The Mouse

(This was originally posted 10/16/2008)

Well, I was going to be all cute and tell you the name of this pumpkin/mouse that Peter made – but I can’t remember it! I want to say “Rumpelstiltskin,” but it’s more like “Somebody Stilton.”

Anyway.

This was a project Peter had to do for school, in addition to his first book report (which his teacher let him type! He was ecstatic!) The main character is this character (who shall remain nameless because, well, I can’t remember his name):

The peppermints are his glasses which sit on his nose. Peter would NOT let me use the glue gun to help him make this character, although I think hot glue might have been an improvement on the scotch tape.

And I’m not much of a fan of hot glue. I think it goes back to my growing up years (Will & Bethany, can you give a witness here?). Mom was all about the hot glue gun. Need a button sewn on? Why sew when you can just hot glue it? But in this case, I would have been willing to risk the inevitable smell of burning skin that happens when I heat up ye old glue gun. Because I’m nothing if not a self-sacrificing mother.

I heard that, children.

Now on to my other new pics – additional proof that I AM a self-sacrificing mother! Also, a stir-crazy, need-a-break-from-my-own-four-walls mother. I give you [imagine trumpet fanfare, please] PLANET PIZZA!

I think my favorite part was the bumper cars. As much as I love my own kids, you have to admit that little girlfriend K. looks like a rock star in her black bumper car!

Traveling Fun with Brad

This article was originally written and posted on May 29, 2019.  I’m reposting it here for your enjoyment!

My husband travels a lot.  A LOT a lot.  It is currently May, and he has already accrued 55,618 miles this year.  And that’s not including the flight he is currently on, which is coming from overseas and is scheduled to land in about an hour and a half.  We have over a million “award miles” just waiting to take our family somewhere exotic this summer (that is, if one of us gets her butt in gear and plans the trip!).

So when Brad got a phone call from American Airlines with the news that he had been granted the coveted “ConciergeKey” level by American Airlines, neither of us was surprised.  ConciergeKey is a secret level that AA doesn’t advertise, but reserves for the most frequent fliers.  We knew about it because several of Brad’s co-workers have achieved this status, but since they don’t advertise it, no one knows how to qualify.  One day, they just got the call.

There are supposedly a lot of perks for “CK” but Brad had not seen many of them – until yesterday, that is.  Yesterday, my husband and I learned there is another world that exists, and for a few brief hours, he was a part of it.

If you stand in the right place, you can see that the apartment walls don’t go to the ceiling.  I guess that’s probably a safety issue.

He had his own personal chef who wanted to make him something off the menu!

My mother had a saying when we were growing up.  When we were behaving in a way that was socially awkward, Mom would say, “We’re just country come to town!” with her best southern drawl.  Well, I’m afraid Brad was acting like “country come to town” last night, and I was experiencing it with him, virtually!

I could put more of his pictures here, but I think this video does a better job:

 

Does The Crazy Ever Stop???

I’ve always said that if someone were to observe some of what happens around here, they would not believe it.

For instance, this happened last week: 

 

Yes, that is indeed a mouse/rat floating on our pool cleaner, trying not to drown. In our pool. How does that happen? I mean, did the dogs chase it and it blindly ran into the pool, then managed to pull itself up onto the pool cleaner one tiny paw at a time?  Does it think it’s safe now???  Or did it just meander out onto the thing and realize too late that it was a BAD IDEA.  

Because I hate to be the one to say it, but there isn’t going to be a happily ever after for this creature.  In fact, shortly after I took this picture, Brad came out with the pool net and disposed of it.

And that’s all I’m going to say about that.

 

 

 

We are at Chili’s

Not really a big story here. We have started letting the kids take turns picking where we eat out after church Sunday. Actually, it’s much more complicated than that because Matthew made all the minor rules, but that’s it in a nutshell. So here’s the token picture of the kids…

Here’s a picture of Samuel at the Boosterthon Fun Run, with his teacher…

They threw colored cornstarch on the kids. He showered and came out with his hair still streaked blue and pink, and his face was still colored. So we went to my bathroom and I gave him the first bath I’ve given him in YEARS. But get this – he was too embarrassed to take off his clothes in front of me. ME. HIS MOTHER. So I bathed him in his swimsuit.

 

Finally, during a recent thunderstorm, I took this picture of the dog. She’s terrified of thunder. I guess this is the indoor version of burying her head in the sand?

I have a great video of Peter’s band performing Friday night but am having trouble getting it to upload. I will try to get it up soon.

Pool, Day 29

So the decking is in, but not the stuff that goes between the bricks.  Which is okay because it still looks fantastic.

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I’m especially thrilled with how they did the edging.  These are cemented in, effectively creating a form that keeps the stones from moving over time.

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We’re getting there!

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Snickers is ready to have her yard back.

Today, they are cleaning up the backyard.  All the trash and stuff has been hauled off, and now they are power-washing the interior of the spa.

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According to our wonderful project manager, if we don’t run into any bad weather or delays, we will have plaster on Friday, which means we can swim!!!  I’m not getting my hopes up…much.