Gustav - Even The Name Sounds Ominous

I thought this was too funny to pass up..... can't get to November soon enough for me!

This week so far has been pretty uneventful. Brent is working really late tonight so we have soccer practice and homework. Wow, I'm too excited about that prospects. I guess we're keeping an eye on the Gulf of Mexico to see exactly where Gustaf is planning on visiting in the next week or so. Talked to my sister so if he heads this way, I'll head that way and if he heads her way, she can head this way. Is that confusing? Hope it's not a repeat of Katrina for New Orleans for Rita for us. Ugh! That was bad, but it was mainly being separated from Brent and trying to keep the boys happy that made it hard for me. He lived at his work for the first two weeks so he didn't get to come to see us at my sister's until he got a day off after two weeks of working non-stop. That's the stuff that I hate. Any material things we lost have been replaced but the only thing I can truly say that Rita took away from our family through that whole ordeal was our time together as a family and our three huge, really old, cedar trees. I loved and still miss those trees that lined the front of the yard. It still, to this day, looks so blank and boring toward the road. Those trees were one of the selling points when we moved here when I was four months pregnant with Liam. They missed the house by about 3 feet when they fell, so I guess I should be thankful for that. I used to love to keep watch on Liam and even Ian as he got older climbing those trees and playing between them. Once there were about six little neighbor kids in the three trees, just hanging on the branches and talking and playing. That's what I miss. I need a few flashlights and batteries, lots of batteries. I guess we'll know more over the weekend but it cannot hurt to go ahead and pick up some of those things and water, we need bottled water anyway. Too bad we used up everything we had from Hurricane Rita. I think at one point I had about 30 gallons of water in the garage from all the free water/ice we got when they opened up the city. Brent is classified as a first responder so I don't think he can leave with us if he wanted to, but at least he can go in/out of the cities without any problems. His federal id badge was the only thing that allowed him to during Rita, which was not technically a first responder. But that's exactly what they were. He was the first one back in our neighborhood as soon as the storm passed while it was still all flooded. He said it was eerie that no one else was around. A few men arrived within the next day or so, so that put me at ease a little because everyone was worried about looting. Luckily, our area never had to experience any of that after Rita. OK, enough on that horrible, boring, hate-to-think-back-to-that subject.




I'm cooking a roast and a big dinner tonight. Why you ask? I have no idea. Brent will not even be home to eat with us. Mainly because I took it out yesterday so I had to cook it today. At least he'll have something really good to eat when he gets home tonight. Have to remember to sign the boys up for CCD this evening and Ian for basketball basics. They teach/tutor basketball, dodgeball and he will go two afternoons a week. He's excited about it because two of his little friends are signing up for it also. So that will get us through the fall and then he'll have Upwards Basketball in January and then baseball season starts in April. He'll be busy, at least I hope so. Liam stays busy with soccer and then I think he's doing track and baseball in the spring. OOPS I hear thunder/lightning so I better go in the carpool line. Take care and drop me a comment if you want. I seem to be pretty bored with the back to school blues. Ciao!

Can A Mom Say That School Sux??

Liam, Ian and Trent, our neighbor, playing in the sand before the rains came.
Brent relaxing with a beer. He was resting while I was busy preparing. wtf?
This is not a great picture of the cake but we used a John Deere tractor pan and then decorated it. He absolutely loved it -- it wasn't perfect but he thought it was.
Ian was actually blowing out his candles and was not happy about his picture being taken.

This morning before school -- Ian was excited, Liam was almost indifferent. Sporting his approved standard uniform -- school shirt and jeans. Can you believe Liam got his hair cut on Thursday? Hopefully with the new uniform code he will not be in violation. As long as it it "appropriately groomed" it should be ok. Should Liam get more cut off, what you think???

