Santa's number

The conversation went like this?

Craig: Behave, or I'll tell Santa on you.
Princess: Do you have Santa's phone number?
C: 1-800-SANTA
P: The phone only has numbers, how do you dial letters? Is that *really* his number?
C: No, but I know his number.
P: How'd you find out his number?
C: Its something grown-ups know.
P: When did you find out, in college?
C: No, when you have a kid at the hospital, the nurses tell you.

Princess, a.k.a. Kilroy?

Grandma took the kids to the Grand Opening Weekend of a new yogurt place in town..they were taking pictures with the mascot...

Dance Recital Videos!

Gman's Boys HipHop Dance Class Recital video.
They just couldn't be any more cute/funny!


Princess's Dance Recital video.
She did fabulous!

Future Loggers of America

Those are dead tree branches from the forest near Craig's mom's house.
Can we go back to the days when they played outside and all they brought in were rocks?

Cat and Scratch Fever!!!

A few weeks ago, the kids received tickets to see a girls UK basketball game for perfect attendance in January at school. The girls play in Memorial Coloseum....where the boys team played before the city built Rupp Arena for them. So this is pretty hallowed ground, many of the historical noteworthy UK teams played in this building. Not that the kids grasp the significance of it all.

We walked in only 15 minutes before the game and were trying to figure out what to get for dinner. (Not the healthiest of ideas, but it was a school night, and there was homework to do first, etc etc, sometimes you just gotta do what ya gotta do!)
As we're standing there, one of the UK relations guys runs up to me, hands me 2 ticket-looking-things and says, "Here's my last 2 kids' pre-game passes, RUN!" and points towards a specific corner of the court. Not knowing what I've just volunteered my kids for, we ran!

They got to stand on the court sideline for the pre-game show. Both mascots (Scratch and the Wildcat) came over to 'high 5' the kids. And as the players were introduced, they'd run down a tunnel of cheerleaders & UK flags and hand a small auto-graphed ball to 1 of the kids!!!

This one is Scratch.








































This one is Wildcat...ignore the other random kids....they were trying to usher us all out...I had to hurry...this is the first time our kids would get within 50 feet of large costumed-beings!

Alligator Math

We went to The Newport Aquarium yesterday! "It's a Million gallons of Fun!"

Gman + Princess + Al = 14 foot Mighty Mike

I now have proof!

Herding my 3 kids is like wrestling a 14 foot alligator!!

Locks of Love

So proud of Princess!

BEFORE:


This picture is much happier ..... than this picture, when she mutilated the sides of her hair at age 3


AFTER:

Can't Fool Mother Nature

The conversation went like this:

Princess: Do I need to wear long sleeves today?
Me & Craig in unison: Nooo! It's gonna be HOT!
P: But it's the first day of fall!?
Me: Somebody forgot to tell Mother Nature. Go get dressed, you're late.
(She walks away) She has no idea what that means.
C: Yeah, she'll me ask on the way to the bus stop.
Me: Sorry 'bout that.
C: That's okay. I'll just tell her to ask you because you know Mother Nature better.

First Day of School--2010!

First to leave were the little ones.
Princess: "Hey Gman, now pose like this. Now like this. And this way...."
Oh what a difference 1 year and a gender makes...Gman lost interest after the 2nd picture.




Oh what a difference 8 yrs and a gender makes....New high schooler who seriously did not want his picture. At all. Then agreed only if it wasn't taken outside. So I had to sneak one.

Horse Mania 2010!

New art project in town in preparations for the World Equestrian Games. The little ones and I managed to get around to about a third of them in just a couple hours. (Al didn't want to go since he'd already been to half with his camp friends.) Great time and some beautiful horses!

PS--The foals were all decorated by schools in Fayette County. The American Flag foal was made by Princess's school. The red with yellow lightening bolts foal was made by Al's school.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Vacay, Day 3.....aka Parade-palooza

Day 2 was just driving the rest of the way to Orlando. Made it to the condo in time to stock the kitchen, then head to the pool for a luau complete with Hawaiian dancers!
Day 3-- Went to Disney World...Where all your Dreams Come True (c)
Of course, we had to take a pic with The Castle! (all these pics can be clicked on to see them enlarged)

Disney does not do anything by half!! Including parades!
The afternoon parade at Magic Kingdom had ALL the characters owned by Disney...here's just a few:




It's not disney if you don't get a few pics with characters! Gman R-E-F-U-S-E-D to get in a picture without Daddy to protect him from imminent danger posed by giant creatures, no matter how beloved.


