The Case of the Delinquent Blogger

Oh, I've been so neglectful of this blog as of late. It's getting to be that season around our house where things kick into high gear. VBS was this week and I was very involved in that, mostly behind-the-scenes. I'm no teacher but organizing registration I can do. We had a great turn out even though lots of families were on vacation for the 4th of July.

Speaking of July, it is a big birthday month around here with K's one week and L's the next. Usually it isn't so stressful but this year is L's 5th birthday and that means she gets a big party with all her friends and balloons and cake and the rest of the works that come with child's birthday party. We do big parties at 5, 10, and 16 and family celebrations for the others. I got that idea from S's brother so kudos to him and his wife for sharing that with me. It seems to make the parties that much more special and is a lot less work for me.

I've been busy making arrangements for said party, reserving a large water slide for our back yard, printing and mailing invites, and just generally organizing everything. It seems to be falling into place but this week is proving to be a crazy one. I am thankful that we can do this for L but I have a feeling I'm going to crash next Saturday night.

I plan to return to regular mundane blogging at some point just not this week. Happy 4th of July everyone!

Generation Gap

Nana is visiting and gave me a much-needed break from the kids. S has been gone for most of the month of June and I needed a few moments to myself. So she told me to go get a pedicure while she bathed the kids and put them in bed.

While the kids were still in the tub, K yelled to Nana that L had said a bad word. A really bad word. Here's how the rest of the conversation went:

K: Nana, L said a really bad word. She said the S-H word.
Nana (trying to figure out where in the world L heard the S-H word): L, why did you say that?
L: I wanted H to be quiet.
Nana (breathing a bit of a sigh of relief): Oh, you said Shhhhhhh.
K: No she said the whole thing. The whole S-H-U-T-U-P.
Nana (attempting to stifle laughter so that L would know that saying the whole S-H-U-T-U-P is not a good thing [but saying it in her sweetest voice]): Well, I bet that if I let you play in the tub a little longer that you won't say that to H again.
L: Yes ma'am.

A Funny H Story

While I have pictures to post and lots of fun things to share, this story is short enough to share quickly. We've been super busy over the last several weeks and I will share our goings-on over this week. For now, here's the funny H story.

Sporty Mama was here with her family last weekend for a much-needed visit. We had a great time just being together, laughing, listening, venting, eating, and drinking.

SM's hubby had a pair of black Crocs that he wore most of the time he was here. However, when he went to put them on Sunday morning, they were nowhere to be found. We asked the kids if they had seen them (of course they hadn't), checked under every piece of furniture, searched high and low. No Crocs. We even checked under every bed and in the garage. No Crocs. We searched the backyard and the front yard. No Crocs.

Monday morning, as they were preparing to depart sans Crocs, SM and I did one more sweep of the entire grounds searching for the Crocs. We just couldn't imagine where they had gone. It was as if they had legs of their own and had crawled off seeking freedom.

Then I had a stroke of genius. You see, H loves to put shoes away, especially Daddy's shoes. So when I checked S's shoe rack in our closet, there they were: one pair of black Crocs.

If only he'd do that with his toys!

I Thought Summer Was Supposed to be Lazy

Gone are those lazy summer days about which I was so excited. Our June calendar is now filled and July is slowly filling up. I keep looking at our fridge calendar to make sure I don't forget anything.

We've got two girls from a youth choir coming to spend the night tonight. My dear friend, Sporty Mama, is coming tomorrow to stay through Monday. VBS at our friend's church starts Monday and I have a girls' night planned for Monday night. Swim lessons start on the 22nd and we've got our church's VBS starting the following week. So these lazy days where nothing is happening seem to be long gone. I'm hoping July won't be as crazy.

Of course, there's L's 5th birthday party (her very first big birthday party), K's birthday, and a visit from Papa and PJ. So why am I blogging when there's much to be done? Procrastination, my favorite thing ever.

My mouth is feeling much better, thank you, after two days of soreness and sensitivity. I was still chewing funny last night and S even commented on it. I feel like such a wimp!

