Happy VD

Isn't that a nice way to phrase it? Takes on a whole different meaning, doesn't it?

Not much to say but I'll share with you this picture that I took with two of my coworkers last week when we all happened to wear red and black. Don't we look all VDish? (try to ignore the fact that my shirt looks see-through, it was just the light).

Hope y'all have a great Valentine's. Now go and kiss your man right now.

Mean Girls

It's starting with Anna (she's 11, in 5th grade). The games that girls play. The mean ones, where they talk behind each other's backs and make fun of one another. No longer all carefree friends that are too naive and innocent to play these games. I remember this from my school days all too well. I hated it. Apparently, I hate it even more now that it involves my girl. I know she's not 100% innocent in all of it, but I truly believe that she would never be hurtful and deceitful on purpose.

I know there's no avoiding the 'Mean Girls' and I may as well hold my breath and get ready for what lies ahead. And then one more time with Emma. But can't we just skip this stage and go straight to college?

John M. self portrait 2/6/07

Don't you sometimes feel sorry for your laundry room?

I mean, it's a room that doesn't get a lot of love.

Not enough action.

But mine was a happy laundry room last night.

A girl and a boy feeling the warm love of clothes just out the dryer.

Stolen From Lisa M.

1. What time did you get up this morning? 6:30, which leaves me exactly 35 minutes to get everyone up and out.

2. Diamonds or pearls? I like them both, I guess diamonds.

3. Shoes? Sandals

4. What was the last film you saw at the theater? Pursuit of Happyness this weekend. I loved it!

.5. What is your favorite TV Show? Right now, Deal or No Deal.

6. What did you have for breakfast? A banana and two biscuits made by Mrs. Sam.

7. What is your middle name? Renee - my first is Suzanne, but no one calls me that.

8. What is your favorite cuisine? I like just about anything, but Chinese.

9. What foods do you dislike? Anything with nuts, especially peanuts.

10. Favorite Chips? I eat Baked Lays, so as not to be fatty, but I love Cheetos!

.ll. Favorite CDs? Anything by Kenny Chesney

l2. What kind of car do you drive? Saturn mini-van. Bo-ring.

l3. Favorite sandwich? Hmm . . . turkey? Or do burgers count?!

14. What characteristics do you despise in others? People who brag. Aloof. Rude.

15. What is your favorite clothing? Hmm, I don't think I have one. I like my jeans.

l6. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation? Greece

17. What color are your eyes? Hazelish

l8. Favorite Fashion Brand: I don't care, as long as it's cute and cheap.

19. Where would you want to retire to? Somewhere in the Caribbean (Move over MarkD, here I come)

20. Favorite time of day? Late morning.

2l. Where were you born? Baton Rouge, LA

22. Favorite sport to watch? Basketball

23. Coke or Pepsi? Coke

24. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with everyone? I haven't been pooping much. What do you mean, that's not exciting?

25. What did you want to be when you were little? You're not gonna believe this but when I was about 11 or 12, I wanted to be a computer programmer. Thanks to Atari. I know. Weird-o.

26. What is your best childhood memory? Family vacations, spending the day on the river (lake).

27. Did you ever skip school? Yep, with my mom! She'd take me and my sister shopping. How cool is that?

28. Who was your best friend in school? Stephanie, Robyn, and Pam.

29. Piercing? Ears

30. Ever been to Africa ? No.

31. Favorite day of the week? Saturday

32. Favorite restaurant? Don's Seafood, Chili's

33. Favorite flower? Tulips, Hibiscus

34. Favorite flavor of ice cream? Plain ol' chocolate.

35. What store would you choose to max out your credit card? Ooh, that's tough. I like Old Navy. The Gap. Many others.

36. Bedtime? 10 pm

37.. Favorite movie of all time? I don't think I have a favorite of all time. I like GoodFellas a lot.
An Officer and A Gentleman too.

I'm stopping at 37 b/c that's my age and I'm old and tired.

2, 9, 11

Lately, I've been noticing more and more my attempts to address the needs of my kids at the different stages they are in their lives. There's just something tricky about trying to change a poopie diaper while helping a third grader with spelling words, and listening to an 11-year old complain about not being able to talk to boys on the phone.

