Birthdays and Banners

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We just had a birthday and that means a Birthday Banner in our house. That tradition came from my childhood.

Boo, that cat, doesn't look surprised at all.

But my huzband does.

Brownie Points

Gary was home with the 2 youngest kids Saturday.

While I was away he let them play in the rain.

And they set up a tent.

In the house!

Why didn't I think of that?

Ugh, I'll never be the better parent.

If It's Not One Thing, It's Your Mother...

I first heard that quote from Wynonna Judd when she was being interviewed.... somewhere.... by someone... I can't remember those details. But her mom was right there! And I thought it was the funniest quote ever. And now I can't say, "If it's not one thing it's another" anymore without thinking of that.

But actually, this quote isn't about my mother.

It's about how first blogger wouldn't work, and now I can't load pictures. I think it's my memory card (I hope it's my memory card, that's the easiest fix), I will find out just as soon as I get another card, I reckon. I don't like blogging without pictures. And I definitely don't like blogging on my other blog without them.

In the meantime, here is a conversation I had with my husband the other day-

Gary walks into the bathroom where I am bent over the shower, scrubbing with all my might.

I said, "See, this is why I let the shower get so gross because cleaning it is SO hard!"

Gary said, "What are you cleaning it with?"

I answered, "Cleanser, but I have tried it all, this is what works best but it still barely works."

Gary, "Have you tried Tilex?"

Me, "I said I've tried it all."

Gary, " The Scrubbing Bubbles stuff?"

Me, "I said I've tried it all."

Gary, "Lime-A-Way?"

Me, "I SAID I have tried it all."

Gary, "Soft Scrub?"

Me, "Gary..."

Gary, "Straight bleach?"

Me, "......."

Gary, "Purple Power?"

Me, "..............."

(are you tempted to offer a suggestion?)

;-)

It's What We Do

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I am discovering that we are a sketchy family. Not that kind of sketchy, the drawing kind. I didn't imagine it to be that way, but it is and I like it.

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Not this past weekend but the one before, my family and I sat and watched 8 hours of TV. It was the good kind of TV though. There was a lot of sketching going on that weekend. That's when Naomi gifted Nolan with a paper corn dog. There were a few more sketches produced that weekend that I felt the need to share.

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Rae drew portraits of the family. This is me. Yikes.

And so did Nolan.

They drew their dad. In his defense, he was quite sick. . Wes was on his laptop throughout conference. In his defense.... there is no defense! In my defense, he is 21 and it's not my computer. Otherwise I woulda'..... This is Nolan's self portrait. You see his frown? And his "cough cough"? You would think he's frowning because he was coughing but no. He's frowning because he's mastered the frown and won't stop frowning! I've been trying to get a picture of it but he wouldn't let me. But the other day I texted him something and he didn't like my text, so this was his reply-

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Zoe saw her older siblings drawing the family, so she drew us all as Robots.

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That inspired Rae to draw the family as vegetables.

And that, my friends, was the best picture of me yet!

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He Said, She Said

(This picture is prolly 20 years old. Goodness gracious!!)

Yesterday Gary and I took a teeny tiny Sunday stroll.

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Gary took my hand in his and said, "I love you."

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I said, "Why?"

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He said, "Cause you are my wife."

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I said, "What if I wasn't your wife and you were married to someone else?"

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He said, "Then I'd love her."

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Saturday Was a Special Day

This past Saturday me, Zoe, my huzband and Naomi attended Tree City 2011 Show Choir Festival.

It was a competition for middle and high schoolers.

I must say, it was pretty awesome. I feel strongly about keeping the arts in school.

The first group sang Fireflies. I thought it was creative and fun.

Several times I thought, "This is great fun, why didn't I do Show Choir when I was in school?"

Then I rememered that they didn't have Show Choir at my school when I was a kid.





And I can't sing.

But I would have loved it.

This picture below is of my daughters group. I took picture through the first few songs because the program said the third song was Firework and I thought if I was going to video a song, it should be that one.


But they finished their second song and walked off the stage.

Woopsies.

Between each school they did a solo or two or three. Do you know what I learned?

I don't like watching someone stand and sing.
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I mean, the solos were good and all. But standing there is boring. To me. And Zoe.

