Worst miscommunication of my LIFE

Went to have a little pedicure last night and the lady (as they always do) asked if I would like a manicure t00 - my answer was no. I told her however that I would like a brow wax. Here's where the communication issue comes into play - she asked if I would like a little cleaned up here and there and I said sure. The next thing I knew she was smearing hot wax down the entire left side of my face! Who in the world has ever heard of an entire face wax!!!!! My friends who are logical people asked - Why didn't you tell her to stop? I don't really see this as a process you can stop half way through. After almost 30 minutes I emerge and my WHOLE face is red (including my forehead) again who knew??? She also spread some sort of slimy goo all over my face and my not so understated Mom sees me and asks "What the hell happened to you?" It was a good laugh last night until my face started itching today and now I have white bumps all over my face! I look like I spent the night in the middle of mosquito country.

Thank God I telecommute. Of course, that doesn't stop me from sharing the story with the entire world.

The Ups and Downs of The Big K

Once Upon a Time. In a little county far far away.... a boy went to Kindergarten and....
He ate a BIG Breakfast of waffles and bacon because there are no snacks at school *What!*
He got his yellow bus ticket and stood proudly on the front steps ready for his journey






















He waited with his Mom & Grandmom at the bus stop for a long time (45 minutes to be exact)! Then Mom went to work and to answer the infamous question - No crying... but some worry!


At the end of a very long day (did I mention no snack) the little boy arrived safely home AND



He made a dash for the front door and wouldn't even look back at his Mom calling out to him. When they reached the door he opened it looked back with tears rolling down his face and said "Mommy..... I missed you". NOW that tugged at my heartstrings! They seem so Big and really they are just tiny.... it's hard to remember that sometimes.

We made it all better by celebrating with ice cream.... until..... tomorrow!

That Darn Bella

Her ability to shock and amaze me never ends.

Unfortunately her height far exceeds her common sense. I went out and bought those great fruit flavored super hero labeled vitamins to make taking vitamins a pleasant experience. It worked all too well.... little girl is now addicted. She searches for them everywhere and today she managed to climb to the tallest shelf in the house and grabbed what she thought was a prized possession, but unfortunately it was Mucinex.

I REFUSE to call poison control for a third time on top of our little jumpy jumpy on the bed urgent care incident, so I will be going to the good old Walmart to purchase a lock box for the medicine. Give me strength or at least 3 minutes to go to the bathroom without an incident!

Putting Things in Perspective

Some times I look at my son and really wonder if he will ever have the skills to make it in big world (but really, most of us think this about our husbands, so I remind myself that it is ingrained and some day he will have a wife to take care of him too). Situations such as the "let's go, put on your shoes"...."I can't do it.... I'm too tired" confirm this feeling most days. Well today I finally learned that he has a lot of skills such as deductive reasoning, forethought, dexterity and primarily leadership. Below is the overheard conversation between Grandson and Grandmom playing the Star Wars video game (which I do not even have the skills to play):
Grandson: Come on Momma play with me
Grandmom: O.k ( this is part of her job description as the "Daytime Watcher of the Children")
Grandson: Follow-me! We're going down to the beach (leadership and deductive reasoning because he has somehow figured out how to get out of the room they were trapped in)
Grandomom: Frustrated "I can't do it" (somehow roles have reversed)
Grandson: Yes you can FOLLOW ME! (leadership)
Grandmom: I'm falling into the water
Grandson: No you're not just swim! (leadership is apparently his dominate trait)
Grandmom: I'm a lost cause
Grandson: "O.k." (empathy/sympathy)
Grandmom: Are you pushing me off of the cliff???
Grandson: Devilish laugh... [Apparently he has learned how to eliminate the weakest link on his team!]
*******I would attach a picture, but Grandmom would kill me this early in the morning*****

Grandmom's Kitchen

I decided to start adding all of the recipes that my maternal Grandmother collected over the years and to blog them over there on the right. Food and my Grandmother will have this connection in my head forever, so I wanted to share her recipes with all of our friends and family. I opened the bag of recipes and could actually smell her house. The contents of the bag smelled like her and of course Rolaids. The smell is so saturated in the bag that every time I open it I have to take a moment and stick my nose in the bag just to smell her - it's amazing how smell and memories are so intertwined. I hope you enjoy the site and cherish all of the memories that accompany these recipes. I have already received one request for her snickerdoodle and meltaway cookies. I'll post requests first so keep 'em coming.

