Ready or not...

...there they go.

This time last year I felt so on the ball. This year, not so much. This year I feel like I'm UNDER the ball, feeling its weight pressing down on me. I'm not sure how it happened, but summer is over. I think I was in denial about school starting, but whether or not I felt like it was time I now have three of my four in school! It's probably just what we need--to be back on a schedule and a routine, but so far we've been a little (o.k. a lot) inconsistent about the routine. I'm sure it will come (fingers crossed). In the meantime, I'm just trying my best to keep my battle with paperwork in control (field trip permission slips, emergency contact info, disclosure documents, reading logs, homework logs, etc.). Liv and Sean started last week, and Warren's first day was today. I was surprised that I didn't get emotional. Warren has been so excited so it made it hard to get sad. Here are some more pictures of the first day(s) of school. (I didn't get any more of Liv because her carpool came right as we were taking the first picture).
Here are some of Sean's first day. (My standard for clothes has decreased dramatically. I used to say that my kids would never wear characters on their clothes. This year we are blessed to own an "every shade of green possible" Yoda shirt AND a rainbow Hannah Montana shirt (for Olivia obviously). I guess you could say that is one battle I have chosen not to fight.)
I made Sean take another picture with a bigger smile.
Here he is with his bus buddies Cameron and Jaden:Getting on the bus:This next picture is my absolute favorite! Warren and David waving good-bye to all the kids.
We weaned David slowly from his siblings. He had one week with Warren before he was left with just Mom. This morning we headed to the bus stop, and I was nervous David would be sad, but he was just fine. I'm going to enjoy having lots of one on one time with my littlest guy (probably more than he'll enjoy it, but I'm sure he'll manage!)
Here are Warren's bus buddies Ivan and Joe:
There they go!!!And now I'm off to the school to ride the bus with the Kindergartners to make sure they all get where they're supposed to go. I think it will be a great year!

Cat Fight

I don't like drama. I avoid confrontation whenever possible. Still, sometimes a situation arises--out of your control and impossible to avoid. A couple of weeks ago I found myself right smack dab in the middle of what can only be described as a true "cat fight". Now that the wounds have healed (both physically and emotionally) I am finally ready to document it. Below are the images (evidence) of said event: (If you want all the juicy details, read on)


**This next picture is a close up to show texture:So, here's the story. My friend, Julie, went out of town and asked me to watch the house, collect a package, and take care of her (daughter's) cat Tasha. The first day Olivia and I went over to feed the cat she looked so lonely. She wasn't interested in her food at all, and just kept walking over to Olivia and purring. Lily (her owner) has been with her dad for about a month, so Tasha hasn't had much "kid" time. Olivia had compassion on her and asked if we could bring her to our house to play for a little while. I agreed, and Tasha had a great time. As we were getting ready to take her back home we discovered that David had kindly opened the door for Tasha. Tasha is ONLY an inside cat, and I was panicking about the possibility of her running away. Fortunately she was scared out of her wits of Shadow and was hiding behind the barbecue. (Shadow was sitting quietly like a good little kitty under the van--oblivious to the fact that he was causing Tasha major anxiety.) I was able to get her quite easily, and was trying to pet her and comfort her. I said, "Oh, it's o.k. Shadow's a nice kitty". I guess that was the wrong thing to say. If any of you have ever heard a cat fight, you know what comes next (minus a second cat. I guess my arm was a decent substitute for the other cat). The noise of cat fights from far away makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. It is a much more intense sound when it's happening in your very own arms. I tried all the tricks I know to calm a cat down, the first of which was to hold her by the scruff of the neck. That did a whole lot of nothing. She clawed, bit, squirmed, growled, hissed, and made other sounds that can't be described--but they were scary. Olivia was screaming at me to just let her go, but I knew that if she was scared she may leave and be gone forever so I just held on with all my might, knowing that it wasn't a very long walk back to Julie's house. I tried my best to reassure her, and talk calmly (although the words "demon cat" may have slipped out) until we reached her house. It was then that I decided that she would be lonely for the duration of our cat-sitting duties. Fed but lonely. I came home to dress my wounds. The hydrogen peroxide made a fun bubbling display on my arm, and then I smeared neosporin all over it and tried to take a few deep breaths to recover from the drama. I then enjoyed my status as "hero" (Olivia was clearly impressed that I was able to hold on during such an intense fight). Oh, and did I mention this cat is de-clawed in the front? I think she can still hold her own.

Brian Regan

Oh the joy! Last night we had the pleasure of seeing Brian Regan at Thanksgiving Point. We got our tickets a long time ago, and just recently discovered that the Hulses also had tickets for the same night. We went together, and had a blast! We started the evening with dinner on the picnic tables, then went back to our blankets. Our blankets were at the very top right by the sidewalk. We weren't concerned about being so far up since there were big screens that would enable us to see him just fine. While we were chatting before the show a guy none of us had met before came up to us and asked, "Are there only 4 of you in your group?" We answered in the affirmative, and then he says, "Do you guys want to come up to the front? We have some extra room and wanted to offer it to people at the top." What in the world?!!! We anxiously took them up on their offer, knowing that any other seats would be closer than where we were, but we just kept walking ALL the way down to the very front. I was as giddy as a school girl! I couldn't believe our good fortune. I had to take a picture of the kind folks who, out of the goodness of their hearts, offered us the most amazing seats in the house!