They also have a night-time parade--supposedly for this summer. Story has it these were from a parade many years ago and they are going to throw it out after getting one more season's usage.
I personally thought it was the coolest thing all day!!! We went back and watched it another day (I'll most more pics then)

Vacation 2010

Last year, we didn't do a real "vacation vacation" because we were saving up for Vacay 2010....boy it's a good thing!

Day 1--Driving & visiting:
Taken while still in the garage I think (they're still smiling because at this point, they didn't realize that it would be 2 days in the van):


We stopped off in Atlanta for a visit with the Fun Family at the World Of Coke. The girls were like best friends all over again! And nothing like good ol' American Coke to clear away the after taste from the Beverly.



After driving a little bit past that, we stopped in Macon, GA for dinner and a visit with some other friends--MamaBrande & her crew. After many attempts to get a smiling pic of all the little kids, I gave up and opted for silly faces:

Memory Lane Monday #21

I took a road trip this Memorial Day weekend--literally and figuratively! My carmates (or should I say new-van-mates? I traded in the Uplander last week): Princess, Gman, and my mom & dad made the looong drive to Enterprise, in southern Alabama on Saturday--I lived there for 9th-12th grade. It's the one place we lived in all my military-brat days that I truly did not want to leave and consider to be "home".

Enjoyed a BBQ and pool party that evening at my folk's friends' house--John & Debbie Railsback. Their sons Travis & Shawn are my age--Shawn and I were friends in Germany first, then our dads were both sent to Ft. Rucker, Alabama at the same time! Few military brats get to go to school for 7 years on 2 different continents with the same person!

On Sunday morning I had brunch with my girlfriends from high school....although honestly, we couldn't tell that 21 years had past! We had sooo much fun traveling down Memory Lane together!!!! Unfortunately it was too short and incomplete with Alison not being there (she was very ill). But we'll definitely be planning a REAL get together soon!!!

May 1989, l-r: Alison, Cynthia, Cathy, Marissa, me
May 2010, clockwise from top: Marissa, Cynthia, Cathy, me



After brunch, the folks, kids & I packed back in the van and drove to central Alabama for a surprise 50th Anniversary celebration for some dear family friends my parents have had since I was 5. It was wonderful to see them again!

Long trip, short time, but oh so very worth it!

City Girl

Princess had to illustrate a book cover for a story about a girl named Gina who lives in the city. Awesome!!!

Trees, eggs, and sunglasses

It was only an 8 minute drive, during which I never said a word. But it was a marathon of non sequiturs from my children:

Rainbow Watchers. (reading from a car window sign)

Little boy blue, come blow your horn........

Tree huggers.

My hands! (nothing further for explanation, just discovered her hands)

Rockets are faster than cars.

Twinkle Twinkle little star...........

Hug a tree.

Dance class is straight. (not really...it was to the left)

350Z. That'll be my dream car.

Turn right. (as I'm turning left)

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall..........

So! There's a sensor to tell the light to go on/off! (refering to the visor mirror)

Where's my coat?

My future's so bright, I wear a hat, cuz sunglasses aren't my thang.

Today is Wednesday.

This is what our everyday life is like. I swear to you, none of this was embellished. Every word really was said by the children, and there was more that I just couldn't remember.

In the year 2024, when Gman graduates high school, somewhere there's going to be a padded room waiting for me. I hope it has good music.

New Year's Resolution: Pointless

I pondered the first week of January what I really, truly wanted to change. Sleep. I want more sleep. I should've known better. My life is filled with way too many independent variables to ever accomplish any resolution.

Jan. 6th (aka Night 1): I average 5-6 hours on most "school nights." Got in bed a whole 10 minutes earlier than my usual "Way way toooo late." But, due to an un-warranted snow day, I got to sleep in! Hey, this is my resolution, it counts!

