Somebody Got Into Mom's Make-up

Ross's Birthday Party

Good times!?

(Don't forget to turn off the sound from the playlist on the right side!)

WARNING: Extremely Barfy Post To Follow (Sorry)

Did you ever wake up one morning and realize that the saying about "other half" is really true? I just did. I was thinking about the early days of Bruce and Renae. Back then I was miserable.
We've come a long way. We started off WAY too young and stupid to be married. I spent a couple of years wishing I could just get a divorce, but I couldn't make myself feel like it was the right thing to do. (I knew that one big mistake had led me to that completely miserable state of being, so I knew that making another big mistake wouldn't make me feel better. I felt trapped and damned.) One day I decided to trust in the Lord and do what I felt He wanted me to do (even though I couldn't imagine how anything good could come from it, at the time) which was to try to make my marriage work. Next came peace of mind. Things got better by degrees. Bruce and I started to get along, and little by little I started to not only like but love my husband. Then came our children who cemented the idea that we were a family, and permanent. It took YEARS for me to stop wondering "what if." I've been a happily married woman for a long time now, but the "better by degrees" is still in effect. Things get better and better all the time. It takes work, and a mutual effort of trying to make the other person happy. I just woke up and realized that Bruce is an integral part of who I am. We go together "like peas and carrots." He's the perfect match for me after all. Who'd a thunk it?

Copying off of Cheaper by the Dozen

Since both Ross and Lydia need to memorize the Articles of Faith for their Faith in God award, I decided to try Cheaper by the Dozen's method of memorization. It's actually working quite well. Lydia, Ross and Mark all had the thirteenth article (the longest and hardest) memorized in less than 2 days. I've been introducing a new Article of Faith at each Family Home Evening. We'll talk about what that particular article means, and then we'll use a cut up version to make a game out of putting it back together. I'll take either the whole thing (for easier articles) or a difficult part (for the longer articles) and time the kids putting it back together over and over again. Here's the part where Cheaper by the Dozen comes in: I download the song version, of which ever article we are working on, and burn it onto a disc about 6-7 times in a row. I put a cd player in the bathroom, along with a printed version, and tell the kids that whenever they are getting ready for school, taking a shower, getting ready for bed, or anything else that they will be spending a minute or two for in the bathroom, they have to play the cd. It's been working great! I've got a Multiplication Rock cd, and I plan to use this method to help them learn their times tables next.

This That and The Other Thing

Here's Clayton, drinking from a bottle (a new thing), and he's holding it himself! I feel drunk with the freedom! Here's my Valentine's Day present to Bruce. I've told him MANY times not to get me chocolates as a present. (Like I need more things to tempt me!) So, he got me some other things and put them in a chocolate's box, just so he could laugh at me when I balked at him giving me chocolate (which I did, and he did laugh). So, I turned around and reused the box to give him his presents in.

Believe it or not, Justice (the three year old) pulled this stunt first (with no shirt on). Ross and Mark trying to be the copy-cats, and not quite pulling it off with as much style.

And here are my children shouting obscenities in the nude.

(Yeah, it's a joke as old as the hills, but the kids thought it was hilarious.)

Only Ross!

When asked to draw an ocean picture, Ross drew this:

Here's the detail that caught my eye: Should I worry?

Clayton Standing Up

Fascinating

I heard a little about the divine proportion, golden ratio, or Phi in the Di Vinci Code. I saw something about it on TV the other day and got curious. I've been looking it up on the computer, and I think it's absolutely fascinating! This 1:1.618 ratio is literally everywhere, from a strand of DNA to the freaking galaxy! These videos explain a bit about it. Fascinating! I want to know more! What do you think?

Stand- A-Thon Sleep Deprivation

When Bruce was in college, and Lydia was a little baby, Bruce entered (and nearly won) a stand-a-thon. The prize was the winners choice of either a prefab home or $25,000. It was totally crazy. You had to stand (no leaning) longer than anyone else, that's all. You got 4 - 15 minute breaks per 24 hours, in which you could go to the bathroom, or lay down, or whatever you wanted. Bruce made it for 5 days. Of a couple hundred contestants, he came in fourth. He got disqualified because as he was squatting to help another contestant wrap his ankle, his hand brushed the ground.

Anyway, the craziest thing was watching the contestants go temporarily insane from sleep deprivation. One guy thought he was seeing fireworks, when in fact he was just looking at the moon.

Another woman started asking for her prom dress.

There was a guy there who everyone was intimidated by because he was a navy seal. He did really well, until he started ripping down banners to make room for the "dance competition."