Can I just have one stage at a time please? I think I'd been spoiled with this. Anna and Emma are only 2 years apart and they were on the same wavelength for years. I'd take them to the zoo, they were happy. To the park, happy. To Burger King, great. Shopping, even better.
Not so much now. I find myself trying to make all three happy, or at least not miserable and sometimes failing big time. I try to get some one-on-one time with all of them, but John M. is way ahead on that game. He needs my attention most often, so he's the one that gets it.

I wonder sometimes if my girls feel slighted and I hate to admit myself that they chances are, they do. They've actually voiced them a few times but most often, don't mention it. That fact, in itself, makes me love them all the more and feel guilty all the more too. I suppose I have to look at it in the way that the 1-on-1 attention that they receive is directly proportionate to what they require. You get me? I'm not sure I do either. But what I'm thinking is that, for the most part, they seem to be content to be playing with friends, or on the computer or watching Hannah Montana on Disney for the umpteenth time, and if that's the case, so be it. Now and again, they do request my involvement in something specific, a game or homework or a project and I do my best to give them 100% when I can. I hope that's good enough. That I'm not doing any harm.

My absolute favorite times are when things just seem to fall into place by themselves. Like when they all end up in the kitchen doing cheers that they've taught John, that involve Anna (or Emma) yelling 'Big Sis!' and him coming back with 'Little Bro!' and then lots of laughing.
Those are the best. I hope there's loads more of those to come.

Daniel Powter baby

John M. spent the day with my mom yesterday. I called to check on him a couple of times and she said that he was really behaving well. He ate all of his breakfast, took his medicine without a problem and ate an entire Lean Cuisine spaghetti dinner for lunch. He, then, even asked when he was going to go to sleep!

He took a nap and they were playing and reading books, and my mom said she was really feeling happy that they had a good day together.

It's at this point John M. decides to bust her bubble. He breaks out into his own version of 'Bad Day'. Just out of the blue. Way to bring her down, boy. She told him, 'John, I thought we were having a good day together'. He comes back with 'I jus' singin', Maw-Maw!'.

Rain, Rain, go away

I'm posting this picture because I'm sick and tired of cold and rain. The weather has been drear-y, with a capital DREAR lately and I really don't like it. So, here's Anna about 4 years ago on the sunny beaches of Florida. Eating her Happy Meal that the seagulls stole soon after, when we abandoned our mat to go pee. Damn gulls.

I've been busy lately, apparently too busy to post regularly. I could kick myself when I do that. The kids say things on a regular basis that I want to capture, but I forget. And those things soon fly out of my head and are gone forever. I've been wracking my brain trying to think of what Emma said last night that me fall out laughing. And I can't, for the life of me, remember. I need a memory chip installed in my brain, that I can take out and plug in to my PC.

So, latest news:

John M. had his first dentist visit yesterday because of his 'dead' blue tooth. Turns out, it's infected so he'll be on an antibiotic for the next 10 days.

Anna and Emma have kicked in full-speed with basketball games.

My house has decided it wants to fall apart and I hope the money fairy drops a load of cash down, so we can fix even a portion of it.

Mark bought a new tractor and I think it may be sexy. Thanks, Kenny.

Peace Out.

61! Wow, that's old.

Wasn't that title funny, Mom? Are you laughing?; you don't look like you are.

My mom turned the big 6-1 on the 6th, which is today, right? Well, no, but I backdated this post. See how techno-savvy I am?

I missed her birthday post by 4 days, so here it is.

What do I say about this woman who sits here with me in goofy 3D glasses, and is thoroughly enjoying it, just like I am? She is my clone, or I guess actually, I am hers. Not appearance-wise, as you can see, but personality-wise, yes!

We are both dingbats, have no sense of direction, love to laugh and be silly, and are generally in a good mood. We always said, growing up, that my sister was a lot like my dad and no question, my mom and I were two peas in a pod.

