stories, give unsolicited advice to each other, show our stretch marks to each other, cry and so forth and so on. Last year when I had to run by myself at the last minute, I approached the start line with a "the quicker I do this, the quicker it's over" mentality and it paid off! I shaved 15 minutes off my old record. So, perhaps this year I'll do the same. Just run. Faster you run, faster you finish.

Maddy's School Of Beauty

This morning I was getting ready for church when Maddy asked if I would help her get dressed. I stopped mid-point while putting my makeup on and went into her room to pick out her clothes and fix her hair.

She asked if I could read her a book after we got her ready, but I told her I had to finish putting my makeup on.

She studied my face for a moment before declaring, "Yes, you still need to do your eyebrows, do your eyelashes [mascara] and put on lipstick."

Would you know she was exactly right?!? That was all I had left to do--those 3 tasks were yet to be done and by just looking at my face, she knew.

Michael was even more amazed than I was when I told him the story. He has been looking at this same face for 13 years now and couldn't have even come close to telling me what makeup was left to be applied.

Little girls are so much fun!!!

And, speaking of beauty....I had to post this beautiful picture of the little lady herself:

Drugs and Rock -n- Roll

I got a new Taylor Swift CD the other day and love some of the songs--the kids were loving them too and singing along, but then I realized that a few of the songs were a little "old" for them...so I put a few songs on their MP3 players, but left some just for mommy to listen to. Michael was in on this decision and was the object of John's negative emotions when I wouldn't let him listen to one particular song. (Lots of negative emotion....)

Fast forward to last night: Michael took the kids to McDonalds for dinner while I got my haircut. On the way home, he's scanning stations on the radio and comes across "Paradise City" by Guns n Roses. He cranks it up and starts jamming out and then realizes the irony that we wouldn't let our kids listen to some teeny bop romance songs, but here he was teaching them to long for the place where the grass is green and the girls are pretty. (sounds like heaven, no?) So, he lets them all finish the song and they are rocking along and loving the chorus, then he does a little backpedaling about why that's probably not a good band for the family to get into.

Here's the conversation that ensued:

JOHN: "Dad, would you ever want to go to ao Guns n Roses concert?"
MICHAEL: "No, It would be really loud and there are probably a lot of drugs there."
JOHN: "People take steroids at concerts?" [He watches a lot of ESPN. A-Rod, anyone?]
MICHAEL: [Trying not to laugh] "No, they're not doing steroids."
JOHN: "Oh, then, do you mean people take medicine when they're not supposed to?"
MICHAEL: "Well, sort of......"
JOHN: [cuts him off before he could explain] "because I've done that before."
MICHAEL: [a little concerned at this point] "What sort of medicine have you taken when you didn't need it?"
JOHN: "Well, sometimes at night, I'll make myself cough a lot so I can get an extra cough drop."

So, as your friend who has the finger on the pulse of pop culture....I'm warning you--if you go to a rock concert, please act cool if someone offers you a Hall's or a Sucrets.

American Idol, Top 8

I haven't done a recap in a few weeks--"too busy" is all I can say.

And still, I have nothing much for you today either....
except: my DVR cut off at 1 hour (the time allotted for the show, per Fox) and I missed Adam Lambert's song, which was apparently the song of the night. Simon gave it a standing ovation, I hear! First time ever, as far as I know and I've watched all seasons faithfully (except season 2, my apologies to Ruben.)

The other thing I want to comment on is how I REALLY disliked how they had Matt Giraud and Kris Allen singing on a little stage in the crowd the last 2 weeks. (Last week it was Matt on the keyboard and this week was Kris on guitar). For one thing, it makes me nervous that some tween is going to reach out and pinch them mid-performance, causing them to YELP! instead of sing. The other thing is that you can't get a good camera angle on them with the crowd around and I think that affects viewers' perception of the song/performance. AND--coincidence or not: the judges panned both performances.

If I were a contestant and the producer suggested that next week I perform on the little side stage, I'd think twice before accepting that proposal.

That's it. Thanks for reading.

Green Velvet

Yep. That's right. It's spring and around here that means our grass is emerald green and oh so lovely. A few years ago we decided to invest in Chem-Lawn to spray the yard; we aerated; we seeded. We did it all again. And it has paid off. Each spring we get repaid with a lovely carpet made of green velvet.

So, here it is:

Onto other exciting news-of-the-outdoor variety...

