Dear blog commenters,

Nate thanks you for all the support and validation he received on his little shopping trip gone wild.

I, on the other hand, do not.

Do you know who ate the majority of those Drumsticks and licorice
(among other things).
I'll give you a small clue. It wasn't Nate.

So even though I don't thank you, my butt and thighs do.

"I like 'em big. I like 'em chunk-ay..."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Nate had a new toy arrive in the mail today.

It's not a tennis racket (it's more fun than tennis).
It's a hand held bug zapper.

The power over life and death held in the palm of your hand.

Looks like we've found a way to solve our little fruit fly problem.
Now instead of having smashed fruit fly remnants on our counter tops we will have tiny bits of fruit fly particles floating around. It's not so bad once you get past the floating fruit fly participial bit.

The first thing I said to Nate when he opened up his new toy was, "How bad do you think it shocks? Try it out."

Nate cautiously reaches out with his pointer finger and ZAP! The smell of burning flesh immediately fills the air and Nate shouts out, "Man, that hurt really bad!" (Me, laughing) "No, Ginnie, I'm serious. I think I just blacked out. Did I just black out?" As best I could I gathered myself to be the loving support Nate needed during this urgent moment and replied, "So, I'm guessing this is NOT a kid toy?"

I'm sorry you touched it honey, but if I told you to jump off a cliff would you?

Needless to say, the fly Zapper works--
not just on flies, but grown adults as well.

.

Know what's awesome...

This bed from Pottery Barn Kids.

Know what's even more awesome-er?

Getting this bed for 1/3 of the cost from DownEast Home .

Yes. Awesome.

Nate

He went to the store for

milk,

bread,

and eggs...

and now she's 7

As if 6 wasn't old enough she decided to go and have another BIRTHDAY .

You know the promise you make to yourself the day you become a mother?

The promise of, I will never buy my kids cheesy character shoes. I also made another promise the day I held my brand new baby girl in my arms and that was, I will never throw my children cheesy character themed birthday parties.

I broke one of those promises this month.

It was a Hannah Montana birthday bash

complete with a cupcake designing center,

nail and make-up salon,

Hannah Montana look-alike photo booth,

and just about any Hannah Montana party game you could think of

(and there's a lot)

Now I'm probably making it sound a lot more extravagant then it really was
(in fact, I know I am)
but in the eyes of a 6 (now 7 year old) all it was lacking was Hannah Montana herself.

Abrie as Hannah (just minus the bangs)...

And Macie joined in the PARTY too!

My oldest litte girl is getting big. FAST.

I wish there was a way to keep her like this forever...

And while we're on the subject;

keep him like this...

and her like this...

or just keep the whole package together just.like.this...

Happy Birthday Abe's!

Bed Head

I should be at the gym this morning

or at least doing something productive, but
I'm not.

I'm just lazying around today,

sitting with my hair tied up in a knot,

wearing a baggy t-shirt,

possibly wearing a bra... or not,

thinking of all the things I could be doing,

should be doing,

want to be doing.

Right now blogging is the winner.

In my defense, I have managed to
eat breakfast,
brush my teeth,
put my contacts in,
send my kids off to school,
and pick up the kitchen.

Oh, and blog.

Randomosity

1. It’s not that I don’t like to cook- it’s that I just prefer it when other people do it for me.

2. Did you know you can sell anything on KSL and craigslist if you just place the word vintage or antique in front it.

3. Dear qwest telemarketer who called me today,
My name is Ginnie, not guinea. Thanks.

4. Fruit flies are taking over my house.

5. It’s not good to make a 9x13 pan of brownies if you’re the only one who eats them.

6. Brownies are best when eaten for breakfast, lunch, and dinner… and right before bed.

7. My house resembles that of uncle knit-knots from imagination movers. All beige, all over, all blah. It needs color desperately.

8. I watch too much Disney channel.

9. I have a major case of IDDD (interior designer deficit disorder). I can barely pick out an outfit let alone put together a house and make it all match.

10. I am seriously considering doing some trade. How about a free photo session for someone to come beautify & designify my home. Any takers?

11. There’s no shame in my game.

It was like Christmas

Just minus the snow,
and the Santa,
and the festive wrapping paper,
(unless you count cardboard boxes as wrapped)
and the tree,
and well, the whole Christmas part.

This would be the first time my kids have seen their toys in over a year.

Every time we opened a new box I would hear an excited squeal and then silence- long, wonderful, beautiful silence. The only sound I could hear was the occasional tinkering of toys & giggles from 3 little, fully entertained children.

I did the math and strategically saved a box for several mornings so that all I'd have to do was slide out of bed,

cut open a box,

say, "Remember to play nice and Macie, don't eat any toys",

fall right back in bed.

and sleep.

It.Was.Awesome.

(and not neglectful)

(well, not completely)

... and now it's his turn

He started kindergarten this week.

Kaleb, my little man.

It just didn't' seem right sending him off to school.

I dropped him off at the door,

gave him a squeeze,

pinched his little bum,

and told him I loved him.

I was collected. I was cool. I was holding strong.

Then as I pulled away and looked at his little puppy dog face

I saw tears well up in his eyes

and with a crack in is quiet voice he said,

"Mommy, I'm scared".

My heart melted

and the whole collected, cool, and holding strong thing

went out the window.

I didn't cry.

I wanted to.

But I didn't.

Will somebody please slap me?

The Fail Blog

I'm not referring to my blog. Not yet.
I'm referring to this blog.
Here's just a few of the many gems from the fail blog...

Tanning FAIL

Portrait FAIL

Peep-toe shoe FAIL

Name FAIL

Intelligence FAIL

Family board game FAIL

Bodybuilder FAIL

and my personal two favorites...

Prop placement FAIL

Synchronized swimming Fail

This one gets me every time. Every time.

I'm laughing...



...and I'm still laughing.
Well, it's not so much a laugh it's more like a giggle.
An inside giggle.

*Oh, TOE you di'in't!

I'm pretty sure that I have broken one of the cardinal rules of toe nail painting.
I'm not talking about the rule of,

Thou shalt not attempt to give thine self a french tip manicure using white-out

(I found that one out the hard way).

I'm talking about the other two rules:

I.Thou shalt not paint thy toe nails leaving the 4th & 5th toe neglected.

II. If thou hath complete disregard for the above rule, thou shall at least attempt to paint thine nails so that it doth not appeareth that thine 3 year old off spring hath painteth them... eth.

• I cannot confirm nor deny that this has been a first time offense.

• I cannot confirm nor deny that I went an extended period of time wearing flip-flops with the exposed naked toes.

• I cannot confirm nor deny that there is a high possibility that my toes still look like that.

• I can confirm however, that on the scale of awesomeness my toes make it to at least a 6.85 maybe even a seven.

• I can confirm that breaking this cardinal rule of toe painting will set me back a good few months for making new friends.

• I can also confirm that with a clever title such as "TOE you di'int" I will have Internet BFF's in no time flat.

*Alternative post titles:
-Fashion TOE-pa
-Holy TOE-ledo Batman
-Tic-Tac-TOE
-TOEn't ya wish your toe nails were hot like mine? TOE'nt ya, TOEn't ya?!
-No-TOE-rious

and last but not least,

-I Didn't Paint All My Toes Because I Was in a Hurry.