Summer Fun

Our summer rocks! Just sayin'.

Mom decided to go to the drive-in for her birthday and see Karate Kid. (Way more awesome than the original, by the way.) The drive-in is one of my favorite places ever. It's just cool.




My mom's a pretty hot 52 year old, huh? And speaking of hot...






Payback. You know what they say.




This is after four sodas, popcorn, licorice, blow pops, skittles and strawberry shortcake. Sugar is bad. But it's fun!




We've spent many a day at Lagoon, too. Buying those season passes was a really, really good idea. Whenever we're bored we just load up the car, drive for five minutes, and ride roller coasters until we puke.

I love Andrew's face in this one.


I love the names of these rides. I wish that was my job - Amusement Park Ride Namer. I would rock it! However, someone is doing a fairly decent job. Above, we have The OdySea, then below are the Jumping Dragon, Turn of the Century, and Tidal Wave - my favorite from my childhood. Hope you and yours are making some awesome memories this summer, too!

Smells Like Old

Andrew's birthday was yesterday, (today is Kellie's and I'm behind, so there has been no birthday tribute for her. I'll get to it...), anywho... Andrew wanted nothing more than to go to Market Street Grill for his birthday, so we went. It's a good thing that's all he wanted, and it's also good that we have three paychecks in July, cause holy crap.

We had a great time, just the two of us. Thanks to Joel for the babysitting - you da man.

I have honestly never had better clam chowder in my life. The key to good clam chowder is to make it so you can't tell there are clams in it. Yum.

I had a lot of deep-fried things because I hear that's fat free. I have had calamari before, but it always takes a little pep talk to get me to stick tentacles in my mouth. The shrimp was my fave. Well, after the clam chowder. And the spinach artichoke crab dip.

Over eating gives me some serious gastro-intestinal problems. We had to make three pit-stops on the way home. That's how good it was.

Picture Party!

In attempt to keep family updated on our goings-on, and so they don't forget what our kids look like, here are some pictures of what we've been up to...

We skipped church a couple weeks ago because half of us had snot hanging from our noses clear down to our socks. (Not me.) So Ethan went out to play soccer with his dad. He was having a great time until...


...he caught the ball with his stomach. Looks painful, no?


Cameron is almost done with his baseball season. His poor team didn't win a single game because none of them had ever played in the player pitch league before, while the teams they played against had plenty of experience in their pitchers who were two years older than them. I know that life isn't fair, but Cameron's love of baseball was killed, squashed, mutilated and left in the sun to rot when his team was mercilessly beaten over and over. That makes me pretty sad. At least he looks cute though, huh?


Another horrible part of the baseball season was Trent. We couldn't set him down for a second or he would take off for the road or the parking lot, giggling like a maniac the entire way. He loves to do whatever it is he knows he is not supposed to do, and it makes us nuts. Andrew shouldered Trent for several innings every game to keep him from being squashed by a car, but now that I think about it - that would have taught him a lesson.


We went to a park for a barbecue with my parents for Memorial Day, and Andrew wore this hat. He was relentlessly teased by my dad, and rightly so. That was also the last time we saw the sun. My fingers have been numb since May.


Andrew decided that it stinks to do yard work, and while we can't afford to pay a teenager to mow our lawn, (the little punks want $40 just for our backyard!), we can employ our own home-grown slaves and make them tend to the yard for a fraction of the cost of having a larger person do it. Ethan likes to think that he is a world-class weed puller now, but he needs some more practice. Still, nice to have some help.


Cameron, being taller and older, landed the job of mower. Now he knows what hard work is, because we have a rather large yard and our mower is not self-propelled. Total cost for two hours of hard labor? $5 per kid.


Andrew went paintballing. This is one of his trophies. Can't show you the other ones because they are too near the groin. Dangerously near.


At Grandpa's birthday party, Drew jumped on the trampoline. So did I. It was fun! I hadn't been on one of those in years. And I won't be doing it again anytime soon, because I peed a little bit with every bounce. My bladder control is not what it was before children.


Trent fell asleep well before nap time one morning because how could he resist cuddling up with his favorite blankey after a hard morning of rough-housing?


