Sunday, June 25, 2006

Ok, Dealer Dude, What's up with that?

Ah..ya-uh...Ummmm. Mick checked out the Honda yesterday and checked all of the fuses. Guess what? IT WAS A BLOWN FUSE!! Needless to say the dealer got a few well chosen words from my hubby about the van. Anyways, so happy to know it was just a fuse.

Just got home from church. Always a great sermon from Pastor Phillip. He always keeps it real. He talked about taking a Road Trip. The one where you choose the narrow path that leads to happiness in life and not the wide, more popular one that leads to destruction. Talked about getting to heaven not by our good works but by grace alone. He podcasts his sermons too which is really nice when one wants to go back and listen a second time.

The boys have been working upstairs for several minutes now on some new inventions (or VENTIONS as Boo says). Chipboard, scissors, glue and shipping tape seem to be the guts of it all. It's always so intersting to see their little imaginations at play. Good stuff...

Well, got to tidy up the house and get things in order for our week. Have a great one all! Feeling in the mood to play the soundtrack to The Lion King. Get the boys geared up for it, ya know?

Friday, June 23, 2006

Family Night Just Got Better...

...yeah! Ok. We just got back from a Family Night of tennis. Now that's my idea of a fun family night. Those of you who REALLY know me-know how much tennis rocks my world! LOL! Anyways, afterwards we took the BEBZ for some Sonic Slushes/Floats/Sundays and then hit the movie store for a few flicks. Opted to stay home instead of heading for the cabin. Need to get some things done around the house. Mick noticed while looking in the reflection of the movie store's window at the van, that we had no parking lights. This in addition to the fact that we have no interior instrumental panel lights! I took the van in on Wed. for an oil change on Wed. and had the dealer look at instrument panel-they said it was definitely was not a blown fuse but might need more extensive work done approximately $300 worth Ahh..ya-uh. We're supposed to leave for Tulsa Sun. Ummmm...I'm thinking will try a new fuse;)

I've got tennis at 8am and grocery shopping to do for family get together here tomorrow night. Mick needs to mow yard and I need to make cabin curtains and pack for Tulsa. I still have hopes of painting the basement this summer as well. We'll see if that happens. It's a big job for sure. Not one I'm really looking forward to.

Ian had his last day of summer school today and brought home his "portfolio" of artistic creations and a few more inventions--Have to admit the boy can put some stuff together. I really liked his self portrait and his Van Gogh interpretation of Starry, Starry Night. His Andy Warhol olive can interpretations was kinda cool too. When Ethan and I went to pick him up at school Ethan asked him "Hey Ian, what kind of VENTION" did you make today?"

We're official into weekend mode now-boys enjoying their first night in awhile of getting to stay up late. Mick's playing BF2 and I'm off to scrapbook a page and then read more of The DaVinci Code (remember, it IS FICTION!!!)

Night y'all!

Thursday, June 22, 2006

It's Rainin' Today


Finally...it's raining! We desperately needed the rain but go figure it happens on my tennis night! Bummer. I'm still hoping for it to clear up and for them to get the courts good to go. That's what I love about clay courts...much faster drying time.

Ian brought home another couple of contraptions/inventions/ creations today from ALERT summer school. Some cool stuff. He's made a pool table and rain gauge, an air boat and several other unique items. I am really enjoying seeing his little brain get wrapped up in how to make things and how to make things run. But, that being said, what's a mom to do about where to stash all of these works of art? I broke the news to Ian today that we could display them for a week or two but them we needed to take his picture with all of them and get rid of a few. So hard to do but, I'm afraid it must be done. A house can only hold so many treasures.

Got the replacement adapter from UPS today for the invisible pet fence. Big yeah on that one! Try keeping to really big dogs occupied and out of trouble indoors while two kids and a cat roam the house as well is a feat I need to master. So, thank you UPS man! You've brought sanity back into my life. If that brown attired man only knew the joy that such a small parcel could bring to one family. Well...

Gearing up for the weekend. Hope to get to the cabin and then off to Tulsa Sunday to visit our friends. Tennis camp and The Lion King are on the agenda along with Cheryl's bday and a few dips in their pool. Oh, and a few photo shoots and scrapbooking sessions too I imagine. Hard to believe the 4th is just around the corner...

