I Can See Clearly Now, The Rain Is Gone

Ummmm, perhaps the better way to put it would be- I can breathe again, the computer is back on!!!!!!! My sad little, pathetic computer died a couple days ago. Or so I thought. A really, really, really smart kid from Tarleton came and fixed it for me tonight. If I wasn't completely and totally in love with my husband I would have proposed to the smart kid on the spot. Ahhhhhhh, internet access. Say those sweet words with me people.

Three Hour Tour

Saturday Stuff

Want to know what happens when your kid is sick of posing for pictures?

You get pictures like this. She learned the face from me. Really.

I was wanting something more like this one. She's wearing my latest craft project- her new "Jackets" shirt. It's spelled out in blue crystals. When she told her friend I made it, her friend responded, "So, she Bedazzles?" Caroline and I found this quite funny. I don't Bedazzle. We make lots of jokes about the Bedazzler. I am juvenile, don't worry I know.

This is Caroline's latest craft project- her own fake pumpkin she carved. She did a very good job, though I am not sure she enjoyed it too much. It was messy and somewhat difficult.

We're off to take more pictures today and make come choices for the new house and "all that stuff" as Duncan would say. Have a great weekend!

Terrific Kid

Last week Duncan was selected as a "Terrific Kid". Each six weeks every teacher at his elementary school selects one girl and one boy who exhibit these qualities-

Thoughtful
Enthusiastic
Respectful
Responsible
Inclusive
Friendly
Inquistitive
Capable

They have a ceremony and are given a certificate as well as coupons for free kids meals, etc. And they get a bumper sticker that says Proud Parent of a Terrific Kid.

Duncan was chosen for this same award last year, as well. We are very proud of him. It's really wonderful as a parent to watch your child succeed. He is very proud of this award and in fact last year he told me, "Guess what I did today? I became a terrific kid!" We explained that he had been a terrific kid all along.

But back to the bumper sticker- As we went through the things in his little goodie bag from the ceremony I came upon the bumper sticker. Of course, being in a small town we see these frequently on peoples cars. Dunk tells me I cannot have the bumper sticker. I am confused. He was so proud I just knew he would want me to stick it on my car immediately, a prospect which I will admit I was not overly thrilled about. I know he's a terrific kid and heck, everyone who knows him does. But a bumper sticker announcing it, ehhhh. Being a proud Momma I was completely ready to do it, though. I ask him why I can't have it. He's explains that he thinks it's rude to go around announcing to everyone that your kid is terrific. We have a short discussion about it not really being rude but rather a way for parents to show their children just how proud of them they are. I'll admit I wasn't even completely convinced by the end of the conversation but I did try my best. Then he looks at me and says, "Ummm besides Mom, bumper stickers are just............tacky." Gee, he really is a terrific kid.

Updated House Pics

Updated house pictures. Things are finally starting to roll again. All paint is almost finished. Countertop guy is coming out in a week or two. Rock guy comes on Monday. Air Conditioner guy comes next week. We may actually finish. Maybe.

Message for Courtney

This is actually a post just for Courtney- I am surprisingly inept at Blogger. I cannot figure out how to respond to a comment someone leaves so if anybody has tips feel free to share. Anyway. Yes, Courtney you told me to put toothpaste on my zit. Apparently you read it in a magazine. And it probably works. I was the bozo who left it on my face overnight. I guess I thought that would for sure zap it. I can't believe you don't remember that- I looked horrible. I tried to bandage it up for finals at school and our ski trip to New Mexico. But that just drew more attention to it. It was bad. Really bad. But I'm still, completely, always awesome.

Go Fish

On Saturday Duncan was going fishing with his Daddy. He requested some "guy time". This would be code for "Get lost Mom". And I was down with that. I really didn't want to go fishing on Saturday. Actually, I am not sure there has been a Saturday in my whole life that I have wanted to go fishing. Casey and I did go fishing with friends on the Chadbourne ranch when we were dating and we turned it into a competition and we won- that day I liked fishing.

So, since the boys we going fishing the girls went shopping. Here are some tidbits overheard on our little excursion-

"They really ought wash this stuff if they want to sell it" Caroline on the Flea Market

"Oooooooooooooh, this is good" Caroline on the sourdough bread with butter & jam at La Madeline (and she's so right, truly one of life's great pleasures)

"Now that is an embarrassment to all humanity" Caroline commenting on a beer candle at Stein Mart (and again, she was right on the money)

"I really think you should consult with Daddy first" Caroline commenting about dishes I wanted to buy.

And in response to my comment that "I like those chairs" she says "Oh, I really don't" wonder where she got that from???


We had a great time. Didn't buy much at all, though we really didn't set out to. She got a new Bible, which she had been needing and we bought a few supplies for some Christmas crafts. She was curious about the antique store so we stopped in but she got bored quickly so we left. She hadn't eaten at La Madeline since she was pretty tiny as they are not very wheelchair accessible. She loved it, even ate some of my petite Caesar salad. And of course, we had dessert. I think she liked the bread with butter & jam even more than the chocolate cake, though. We went to Stein Mart where she had great fun making fun of all the tacky gift ware she could locate.

