First Day of School

July 26, 2011

C

{2nd Grade}

B

{3rd Grade}

One of My Back to School Traditions

is to Make a Special Treat,

or Prize

and

Write a Special "Back to School" Note,

and Have it Waiting for Them,

on Their Pillow,

when They Get Home from School That First Day.

Gives Them Something to Look Forward To,

and It Gives Me an Extra Opportunity,

to Tell Them I Think They're Pretty Special.

School Shopping Extravaganza

{1st Annual}
We Have Decided on a New Tradition.
Growing Up,
We Each Recall that Back to School Shopping was
Something Special & Exciting.
Because We Have Year Round School,
and Our Summer Break is 3 WEEKS,
I Usually Squeeze it in at Random Times During the Break-
Nothing Spectacular to Write Home 'Bout.

But this Year,

We Decided on a Change.

We Got a Hotel,

4 Miles from Home

[We Could See our Neighborhood Out the Window!]

and Close to Shopping.

The First Evening We Spent

Getting New Back Packs & Threads.

Then We Enjoyed Dinner

Outside on a Patio at a Close-by Grill,

Enjoying the Live Band,

and Cool Summer Evening.

Back at the Hotel,

We Went Swimming,

and Stayed Up Late Watching a Movie.

The Next Morning,

We Had More Swimming,

and then Headed Out

For MORE Shopping,

{New Shoes and Fun in the Dressing Room!}

We Hit Up the New Cars 2 Movie,

and More Dinner,

Before Heading for Home.

It was Fun to Give the Boys

such a

School Shopping Treat!

We Loved it!

Float-ees

The Completed Float Edition:

{At the Thing, for the Thingy, Before the BIG Thing}

{Where Apparently, I'm Awesome at Face Painting. Yes. We All have Hidden Gems}

Before the Launch of the Finished Floats

for the Big Parade,

They Gather Them All Together,

for a Float Preview,

A Free Opportunity for the Community,

to Come Check out the Floats,

and Cast Votes,

in Various Categories.

We Won

"People's Choice Award"

It was a Choice Opportunity

to Learn what Goes into Making One of These Razzle Dazzle Things,

and I'm Glad I got to Help Out!

{Happy Anniversary}

Headed Down Town for the Evening
To Get Our Delicious Eats On Here:

Look!

They Printed a Special Menu for Us!

We Scarfed Down the

Albacore Tuna & Avocado Tartare

and

Thought the Salmon with Cucumber Tzatziki

and Steak
Were To Die For!

We Ended the Delightful Evening

Thoroughly Stuffed!

Happy Birthday!

My New 7 Yr. Old

Army Birthday Party

{Everyone Got in on the Action}

Dinner and Games

{Happy Birthday C!}

The Rest of the Story

Ok, ok!!! I have received thousands of requests since Jeralyn did the anniversary post. Please promise me if I tell the rest of the story that you will stop calling me, stop texting me and stop peeking through our windows.

So, I will admit that I had tried to politely break up with this foxy lady but she didn't quite get the hint. So, as she said I reluctantly told her to go fly a kite, err..I mean I agreed to go fly kites with her.

It was freezing cold and I had only one thing on my mind and that was trying to figure out the shortest amount of time to fly kites without seeming rude. I know that sounds awful but I had to end this somehow without hurting her feelings because she was, of course, so sweet.

So I'm sitting there thinking this and we really weren't saying hardly anything at all and then something really weird happened. All of a sudden I looked at her and something instantly changed inside me. I remember thinking, "are you stupid, this girl is amazing". It was like she had a little glow around her and from that moment on, I was completely smitten. I didn't want her to leave my side.

I didn't say anything once I felt this way at the park but I remember thinking that I wanted to take her to dinner and I wanted it to be as far away as possible so that I could feel this way for the rest of the night.

So that's it. I'm no expert blogger like my girlie girl but hopefully you can tell how in love I was with her. Now, here we are 13 years later and I realize how lucky I was to snag someone like that. She is definitely a keeper!!

Spent the 13th Anniversary

Picking Up the Groom from the Airport,

And?