I learned how to mow about 3 summers ago. AND I LOVE IT. I grew up with 3 brothers and my family kept to very traditional roles (boys outside, girls inside) so I never had to do much in the way of yard work. However, my interest in mowing was stirred a few years after we had kids. Michael would be gone all day to work while I was (by my choice, I admit) "stuck home" with the kids all day. (Don't let me fool you--I truly love what I do, but sometimes you do feel a little "stuck.") Then, he would come home and need to mow the yard(s) (we adopted my mother in law's yard after she moved to our subdivision a few years ago). I then had to stay indoors with the kids while he mowed.

I decided he was getting the better end of the deal! When you mow, you see, you get to be outside and nobody can bother you!! Mowing the front yard? "Kids--move to the back!" Mowing the back yard? "Kids--move to the front!" You can't hear anyone crying or asking for dinner and you don't have to wipe anybody's bottom while you mow. It's a WIN-WIN-WIN situation for a mom who's been at the children's beck and call all day.

Once I realized that, I fell in love with mowing. I'm not afraid to admit it. I truly love to mow. I mowed when I was 8 months pregnant. I mowed a week after I had a baby. I mowed in the heat of the summer and in the cool of the fall.

[complete aside: Will just cracked an egg on the dining room carpet. Pardon me while I clean up that mess.]

Anyways. This summer, I've had to give it up. We are too busy. I can't mow during the day because Will is in too much trouble without a watchful eye. John is involved in baseball and that takes up several nights a week, plus a good chunk of the day on Saturday. Michael has church meetings and works late often enough to interfere with my mowing needs.

So, we hired the neighborhood dude to mow for us & my mother-in-law. His lawn company maintains/mows all our neighborhood common space and he does neighbor yards as well. He came the first time a few weeks ago and did a stellar job, I have to admit.

Then we waited. And waited and waited. Yes, there were some weather issues....yet we waited through those and still no mower blade graced our lovely lawn. Our yard had the jungle look going on and we were probably one day away from getting a letter from the Homeowner's Association.

I started to lose sleep over this issue. Seriously. Ask my husband. I woke him up in the middle of the night a few nights ago filled with worry over the lawn company and how let down I felt. The next day I dropped a note in lawn dude's mailbox.....and so today was the day he chose to come. I watched out the window, wistfully, as they took over the chore I had grown to love. I was a wee bit jealous that they made it look so easy.

I'll bet you're now wondering what the downside is, right? It wasn't that I was missing out on the task that I enjoyed nor that it was costing us money. The downside is that I can't control when they come to mow....as in NOT DURING NAPTIME. Will's nap was cut short by about 2 hours when the two mowers, weedeater, and blower all powered up at the same time. So, I was left holding the bag on a very fussy baby for the remaining 6 hours of his day.

It's been a very long day.

Take that, Target!

Just when I think I've seen it all, my Walmart has started offering Valet Parking.

Multi-tasking, per a 5 year old girl

"Maddy, what did you do at the Y today?"

"Oh, we played house with Cade and his friend Stephanie. Cade was the dad, Stephanie was the mom, and I was the dog, cat, lion, teenager, little boy kid, little girl kid and the baby."

I've decided to call this post "Baby in the Pantry"

BABY PROOFING CHECK LIST:

Toilet seats down: CHECK

Bathroom doors closed: CHECK

Cabinets and drawers latched shut with babyproof plastic things: CHECK

Polly Pockets and crayons put up on a high shelf: CHECK

Trash can lid locked: CHECK

Dishwasher latched shut: CHECK

Move all chairs away from patio table so he can't climb up and flip it: CHECK

Move computer off desk in bonus room down to kitchen/bar area: CHECK

Move computer chair away from desk so he can't climb up and get the phone, printer, and pens: CHECK

Those are just a few of the steps we've taken to make life sane.

So apparently, he got a little bored. There was nothing left for him to get into, so he's now attacking the pantry on a regular basis. Moving on:

All Dangerous food items moved off the lower shelves: CHECK

Then he had the nerve to use this storage bin to stand up on to reach the glass jars.

I give up.

American Idol Top 10, March 25

Matt Giraud, "Let's Get It On." This is ambitious--tackling a Marvin Gaye CLASSIC. I was glad to see him get out from behind the piano--I was afraid that was becoming a crutch for him. I thought his version was amazing! I liked how he started with just his voice and the piano, but then built up to the band and backup singers...it was great.