He likes ice-cream, too. I love summer. You can let the kids make total messes of themselves and then just hose them off before letting them back in the house!


Summer is also good for thunder storms. The kids were all lined up watching this one the other evening. The lightening was hitting pretty close, so the thunder was loud. Drew kept running to hide behind the recliner. Good stuff.


Alright - my fingers are going to crack in this cold, so I have to sign off. Have a fabulous weekend, all!

Dear Whoever May Be Reading,

Wow, have things been crazy lately. I'm trying to re-vamp myself and prepare for summer, (providing the snow ever decides to stop), and I've let these little updates slide. Well, enough of that.

Last night I asked Cameron if he wanted me or his dad to go on the field trip with him to the zoo today. I reminded him that I am the cool one who compulsively buys things like candy and souvenirs.

But there's just something about a boy's bond with his father. So today, Andrew went with Cameron to the zoo and the planetarium. I was really glad that Cameron chose Andrew because Andrew never gets to do that kind of stuff with the boys. And really, the only reason I gave Cameron a choice is because I like to put my kids in awkward situations of having to chose their favorite parent and then guilt the hell out of them for it later on.

But if he had chosen me, that would have meant one entire day of not wiping bottoms or noses, and I would have been more than ok with that, too.


Cameron at the zoo with his group. I gave Andrew a ten so he could be the cool dad and get the kids some candy from the gift shop. We like to take every opportunity we can to buy friends for our kids.

Today, Ethan got his first library card. I announced that I was going to the library tonight and he volunteered to come along. (Cameron couldn't come because he was being punished for favoring his father.)

Ethan felt so grown up holding that gray piece of plastic. We spent a half hour perusing the books and when he found out the he could check out a movie he nearly burst with pride. When finally we got in line to check out our selections, Ethan turned to me and said, "Don't worry, Mom, I'll pay for these with my card."

I bit my tongue to keep from laughing at him.

And when we got home, I had to take a picture of him pretending to read this book that is 135 pages long, has no pictures, and is far too advanced for him. He's been an avid pretend reader for two solid years. He really does sit there staring at a page for about two minutes before he turns to the next page and pretends to read that one, too. About three days after this process begins he announces that he's finished with his book and would like to start on the next one in the series. He's nuts, but I'll keep him.


Drew has finally mastered the potty. I can happily announce that I have not thrown away a pair of poopy underwear in at least three days. He hasn't had an accident of any sort in quite a long while, and he attributes his success to his tri-cornered hat. It's good luck. He also finds it helpful to bring a snack - thus the empty baggie previously containing potato chips.

We don't really take snacks into the bathroom or wear costumes when we go, I just thought this one incident of both happening was pretty comical. I can't even walk into the bathroom if I'm still chewing something - I have to stand in the hallway and swallow before I go in. So don't go calling the sanitation police or anything.


And our caboose - Trent. This picture depicts the reason I hate giving him a bath.

Because it isn't just him that gets a bath - I end up soaked, too. There have been times when he has gone four or five days without a bath because I couldn't bear to clean up the mess. I hope he grows out of the splashing obsession, because the other parts of bath time are kinda cute:


Just not cute ENOUGH.

So until next time folks, me hopes you are well. I'm going to fold laundry now.

Hello, Stranger

I miss this little bloggy here. I've neglected my first born. Blog.

Cameron's great - don't worry.

Yesterday I got to thinking that I have a fantastic husband. He's not wine and roses all the time. Sometimes he's nothing more than too many Mt. Dews and bad gas from eating sauerkraut. But most of the time he's so great that I can overlook those things.

How many guys do you know who will make a seven o'clock in the AM trip to the grocery store for an econo-size box of tampons, actually get the right kind, AND bring back four candy bars in anticipation of his wife's hormonal food cravings?

Andrew does that all the time.

And if that weren't enough, he was my hero yesterday for sure. Okay, it's after midnight, so I guess I should say day before yesterday.

We were cleaning the garage and behind a box I found a dead bird.



I hate all things dead. It disgusted me so much that I had to scream, shiver like a maniac and run. (Then I came back and took a picture of it for your reading pleasure.)

