Happy Thanksgiving!

Here are my Halloween pictures!

Black Belt!

Geisha Girlie

Sweet Bee...

On Halloween night, three neighborhood boys showed up with their bodies covered in peeling pink paint. Matching pig snouts and white wings completed their costumes. "The three pigs?" I asked. "Swine flu," they answered. Ah...

This, I am convinced, is how the swine flu infected my unsuspecting household. The very next day my oldest had a temperature of 103 and was laying about in atypical malaise. We even went to the hospital and had the sucky snot test to confirm that he was, indeed, H1N1 positive (called such because it wouldn't be p.c. to insult pigs). So for the next two weeks I had two kids and one spouse come down with the disease that has caused such a media frenzy. Ya know what? We all survived. But that's why you are seeing my Halloween pictures after Thanksgiving.

Mental Health Moment (warning: this post contains profanity)...

I've been insanely busy for the past month and a half. I think of things I'd like to blog about but something else more important comes up. Not more fun, just more important...like book reports, nasty colds and the stomach flu. I keep waiting for my life to "get back to normal" but then I realize, this is the new normal!

damn it...

The Colors of Summer


Blue


In the heat of the day, in the cool of the pool...
nothing like it!









...Orange

Or any other color popsicle! You gotta love a popsicle in the hands of a two year old. He's oblivious as the juice dribbles down his chin and both arms. You get in on the action when he wraps both arms around your leg for a sticky hug.

Red, White and Blue


These colors fly high all through the month of July. Around here they mean parades, hot dogs, cousins and fireworks.

And my FAVORITE color today????

the big yellow school bus

that just drove past my house

This was my mother's day gift this year (the sunflower...not the boy. I got him years ago). My son gave it to me early in May. It sat on the windowsill in the kitchen growing steadily for a few weeks. When we decided it was strong enough, we planted it outside. Holy growth spurt Batman! It went from 10 inches to five feet in a thirty day span. Do ya ever wonder what kind of steroids God puts in seeds that causes this kind of reaction? After seeing how quickly this monstrosity shot up I find myself thanking heaven for the disparity in the growth cycle of young plants and young children.
(yes, I know he needs a haircut...the boy, not the sunflower)

Happy Summer!

Our Zoo membership expired on June 30th. So, wanting to squeeze as much value out of that little piece of paper as possible we loaded up, grabbed the cousins and went...on the hottest day of summer so far.

Our Navigator...
Wild animals...beware

Cousins, and buds!

Why I don't Comment on Your Blog...

This morning, I had just finished printing out the chore chart for my oldest before Cubs when I realized I had 2 minutes and 45 seconds of free time. I decided to catch up on my favorite blogs. This is what happened next:

J: Mom...what are you doing?
Me (distracted): Leaving a comment on a blog.
J: A what?
Me: A blog.
J (patronizing): Mom...that's not how you spell 'both.'
Me: That's good because I'm trying to spell 'booth!'
J: Who is that to? What are you saying? Who is that a picture of? Why are you doing that? Do you even know who that is?
Long Mommy pause (the one where you weigh the conseqences of child endangerment)
Me (resigned): Ya know, I think I'll do this when you are unconcious.

How Far Would you Go for Good

Cheese Fries?

A favorite hang out in High School, it's where you find

truly great cheese fries--no equal, anywhere

(and believe me...I've looked)

I just returned from a trip long over due--back to my hometown in Missouri. It was WONDERFUL. Ok. It was wonderful for me. I dragged my sister-in-law along and all my shouted enthusiasm was somewhat lost on her:

“Look! That’s my High School.”
“There’s my old house!”
“I made out in that parking lot!”
“I learned to roller skate there!”(ok…that one was a lie. I never learned to roller skate. I learned to fall down.)

Mmm-mm. You can take the girl out of Missouri but you can’t take the Missouri out of the girl. Going back home I felt like I met pieces of myself. Pieces not lost, but maybe forgotten. There are some really lovely things about the Midwest. The pace is slower, the people are completely genuine. LJ remarked on how kind and polite everyone was. Family friends took time out of their busy day to talk to me. I went to church and was treated like a lost treasure. My heart expanded two sizes just seeing some of these people again.

Here are some highlights...

Outside the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art home to my favorite painting in the

world, Mrs. Cecil Wade by John Singer-Sargent

Exterior and Interior shots of Union Station in Kansas City,

one of the most sublime places on the planet
We stayed in downtown Kansas City, two blocks from the Power

and Light District

The J.C. Nichols fountain at the entrance to the

Country Club Plaza...great shopping, great eats...beautiful!