Kris Allen, "How Sweet It Is." Not sure why he has numbers on the shoulders of his shirt. I'm not really getting his wardrobe choice tonight. His song is just fine. A little on the cutesy side. Nothing amazing or overwhelming for Kris' performance tonight.

[Total Aside: I am watching this episode on my new & lovely DVR and I fast forward through all the commercials EXCEPT...the Sonic commercials! Those of you who know me know that I do love some Sonic Diet Coke with vanilla about once a day....but apart from that, those commercials make me laugh! The newest one with the mom & son just cracks me up..."I was taking a nap and you woke me up saying, 'mama needs a junior candy sundae.' "]

Scott McIntyre, "You Can't Hurry Love." Nothing amazing in this song for me. Please, please don't get me wrong: he is talented, that is true. He can tickle the ivories and he can carry a tune, but it just isn't "wow-ing" me tonight.

I think the judges are being very generous tonight.

Megan Joy, "For Once In my Life." What happened to her last name? Where's the Corkey? Anyways, her hair, jewelry, dress and performance all add up to make me think "cabaret cruise ship singer." NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT. In fact, that's a secret ambition of my own (well, ok, it's not such a secret--most people know that about me). But, cabaret cruise ship singer and American Idol cannot co-exist within the same being.

Anoop Desai, "Ooh Baby Baby." I don't really know what to say about this. I guess I agree with Kara: he did a pretty good job. It was fine, but I was a little bored.

Michael Sarver, "Ain't Too Proud to Beg." He looks too happy and giddy to be begging his woman not to leave. He's just having a good time with this song--he's not connecting with the emotion of the song. I ain't too proud to beg you NOT to vote for. PLEASE, please please....let him go home.

Lil Rounds, "Heatwave." It was alright. I thought she would completely shine here--but I didn't find anything spectacular. I think she's cute as can be, though--great personality!

Adam Lambert, "Tracks of my Tears." This is my FAVORITE Motown song. ELVIS? He looks like Elvis. With a plastic wig. But, I am totally loving the arrangement. It was completely original and amazing. I might be downloading this one from itunes.

Danny Gokey, "Get Ready." Lots of energy and a solid vocal performance, but it seemed a little old fashioned to me. It wasn't very original. I understand that it's a classic song and there's not much to change or tweak....but after hearing Adam's completely original performance before him, Danny needed to bring something more artistic to the table.

Allison Iraheta, "Papa was a Rolling Stone." This girl is too young to be this good! She is so comfortable on the stage and shows such maturity in her stage presence, vocals and the fact that she can stand (much less DANCE) in those heels astounds me.

American Idol, Top 11

Here we go--another round:

Michael Sarver: "Ain't Goin' Down Til the Sun Comes Up." I didn't think this showed any range at all. The song only had about 3 or 4 notes total through the whole thing and it was hard to understand.....even for me who knew most of the words. On another topic....did you see the harmonica dude holding a microphone and harmonica-izing at the same time? Talent. Pure talent. But, we're not voting for harmonica dude. We're also not voting for Michael Sarver. I think he's performed his last time on this stage.

Allison Iraheta: "Blame It On Your Heart." She can actually pull off a country song! Her voice suits country, which I was surprised to hear. What's ironic is that Patti Loveless also has an unnatural shade of red dye on her hair just like Allison. Coincidence? I think not.

Kris Allen: "To Make You Feel My Love." No guitar tonight? He did well! The falsetto note at the end was a dangerous move, but he did it and it worked. Randy called him "a Tender Dawg" and I agree--it was a great performance. He had really good vocal control through the entire song.

Lil Rounds: "Independence Day." Did you know that magenta is the color of spring this year? It is. Go out and buy yourself some hot pink to wear just like Lil did tonight---she looked lovely! Her song, however.....very flat. Didn't like her performance which surprised me because I was under the impression that she could do no wrong. She'll still be back next week. Hopefully by then, Simon will realize that her name is LIL, not LITTLE, and that LIL can be short for names like "Lily" or "Lillian."

Adam Lambert: "Ring of Fire." I hated this performance. I agreed with Simon--it was terrible.

Scott McIntyre: "Wild Angels." Looks like a stylist got a hold of his hair--THANKFULLY. He had a much better haircut this week. Regarding his performance, it was miles better than last week. I didn't think he deserved to be here last week....but this week was such an improvement that I have decided to let him stay. Especially since he got a decent haircut. Anyways, I liked the stripped-down beginning of the song.

Alexis Grace: "Jolene." It wasn't nearly as "edgy" as her past performances, but I still enjoyed it. I wish she'd done something modern with a little rock to it by Sugarland or Gretchen Wilson.

