Recap the weekend

So, as you can tell, we are back to school at a fast and furious pace. The blog posts seem to be getting further apart. Sorry about that.

Kaelin continued her hibernation the remainder of the week and again today. She was just worn out. Every afternoon she goes straight to bed and sleeps until about 7:00 PM, wakes up briefly, then back to bed she goes.

Today, I went to pick Kaelin up at 3:40, she was asleep on Tara's couch. The TV was on, Laney was playing and Kelly was sitting next to Kaelin. But the sleepy bear did not budge. I picked her up, still asleep. I carried her to the car, still asleep. I got home and carried her up to her room, still asleep. She finally woke up at 6:30, but she could have easily gone right back to sleep. We will have to see what tomorrow brings.

On top of being in a new routine, Kaelin is also going through a growing spurt. This always causes her to be abnormally sleepy. She has grown 2 inches since May 24. WOW!!!! So at this rate, she will probably be taller than me by Christmas. (Yes... I realize this won't be that big of an accomplishment, since I am still trying to tip the 5 foot mark)

So this weekend, we went to Corsicana for Todd's Godparent's 60th wedding anniversary. No, that is not a typo... it is truly 60th. WOW!!! You don't see this kind of commitment very often anymore.

Kaelin also got to sow her redneck oats while she was in Corsicana. Todd set up his 22 gun to have a little target practice and my little Annie Oakley got her first lesson in gun safety and shooting a 22. I guess all of the squirrel shooting I have done in the backyard has worn off on Kaelin. Don't all mothers allow their 3 year old daughters to learn how to shoot a gun????

Now, depending on who you are and how in touch with your redneck side you are, this is where you either say "Ahhh, how cute..." or you say "Oh my... where in the world is this child's mother?"

Daddy...this gun shooting thing is really loud

Yes, she is wearing a very dolled up pair of overalls. You must still be cute when learning to shoot your own dinner. Kaelin was really proud of herself for learning to shoot a gun. Now they are all safely locked out of her reach. (So, don't worry)

Kaelin has gone into hibernation

I think this "Back to Work" schedule change has really taken a toll on Kaelin (me too).

Monday, I picked her up and she was a grumpy bear. I made her lay down for a little while. She immediately fell asleep at 4:45 PM. She woke up around 6:30, came down stairs and laid on the couch. She fell asleep again and slept until my alarm went off at 5:00 AM.--- Yes, I carried her upstairs and put some pajamas on her. Yes, I am the mom that let her sleep right through dinner. She woke up HUNGRY!!!

Tuesday, I was thinking she would not be quite so worn out. WRONG!!! She fell asleep in the car on the way home (4:15 PM). She finally woke up at 7:00 PM. And, yes, I did feed her dinner tonight (well Aunt Debbie made dinner).

Who knows what Wednesday will bring... I am sure another nap.

And when Kaelin is laying down taking a nap, it is only appropriate that I lay down for a little while too. Right?

Kaelin has been having such a blast playing with her friend Laney everyday. She is going to have to work on getting readjusted to our new schedule.

1 week down... 41 weeks to go

Wow... 41 weeks until Summer Break.

First week back to work...
is very tiring (even though you wonder how you can be so tired from sitting in meetings all day)
is about trying to find the routine you were in back in May.
is about trying to break the bad summer habits you formed (staying up way too late).
is about watching the 9:00 PM news rather than the 10:00 PM news.
is a little lot overwhelming.
is about eating out rather than cooking at home (mainly due to the exhaustion).
is about drinking coffee out of necessity rather than pleasure.
is about having to actually get dressed rather than throwing on a bathing suit and shorts.
is very hard on your feet that are used to wearing flip flops rather than heels.
is very exhausting even for Kaelin.

FYI... our next holiday is September 7. WOO HOO!!!

Dogs...

The Good Dog First...

Britni is home from the doggie hospital...whoooo hooo!!! I don't know who was more excited... Britni for being home or Kaelin for having Britni home. Britni is still really tired and very weak, but she is so excited about being in her own home. Although, the wild dog won't leave her alone. I guess even Moe missed her. He just won't leave her alone. He wants her to play so bad and she keeps getting a little upset with him.

