Being a Blaisdell Babe

Proof - you can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl. We returned to farm country this weekend, back "home" to Blaisdell Drive. It was muggy, hot, oppressively sticky. But we couldn't have had a better visit with old friends we knew for far too short a time. It was a breeze to step into my role as a Blaisdell Babe, laughing and joking, relaxing and watching the boys run around from house to house, yard to yard. The only thing that would have made it perfect would be if we still owned our home there.

We stayed with Kirsten and Tom, and they couldn't have been more wonderful hosts. I got my baby fix holding Baby Kaelyn Lee (Jodee and Rob's new week-old girl).
She's just beautiful and so tiny and delicate and pink! Stan and Dave - again and without a doubt the coolest couple I know - were there, and even Wanda and PJ made it back from Cleveland in time for us to drag them outside for a driveway party. What a night. Like I said, it was just so easy to pick up where we left off a year and one month ago. Now, if Curt could get a job back in Columbus, we'd have it made in the shade. Well, at least it's a bit cooler in the shade.

Camden and Benjamin had the best time. They ran freely with the other kids, always somebody to play with, run with, cross the street with, and find a snack with. We're sad that we don't have that kind of street here in Pa. No sidewalks, no front porches. This neighborhood is a backyard kind of place. Or an indoors kind of place. We just don't see others often, and people seem content with that. On Blaisdell Drive, our children kept us bonded together, and that was OK because we actually liked each other. So while the kids ran the hood, we stood around in driveways and sat on porches, just being neighborly. And now that we've visited Blaisdell Drive for the first time since leaving, I realize that we were far more than good neighbors. We were great friends. And I miss each and every one of them.

I love you, Blaisdell Babes!!!

You know you live in 2006 when...

1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.

2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.

7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen.

8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.

10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.

11. ! You start tilting your head sideways to smile.
: )

12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.

13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.

14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.

! 15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list.

AND NOW U R LAUGHING at yourself.

Isn't that too true??? It was posted on a message board I visit, and it cracked me up! Yup, I'm a true child of technology!

A few simple things

This post is for all the simple little things I forget to celebrate in my day-to-day life:

Camden tells me I mow better than Dad: "You make curvy lines. They're stylish." I made really curvy lines today when I mowed, just for him.

A healthy person should take 10,000 steps a day. I bought a pedometer yesterday and took 13,000+ steps today.

Benjamin told me, "Mom, you're pretty." :)

Talked to my friend, Sandy, today after church. Just love chatting with her about teaching, our school, vacations.

Curt wants to watch the Tour deFrance; I want to watch coverage of Tiger Woods' win in the British Open. Curt says: "I can't believe we're fighting about sports." Too funny from two of the most non-sporty folks on the planet.

Tiger Woods won the British Open!

There's a cute box turtle living under a bush in our front yard. Camden and his friends have decided to name it Louie.

The sun came out tonight, after a day of clouds. There's no way I can see the sunset and not think of God, his majesty, his love for us.

My beach album

I've finally finished my digi album from my all-girl beach trip. The digital kit is from Shabby Princess - shabbyprincess.com - and is called Popsicle Summer Mini Album. It's so awesome - all done and ready for me to slide in pictures and add text boxes for the journaling. Easy as pie!

sweet surprises in an ordinary day

* Got an email from my friend Stanya with pix of her renewal of wedding vows with her husband, Dave, by none other than Elvis himself in Las Vegas. Isn't she just gorgeous? She and Dave are the coolest people I know. :) Congratulations, hon!
* Camden, while jumping and diving and splashing in the pool asked when summer would be over. I told him it was half-way over. "You mean summer's half-way over?!!!! Yeah Baby! School's gonna start!!!!!"
* Unpacking some teacher boxes at school, I found the sweetest pictures of Camden when he was a baby. My Baby Camden. :)
* Benjamin came to me during my meeting at school today and whispered in my ear: "Mommy. I need go poppy." I gladly slipped out to take him. And he not only peed, but pooped, too! woohooooo
* Curt came home at 3:30 today.
* My diet coke from Wendy's was really, really, really big.
* I took an hour long nap this evening.
* It was in the 90s today, but thanks to our covered back porch, it felt closer to the 80s. :)
* Tomorrow is a go-nowhere day. :)

Respect My Peeps

Check out this cool shirt Curt bought me today from Target! Love this!
We've had the most relaxing weekend here - hanging out by the pool, reading, talking, planting, laughing. We picked raspberries yesterday and Curt turned them into slushies. Yum! Camden has jumped, cannon-balled, splashed, and flipped in the pool for HOURS. Benjamin even ventured to walk around the inside perimeter of the pool, never failing to hold onto the edge and then scream with joy when he made it back to the ladder. So cute.
I'm reading the number 10 Stephanie Plum book by Janet Evonovich. My books are so out of order, but I'm still loving them. I'm number 87 on the wait list for her number 12 book in the library. I may get to read it before Christmas if I'm lucky! Lately reading has been the best joy. And to beat it all, Camden is doing so well reading some simple books at home with me. Such a joy to hear that little guy sound out words and understand them.