I sure haven't wondered far from her. I live about 50 feet away. I don't tell her often, but she is everything to me. She is my best friend, the one who I can tell anything to, and she will always listen and let me know that she is genuinely interested. She is my outing partner, she's always up for going most anywhere with me and the kids. She's my 'fixer-of-all'. She alters my family's clothes, and fixes anything broken. I can't count the number of times I say 'We'll just bring it to Maw-Maw's, she can fix anything'. Oh, by the way, she is an incredible 'Maw-Maw' to all seven of her grandchildren. I keep waiting for my kids to outgrow wanting to go visit 'Maw-Maw' but they never do.

I've always thought that we were alike in so many ways, but the one thing I've always felt along with that, was that I could never measure up to the person that she is. She's always there for her family and her friends. She's generous beyond belief and honest and caring. She's my example of what I want to be 'when I grow up'. She's so many things that I strive to be. Maybe one day I'll get there. Until I do, I'll appreciate the fact that she's in my life.

Happy Birthday, Mom! I love you more than mud. And penguins. And even muddy penguins.




(now there's your birthday post, so you can shut up ;^)

2007 Resolutions

I never really put my resolutions on paper, hell, sometimes I don't even make any. In the past couple of weeks, from time to time, I've thought of things that I want to work on and I figured it would do me good to actually put them in writing.

1.) Spend more one-on-one time with Mark. Have more 'dates' without the kids.

2.) Give more time/money to charitable causes. (I've actually already done some work on this one in 2007!)

3.) Be more generous, in general.

4.) Stop complaining (or at least, cut back).

5.) Lose that 10 lbs I've been talking about for the past 2 years. (This is one I definitely have been working against so far this year, I say, as I burp my Sonic lunch).

6.) Really READ things, books, magazines, blogs, whatever. Don't SKIM, but read. I've always been a skimmer.

7.) Try to teach my children more about faith and morality. Be a more positive example also.

8.) Plan more outings and get-togethers with friends and relatives.

9.) Visit more often with family.

10.) Don't spend too much money on things I don't really need. Beware of the lure of the promotional and free shipping codes! This one is going to be a doozie.

On a side note, 'Who dat talkin' bout beat dem Tigers?!'
Woo-hoo, LSU!!

Holidays

Christmas was a good one. The kids got way too many presents from Santa, but what else is new?
The favorites seem to be Anna's new cell phone, Emma's little Tracphone and John M.'s play-dough. He also loves his Elmo, which he insists on calling 'Nemo'.

We still have unopened gifts at home, but we're getting to them one by one. We opened a bottle of bubbles yesterday and I swear, Anna and Emma enjoyed them more than John M. did. Note to self, when in need of a gift, a 99 cent bottle of bubbles is the answer.

We spent Christmas Eve with my mom and my sister and her family, as is the tradition. There are 7 grandkids total, so my mom's living room looked like Toys R Us threw up. Christmas day, we made the rounds to a few different places, including my in-laws' house. I had to get a picture of Anna and Mark's mom, because they're about the same height now. And the boys all matched so I got some pictures of them too.




















I hope y'all had a great Christmas and are looking forward to a Happy New Year. Let the fireworks begin!

I present . . .

The Virgin Mary and the Angel Gabriel.



















And about 2 seconds later, the real Anna and Emma came out.

'Ice Princesses'

Anna and Emma 'graduated' from their ice skating class last week. They absolutely loved it and we may do the next one in the spring. I think it's great that they're learning how to ice skate because that's something I never even tried as a child. Growing up in Southern Louisiana, you don't see much ice unless it's floating in your lemonade.

All I Want for Christmas . .

I actually made a list this year that I have saved on my desktop at work of things that I want for Christmas. Not things that I actually expect to get, but things that I yearn to have. Problem being lack of dinero.

Anyway, I thought I'd share. Let me know what's on your list so we can whine about not getting these things the day after Christmas.

1.) An I-pod Nano (Apple has these on their site refurbished for under 100 bucks. Hmmm...)
2.) A new laptop. I know I just got one but, long story.
3.) New bathroom towels.
4.) New set of pots/pans. Boring, yes, but I need them.
5.) New oven. Ditto #4. Mine has been broken for over 2 years now, but I'm not a cook so I put it off.
6.) New chairs for my dining room table.

I figured these things would be about 2000 bucks. So, I'm only about 1960 short.

Yeah, yeah, Merry Christmas. Only 8 more days. Yikes.