Yes, school officially started today at 8am. I'm really kind of sad. I love having the boys home, even though they do fight a lot, but it keeps it interesting and I guess I just love the freedom myself. So, can moms say that getting up and going back to school sucks big time? I guess so because I just did. So, we've been busy right up until last night. I'll break it down:

August 18th -- Ian's 8th Birthday. We had a neighborhood birthday/family party for him in the garage. It had rained all day but they were able to deliver the sand as promised and the kids all played in the sand pile, swam, and we did the eating/birthday cake usual. He said it was the best birthday he'd ever had. Really laid back and casual and since the kids weren't running in and out of the house all day I pretty relaxed. They even swam in the rain and they were so excited. It turned out well and we all had fun. Kind of ended up being a neighborhood get-together but it was nice to reconnect after a long summer. Of course the only downside is that some of the kids were over playing at noon although the party didn't officially start until 5pm and then I had to end up sending some of them home at 8:15pm. Ian had a blast with his friends so I guess that's what counts, not all the hairs I pulled out throughout the day. Good thing I have a lot of it so you can't see the bald spots! Nah, it was good.


Saturday we wanted to do something fun to celebrate the end of summer so we took the boys to eat and went bowling. We've done it a few times but they were happy that their granny decided to go and we had so much fun. We had great Mexican food at Carlito's, bowling and then we came home and talked and laughed until Ian fell asleep. Even Ian didn't gripe or whine one time... well... maybe once, but that was it and that's pretty good for him.

Liam was really kind of scared, maybe a little nervous about starting seventh grade today. He seemed nervous this morning but he said he was fine. I'm just praying he has a great day. Some of his teachers are supposed to be really hard and sticklers so I'm kind of dreading that, but I didn't tell him anything. Hopefully their personalities will overshadow their reputations. Ian was so excited about second grade. I'll download some pics of the first day of school and the birthday party in a bit. I don't feel like going out to my truck to get the camera. Lazy I know but I'm comfy and sipping my hot orange tea. Trying to get back into the swing of being on my own. Brent went with us and then he raced off to work. I can't imagine racing off to be at work so whatever floats his boat. He usually runs in the opposite direction.

Let's start something new:


How do I feel today???? (1) kind of sad (2) kind of happy (3) nervous about their day (4) positive about this school year (5) indecisive --nothing new there if you know me really well.

Oh yeah. I almost forgot. My sister and I attended my friend's Pure Romance party on Friday night. We had so much effin fun!!! We drank daquiri's, laughed, made fun of all the "tools" used for couples, drank more daquiris and ate all her snacks. It was the most fun I've had with a bunch of women in a long time. So, me and Tricia decided to book a party for September. Mainly I want the discount and the free hostess gift. I really want the free gift and the consultant said she'd give it to anyone who hosted a party so we decided to do one together. I asked her if we had to share the gift, and she assured me and she would give each one of us one. It was pretty funny but I was really curious. I mean she's my sister and all, but no one wants to be that close! LOL So I bought $212 worth of "tools" and creams and edible this and hot that. Everything looked like so much fuuunnnn I just couldn't decide. I know, I know, I totally blew the whole not spending frivolously thing, but I did some freelance work a while back so I decided that's what I would use that money for, and well worth it I might add. Anyway, this is like the first time I came home from spending a bunch of money that Brent didn't offer up a negative comment. HaHa He actually sat with me and I told him what everything was and what it was for -- it was like Christmas, well, only in a naughty and raunchy kind of way!!! So needless to say we had a great weekend and if you haven't been to a Pure Romance party or bought any of their merchandise and want to know which flavors taste the best, just ask me. We had so many things to taste, sniff and lick that I was full by the time the party was over. Ok, so that's pretty funny even I laughed out loud at that one. Yup, that's been my week. Birthday party - check. School shopping and picking up schedules - check. Learning what your neighbors and friends do in the bedroom - check. Giving the boys a great weekend before school - check. Giving my husband a great weekend - priceless.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Lions & Tigers & Bears Oh My....and a monkey's doodle?

I think this is the one you can kind of see the spider's monkey's little penis!! he he We thought it was pretty funny, and gross, and disgusting. Kind of like a train wreck -- cannot keep your eyes off of it no matter how hard you try.

So this is Liam doing some of his first jumps. He's so little for his age so he was really proud that he could lift the front end of his bike up enough to even do this. Kudos to him for persevering!

