A Favorite...

Interesting...

My first thought is, "This isn't right."

My second thought is, "If I was 10, I would BEG my mom to get me a flipper."

And my last thought is, 'Better not show Jack...he would want one ASAP!"

What do you think?

You can check them out here:  http://www.finfunmermaid.blogspot.com/

PS:  I decided to show Jack the web-site to see if I know him as well as I think I do. 

He looked at the tail and asked if it was a dolphin tail. 

 "Yep," I told him. 

He then said, "If you wear one you would look kind-of silly." 

 "Yep," I said.

"Can you order me one?"

Yep, I still know him well!

Little Things...

In our busy  life, I have to remind myself to enjoy and remember the little things in life!
(pretty deep...huh!?)

The boys putting on a magic show!

My petunias are still alive even after all this heat.

Going over to a friend's house and the ice-cream truck shows up 15 minutes later!

Taking nap in the middle of the afternoon.

Having the boys do our make-up and hair. (don't ask!)

and fuzzy caterpillars.

Nice...

We are talking about getting a trampoline and I would totally do this!

(if it was about 60-65 degrees that night, I didn't have to sleep by Sam, bless his heart, who grinds his teeth, there were no bugs, coyotes eating rabbits or deer being scared out of the woods...oh and I wouldn't sleep that close to the woods.)

Other than that, I would totally be up to sleeping on the trampoline!

Then the next day I would sell the trampoline so no one would get broken bones or hurt!

My Followers...

I go this email from my  mom last night...I actually laughed out loud. 

I waited until the end of the day to sign in..... Still was the first.
I am sure that everyone else was busy today.

love you...mom

Bless her heart!!  It reminds me of when I had just broken up with a boyfriend before Valentine's Day and she told me that she would be my Valentine.  I am so happy (and blessed) that I can always count on my mom!!

Miss Bananas..

About a month ago, Jack's only little girl monkey, Bananas, was "attacked" by Moose.
It was the first (and so far only) stuffed animal that Moose has gotten ahold of. She actually ripped Bananas apart pretty well before I walked in on her and grabbed Bananas. Unfortunately, most of the stuffing was out of Bananas, her head had been removed from her body, one ear had been removed from her head and the back of her head was, well, basically gone...along with the other ear. Jack was very sad...tears and all. He even asked me, "Do you think God will take care of my little girl?" (sniff sniff.)

Well, Nanny-Who-Can-D- Everything (AKA my mom) came over to the rescue. She took Bananas to intensive care (aka: her house.) We are now glad to say, that Bananas is out of intensive care and is back with her Jack-a-Roo!

Banana now has a funky monkey hat (to complete the back of her head!)
Her poor little right hand was also mended...she now has a permanent hang-ten...with her thumb and pinkie.

Her lone ear was able to be saved. She has a big smile on her face, but you are not able to see it due to it now being tucked under her chin! (maybe later she could get a face-lift!)

Here you can see the dramatic scar above her nose, which was ripped wide open. (gruesome, huh!)
Nanny also added a funky banana earring...actually it's added to her cheek because it is not hanging from her lone ear. (heehee)

Jack was very happy for his reunion with Bananas and has been very careful to keep her out of reach of the big red head!!

Followers...

As you can see, I have added a new gadget on the left side of my blog named "Followers."  If you follow me regularly, I would love to know...just click on the "follower" link and go from there. Thanks!!!

PLEASE someone add that you follow me...how embarrassing if I don't have any followers besides my mom.

 (No offense mom, but you kind-of have to follow me. smiles!!)

Sam's Tri...

Sam has spent the last couple of months training for his first kids triathlon. Saturday was the day for the race...

The race was to start at 8:30am. We got up nice an early to get ready. My sister even joined us for the excitement.

