Our House... the Barbershop!

Gave Colin (and Daddy) haircuts tonight. Just started doing this a couple of months ago... added up what I was paying for someone to buzz clippers around their head every four weeks and decided that I could learn how to do that! So, we ventured off to Target and bought an inexpensive set of hair clippers just to see how Momma would do. So far so good... haven't injured anyone yet, and the haircuts have been... well... mostly okay. :) We have learned that Daddy is better at doing around the ears... so he does that for Colin and for himself (Daddy is one talented man)

So, once a month, we turn the shower stall of the master bathroom into a barbershop.... and between Daddy and Mommy, haircuts get accomplished. just had to share some pics!

Daddy loves it because it is easy and convenient... Colin misses going to Cool Cuts because he gets to play video games there while he gets his haircut. I've promised him a 'real' haircut before school starts again!

Lasagna

Okay, this one is just to brag!

I knew it would be a crazy week this week... kids are heading off to the Rim with Nana and Papa, we're trying to get ready for our vacation... lots and lots going on. So, decided to heat up the oven (not a decision taken lightly when it's 115 degrees outside) and make a lasagna that we could have for dinners and lunches during the week.

Just had to post this pic of how pretty it turned out! Used my best friend Karen's recipe... a little different than most because there's no ricotta cheese... you substitute cream cheese and cottage cheese. Sounds odd, but it's so yummy! If you want the recipe, just e-mail me!

Daddy had the first piece tonight and he said it was delicious... hungry anyone? :)

Krispy Kreme/ Nana and Papa

Saturday mornings are my favorite. No place we have to be, kids can sleep in, kids have finally learned that it is okay to let mommy and daddy sleep in a bit, overall a fantastic day!
This Saturday was no exception. Daddy was up early (5 a.m.) to go caving with some friends... which left just the kids and I to fill the day.
We started the morning at one of my FAVORITE places... Krispy Kreme. If you've never had one, you have no IDEA what you are missing. I think the most interesting thing is that I don't actually eat the donuts anymore (okay, every once in a great while I give in, but for the most part...) It's still fun to watch the kids gobble theirs- they both love the original glazed as well as the chocolate iced with sprinkles. Julia likes the cream filled and Colin likes the chocolate cake as well (as for Momma, well.... the chocolate cake rocks as does the creme filled, but there's always the lemon filled or the original... now do you understand why I usually just have a diet Coke?) I also like to watch the donuts move through the machine, and it's a great place to people watch. A couple of photos below.. the ones with the kids just didn't turn out, but this will at least give you a sense of what it's like. Don't you wish you could smell what was on your monitor??


We followed this feeding frenzy with a great afternoon with Nana and Papa. We went over to swim and then ate out at YC's Mongolian BBQ. Another one of my favorite establishments... this will have to wait for a future post (seems like a lot of my posts involve food of one type or another!) Kids had a fantastic time in the pool with Papa- it is so great to watch their faces light up- and to watch him enjoy them so much. My kids are so lucky to have their Nana and Papa as part of their lives. :) Here's a couple of pics....
They had a blast, as you can clearly see from this picture. We headed home after that for a movie and a ton of books before bed. Again, just another great Saturday!

Friday Night BBQ

One of our favorite things to do in the summer is to grill and eat dinner outside. This is really the first time we've done it this summer... and it was excellent. Kids got to swim, Joe grilled some excellent Chipotle Flat Iron Steak (Trader Joe's and it is highly recommended), asparagus, corn on the cob, and we had the other summer treats, fresh fruits and veggies. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking....
We've had several fires in the past few days, this picture really shows the smoke and pollution in the air....
Again, Chipotle Flat Iron Steaks from Trader Joe's ... get some today!
Check out Julia's hairdo... that's what swimming will do to a girl.....
Even Ellie got in on the action....

Once Upon a Lilly Pad

Julia finished up her four weeks of Summer Academy on Thursday. For those of you not clear on the new educational vernacular, Summer Academy is the equivalent of Summer School for us old timers. However, I will admit that Summer Academy kicks it up a notch!