Another man was being driven home by his wife, after he'd dropped out of the contest, and jumped out of the car when it was going 45 mph. He thought she was kidnapping him or something. Somehow he wasn't hurt too bad.

Another guy decided he was going to walk home, and fell asleep next to a stop light on one of those island things in the middle of the highway.

One guy got disqualified when he jumped over the fence and ran across the parking lot to save a non-existent little girl from getting hit by a non-existent car.

Right after one of Bruce's friends dropped out, he was laying down on the pavement, and caught sight of one of his shoes laying next to him. He thought it was a snake or a demon or something. He FLIPPED OUT!!!! He started screaming and kicking at his shoe absolutely hysterically yelling "What the heck is that?!!! Get it away! Get it away!!!"

One man started acting really mean and aggressive. I remember him yelling "I've been in the hospital for a month! Why am I wearing a diaper?!" Then he walked up to one of the judges and pointed in his face accusingly "Are you the reason my pee pee hurts?!"

It was all a bunch of crazy sauce! Too bad Bruce didn't win. Oh well, it made for some funny stories!

Plugging

Since John and I haven't been doing so great about updating Tadpoles (the blog where John and I tell our funny childhood / teenage stories), I'm sure that you all don't follow that one too closely. If you've never read Tadpoles, you should; it's hillarious! (I think anyway.) Anyway, I've made a list of new things to post on there, and plan to update about once a week, so you should all read that. John, you should repent likewise! Tadpoles is a great thing, and you make it greater. Okay, I'll shut up. READ TADPOLES PEOPLE! (There's a link on my side line thing there--->.

(listed under "Cool Links" It says "John and Me"

The Perfect Saturday

Yes, it just might have been the perfect day yesterday. The weather gave us a wonderful break, and was totally awesome. I got up at 6 am, with the intent to meet my running group and run with them. However, I fiddled around just a bit too long, and ended up running late. I could have tracked them down in the car and still run with them, but I decided to save time and just run from home. Lydia ended up coming along, riding her bike next to me, so it ended up better than running with my friends (sorry guys, but quality time with my daughter trumps).


When I got home, we got everyone ready, and took advantage of the beautiful weather, and spent the day at the zoo as a family. We ran into my brother Todd and his wife there, which was cool (at least for us, we slowed them down quite a bit). Here are a few pics:

Mark and Lydia being goofy

Here's Lydia posing while pretending like she doesn't know I'm taking her picture.

Mark and Ross

Ross

The kids were a bit pooped on the way home.

However, they perked up once we got to my parents house for a short birthday fling for my niece, Jonni.

John's kids were their usual selves. (Sorry, I couldn't help myself!)

I missed the shot I wanted here. Bruce was taking a short snooze on the floor, and Clayton was sticking his fingers up Bruce's nose.

Next Bruce and I got to have a date. We went to the annual Team Godzilla (Metro Tri-Club) banquet, which was as always, a very good time. Someone gave me this picture there. It's Brad Wever (my piano student, and fellow Godzilla) and me together in 2008's River Road Run. I'm posting it because it is the one and only race picture of me in existence that actually looks good.
All of the others look more like this one:

Do It AGAIN!!!

Clayton actually slept ALL night long! Yay, yay, yay! Party dance! I'm not sure if this is a first or not, but it is definitely VERY rare. I can hear him up there complaining, so I know he is still alive (I was actually tempted to check when I woke up all on my own this morning, and realized that he hadn't gotten me up last night.)

Day One...

My plan is to take a picture of my children everyday for the next ... ? ... years. I have to make sure I put the camera in the same place, use about the same zoom, etc. Then eventually I put the pictures into a slide show with the pictures changing really fast. I'll be able to watch the kids grow up literally. Cool huh!

Empty Threats No More

Well I finally did it. I've been threatening for a long time, so I had to make good on it. After he lost a 2nd pair of gloves in about a 2 week time-span, I sent him to school today with the dreaded pink Barbie gloves. He probably won't wear them, but that's not the point. If he has a clue where they are (say maybe his locker, or on the bus), the missing gloves will be making their way home today. I hope so; I'll have to go out and buy more gloves otherwise. I think he'd rather get frostbite, than to wear those Barbie gloves.

Various

Happy Birthday to Lydia, who is now an unbelievably great 11 year old! We had a bunch of silly girls over for a slumber party to celebrate. My mind is still intact, somehow.

The weather was nice, so we went for a "silly walk." Lydia and I made up silly kinds of walking/skipping to do around the neighborhood. Justice fell asleep. Ain't it cute?

Thanks to Brad, we've been enjoying the Fail blog. Here is the one that I just can't stop watching over and over again: