Come and stay at the

Y.M.C.A

Some friends of ours invited us to go to the Y as their guests today. We don't have a membership at this point in time but it would be worth it just for the pool.

Much to my surprise, Little Man was so excited to go. In the past he has despised swimming. He was even excited to put his goggles on!

Munchkin was excited because she got to hang out with a friends from school. They played all afternoon with barbies, floaties , and dive sticks. We started out in the kiddie pool with the big frog slide. The girls had a blast making Ken and Barbie fly down the slide.
Near the end of the afternoon Little man decided it was time for the slide. He LOVED it and went over and over again until I pretty much had to drag him out.

When a rest time was called we got out and had a picnic lunch and sno cones. Yum! I knew it was time to pack it up when Munchkin started whining. She had been able to play in both kiddie pools and the big pool. Oh yeah, another interesting thing that happened...there was a snake in the big pool right when we were going to get in. 2 of the lifeguards were trying to capture it. They said it was a Water Moccasin but I am pretty sure it was a rat snake (you know after checking out google images). Yes a Water Moccasin would like to be in the pool but where did it come from? The road outside the Y?
At the end Little Man thought he was a super hero in his cape and goggles. Cute boy! I am regretting not putting sunscreen on my legs as I look like a lobster. At least both kids were totally slathered in sunscreen! We can't wait to go swimming again!

Nest Day #2

There is another egg in there!

Nest

I will be the first to admit that I cannot keep plants alive. They die as soon as they touch my hands. Did I mention I killed my daughters cactus? Now, it has only been 2 days since I watered the ferns hanging outside my house. I am really trying to keep our curb appeal looking good. I noticed a bird fly out of one of the ferns when we left this morning but didn't think much of it. That is until we got home and the bird flew out again. This is what we found:


Then it was inside to find out how long birds incubate. 14-17 days..Check back, maybe we will have pictures of baby birds to share soon!

I am Losing My Mind......

also known as We Got Up At 9am. And no, I don't think it is in response to summer break starting.

It all started yesterday when I called Bobby in a panic to remind him we needed to be at the ball field at 5:15 for Munchkin 5:45 game. At about 3:45 I called the rainout number to make sure we were still having a game and the recording said "Today is Tuesday May 27, all games are on!" Wait, what? It is the 27th. Oh no! I have to bring snacks tonight....wait, what time is our game? Oh yeah 7 PM. A wonderful time for a bunch of 5 year olds. I do not know where my brain was yesterday...I am having a little bit harder time keeping track of the days, but a whole week?


In other news Munchkin and Little Man went to bed very well last night. Just as I was getting into bed at 11ish I heard what I knew was going to be a long night. I had just covered Munchkin up with her sleeping bag (she wanted to sleep on the floor), brushed my teeth, washed my face, pulled the covers back. I was just about to slide under the covers when, yep you guessed it, she puked all over the sleeping bag. Before midnight she threw up about 6 times. This is from a child who has not thrown up since she was probably 2. She was a little freaked out.

Bobby and I took turns getting up with her to help her throw up. After the first incident I had her take a quick bath and wash her hair. She let me braid it so it she did throw up again it wouldn't get in her hair. That turned out to be a wise action. She is feeling better this morning but still has a slight fever. Oh yeah and both Bobby and Munchkin are on the BRAT diet today. He is not feeling so hot himself.

Maybe we can all rest and I can find my mind.....

Duck...Duck.......Run!

Bobby got home from his trip to PA tonight. We were all thrilled to see him. Since he had been in a van all day the kids convinced him we needed to go out and hit a small basketball with a bat. Both kids managed to hit is quite well. When we got bored with that it was time to play duck, duck, GOOSE! It is a lot harder to get off the ground from criss, cross, applesauce after age...30? Little Man didn't quite get it yet as he took off running down the street when he said goose. The rest of us fell over we were laughing so hard.

Another big deal today is that Little man pooped in the potty! Woo hoo!! He went in all by himself and got on the potty. He didn't want any help and did it all by himself. He was quite proud, and we were glad not to have to clean stinky mickey mouse underwear!