I've been on a paper-roll this weekend - creating with paper and not my computer so much! I did this layout of Mom and Dad's wedding day with my new 3 Scrappy Boys kit. And then I found this baby picture of me and wanted to do a page about this crazy long name Dad made up for me when I was a little girl. Love this name. I can still say it FAST, but slowing down is tricky. :) This is the name I told my kindergarten teacher on my first day of school. It's the name I tell my students every year when school starts. And it's the name I still write in cards to Dad. Course, now with email, I'm a terrible card sender. Must get better about that.

Surprise

The kids and I decided to surprise Curt today and bring lunch to his office. Only it wasn't exactly a surprise because we had to call him first to make sure he was going to be there. So it was a quasi-surprise. :) The kids loved playing in his office, looking at the maps on the wall, playing Star Wars at his desk. And to make the whole lunch even better - I packed! No fast food. No pizza. Just a bunch of sandwiches and some pasta salad. Well, I guess I should admit here that I did stop at McDs for milkshakes for the boys. :) I was so proud of Curt. He looked so darn handsome in his black shirt and happy smile. So nice to see him someplace else, to surprise him, to give him a bright spot in his busy work day.

Monday Monday

We went to Kohls today ~ LOVE that store! Even if the boys are with me begging for every toy in the place. Benjamin had 5 light sabers attached to his shorts, they were drooping over his pull-up, and he was looking like a Star Wars gangster. Of all days to have walked out of the house and left the camera sitting on the table. UUUGGHHHHHH! Still, I did snag a deal - a cute Liz Claiborne denim skirt and white top. I'll be sylin' myself all the way to the poor house if I don't get some control! And the boys got some cute new jammies - summer ones so they don't sweat bullets when they sleep at night in those crazy fleece ones I finally had to hide.

I'm pooped tonight. I think all the late nights last week have caught up with me. I'm gonna spend the rest of the night curled up with my Janet Evonovich novel and then turn out the lights and snooze. Nothing like waking refreshed and ready for that morning cup of coffee!

The layout is actually a paper one - and I rarely make paper layouts for myself anymore! The picture came from one of those sketch machines at Chuckie Cheese. I went nuts chasing the boys around trying to get them to smile for that danged machine. This is the best they could do for me. Cute and lovable, huh?!

These pictures were taken last week when we went to the Children's Museum in Pittsburgh. Here are Curt, Camden, and Benjamin putting together a bunch of pipes and fittings at the "build your own water fountain" exhibit. A soaking wet and wonderful adventure that properly wore our all three of my boys. :)
We had a cookout tonight with our next door neighbors. The boys played with their kids from about 3:30 till around 9:30. The night ended at dark-time with all the kids except for Benjy in their jammies. They really wanted to have a pajama party, but it just wasn't a good night for it. (Is there ever a good night????????) One day, I promise. :) At any rate, our two went to sleep peacefully sharing a bed in Benjy's room. Safe and sound and snoring. Gotta love that!

Bad Day

"Cause you had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don't lie
You're coming back down and you really don't mind
You had a bad day
You had a bad day"