The boys quit fishing early to take a nap and then go eat an enormous assortment of meat from Hard 8. They ordered so much meat they didn't even get Banana Pudding. A personal aside, I really dislike Banana Pudding. Then they rented a game for the Wii and played sword fighting until Dunk was dripping with sweat, literally.

All in all, a great Saturday. No comment on the new house as it is moving s-l-o-w-l-y. Someday I hope to live there. Someday I hope somebody else lives in this house. Someday.

Totally Awesome

There are papers displayed in the hallways of Duncan's school. His teacher is great and lots of fun and the papers for their class are very interesting and different projects.


One of those projects is based on a Kevin Henke book called Chrysanthemum. It's about a little mouse that ends up loving her name by the end of the book, her name is Chrysanthemum. The children had to give their name, a nickname, a flower they would like to be named after and then if they could be named anything they wanted what would it be. Duncan said he would be named after a Cockscomb (seriously son?) but if he could be named anything he would be named Cox. Cox Cumby isn't all that bad though, his father and I would never have agreed on it. We had a horrible time choosing names and boy names gave us particular trouble. Of all the things he might have been named, Cox certainly wasn't on the list.


One little boy in the class, who shall remain un-named, said if he could be named anything he would want to be named Horny. Seeing as how I am a twelve year old boy trapped in a 30ish woman's body, I almost doubled over in laughter over that one. I have no idea how the teacher could have kept a straight face.



Another paper, based on a different book, was a fill-in-the-blank about themselves. They had to fill in their name and then some traits about themselves followed by I am always _____________ and the most important thing about me is that I am ______________________. Of course, Dunk had great answers- he said he was always handsome and the most important thing about him was that he was funny. Very true.



One of his buddies in class, though, has provided me with great inspiration for this difficult week. His answer was I am always awesome. This is my new motto. You cannot think of this and not smile. Having a bad day? Look in the mirror and repeat three times " I am always awesome" It's the new I'm OK, You're OK.



When I think it, I cannot help but think of all the times I was so NOT awesome. Like the time in sixth grade when I tripped and fell flat on my face on the first day of school. Or the day breast milk leaked all over my shirt. I do mean ALL over it. Or the time in high school that my dear friend Courtney told me to put toothpaste on a zit to make it go away. I did and it did make the zit go away. It also burned a whole straight through my skin and I had a giant burn on my chin throughout Christmas and a ski trip to Santa Fe. Or the time I drank too much beer at a rodeo and spent the evening throwing up in a bathroom at the Ponderosa. Ewwww.


So, my wacky personality finds this all too funny. What can I say? I am easily amused. And remember, I am always awesome.

Tooth Fairy Tales

I am afraid. Afraid of what my children's teenage years will bring. They are smarter than me. They are way smarter than their father. They are crafty little fellows, too. Yep, I'm afraid.

This morning my seven year old son says to me, "Ugh, I am about to lose another bi-cuspid then I will only have my eye teeth to chew with."

Say what? Whatever happened to my tooth is lose? Feel the fear? He's gonna be running a small country by the time he's sixteen. When they have transportation and cash readily available there's no telling what they might do.

Conference Call

Teacher conferences were this week, which generally just sort-of ticks me off. I don't like having my kids home for the day and I have to leave them to go up to school and wait simply to be told, "Oh, he/she's really great! Very smart! Love them! Any questions?" Seems like we're wasting everyone's time to me. But there's not much point to this blog if I can't use it to shamelessly brag about my brilliant offspring, right?



Let's see- Caroline has the highest AR points of anyone in her entire school. And I credit this part to her father's influence, she has figured out to "save" some of the books she read over the summer and test on those intermittently therefore, spreading out the points. Today was the first day of the 6 weeks and she already reached her goal by testing this morning on a Harry Potter she read this summer. I am not sure if I should be proud or scared.



Duncan's beginning of the year testing shows him to read at a 5th grade level, highest in his class. And truly following in the family footsteps, he is "a math wizard" and testing showed him to need 4th grade level math work. His teacher was rather astounded. I wasn't. As he told me recently, "Give me a math problem, any math problem and I can do it!" He likes math homework. That's my boy!



I didn't attend Caroline's conference, her Daddy did. I have had my hands rather full and I promised him it would be easy to handle. What I didn't consider was that the report back would be a little.........lacking. Ever really need information from someone who seems to have no idea what you need to know? All I will say is "not much" has become a pretty standard answer around here. He did report that the teacher said Caroline was social. Well, that's shocking.

Not So Much

Well, I was doing so good- updating my blog so often. But due to some unfortunate circumstances, I have been busier than usual the last three days. I really do have more pictures of the house, more crafting to share, great updates from both kiddos, just general good news all around. But no time to do it today. Hopefully, everything will be settled down in a couple days and life will be back on track. Til then, have a blessed Sunday!

A Little More....

A couple more pics of the back porch for you- already our favorite part of the house. I wish it were twice as big and the rest of the house was half the size. But, so it goes. The bottom picture shows the walls of the outdoor kitchen- something I hope to use as frequently as the indoor version.

Just Teasin'

I am on the run- which is a constant these days- so I have to be brief. I have lots more pics but they'll come in a day or two for now just a little teaser. Here's the new house-