In closing, I'd like to share just a few more pictures.

And a snippet at my favorite preformers of the day.

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So Stinkin' Thankful

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I am so thankful that I grew up watching my two parents be madly in love with one another. I could literally see their love for one another with my own two eyes.

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I am thankful for that because it showed me what a good man is like and how he treats his wife. I saw how I should treat him. I don't dare say I am as good to my man as my mom is to my dad but without a doubt, Gary measures up on his end of the bargain.

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Gary is a man of integrity. He is honest through and through. He is a good man. He only acknowledges the good in me and ignores my flaws. And when I nag him about his flaws, he let's me. How ridiculous is that?

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And he loves me (ME!). He really does.

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Truly, with all my heart, I have been blessed. And this is what I've been thinking a lot about with Thanksgiving coming up.

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.That and about how thankful I am for Thanksgiving (my favorite). And Autumn. (Rae and I decided we are going to try to use the word Autumn instead of Fall)

Yesterday I was mesmerized by the leaves falling. I felt like it was snowing crispy, crunchy leaves.

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That Was When I Was Shot Down

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I was so excited because I found this race that sounded so stinkin' fun.

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So I showed Gary and said, "Doesn't this look so stinkin' fun? Let's DO IT!"

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That is when Gary said, "Are you kidding me? I did that mess in the military and it wasn't fun. That's a no."

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All is Fair

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Yesterday my family attended our County Fair.

It was a good thing I finally took my kids to one, because turns out Naomi had to ask me what a fair is. She's 12. It's not fair for a 12 year old to not know what a fair is.

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As soon as we got there, Gary went with the oldest 4 to the Ferris Wheel.

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While I took Zoe to the Banana Slide.

Then we met back up and only Wes and I were brave enough to attempt the Fire Ball. The other kids were much impressed with my bravery. Turns out they were making jokes about how I could have been filing my nails or reading a book with the calmness I had on 'such a scary ride'. Fact of the matter is- rides are my all time most favorite thing to do in the world. I am not even kidding.

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The second most favorite thing to do in the world? Eat. I'll get back to that.

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These two blurs are Naomi and Wes.

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Such a friendly way to say No!

Photo op!

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And back to the food-

No he didn't....

Yes he did.

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Funnel Cake!!!

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I have to share this picture though. Wes was worried Zoe was about to lose her Funnel Cake so he tried to help. She doesn't appreciate the help, I don't think.

Beleive it or not, even with the loud fair noise, we heard angels sing when we tried the deep fried Snickers.

Honest to goodness!!!

And there you have it. My family, at last, finally, after all these years, did the right thing, and atended the fair, and it was about time.

Birthday Confusion

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My huzbands birthday was Friday (as I mentioned earlier). We went on a birthday date (as we usually do). We had some Outback Steakhouse (ever had their Filet Wedge Salad -Tender sliced filet with a cool, crisp wedge of fresh Iceberg lettuce, Blue Cheese dressing, grape tomatoes, red onions, bacon and Blue Cheese crumbles, drizzled with a sweet balsamic glaze? YUM!!!)

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Then we went and saw Despicable Me (his first time, my third).

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Then my toothache came back with a vengeance. (I thought I might die that night)

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But I put on a smile for the kids surprise for their daddy-o (my acting skills came in handy).

I love Naomi's jig that came before the song.

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But the kids kept getting confused about whose birthday they were celebrating.

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(they think they are SO funny)

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A Few Things...

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This cute baby....

turns 45 today.

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He went from a cute baby to my Handsome Babe.

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~~~~~

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Zoe turned in her Moby Dick project today.

She is a project girl, my Zoe. She loves to do them, she puts lots of time into them, and she's good at it.

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~~~~~

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Zoe also is fed up with the school teacher planning out recess. (I don't blame her) She came up with a petition-

But she was scared she'd get caught and so she never got too many signatures.

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~~~~~

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Oh, and back to my husbands birthday.

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He took today off from work. He was suppose to work tonight actually. We made some pretty fun plans. Then two days ago I came down with a toothache. Then yesterday I realized it wasn't just a small deal. And in one hour I get to sit in the dentist chair and get either this bad news or that bad news.