Um...that's the STAGE!!! These guys came to stand in line at 1:00am. They were first in line, and then, just to be nice, they gave us the status as front row Joes! Thank you, kind strangers! Your good deed made our night!
The opening act was great! His name is Kermit Apea. Some of my favorites of his were his purple taurus wagon with two car seats (this car can be summed up in two words...Hello, ladies!), being pulled over by a minivan (sitting in the back with handcuffs saying, "are we there yet, are we there yet, he's hitting me, are we there yet?), the bicycle police officers (how do criminals get away from those guys? Oh yeah, they step on the gas), braille at the aquarium, and so many more. I was already in tears from laughing so hard, and I didn't have much time to recover before HE came out!
This man is so funny! His facial expressions, his mannerisms, and his delivery are all hilarious! He came out and the first thing he commented on was the t-shirts of the group in front of us. He said, "Hey, you have some of my jokes written on your shirts. That makes me feel good, and if I ever get lost I can just look down there." and then he proceeded to read the t-shirts in true Brian Regan fashion. Some highlights of his act:
-News Anchor you can trust/News team that cares
-Betty Crocker
-Chess (normal sized guy vs. tall center--this one was great because it probably won't ever be on a DVD. He went on a huge tangent about "normal sized guy". He ended the bit by saying, "that was the longest joke in the history of comedy)
-No-nonsense judges (the spinning hat twirl)
-Model prisoner (even though he thought it didn't go over well. His comment was, "that was a new joke, so thanks for your feedback")
-Walkie Talkie
-School
It was such a fun night, and as I was drifting off to sleep last night I would just start cracking up all over again.

Mini Mode

I had to document this one since it's been a while since I've seen them do it! This particular move is called "Mini Mode". (Left to right: Warren, Cameron (neighbor), and Sean) It is done by stretching your shirt over your knees, then trying to do everything in that position. Sean became a pro at this maneuver, and was able to navigate the entire school playground in mini mode. They also spent lots of time on the trampoline in mini mode. David often got into the action, and requested that I join him ("Mom, you mini mode"). Sean did not inherit his ability (or agility) to become a pro at this from me, but I did try a time or two for a couple of seconds at a time! I'm curious to see if mini mode makes a comeback when school starts in a couple of weeks (ugh--I don't know if I'm ready to be "school mom". I'm enjoying being "summer mom").

The Wicked Witch

Around here there is always a favorite movie--one that gets played (sometimes mulitple times) daily. For a while David's favorite was Enchanted. Then it went to Hoodwinked, High School Musical, and now we have landed on The Wizard of Oz. I have always loved this movie, and it hasn't been until recently (when it has been playing daily) that I have stopped to analyze a key part to the story...the demise of the Wicked Witch of the West. Does she know that water will kill her? If so, why in the world would she have a bucket of the "poison" so readily available? If she doesn't know, has she really never been in the rain or taken a bath? It seems like it would be pretty hard to avoid water her whole life. Secondly, if all of her workers are so glad to have her destroyed, why haven't they done it (destroyed her) themselves? Surely the whole army could gang up on her and get rid of her in a jiffy.

Ok, so I almost deleted this post as my mind finally made it to an answer that made sense (if you think about something long enough an answer will come). Then I realized that it might make someone feel better that they were not the only ones who thought about sensless things (or if you're looking for a reason to laugh at me, here's a good start). So, here's what my brain came up with. This part of the movie is a dream. It was a perfectly innocent mistake with a perfectly glorious result. It would not have been in Dorothy's nature to kill the witch with violent force, but it was very much in her nature to help a burning friend. The fact that there was water within arms' reach and the fact that the water ended up killing the witch, therefore furthering Dorothy's cause, just comes down to the convenience of a dream. I would continue with my explanations, but suffice it to say, it was a dream. Some of my dreams don't make sense either.

And yes. I have more important things to do. Many, many more important things.

Lost in translation?

As I sit here detoxing from the joint birthday bash (for Sean and Warren) at Chuck E Cheese's last night, my mind is trying to understand a little bit of a communication problem at our house. You see, lately when I tell the kids it's time to do chores they immediately run for the kitchen to grab something to eat. It doesn't matter what time of day it is or whether they've JUST eaten, they always seem to be hungry when it's time to work. I wondered at first if I had the phrases mixed up, but when I tell them it's time to eat, they don't start doing chores.

Cat Bath

Our Veterinarian in training cousin Maddy came to visit for a day and decided it was time to give Shadow a bath.

Aside from a wet shirt (Maddy risked the operation without an apron), everyone walked away unharmed, Shadow didn't seem to mind it, and now we have a less stinky cat!