Check this out

These are Jack's school pictures. Of course I think he looks so handsome and adorable. I think I need to take Parker and get his taken by the gals at Shooting Stars. Then I would have "matching" pictures and if they can get Jack the Maniac to sit still long enough to get these shots, they should have no problems with Parker. Maybe they could even get both my kids to cooperate and have a picture together!

This just bugs me

I love to watch Food Network and I am always looking at their website for recipes. I don't actually seem to make many of them, but I sure like looking. Paula Deen is my favorite--I love her food and her personality. Just a side note--when we were in Chicago, Miss Paula was doing a show at one of the theatres and people were picketing outside. Something about Smithfield Hams which Paula is a spokesperson for. Anyway, how can you picket Paula Deen? It's like picketing Santa Claus. Back to my original point--I always read the reviews of the recipes and it always bugs me when people say, "it's too sweet, or too spicy, or too salty, or too ........" HELLO!! Everyone's tastes are unique. What is perfect for me might be too sweet for you. What I find entirely too salty to be edible, Travis adds salt. I absolutely can't do anything too spicy. Does that mean there is something wrong with the recipe? NO. If people feel compelled to write a review, they should write "It was too sweet for my taste" not, "It was too sweet." And if the recipe is called Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding and called for 2 dozen donuts and a can of sweetened condensed milk, what do you expect but something that is sickeningly sweet. I can't wait to try this recipe! I like sweet--so sweet it makes your teeth hurt!
I will step down from my soapbox now.

I like to ramble on and on............

- I worked in Parker's classroom yesterday. I came home with green paint in my hair and an armful of classroom projects.
- Parker's teacher, Mrs. Fitzgerald, is a whirlwind. When you go into her classroom to help she shows you about 10 things that need to be done. (I'm not exaggerating.) I'm always a little freaked out about how fast she is--but totally organized and in control. I want to be like her when I grow up.
- My fake Lee Press-on Nails held up very, very well but I guess I left them on too long because one of my nails is sporting a green spot. NAIL FUNGUS! It has happened to me before with acrylic nails. Gross.
- I am wearing maternity clothes today.
- Don't get too excited.
- That is NOT going to happen.
- My two children are the kind of kids that need to be a two-child family. Parker is soft-hearted, cerebral, sensitive, a little bit clingy, and loves to simply spend time with me. Jack is a little bit crazy, very funny, chaotic, smart, quick and needs lots of my attention to keep him out of trouble. I am unorganized, messy and I would rather do something creative than clean. Travis is very involved in the community--baseball, school board, Lion's Club, American Legion not to mention various committees and helping anyone who asks. All of this adds up to the realization that one more child would not make sense for us. I would love to have a daughter, but practicality has made me say goodbye to that dream. And that's o.k.
- Back to why I'm wearing maternity clothes. They are maternity sweats and they are COMFORTABLE!!!!
- Plus I'm not going anywhere public today.
- I would like to be creative today, but I need to clean.
- My goal this evening is to get a Christmas card-worthy picture of Parker and Jack. I've tried several times only to meet failure. Every year I torture myself this way and end up with a decent picture but not at all what I planned.

I am thankful for:

I am thankful for:

- That Parker still gets words wrong sometimes. For example, last night as I was driving he said, "Mommy, slow down! You are upspeeding the spped limit!) He means exceeding. Too cute to correct.

- That he still calls me "mommy"

- That Jack gets lots of words wrong. Like, "I wust want a ......"

- That my Grandma is still healthy and able to make the world's greatest bread.

- For amazingly wonderful food at my Grandma's house.

- High school friends

- New friends too

- For kindergarten because Parker LOVES it.

- For Mrs. Fitzgerald who is the PERFECT kindergarten teacher for Parker.

- For Mt. Zion's awesome schools. We are soooooo lucky.

- That Jack is a good napper.

- That Travis has a good job that he loves.

- That I have the best parents ever.

- That Stella makes me laugh just looking at her. She oozes personality.

- That I actually have jeans that I like that fit me well.

- I don't know if they look all that great, but they feel good.

- For Hobby Lobby

- For credit cards

- For my home

- For Aldi

This and that......

A few random thoughts:
- On our way home from Chicago, we stopped at a gas station. I saw a family get out of a BMW SUV. It was a mom, a dad, a two year old and an infant. Mom was in the back seat with the baby and the little boy was in the front seat. In a booster seat. As the parent of a 3 year old, I know that child was no where near tall enough or heavy enough for that seat AND it was in the front. Why are people so stupid!???? I'm sure the mom was feeding the baby in the back or consoling it or something so squish in between the 2 car seats. Or pull over and do what you need to do. So, they will probably get in a wreck and their kid will be injured so they will sue the carseat manufacturer and BMW. Again I say, people are stupid.
- I am overweight and out of shape and this weekend in Chicago proved it. After walking around all day on Saturday I felt like I had been hit by a truck. Really. I thought I might have the flu because my body hurt so much.
- I had a croissant and chocolate milk for breakfast and it was $17.00. It was good, but maybe not $17.00 good.
- I had a hamburger and fried for $27.00 and it might have been $27.00 good.
- I missed Parker and Jack like crazy but they did just fine without me. That is good. Very good.
- I bought a lot of Legos at the Legos store.
- Parker would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Legos store.
- The Field Museum has a Star Wars exhibit which I have to take Parker to. He will be in seventh heaven.
- I hate crowds.
- I had my first experience with the Cheesecake Factory and I am looking forward to having more experiences with them. We just had cheesecake and it was unbelievably good.
- We also went here which was totally cool. Unlike anything I have ever experienced or even heard of. Very gluttonous. But yummy! Vegetarians should stay far, far away.
- It is very easy to get lost in a big city.
- Even when you kind of know where you are going.
- What happens in Chicago stays in Chicago.
- Especially when it involves a school board.
- Middle-aged women dirty dancing is funny at first, then it's a little sad, then it's downright uncomfortable.
- I hope I'm never a middle-aged woman who dirty dances.
- Especially to bad karaoke.
- I hate the House of Blues.
- I hope we don't have to go there next year.
- But I bet we do.
- Parker FINALLY got into the first name club. (You are admitted when you can right your name in perfect D'Nealian handwriting.)
- He was the 17th kid in his class to make it.
- There are 22 kids in his class.
- Thank goodness ability to write has no bearing on I.Q.
- I'm itching to put up Christmas decorations.
- Maybe tomorrow.
Have a GREAT day!