Now for The Wild Dog (Moe)....

I came home today and thought I had been robbed, but nothing was gone (not even the wild dog). The house was a disaster. I have been putting Moe in his kennel when I leave in the mornings because he has absolutely NO self control. He will go pee on my clean laundry, on Kaelin's bedspread, chew up the bath toys, or tear the trash into confetti size shreds. Really, he just does whatever floats his boat at the time. (I am not joking about the wild dog part). So today, I came home and he had "busted out of prison". I am completely serious. He tore the door off of the kennel, managed to remove the roof and drug his towel out and used the bathroom on it. Yes, he is just a small Shi Tzu!!! After this little escapade, he went upstairs to poop on the floor (twice) and pee once (that I have found so far). I am guessing he is a little upset about me being back at work also or he just did not want to be in the kennel. I am beginning to run out of patience and carpet cleaner.

Britni Update

Britni is still in "doggie ICU", but she is improving.

The doctors have determined she has an infection somewhere in her body that has made her lose a lot of blood. She is still pretty weak, but getting better.

Kaelin and I went to see her yesterday and today. Kaelin is still very concerned about Britni and really wants her to be able to come home.

Yesterday: Kaelin and I brought Miss Britni some really good dog food and we were able to sit there and feed her. She ate a few bites, but that was it. Today, Britni ate earlier in the morning, so she would not eat when Kaelin and I got there. Britni was still very weak but was able to stand up for a little while.

Today: Britni was very excited to see us. She kept wagging her tail and just wanted me to hold her. She was definitely ready to come home. She still has an IV in her leg and they are still giving her injectable antibiotics.

Tomorrow: The doctors are going to run some more tests and check her blood again. If everything is looking good, we might get to take her home. We are hoping so. Kaelin keeps telling me "We can take care of Miss Britni at home." She is definitely missing her puppy.

Grrrrr....

First day back to school. Grrrr....

Although the day at school was good. Beautiful new school with a fabulous and supportive staff. This year will definitely be a great school year, but the first day of school is always hard. My day started with one obstacle after another... naturally.

These are some of the crazies that occurred today...

Last night, Britni (our female Shi Tzu), was not feeling well and then she got progressively worse during the night. She was week and could not put weight on her back legs. She also was bleeding internally somewhere. So, I was up most of the night. I would lay down for a little while, then get up and lay on the floor with Britni. This morning, she was not any better. This afternoon, I hurried home and got her to the vet (where she is right now). They are keeping her overnight to hook her to an IV. She had lost a lot of blood, but they could not find out where she was losing it. They did several tests on her, but still had no answers. So, tonight, they are doing some blood work, replenishing her lost fluids, and doing some urine tests. Please keep Britni in your prayers. Kaelin is very worried about Britni. She thinks that Moe (our male Shi Tzu) is very sad because Miss Britni is not here. She also keeps asking me when the doctors are going to bring Britni back home because she needs to sleep at home. I agree with her.

When I took Kaelin to Mrs. Tara's house today, she kept telling me how much she was going to miss me and that she really wished I would stay with her. Ahhh.... I just wanted to cry. That is just great for my first day back to school.

We did not set the coffee to make last night, so when I came downstairs there was NO coffee. Grrrrr....


Summary.... My first day back to school began with me being sleep deprived, having swollen eyes from Kaelin trying to convince me to stay with her, and having no coffee. Grrrrrr....

Luckily the part of my day spent at school was good. Although, I did catch myself nodding off during our big afternoon meeting. I think it was due to my lack of sleep and coffee, not the meeting itself.

You are all invited...

Tomorrow is my last day of summer and I am not happy about it. I have been throwing myself a pity party all week.

So, tomorrow, everyone can join in on my pity party.

