Max & Ruby

My kids love that show!
The little ones had their preschool parties...pics of Al later tonight.

Happy Halloween everyone!
And birthday wishes to my mother-in-law, Carol!

Pa

Almost every mental image I have of my father-in-law is of him with one of the kids. Showing Al the "pond"--does 3 inches deep the size of a bed count as a pond? Climbing in & out of a 3 ft by 5 ft Strawberry Shortcake play tent with Princess for hours--he even fell asleep in it once. Turning on the spigot just so a 3-yr old little boy could spray the garden hose, who cares if it's a chilly fall day and the trees are already dormant, right? He loved to take them all fishing or down to see the beaver that built a dam not far from the house. If he was sitting, at least one of them was at his side. Or just shrugging and grinning when I caught him sneaking Oreos to the kids, after I caught my mother-in-law sneaking them some cake, after they'd already had dessert. My father-in-law was a quiet person. He was a loving grandfather & not just to his grandchildren, but to any child in his presence. He was uncomplicated. He was a gentleman as well as a gentle man. He is gone far too soon.

Didn't I just say that?

Yelled up the stairs (to a family member who shall remain nameless) at 8:04pm:
Hey ___, it's time to get in the shower.
Insta-reply: OK

At 8:05pm I hear from 2nd floor:
Did you want me to take a shower?


(Sorry, I've not been around this past week. Life sucks royally right now.)

Lessons in Fun

Princess and I had a blast hangin' out with Andrea & crew; Jane & CEM; and Kim & Sydney! Thank you to Andrea and family for teaching us how to have real fun!
Some highlights and funny moments:

My attempt to convert Andrea's clan to UK fans was overall unsuccessful. Carolyn was the only one receptive to my Blue & White delivery. But my fingers are crossed that at least all 3 will don the t-shirts long enough for a group photo before they are desecrated by using them for washing the car.


Honestly...why would someone bring a tripod to a museum???


Ah, thats why.


Some adorable news anchors. Christian did an AMAZING job for his audition!


You have not had jumbalaya until you've had Jim's Jumbalaya! And if you are feeling saucy, try the LSU hot sauce:


There's more, but it's past my bedtime.

Money lessons learned

Some of my family have accused me of not blogging about silly things I've done. Here's where I teach them that may be a good thing for them:

Al and I had a $1 bet. As we were leaving the optical shop (where he lost the bet), I said "Pay up" and I jokingly hold the dollar on my forehead while waiting for the elevator.

Al: I'll give you $2 to keep that on your forehead the rest of the day.
Me: OK
(get on elevator, man looks at me funny)
(exit building, another man looks at me funny)
Al: I'll give you another $2 if you smile at everyone that looks at you funny
Me: OK
(walk thru parking lot, grinning like an idiot)
(in the car)
Me: Wow, Al, is it going to be worth $4 more of your own money?
Al: No. I'll give you $1 just to buy you out of the plan.
Me: I'm so proud of you for bargain hunting.
(Al throws a dollar at me)
Al: I learned another lesson too. Gambling is stupid.

Iron Chef?

Does this bacon look done?

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday!
Here's my mom's summer car...a red rag top!
Hence, RD RG TP
She's a pretty awesome Mom & Grandma!
Thanks Mom for all you do for me and my family!
We all love you!

Pillow Talk

Princess makes potty runs in the middle of the night. Often, she walks around our bed into the master bath, forgets why she's there and heads back to her room, only to return a minute later because she wakes up enough to realize she needs to go to the bathroom. Other nights she taps Craig and say something bizarre like "Daddy, go flush for me" or "Daddy, I didn't flush cuz I didn't want to wake my brothers up."

Last night, she came in, tapped Craig on the back and said "My pillow is missing." She walked back into her room with her daddy in tow, to search out the missing pillow. It was on her bed. Imagine that. She very excitedly said, "Look Daddy, its back."

We would find this more amusing if it wasn't happening at 3 o'clock in the morning.

It's too early for this!

Mark your calendar, it's already begun. The 4 yr old Princess informed me today at 12:45pm:

"Mom, you never let me have any fun."

And what sent her life down such a tragic road? I didn't retrieve the coloring book from the van in a timely manner.

Do you care about the trees?

I was at a stop light next to this truck:


My camera cut off the "I," as in "I care about the trees."
After we got going, he was ahead of me:




He cared so much that he killed them?!

Gender discriminating trash cans

Sitting at the Subway in Walmart for lunch,

Princess: Where's the girl trash can?
Mom: What?
Princess: Where's the trash can for the girls?
Mom: Trash cans are for boys and girls.
Princess (pointing to her right): that one has a boy on it


and (pointing to her left) that one has a boy on it.



Where's the girl trash can?

Communication

The class newsletter on Monday said:
Our class will be participating in our school’s can drive. Please bring any aluminum cans you have at home to school.

The note in the backpack on Tuesday said:
Clarification: The aluminum cans that we need for our can drive need to have food in them!!

Gman at bedtime

He is a very typical kid. Without fail, 100% of the nights, he asks for a drink of water as he's getting in the bed.

One night while at Craig's parents last week, he asked Daddy for a drink of water. Daddy said "OK, I'll be back in a minute." Gman said, "Don't get lost, Daddy."

Memory Lane Monday

This is Princess at her first birthday party being held by the great-grandmother she is named after on Craig's side. Momaw, as she is called by all her 9 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren, passed away last week. She was a beautiful, wonderful woman. The minister's talk at her service was about how the word "precious" so perfectly described her. She was loved and revered by all who knew her, and she apparently knew everyone judging from the more-than-200 people to attend her visitation and/or service. She always had a smile on her face and a smile in her heart. She was faithful to God, her church and her family. She will be truly missed by everyone who knew her.