This is what we've done this summer that the kids, including ALL the neighbor kids, really like -- we make our own sno-cones. Fast, cheap, did I mention cheap? And fast. Then when you hand out about six of these things they are already wanting more then you make more and they want more then you have to say "Ah, I would but my blender's on the fritz." -- go home and tell your momma to make you one you little sponge!! Nah, just kidding. I wouldn't really call them a sponge! LOL

The boys in front of the fountain in downtown Lafayette, after eating at the Blue Dog Cafe. Y'all think Liam needs a hair cut before school? Maybe just a trim eh?
This white tiger's pic is a little smoky/hazy/blurred because I had to take it through the glass which was soooo dirty and she kept pouncing up against it. She/He was totally po'd at the voyeurs. I would be too!!
Ian seems to have a forced smile. Liam loved the tortoises but I think they really grossed Ian out -- although he did love the alligators.

Outside the Blue Dog Cafe with, yup, you guessed it... a blue dog. It actually had a yellow dog and a red dog on the other two sides of it. Why stop with one color right? We said if our dog, Ivy, was blue, it would look like her. Only Ivy's not blue, she's kind of peppered I guess. She's a Catahoula Leopard dog. She's our totally cool dog. Ivy. Not this big blue one....

So we went away for a few days. Our little mini-vacation with the boys. We ended up in Lafayette, visiting with sister and having fun and staying busy. We took the boys to the Acadiana Zoo on Sunday and they really enjoyed it. Of course, let's just say, the animals were waay too hot, not excited in the least to see us! Ian thought the baby bear we saw was dead, but actually he was just sleeping, probably because he was so lethargic because of the heat. It was about 150 degrees, nah, not really, just about 96, 97, 98 give or take a few degrees. We were all hot, yet the poor animals looked really miserable. The Siberian Tiger was ( I guess, it was white!) was EXTREMELY agitated and would lunge at the onlookers only to be stopped by the plate glass windows. It was pretty exciting though and made me jump for sure. Liam's favorite things were the old tortoises, Ian really like the tiger because it scared him and I absolutely loved the giraffe. He/She was so graceful and content. Oh, Ian told me to put on here that he loved the lemurs. He has a soft spot in his heart for lemurs since we did a huge report complete with pictures and geological information for his first grade class report. We love lemurs. They were pretty funny. The spider monkey was soooo funny because as he hung upside down and would swing from one side to the other, his little penis was protruding. Needless to say, it was hard to get my three boys (yes, Brent included) away from spectacle. Well, I think I was the one who wanted to stay around to see what that spider monkey was actually going to do about it! LOL I crack myself up sometimes. So we went to a fresh produce market, tried some new restaurants that were great by the way: Serrano's, Blue Dog Cafe. Brent was really impressed with the places we went and even a quick meal heading out on Sunday at Raising Cane's was really good. The chicken was sooo good I'm craving it again. Brent and I got to spend some quality-much-needed-alone-time together and we did grown up things. We bought grown up movies and grown up toys. It was too fun and actually felt naughty. Oh, and it will definitely be repeated. We had a blast. Learned that I want to start doing things we enjoy without the kids. NOTE TO SELF: hire a babysitter and go out and have fun. I have always been against people outside the family watching the boys, but they are much older now and can tell me everything so I figure a little high-schooler might want to earn some extra money. We need to get away more often.

Last week was really busy with Brent being off all week and then decided at the last minute to leave town. At least I didn't overpack with so little time to prepare. We rented a nice car and had great conversation all the way there. The boys napped and watched movies on their PSP's. LOVE THE PSP. We have a dvd player that I'll bring but the PSP's allow them to watch different movies and they seem to stay quieter longer which is best in the long run for all of us!

Took Liam school shopping yesterday for a few things while Ian went to Jump Zone for a few hours. You pay a flat fee and they can jump on the giant indoor inflatables, play basketball and dodgeball. He had a great time and wanted to go back today but...... it's after 2:00 and I still haven't gotten dressed yet so I told him he could go back tomorrow. I was cleaning the bathroom and kitchen today which ended up taking longer so I'd rather him go for the full three hours. Hopefully it will be open next week also and he can enjoy that with his little friends before school starts. His birthday is next Monday, the 18th, so he's trying to decide what he wants to do with his friends. I want him to wait for a big party until after school starts but he just wants to invite his little posse and swim and cook out so we may do that for him Sunday. I need to think about that today. NOTE TO SELF: think about Ian's birthday and go change out the clothes in the washer. See, if I don't write it down and see it in black/white, you can forget it. I am a visual learner. You can show me once and I'll have it down or you can tell me a thousand times and I still won't remember. Oh, and while driving to Louisiana we asked Ian what he wanted for his birthday and this is what he said, "Well, I've been thinking about that and I want Pokemon cards (him and the neighborhood boys are all over that) and a load of sand. Not regular sand but 60/40." What the hell? Is there a difference in sand? So I guess he'll be getting his load(s) of sand because that is what their track needs to get it stabilized so he can ride his dirt bikes on it and start practicing some jumps. So if he wants sand, let the child have sand, although it's kind of sad. Why couldn't he ask for a new xbox 360 game or WII game or something a little more tangible? How the hell am I going to wrap up a load of sand? I guess I could have it delivered on his birthday and not tell him then he'll be all surprised? Any suggestions?



New movies coming from Netflix: Pippi Longstocking and Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Yeah, I'm all over that with excitement. Neither one of my babies have ever seen either of these movies and I am going to make them sit down and watch them. We watched Field of Dreams this morning on HBO and they both loved it. Who knew? Trying to stay away from all the sex, drugs, killing movies and there's not a lot to choose from that will keep Liam interested so he's just going to have to grin and bear it. Also putting in my que for netflix: The Princess Bridge. They should really like that one and I do not think either one of them have been it before but I probably made Liam watch it at some point.


Heading into Beaumont tomorrow to take Ian shopping. We got him a few under armor shirts at Academy yesterday but he needs some shorts something fierce. All of his are getting too short because he has such long legs. Hopefully I can scope out Kroger for Farmland Bacon since I have about 15 coupons for $2 off each package. I bought 10 pks. at Super H-E-B in Beaumont last week but I want to use the other coupons up before they expire at the end of the month. Hey, you can never have too much bacon right? Brent laughs at my deals but all the jars of spaghetti sauce, peanut butter, jelly and bacon sure have come in handy lately when meal planning. Going to attempt chicken parmesan this week although I'm not too big on it, we'll see if I can manage. to cook it. Any good recipes for the crock-pot using canned sauga? I think I have Emeril's and Classico. yeah, the Classico was the Target special with the coupon so I think I picked it up for about $1 after the $1 coupon. It seems like all the prices I see on different websites for Target, Walmart and HEB are more expensive here. I cannot remember exactly what it was but the website said their Walmart carries it for $1.69 and I found it at ours for $2.12. Eh? WTF? That just seems wrong. So, off to call the pedi and make an appt. for Liam's school physical. YIKES, it's that time again. Liam has soccer practice until school starts three nights a week then it goes down to 2 plus games on Saturdays. He was exhausted after his 3 hour practice Monday and 2 hours last night. He's one of their fastest little runners and he loves running. Who knew MY child would like running??

Quickie Post...

Can you read this? If I log-in through IE (Internet Explorer) it has the background showing through which makes it very difficult to read. Yet, I usually log in through Firefox which comes up completely different with no problems at all. Jennisa is working on the problem. Let me know how you log in and if it is easy/hard to read the posts. Thanks.

I'll do a regular post later. I've been really busy with getting ready for school in about 2 1/2 weeks and Brent taking a few days off to enjoy with the boys before they head back to school. Off to soccer, my 'lil momma's hospital visit and supper. Oh yeah! Yesterday was "FREE" film developing day at Walgreen's so I turned in Ian's disposable camera film that the poor little guy has been wanting developed since Easter when the Easter Bunny brought it in his basket. So we're off to pick up the film and see exactly what he's been taking pictures of -- can't believe we used to have to wait so long to see what our pictures looked like. Seems so archaic to me.

My 1st Brilliant Blogger Award... yeah!

I've been TAGGED! Jennifer at JustBeeKoz tagged me with a Brilliant Blogger Award so I'm going to keep it going. I have to tag 7 blogger friends so let's do it. Thanks Jennifer for my first Bloggard (short for Blog Award). Yeah, my own stupid not so funny humor!

Per Jennifer: Please keep it alive and kickin!