And we're off.

Travis and I are going to a school board conference in Chicago for the weekend, so I won't be posting for several days.
-Regarding my previous entry about Parker and the game. I saw a quote that said, "Honesty is the first page in the book of wisdom." I thought it fit particularly well.
-I am bringing everything article of clothing that I own to Chicago because I have no idea what to wear.
-I'm going to miss Parker and Jack like crazy.
-Is it strange that I feel no need at all to get away from my kids? A few hours at a time is all the break I need.
- I wanted to get my nails done for the weekend but I really didn't have the time or the money to go to the nail salon so I bought the updated version of Lee press-on nails except these are glue-on. They have made much improvement over the past 20 years. LOVE 'EM! I will report next week whether they actually stay on.
-Parker is fascinated by the nails and Jack is a little scared. Seriously.
-I didn't get Parker's kindergarten picture retaken because I decided that school pictures--especially kindergarten pictures are not meant to be perfect. They aren't portraits, they are school pictures. Part of their charm is their imperfection. That being said, if they had happened to turn out well, I would be thrilled. My lesson is to order a small package in the future and order more if they turn out. Live and learn.
-Better go get ready.

Bursting with Pride

I know I brag about my children but sometimes they do things that are so sweet, funny or special that I have to share. I have never been more proud of Parker as I was earlier this week. Parker, Jack and I were playing Candyland. Jack got to go first the first time we played and won the game. They wanted to play again so Parker set up the game. This time he got to go first. He pulls a card from the pile and it was one of the cards where you get to move waaaaay ahead of everyone else. So I say, "Wow, Parker, you sure are lucky. I don't know how we are going to catch up with you." So Jack takes a turn and then I take a turn and then it went like this:

Parker: "We need to start all over."

me: "Why?"

P: "Because when I set up the cards I put the special card on top so I would get it."

me: "You mean you cheated?"

P: "I guess. That's why we need to start over."

So, I told him that I wish he wouldn't have cheated but that I am super proud of him for speaking up and doing the right thing. And then, thank goodness, he won the game fair and square. I didn't suspect that he cheated and I never would have known so it is even more impressive to me that he owned up all on his own. I'm glad he has a concious and clearly knows right from wrong.

According to my sister, I would have done the same thing Parker did and she would kept her mouth shut and gone for the victory. That's probably just one of the reasons she is living in a mansion and I'm living in a 1975 bi-level with paneling and yellow formica countertops. ;-)

I could probably be a little more cut-throat. Not that Tracy is. Not anymore, anyway. ;-) Maybe I should call it ambitous instead of cut-throat. That sounds better, right?

Anyway, the moral of this story is that Parker is a very cool kid. And I am very, very proud to be his mom.

Scrapbook pages

I finally cleared some space off my desk so I could do some scrapbooking. Plus I bought a huge tub of Halloween letters on clearance at Target and I wanted to use them on some layouts. I would like to know why a tub of 356 foam letters was $5.00 (I only paid $2.50) but if they were in the scrapbooking aisle, they would have been $5.00 for a sheet of 26 letters and, of course, you can't spell a whole lot with just 26 letters, so you have to buy at least two sheets. I love to scrapbook, but I really do think the industry is a huge rip-off. It cannot possibly cost $1.00 to manufacture a piece of paper. Somebody is getting rich off of people like me!

O.K. This is Parker's school picture and I have some issues with it. Let me be clear--I don't think it's a bad picture, but I don't think it is a very good picture of him. I don't like his posture. He looks kind of like a turtle to me. I can say that because he's mine. And, he seems to have mashed his hair, which was adorably spiked when he got on the bus, down onto his forehead. He just looks uncomfortable and nervous to me. On top of that, they took it on the wrong background. It was supposed to be on this kind of amber/brownish color which fits my decor perfectly (and would bring out the green of his eyes which look black in this picture.) So, I have confirmed that I could have his picture re-taken on the correct background free of charge. Do I do it? Or just let it be. I paid over $30.oo for a picture I'm not crazy about. ???? The next picture could, in theory, actually turn out worse. Unlikely, but true. And, this one will be in the yearbook. ?????

Apple Orchard Afternoon

These are pictures from our afternoon at the Apple Orchard. It was just perfect weather and the boys love it there. All they do is play on the hay and climbers but they act like they've never had so much fun in all their lives. Simple pleasures for sure. I'm trying the theory that if I take a thousand pictures, I might get a handfull of really good ones. There are some of these that I LOVE. Parker is into posing right now which is a real treat for me. Jack, on the other hand, wants no part of pictures.