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I sure hope I can still celebrate with my birthday boy tonight. But it's not lookin' too good at the moment.

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I don't mean to make everything all about me....

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:(

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Creating a Monster

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I love summer with all my heart mostly because I have my children with me. When school starts I am always tempted to not let them go. I love them being with me that much.

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The down side is the not getting peace and quiet, as all mothers know. Usually that's a-okay, but sometimes one needs peace and quiet. Like me, the past few days.

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I've been trying to prepare a talk that I am giving in church Sunday and I just couldn't focus. I tried to steel moments when the house was more settled, but it just wasn't happening. So I asked my husband if he wanted to take the girls to Gramma's house overnight and he did.

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*sigh*

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At last, I could focus.

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It didn't happen quite like I expected though. I'd been studying and praying and pondering for a few weeks and I thought that all I had left to do was to put it in an organized manner into notes. The house was quiet but it wasn't falling into place now that there was peace and quiet, like I expected.

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And that was when my husband let Naomi play with his phone and when she learned to text. Me. And a lot.

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Oh, it was sweet. But it was also very distracting. Last night I expected to have the talk complete, at 11 I had to end my texting session with Naomi because I was nodding off.

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This morning I got up and at it and not long later I got a text from Naomi that read-

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Mom mom mom mom mother mum mummy muter mom mom mo are you at the gym or something?????

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And then Naomi taught Zoe to text.

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But somehow, a bazillion texts later, I was putting the finishing touches on my talk right as Gary pulled into the driveway with my brand new texters.

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I sure appreciated him giving me the time alone, in the peace and quiet.

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:-)

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Self Portrait

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The little story (if you will) that I intended to tell today needs to be postponed to another day.

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My apologies.

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But if I don't post these egg pictures now, it will really be too late.

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Rae made a married couple.

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And guess whose self portrait this is.

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All Easter weekend I was fussed at.... by my kids for how I say egg. I reckon I kinda say it with an A sound instead of a short e.
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Bless my sweet husbands heart, he heard the kids giving me a hard time and he said, "Honey, you can say egg however you want."
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I said, "Thanks, but you really need to stop saying orange wrong." :)
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(He pronounces orange- arnge)
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Quote of the Week

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I can't decide which one gets Quote of the Week.

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Naomi's- She needs to learn her chicken parts!

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Nolan's- I am not an Origami Specialist.

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Or Gary's- How can the pedals confuse you? There are only two!

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Vote now and help me decide.

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Another Big Day

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Happy Anniversary to my honey!

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My sister Darla is grossed out by this picture (as you may be).

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But it's my all time favorite of us. It represents.

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Sadly, I don't have the usual nostalgic feeling on this anniversary. I'm usually petering out by now anyways, after my birthday, Valentine's, Rae's birthday and then Zoe's. (see why I don't much care for Valentine's? It's just one more thing...) But this year with it being a big birthday for me (40! gasp!) and Rae (16! gasp-er!) plus Wes getting his 'independix' removed (that's what Zoe said)..... I am just too pooped to think on our marriage like I usually do, where we've been........ where we are going.

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(except I will be thinking of where we are going to dinner tonight!)

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Maybe I should go back and read our love story.

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I hope Gary writes me a poem today. That's our tradition and it's my most favorite thing EVER!

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But I love this man. And he loves me. Even though.

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I ask him almost daily... (yes, I am one of those wifes)

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"Do you love me?"

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"Yes"

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"Even though?"

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"Even though."

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Even though what, you ask?

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Heck if I know, depends on the day. Even though I made Hamburger Helper for dinner. Even though I got snarky. Even though I am getting crinkly and wrinkly. Even though I've done and will yet do some stupid stuff. Even though, even though, even though.
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I would like to close this post with some pictures of the birthday gift I found for my birthday girl that I was most excited to give her.

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A vintage Fisher Price School House which, I am SO excited to report, she loves!

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Zoe doesn't play with toys much, like my other kids did. Maybe she just didn't have the right ones.

Rae took this picture of Zoe through the school house window.

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Today closes our almost month long celebration of birthday's and love.

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And I could use the break!
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