Happy 61st, Daddy!

My father would have been 61 today. I did a similar post to this one last year with a baby picture of him, so I figured I'd do a teen picture this time. It's hard to believe, but I think he may have even gotten cuter.

I see so many people in my father's face. I see a little bit of me, a little of my boy, and a lot of my sister's oldest boy. The funny thing is both of the boys mentioned are named after my dad. That says a lot right there.

I could never fully express what a wonderful father he was, how thinking about him just for a few seconds makes me cry. How I miss him so much every day and how little things remind me of him all the time.

His death has definitely given me a different perspective on the death of others since. Before, I could only see the sadness in death, but now I see a reuniting of my father with his friends and family. Our family may be shrinking here, but his is growing and that makes me smile.

Happy Birthday, Daddy. I love you.

Birthday Festivities

The party went well and the best part of it is . . . it's over!
We had 23 kids there. And I don't think we lost any. (If we did, their parents aren't complaining yet).
Emma is now officially 9 years old.

And now, some pictures from the festivities:

All lined up eating their Cane's.













Emma and her buddies:















John M. asked 400 times to 'wide' the carousel, and then
this was the look on his face when we put him on. He made
a quick exit.















Emma and the 'love' fry.

Happy 9th, Emma!

I hope you have a great birthday, my girl.

You make me laugh so much every day and I'm always amazed at your humor and wit. Sometimes I swear I'm talking to a 30-year old.

I'm so proud of your dedication to your family and the importance of prayer and spirituality in your life. You show me on a daily basis your firm belief in a life that goes beyond this one and your anticipation of seeing 'June' and others once you're there.

I love the fact that you're so much still a little girl and want to play Polly Pockets with me and dance in the living room. I always ask you to stay little and live with me forever and you say you can't promise to do that. But I sure wish you could.

I feel so blessed to have you as my girl.

Love,

Mom

John and Pearl

John M. has a thing lately for picking up Pearl, our cat. Thank God Pearl is a nice, old, patient cat that puts up with lots of crap. She tolerates him, but runs away at the sight of him too. I swear, she's thinking 'I'm not sure where this boy child came from, but can you please stick a stamp on him and return to sender.'

Single Mom

That's what I feel like these days.

Mark has been working like crazy. I knew this. I expected it. I mean, he just started a new job less than a month ago that's in a galaxy far, far away. I knew what I was in store for, and I put on my 'positive attitude, it'll get better' cap.

Surprisingly, that cap has been doing its job. It hasn't been all that bad.

Mark used to travel A LOT when the girls were babies and when I tell you, I had a time with the 'single mother' thing, I'm not lying. Of course, back then I had 2 babies only 2 years apart that required all of my attention. Now, with the 11 and 9-year-olds and one small hurricane, it's so much different. Actually, so much easier.

I'm hoping that these 15-hour work days shorten in the very near future though, just because we miss having him around. And that, in the long run, this was a good decision. I have a feeling that it was, I just have to give it time.

By the way, that picture there is of the 5-day-old hurricane about 2 years ago. I didn't have new pictures, so I thought we'd review that one.


P.S. The Emma-sheep performed last night and guess who didn't take one picture? you guessed it. Add that to my bad-mother list. But there is a DVD to buy of the whole production! Yippee!

December-Eve, how did that happen?

Can you believe tomorrow is the 1st of December? That totally snuck up on me. Here's
a little of what's been going on.

The good news is, I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping. I'm completely
done with Santa shopping, woo-hoo!

Emma's birthday party is next weekend though. That'll be some work. We're going
to do a 'movie and the mall' party with about 20 kids. Yikes.

Mark's been at his new job for about 3 weeks now. There's been some ups and downs,
but I think he (and we) are adjusting slowly. He's been working mucho hours, as in he
leaves at 4:00 am and gets back at 7:00 pm, but we're hoping this doesn't last long. Please
hope with us.

Emma is a sheep in her Christmas play and a cuter sheep, I have never seen.

Anna starts basketball practice next week, and is super-happy about it after having missed
the soccer season, because her bad mother didn't sign her up.