Date: August 14, 2009

Time: All Day

Place: where ever you currently are

What to bring: an enormous amount of pity, a grumpy attitude (or you can borrow mine if you don't have one of your own), a lot of whine (or wine), the ability to mope around the house, and an occasional tear of sorrow
(okay, I know I have been off since June 5, but it is still not any easier)

Tomorrow will be my last day to sleep in. (Even though I don't sleep much past 6:30, I will have to begin getting up at 5:00 again)

Tomorrow is the last day for just hanging out with Kaelin all day long. (This is what I will miss the most!!)

Tomorrow is the last day for waking up and putting on a bathing suit and not changing until bedtime. (Bathing suits are out of school dress code otherwise I might try it)

Tomorrow is my last day for meeting different friends and family for lunch. (We are meeting Mrs. Mary tomorrow)

Tomorrow is my last day to sneak a nap when Kaelin is napping. (My job might not understand if I took a nap in the afternoons)


I know I will have the weekends and the occasional holiday, but since it is MY PITY PARTY I am just going to complain about all the things I am going to miss about summer. I am sure there are others in my same boat and it is no fun. I keep thinking I will win the lotto and finally get to stay at home with Kaelin, but I guess I will have to buy a ticket for this to even be an option.

I could be that person that takes the high road and looks at all of the fun things they did over the summer and what they are looking forward to during the school year, but I am not that person (at least not today, maybe tomorrow once my pity party is over).

Soccer Camp Day 3 and a playday

Oh my... how am I able to even muster up enough energy to write about our busy day. If things begin to not make sense or my words aren't spelled correct or I leave out total sections of stories, just ask me about it later. I am going to blame it on the busy, but fun day we have had.

Here is a quick run down, then I will fill in with details later.

5:30 AM- I met Aunt Debbie and Uncle Truman for a bike ride. 12 miles... oh, but there is more.

7:15-8:00 AM- made the mixture for the muddy dirt cakes (like I said, descriptions will be added later), fixed Kaelin's breakfast, drank a cup of coffee, and got Kaelin dressed for soccer.

8:05 AM- showered (due to the 12 mile bike ride), but did not have time to fix my hair or put on makeup before soccer practice.

8:14 AM- on the way to soccer, which starts at 8:30, but we made a quick detour to the store for more Oreo cookies for the dirt cakes.

8:30-9:30 AM- soccer practice

9:45-10:45 AM- made the dirt cakes, got out all of the sandwich stuff, cleaned the upstairs media room ( that looked like a tornado blew through it), changed Kaelin's clothes and kept thinking about how I was going to be able to squeeze in enough time to finally go fix my hair and put on some makeup (which never happened- even as I sit here and type this).

10:45-4:15 - Kaelin's friends arrived for our play day. We had a total of 4 mommas, 5 little girls, and 1 very out numbered little boy. We played on the water slide, ate sandwiches and chips, went swimming in the pool, ate dirt cakes, went swimming again, ate Popsicles, played in the sand and dirt, went swimming again, ate some grapes and juice, finally came inside to change clothes and begin playing with the inside toys (upstairs and downstairs).

4:30 PM- Kaelin crashed in bed for 2 hours.

5:00 PM- began making quiche and spinach with strawberries salad for dinner.

7:00 PM- dinner with leftover dirt cake for dessert.

8:00 PM- blogging about my busy day

9:00 PM- hoping to be fast asleep (or at least by 10:00)

Now for the descriptions:

Soccer went great, although Kaelin was pretty insistent on being the cheerleader today. She even asked her British coach if she could be the cheerleader (keep in mind he is a 20 year old boy from London). He said "you want to be the cheehleadeh (that is cheerleader with a British accent). Then he looked her kind of funny and said OK. So, then she started cheering every time one of her team mates would kick the ball. She would still take her turn in line, but she was the cheerleader the rest of the time.

Kaelin the cheerleader. "Go soccer boys..."

After soccer, we had a play day with several of Kaelin's friends. They had so much fun. Every kid left the house crying because they did not want to leave. I guess that means the play day was a success. Kaelin and I made muddy dirt cakes (that I mentioned earlier). We put them in little flower pots that were painted with chalkboard paint. Then we put each kids name on the pot with chalk and topped the cake with gummy worms. Here is the recipe (took the recipe from Kelly's Corner, but made some changes to it to be more our style- which translates to an insanely amount of chocolate)

Muddy Dirt Cake


Muddy dirt cake in the clay pots.