I was at one of our elementary schools running the Title I Summer Academy program, and I thought it would be tons of fun to have both of the kids at the school site where I would be. You know, mom the administrator, kids in tow.... a woman who can do it all! Well, after much reading, researching, etc... it was determined that there was no way to have Colin there with me (being that he will only be entering Kindergarten this year, and he is not yet 6). So, we had Colin stay at the program that he attended all last year, but I hung onto the dream for Julia.

The whole Summer Academy process starts with a HUGE catalog filled with classes. You then must narrow down that catalog into the classes that your child is eligible to attend, and then match those classes against the hours in which they are offered to build your child's schedule. Basically like those days of scheduling classes in college... only you just don't have the opportunity to say... screw it, I really don't want to take that 7:45 a.m. class. Anyway, after much time with the catalog, Julia (and Mommy) settled on her four classes- South of the Border (seems a little inappropriate for a title, but hey...), Summer Choir, Junior Chefs, and Journey through Science.

Then Mommy paid for these lovely classes (let me tell you, not a cheap experience for my child) and we were off. She got up extra early with me each day because I had to be there by 7:15ish to serve breakfast to the kiddos in my program. She was a good sport about this (mostly), and loved 'helping' Mommy. She also had to wait around after school was over until I made sure that my kids were safely on the bus and that my teachers had everything that they needed for the next day. She quickly realized that waiting with me in the hot sun was less than fun and she quickly wrapped the ladies in the front office around her little finger. By the end of the 16 days, they were taking her for ice cream! It also turned out to be a good opportunity for us to have a lot of alone time in the car- on the way there and then at the end when I would take her to Manitas to join ranks with Colin at his program.

She hated it for the first few days- not much action- and a lot of 'getting to know you', but began to warm up to the entire thing by the end of the first week. Note those were precious days lost as the entire program was only sixteen days long...

The finale of Summer Choir was the performance of a musical entitled, Once Upon a Lily Pad. Cute story about a frog trying to find himself. Julia was a firefly who encouraged the frog to 'let his light shine'.. oh yeah, totally corny. But, Julia was quite proud of knowing all of the words to the songs as well as remembering her speaking part. This choir was made up of 2nd through 5th graders, so Julia was one of the youngest kids in there and I think she did pretty well. Here's a couple of photos...
Note Julia would not wear the Firefly mask that the other Fireflys wore....
(Not quite sure what this face is... but she REALLY was enjoying herself!)

She really enjoyed this class in particular. Needless to say, she was crying at the end of the day on Thursday because she just wasn't ready for it 'to be over'. Now the kids are off for the rest of the summer- ready for vacation with Nana and Papa, vacation with Mommy and Daddy, and then a couple weeks of hanging out with Nana and Papa before school starts.

TV Debut

Made my debut today on television. :) Here's the link. They say they'll pull the video in the next day or two, but if you happen to be here today you can watch it.... Channel 12... Of course I had to be talking about sex.... sigh.
Okay, what is the deal today??? Sideways pictures and this annoying box???

Pedicures...

I have to admit one of my favorite little pleasures in life... pedicures. I very rarely get them (maybe once or twice a year) even though they aren't that expensive (a really nice one is about $30 plus tip). I don't know why I don't indulge in this little pleasure more often... probably because of the expense combined with the time... usually have something more pressing to do.

Enjoyed a great pedicure on Friday with two really great friends (Karen and Shannon). Shannon and I dove in the massage chairs, stuck our feet in that warm water and were ready to go. Karen (who had never experienced the total joy of a pedicure) opted for a manicure instead. The three of us sat around (no place we had to be), shot the shit, and relaxed for about an hour and a half. I think that's one of the reasons why I like pedicures so much... you have to just sit. You can't really do much more than that... maybe read or talk... but you have to sit. And you have to sit for a long time. :) Other than that I can't imagine why I have this total fetish about a stranger rubbing my feet.... but I do. I treasure my pedicure... for days after it happens. I look a lot more at my toes... and just smile at the pretty paint job. I pay more attention to the shoes I wear.. which ones will look better? Opted for something simple this time... a french pedicure and no flowers or anything... but still very pretty. :) I think there need to be more pedicures in my future....
no matter what I do, this picture posts sideways... hmmmm....

