The secret is out.

The secret is out. I have four children instead of 3, and one of them is extremely overgrown.

Nice day for a crawfish boil.

We skipped on over to our neighbor's house today for their annual crawfish boil. I'm sure their "party" will rage way into the late hours, but Mr. Pinkie has a wedding to shoot this evening, so we made it for the early afternoon swim/crawfish eating. As one lady at the party said, "I have a hard time eating anything that resembles it's carcass." Yeah! That sums it up nicely for me. I don't do mudbugs, but Mr.Pinkie loves them a lot, so he was a happy guy. The kids ate burgers and swam for hours before we had to leave. Sophy and a little girl at the party couldn't stand the thought of the crawfish being eaten, so they rescued several of them and put them in the pool. Now, our neighbor's pool is a saltwater filtration system, so I'm sure the saltwater was less than pleasant for them. I mean, I don't know that it was unpleasant. The crawfish didn't mention any specific discomforts, after all. Here is Soph with her favorite of the bunch. She named it Shelly. Those little boogers were quite ferocious, so the boys wouldn't pick them up. Sophy wagged hers around for hours before he scampered away, and she lost sight of him. He was probably hiding behind a shrub, panting.



One would've thought that our children were deprived souls judging by the way they reacted to getting in a pool for the first time this season. It was almost embarrassing. They had a really good time. Duh.

So far on Saturday...

Mr. Pinkie had a family shoot today, so once again he has sprung free into the world while our beautiful children and I attempt to coexist peacefully on a Saturday morning. It's not working so much today.
Jackson tried to stuff the cat into the window seat storage in the bedroom at which time our, typically, laidback kitty cat became possessed by something supernatural and frightening. Jack bled.
Sam dressed himself, involuntarily, as we're working on the finer points of being a six year old. Today's lesson being: YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO CHOOSE YOUR CLOTHES AND DRESS YOURSELF BY NOW WITHOUT WHINING/CRYING FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO HELP YOU BECAUSE IT MAKES YOU TOO TIRED TO DO IT FOR YOURSELF. So, that was a fiasco. He did end up dressing himself in a church shirt, undershirt, camo shorts belonging to his brother and 3 sizes too large, and a belt to cinch it all up with the shirt tucked in and the shorts pulled up under his chin. Prior to this episode he had already constructed a 3-story zoo with Lincoln Logs for his sister's Pet Shop animals to live in. At some point there were artistic differences on the design of the building of the rabbit pen, and Sophy took her animals and went home. Now the Lincoln Log zoo stands like Mayan ruins in the boy's bedroom.
Sophy disappeared into the treehouse very early this morning, clad only in her pink duckie nightgown and bare feet, where she found the cowbell that Sam had placed up there as an "alien alarm" and proceeded to alert the neighboring homes of an alien invasion of epic proportions. My attempt to have a meaningful discussion on why we do not ring the cowbell so early in the morning earned me a "whatever" from my 5 year old. Which earned my 5 year old a very warm sensation on her backside. Which earned me a nice 2-3 minutes of Sophy crying/holding her breath/almost passing out. Shortly thereafter, Sophy was using a mechanical grabber toy as a crutch and pretending to limp while saying, "Mom. I think you broke my butt. Can you call the ambulance?" She still has her makeshift crutch as I type and has added her neck and ankle to her "broken" list. Drama? What drama?
A few minutes ago I came upon an illegal scam going operation that involved Sam taking toys that belong to his brother and trying to sell them BACK to his brother. Who they already belonged to. Sadly, Jack had his money box down and was attempting to "make a deal" with his brother to "buy back" his belongings. Needless to say, we had a fairly lengthy discussion on when and when NOT to make a deal with someone, selling things illegally, and smart money matters.
All of this before 9:30. I bet somewhere in this world there are people still sleeping.
Now. If you'll excuse me. I hear the Wonder Pets are coming on. I happen to love me some Wonder Pets like nobody's business. That Ming-Ming. That duck is something else.

The Free Kool Aid Campaign

On Mother's Day, Sam decided it was time he exercise his right to free enterprise. While the kool aid was free and lukewarm, he did earn $2 from some of his more sympathetic customers. The afternoon was not without heartbreak. Sam had to exercise his more elusive right to PATIENCE. After some shouting and fist waving at passers by, he finally settled into a more patient frame of mind. Here you see him contemplating his lack of customerage.

It boggles the mind. It really does.

1. Why do they only put pull-top cans on Spaghettios and Raviolis? Ya know? Would it kill Mr. Del Monte to put a pull top on ALL of his vegetable cans as well?
2. Would it be impossible to make a pizza box round? Think of the wasted cardboard/paper products that are being wasted in the unused corners.
3. Why are sanitary napkin/pads referred to as "pads?" Isn't that a weird thing to call something that you stick in your drahs?
4. Why do people continually call "alzheimers" the less correct term, "altheimers?"
5. Is Tweety bird a boy or a girl? I need to know.
6. Why must I have more body hair per square inch than my husband? Ok, maybe I exaggerate, maybe I don't.
7. What is it about body odor that makes the offending person's armpit stench undetected by their own nostrils?
8. Who invented the egg toss? And why?
9. Why will hair grow on the ears of a really old man, but not on top of his head?
10. Vienna sausages. Were they invented there?
Just some things I've wondered about today.

Crazy!

Wow, has life been crazy lately?! I don't even know where to start. First of all, I'm going to be making this blog an "invitation only" blog. You'll have to sign with a google account before you can read. I know it's an extra step, but I think it's what I want to do for now! Email me and let me know if you're interested!

The kids have so much going on at school, and I am knee-deep in class party planning, awards ceremonies, teacher gifts, field days, kindergarten graduations, etc. Sam will be GRADUATING from kindergarten next Wednesday, and we're having an ice cream sundae party for his class on Tuesday. Jack will have an award's ceremony next Thursday, and we'll all be finished with school a week from tomorrow. CAN IT BE TRUE? Oh, it better be true.

Did I mention that I enrolled Sophy in kindergarten last week? Oy!

Meanwhile, I am also neck-deep at my own school with class parties, 8th grade graduation, awards ceremonies, field day, etc. I must say that I enjoy all of the above mentioned activities much more when my own children are participating. Tomorrow is 6th grade field day. JOY! Some time next week, I'll be attending 8th grade graduation and high school graduation to see my former students graduate/be clean/dressed up. We finally have our state test results, and my students did very well! Superbly well, actually. I was beyond proud of them.

I'll update soon about our upcoming trips, events. Plus, I want to take some time to gripe about Survivor and lament over Lost.

Vanderbilt?

Just curious as to who is reading my blog with an IP address from Vanderbilt University? Inquiring minds want to know!

Tree House Party! Yipeee!

(If your kids watch Noggin, you're familiar with DANCE PARTY! YIPPEEE! Well, at least if you watch Jack's Big Music Show. Moving on...)
Here are a few pics from our Tree House Open House that we had Saturday night. We invited mostly family and a few friends to come celebrate the official completion of TGTHEB '07. The kids had a ball!