John M. has discovered the joy of playing Pac-Man and goes around saying 'I wanna play my GAME, mama!' all the time.

That's all for now. I've been blog-o-boring lately, can you tell?
But I do love y'all. Promise.

Black Friday I Wanna Know

So, if I have something that I really want to get for my girl for Xmas cheap... and it's at Best Buy starting at 5:00a.m. Friday.
What time do you think I would have to be there to beat the other crazies to it?

Ideas?

Happy 11th Anna!

I (heart) Montages by OneTrueMedia

Emma Marie


Anna Adele


John M.

The last 10 days or so

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, or kept up with my bloggy friends. It's been a crazy last couple of weeks. I'm going to try and post some pictures here, if Blogger decides to cooperate.
We spent a nice Sunday in a small town right across the Mississippi River from us. We did a little eating and a little shopping and just enjoyed the nice South Louisiana weather.
















Last week, I got to go on Emma's field trip to the corn maze. I even rode on the bus, something I haven't done in quite a while! We had a great time, and completed the maze first. We won't mention the little bit of cheating we did to accomplish that.
















Then, last weekend was Anna's 11th Birthday Sleepover. It was challenging, let's just leave it at that. Some of the girls didn't go to sleep at all that night. They're killing me here.
















A hot man in a pink soccer coach shirt. ;^)














Now, I'll just leave you with 4 of my favorite eyes.

Times, they are a-changin'

I don't like change, have I mentioned that?

Changes are coming though. Mark starts a new job Monday. After being at the same
company for over 11 years. And the job is 90 miles away, one way.

He traded in his gas-guzzling Chevy Silverado for a Corolla. He's not thrilled about that.
But 39 miles/gallon is a lot better than 18.

Wish us luck. Hopefully this new chapter will be a good one.

Okay ... I take it back

Remember this post?

Well, little Miss Talkity-Talk is at a sleep-over tonight.
And you know what?

I miss the talking.

My other girl

Kelli and I were like 2 peas in a pod growing up. We always had a built-in playmate in the room next door. But that doesn't mean that we didn't long for an extra girl. Someone to hold the other side of the jump rope so one of us could jump in the middle, someone to be the 3rd Charlie's Angel. What good are Sabrina and Kelly without Jill, right? We had that in a cousin of mine who lived a few houses down from us. She was Jill, she held the rope, she got on our nerves often, but hey, she completed our 'Three Muskateers'.

This face to the left is Anna and Emma's third muskateer. She's my niece, Katie. Right between my two girls in age, she's in 4th grade, while Emma's in 3rd and Anna's in 5th. She has been their partner in crime ever since they were toddlers. They've had many sleepovers, choreographed countless dances, and fought and argued like only 'sisters' can. I can't help but be reminded of my sister and I growing up with my cousin whenever I look at them. It's great that Katie lives just a couple of houses down so the 'commute' from house to house is a common occurrence.

Kelli and I grew apart from our cousin when we got a little older. I hope that this isn't the case for these three. I look forward to many more sleepovers, all day swimming marathons, and having 3 girls on occasion, instead of 2, to keep me smiling.

The Butt Paste of Champions

Do any of you use this stuff? It's great! For diaper rash. Or anything else you so desire, I guess.

I have Boudreaux's on the mind because John M. made me almost pee myself laughing a couple of weeks ago, as I was changing his diaper. I noticed he had a little bit of a rash, so I told him "stay right there and Mom's gonna get you some cream". I walk back over to him and he says, "Boo-doh's, Mom?". I had no idea he could identify the butt paste.

I called everyone in the room to hear it and we grill him regular now on what I spread on his bottom. Anna especially loves to hear it.

Anna: John M., what does Mom put on your 'wee-wee'?

John M: Boo-doh's!!!

Anna: Boo-doh's what?

John M: Buh Pace!

I'm so proud.

From Billy Ray to Miley

Emma's latest purchase is a 'Hannah Montana' CD, you know from Disney? She is the daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus (remember? Achey Breakey Heart?) and her real name is Miley. My girl has been waiting for a Miley Cyrus CD to come out since the summer, so she pounced on it when it appeared at the Mart of Wal.