"7" has always been my lucky number and it is my "follow" number. I have a "7" in my phone number, my driver's license number ,my license plate, the first three letters in my address equals 7, Jack was born in the 7th month, I was married in the 7th month on the 17th, I was born in 1970, Sam was born on the 16 (1+6=7), Jason was born on the 17th, and much more, but you get the idea. (Do you have a "follow" number...start thinking - I bet you do!)
So, can you imagine my excitement when Sam's number was "77!" Can't get any better than that!

Why the 9...that's his age. Jack enjoyed announcing how old everyone was as we walked around and WAITED and WAITED for the race to begin. If you remember Saturday morning, it rained and rained, so the race officials kept putting the race off for 30 minutes, and then 30 minutes more....

and 30 minutes more, and 30 minutes more....Sam waited for 3 1/2 hours until they finally cancelled the race due to weather.

Sam was pretty bummed that it was cancelled, but he got some cool t-shirts and new "gear."
Maybe next year....on the 7th!!

Another Celebration...

Since my mom and dad where out of town for father's Day, we recently got together to have a late father's day celebration.

Mom had picked up some sweet corn, so we shucked out back.

The boys had yet to experience this "tradition." Jack jumped right in!

Sam enjoyed the process, too!

All the shuckers!

Jack wasn't to sure about eating the corn, but enjoyed licking off the salt and butter.

A picture with the grand boys...

..and, of course, one with Moosie May!

A rare photo of "all the kids."

Another successful celebration...I don't need to plan another event until thanksgiving..which is right around the corner!
(I wouldn't mind some of that cool November air right now!)

A Little Imagination...

I made the bold step to tell the boys they cannot watch TV or plug-in until after lunch. Has is worked perfectly...absolutely not...but life is about making exceptions! Actually, they have done pretty well.
We are getting block placed around a flower bed, so it is all dug out...waiting for the block to be placed. The boys thought this would be the perfect area to put the hose and flood the "moat." They brought out Jack's Imaginex boats and spent over 5 hours playing!

Moose kept a close eye on all the activities. (The boys just play around her!)

We have tons of these little frog-toads hoping around...I think they must come up from our 2 inch deep creek.

Can you spot the frog-toad stow-away on the boat?

A pirate island right in my marigolds!

Moose thinking that the best punishment for these pirates would be a ride in her mouth!!

Oh the Heat...

I believe the heat is getting the best of everyone.  Here is how we have been coping these last few days...

When we did our remodeling, our contractor took our two of the three cold air returns.  Well, that has proven very hot due to the fact, that the one return just isn't large enough to keep the upstairs cool.  It gets so warm upstairs by night, that the boys have been sleeping on the main floor.

Jack built himself a fort in the sun room.

Complete with blankets, monkeys and a fan blowing right on him.

Sam sleep on an air mattress in the front room, right under the ceiling fan.  Jack joins Sam in the morning for cartoon watching!

Moose gets ice-cubes in her water which, as Jack states, makes it an extra cold yummy drink.

But sometimes a cold chilly drink just doesn't do the trick....

Happy Pirate Party!

Jack had a few friends over on Saturday to help him celebrate his sixth birthday with a Pirate party!

Here's the "entry" table...

where the kiddos got a pirate hat, sword and a goodie bag with eye patches, tattoos, earring and necklaces.

They walked the plank...

"ARRR!"

A group shot of all the pirates!

Jack and all his hair.  My mom helped me sew vests (an idea from a friend) and i tore red fabric into sashes.

Jason was Blackbeard.

Sam grew some chest hair!

Sam lead the little pirates on a treasure hunt.  What's Blackbeard doing in the background...is he seriously checking his messages during the party?  Busted!

Opening presents...with friends and Moose!

Time for the pinata...

We hung it from the basketball hoop. Of course, we could not get it to bust, so I took a whack at it and the body came off from the head...so, no candy came out.  Had to go to the "old fashion" way of just shaking the candy out of the body.

After Jack opened presents I said, Jack, what do you tell your friends?"
"I LOVE MY BIRTHDAY PARTY!" he said.
Perfectly stated.