Oh, the picture above is a recent one from the cabin of our BEBZ with Rudy, our Hunk of Burnin' Love. (Isn't he a beast?). Love this pic. Capturing the boys in a tender moment of brotherly love. AWwww...Gotta catch those pics when ya can, ya know? Never know when the next bout of sibling rivalry is gonna kick in. What's up with that anyway? Hard for me to comprehend-my sisters are several years older than me so fighting really wasn't an option for long as they were both out of the house through much of my childhood years. Can't say that I feel left out on that sibling rivalry thing. Actually, I'm a tad glad that I didn't have to endure it. At least for long. I do recollect however, that on one occasion I was bugging my sister Linda while she was on the phone (the only phone in the house I might add; centrally located and with a fairly long curly cord). She kept trying to wave me away as she was chatting with one of her girlfriends and of course being the dutiful little sister that I was, I kept on bugging her. Well, I knew just how far that cord could reach and believe me that was to my benefit. I would make faces and distract her in as many ways as I could, knowing that she would not want to put the phone down to come and get me. But, on occasion, she did just that and would have to run for my life to my room and lock the door before she could catch me. Wasn't I a stinker? Wonder who Ethman get's that from? (Although, my MIL said Mick was the same way too!) Definitely must be a universal characteristic of the youngest child.

Oooh..Yippee! Just got the call from TB. Tennis is ON for 7pm! I'm outta here!

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Book Club

Had book club last night...got a b-sitter as Mick was out-o-town. The book we discussed was Memoirs of A Geisha (which I have previously read for my G'ville book club several years back). Such a great book. I have to admit though-I really wasn't interested in reading a book about Japanese culture-but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it. I learned a lesson from thinking that way-need to stay open-minded about stuff. Yet another book I loveeeeeeeeeeeed but would've never picked up at local bookstore on my own-The Kiterunner. It's a FANTASTIC book about the friendship of two Afghanistani boys. Loved-loved-loved it!!! And now...next book to read-The Da Vinci Code. This will be a tough one for me-need to remember it's fiction. Other books I am currently reading or must read soon:

  • The Secret Life of Bees
  • The World Is Flat (a must!) about globalization and how behind the times we US Citizens are and how complacent we are. How are school systems are antiquated--defefinitely a must read. Bill Gates was on Oprah a month or so ago-discussing this exact topic. It should frighten every one of us as parents with children who call the Land of the Free home.
  • Parents as Mentors
  • Marley and Me
  • No Excuses (Kyle Maynard-born with congenital amputations)

Gotta love books. Knowledge. Power. Understanding. Soak it all in. Step into the lives of the characters.. Step into their world. Step into their brains. Empathy. Sympathy. Compassion. Understanding. Sorrow. Triumph. Hardship. It's all good-especially if it compels me to be a better me...

Played some tennis with the BEBZ at my local tennis club. Fun to see Ian growing as a player. Developing his skills. Having fun. Enjoying the game.
Ethan meanwhile was tooling around the court attempting to capture a butterfly as it flutterd across the courts. Sometimes (ok-often) he was in our way as we tried to rally-but it was comical and cute to watch him play. So Ethan!

Makes me think back to last weekend at the lake. Observing once again the differences in my boys' personalities. How each handles a new situation. Mick took each out on the waverunner for his own "Daddy and Me" Spin. Mick told Ian to "give it a little gas." Ian proceeded to cautiously turn on the accelerator. "It's ok Ian. Go ahead." Mick said. So finally, Ian let it rip! And what fun he had!!
Ethan, by contrast-needed no prodding. He wasted no time in opening it up-full throttle!
They are the coolest lil dudes. Just love them. Love their little growing personalities and especially love their differences. I hope they always stay true to who they are. ALWAYS...

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Back from tennis

Well, I just got back from playing some dubs-with 3.5 ladies-some older than me and a few college girls. All great ladies. Talented. Competitive and yet fun. My partner(s) {Round Robin play} and I managed to win all of our matches despite sporadic moments of greatness amidst many moments of inconsistent serving and missed volleys. LOL!

Always fun to get out and hit though. If the ole bod would hang in there-I would play until I literally drop. My brain still thinks I'm sixteen and can chase every lob down and dive for all of the low drop shots full throttle but then reality hits and I realize I ain't no spring chicken anymore and I need to take it a little more easy-so hard to do for a strong-willed-highly competitive girl like myself!!

Just put the Blue-Eyed Boyz (BEBZ for short) to bed. Yeah, I know...They should've hit the hay hours ago. Ian had a baseball game. By the time they had snacks, baths and stories it was late.
Oh well. I'll try harder tomorrow!:)
Mick's playing BF2 (his latest online addiction). He's talking to his bro on the phone as he plays. Probably going to hit his bro up to play a few rounds with him It's sick really. They actually go onling together and play on the same team with each other while talking with their bluetooths (so that their hands are free for the all important sniper shootouts and grenade throwing. They totally geek out on it! It's really quite comical to listen to them discuss strategies and whatnot. I guess, in all fairness to the Y chromosomes, listening to them is much the same as them observing women have several conversations going on at one time with not one apparent woman leading the conversation and all of the women talking over one another-each woman keeping up with all of the conversations and yet holding her own. I guess I need to just chill with this BF2 thing and just be happy that this is his biggest downfall...really...it could be worse...but I'm not going to go there...I'll just keep counting my blessings that he is in my life and that he chose me to be his life partner. What a lucky, lucky girl I am.