Here comes the strange part: I listen to it all the time. In my car, by myself. Sans kids. What the hell? The thing is, I love fun music. It doesn't have to be quality music, as long as it's fun and dance-able. In my own 'white-girl', geeky dance way, I enjoy it. To quote American Bandstanders, if 'it has a good beat and you can dance to it.' , I'm there.

And it doesn't hurt that when I don't have the girls with me, Hannah Montana keeps their energy with me. So, I'm learning every single song on that CD and I'll be singing them over and over for a while, at least until Christmas.

So, try not to knock those 'weirdos' listening to The Gogos, Debbie Gibson, New Kids OnThe Block, Tiffany, Midnight Star (and the list goes on . . ) because hey, I'm one of them.

Now, I'm off to rock to some Milli Vanilli.

Halloween 2006

One slightly hoochified pumpkin girl (Lillian Vernon costume that was rather short), one Queen of Hearts, and one petrified dalmatian pup.
He was terrified of my 12-year old nephew's costume (I kind of was too). That's him in the back, looking like a giant squid is engulfing his face.





I think John M. thought if he shoved his face in the side of the stroller, the monsters couldn't see him. Later . . .

"I don't have time"

It's a phrase I use way too much. Not that I usually say it out loud, but it's something that I tell myself too often on a daily basis. I always wonder how others seem to have time for 'extras', whether it's doing things around their houses, volunteering their time to charities, or just doing something for themselves that they need. Maybe a 'date' with their husbands or making a craft because it's something they enjoy. I find myself constantly feeling like I'm trying to get 10 different things done at once and never being able to give 100% to any of them.

This feeling overwhelms me many times so I just tend to cut things out. Many times it's this blog, which I really want to keep up on a 'historian' level, thanks, Dani. Many times it's spending time with friends or doing something special for them because they really do mean so much to me. (Thanks for the b-day gifts, Chesney and Beki.) Mark and I very rarely go on dates anymore; I think we've been out, just the two of us, one time this year. I know that it's something we need and the fact that we don't do it often enough does damage our relationship. Marriage is hard enough in and of itself, but when you're constantly surrounded by children all-day every-day with no break, it wears you down. And cuts out any possibility of romance. At.All.

I'm going to try and work on these things. I'm going to tell myself that I do have time. If that means letting the dishes sit in the sink, or not watching 'The Duel' on Thursday nights, so be it.
I want to focus on the things that really matter. Wish me luck.

(I have a backlog of pictures that I hadn't downloaded, here's a couple)



Me blowing out my birthday candles. Look at those cheeks, WOW!












Anna and her best friend at the pumpkin-carving party this weekend. Doesn't my girl look pretty here?









Sidenote: Emma gave me a homemade 'coupon book' of treats to cash in on for the next couple of weeks. Most of them are for massages (maschs, in Emma-spell). There was one name I particularly enjoyed, the 'hot blow massage'. Don't ask.

37 reasons why being 'almost-37' isn't so bad

Well, okay maybe not 37 reasons. How about 3?

1.) 37 is a nice age to look back and see how far you've come, the things you've accomplished, and all the ways you've become wiser.

2.) 37 is pretty much mid-career for me. 15 years 'til I'm out of the workforce forever.

3.) 37 isn't dead yet.

The end. Whew, that took a lot out of me! I'm not getting any younger, you know.

I'm Hangin' Up Now

Do you ever hang up on people? Isn't that such a rude thing to do?

I do it all too often.

Take this morning, for instance. I was on the phone with a customer service rep from Visa. He was actually the original rep's supervisor. I had requested him because the first rep appeared to be not the sharpest Crayon in the box. He repeated that my problem was 'unfornuate' about 12 times in a 2 minute span.

The supervisor comes on and pretty much echos what Moron #1 had told me and apologizes for the 'unfortunate' situation. That word must be in the Visa training manual. "Use the word 'unfortunate' and the customer will feel that you sympathize with them." Not this customer. I was just pissed.

I was so frustrated after a while. There were long moments of silence on the other end of the phone after my comments to him, where he just said nothing and I was wondering if he went out for pizza or something. So I just hung up.

I used to feel guilty doing this, but not so much anymore. Like when I receive really bad 'customer service' or when salespeople call and won't take one 'no', but have to wait for you to turn them down 3 or more times.

