Close Call

Aaron and I sleep in the basement. Our bedroom is situated next to the family room and across the hall from our bathroom. It's always interesting doing the nude sprint from the bedroom to the bathroom for a shower. You never know if a child or two will be wondering around, lurking in the corners. :)

Today I was in my purple robe (of course), lounging around. I finally decided to get dressed. I walked into my bedroom, turned towards my dresser to get some clothes, unhooked the sash of my robe ready to whip it wide open. As I stood there with my robe half undone I looked out my bedroom door (which was wide open)and saw my dear father-in-law sitting on the couch with his laptop, only 4 feet away. Luckily he was staring at the screen intently. I can only imagine how uncomfortable future Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners would be if he had been looking to the left instead of straight ahead. It was too close for comfort!

Tribute to One of Charlie's Angels

Jamie -

You are SUPER FAST!
You are a GREAT STORYTELLER!
You ROCK HARRY'S HILL each and everytime!
You are inspirational.

You are going to be MISSED terribly by Charlie and his last 2 Angels. (Two just doesn't seem right!)

Thanks for all the runs and for putting up with my "runs." Texas is a lucky state. Good luck and have fun!

Vanessa

Ian's 12th Birthday Party

Ian has not had a friend b-day party in YEARS!! Our kids get the option of spending their b-day money on throwing a party for their friends or getting gifts from us. Ian has always chosen taking the cash for gifts in the past.

I was so excited that he decided to have a party this year. He rarely plays with friends. He's kind of a loner, so I was shocked when he said he wanted to throw a shin-dig. It turns out, he thought he could throw together a "free" party and still get the b-day cash from us. His idea: play kickball and frisbee. No food. No prizes. Just games. "Can I still get my b-day money if I don't spend any money on the party, Mom?" Well, I'm sorry, but a party isn't a party without at least a chip or cookie or something! It's so funny how kids' brains work.

We ended up roasting hot dogs and making Smores, and then heading over to the school for some night games: kickball and frisbee. We then drove the boys down to the library where we played "cops and robbers." My mom and Carson were the cops. Aaron and I divided the boys into 2 teams (he and I each headed up a team). The goal: 1st team back to our house wins. If you get stopped by the "cop" you have a 2 minute penalty. Aaron was confident his team would win. I, of course, knew my speedy team would be the champions.

We said, "Go!" and headed off for the 1.5-2 mile adventure (depending which way you ran). The entire team had to stay together. It turns out, some of the kids don't like to run up hills. :) Aaron's team got home 10 minutes before mine. There was a lot of trash talk. One boy said later that night, "That cops and robbers game nearly killed me." That boy was on Aaron's team. I think Aaron was a little bit pushier about being speedy than I was. I'm all about making people feel good. Aaron's all about the "win!"

Ian smiled the whole night. Happy 12th B-Day, Ian!

Life is Good!

My eyes opened slowly. The sun was peaking through the window. I felt oddly refreshed and wide awake. I heard the children quietly moving around completing their morning chores. I turned my head towards my alarm clock. 8:30. The sheets felt cool and smelled liked Downy. I didn't feel like getting up yet. I stared at the ceiling thinking about my day. What should I do today? Lay in the hammock under the maple tree out back and read a good romance novel, or perhaps, do a little morning water aerobics in our new swimming pool. No. Both of those options sounded like too much effort. I reached over to my nightstand to grab the Harlequin romance I'd started reading the night before. As my fingers touched the spine of the book, I lost my balance and whacked the side of my head on the black pine nightstand that was positioned too close to my bed. Ouch! I was really awake now.

I heard the 4 animals I call my children racing around screaming at the top of their lungs. Adam Lambert's new song, "Entertainment," was blaring from a radio somewhere in the house. I was sweating profusely in the big, purple robe I'd forgotten to take off before I fell asleep. The sheets did not feel fresh, and did not smell like Downy. Instead, I smelled a faint scent of old sweat. It was coming from my hair. I looked at the clock. 8:42. Then I remembered. I'd come home from my morning run at 7:00, taken a shower (without washing my hair) and deliriously crawled back into bed in my purple robe. What was on my list of things to do today? Drive Nyah to dance, clean my bathroom, drive Cali to work, stop at WalMart on the way home to buy supplies for Ian's b-day party, make dinner, pick up Cali from work, drive Ian to soccer, pick up Ian from soccer, listen to Carson read, practice the guitar . . . I closed my eyes again, hoping that I'd wake up again in my dream world. Uhmmmm. I opened my eyes. "Entertainment" was being replayed for the 4th time in a row. Nope. Still in bed with my purple robe on. Time to get up and live. I don't like hammocks or swimming pools anyway.

Ian's Thoughts . . .

"Boy, I'm hungry!"


"I am SOOOO ready for 6th grade!"


"Girls, girls, girls!"


"Please, let this be the last picture!"


"I've got a little bit of gas. Just give me a second . . ."


"Yep. That was me!"

Sibling Pictures

"Hey, Soul Sistah"


"Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou?"


"Love you like a sister!"


"Carson's First Kiss"


"No Kiss for Me, Please!"


"Cuties"


"Should've Cleaned Out the Toe Jam!"


"Door Shots"

All Because 2 People Fell in Love . . .

We don't like to spend the money on school pictures each year, so we went out yesterday and took our own. Here's what we ended up with . . .


Presenting . . . our new 6th grader . . . Ian Riggs


Our brand-new seven-year-old, Carson Grant


Sophomore status . . . Cali Elizabeth


All grown-up . . . well, kind of . . . Nyah Christine

Is there a Baby #5 in our future?

Looking like a "No!"

The Budget Massage

If any of you have SORE muscles but NO money for a massage, I have a solution for you:

Have your children or some friendly neighborhood children gather rocks from the backyard.

Soak the rocks in HOT water.

Finally, have them lay the hot rocks on your back, legs, or feet.

Note: You may suffer from some minor burns from the hot rocks, but you will no longer feel your sore muscles. Plus, it's free!