Summer fun has come to our household. We have been out in the sprinkler with friends, been to a birthday party with a jumpy and water balloons, and to the Streets of Indian Lake to play in the sprinklers. (Thanks Ang for the pics! My camera was dead.) I was a little worried we wouldn't know what to do with ourselves but I think we are going to be just fine. Should be a super fun summer!

Capture Music City

So, Davis Kidd and the Tennessean are putting together a coffee table book of photos from Music City. I have uploaded a few so far and would love it if you would go vote for my photos!

Promise Book Online

Bobby did the web site for this book. Check it out! :)

First and Last

First Day of
Kindergarten













Last Day of
Kindergarten

T-Ball RULES and other randomness

So, by T-Ball RULES I don't mean "Rock On, T-Ball Rules" I mean every single game we have played the T-ball rules have changed. Anyone else out there having this problem? We have a different umpire every time and every one of them does things differently. On a funny note if one of the girls runs to a base and it is not forced whoever has the ball has to tag the girl running to the base. Munchkin ran to second the other night and tried to dodge the girl on the base. It was really funny to watch. She thought she could tag the base without getting tagged I guess.

The home tour is over. Now I just have to clear out the basement and attic, epoxy the basement floor, and either clean the woodwork downstairs or paint everything white.... Almost ready for the house to be on the market.

Munchkins last day of Kindergarten is tomorrow. Where on earth did the last 9 months go? She has grown so much from that first day of school. Not only is she already reading on a half way through 2nd grade level she has shot up at least a few inches this year. I watched a class of 1st graders walk past me in the hall a couple of days ago. I was amazed at how much bigger those kids are than the Kindergarteners but also realized how much Munchkin will probably grow in the next year. Crazy! We had awards today...does your school do K graduation? Every kid in every class got an award. I was glad, especially for those kids that didn't get any the rest of the year.

My last MOPS meeting was last Wednesday. Mandy put together a cookbook for us and I am so glad she did! I made Chicken Tetrazini for dinner tonight (thanks Lisa Orwiler). It was a hit. Munchkin, Little Man and Bobby all ate it without one word of complaint. I know I can make it again because Bobby went back for seconds. I then made the drummer and singer from his band eat some too. Munchkin told me I should work at a restaurant and make it my specialty.

I think we are going to have theme weeks for the summer. I do not want the TV to be a big factor in the house for the summer. A few themes (snagging from some other friends) may be ice cream, airplanes, farms, and pirates. We are also going to have music lesson time, concert time, reading time, computer time, play outside time and quiet time. Yeah, I guess I need to get kind of organized....

Do you let your kids ride in the Monster Carts at Target or Walmart? We don't do it too often as the two of them are usually jumping out or kicking each other within 10 minutes. I think they lasted about 5 after this picture was taken. Silly kids, they love to get the Monster Cart but not stay in them. Then I am stuck pushing a ginormous cart around the store minus the kids.

Alright back to American Idol. I should paint my basement tonight....we'll see....

Home Tour House Pictures

It has been a really long time since out house actually looked like this. So, enjoy! :)

Entry

Our room

Little Mans room

Munchkins room

Living room

Kitchen

Downstairs bathroom

Upstairs bathroom

Home Tour People Pictures

We had a really nice day hanging out on our porch. Bobby helped Munchkin sell lemonade and played some guitar with Little Man. I did most of the talking to all of the people who came through the house.








In addition to music by Bobby and Little Man we had 2 local musicians come play as well. Both were excellent.
Right before the tour began:

Home Tour Craziness

Whew! We made it. We are in the midst of people walking through our house. The comments have all been good so far. Comments ranging from "It looks like a living dollhouse" to I love the two tone in the kitchen" to "Your home is beautiful!" Yeah! Someone said they weren't sure they would want to be here just because they wouldn't want to hear the comments people made.

I took pictures this morning and will post them later. You may never see our house look this good again! Munchkin and Little Man are running a pretty successful lemonade stand and during the lull are climbing the trees. Anything to keep them outside and from destroying the house.