An Orchid to Kill

My sister in law Paige heads to Martha's Vineyard with her kids every year for the majority of the summer. Paige is an excellent homemaker... great cook, great organizer, and she has a very green thumb. This means that each year, as she gets ready to leave, she gives away some of her plants that require some 'additional' care- because she knows that her husband won't enjoy them, and that they will probably die otherwise.

Last year she gave me at least 4 orchids. I did enjoy them. And then they died. I kept her husband updated whenever I would see him... killed another one of Paige's orchids this week. Paige had a good laugh about the murder of her plants.

This year, Paige gave me an orchid to 'kill'. I am going to try my DAMNEDEST to keep the thing alive. She's been gone over a week and we're still doing good. Wish me luck!

Friday again....

Well, it is Friday again, and the kids are off at Kids Club to enjoy their 'wet' jumpers. Julia was particuarly excited as she didn't get to play last week due to the supposed 'pink eye'. Colin would have liked to stay home and sleep.

Have plans for today... going to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch with Karen and Shannon and then off for pedicures... woo hoo! Really looking forward to just getting away from it all for a few hours. I'll take my camera and maybe get a couple of pics.

Not much in the plans for the weekend other than some rest and some laundry. Kids are going to Nana and Papa's house to swim and hang out for a few hours on Sunday. Daddy and I might catch a movie. Maybe 'Sex in the City'. Daddy isn't too excited about that, but I would really like to see it!

Okay, off for some Momma time!

Pics Mentioned Below

I promised some pics in my Father's Day post below and I'm finally following through... I realized that I didn't take many photos of Papa or Grandpa Steve... but here's at least a couple of the dads!

Poohbah and Grandkids...Daddy's Father's Day Breakfast in Bed...Daddy and his kids...
My birthday loot from the Woodard/Furedy side...What fun... makes me smile just to think of last weekend!

Pogue Mahone

One of the best dogs that ever lived passed away this week....

Jason and Paige lost their first child- Pogue Mahone- on Tuesday, June 17, 2008. He was 15 years old.

Pogue was an amazing dog. Well trained, loving... all around what you think of when you think of a 'family' dog. Joe and I have lots of wonderful memories of Pogue- camping and hiking in his younger days, laying on the floor of Jason and Paige's house just hanging out with him, his visits to our house with Ellie (we kept hoping that some of his manners would rub off...), and his role as ring bearer in Jason and Paige's wedding. One of my favorite memories is him laying very patiently on the floor while Julia crawled all over him. She thought he was a jungle gym. And he just laid there... patient as all get out... until she was done. I have had a picture of this on my desk for the last 6 years- look at it almost every day. Picture above shows Pogue several years ago. Ellie is in the background.

Pogue had a good life with a mom and dad (and then a sister and a brother) who loved him deeply and provided him with the best of care. I've watched Paige nurse Pogue through endless injuries and illnesses with the love and care that only a mother can provide. I watched her train him (and I aspired to be like her when we finally got a dog, but I missed the mark a little bit!), retrain him, and then watched him obey. He was truly the best dog I have ever known.

Pogue has declined a great deal in the past few years- he had gone deaf, and mostly blind, and wasn't nearly as spry as he had once been. But he was still a great dog. The last time that we saw him (just a few days before he died) he was watching the kids swim through the French doors at Jason and Paige's house. Not enough energy to stay outside and watch 'his kids' but still aware that they were out there and still keeping what little eyesight he had on them.

It was Pogue's time, but he will be greatly missed by all.

The Federal Government....