Muddy dirt cake in the trifle with Kaelin eating the "dirt" off of the top. (We did not serve this one to her friends, this one was for family, so her fingers being dug through the top of the cake was not a big deal)

1/2 c. butter (divided and softened)

1 8oz. package of cream cheese (divided and softened)

1/2 c. confectioner's sugar (divided)

1 3.5 oz. chocolate instant pudding

1 3.5 oz. vanilla instant pudding

3 1/2 c. milk (divided

1 (12 oz.) container Cool Whip (don't be cheap and get the generic)

32 oz. Oreo's (that is 2 of the 1 pound packages- but they are actually 1 pound 2 oz, so you have a little room for some Oreo sampling while you are making the cakes)

Chop the cookies in the food processor (or the Ziploc bag and a meat tenderizing hammer work almost as good).

Get out two bowls (one for the chocolate mixture and one for the vanilla mixture).
In each bowl, put 1/4 c. butter, 4 oz. of cream cheese, and 1/4 c. confectioner's sugar. Blend this together.

Add the following to each of the cream cheese mixtures: Add the pudding mixtures (vanilla in one bowl and chocolate in the other- make sure you use separate spoons and clean your beaters before changing bowls or you will end up with mud in your vanilla--- just talking from experience), 1 3/4 c. milk, 6 oz. Cool Whip.

Layer the cups or trifle with the cookies (dirt), then the mud (chocolate mixture), more mud, then clean mud (vanilla mixture), top with the remaining mud. Add gummy worms or flowers for a little added decorative touch. We put them in clay pots that had been painted with chalkboard paint, then wrote the kid's names on them with colored chalk. Although, if you put them in clay pots, I would recommend putting the actual cake mixture in a cup and set it down in the pots. Clay pots can be kind of gross and who knows where they have been prior to you trying to put food in them.

Kaelin's school friends (Laney and Anastyn). They were playing in the lip gloss.

The only boy, Bryson, at her play day. I think he was trying to swim away from all of the girls.

Kaelin's super friend Addison, who must be part fish because she spends most of her time under the water.

Ahhhhhh... this is the life...

Soccer Camp Day 2

Day 2 of soccer camp proved to be even more entertaining than day 1. Kaelin's personality came out in full force today. She paid attention a little better than yesterday, but she still treated the soccer camp as a social gathering of friends.

Kaelin and the other little girl were seriously out there discussing their clothes. They were probably suppose to be paying attention to their coach, but I guess fashion got in their way. Kaelin was showing the little girl all of the glittery soccer balls on her shirt. Of course Kaelin has cute soccer outfits with pink glittery soccer balls. You must look cute, especially if you know you will be sweating and getting stinky.

Of course my child was paying attention to every word her coach said. Even when he kept telling her to take the cones off of her head. Whose child would do that? Could not have been mine.

Okay, seriously whose child is this... what is she doing with another cone on her head. Now she is even getting the other little girl to join her in her quest for trouble. I am sure there was some point of the soccer practice where she actually paid attention.

BTW (by the way)... Kaelin took another 3 1/2 hour nap today. Soccer must really drain her. Had I known this little secret, we would have been at the soccer fields every day.

Soccer Camp Day 1

Soccer Camp started Monday...

If you have never had the privilege of watching three year olds play soccer, I highly recommend it. If nothing else, you will be rolling on the ground laughing at some of the things they do (especially if it is not your child doing those things).

Kaelin was so excited about soccer camp. In fact, she had a hard time sleeping Sunday night. But not a hard time taking a nap on Monday after soccer. That girl slept for three hours. She was completely wiped out.