Rude? Maybe, but so be it. Unfortunate, isn't it?

So, are you a hanger upper?

Bop

Had enough of Barney talk yet? I didn't think so.

See below. This is 'Little Bop'. Not 'Baby Bop', according to John M. I kind of agree that 'Little Bop' is more appealing as a name, for some reason.

But Bop's little, squeaky annoying voice makes me want to hurl. And when she starts singing about her 'blankey', I want to stuff the blankey in her dinomouth. I'm going to call her Barfy Bop.

Take a breath

I'm not kidding when I say my middle-8-year-old child has not shut up for more than 15 seconds at a time the entire day.

We went to Baton Rouge for some shopping and she talked the entire way there, the whole time shopping, the whole way eating, the whole way back and she continues to talk as I type this.

I've asked her repeatedly to be quiet but I think it's impossible. Anyone have this same problem? Anyone have a nice muzzle? Send it on over please.

Sam and Mike

It's hard to believe that I haven't posted about Sam and Mike before, because they play such a huge part in the lives of my kids. 'Mrs. Sam' has been my babysitter, nanny, daycare provider, since Anna was a wee tot back in 1995. She keeps children in her home. 'Mr. Mike' is her husband who has been there helping all along. He just retired a few months ago, so he's home more often now and they pretty much co-sit the kids.

Mike and Sam both have a 'way' with children. Do you know what I mean? A 'way' that many of us simply don't have. Sam has been able to get all 3 of my kids to do things that they would never do at home. Case in point; taking a nap at a regular time, on cue. Also, eating all kinds of non-kid-friendly vegetables, like broccoli, cauliflower, and okra. Mr. Mike has a garden across the street from their house where he grows amazing vegetables and is nice enough to share with us 'moms.'

Did I mention Sam is an incredible cook who makes the best eggplant lasagna and gumbo I've ever tasted? The kids she keeps actually request different meals on her 'menu' when they're off for the holidays.

I've found that Sam and Mike are akin to an extra set of grandparents for my kids. They've been there for them through every stage of their lives thusfar, and have never failed to give them just what they need. They are a permanent part of my 'thank-you' list in my prayers, because I do realize how incredibly blessed we all are to have found them.

(Here's a shot of Mr. Mike hanging up the clothes last week on Mrs. Sam's birthday, when he promised to take over all the chores.)

Get a life?

Ever had such a dull life that the high point of your weekend was taking pictures while wearing geeky 3D glasses in a movie theater on a Saturday night?


















Yeah, me neither.

This is not an advertisement for WhiteStrips

It only plays one on TV.

Take 1 . . . action! 9/16/06 - Renee's beige teeth.















Take 2 . . . 10/5/06 - After using Crest Whitestrips for 2 weeks. Renee's new and improved whiter teeth!














Tell me you can see a difference. I actually can.
I'd recommend these to anyone trying to get their teeth to not be ecru.

Party!

John M's 2nd birthday party was yesterday. We had it at a park in Baton Rouge and although it was pretty hot out, it was nice in the shade of the trees. We barbecued weenies and burgers, and just let the kids play. John M. loved it; playing outside is his #1 favorite pastime, as I've mentioned before. I don't think he even realized it was a party for him until we sang 'Happy Birthday', at which point he stated 'I need anotha ween', so we had to have an encore. For the most part, he just wanted to climb, swing, and slide. He did take a couple of whacks at the pinata but lost interest quickly.



I'm so thankful to all of my friends and family that came. My extended family is pretty small now and that makes me sad sometimes. The few that I do have make up for it though. So, thank you, Mom,Kelli and Hawk (and your gaggle of kids). And John's 'Mrs. Sam friends', Sam, Anna, Allie and Carson. My friends for life, Beki, Krystal, Alison, Melissa, Laurie, Tracy, and Vernon (burger-man) and all of their kids. I don't tell you enough, but you all make my life a happy place. I honestly could not make it without all of you. Thanks for being there for my boy . . . and me. I'll stop the mushiness now. I'm just feeling a little sentimental.

Days like yesterday remind me of how blessed I am. Happy Birthday, John M.