We need a new president.
We need new education policy.
No Child Left Behind needs to be left behind.

Found out that that the Title I allocation for our district has been cut. By half a million dollars. From one year to the next. And we didn't know it was going to happen....

Why did this happen you might ask? Because mid-century census data collected by the federal goverment indicates that the amount of poverty in our district went from 5.03% to 4.90%. That's a different of 13% for those of you who struggle with mental math. Doesn't sound like a big change does it? But sadly... by falling below 5% we lost 42% of our funding or half a million dollars.

Know what it takes to be identified as a family in poverty in the census data? A family of 4 can make no more than $20,000. Yep. Survive in our world on less than $20,000 a year. No wonder our poverty percentage dropped... if you live on less than $20,000 a year, you are probably living under a bridge... and I'm guessing those folks aren't counted in the census.

So now I'm faced with making $500,000 dollars in cuts. When contracts have already been issued.

Our system is fucked up.

Time for a new president.
Time for a new education policy.
Time to get rid of No Child Left Behind.
Seriously. Time. Before I have a nervous breakdown and quit doing the work that I was called to do in this life.

Marriage Strengthened and Affirmed...

Check out this NPR story about a marriage that occurred today in California.

"I think, today, marriage as an institution has been strengthened," Newman said. "I think, today, marriage has been affirmed." Hallelujah!

Don't have much else to say. I fully agree with the person quoted in this article.. what is happening in California will only strengthen how the world views marriage. My hope is that as my kids grow older their view of marriage is that it is about LOVING somebody. Not about a big fancy ceremony or a church or about right or wrong, but just that marriage is what you do to honor the person that you love. It is your opportunity to stand up in a formal way and tell everyone how much you honor, respect and love the person you are going to spend the rest of your life with.

How proud I am that this marriage happened in the United States. How sad I am to know how long we've waited for it, and the very long road that lies ahead of us in this fight.

Father's Day

Had a wonderful weekend... got to celebrate with all of the 'fathers' in our lives.

Spent Friday night at Jason and Paige's house with Randi, Joel and Mason as well as Suze (Joe's aunt), and the guest of honor, Poohbah (Joe's dad). Celebrated Poohbah's birthday as well as Father's Day with Carolina's Mexican food and cherry chip cake (his favorite). Good times were had by all... got a great photo of Poohbah with the grandkids... will post that later. Overall, the evening was pleasant... and it was great to see Asher, Gundry and Paige ONE MORE TIME before they left for the Vineyard. They scooted out on Saturday early morning and have safely arrived to enjoy their 8 weeks away! Also great to see Great Auntie Suze... she definitely is not enough of a presence in our lives nowadays, and we would love to see more of her.

Saturday brought the Woodard side of the family. Mom (Joe's mom), Grandpa Steve (Joe's step-dad), Uncle Mike (Joe's half brother), Aunt Vanessa (Mike's wife), Aunt Bic (Joe's half sister Vicky), Uncle Eric (Bic's significant other), Uncle Jason (odd to have just Uncle Jason) and GG (Joe's grandmother Miriam). Everyone came to our house for burgers and dogs and a little swimming. Colin had a FANTASTIC time playing with Uncle Mike (read roughhousing..) until Uncle Mike's glasses were broken (sorry about that Uncle Mike!). Both kids had great fun in the pool with Uncle Mike and Daddy as well. Wrapped up the evening with a yummy, yummy chocolate cake baked by Aunt Vanessa as well as the chocolate martini ice cream that Paige made for me before she left. It was a chocolate-palooza and I FULLY enjoyed myself. That chocolate martini ice cream is OUT OF THIS WORLD!! Got some nice birthday loot (we celebrated birthdays- Steve, Mom and myself...) - lots of Harlen Coben books as well as some other desired items. Again.. have pic will post later! Everyone stayed until after midnight... just hanging and talking. We went the whole range of topics from parenting to the Grand Canyon hike to politics. Talked with Bic and Eric about engagement.. (think this might be coming really soon!) as well as tattoos (I'm seriously considering one of my own!)