I will post pictures of my visit with Sporty Mama as long as I remember to actually take pictures. Have a great weekend, friends!

File This Under "Things I Do Not Recommend"

I went to the dentist today for the second time in a month. Why, you may ask? Because I had not one but two (!) cavities. I thought cavities were reserved for little kids and possibly teenagers but I am, at 32, not immune to these nasty little boogers.

So I sat in the dentist's chair and proceeded to have him stick my mouth with needles (thank heaven for numbing medicine) and then drill on two different teeth on either side of my mouth in what was possibly the longest 30-45 minutes of my life. I do not enjoy the dentist in the first place but this was just a nightmare. Don't get me wrong. My dentist is a nice guy and did a great job. He was very reassuring through the whole thing. "You're doing great," he said as he drilled deeper into my tooth, sending shock waves down to my toes.

Now that the numbing medicine has worn off (which he must have done a very good job of administering because my lower left jaw was numb until about 2:00) there is this very dull ache in my mouth. The top front tooth that was filled is very, very sensitive to hot and cold. And the back molar just plain hurts.

So here's my advice: Brush and floss, people. Brush and floss.

Up

Today was a fantastic day. Just plain fantastic. I got to sleep in a little, as did the entire family. H was the first one up at just before 8am. S cooked a wonderful pancake breakfast and I woke to the smell of freshly brewed coffee.

We have some college students visiting our church this summer as part of a campus ministry mission trip. We've "adopted" two of them and had them for lunch. They are great kids and it was fun to have some older young people in the house. Both S and I really enjoyed their company. And our "son" can eat. I love cooking for people who like to eat! We sent them home with all the leftovers we could. The one thing they don't get very much of is home cooking while down here. So they are usually pretty grateful for anything homemade.

Just after they left, we put the kids in the car and went to see "Up." (L calls it "Up the movie") It was great. They all sat there like little angels, enthralled with the movie. Even H had a good time and wasn't running all over the place. The dog truly is the best part of the movie. Just trust me.

We took our time getting home, stopping by a local ice cream parlor for a cool treat. We don't often do things like this but it really was such a nice evening. And H got a free cone since he's a little guy. Can't beat free! He ended up wearing the majority of it, trying to use his "free sample" spoon instead of licking it off the cone. It's moments like that I'm glad I'm not an OCD mom.

While I would love for every day to be like this one, I'm sure I wouldn't appreciate it as much if these days were the norm.

Lazy Summer

Here's what I love about summer days when we have nothing on the schedule: sleeping in. I have still kept up my exercise routing, trying to go to the gym 4 days a week. I still really don't enjoy the gym but I know it's good for me and good for my kids to see me do it. And when there's a class I regularly attend, someone always asks where I was, why I missed the class. Accountability, it is a good friend.

So this morning, with all my good intentions of going to the gym for Spinning, I stayed in bed. The kids slept later than normal and all ended up in my bed, snuggling up nice and cozy. And I soaked up every minute of it knowing that one day, all too soon, they'll have no desire to do that.

I actually cooked a proper breakfast this morning, eggs in a hole (bird in the nest, whatever you want to call it) and it was delicious. After a week of cereal and Pop Tarts, this was a welcome reprieve.

We went to two birthday parties yesterday afternoon, one for L's friend H and one for K's friend N. H is L's little "boyfriend." They stuck by each other for most of the party. And when L cried at the end of the party because she wanted a balloon and I told her no, H, taking care of her, immediately went to his mom and secured a balloon for L. He was not going to have her leave his party unhappy. Ah, young love.

Then it was off to N's party. Fortunately I didn't have to stay for that one as a friend agreed to bring K home. She had a blast and was so worn out that by the time she got in her PJ's and put her head on her pillow, she was out. Didn't even stay awake for me to pray with her.

While that doesn't seem so lazy, it really is for us. And with the cloudy day we have today and nothing on our calendar, I'm taking the day to enjoy my kids. They are so special and growing up so fast!

L as Super Girl, dressed for H's super hero themed party. What you can't see is that she had on K's cowgirl boots.