30 Days of Thankfulness - Day 2

I am thankful for a husband who knows how to and enjoys cooking. He puts together the yummiest dinners and desserts from random things in the kitchen. It was SO good tonight. He keeps us well fed. Tonight was a taco pasta salad type thing. I'm really hoping the boys finish it off because it's REALLY yummy and I'd probably eat the whole thing if it's left in my refrigerator.

30 Days of Thankfulness - Day 1

Today I am thankful for the giggles from the wrestling match in my living room. All four boys are trying to pin Daddy. I love that my husband can enjoy getting on the floor and playing with his boys.

Still Here

So, it's been a VERY long time since I've posted anything. For a while, I had very little positive to say. So, I kept my crankiness to myself. Then, it had been so long that the thought of posting again seemed overwhelming. Now, I've decided I don't have to have big, important posts and just need to take baby steps to get back into the swing of things.

In that vein, I'm posting about my nails. I love getting my nails done. There's just something calming and centering about my nails looking good. Unfortunately, my budget doesn't love my sculptured nails as much as I do. I decided I would try it myself. Here's my first ever attempt at doing my own sculptured nails.

They are by no means perfect but I think it's a good start. I had a lot of fun doing it, too. FYI: I used Finger Paints polishes- Picasso's Puce and Key To My Art.

Crazy birds

Unfortunately, I have no pics for this. We were too much in shock to think of a camera at the time.

Yesterday was an INSANE day. Luckily, Ginney was here to help with stuff. Kelvin went out to check the mail. He felt something hit his head. He thought it was weird but just got the mail. As he was coming back in, he tried to figure out what it could have been. Then, he remember that we have a bird nest over our entryway. He looked on the porch for any signs, to no avail. He opened the door and there was an adolescent bird sitting in front of the door.

At this point, I hear, "Uhm, we have a problem. There's a bird." My initial reaction was, "Duh." We keep getting rid of the nest and it keeps coming back. Then, he says, "...in the house." It was so surreal. Ginney and I kinda looked at each other and the only thing either of us could say was, "What?" There was no flapping or anything and it took a while to process it.

At this point, the bird was in the corner behind the door and apparently stunned. It wasn't moving at all. Some of you know that I have an aversion to birds. They're dirty and unpredictable. They can peck your eyes out with their little beaks or claw you. (I didn't say it was reasonable.) Apparently, Gin has the same issues. So, Ginney, Kelvin and I are all standing at least 10 feet from this little bird. I tried to walk toward it to assess the situation. I got about 3 steps closer and had to back up. It was really pathetic.

So, Ginney has the idea that since it's still stunned, we can use the broom to get it on the dust pan to take it back out. Brilliant idea but not one of us could get close enough to execute it. So, Ginney suggest we call animal control because there is a wild animal in the house. Not prepared to look like a complete idiot in front of a stranger, I call Daddy. Mom answered the phone. In not so many words, she agrees that we're all pathetic. She finally asks if maybe Sammy can handle. I ask him. He walks to the front door, looks down at the little bird, looks at me with a raised eyebrow, shakes his head and goes to the other room. Mom finally says, "You're interrupting his movie but Dad's on his way."

While we're waiting for Daddy, we keep the door open just enough so if he so decides, the bird can get out. Then the bird flaps his wings and Kelvin squeaks. We all give a nervous laugh. Ginney grabs my That's-A-Bowl (my favorite mixing bowl) and says to give it to Kelvin. Kelvin can get closer than we can. My initial reaction was, "NO FREAKIN' WAY!" She calmly asked if I would prefer a bird flying around my house. I reluctantly handed it to Kelvin with instructions to just put it over the bird in an emergency situation. So, now Kelvin is standing with the broom in his right hand and the giant bowl in his left- quite the image.

Luckily, Daddy only lives about 4 blocks away and got here quickly. He brought a net with him and came in caught the bird and took it out. The whole process took him about 30 seconds. We thanked him and he went home. I'm so glad that my parents live so close and are willing to come over and help me when I'm being neurotic.

Next time you see Kelvin, you'll have to ask him for the re-enactment. He's quite funny.

Father's Day & candy & Rion

For Father's Day, the boys took all their pennies and $2.50 worth of "silver coins" to Coinstar. They ended up with about $35. They got a large card- $10. Then, they got dinner at McDonald's and Panda Express. Daddy won't eat McD's and the two youngest don't eat Panda. It was difficult for William to sit back and let his boys pay for dinner. But, he was very gracious about it. They were quite proud of themselves.

We gave him his cards this morning and two of his favorite types of candy- circus peanuts and Sour Patch Kids. We kept trying to explain to Rion that these were Daddy's special candy. I've been trying to explain to him since last night that since it's a present, Daddy doesn't have to share. Daddy always ends up sharing anyway though. Rion kept asking for some of Daddy's candy. So, Kelvin thought he would be nice and offer an alternative candy- a Warhead.

Here's the video of Rion's first Warhead:


Shortly after this, we each had one and Rion decided that he wanted to try a yellow instead. Here's the result:


Apparently, he has decided that he prefers Daddy to start it out and then he'll finish it. Then, William gave him one of his circus peanuts. Rion was very happy. Then, 2 hours later, he asked for another yellow one. I told him he could try another one later this week.

Summer's here

Today was fun. Rion started Ballet Basics. That's basically a 2 week ballet camp for the little ones. He's been counting down for the last week. I had to convince him that he needed to shower and eat before we left. He really enjoyed it. Usually, when he goes to ballet with us, he just sits in the lobby or office with mommy. He's been trying to convince everyone for the last 2 years that he's old enough to take ballet. So, finally being "big" enough to take a class was HUGE.

We came home, ate lunch and dropped Ian off at church to go to twilight (day) camp w/Scouts. It was William's first full day of summer. So, he got to join us on a trip to Grandma and Papa's. I taught Daddy how to attach photos with his email. (Bethany, make sure Grandma Trudie shows you your pictures.) Then, we spent the afternoon hanging out- much of which was on the porch. It was very enjoyable.

Ian had a great time at camp. He came home hot and tired and happy. It was very interesting comparing today with his first day of camp last year. Last year, he wanted me to wait with him until it was time to go. Today, he jumped out the back door and said, "Goodbye" as he ran to his friends. It makes a momma proud.

I'm gonna try to get a couple of pictures tomorrow to share.