Wrapped up the weekend on Sunday. Kids and I made breakfast in bed for Daddy, then headed over to Nana and Papa's house for a swim and to celebrate Aunt Stacy's birthday. Hanging with Uncle Andrew (my brother) and Aunt Stacy was fun, and kids had a great time in the pool with Papa and Daddy. Again, the topper of the day was dessert... apple and lemon meringue pies created by Nana as well as some homemade ice cream! So good.... (what is it with me and the desserts??) Again, excellent day!

The weekend was truthfully exhausting... but it was so great to connect with all of the families. We are so lucky to have such love surrounding us. Each one of the dads- Poohbah, Grandpa Steve, Papa and Daddy mean something different to us- and we are so blessed to have them all so close. The entire weekend was a good chance for me to back up and reflect on just how lucky I am to have the fathers I have... and how lucky my kids are to be growing up with such strong men surrounding them. Especially Joe- my kids are so lucky to have such an involved, loving, intelligent dad. He is such a part of their lives... of shaping who they are becoming... and for that I am forever grateful. We are so lucky and blessed. I am so lucky and blessed.

Friday...

So, as you can see in my previous post... I had all day Friday to myself, and wasn't sure how to use such a gift. Turns out, didn't really need a plan...

Kids and I got up a little late (I had wanted them to sleep in and catch up a bit with their sleep). They had breakfast, worked on Father's Day presents for Joe, and around 10 a.m. I decided it was time to take them to Kids Club. Colin was less than happy about going, but needless to say we got there and I dropped them off.

I hit a couple of stores. Been on the quest for the perfect summer purse... finally found one (it is orange... may not look like it, but it is orange- I have an 'orange' thing here lately. Bought Joe some vacation clothes as well...
Met Joe for a wonderful lunch- YC's- so yummy. It was nice to eat out and really have a chance to talk without dealing with what Colin was going to eat, whether or not Colin was going to eat, what Julia was doing, etc. etc. We talked for a long time about a variety of topics (including how to add a counter to this blog) and then I headed off to the grocery store. There is a big Trader Joe's on that side of town, so I decided to go there. I was about half way through when my phone rang. It was Kids Club. They 'suspected' that Julia had pink eye and I had to pick her up. Look at Julia.. does it look to you like she has pink eye?? (note the wonderful expression on her face...)
Needless to say, my day was quickly absorbed into Julia and Colin... which actually turned about to be a fair amount of fun. However, not the day 'alone' I had been thinking about. I guess that's what I get for not KNOWING what to do with my day. :)

Tomorrow...

It has dawned on me that tomorrow I will be off work, and my kids will be at their Summer Program. And I will be all alone. For the first time in seven years. Okay, maybe that is an exaggeration, but seriously, my time ALONE has been seriously limited since children. I do have a few moments alone at times- I have *mostly* convinced my children to leave me alone while I go to the bathroom, and occasionally I am alone in my cube at work (if you could see my cube you would understand why I get to be alone... there really isn't room in there for ME, let alone another human being).

But seriously, this is the first time in a long time that I will be ALONE and I don't have anything I HAVE to do. Don't get me wrong, there is a list of things a mile long that I should do.... cook food for the party we are having on Saturday, bake a cake for Joe's dad for his birthday/ Father's Day, organize Julia and Colin's closets, run (see earlier post).... but nothing I HAVE to do.

How sad that this is actually a quandary for me... that I pretty much am frozen with indecision regarding what I will do with this day.... anybody got suggestions? :)

Eleven Days...

It's been eleven days since I ran. In fact, eleven days since I exercised in any meaningful way. I'm not quite sure why that is... a really busy week last week with two visitors from out of town, Joe out of town last weekend hiking the Grand Canyon, and probably some of the general 'it's summer and I want to be lazy' factored in there as well. Been keeping an eye on the scale, and I've been able to maintain (even lose a bit) my weight without it, but I know that can't/ won't last for long.