Moving on...lots of chores today. Managed to actually get the overflowing laundry baskets out of our bedroom today. I have to be truthful though-they did get relocated to the living room where I am in the process of sorting and distribution to the appropriate household locales..But, I did get several loads of laundry done, grocery shopping, phone calls returned and bills paid. I did manage to spend some quality time with Ethan working on rhyming words and painting "Create" letters. He actually did a pretty good job on the base coat! I helped him put out fires at www.rescueheroes.com and watched him pretend to put out his own fires with his RH figures. He's really into them now. I'm glad he's finally showing interest in them since I was about ready to give them away! Isn't that they way it always works? About the time you decide to pare down, to throw out, to donate, to simplify and to get rid some of the clutter-Then. THEN is when the decide that they're not really ready to depart with that beloved BatBear that they haven't cuddled on for a good six months strong. (But, with that being said, I know in my heart of hearts, I am the same exact way! LOL!)

This past weekend was a relaxing one. We wentdown to Big Gma's cabin and spent the day out on the water. Tooled around on the waverunner a bit and gave the BEBZ some Viper rides. They absolutely love this! Especially when they get their "Wicked Hair." Holly and Mark made it down with Ben. He's so sweet and adorable. It was his first time on the water and let's just say he did really well until they dipped him in! A tad bit cold for his lil monkey toes, I daresay! He fussed and fussed. But boy was he precious in his life preserver and red (matched perfectly to their boat) swimming trunks that hung down to his ankles (well, almost!)

Sunday we went to SF Cards BB game. They won handily. The BEBZ had a blast. We were fortunate to be gifted 4 Gen'l Admission tix from a lady at the gate. Had great seats right by Cards dugout and first base. (Just knew I shouldda brought the camera-darnit! Louie the Cardinal rode up a fire engine and dropped $5K of Cardinal Bucks for the kids to chase down and collect and redeem at gift shops and concessions. Ethan tracked down $12.oo worth and Ian got about $6.00 I was just happy neither were trampled in all of the hoopla.

Afterwards we ate at our local Mexican favorite-El Puente. Always- fast service, decent price and pretty tasty food. All in all it was a really great weeekend of leisure and family fun-just the four of us-enjoying each other. Enjoying the moments.

sidebar...yes.it's official..Mick coerced his bro to play BF2 with him. (Do I know my hubby or what?

Anyhoo...
Talked to some of my long distance friends today:Tanya, Caren and Chelse. Poor Chels has been having a rough go of it-in and out of the hospital after her hysterectomy(After 3 kids things weren't where they needed to be-let's leave it at that-she's only thirty somethun;). Had complications but is on the mend now. She was in pretty good spirits today-but wanting to have it all behind her. Send some healing vibes her way would ya? Love ya Chels!!

Still working on getting comfortable with my new Canon20D-love it!! I have been shooting in RAW but now I just need to find out if my Adobe PSE2.o will allow me to tweak the images. I'm hoping I don't have to purchase the pricey PSCS2 to enjoy this feature of my camera. It is one of the main reasons I wanted to upgrade. I am really pleased with my photos though and especially like how quickly it fires in high speed situations as well as at other times. I've pretty much read all of the manuals and software info and researched several websites about plug-ins and stuff. I'm soooooooooooo not a computer techie-really missed the boat in college on learning this stuff.
We weren't even required to have a computer or to take a computer class! Now, now be nice, I'm not as ancient as it sounds!! LOL!

Well, I got my latest issues of CK and SS yesterday and I have more poring over them to do. Just love those mags. Such talented chickitas and such great sources of inspiration to me. Hard for me to get into shut down mode for the evening when I have all of that "art" on the gray matter though!

TTFN!

Finally...Bloggin!

Welcome to a life extraordinary...

Or...ordinary on most occasions. But it is within the ordinary that it is my hope to uncover the extraordinary. To take the seemingly inconsequential moments in my life and to document them. Here and now...To be able to one day look back and to reflect on these moments and to realize how EXTRAordinary they really were...To pass on these tidbits of everyday life to my Blue-Eyed Boyz, to my family, to my friends, to others. To tell new stories. To remember the old stories. To question. To ponder. To learn. To grow. To record. To be. So, without further adieu, let my documenting begin...