I wasn't sure we were going to be ready as I was planting flowers at 7 this morning but things are going well. We even met a real estate agent who is apparently fairly aggressive and knows the village really well.

Ok, pictures to come later. There are more people coming.

I'm almost afraid to ask

what else could happen today. I still have an overwhelming list of stuff to do today. One more trip to storage, get pictures arranged on the walls, mop the floors, get the rest of the little clutter stuff, pick the kids rooms up AGAIN, fix dinner, clean up the kitchen AGAIN.

The reason I am afraid to ask? Well, last night Bobby got into bed and discovered our cat had peed on our brand new comforter. He was throwing stuff at her and pretty much wanted to kill her. I was pretty ticked too but more because it added at least 2 extra loads of laundry to what I have to do today. Poor kitty, she is not used to having all of her stuff in the basement yet and someone closed the basement door yesterday morning. I was gone all day and didn't realize it was closed. So, she has had her litter box in the same place for 7 years, it's a little bit of a transition. Doesn't change the fact that I have to do more work today. Bobby graciously, and by graciously I mean violently, cleaned up the bed with Woolite last night.

Since the kids chose to sleep on the floor last night Bobby slept on the floor with them. I slept in Munchkins princess castle bed. Yeah, that has her crib mattress on it.

Things were going ok this morning with getting up until I heard "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! There are ants all over the counters!!!!!!"
Do I have ant spray in my cupboard this morning? No
So, I have just finished squishing 100 ants with my bare hands. ewww.
I'm off to call Cooks pest control to see what they can do. Grr..

I'll keep you posted on any other adventures for the day.

Edit 3 minutes later: Bobby just informed me some animal got into the trash last night. Nice.

Mothers Day

My mothers day this year was a little crazy. I had been home with the kiddos all week by myself. Bobby was in Colorado hanging out with the band. I had had friends over to help out with different aspects of the house (thank you Melissa, Becca, Angela, Trina, Jennifer, Beth and Grant!) and have been pretty stressed out.
Beth sacrificed her mothers day to come help me out and even brought donuts. Bobby got home about 2 in the afternoon and he helped Grant get moulding up in the kitchen. We all worked on the house until about 7:30 and exhausted. Bobby took me and the kids to Longhorn for dinner where I was presented with a white carnation from the server. She was nice but way over the top in interacting with my kids. Maybe she just missed being with hers that day...

I love holidays anyway...I don't care if they are made up to sell greeting cards. I think it is fun to celebrate the people in your life and if it takes a Hallmark holiday to remember them and celebrate them so be it! :) We have been putting so much money into the house and trying to get ready for the tour and to sell I told Bobby he didn't need to get me anything...well not anything big....

Well, that sweet guy has surprised me two days in a row with different treats. The Across the Universe Soundtrack was in my sun visor yesterday and today I came home to find Lindt Peanut Butter Truffles and the movie August Rush. . Awww...I love my hubby, and not just for the gifts. He has such a good heart and I know he loves me no matter what. Thank you honey for making me feel special. I love you!

I also have to say thank you to the people I know have been praying for us. Another friend Julie stopped by yesterday and prayed for us and brought us a basket of beautiful flowers, strawberries and a red candle. I was so surprised and thankful for her and am so glad I have gotten to know her this year through Moms in Touch.

Whew, 2 more days until the tour....we are almost ready I think....

Just Keep Swimming

I keep hearing this in my head as we are working on the house. The home tour is almost here...Saturday is the day. I still need to do general cleaning stuff like mopping all of the floors, doing dishes and putting laundry away. I also have to finish boxing stuff up for storage, organize a book shelf and the music room and make sure the kids rooms look decent.
I think everything will be OK though. Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.

Don't worry dear neglected blog and my 5 readers! I will return soon with more fun stories about my kids and our crazy blessed life!

