Happy Birthday, Baby Girl!

4 years ago, our little girl arrived.



Happy Birthday, Princess!
We love you!

I think I blushed a thousand shades of red

The other night I spent the evening on my best girlfriend's couch, laughing the evening away.

Lately our conversations have taken a different turn, and I know much more about her than I ever thought possible (and don't get me wrong, this is not a complaint - it's just that she opened up a door and I've had to pick my jaw off the floor a couple times. Well, maybe not. Because I don't shock that easily.)

So, her husband walks in and announces that he's going upstairs to shower. We continue our discussion (at this point another girlfriend had also come over and joined us) and then I hear the water running upstairs.

At this particular moment adult ADD kicked in, and I couldn't focus on anything. Fearing that I'd be asked a question or that I was sitting there with my eyes glazed over, I interrupted and apologized for my bout with ADD and announced that all I could think about was the fact that my girlfriend's husband was upstairs. Naked. In the shower.

She took it like a sport, and just said "And he's right above where you are sitting, too!", to which I looked at the ceiling and felt the warmth rush across my face.

Even with it being completely non-sexual (I wasn't picturing him naked - just distracted by the thought that he was upstairs naked), I still blushed a thousand shades of red.

Hold My Hand

When my son was about 2, he enjoyed being "free" in the stores; no stroller, no shopping cart. Just being able to walk and use those legs for what they were intended.

Except he didn't always want to hold a hand (honestly, who can blame a kid with the height differences -- either the adult is hunched over or the kid has their arm upwards -- it really can't be that comfortable), so we bought one of these:



It was a simple device that we wore on our wrist, and he wore on his. It gave him enough distance to be "free", but kept him near enough that we knew he was safe.

When I was pregnant with my daughter, my folks and I went to Babies R Us to browse, and my dad and my son were tethered together with the Hold My Hand device. My mom and I were shopping while the boys were browsing by the baby furniture.

Imagine my dad's surprise when he sees a small figure run past him, and when he turns and looks -- there's the other end of the Hold My Hand device connected to a dresser knob.

Needless to say, that device didn't get much use after that.

The Things Kids Say

Someone or something was irritating me the other day and apparently I was yelling about it in the car.

From the backseat, my son pipes up:

"Don't blow your socks off, Mom!"

The Things Kids Say

The other day we had some errands to run, and I was anxious to get us all of out of the house at a decent time in the morning.

Mike disappeared and I asked my daughter where Daddy was. She told me he was downstairs playing Wii. Well, that is totally unacceptable when we've got things to do, and he's not even dressed! I told her to go downstairs and tell him to "get the show on the road". She does, and she comes back upstairs by herself.

I ask where he's at. She tells me still downstairs.

So I say "Go back down there and tell him that mommy said she's going to kick his ass"

She looks at me and says:

"I can't. Then he'll be pissed off!"

There Once Was A Man From Nantucket...

...who had a...

Nevermind. We'll do the dirty nursery rhymes another day.

Somehow I lost track of time. I'd say I've been busy doing all sorts of fantabulous things, but then I would be lying.

For the most part, the last week has been rather ho-hum. Nothing much to write about, nothing truly witty to say, and I wasn't feeling particularly snarky.

School is wrapping up here soon (next Tuesday is the last day), and we've officially welcomed in summer - at least temperature wise. I think we surpassed 90 degrees yesterday. I fear for what July and August might be like. We've had some crazy storms, too, and we're all hoping that we don't have to go out chasing storage sheds and gazebos in the middle of the night.

So, we're keeping busy doing the normal summer activities; going for walks, sitting outside while the kids ride bikes, playing baseball, playing in the sprinkler.

And planning for our upcoming shindigs; the Princess's ballerina birthday party, a Dove chocolate tasting party, and a backyard beach party! Not to mention the family vacation to Disney World this fall!

Which means, there should be plenty of pictures to share in the coming months! Oh, and that reminds me ... I do have some from when we went to Lake Geneva, WI that I want to post! (scroll down for those!)

Our Day Trip to Lake Geneva, WI

June 1, 2008 we took a day trip as a family up to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. It was a gorgeous day!

We walked around, enjoyed the sights and had lunch.





My son decided to eat green eggs & ham when we stopped to eat:



It looked nasty, but he gobbled it up!

We had a good time. The kids got to pick some treats, we bought some gourmet popcorn & fudge and just enjoyed the outdoors.

Prize Winners for the '08 Boob-A-Thon

Alright, it's prize time!!

Everyone was assigned a number (pretty much bottom photo started at 1 and worked it's way to the top which was 40), I used the integer generator and got myself 6 numbers. Those 6 random numbers were numbered 1-6 respectively, and then I used the generator again to see which prize would be awarded to whom.

So, I proudly present to you, the 2008 Snarkalicious Boob-A-Thon Winners!!!!

Kristabella and Candace each won a breast cancer awareness ribbon purse charm!!

Catscratch Diva won a large breast cancer awareness car magnet!!

Rebecca won a small breast cancer awareness car magnet!!

April won a breast cancer pin!!

And last but not least, Turnbaby wins the candy, pink gum, and pink playing cards lot!!

If you are a winner, contact me and let me know your snail mail so I can get your prizes out to you!!!

Thank you all so much for participating!! It was so much fun, and I think it was a huge success!!!

Overall, between my donation, and contributions by Rob and Sage, the Snarkalicious Boob-A-Thon raised $300!!!!

Jules is so very thankful, and she's now raised 56% of her goal so that she can walk!

Thank you all again, so very much! You all truly rock! Thanks for sharing your rack!

The Things Kids Say

While playing outside the other day, my daughter asked me to put on her "lily pads".

There she was, handing me her elbow & knee pads so she could ride her scooter.

Yeah...I don't know where that came from, but it's darn cute!

100 Things About Me - Part 10

91. Wrigley Field is one of the greatest places on Earth.

92. I am hopeful that 2008 is THE year for the Cubs.

93. I recently revamped my photography website, but am still not 100% happy with it.

94. My brother and sister are 13 & 12 years older than me.

95. I love hoola hooping on Wii Fit.

96. My first Wii Fit age I was given was 44. I have since gotten the Wii Fit age of 25.

97. My 10-year high school reunion is in September 2008, and I'm actually looking forward to it.

98. I'd rather have a calendar full of things to do ahead of time rather than making plans as I go.

99. I'll be seeing NKOTB in concert in October 2008. This will be the 2nd time I've seen them. The first time was when I was like 11.

100. I actually found it to be much harder than you'd think to come up with 100 unique, interesting things about myself. Thank goodness that's over with!

The Things Kids Say

My daughter dashes over to me and exclaims:

"MOM! There's two robbers in the backyard!"

"Robbers!?", I asked.

"Yeah, you know .... red robbers."

Took me a minute -- but we're not dealing with bandits wearing red. Instead, we're talking about Robins - as in the bird - with red breasts.

Nice People Really Do Still Exist

This weekend was gorgeous, so we took advantage and went up to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin for the day yesterday.

As we were driving, I noticed someone up ahead standing at the side of the road, holding a sign. We got closer and I could read, "Will work for Food"

Just as I read the sign, the car in front of us pulled over, and an arm comes out holding a big bag of McDonald's.

It was an elderly gentleman holding the sign, and as I witnessed this exchange, my eyes filled with tears.

The man smiled, and I also noticed he had written "God Bless" on the sign.

My camera was sitting next to me the entire time....how I wish I could have captured that exchange on film.

Nice people with good hearts really do exist. We can't just give up on the human race yet.