There coach (Coach Mark) is from a small town about two hours outside of London. He was only 20 years old, but incredibly patient with three year olds. The kids were having a hard time understanding some of the things he would say. He just did not have that slow Texas draw that Kaelin is used to. He asked them to make a sound like a "Cah" or we would say "car" (with a lot of emphasis on the R. The kids all just looked at him, finally another parent went out and Texafied it for them so the kids would understand. I am sure the coach was thinking "what a bunch of dumb kids, they don't even know how to make a "cah" sound."

This is coach Mark in the yellow and his 3 year old soccer team eagerly waiting for him to give them their next order. (Notice... one kid sitting down, Kaelin already playing something, and yes there was a kid picking his nose. Nothing like being 3.)

They played lots of games (what else can you do with a bunch of three year olds). This game was King Crab. The kids had to keep the ball away from the snapping crab. Kaelin liked this game, but she did get her ball caught, so she had to be the crab.

Annie Oakley is in town

I have waged a war against the squirrels in my backyard. I am typically a squirrel loving (or at least liking or tolerating) person. But right now, I am at my wits end with the squirrels.

Earlier in the summer I planted about 15 tomato plants in my backyard. I am not much of a gardener, but I really love fresh tomatoes. Kaelin and I planted these tomatoes, by seed, back in December. We kept them in little cups in the kitchen until about March. Kaelin would check the plants daily to see if they needed water. So these tomatoes have kind of become a labor of love issue with us. Evidently the squirrels think I planted them for their enjoyment. The squirrels have gorged themselves on all of my tomatoes. As soon as the tomatoes began to turn red, the squirrels took them. Then when the red ones were all gone, they went on to the green ones. We have no more tomatoes and way too many FAT squirrels.

So, today, Todd went to Wal-mart and bought me a BB gun. Since I have never shot a gun or had any desire to shoot a gun, he had to give me some lessons in the backyard. (There are a lot of steps required just to get one little BB out of the gun).

I don't think the gun is powerful enough to kill the squirrels (because that is not really my intentions). I just want to give them a good sting so they will remember it the next time they think about coming near my garden.

My fear...


The garden runs along the side and back of our above ground swimming pool, so I can just see myself trying to shoot at a squirrel and putting a BB through the side of the pool. That could be a HUGE mess.

Trip to Nannie and Pawpaw's House

Yesterday, Kaelin and I drove to Woodville to spend the day with Nannie and Pawpaw. We had such a great time. We don't get to spend near as much time with them as we would like to. I am always saying that Kaelin is at the age where traveling has become very easy. When she was little, I was convinced we were going to need a U-haul just to carry all of the gear she had. But now I have decided, the gear she had has just been exchanged for different gear. Not necessarily less stuff, just different stuff. Just to go for a visit, we had to pack one full bag of Kaelin's clothes (with 4 different pairs of shoes- that Kaelin felt the need to bring), one full bag of inflatable toys, life jacket, arm floaties, etc., one bag of beach towels, one bag of my bathing suit, cover up, etc., and one cooler with drinks and some little snacks. Plus the car load of toys that Kaelin kept insisting on bringing. She said her baby dolls really wanted to go see Nannie and Pawpaw also. So, (leaving one hour later than planned due to the need for a U-Haul or at least an SUV) we were on our way to see Nannie and Pawpaw.

Pawpaw made us some yummy hamburgers when we got there and Nannie made my absolute favorite cake, Chocolate Sheet Cake. I could probably eat almost the entire thing by myself (although I will try not to).

After lunch, Kaelin could hardly wait to get her bathing suit on and head out to the lake. Kaelin had so much fun swimming around in the lake. She wore her arm floaties, but she kept telling Nannie "Watch me swim..." and then she would say "I am very good at swimming." She just loved it.

The swimming really wore Kaelin out because once we got out, she began going downhill pretty fast. She was getting so sleepy. But not sleepy enough that she could not go dig in the dirt with a shovel and pail. Then she took Pawpaw on a tour of the yard. She kept telling him "let's go here, now let's go here..."