Danny Gokey: "Jesus Take the Wheel." I didn't like the verse but the chorus was amazing. He seemed so disconnected to the emotion of the song during the verses--it was like he didn't really know what he was singing. But the soul shined through on the chorus. The crowd loved it.

Anoop Desai: "You Were Always On My Mind." Oh boy, I was nervous when he said this was what he was going to sing. He was going for the stripped down, vulnerable Anoop--perhaps trying to be a "Tender Dawg" like Kris Allen. I actually had CHILLS listening to him sing this. It was fabulous. Simon said he went from "zero to hero"--his favorite performance of the night. I think I agree. (Sorry Danny, sorry Kris--I'm still a fan, but Anoop won me over...just for tonight.)

Megan Joy Corkey: "Walkin' After Midnight." The first thing I'll say is that she needs more supportive undergarments. OK, moving on, her makeup looks great. ONTO THE MUSIC....which I know is what we're really judging here...I didn't think she really made it her own--it still sounded like Patsy Cline's version to me. I mean, there was a little bluesy-ness to it, but it still sounded like Patsy to me. So apparently, she's been in the hospital with the flu, and I think the judges are giving her extra good marks because they're judging her not just as "MEGAN" but as "MEGAN WITH THE FLU." Anyways, I thought it was fine. Not super memorable, but it was fine.

Matt Giraud: "So Small." Big night for Carrie Underwood with 2 of her songs being performed tonight. What a great tribute to her since this is where she got her start. I think this was a pretty solid performance--except the very last note was flat. Very vulnerable, solid performance by a talented guy.

March Madness To Do List:

1. Watch ESPN's "Bracketology" special.
2. Watch games I DVR'd and analyze all 64 teams' strengths.
3. Now, analyze their weaknesses.
4. Create an Excel spreadsheet analyzing each team against their 1st round opponents.
5. Check out some college hoops message boards and see what the buzz is.
6. Fill out my bracket.

OR...

I could just do what I normally do. Here's a list of questions I use to help me decide who to choose since I have not watched one single basketball game this entire year:

1. Did I know somebody who went to that school?
2. If so, did I like them? Pick that school to win if that person was nice to me.
3. Does that school have a fun mascot? Pick them to win if it's a good mascot. Not something scary. Unless it's a pirate because mascot pirates are cool, not scary.
4. Does that school have good colors? Do the colors go well with my hair and skin tone....like, could I actually wear their sweatshirt & look decent?
5. Would I ever want to take a road trip to this school? Is it in a nice locale?
6. Did I go to school there? OH WAIT. KENTUCKY is going to the NIT, which stands for the "Not Invited Tournament"). Sorry, cats, I can't pick you to win this year like I usually do.

So, there you have it. My family does a yahoo group which features a "smack talking" message board and some serious bracket pickin'. There's a traveling trophy/plaque that my name is YET to appear on (wonder why?). It's spent the last year in my 1 year old nephew Max's room....which basically means Keith submitted more than one bracket which is totally against the rules.

Here's to "Ellen's Elite Athletes" and a fabulous 2009 journey to the final four! Will keep you posted on my standing.

NBA Week

So, apparently it's NBA week at our home. We had the obsession with Michael Jordan going on earlier this week, but now the focus has shifted.

I had to take John to the doctor this morning where he was diagnosed with mild bronchitis.

After we left, he wanted to know more about this condition and the word "bronchitis" kept coming up in the conversation. He kept getting the word mixed up though and had a variety of pronunciations (newbronchtos? mabronchiotisis?), but my favorite, perhaps, was named after his favorite current NBA player:

LEBRON-CHITIS

(That's Lebron James, for all you moms-of-daughters-only out there)

American Idol: Top 13, recap 1

I've been waiting....not so patiently....for the top 12 on AI to commence so I could begin a new blog series. Well, now it's the Top 13 and here I go:

Lil Rounds: Um, yes. She is good, better, and best, all wrapped up into one. Loved her spin on "The Way You Make Me Feel". A little bluesy, a little soulfulness--loved it! So comfortable on the stage. That is the way to kick it off, Lil! And, contrary to Simon's critique on her style, I loved her top! The one-shoulder number suited her just fine.