Good Friends, Rainbows and more...tomatoes

On Friday night Gavin and I packed our bags and headed to Aberdeen to visit our friends. We had a great time catching up and chilling out. We had a wonderful dinner (not just because no one complained about eating "yucky" food) and a couple glasses of vino - some more than others (not to mention any husband names that happen to reside in my household).

On Sunday we saw a beautiful rainbow and the kids were so excited. Mommy also took a 2.5 hour yoga workshop and was feeling great until she fell down the water slide, C'est La Vie.

Slippery Slides, Tomatoes-a-Plenty and Deep Discussions

Fed-Ex arrived very early this morning with our new water slide! We waited all day to put it up and then it rained, but soon it cleared and chaos ensued. The kids had a blast on the new slide. FINALLY something that they both can enjoy together. We can't wait for the Back to School BBQ so everyone can take part in the fun!

After the slide my dear Hubby and son trapped a poor innocent baby frog in a jar. They were so excited to bring it into the house to show Mommy who didn't quite share in their enthusiasm. With strict instructions from Mom - "That thing better not be here after you leave for work in the morning - I am not kidding"! All I could imagine was being ALONE in the house drinking my coffee to find an EMPTY glass jar on my son's bookshelf. I draw the line!

Then Son and Mom have a deep discussion while admiring our home-grown tomatoes - it went something like this:
Mom- Look at this tomato (holing up funny looking heirloom tomato) Have you ever seen one like this?
Son - All the time when I was a baby with my Grandpa. He made them all day.
Mom - Really, where does Grandpa live?
Son - In Sydney!
Mom - Your Grandpa actually lives in Montana - Do you know where that is?
Son - (Very Proudly) Right next to Sydney.
Mom - O.k. - Did you know that Mommy's Grandpa is in heaven?
Son - In Heaven with God? I was there when I was a baby... I helped God build a city!
Mom - Was it Sydney?
Son - No other people built Sydney!!!! (with hands on hips)

More next time - We are heading out on Friday for a Mommy and Daddy night with some of our long time friends who moved to TX and our dear friends Linda and Kurt. Needless to say we are bringing homemade salsa... It should be fun!

Date Night

My dear husband is always thinking of new and fun things for us to do. This month he suggested "date night" where we would put the kids to bed and then make dinner together. Our menu was Pesto with Shrimp and Linguine along with bruschetta - Yum! Hubby took the kids off to bed and I started the prep for dinner. In the process of getting everything out I totally forgot about the bread under the broiler and much to my surprise it was on FIRE in the oven -smoke alarms and all. While it seemed like an ideal opportunity for a fire drill I decided to pass and yell upstairs that all was fine. I then opened the back door to find out that the bottom hinge had come apart and the door could no longer shut. This was pretty poor timing since all of the rain from the storm was now blowing into our kitchen. Needless to say I was soaking wet by the time I finished fixing the door. Hubby then comes downstairs to find burnt bread and a soaking wet wife. I don't think this is how he pictured the evening.

Things were great once I changed and the smoke literally settled. We enjoyed preparing our feast while we sipped a little wine and caught up on what was going on with this and that. Back to the meal - we made pesto with our fresh home grown basil and brucschetta with our just picked tomatoes. The best part was that we were able to eat in peace and quiet.

I'll fill you in on date night next month but I don't think we can top the antics of this one though!

A Day at the Park with Will and Adam

Today we ran into our friend Will and his son Adam at the park. Will commented that he logs into my little part of the net every now and then to find that nothing has changed here. Well my hubby as promised that he will help me with this page and make it pretty. Hang tight! BTW - I loaded this blog and these pictures all by myself.

So what have we done this Summer??? Well, Garrett played T-Ball for the first season and may I say that his team was unofficially undefeated since we are not suppose to keep score. We also went to Topsail Island, NC for a week and that is where the photo of Gavin and the kids was taken. Sarah loved it and she must have been disappointed to learn that we did not actually move to the beach. Garrett enjoyed himself, but was happy to get home to all of his toys. Other than that we have spent a lot of time in the pool, at the beach and just generally enjoying the Summer.

Garrett also had the coolest Star Wars birthday party. It was a hot day, but my dear brother lent us his inflatable waterslide and saved the day. I also learned that it takes forever to make 25 tiny Tie Fighters to go around the cool Death Star that my friend Amy baked up.

How about you - anything fun going on this Summer?