Problem is, once it's been eleven days..... getting on that treadmill again is hard. I know the first time that I run will suck. It will be long and hard and therefore, it is really difficult to get motivated to do it again. Really hard. And so, another day goes by without getting on the treadmill and without exercising. Maybe tomorrow.....

Shitty Day

Had pretty much a shitty day today... too many reasons to document here, but for all intents and purposes, one of the worst days in a long time.

Found myself welcoming the 'old' friends for comfort. Had a Sonic hamburger for lunch, Dairy Queen for a snack this afternoon and a lovely beverage at dinner. Didn't really fix anything. Nor did the yard work that I did in hopes that some physical labor (and working off a few calories) would make me feel better.

Found these notes in Colin's lunchbox when I went to pack his lunch for tomorrow though... and suddenly, the outlook was much better.

How is it that life changes so much? To a five year old, life is so simple. He loves his momma, his daddy and his sister and that is all that really matters. He was SO proud of these notes... so proud of his new found ability to communicate in writing. Suddenly, my day isn't so bad. I guess I have a lot to learn from my little boy.... how amazing it is that it took my five year old to remind me that the 'old' friends won't work... and that all it takes is a refocus on what really matters. (Although I have to admit that the Dairy Queen and the lovely beverage were really nice... sometimes you just need to allow yourself those things...)

$6.49 for a gallon of milk?

Hit Trader Joe's with the kids on Sunday. Not their favorite grocery store (they love Bashas, where they can go into a locked, glassed in cage and play with other children while pretending that they are not in the grocery store) but they still like it because they get little carts that they can drive around the store like madmen running into displays and other shoppers. If anyone were ever to doubt their paternity, all you would have to do is watch them with a shopping cart to know without a doubt that Joe is their father.
Anyway... did my thing at Trader Joe's while attempting to remain calm and apologizing to the other shoppers for the behavior of my children. The only thing going in my favor is that they are both pretty cute and can flash good smiles. My recent grocery goal (besides just simply grocery shopping on a regular basis) is to only spend $100 a week. Yep, $100 for 28 breakfasts, 19 lunches (kids every day, Joe some days, Carrie only on the weekends. Hey.. once I pack everybody else's lunch I'm tired!), and probably 20 dinners (figuring we eat out about twice a week). This used to be a fairly simple chore. Add in my head (while still chasing children with shopping carts), prioritize purchases, stock up when it's on sale, and put back the expensive thing at the end because you know you've gone over budget. Used to be I'd even have a few extra dollars left over at the end for a Sunday newspaper, a Time magazine, or (usually) some trashy Hollywood rag. Those days are over my friends....

Gallon of 1% organic milk (I worry about those hormones) $6.49
(Please note that Colin could drink a gallon of milk EVERYDAY if I would let him. As it is, we drink 2 to 2 1/2 gallons of milk a week)
Salmon patties- 4- $8
(note we don' t really need 4 as Colin would rather starve than allow salmon to cross his lips, but that is how they come)
Box of MightyBytes- $4.79 (have you tried these little buggers?)

Time magazine wrote an article about this a few weeks ago... http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1635836,00.html

This made me think about what I ate growing up compared to what I feed my children and what I eat now. The mainstays of our diets are fresh fruits, fresh vegetables (remember the canned ones we ate as kids?!), lean protein and whole grains. I wonder how much it would cost me to feed my family the things I ate as a kid... white bread, canned veggies, ground beef, etc. Would I still be 'bitching' about the cost of food at the grocery store? Probably. But the perspective is this.... will I change what I feed my kids because costs are rising? No. And how lucky am I that I have the ability to make that decision. I don't have to choose between food and rent or food and medicine. I can just decide that my budget of $100 is going to have to increase- for awhile. Either that or we're going to have to drastically reduce the amount of food that we consume. Who's going to tell Colin?

Why Looking from the Sides?