I Think I May Have Him Talked

Into Doing a Ditty

to Answer Everyone's Burning Question:

"Why?"

13 Years

The Story of Us

Tomorrow We Celebrate our 13th Wedding Anniversary.
And I Thought I'd Share the Story of How We Met.
It Goes a Little Something Like This:

We Met at College. I was a Freshman, He was the Equivalent of a Senior.
We Knew Each other Through Our Roommates. They were all Dating Each Other, to put it in Summary Form.
He had a Girlfriend, I had a Long Distance Boyfriend. However, I did Notice that He and His Girly Friend Always Seemed to be having the Laughiest, Funniest Time, and I Wondered what that Would be Like.
However, Sad times (for them)-they broke up. And as Everyone was Returning from Christmas Break, to start our Second Semester of the Year, Lo and Behold, Look who starts to Come around. I Figured it was for My roommates, but secretly Hoped it was for Me. About a week into the Semester, I start going out with his next door neighbor, and Ryan was always there, poking his head out the window to Holler Somethin' Cute and Funny at Me. We Had his apartment over for dinner one Sunday, and there was Flirting and Crushing Galore.
After that, we were pretty much together all the time.
For a Week or So, anyway. Then he broke up with me. Something about Wanting to Get Good Grades or Something Gross Like that. But I'm Not Good at Letting Things Go, or Taking a Hint, I guess you could say.
Fortunately, for Me, We had joined a Country Dance Club on Campus as partners, and We were always looking for a chance to polish our moves and lifts and They had Dances several nights a week on campus.
During the time that we were totally into each other (you know, those 2 weeks, or so), we had bought kites, but had never used them. I asked if he would like to go fly kites and he reluctantly agreed. While I was Getting Ready for this Date, I think it finally hit me, that maybe He REALLY just wasn't interested in me anymore. I told Myself that I Would Drop it after this Date. In Fact, I Says to Myself, "If he brings Me home, the Moment we are done flying kites, I Will Know."
It was FREEZING and we went out and Flew those Kites. Laughing a little, but mostly not saying anything. I Knew this was the End. We Got in the Car, and Headed for My Apartment. We Got Closer, and I Knew this was the Moment of Truth. About a Block from My Place, He says, "Do You Want to go to Dinner? Do You want to Go to [Insert Name of Town 30 Mins Away]?" That Night was our First Make Out Session. Er, I mean Kiss. And then, we were Inseparable. We Were Engaged a Couple of months Later, and Married in July of that Same Year.
We Got Engaged Just before School Ended for the Year, and then we Had to Go our Separate Ways for the Summer. Both Back to our Homes (In different States)to Earn Money. I Flew Out for 3 days, to His Home, to meet his parents and to get our Engagement Pictures Taken. He was Very Sick with Mono at the Time, so we Didn't even get to Kiss. Our Engagement was 12 Weeks. We Stayed in contact through Email (which was very slow dial up at the time, it was the latest and greatest) and precious, few phone calls.
Thirteen Years Ago Today, July 15th, we met in the Place of our Marriage- Out of State for both of us, to get our Marriage License the Day before our Wedding. I Think we were both nervous that we would get together that day, and feel like strangers. But We didn't. We were still madly in Love.
We Were Married the next Day.
And Now this is US.
Thirteen years Later with 3 Kids, A Mortgage, and a Business or Two to Keep Running.
And You can Bet I Don't BLOG About Everything. But Rest assured that We've been Up and Down, and In and Out, and Over and Under. We've Been Through Hard times and Laugh Out Loud Times. We've Fallen apart, and We've Come Together.
And? We're STILL Doing this Thing Called Marriage.

Love You, Babe.

P.S. We Still Dance in the Kitchen

and

PPS. You Should Ask Him, how come He took me out to dinner that Kite night,

I always Love his Response.

Moving Up

To Blue Belts

The Boys Had Another Belt Test.

And Yes. Those ARE Nun-chucks.

And They Know How to Swing 'Em.

Current Status:

{Reverse Tie Dye}

Wha-La!