After touring the yard, digging up all the dirt she could find, we finally decided it was about time to leave so we would not get home too late. Nannie gave Kaelin a little set of Wizard of Oz dolls. Kaelin would not let them go while we were in the car (that is the box in her hands in the picture). I tried taking it out of her hands several times, but she would immediately wake up and start crying. She would ask where her babies were and would not stop crying until she had the box back in her hands. Kaelin got in the car and was asleep within 10 minutes. She slept the entire way home and stayed asleep while I unloaded the car. I finally had to wake her up to come into the house. She was wiped out....

Nannie sent us home with some of the chocolate sheet cake. Kaelin looked at me and said "Mommy, you can share with me, right?" I said "I probably could and probably should, but I don't know if I will." (that is how much I truly love this cake). So, this is my breakfast this morning. (Kaelin is still asleep, so I am not having to share.)

Warning... Gross things

I am giving you fair warning. The following stories are a little gross, but also a little funny. Anyone that knows me, knows that I would prefer to share gross stories at dinner time. I think I do it because I like to see Todd's reaction. He is always saying things like "could that not have waited?" or "Do you save up these stories just for dinner?" (secretly, the answer is yes, I do save these stories for dinner)

Gross Story 1: We had Trip stay the day with us today, so Trip and Kaelin were playing in the pool. (I did not even get any pictures, shame on me). I had my bathing suit on in the backyard (NO... that is not the gross part). I did not get in the pool, I just pulled some weeds in the flower beds. When we came in the house, I helped Kaelin change out of her wet bathing suit. I went to tuck her into bed for a nap. She said "Mom, why are you so wet?" I said "because we just got out of the swimming pool." She said "But you did not go swimming with us." I had to stop and think about it. She was right, I did not get in the pool. So why was I so wet. I was honestly that sweaty. Sweaty enough that I really could have just gotten out of the pool. Once I realized that, I had to hurry to clean up and change clothes. It was truly hot outside, but that was EXTREMELY GROSS to be that incredibly sweaty.

Gross Story 2: (which involves #2- how appropriate) Kaelin was getting ready to take a nap, so I asked her if she needed to go to the bathroom before she laid down. She said yes. She was sitting there just talking non stop (something she does when she is trying to avoid acknowledging just how tired she is). She told me the poo poo's were sleeping, but the tee tee's were not so they could come out. Then she said "shh, can you hear that?" I said "no". She said "It is some poo poo's that are talking. The talking poo poo's have to come out so they don't wake up the sleeping poo poo's". I was trying not to laugh because I knew that would just put her on the stage she was looking for. So I went over to help her wipe. She got off of the potty and said, "look mom, it is the talking poo poo" Then she looked at me and said "It really does not look like a poo poo, it looks like a mashed potato." So I really did start laughing when she said that. We had seriously just carried on a conversation about poop.

Gross Story 3: The other day Kaelin and I were at the grocery store and I caught her eating the ice that was in the seafood cooler. It has been a few days ago, so she has not come down with some strange disease or grown a third eye ball. But really, can you think of anything more disgusting than that? I thought I was going to throw up right in the store. (That might have been slightly more repulsive.)

Enough of the gross stories for now, but I promise to share more later. I have PLENTY!!!

Just the girls...

We had a "just the girls" day!

These are my kind of days. Kaelin and I picked up Mamaw and took her with us to play "pamper the princess".

Mamaw got her nails done, while Kaelin and I both jumped straight into the pedicure chairs.

The nail place we went to today had absolutely the cutest kids pedicure chair in the world. It was pink with big butterfly wings. It even had a DVD player for the princess to watch as she was being pampered. It was really awesome. I was a little jealous because my chair was not quite as glamorous, but the pedicure was still great.

In honor of the big butterfly chair, Kaelin even got some fancy butterflies painted on her toes. I did not get any cool decorations on my toes. I figure I have to go back to work in a little over a week (sobbing) and I don't want to have my toes looking too ghetto with all the bling.

when 5 minutes turns into 2 hours

Have you ever had one of those days or tried to complete one of those tasks where you thought you would be spending maybe 5 minutes completing it, just to find out that your "5 minutes" has just turned into hours?