You win some, you lose some

Today Munchkin had a double header for softball. I think I have mentioned once or twice that I am not an athlete. I took music lessons. For music lessons you show up a couple of minutes early so you are on time for your lesson. Apparently for softball you are supposed to show up 30 minutes early. That of course has not been stated for all of the parents because I guess you are just supposed to know it.

We got to the field 15 minutes early but ended up driving around for 10 before finally finding a parking spot and then I was worried I was going to get towed. We still got to the field 5 minutes before the last two girls. As we were walking up I slipped and said "Wow! Those girls will probably beat you." and promptly backpedaled and said "um, I mean you guys are going to have to try hard today!" Duh, what a supportive mom I am. The other team was apparently in their dugout at 11 on the dot and had the first half hour to warm up before we all showed up....they were doing pushups in the outfield when we arrived.

Of course, their warm up may have worn them out early as we beat them the first game 20-15. The first time Munchkin was up to bat she hit it hard and immediately ran to third. That was a bummer but she had a good attitude about it. The second time she hit she hit is hard and ran to first. Unfortunately she was the 10th batter so they still had to come in.

The second game didn't go as well for us. The other team had hit their stride and beat us 25-8. I was so relieved when they finally called the game. It was really hot sitting out there with no shade.

Munchkin is having a better attitude about going to softball and I am so glad. We were having serious tantrums about not wanting to go, getting there and having a good time. I think if she chooses not to do softball again after this season, I will not be heartbroken.

One thing that is really annoying me is they keep letting the girls trade helmets. I am not sure if all of the girls don't have helmets or just don't have straps for their helmets. I specifically bought Munchkin her own so she wouldn't have to share. We as parents try to get our kids to keep personal items to themselves and then the coaches go and let the girls share helmets. I will be severely ticked if we come home with lice because of that!

We have another game on Tuesday, practice Wednesday and Friday and a makeup double header on Sunday. At least it is in the afternoon and at least it is the day after the home tour. Maybe I will be less stressed out by then. Then again, I guess we shall see.

Grammar Police Pet Peeve

I think I have said this before and I will say it again: I am by no means a perfect grammar girl. That said one of my huge grammar pet peeves is the use of I and Me.

When one is placing a caption under a photo it should read "Me and Bobby" or "Bobby and Me". It should not read "Bobby and I" unless it is followed by "went to the movies" or some other action. One would never caption a picture of just yourself "I", it would be "me".

I know I learned this grammar lesson in elementary school. Is it not being taught anymore?


Here is a small grammar lesson if you are struggling with I and Me:


If the verb comes before, its "you & me" (He GAVE it to you & me.)
If the verb comes after, its "you & I". (You & I ARE GOING to the movies.)
You can see when its 'broken down', why this is so:" He gave it to you & he gave it to me." ---- "You are going to the movies & I am going to the movies."

You can also read about it here.

Yes, I know!

I should be working on my house right now. I am just so dang tired! I just finished taping together all of the cardboard boxes that have been calling my name for a couple of weeks now....well almost all of them. I ran out of packing tape, then I ran out of duct tape.

I vacuumed the office, mostly so I couldn't hear my kids yelling that their knees hurt, their tummies hurt, they were thirsty, it was too dark, it was too cold, it was too hot....and the list goes on. It, unfortunately is a stalling tactic for actually going to sleep. We had a great time of prayers and talking about school and softball and bad guys and good guys right before I turned off the light. We even made up a new ending for the song Munchkin shocked me with the other night.

The song was:
Mommy and Daddy sitting in a tree
K-I-S-S-I-N-G
First comes love
then comes marriage
then comes baby in a baby carriage
(Here is the shocking part)
That's not all
That's not all
Here comes baby drinking ALCOHOL!!!

Now, if I hadn't been on the phone with Bobby, and trying to talk to Melissa and Becca who were here helping me paint I probably would have had a better reaction. I said "WHAT?" To which I was given a shocked look and "What is alcohol?" My response "A drink for grownups over the age of 21" "Oh, do you drink alcohol?" "Not often".
Seriously, I can count how many times I have had an alcoholic beverage and have never been drunk. Yeah, me!
Once I got off the phone we were able to have a much better conversation about the whole thing. I made sure to reassure her that she can tell me anything and we can talk about what she doesn't understand.