I looked at Andrew and said, "Babe, this is one of those things that I cannot handle. You're on your own."

And I went inside.

I came back a couple minutes later and the bird was gone. No sign of it anywhere.

My man is the man!

Nine to Six, Tuesday Through Saturday

It is with overwhelming trepidation that I write this post, because the last time I wrote a gratitude post the cosmos decided to punish me with three weeks of washing dishes by hand.  If that happened with this one we'd be toast.  So here goes nothing.

I am grateful for Andrew's job. 

(Cringe, hold breath!  Any second now he's going to call and tell me that he got laid off and it will all be my fault.)

I am grateful that he has a job.  It's an amazing thing that he is still employed, and has been at the same place for four years, despite all the uncertainty that has been going on in the world.  Especially in his field.

But more than that, I am thankful that he enjoys his job.  He looks forward to going to work, and that is rare.  Having a husband who is willing to take on the entire responsibility of providing for our family so that I can be the one to raise our children is a huge blessing for all of us, and he deserves to be happy in what he does.

He may not be doing the same thing three years from now, (or three days from now if the blogging gods continue to be cruel), but for the time being, I recognize this gift and I am thankful for it.

TAKING ONE FOR THE TEAM

Last night I got a little present.  An ace of spades, a golden ticket, a free pass, if you will.  A really good one.  One that can only be used once, so it better be good.

And to get what I want, or to get out of what I don't want, all I will have to say is this:

"Andrew, remember the time that you forced me to help you work on your bug, (even though it was freezing outside and I am a girl and I had expressed concern over the absence of safety glasses), and you sprayed half a gallon of premium gasoline directly in my face?  Remember that?  The burning, the eye-washes, the 9:00-on-a-Friday-night calls to poison control and my optometrist, the ice packs, the inability to use a blow-dryer for who knows how long for fear of my head bursting into flames, and, oh yeah, the insane burning?  Remember that?

You owe me."

And that, my friends, is all I will have to say.

Now I just need to use this ace wisely.

One of these would have been exceptionally helpful.

THESE ARE THE DAYS OF OUR LIVES...

We've been enjoying the sunshine and approach of spring.  Don't you love sleeping with the window open?

And you know what sunshine means?  It means I get the Spring Cleaning Bug!  I started with the boy's rooms.  I needed to make room for their new desks that we bought them for homeschooling.  Oh yeah - did I mention we're homeschooling next year?  More on that later.

A steal at ten dollars each.  Now we just need textbooks, art supplies, science materials... And the boys' rooms were as far as I got on that spring cleaning, because after moving one queen sized bed, one toddler bed and two twin beds from one room to another, by myself, I was wiped out.  I think I'm still sweating from that day.

Ethan brought home these depictions of Lincoln and Washington a week or so ago, and let me tell you, I had a fright when I pulled them out of his backpack.  A little warning next time, Ethan!  But the more I studied them, the more they grew on me.  And now they are hanging in my bathroom.  Not really.  I put them in the garbage so they wouldn't attack us while we sleep.

After Cameron made his diorama, Drew begged me to let him paint, which I did, because I'm a cool mom like that.  I thought he knew that the paint was not for eating, but I was wrong.

And speaking of Cameron's diorama, here is the finished product.  Isn't it funny how you picture one thing in your head and your child can picture something completely different?  I always thought there might be more grass in the grasslands ecosystem...  But this diorama will be displayed in his room til the day he dies, he loves it so much.  

This is me on my pretty, new bike.  I wouldn't let Andrew buy me a mountain bike because he wasn't there during my childhood when I almost died forty-seven times on a regular bike on a regular, paved road.  He just doesn't understand.  So I went into the bike store and picked out this one, and the salesman practically gave it to me because I was so charming.  That and it's last year's model which they couldn't seem to get rid of.  It has a lovely bell.  And I can't decide if I want a basket on the front or on the back.  So if you have an opinion - let me know.  I love riding it.  Except for when this is attached to the back:

...and then I almost die.  Pulling three kids, (yes, three - they fit...sort of), behind me in that thing reminds me that all that walking I've been doing doesn't count as exercise at all because I've been doing it at a snail's pace while I wait for Drew to pick up every fallen leaf he sees.  I took the three little guys for a ride yesterday and about twenty minutes ago my legs started to feel normal again.  I'm going again today.  And the next day and the next.  And then one day, I magically won't feel like my thighs are on fire when I pump the fatties up the hill.

