Yay Boo

YAY:  After deciding to make a too-close-to-bedtime Walmart run, the kids and I walked in to find it nearly empty!

BOO:  I realized that I left my list at home, along with the school supply lists.

YAY:  I happened to read the lists aloud to the girls at dinner tonight, so we remembered almost every item on the list!

BOO:  Almost every item.  We still need to go back.

YAY:  We shopped as fast as we could and the kids were good as gold.  Best shopping trip in a long time!

BOO:  The lines were soooo long.  I guess Walmart wasn't as empty as it seemed when we got there.

YAY:  The line moved quickly...

BOO:  ...until the person ahead of us revealed she was an extreme couponer.  HUNDREDS of coupons.  Ads spread out all over the place.  Bickering over 25¢.  I decided to wait it out since the other lines were just as long and we'd already started piling stuff on the conveyor belt.  Bad choice.

YAY:  We made friends with the nice people behind us in line.  Turns out they just moved here today from Seattle, live just down the street, and their kids will be attending the same school as ours!

BOO:  45 MINUTES from the time we got in line, we finally checked out.  45 MINUTES.

YAY:  The manager came over and thanked us for being so patient and told me he was impressed by my kids' great behavior.  He offered us an all-expense paid trip to DisneyWorld!

BOO:  That last little part isn't true.  But he did compliment the kids on their excellent behavior!

YAY:  We came home and the kids went straight to bed.  And now I am too.  Good night!

Bee is for Brody

Brody's latest adventure is being a Bee Wrangler.

The boy has no fear.  

Each morning (when the bees are busiest), he marches out to our bushes and starts capturing the bees.

No need for beekeeper frocks when you're as brave as Brody.  

Pajamas and a sun hat will do.

He waits for a bee to land.  

Sticking his tongue out helps with the patience and concentration.  

Then he slips the bee catcher over the unsuspecting buzzer and snaps the lid shut.

He's learned how to transfer bees from one bug cage to another so it's free to capture more bees.  

Sometimes his assistant, Emma, will do that part.  After all, he's got work to do.

And he's serious about his work.

Then, each morning after he's finished his bee keeping duties, he lets them go.  

After all, if he catches them all today, what will be left to catch tomorrow?

He's not at all afraid of getting stung.  

 That makes one of us. 

Past, Present and Future

This blog post is dedicated to my husband who says daily, "PLEASE update your blog!"  He's been so thrilled that anytime anyone has visited my blog in the last five weeks, they have been greeted by his cute, scruffy, smiling face, and his hair adorned with every hair accessory in our house.  I don't see the problem...

It is also dedicated to Lindsay's mom, Kris, who recently said to me, "Taming the Hair Accessories!  Okay, we get it!!!!"  I didn't even know she read my blog.  It made me laugh.

So to all of you who thought I'd fallen off the bloggy bandwagon, do not fear!  I am back.

PAST
Here's a quick picture summary of some of the big events in the last five weeks. (I may have to revisit some of these in future blog posts):

I celebrated my birthday on Pearl Street in Boulder with my family.  Such a fun night!  Note the sign that says, "Please refrain from smoking in this area."  Well, what if my hubby is smoking HOT?  Does that break the rules?

We got flocked!

Addie lost her first tooth!

We hosted backyard VBS for the kids in our neighborhood, which culminated in a carnival on the last day.  The highlight?  Throwing pies at Gary's face!

We celebrated the 4th of July with cousins and grandparents.

Addie lost her 2nd tooth!  Those pesky adult teeth were almost full grown behind them.  No cute gap!  Boo!

Gary's parents came from California to visit and the kiddos got to sleep in the camper with Grammy.  What a special treat! And what a restful night for Grammy.

 

Abby had her little man, and I got a new nephew!  Noah John Stone was born on July 12, 2011.  He's such a baby doll!

Gary had a birthday too, but sadly, we have no pictures.  We celebrated with a candle in his breakfast burrito that morning, and a rehearsal dinner that night since he officiated a wedding the next day.  And he did such a GREAT job!

PRESENT:
 Right now, I'm hanging out with the littlest two while Gary is watching the girls in their second performance this weekend of "Hans Christian Andersen."  Aren't they adorable?  They play school children in the town of Odense, and also the parts of Jellyfish in the "Little Mermaid" ballet within the play.  Tomorrow night is their closing performance, and of course all of their biggest fans will be there:  Grandpa, Grandma, aunts, uncles, cousins... and of course they'll give autographs.

In the "Past" portion of this post, I should've included how I spent hours and hours making their costumes and made about 251 mistakes doing so.  In fact, it should not have taken hours and hours.  I might devote a separate post to my costume making shenanigans.  I'm a mess.

FUTURE:

Emma goes to camp next week for the first time (!), Gary goes out of town for a week, we'll take a trip to California, and school starts.  All in the next month (or less!).  And also in the future, I'll be blogging more.  Apparently my many fans demand it.