Porta-John

Yesterday, I had a momentary lapse of judgment when I found myself in the VET line with all 3 children in my van. It's my month to renew our license (or registration? whatever that thing is that sends you to get your emissions test done). Anyways, being that I don't procrastinate (I'm told that it's one of my many strengths;o) ) I decided that Aug 7 was perfect for this chore...despite having 3 children with me who usually frown upon being strapped into carseats in a non-moving vehicle.

To bribe them for good behavior, we stopped at Sonic for a cherry limeade. And, here again, is where I had another momentary lapse of judgment. Seems I forgot that we would be stuck in a notoriously long line with no restroom facilities in sight for an undetermined amount of time. One of my children has the smallest bladder known to man...and I'm sure you can guess what this child declares not long after we are stuck in the middle--11 cars in front of and 6 cars behind us.

Let me just say that the Sonic cup pulled double duty yesterday.

4 days of summer left-

Hard to believe, but another summer has just about wrapped up! It will be official this afternoon when we go meet my son's new teacher at Open House and I get that school supply shopping list that will send us directly to Walmart for yet another round of #2 pencils, Germ-X hand sanitizer, Kleenex, and Crayolas.

Just so I don't feel like it zipped by with nothing to show for it...I need to remind myself of all we accomplished in Summer '08:

*Anniversary trip to Bahamas

*Will got ear tubes
*John did a 2 day golf clinic
*Maddy did 3 days gymnastics camp
*Seagrove Beach
*Family Reunion in KY
*Holiday World
*Girl's Weekend to Monteagle
*Guy's Weekend to Atlanta
*Couple's Weekend to Atlanta
*Kids went to cousin's house and to the lake
*Weekend trip to Memphis
*Driveway Happy Hours in the neighborhood
*Big kids went to Camp Sonshine VBS
*Pool, Pool, and more Pool
*Firecracker 5K & kids' race on July 4

Speedracer, The Baby

So, it was pointed out to me yesterday that I have no pictures of child 3 on the blog. I'll introduce you to him now. Will is 10 months old and oh so busy! We seriously thought we struck gold when we had him because he was so easy, so laid back, so good at the important things like, oh, I don't know...SLEEP. I distinctly remember telling a friend a few months ago that I felt the Lord was blessing us for our faithfulness to Him by giving us such an easy baby. ;o) Oh, I was kidding...a tad. Anyways, easy baby became M-O-B-I-L-E baby and our life was turned upside down! He was on the move WAY sooner than our other two had been and he is lightning fast! When we were planning our Bahamas anniversary trip several months ago, we asked my mom to watch the kids and promised that Will would be SO easy because he wouldn't be on the move yet and would be in that happy phase where babies like to just sit in one place and play with toys. Well, he never hit that stage. In fact, he completely skipped that stage. Wouldn't you know that he was climbing stairs, cruising, into all drawers and cabinets...and the house hadn't been properly babyproofed yet.

The Y childcare workers have nicknamed him "Speedracer" and the church nursery workers always look at me in pity when I pick him up and say something like "You poor thing, you must be worn out! That is the busiest baby I have ever seen..."

Pink Soccer "Pleats"...or the Athletic Southern Belle

So, the 4 yr old is taking her first turn to play a sport this season and we're going with soccer. She has been so very excited about it! Her "evaluations" were this morning, and the season will start in another month or so.

A few weeks ago, we were at a friend's house who was cleaning out her garage and they came upon some cleats that were slightly used, in good condition, and most important....her size! What a blessing! you may want to exclaim right now. Well, it wasn't a blessing and you know why? Because they were solid black. In other words, they were not pink. Yes, read that sentence again--they were not feminine enough to grace her feet as she runs through grass and mud. So, last night found us at Sports Seasons purchasing pink shin guards, a pink soccer ball, and pink striped Adidas soccer "pleats" as she calls them.

Later that evening, we started thinking about her evaluations and it dawned on me that she does not own one pair of shorts as she only wears skirts & dresses! In the very bottom of her drawer, we found some really old, really small shorts, but that was it. This morning she wore some old shorts of John's to her soccer evaluation where she "kicked some little girl's butt" in the drills. (Michael's words...isn't he just capturing the non-competitive spirit of youth soccer?)

More to come-

This message brought to you by the American Dietetics Council

If you have not sampled the chocolatey delightfulness of Special K Chocolatey Delight, you need to grab your purse & keys and go directly to the local supermarket in order to make the urgent purchase of this delicacy.

I am serious. Do it now. You're still here reading, aren't you? You didn't go to the store yet? OK, fine, then, finish reading this post, then you can go. It is basically Frosted Flakes with Chocolate Chunks in it. Chocolate Chunks, people, chocolate chunks!!!

Here's the thing: it is marketed as a "healthy" food alternative to late night snacking. But, what they don't take into account is the fact that some people (deleting names to protect anonymity) may eat an entire box in one sitting. At the very least, the previously mentioned anonymous eater may rifle through the box eating out all the chocolate chunks...the same way anonymous eater used to eat all the marshmallows out of Lucky Charms as a child. But I digress...

Speaking of marshmallows and chocolate, BMI is so out now and PBII (Personal Body Image Index) is so in.

The general idea is as follows:
• Start with your weight.

• Subtract seven pounds if you have just worked out.

• Add five if you've single-handedly finished a plate of guacamole and chips; four for macaroni and cheese; six for death-by-chocolate cake.

• Subtract 10 pounds if people nearby are fatter than you.

• If you're wearing black pants, subtract two; if in a bathing suit, add eight.

• If you are more than seven years older than the group average or are surrounded by bikini-clad undergraduates with toned stomachs and cellulite-free thighs, add 20.

(Source: http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/personal/08/01/o.women.weight.loss.math/index.html)

Baseball Biker

In years to come, when I think back to Summer '08, this image will come to my mind. (And my neighbor's minds as well). John (7) has been seen at all hours of all days riding his bike around our 'hood with a GIANT batting helmet on his head. His bike helmet is too snug, so he says, so this is his viable option for optimum cranial safety since his mother can't seem to remember to buy him a new one at Walmart. Several neighbors have told me that they get quite a chuckle when they see this moving red target coming down the street.

Update: I am ALREADY being censored on my blog. Where is the 1st amendment when you need it, people?!? Anyways, the 7 yr old subject wandered by the computer as I was writing this post and saw the original title of this post ("Little Red Riding Helmet"--very clever, don't you think?) and he objected vehemently. "That is too girly!" he exclaimed. He begged me to change the title to "Baseball Biker"...so I did. And, of course, we just got home from Walmart where we purchased...you guessed it...a new bike helmet.

Bazinnias and Tomatoes...or the study of genetics in the green thumb

We went to the Bahamas a few months ago for our 10th anniversary (T-E-N years!!! Yikes…we’re aging.) Anyways, my mother came from KY to babysit. As if the care & nurture of three children weren’t enough responsibility, she dug into a little educational landscaping project in our backyard. She & Maddy (4) planted a garden. It is absolutely delightful to hear her little girl voice pointing out all the flower’s names in the garden (and subsequently around town…”they really shouldn’t have planted those black eyed susans where they did, because now you can’t see the low-lying verbena behind them…”)

Maddy's FAVORITE flower, by far is the “bazinnia”. What’s that? A new species of the zinnia, you ask? No, no, it is just the plain ol’ zinnia, but she insists that they are called bazinnias.

So…to pay tribute to my daughter and her overachieving grandmother, here is the pictoral proof that the green thumb gene does indeed skip a generation.