Night 2: Going into it, I knew Friday was a snow day but still got in bed at 11--over 30 min earlier than usual (yay me!) thinking, "Cool, I'll get to sleep in til 8 too!" That's when every. single. flippin'. independent variable conspired to sabotage me in one night.

Variable: Mother Nature. As I've been approaching the 4-0, I've sometimes suffered out-of-whack-hormones-induced insomnia. Kept me laying there for 1.5 hours.
Variable: Facebook. I'm only supposed to get FB texts up til 9pm. But for some reason, an 8:45pm text circled the stratosphere for 4+ hours and hit my cell at 1AM.
Variable: Alexander Graham Bell. A wrong-number phone call at 3AM.
Variable: Hubby. 6AM. Technically not his fault that he has to work, but he's been to blame for keeping me awake many other nights, so no extra credit.
Variable: Al. This is the kid I have to physically drag from bed at 7:20AM for school. So WHY? WHY would he intentionally set his alarm for 6:55AM when he knows it's a snow day?!? He's incapable of hearing alarms go off 2 feet from his head. I have to get up to turn of the alarm.
Variable: Princess. 7:05 wanders into my bed. Not a problem. She'll fall back to sleep. "I had a bad dream about alligators." 5 minute discussion about alligators vs. climate/living conditions.
Variable: Gman. 7:25 wanders into my bed. "I had a bad dream that I went to get a Pop-Tart and someone ate them all. Can I watch your TV?"

The Minor League for the Minor Leagues

Lexington now has a new minor-minor basketball league team--The Bluegrass Stallions. Coached by Kyle Macy (a former UK starter on awesome UK championship team in the 70's). Many of the players on the Stallions team are former UK players and one former EKU player--my alma mater! Craig, the little ones and I went to the game last night (Al was with his dad). As we were heading to the ticket window, some random stranger walking near us gave us his 4 extra tix! Thank you random stranger! Some funny rules--they have 4 and 5 point shots.








They had one of the big bouncers for kids.

Conversation:
Mom: You look cute in that turtleneck!
Gman: I don't have a turtle neck!!!







The intermission time-filler was the game where 2 random people were chosen to shoot and make a lay-up, a free-throw, a 3-pointer, and a 1/2 court shot in a minute or less. They gave the girl (who appeared to be about 10yo) a break, she didn't have to do the 1/2 court shot. The prize: "Chick-fil-A for a year." The guy couldn't get the 1/2 court shot. But the crowd went WILD when the 10yo girl completed her round!!!! Afterward, the announcer interviewed her. She plays organized basketball but had never made a 3-pt shot before that one!



How many Chick-fil-A cows does it take to make a herd?

School Pictures 2009

The 8th grader! Doesn't seem right that he's almost done with middle school already!!!








The kindergartner/first grader. Picked her hair style for picture day--isn't it a little early for her to wanting to over-ride mom's picture day plans?






















The pre-schooler. If only I could put that dimple in my pocket!!

It's a Christmas Miracle!

We went to the Ky. Horse Park this weekend for the Southern Lights display and the miniature train display, crafts sale, and petting zoo. We were shocked that Princess, the kid that is generally scared of dogs that are taller than her knee, BEGGED to go on a camel ride! Al on the other hand, had to be bribed to go with her. The entire time we were in line, the camels were delightfully compliant. And then once our children were on one, it decided he was done, was quite resistant to doing anything the animal handler wanted and actually tried to bite the handler. I stood there in speechless horror thinking the 11 o'clock news was going to feature an angry mom attacking a camel.

For the very first time, we have a picture of the kids with Santa where the kids are all smiling, unafraid, and actually WITH Santa (as opposed to Santa being 25 feet BEHIND the children).

That smells great!

Conversation while wiping off Princess's hands with a new antibacterial wipe that smelled really nice.

Me: Gee, this smells really good!
Princess: Let me smell.
Me, not wanting her to rub used wipe on her face, put her freshly wiped hand up to her nose and said: Just smell your hand.
Princess (with attitude): It just smells like hand!