Tonight she told me that she told the kids on the playground that alcohol was for grownups and they shouldn't say it in the song. So, tonight we sang the song (which I am sure I knew in Kindergarten as well...minus the alcohol part) but said soda pop at the end. She laughed and laughed. Sweet girl.
Now if we could get over the tantrums after the light goes out (for both kids) mama would be a happy camper. It doesn't help that I am already stressed out about the house and getting it ready for the home tour.

Oh yeah, Munchkin made a run at her softball game tonight. Which is saying something since we lost 16-7. Our girls have zero focus out on the field. Munchkin is playing way out in the outfield where she is distracted with writing her name in the dirt. So far not one ball has come in her direction. I am guessing they keep sticking her out there because she is so tiny. She probably could have done a better job than the girl playing first base tonight though.

OK, enough procrastinating. I have to do the dishes, vacuum the living room, roll up the living room carpet, go around with a trash bag and collect anything that go out with tomorrows trash, and go around with another garbage bag and collect everything going to goodwill and load it in the car. That is probably enough for tonight. I have two friends coming to help me out tomorrow. We will be finishing up painting the entryway and stairwell, maybe getting the couch out of the basement, pulling up carpet down there, and packing some boxes.

Oh, and I probably should sleep in there sometime.
Good night.

* The pictures have nothing to do with this post. I just like posts with pictures. These are from Munchkins Kindergarten performance. Happy face, Squishy face, Sad face.

Why are you Smiling?

Because I know something you don't know!
Oh, what is that?
I... am not left handed!

My children are currently behind me having a sword fight. And yes, they are quoting the Princess Bride.

Fruit Salad and a Cool Tool

Fruit Salad by Wonder Pets


Tonight we ate fruit salad for dinner. It was delicious and a great complement to our giant Cicis lunch. I have had a headache all afternoon so this was an easy fix for hungry kiddos. It had apples, bananas, grapes, peaches, Mandarin oranges, strawberries and, of course, mini marshmallows for good measure. Yum! It made me think of the Wonder Pets song though so it will be in my head the rest of the night.

On a different note, I have found a new favorite painting tool. It is a small rectangular pad that you dip in the paint and drag along the edges. It has made painting go very quickly today! Woo Hoo! There is an end in sight to the entry and upstairs hallway.

Now, if we could get the rest of the junk out we would be good to go!

Treasures

To all of you laundry do-ers out there: What kinds of treasures do you pull out of pockets before throwing a load of clothes in? Or, do you not check pockets at all?

This morning I pulled out 2 quarters and a bottle of Visine. It is always an adventure isn't it? If I keep finding quarters I may be able to pay for our next family vacation with money pulled from the laundry.....

What is the worst thing you have found....or didn't find.....
I think the worst thing for me was a piece of gum....yeah, not pretty....

How High

can you get from paint fumes? ;0) Bobby and I have been painting for hours tonight. He is doing trim and doors and I was rolling the entry. Tomorrow I will be painting more trim upstairs and rolling more walls. We have had incredible help from several friends. Melissa, my friend from Salient, came over last night and the night before to prime and paint the ceiling. Her sister came the first night too and the three of us got a ton done.

The Home Tour is in 16 days. If you saw the inside of my house right now you would think I am out of my mind. I went through a box of toys tonight and threw out anything missing pieces or from McDonalds. So, now there are 2 boxes of toys in the living room. One has a baggie of bouncy balls, a baggie of matchbox cars and a baggie of action heroes. The other has Little People. I told Munchkin she could pick out 10 toys to keep out and the rest are getting packed up (or given to Goodwill). In addition to all of the painting I have to do tomorrow her room is on the agenda.

All in all things are going well today. I think I am seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully we can have the house in immaculate condition for the home tour....we'll see.
Stone Temple Pilots are on Jimmy Kimmel tonight so it is handy we are up this late painting.

STP is on now so I am listening to them and going to bed. Good Night!