Scott McIntyre: "Keep the Faith" I do like his piano skills. He is unbelievably talented, but his vocals, y'all, his vocals are not "Top 12 (13?)" material, in my book. I know that's going to be controversial for me to say that--you're thinking, "but he's blind! the obstacles he's overcome! doesn't that count for something?!?" And, yes it does. But I'm going to stand by my original stance that his vocals don't "wow."

Danny Gokey: "PYT." LOVE HIM. I was so fearful that he'd start to fall apart during the Top 12 (13?) when they started picking themes and was nervous that he wouldn't be able to handle a Michael Jackson song....but he did. With pizazz. And then some. Paula sees him going all the way to the finals and I believe we'll follow him all the way there.

Michael Sarver: "You are Not alone" Good vocals. But a touch boring. Sorry.

Jasmine Murray: "I'll be there." She has a great voice, but I'm going to agree with the judges that she needs to add some youthfulness to her vibe. Oh, there goes Randy with a "name drop." He cracks me up when he throws a name like "I recorded that with Mariah..." out there as if he's still trying to establish his credibility for being on the judging panel.

Kris Allen: "Remember the Time" Sadly, I don't 'remember the time' that this dude went to try outs or Hollywood Week and I don't 'remember the time' he sang during Top 36. So, I was a little confused when he showed up on stage with a guitar--he was brand new to me. But, IMPRESS ME he did! Loved his version of the song. Couldn't hear the guitar at all, though--I kept asking Michael if he could hear it or if they had it unplugged or what? So, was that just for "looks" or stage-comfyness so he didn't have to feel awkward to figure out what to do with his hands/make up dance moves? Who knows. Hopefully, next week we shall find out! I liked him--really, really liked him! I felt so bad for his wife when Simon suggested that he should've kept her hidden for a while [in order to get more female votes, I guess]. She looked extremely uncomfortable. Randy redeemed the comment though when he said "love the song....love the wife...." or something like that.

Allison Iraheta: "Give in to Me" Song was fine. She's cornered the market on the "edgy rocker chick" personna. Please, stylist, make her change her hair to a normal color. PLEASE.

Anoop Desai: "Beat It." I like this guy. But. I did not like this song. WAY too karaoke. And I have seen my fair share of karaoke, so trust me on this one.

Jorge Nunez: "Never Can Say Goodbye" Great vocals. But, like I said about Michael Sarver: BORING. We ended up fast forwarding (I finally have DVR!!!) through part of his song. And, like I told Michael last night, generally I am biased against men who weigh less than me, so this was a strike against him before the song even began. Sorry, Jorge.

Megan Joy Corkey: "Rockin' Robin." Seriously? Did she just sing this song? Did she just tweet & caw her way through this? It was cute, but more like "cruise ship revue flash back to the 50's" cute, not "American Idol Top 12 (13?)" cute. I think this is going to send her home!

Adam Lambert: "Black and White" Do you remember the video for this song back in the day? It had people staring at the camera, doing a little dance, then suddenly, they'd morph into someone else...different nationality, etc-- Well, my sibs & I would stand in front of a mirror and try to re-enact that. We'd sing the song, then take turns stepping up to the mirror for a quick dance before going to the back of the line. ANYWAYS. That had nothing to do with Adam Lambert's performance last night, which was nothing less than that of a very seasoned performer who knows who he is and what his angle/market is going to be. There are all kinds of people like him here in Nashville who have been trying to make it in Country Music for YEARS and they are talented beyond belief. Anyways, he knocked it out of the park.

Matt Giraud: "Human Nature" Good vocals, nice piano. Forgettable, though. And, Yes, he still looks like Justin Timberlake.

Alexis Grace: "Dirty Diana" I thought she did a great job. She seems so emotion-less when facing the judges, though--you don't get any sense of her personality when she's interacting with them. But, judging on the performance, she's confident, sassy, got an incredible vocal range, and cute as a button. Even with the hot pink streaks in her hair.

Want some more reviews? Check out Boomama's blog and recaps by clicking here.

Michael Jordan

So, I mentioned the other day about our MJ project going on at home. John's school has a "parents-hands-on-do-it-at-home" project each quarter, so this time it was all about an African American history/biography subject.

I did the two projects last semester with John and it about did us in. Weeping and gnashing of teeth for both of us. He is the CLASSIC first-born: wants to do it all himself, he has it all under control and can handle it, thankyouverymuch. Therefore, I informed Michael that the next project was his. All his. I was DONE.

I thought I'd feel completely relieved and relaxed knowing that Michael was in charge of this one....but, can I tell you how hard it was for me to keep out of it?