I know some people are going to wonder why I've titled my blog "Looking from the Sides"...
So, I thought I'd address that one and hopefully answer the question...

There are a couple of reasons for the title. First and foremost, I have a disease called macular degeneration. Most of you who have heard of this disease will quickly search my blog looking to see exactly how old I am.... so I'll answer that here. I'm 34 (soon to be 35). And yes, I have a disease that mostly impacts elderly people. I haven't lost much sight yet- just one small place in my field of vision that has gone- and luckily, the spot is small enough, and my brain quick enough, that I usually don't notice it at all. But, mac degen is a progressive disease that steals your sight from you... from the center out. So, as my life progresses, odds are, I'll be looking from the sides, or from my peripheral vision... (which for those of you who've heard my trick for taking the peripheral vision test when getting my driver's license... I'm in big trouble!!)

I think looking from the sides is also a metaphor for who I am.... a mix of a liberal democrat with a huge faith in God and a major distrust for organized religion, an educator who spends time helping others raise their own kids as I question my abilities and talents in raising my own, a neat freak who lives with three other people who really don't view life that way, a coach potato who is trying hard to turn herself into a runner, and a person who has tried very hard in the last few years to 'remake' herself into the kind, caring, balanced, loving person she always wanted to be but never really was. So, I spend a lot of time looking at life, mothering, education, politics, faith, running, God, and relationships from all the sides...

Hope this helps.

Amazing Weekend

Had what I have to say was one of the best weekends that I've had in a really long time... and the most ironic part about that is that Joe missed most of it....

The weekend really started Thursday night when it dawned on me that we have started our summer schedule at work (4 ten-hour days). Don't know why this was such a surprise to me, as I had more than worked 10 hours every single day prior to Friday... but anyway... slept in Friday morning until a small boy came crawling into my bed- just for a 'snuggle'. Colin was blessed with the "I wake up chipper first thing in the morning gene." which no one else in our family seems to have. After about 10 minutes of 'snuggling', which equated to Colin chatting non-stop about his stuffed frog- it was time for the day to begin.

Took kids to their 'Summer Movie'- which was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles this week. Colin was SO excited... Julia was tolerant. Needless to say, movie was actually quite good (a bit scary in the beginning) but overall a good show. I frequently sleep through the summer movies and this one actually kept me awake!

After the movie we headed to lunch... which was exciting for me since we were meeting an old friend, Andrew, as well as Joe for lunch. Hadn't seen Andrew in 6 months or so, and it was so great to reconnect. Drew was here to go to the Cure concert with Joe. Lunch was so-so and overpriced, but the company was excellent.

Dropped the kids off to spend the night with their Aunt Paige, Uncle Jason and cousins Asher and Gundry... then hit Andrew's mom's house for dinner and games. Best part of the night was the three or four hours that we spent just sitting around with Andrew shooting the shit. God, I miss having friends who know both Joe and I, and can relate to both of us equally. How do you get those friendships later in life??

Saturday morning, Joe headed out for the Grand Canyon (doing North to South Rim on Sunday) and I went to Jason and Paige's house. Spent the ENTIRE day- yep- until kids' bedtime- hanging out, swimming, eating, talking and generally having fun. Paige and I both acknowledged that this would not have been possible five years ago... and talked about how motherhood (and my general rebooting as a human being) has made us friends.

Sunday was more swimming at Nana and Papa's house, followed by a trip to the grocery store, dinner at IHOP (Julia's request), and a laid back evening at home.

My house is not clean, the laundry is not done, and I haven't done my work that I should do before tomorrow morning. But... my husband is safely out of the Grand Canyon and on his way home (albeit a bit queasy and not feeling great), and I just tucked my exhausted happy kids into bed... both of whom, despite showers, still smell sweetly of chlorine and suntan lotion. As I tucked Colin in he said, "I had the best weekend ever Mommy. I love you." So, screw the laundry, the house, the chores.... this is what life is really about- having the best weekend ever. Night all.