That's the soundtrack to my day, which went a little something like this:
7:30 a.m. - I'm awake. It's quiet. Curt's already at work; the boys are still sleeping, and not even Emma is moving. I get up and head downstairs for coffee and the Today show in peace.
8:00 - My world is rocked by two little boys running down the steps in their jammies. I'm smothered with hugs. It's a nice way to delete the solitude from my morning. ;) I fix cereal for the boys and head upstairs to get dressed.
9:30 - I'm reading my Bible when I hear Benjamin doing his screamy cry, stomping up the steps on tiny size 10s, and whining his way to me. I give a quick hug, assure him he's fine and send him on his way to play "war wars" with Camden.
10:30 - We load up and head to the library. Camden requests our favorite tune from his Bible School CD. Benjamin wants to hear "Bad Day."
11:00 - I'm thinking I'm in heaven when I find the newest hardback John Sandford book, Marley & Me, and a recent Janet Evonovich novel right at the front of the library. Not that much luck, though. Turns out Sandford and Marley are both "dummy books" set out to attract readers to the waiting list they harbor. Rats. I'm number 19 for Marley and 67 for Sandford. No lucky number 3 in it for me. I should have known this was a foreshadowing of my afternoon.
12:00 Noon - Camden and Benjamin are checked out. ($18.85 in fines from those videos we were too lazy to return on time last fall. An expensive little lesson.) And, I've signed them up for the summer reading program. I'm thinking what a good mom I am to encourage this love of reading in my sons. I'm thinking how easy-peasy it'll be to cross off our little puppy spots on the reading log. I'm thinking this library is really nice and we should come more often. Then the man behind the desk hands Benjamin a bag of tiny stuffed puppies and tells him and Camden to choose one. Only Benjamin didn't hear the last part. He only saw that bag and Camden reaching his grubby paw into it. He went ballistic. And I mean all out, totally ballistic. Screaming. Crying. Yelling ---- "MYPUPPIESMYPUPPIESMYPUPPIESMYPUPPIESMYPUPPIESMYPUPPIESMYPUPPIES". You get the picture. This continued throughout my pleas for him to understand. I finally chose a puppy for him, handed it to him, and had it thrown right back at me. I know people were looking at me. I'm sure some were even judging me: "Clearly she's not in control here. That child shouldn't be allowed to behave like that. If I were his mother, I'd turn him over my knee." Yeah, I knew they were thinking that. I had a flashback to Camden and me in the Roanoke library three years ago...similar temper tantrum...similar stares...and me picking him up and telling him, "You just wait till I tell you mother!" Hmmmm. No, I couldn't possibly get away with that one again. Camden would rat me out for sure. Instead, I calmly - and I mean I was so calm I could have received an Oscar - steered the screaming Benjy out of the children's section, through the door, and to the top of the stairs. Then he realized my nasty trick and stopped. It took another 5 minutes for him to jump up and down and scream for his puppies before I was able scoop him up and carry him out of the library without looking like a kidnapper. Now some may be wondering why it took me so long to do this. Why didn't I just do it to begin with? Well, I don't know. I guess I thought that by being extra calm and by giving him some time to get over his own tantrum, maybe I'd help him.
12:30 - McDonald's. There's no way I'm making lunch after all that. Happy Meals make a Mommy happy. I even let them have the fries instead of the apples. Camden again wants the Bible School song; Benjamin insists on Bad Day after Camden's tune ends.
1:00 - The boys are HAPPILY playing with the next door neighbors. The Dora the Explorer house goes outside where they all play. You'd never know Benjy had such a BAD DAY.
2:30 - I bring the boys in for a little quiet time. They watch a couple of short videos about airplanes that they checked out today. I revel in solitude and scrapbook for a bit.
3:30 - No nap for Benjy. He's wired and playing chase with Camden. He gets mad - not sure why, but gets over it quickly.
5:00 - Camden goes outside to play with his friends. I told him to sneak out quietly so Benjy wouldn't know. hehehe. So far this is working.
6:10 - Curt's cooking dinner and I go for a walk with my iPod. Among my walking tunes today: Beast of Burden, Domino, Sunday Morning, Seasons of Love....
6:45 - I'm home, happy and energized from my walk. I grab a V8, which Benjy grabs from me, and eat with my family on the back porch. Camden gets me a new V8 juice.
7:15 - The kids are again playing with the neighbor girls. We invite the parents over to the porch where we all chat till nearly 9 o'clock.
9:00 - Bathtime. Avatar on Nick TV, ice cream, and then storytime. Benjy falls asleep so Curt takes him upstairs where he wakes and SCREAMS for Mom. Here we go again. I continue reading to Camden till the end of the book. Then I grab Benjy, snuggle with him, and hold him close. It must be so hard to be 3.
9:45 - They're in bed where Benjy cons me into reading from his Star Wars chapter book he checked out today. And the little booger actually lies there and listens. Amazing. I swear I think he's following this inane story!
10:00 - We're watching Iron Chef America on Food Network. Curt really loves the cooking. I just like Alton Brown's voice. So familiar and soothing after such a "bad day".

Me and my mower

Please, sit down. You must. I know you won't believe this, but I actually MOWED THE YARD TODAY.
And to prove it, check me out!
As I sat watching the boys swim today, I decided I needed to DO something besides clean the house or nap. Mowing the yard seemed like a good bet. The grass was looking shaggy. Curt had planned to do it, so I knew it really must need it. And frankly I was bored. I didn't want to go back inside and clean, organize, or watch the boys play Star Wars. Again. So I mowed the grass. It took me a good 10 minutes to figure out how to get the daggone mower on. Once that happened, I was bookin'!

How wonderful and perfect was it that America launched a space shuttle on the fourth of July? It seems almost destiny that we'd finally get a shuttle off the ground on America's birthday. Godspeed, Discovery!

Saying Yes

Sometimes it's just easier to say "no". But today we didn't. We said yes when Camden asked if we could go the the Children's Museum. We actually didn't even bat an eye. We just said "YES". The museum sits in the heart of Pittsburgh, and today was a beautiful day to head down there. Camden had been there before on a school field trip, so he was an expert tour guide. The best part of the whole place was the water works on the top floor where the boys got to make boats, float boats, splash in water, and build their own fountains. How cool is a place like that?!

As if the day couldn't get any better...Camden asked at dinner, "Do girls like it when boys' hair sticks up?" I told him yes, if it wasn't sticking up all over. I think Camden's starting to care a little bit!!!