And finally, we picked up Andrew's bug yesterday to the tune of more money than I want to mention.  It still makes me want to vomit.  So on the way home from the mechanic the left turn signal quit working because Andrew went over a bump, and also, the fuel line was leaking.  So this is the t-shirt that Andrew used to catch the drip of gasoline that we spent $3.05 a gallon on.  He fixed both issues; the first by going over another bump to jostle the electric lines back in place and the second by replacing the fuel line, or a part of it, anyway.  In spite of all these issues, Andrew still has a ginormous smile on his face.  I'd have a smile on my face, too, if we could have bought the $200 worth of parts ourselves and if Andrew had done the labor.  Lots and lots of hours of labor.  They really add up.  Thank goodness for tax returns.

Now I'm going to go do the breakfast dishes.  By hand.  Because more than two weeks later, my dishwasher is still not working.  But before I go, here's proof that Trent still exists, even after all those sleepless WEEKS when he got used to being held all night after being sick and decided not to sleep at all - ever.  FOR TWO WEEKS.

Have a lovely day, everyone!

Andrew's Baby

He's in love.

A recent conversation with Andrew

Arriving home from a church basketball game, Andrew sat in his father's old chair, (soaked in sweat), and greeted his boys.

Andrew: Where's Drew?

Me: He fell asleep in my lap, so I already put him to bed.

Andrew: Oh.

Me: How was your game?

Andrew: It was pretty good. I played like crap and my team sucks, but I ran a lot, so I don't have to go to the gym tonight.

Me: Ok, then I think I'll make that run to the grocery store right now.

Andrew: Ok. Is Drew in bed already?

Me: Yes. I already told you that.

Andrew: Oh. Ok. I remember.

Me: (got up, got my shoes, my purse, asked the older kids if they wanted to go with me, went to the bathroom...)

Five minutes later...

Me: Ok, I'm leaving now, and I have Cameron and Ethan with me.

Andrew: Ok, where's Drew?

Two Videos

First up is Andrew's booty shaking at the Norman Family Christmas Party. Fun party, kinda weird dance, but boy am I glad that my memory card didn't fill up until I got at least a little bit of Andrew's Christmas cheer on tape. He made me swear I wouldn't post this. But he never reads my blog, so what could it hurt? And it's not that bad, really.



And then we have Trent walking. Not his first steps, but these will do. I'm amazed that he could find somewhere to walk among all the debris on the floor, laundry mountain ready to topple on him at any time... And it shows added skill that he can walk in a sleeper that's five inches too long for him and has orange juice stains on the front from breakfast.

Christmas!

This is Drew singing karaoke on Christmas Eve. I'm still kicking myself for holding my camera vertically because you can't rotate video, so sorry. But if you listen closely, you can even catch a "Batman smells" in there. Another priceless parenting moment!




The day after Christmas is always a bit of a downer. Feels like all the magic has gone from the days and, having eaten one too many truffles, you can't fit into your pants anymore. We did have a lovely Christmas. The best part was having the entire family together for the first time in a lot of years. The company was good, (with the exception of me, because I was overly tired yesterday and became a bit grouchy in the afternoon), the food was good, and nobody gave anyone a Chia Pet.

Cameron can't decide if his favorite gift was the air hockey table or the tub of Legos.




Ethan's favorite is definitely the Star Wars ship.


Drew loves everything, but has spent the most time with his Buzz Lightyear and his Mr. Potato Head. We have noses and arms and lips scattered all over the house.


Trent loves his ball the best. We just can't get him to slow down enough to get a picture of him with it.

Andrew got an electric razor and felt sad that he didn't get a toy.

I got a new purse because last summer I put a half-eaten Laffy Taffy in my old one and it melted to the bottom.

My mother makes the best cheesecake in the world, and if there's any left when we get there tonight, I'm going to have another piece. Even if it means I can't fit into anything but sweatpants for the next month.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!