Monday Mumbles 21

1. When Owen gets upset but has to forcefully try to cry, I sometimes lose it. Fake crying is the worst.

2. I'm too cheap to get pedicures but as I sat and did my toes last night, I wondered...how in the world will you get these painted once you can't fold your leg up to your chest anymore?

3. Every single door in our house squeaks. Hubs says he likes it that way so he can hear who is coming and going. I get it, but it still annoys the crap out of me.

4. The kids had a couple of stuffed objects that wore holes in them. While I CAN hand stitch small holes like that, they chose to ask Grandma to do since she was the expert, and had a machine. I think this made Grandma feel good.

5. Yesterday, as we drove away from Grandpa's house, Owen says, "Grandpa is SO AWESOME." Turner replies, "Yeah. He's really, really, really awesome." I think hearing that would have made Grandpa happy.

6. My parents are FANTASTIC grandparents and I don't pretend this is common or to be taken for granted. I appreciate it very much.

7. Is it just me, or is Pokemon kind of like cock or dog fighting??

8. I love the heat wave we're having (90s all week here in the Kansas City area), but I'm really tired of air conditioning. I don't know if I'll ever get to live without a/c or heater again, given the kids' allergies. Ugh.

9. Today is my girlfriend's birthday. Thinking of you Tracy!!

10. Evelyn decided - for this weekend at least - that she was okay with people complimenting her hair. When someone inevitably DID say something to her, she said to me as we walked away, "When people talk to you.....you need to...speak." What I loved about her sentence that can't be interpreted here is the way she said it. The pause after she said "you need to"....was her thinking the word TALK, but pausing to choose a synonym. It's tiny little lessons like this that make me smile.

Tuesday Owenisms 10

There are days when I wonder if Owen thinks. At all. He acts so impulsively at times, and so emotionally at others, it feels that he never stops to just THINK before putting himself out into the world. I love and hate this about him all at the same time.

One day, however, he surprised me. Like he always does. Some day I'll get used to it.


OWEN: Mom....is this real life....or fake life?

ME: Well, it's real life. See? *pinch* I can touch and feel you. Feels pretty real to me.

OWEN: Oh.

ME: Why do you ask?

OWEN: I don't want it to be real life. I want it to be fake because I don't want anyone to die.


Maybe he won't end up in jail, after all......

Monday Mumbles 20

1. Hubs and I have been together for 11+ years. We've been to or hosted multiple roller skating birthday parties. I've skated at all or nearly all of them. He says yesterday to my mother, at Turner's skating party, "When did she learn to skate? I didn't realize she could skate that good." WHERE HAS HE BEEN?

2. I had a few days off last week so I could be home to prepare Owen and Turner for the first couple days of school. Detaching from work when you have a work blackberry is very, very difficult.

3. BUT...I did manage to carpe diem all 3 days. Wednesday I decided to pack up Turner and Owen and head to the Royals game. On Thursday I was able to complete a lot of the laundry that had piled up on me recently. On Friday, I sent a late morning text to my dear girlfriend and decided to head over and hang with her for a couple of hours.

4. It's not that I CAN'T plan, it's that I prefer to live day to day and see how I feel. I am aware this causes issues with some people. Maybe I'll try harder.

5. Confession - we have a LOT of little boy underpants that both Turner and Owen have outgrown. Guess who hasn't? My mom is mortified that I sometimes allow Evelyn to wear pairs of the straggling boy underpants. I just can't stand to waste them and they fit her perfectly!

6. Have you ever had a jolt of shock when something you've been proud of....any sort of personality element that may exist....escapes you and you find yourself behaving like you typically never do? I've had that a few times lately and I'm wondering if I can just chalk it up to an early mid-life crisis?

7. I'm excited. Back on #3? That friend I visited? She let me borrow book #5 of the Game of Thrones series. It's so nice to get back into it. Now if I can just stop trying to find ways to sneak off and read.

8. My brother puts in a lot of hard work for our fantasy football league, but I think I'm bowing out after this year. I just can't seem to get excited for it anymore. Maybe it's because I don't get to sit at home on Sundays and just watch games. I don't feel as connected to the season. I'm feeling old just saying that.

9. One good thing about school starting? The kids get really tired earlier during the evening. :)

10. Today Turner turns 9 years old. Man, he looks so much better with a hair cut. Love that kid.

Funny Face Friday 10

Hubs taking a picture of me taking a picture of him.

Some cool dudes.

This one is trouble.

This one is ALSO trouble.

See what I mean?

Monday Mumbles 19

1. As confirmation that I take myself too seriously, I was accused not once but twice this week. One came in the form of the statement, "You used to have a sense of humor." The other in the form of the statement, "You haven't been very light-hearted lately."

2. SO, I will try again this week to lighten the mood, and find a balance between what must be given the "serious" priority and what can be indulged and humored upon.

3. But first, can I just complain once? It wasn't until after having kids, and certainly Evelyn, did the hormones of ovulation really affect me. Now, I get a headache every month the day or two before I begin my cycle. It stinks.

