I'm Officially A "Real Mommy"

I went to church tonight, went by the pharmacy to pick up some medicine and then came home. I was greeted at the door with a "guess what Justin did tonight." My walls. My beautifully, recently painted (with color I might add) walls. There are now great big black circles on my walls. David had just bathed Justin and was working on Cameron. The bathtub crayons were up high but must have fallen down. Justin retrieved the black one and the living room wall was his canvas. I figure that once you've had your walls colored on, you're an official Mommy! I'm official.

Brain Spasms...

Some of you know that I had my nails put back on. My cuticles looked terrible and with the artificial nails, I can't dig at them. (Did I justify it yet?)

Anyway, I went to get a "fill" today. I went back to my usual place. These guys are ultra competitive with each other. When they haven't seen you in a while, they want to know where you've been going. I usually lie and tell them I had to go somewhere out of town. I know, that's horrible. So much for honesty is the best policy. But they just seem to feed on the "bad job" the other place did. I don't go for that. I just agree that this place is better, but I had no choice. Am I bad to lie about something so petty?

The guy I had today is the guy I usually get there. He's great. He tries to talk to me, but I can rarely understand a word he says. Only today when he wasn't talking, he was smacking his gum. I mean smacking. He had a full-blown, cow chewing his cud, toddler learning to chew smack. SMACK. He even had his little "doctor's mask" on and I could see that jaw muscle working like a freight train. And I could still hear it. You know how I feel about this. Many times, it crossed my mind to say to him, "You really like that gum, don't you?" I nearly had a nervous breakdown. He's lucky he's good at nails and I needed them done.

I think I need therapy.

Ahhhhh....rain!

If you live in Seattle, a day like today would be just another day. Me - - I don't think I'd ever suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder. I could deal with the rain every day. Perhaps that comes from living in a part of Texas where there has been *no* rain all summer. We have had a good, steady rain all day long. Complete with thunder, too. It's been awesome. I have loved it.

After lunch, I sat down with my book, "The Big Picture. " I am teaching a class on Tuesday night and I wanted to refresh myself. (It's not as much a class as it is a club. We are going to work through the book together.) I stay amazed at her line of thinking. She really simplifies things for you, if you'll let her. I am seriously considering converting to her style of doing albums. Actually, I think I've been doing them similarly for quite some time, I just couldn't figure out how to present them. I quit trying to scrap chronologically for J since he was about 3 months old. (He's about to turn 3 years old.) Stacy, the author, to me is a genius and really - - my new hero.

I read on Stacy's blog the other day that she and her hubby just found out that they are going to adopt a little girl (I think from Korea.) How exciting for them. I think she has four boys, plus her hubby. Talk about a Princess! She will be so pampered. Hmmmmm.... That kind of makes me think a little. How would I do with a girl? What would I do with a girl? I don't know how to do hair!!!!

I better call it a day. I'm rambling. Everyone is in bed but me. This would be about two hours early for me. I think I could use the rest. If anything, I might lay in bed with my mp3 player and watch the lightening. Oooooohhhhh. That sounds good.

Signing off.....

A New Guilty Obsession

Okay, I have a new favorite (and quite off-color I might add) favorite show. It's The Chelsea Handler Show. It comes on E! and is so hilarious. Word of warning though, it is beyond offensive and crude. She's downright nasty. But I *love* it!! Nobody is spared. It brings out that obnoxious laugh I have. You know the loud, annoying, did that just come out of me kind of laugh. New episodes air on Friday nights. Have you seen it?

Very Fond Childhood Memory

How many of you out there remember having a cassette walkman that would record voices? How many of you out there tried to use that little recorder to record your favorite song off of the radio? You know, you called in to the radio station about 8,000 times during their "request hour" and each time you changed your voice a little so that they wouldn't be "on to you." They knew we wanted it, and they knew why. We didn't have the money to buy the record or 8-track of the actual album. So we counted on it being played on the radio. The trouble with that method (one of the few troubles) was that the DJ *always* kept talking during the intro of the song. You're at home with your finger positioned just so on that red record button, waiting for the DJ to shut up and just play the freaking song. And God forbid your little sister came running in the room when you finally were getting a good song, in it's entirity. It was then she came in singing the smurfs song or something completely gay like that.

Does anymore remember having to make your cassette tapes that way? What songs were you recording then? Some of my faves were:

1. Freeze-Frame
2. Centerfold
3. The Tide is High
4. Eye of the Tiger (hubby's fave)
5. Islands in the Stream
6. Keep on Lovin' You

Wow, good times. We also recorded some pretty silly stuff too. Man, I loved my childhood. I had a blast!

Justin's Words (Part 2)

Okay, not what you are thinking. It's not another layout. It's something he said today. Something he was working on wasn't going quite right and he said, "Oh crap." To that I say, "Oh crap!!" I wonder where he heard it. I can just hear the conversation I have with his teacher at Mother's Day Out when I pick him up. I'm pale just thinking about it. He also said butt today. Not that bad, but still. I've got to watch what I say. The little guy is a total sponge. Yikes!

By the way, he's still awake. He just yawned, so I'm hoping he will crash soon. Maybe if I turn the lights out.

Goodnight...

Justin's Words

I was looking for a way to document Justin's first words. So I took pictures of the actual item and placed his version of the word next to the picture. I think they speak for themselves. It's not anything fancy. Just something I want for him to remember when he is older and has little ones, too. They grow and change so fast!

Scrapbooking on the Q

**UPDATE**
Most of the good stuff is during the day on Tuesday. It doesn't look like there is much on today.

Be ready Monday and Tuesday. It looks like we will have at least one full day of stuff we wish we could buy. Creating Keepsakes is on at 11:00 on the 21st and then two more times on the 22nd. It looks like lots of scrapbook stuff for both days. Stay tuned!

Movie Review Time

Frantic - Harrison Ford thriller from 1988. It was like Han Solo in Paris without the Millennium Falcon. Instead he had a young, hot smuggler helping him find his wife. I kept thinking, this is gonna pick up soon. I was still saying that two hours later when the credits started rolling. There's two hours of my life I'll never have back. But hopefully I can spare you a similar experience. Don't rent it if you haven't seen it. Just because Harrison Ford has some excellent movies out there, it doesn't mean that they all are. This one stunk on ice. I won't give it a failing grade because I did stick with it. I was somewhat curious. I'll give some credit that it did contain HF. So - a solid "D" Tomorrow night, we'll be watching Original Sin with Banderas and Jolie. I'm looking forward to that one. I'll post it's review as soon as I can.

Bobby Update

My brother is not feeling good at all. It is killing me to be so far away from him. You know how fever makes you turn into a nut job? At least it does to me. And that's with my family and loved ones right here. Imagine what it feels like to be that way and living in a third world country! He sent a text message to my Dad and told him he was miserable and for my Dad to be sure to tell me that he loved me. Ouch. Ouch. Please pray that he gets a restful night's sleep and that God gives him some peace.

Go ahead and add Kyndal to your list. She's got some kind of virus that's going around over there. I won't bore you with the details. You can read it all on Bobby's blog. It is www.bobbycox.org. There's no sense in me re-typing all of that information.

My heart is breaking for my family. They are being so obedient to God's call in their lives and it seems like they just keep getting attacked. Is it God telling them it's not the right time, is He testing their obedience, or is Satan trying to get them to quit? Just pray that God's will be done and that His vision would be clear for Bobby and Angie.

Thank you all for your words of encouragement and prayers for us. That's the best thing you can do for us. Love us, pray for us and keep being our friends. It's okay to ask how we are. Just be ready to not necessarily hear that we are fine. Sometimes we're not.

I hope you all have a blessed weekend.

Key Lime Pie Blue Bell

I stumbled across this old favorite of mine the other day. I haven't seen it in the stores in so long. When I saw it, I nearly broke my arm ripping the freezer door open. My mouth was drooling and everything. I got home and immediately fixed me a small bowl of it. It is fabulous. So much for losing weight, huh? I hate it that I love food so much. I have a particular weakness for the sweet stuff. Oye...

I highly recommend it. It is to die for. I got it at Wal-Mart. Go get you some.

Kind of a role call - - what is your favorite ice cream flavor?