and then there was one...

or two...?

done only by trained professionals...

picture #1 - clairol natural instincts, chestnut #28, thought i got it off the wall... apparently not. oh and i have NO extra paint, so at some point i will be re-painting the entire friggin bathroom.
picture #2 - yeah... just thought it was a neat camera opp.

bare with me...

just tryin' out my new-found camera knowledge! thanks for the tutorial sugar!

introducing...

my new camera came today and this was as close as i was going to get to mr. bumble bee. john won the fruit basket today at his principals retreat - yum.

"cheeeeeese!"

(gulp) uhhh...i guess it's okay for me to post this picture, right? anywho, thought it was cute enough to share!

more friends!

fun swim party last night - cute kiddos!

going back

(sigh) since my $#%^*@& camera is on the fritz, i thought i'd go back to this date 2 years ago. just wish i had one of ben, too. this was what we called her "britney spears" outfit... and my how THAT has changed in 2 years, huh?!? only a pair of Uugs, a frap from starbucks and some cheetos would have made it perfect. altho, she is barefoot...

*scroll down: i missed some days - oops*

no place else i'd rather be...

the end of summer is coming, so as usual, i try to cram in as much sun-time as possible - vitamin D does wonders for the soul. ben has become quite the swimmer. right after i took this picture, not only did my camera batteries die (grrrrrrr...) he swam in the deep-end without his life jacket. woo hoo!

buddies...

2 perfect heads, same cow-lick (ha ha) and one favorite show. if curious george only knew...

"mommaaaa...poppa-seekle pweeeeeze"

4 kids - best buddies - popsicle juice running - somebody get me some spray-n-wash

ohhh yeah

ignore the date and thank you tonya for the picture! these are... THE BEST things since, i don't know what. next time you're at hooters, skip the wings and go for the pickles... ohhhh myyyy.

oooooooklahoma......

we had reservations at the blue mesa grill (yummm-o) for brunch, then we headed home. around purcell (again, construction) there was a really bad wreck so i followed about 60 cars into a rest stop... each one of us dumb-butts thought we'd come out on the other side of the wreck - yeahhh, not so much. we were stuck in the rest stop. thankfully, it only last about 25 minutes (the longest 25 of my life) and we watched the victims get mediflighted off and then we were clear to go. i didn't hear anything on the news, so i hope everyone is okay. we picked up both kids, kori screamed the whole way home and everyone was grumpy for the rest of the day.

longest day ever...

saturday started with a phone call from john's friend vince. "tee time = 11:00" so they golfed ALL DAY. i hooked up with stephanie (high school BF/bridesmaid) and we layed by the pool, talked about old times/new times, went to the outlet mall in allen, she backed into a car, they shook on it, she took me back to the hotel... i got ready and then met vince's wife stacy at their house, we met the guys at the clubhouse, brought them back to the house, they showered, we went and ate at mi cocina's. i got to be the "DD" alllllll night - super fun.

texas, here we come...

john and i headed off to big D. travel advice to anyone driving south - the construction at purcell is STOOPID. we stopped in Denton to eat at hooters. okay, i know, i know... but lemme tell ya about their fried pickles. HOLY PICKLES BATMAN...
we got to the hotel around 8:00 and passed out almost immediately. lotsa fun we are, huh? oh and no camera = no pics.

i wanna rock with you...

iPod: free
music: some "acquired", most purchased
kori rockin' to michael jackson: PRICELESS

holy femur bone!

this is my benjamin-boy hugging on the femur bone of an apatosaurus, which is dinosaur for "a very large creature that eats meat" - the other dinos are swimmasaurus and swimmysaurus (not really...) those are 2 folks i wouldn't wanna encounter in any body of water.

DOH!

went to mom and dads the other day, saw this, knew it had to be the people across the street from the way it was hit (rolling my eyes) so i left a note in her mailbox. she called me last night and the first thing out of her mouth was "i don't remember actually hitting it (nervous laughter) it was SO early in the morning..."
anyway, she said she'd pay for it and was "so embarassed" - blah blah blah.

inspired by: sugar!

(thanks for the idea sug!) ben said i should take a picture of "these" to show my "friends"...we are loaded with blackberries and lillies!

just stop...for a moment....

okay, broke another rule. i wasn't going to take pictures of kids, but you had to see what i sat and starred at for about 5 minutes this morning. she is growing SO fast but during this "moment captured" she is still a baby to me. the chubby lines on her fingers, the wispy-ness of her hair, the fullness of her cheeks...

"excuse me, do you have the lime?"

wayyyy too much lime left...

a beautiful day for a beautiful memorial...

today my nanny and popa's ashes were taken by the waters of lake st. claire. i'm willing to bet it was a sun-shiney day, maybe breezy, minimal lake activity...
i don't have any pictures of my popa... but here are the first few of my favorites of me, my nanny and my sister. she loved us so... she died in february of 2003 and i cried for the first time today. i didn't cry for my popa when my mom told me he died because i was relieved that he didn't have to be alone anymore. he is in heaven smoking his pipe, reading... nanny is tending to flowers and watching birds. everytime i hear a morning dove or see a cardinal, i swear she is near.

"the toe of a star gazer is often stubbed" - russian proverb quote

genetics: the only reason i have "stubbed" toes.

"...don't have much else to say 'bout that" in my best forrest gump voice

and that, my friends, is a footprint
and this is why i was able to make that footprint
and this is what petunias look like after a lot of rain...

entry 3 - row o' veggie

i'm breaking my "one photo a day" rule.
when they are ready to eat,
these little green dudes will go so
nice with some yummy romaine lettuce, cucumber, cheese, those
green salad peppers...
and i had to get the cute little
cottage in the background. i love that
little house - do you think they'd
notice if i moved in?

entry 2 - it's definitely NOT cold...

top number means it hasn't rained in 3 weeks...



bottom number means it's freakin' hot...

entry 1 - a few of my favorite things

these 3 items come to mind when someone says "what 3 things would you take with you to a deserted island?". ...and then i feel stupid b/c it isn't water or food or even my family that pops in my head first... is that bad?