4. The kids and I watched the animation movie Rio Sunday night. Cute movie. I just need O and E to get a bit more "movie friendly" and sit still better. That way I can totally veg out.

5. Did you know there is a www.farmersonly.com dating site? Just wondering.

6. I made a list of things to do or happening in August for the family. I was tired after reading through it.

7. Did I mention that we're thinking about coaching the indoor t-ball session at the local sports facility, and putting Owen and Evelyn on the same team? It's for 3-5 year olds. We coached Turner's one year and judging the others coaches, it's best if we handle these two for the first year.

8. We finally.........................finally finished Turner's summer book reports. He had to do two and it was exhausting. BUT, I didn't want him to rush through the books and rush through what he thought was a decent "report". I don't think the teacher gave them any direction on what a good report is, and I didn't want him to get off on the wrong foot on how to put one together. I monitored his reading, and read along too, and then we discussed the questions she needed answered and how he could incorporate them into his report. It's tough for an 8 year old not to just answer the questions as they're listed 1-7 but I am trying to teach him the idea of an opening, conclusion, body, etc.

9. Speaking of reading, I am reading a non-fiction book right now and I love that it requires me to have a dictionary handy. I need refreshing writing with intellectual language I don't come in contact with daily.

10. Summer has been slightly disappointing as far as heat goes. There haven't been as many days as I'd like for me to hit the pool after work. Ah well. We still have August. Here's to hope.

Monday Mumbles 18

1. Well, at least now I'm hitting publish on the correct day of the week, yes?

2. I have decided there is a new nerdy work phrase that I can use just for me - you can take the girl out of Ops, but you can't take the Ops outta the girl. Meaning.....I might be excited to be out of the daily grind of Operations, but my mentality and the efficiency needed to make an Ops environment work is ingrained in my work ethic.

3. That revelation last week helped me do two things. First, I realized it was what was causing my internal struggles with less than stellar performances around me. Second, I could breathe a bit easier with the knowledge that it was this factor causing little to no acknowledgement of these less than stellar performances.

4. I also must realize that just because I *think* something can be done better, I can't be arrogant to think I could be the one to do it better, nor is it as easy as I think it might be to fix.

5. As I type this, I hear the movie Avatar say the words "bitch" and "punk ass". Umm...I thought this was a kids' movie too? Turner is opting to ignore me when I am asking him to verify what I heard. Afraid I'll turn the channel. Which I will. When I'm done typing my Mumbles.

6. As a side note, who thought this movie was so great? A blue...person/thing with a tail? What? Really?

7. I had an afternoon date Saturday with Hubs and I shocked him by suggesting we go to a movie. He was thrilled because I hate the movies. You all probably know that. BUT...I was craving a movie coke and popcorn, so I sucked it up.

8. Thanks to my sisters for coming up and hanging with the little people. I know they can wear a person out, but it was very much appreciated. To have a babysitter come to the house instead of us traveling somewhere to get that "service" was a nice change.

9. Just FYI - I think it's BOGUS it's only in the 70s in July. Not just bogus, but stupid. Dumb.

10. Grown people acne sucks. Not just sucks, but stupid. Dumb.

Monday Mumbles 17

Mumbling on Tuesday isn't unheard of around here. Deal with it.

1. I'm tardy. Fairly certain I haven't mumbled since before the wedding. How did it go? It went great. You saw photos. We survived.

2. My brother and his wife were pleasantly lovely and wonderful hosts, as were the parents. Jim and Rachel, congrats...wonderful ceremony and celebration...more to enjoy as the years go past! Can't wait to share it with you.

3. Is it terrible that I put Evelyn in the boys' hand me down underpants when we're at home? They fit, they serve their purpose, and it saves money.

4. I'm thinking about taking Owen out, just him and me, and do his school supply shopping. Maybe we can find some excitement in the idea of school if he feels special.

5. But then again, he honestly might find more energy and enthusiasm for it if Turner is along with us and feigning excitement over the supply shopping so Owen will as well. Turner legitimately likes school so it shouldn't be so hard to fake.

6. I can still be mesmorized by the show So You Think You Can Dance. Am I alone in this feeling?

7. Sometimes, when I see a delivery truck rumbling down our road, I hope they're bringing me a package. I'm not expecting a package, I just want one. So long as it's happy and stuff.

8. But of course this only serves to remind me I haven't sent anything to anyone in a very long time. A few greeting cards here and there, but no good packages. I should rectify this and adjust my karma.

9. My sister suggested Saturday afternoon that we attend the Saturday evening Kansas City Royals baseball game. And so we did. I sacrificed a date night with Hubby (oops.....) but I've been wanting to attending one for a couple of years and hadn't made it out. I'm so happy I decided to take her up on it. Thank you Sis.

10. I started back to boot camp this month and am loving it. It's all about summer. The warmth and the sweat are perfect. Anyone else love that feeling?