I often have these kinds of days. My multi-tasking abilities are fading and my ability to not fully complete any tasks are on a steady incline. Is it age... is it having a three year old... who knows?

I got this bright idea after cleaning up the dinner dishes... I thought I would run some vinegar through the coffee pot to clean it. Sounds simple, right?

So I put the vinegar in the coffee pot.

But, I fill it way TOO FULL...

It overflows onto the counter, which then goes all behind the refrigerator.

I have to get Todd to help move the refrigerator.

I began cleaning up the water with a towel and quickly realized a few towels were not going to get this mess cleaned.

I go get the vacuum cleaner and begin sucking up all the water.

I notice some MONSTER dust bunnies trying to sneak out of the vent on the refrigerator.

So, I begin taking off all of the vents and cleaning the monster bunnies.

I mop behind the refrigerator.

I take the front vents off and vacuum them.

I take the cleaner and spray all of the spots on the refrigerator. (some requiring some intensive scrubbing)

Finally, I am able to put the refrigerator back.

So, back to my original task of cleaning the coffee pot. (1 1/2 hours later)

The vinegar runs through the coffee pot.

I pour it back in and run it through again.

Then I begin running a couple of pots of water through it to get rid of the vinegar smell.

Then, all of the steam causes the clock on the coffee pot to get moisture in it and quite working.

Now, time for a new coffee pot, clock not working and the inside of the coffee pot is repulsive (don't ever open your coffee pot up and do any type of serious inspecting because you will end up in my boat)

Now my house smells like we have been dying Easter eggs, my automatic timer and clock don't work (so this means no coffee waiting for me when I walk down the stairs) and even if we did have coffee in there, I don't think I could drink it since I now know what lies at the bottom of the pot.

Points to my story...
5 minutes is never 5 minutes.
There are some things you are much better not knowing.
Dust bunnies can grow to a scary size.
Vinegar does not REALLY clean the coffee pot... It might help, but it will still be repulsive in the end.
I am very grumpy in the morning without my sludgy coffee waiting for me.

HAPPY MONDAY MORNING!!!!

Twins birthday party

Saturday, we went to the twins (Annie Kate and Kole) birthday party. It was a SUPER cute party. Kristen did a fabulous job at picking out the cake, food to be served, and the adorable coordinating outfits the twins were wearing. The twins outfits matched their cake, which matched their birthday crowns, which matched their personalized napkins, which matched their appliqued happy birthday banner (that was made by the talented Memaw). Even the cute party favors (Double Bubble bubble gum... how cute is that for twins) matched the whole theme.

You know how I LOVE birthday parties and cute themes, so of course I was taking it all in and loving every minute of it.



Things to ponder...

why do you only get "your very own birthday cake" when you turn one?



why is it inappropriate to just plow through your birthday cake at any other birthday party than your one year party? (Heck... everyone even cheers when you get birthday cake all in your hair and all over your face at your first birthday)

Kaelin had an absolute BLAST... She ran around that house like she was a horse at the horse track. She and Pace played pretty hard. (So hard that we did not even make it to the end of the street before she fell asleep in the car... and I finally had to wake her up to eat dinner at 7:45 PM).

We really enjoyed getting to see Vicky. We don't get to see her very often, so it is extra special when we get to hang out with her for the day. She played "tea party" with Kole and Kaelin. I guess Annie Kate is training Kole right, because he is pretty good at playing tea party.

Anniversary Dinner

Friday night, we had Mrs. Mary and Mr. Ken over for an anniversary dinner. There actual anniversary is August 19th (I think). They will have been married 40 years. wow!!!!

40 years is hard to imagine.

Both sets of my grandparents have celebrated their 50th wedding anniversaries. That is even MORE WOW than 40.

These are just things that are not as common today. It is hard to find people that have even been married 10 years, much less 40 and 50.

Congratulations to Mary and Ken. After accomplishing this task, you now get to look forward to the next milestone. (Maybe one of your kids will finally give you some grandchildren. Maybe even the triplets that we think Kendra is so suited for.)