PS The Black is Mine, and They're Way Jealous, Because of Its Rad-Ness

Notes

of

{LOVE}

Before He Left,

Someone

was Busy Hiding Pink Notes.

[I Think We've Found them All]

Skype-ing

[Good Times]

I'll Probably Get Killed for Sharing this Picture,

Even Though it was Evening Here,

He had Just Rolled out of Bed at 6AM

Where He was.

And Apparently,

He Needed a Good Nose Picking.

Cub Scout Camp

Look Who Got to Take a Car Load of Cub Scout to Day Camp

It was Great to Go with B

and See What the Little Dudes

Get to Do at Day Camp.

I Got to Go, Because I'm the Wolf Den Leader,

Ryan Went because I Begged Him to.

Actually, No Begging was Involved

He Wanted to Get in on Some Scouting with B

When We Got to the Obstacle Course Station,

Our Guide Said,

"The Fastest Time We've Ever Had was 15 Seconds"

Ryan did it in 14.

SPEE.DY.

We Had a Lot of Fun,

and Came Home

Thoroughly Exhausted.

July 4th

Our Razzle Dazzle Best

July 1 & 2

• July 1 Was the Last Day of School


• Picked Up Kids and Headed for the State Line for a Big Ol' Family Campout


• I Didn't Take the Fancy Shamancy Camera


• My IPhone was Dead


• I Didn't Get Any Pictures


• If I had, They'd Include


• Reverse Parade; The Kids Dress Up. March Back and Forth in Front of the Adoring Parents, and WE Throw Candy at THEM. They Loved It.


• Painting Birdhouses


• a "Pinata" That was Essentially a wrapped box that My Folks Threw on the Ground and told the Kiddies to Kick It Open.


• Nertz


• Grandma's Treasure Hunt


• Grandma's Scavenger Hunt


• Boys and Dads Throwing Footballs and Riding Bikes Non-Stop.


• "What If "Questions Involving Finger Amputations Around the Citronella Candles Late at Night. And My Bro-in-Law's Late Night Snack Attacks.


• Stories about How Everyone Met their Spouse


• Mississippi Mud Brownies


• Sharing a One Person, Narrow Cot with Ryan the Last Night (We Each Froze the Night Before and Decided to Share the Blankets Together) and Getting the best Night's Sleep Either of Us Had Gotten The Whole Trip!

Swim Lessons

[Yes, Those are MINE!]

The Break Down:

B: (On the Left)

Has a Natural Swimming Ability,

and Can Swim the LENGTH of the Pool

Yet, Gets Squeamish about the Diving Board Thingy

C: (On the Right)

Has to Work at Being able to Do that Swim Thing.

However, has No Fear of Running, Jumping

Off the Diving Board,

and Doing a 360 in the Air.

Repeatedly.

Also, Gleefully Volunteered

to Dive Down 12 Feet

With His Instructor.

And Liked It.

Randomness

8 yr. old B Got Glasses.

[I Think He Looks Pretty Handsome and Smart]

*

6 yr. old C Wore the Same Pair of Shorts

Every Day

the Last TWO Weeks of School

[Sigh. Whatev.]

*

3 yr. Old J

Kept Asking,

"When Will I Get Baptized Like Daddy?!"

At Least, That's What I THOUGHT He was Saying.

Then I Figured Out,

He was Saying,

"When Will I Get Black Eyes, Like Daddy?!"

[He's My Only Blue-Eyed Child, After His Mother]

The Grass is Always Greener.

Good Times

In the Box In the Sand.

Saturday Afternoon Lunch

In the Fortress,

that Dad and Grandpa Built.

[Before it Was Done]

The Wild Flower Patch

That Grows in the Garden that Wasn't This Year.

Oh, Plus the Strawberries-

They're Back, too.

And the Weeds.

Where Did June Go?

Highlights:

• The Kids were Still in School. And Karate and Cub Scouts, and Swim Lessons.


• Ryan and His Dad Worked to Build a Fort for the Boys.


• We Hosted Our First Outdoor Movie Night of the Season; Tangled
  

And? The Weeds Took Over the Garden.