Well, for one thing, one of my gifts to this world is that I don't procrastinate. Really. I don't procrastinate. So, when we were at T-48 hours for the project deadline and the two of them are outside playing basketball/baseball/chatting up the neighbors all weekend, I was getting a little nervous.

Last weekend, however, they did print off a wikipedia article on MJ, but the fight that ensued when Michael told John to read the whole thing (It's 18 pages!!!!! Why do I have to read all 18 pages!!! I already know everything about Michael Jordan!!! I just want to skim it and find the information on his education!!! I'm NOT reading 18 pages!!!") completely canceled out the punctuality of said research. It got to be comical after awhile--the time spent bemoaning the 18 page article (5 of which were citation pages, btw) could have been spent reading the 18 page article 2 or 3 times over. Again, classic firstborn.

So, as you can see, it wasn't all smooth sailing for Michael--he endured his own bout of weeping & gnashing of teeth over the wikipedia incident.

They got it done, though, people--got it done!! It is a beautiful project and I was glad to have taken my hands off and left them to it. If John gets a better grade on this than he did on the "Chocolate Fever" book report/poster project I helped with, Michael may get hired on to do the final quarterly project as well.

So, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls: Without further adieu, I want to present to you.....

MICHAEL JORDAN, by John, 2nd grade

Make sure you read the text below--it's rich, I tell you:

P.S. I think I totally impressed my dad last night on the phone when he said he just saw MJ on tv at a NC/Duke game. He said, "you know, Michael Jordan went to college at North Carolina." In turn, I replied, "yes, that would be where he studied cultural geography." Anything else you need to know?

Various Asundry for March 8, 2009

Here's what's happening around here these days:

*Need to know anything about MJ? (that would be "Michael Jordan" for those of you less cool than I). We're your family. John's knee deep in research for his African American biography school program. Surprised he picked MJ? Not me. If it's not about sports, it's not worth his time, apparently.

*Finished basketball last weekend. Start baseball this weekend. Can't get a break around here!

*Saw Slumdog Millionaire last Sunday night. Did not like it one bit. So heavy. So intense. So not the "Best Picture" of 2008! But the Academy disagrees and they didn't ask me anyway.

*I am still training for the half-marathon in April. Long runs are up to 7 miles--over half-way there! Aiming to shave quite a bit of time off my old record, so we'll see...so far Micah (my neighbor/friend) is keeping me more than on track. Perhaps we're so busy sharing deep, dark secrets and baring our souls (yes, really) or discussing which of our children left our bodies more worse for wear after 63 months of pregnancies between the two of us (yes, really) that we don't notice how fast we're running. It's been quite the productive training regimen. We ran 7 miles in 65 minutes on Friday which may not sound fast to you....but it makes me feel like a Kenyan.

*Three cheers for some good spring weather we've had around here! We've all but slept outdoors the last few days and it's been marvelous.

*I'm getting ready to register Madeline for Kindergarten!!!! Where have the years gone??

Alright, off to put some dinner in the oven and squeeze in a quick run while it bakes-

They grow up so fast these days.

Saturday night, Michael took the 2 big kids to the Upwards Basketball End o' Season Celebration Extravaganza Night of Love and Peace and Victory [or something like that]. They sat with John's team and about half-way through the program, a boy from the team tapped Michael on the arm and asked him to hand a piece of paper to Maddy.

It was his phone number. He said, "Tell your daughter to call me."

WHAT?

My sweet (yet ravishingly beautiful) 5 year old daughter got an 8 year old's digits!

YIKES.

Michael promptly handed the paper back to the young lad and said "My daughter doesn't know how to use a phone and she won't be calling you."

Go dad!

Pictures I've meant to post for awhile but just never downloaded from the camera until yesterday

This one is just very very cute. I have a video of him climbing over this red chair to get onto the piano bench, but I can't figure out how to get it uploaded onto here. All this newfangled technology....

These two are all about Valentine's Day. School parties, family fun....just love love love. They both got lots of cards in the mail and treats from grandparents and aunts and that just delights them like nothing else! We did end up taking them to the Y to swim that night, then out for dinner and they had a ball.

The Winter Storm of 2009. Don't worry--I was fully stocked up on bread & milk, so we didn't go hungry during the days of being shut in... ;o)

Here are those dang graham crackers that I left out on the patio for DAYS (weeks?). I blogged about them a time or two. The open package on the table were quite soggy (they're covered in snow here), but there was an unopened package still inside the box that were unscathed and quite tasty.