A. Attached or single? Depends, nah, just kiddin. Very Attached and devoted to my sweetie.

B. Best friend? Brent

C. Cake or pie? Brent's chocolate cake! To Die For!

D. Day of choice? Saturday for the busyness of it all; Sunday for the family time.

E. Essential item? I'll agree with Jennifer on CAFFEINE, morning papers, MAC (make-up, not the computer), right now in the wake of Tropical Storm Edouard -- batteries, flashlights, candles and non-perishable food!

F. Favorite color? pink

G. Gummy bears or worms? bears

H. Hometown? Beaumont, TX now residing in the sleepy little town of Nederland, a hop, skip and a jump from the crime and misdemeanors of Beaumont

I. Indulgence? Blueberry Watermelon sno-cone; my my how I luv me some sno-cones!

J. January or July? January

K. Kids? 2 -- all boy boys

L. Life isn’t complete without? Sitting on the deck, watching the boys play and swim, making goo-goo eyes at Brent the whole time and both just grinning from ear-to-ear and the whole time the kids keep saying "What? What's so funny? What did I do?" They can be so narcissistic at times, I must say.

M. Marriage date? June 16, 1990

N. Number of brothers & sisters? 1 brother, 5 sisters

O. Oranges or apples? apples (with a little peanut butter or caramel dip, YUM)

P. Phobias? 1. Getting burned alive 2. some horrible accident disfiguring my face 3. Brent going bald 4. constantly worried about my children's safety 5. dying alone in a firey crash, at least if I have to die in a firey crash I'd rather not be alone but not with my children which only leaves one other choice of who should be in the car with me 6. knocking out my front teeth in a teeter-totter accident, or one of the boys knocking out their front teeth or for that matter Brent knocking out his teeth in a teeter-totter accident. I have soooo many phobias I cannot begin to list them all but #7 would have to be: getting held up at gun point in a bank and all of us having to get naked and stare at each other while getting robbed. Is that not the epitome of embarassing situations, I don't care that I would be getting robbed but just having to look at perfect stranger's doodles and do-ma-hickeys, ewww, well, I would have to just gag all over that situation! OK, I think that sums up my top 7 worst phobias. I'll add more as they come to me.

Q. Quotes? “Wrinkles only go where the smiles have been.”-Jimmy Buffett
"If you can remember how many times you kissed your babies today, it wasn't enough." - Me

(I always said that to Liam and Ian from the time they were born, and I still say it today). Of course, they hate when I kiss 'em so now I get the peck on the forehead and big bear hugs.

R. Reasons to smile? 1. When the boys laugh at my stupid stupid jokes and Marianisms 2. When Brent tells me that he cannot believe how much we still love being together and how much fun we still have after 25 years 3. When you can actually see the "light bulb" going on when you explain or teach your child something new. You know, the "ah-ha" moments -- I Love them. 4. Deep conversations late into the night pondering "why" we're all here, nah, just kidding. Unless it's an x-rated conversation I'm probably asleep when Brent starts talking relationships and the "whys" and deep things like that. I always say "I'm not a deep thinker, I'm a deep SLEEPER!" I think it's funny. I think it's hilarious. Brent does not. No, really. About once in a blue moon I'm up for a deep conversation, then I'm happy for awhile. 5. oh yeah, when Ian calls his penis a "doodle." I think that's pretty damn funny. A doodle. A doodle. I had never heard that before it came out of MY child's mouth.

S. Season of choice? Do we have "seasons" in southeast Texas???? Y'all better call me the next time you see one!

T. Tag (nominate) seven others!

U. Unknown fact about me? I have a very special talent that no one knows about... well, maybe one other person. Of course, this is trying to be a clean, family blog so I cannot speak of such things on here. Let's just say, well, it's.... it's.... I'll tell you my next unknown fact about me: I can eat a Reece's cup in 3.8 seconds. Really, I think I still hold the record from fourth grade.

V. Vegetable? Favorite of all time: the zuccini - so phallic, so versatile, so delicious!

W. Worst habits? picking and scratching my head... until it bleeds. yuk. gross. nasty.

X. X-ray or ultrasound? ultrasound

Y. Your favorite food? Asian grilled chicken salad. YUM, especially during the hot summer months.

Z. Zodiac sign? Capricorn