Mini Update...

The quick and dirty version of the latest and greatest:

Matt loves his new job. L.O.V.E.S. He can't tell you about it though or he'll have to kill you. I just call him secret squirrel and try not to ask any questions. He comes home with a smile every day and is bursting with energy. Only good can come from that. He's also kicking ass in school too. Good times good times.

Zack is so enthusiastic about school that I have often wanted to stop by the school and see if his new teacher is slipping him a little crack in the morning. Whatever it is she's doing, it's working. Football is still meh. I think Matt and I have more fun than he does. We've got just a few weeks left and then the entire family can take a break.

Skyler is a star student. Her reading is especially impressive. She's also doing well in soccer and I'm trying to think of another sport to keep her busy with this winter. Let her sit idle too long and the attitude comes out. She's six going on 14. FSM help me.

As soon as Matt started his new job I decided that I needed more time to manage our family and as far as I can tell no one is going to give me more than 24 hours in a day and I'm sure as hell not giving up some of my precious sleep, so I decided to cut back my hours at work. I'm not working Fridays anymore. I can't tell you what this has done for me. Last Friday was my first off and I was damn near springy on Thursday afternoon as I bounced out of there and Monday morning I didn't dread going in. I had gotten done everything I wanted to get done this weekend. My family was in decent shape. I had given them enough time and taken some for myself. Imagine that.

I'm sure there's more, but the writing isn't flowing lately. Quick look at a couple of pictures, that will tide you over.



Did I mention that Skyler has no front teeth?

I ♥ Faces - Week 41 - "Pink Week" Photo Challenge

When trying to choose a picture for this week's challenge "Pink Week", I immediately thought of these pink boots of Skyler's. The fact that she's wearing a "Black is the new Pink" t-shirt speaks volumes. I can no longer get her to dress in pretty little pink dresses. She's all about blue jeans and t-shirts.

Check out the rest of this week's entries by clicking the link below.

I ♥ Faces Week 40

This week at I ♥ Faces, the theme is "Excited". I got in the way back machine and dug out this pic of Skyler:


My south dwelling kids get one week of snow per year when they visit Grammy for Christmas. We always order up a huge snow storm for our arrival. The excitement of being the first to see snow on the ground, usually keeps the kids from sleeping long on our trip. This was 2007 and although we had driven all night, and the kids were still in their jammies, they threw on the snow gear that Grammy had waiting for them and spent the day outside. Skyler was so excited for snow she kept shoveling it in her mouth!!


Click the button above to see the rest of this week's entries!

A Walk in the Park...

We had a night off from sports so we took the kids to the local State Park. In order for them to agree to go, I had to promise no pictures. Since I couldn't take pics of the kids, I took pics of the woods.







Then I made the kids climb on a big fallen tree with me and wouldn't help them down until Daddy got a picture. :)



Then we had dinner on the water:





A perfect evening. The End.

What Are You Reading...

I've updated my list of books I'm reading over there ------->.

I'm in a bit of a reading funk. Nothing is really catching my interest. I know this is a funk because I'm reading True Compass by Ted Kennedy and while I find it truly fascinating, I'm still MEH about reading it. I also started the new Dan Brown book, The Lost Symbol, and I haven't put much effort into getting past the first chapter, although I've loved most of his other books (Digital Fortress sucked).

I'm not sure what my deal is. I didn't have time to read this weekend. SHOCK, there's always time for reading. We were busy in the extreme, practice, car trouble, game, game, car repairs, drive with the family, late night return, car repairs, cleaning Skyler's room, painting Skyler's room, skate party. No reading for me.

Whimsy even had her book discussion for The Solace of Leaving Early and all I could do was read along. I had nothing to say.

I hope I snap out of it soon. In the meantime, tell me what you're reading!! I usually love talking books.

Skate Party...

The kids' school hosted a skate party last night at a local rink. They were instructed to wear school colors (yellow and blue) and crazy hair. Zack opted out of the school colors, he is so NOT a follower, but loved having another opportunity to spike his hair with the red stuff. Skyler spent a lot of time putting together her outfit and then had me do her hair pink on one side and red on the other. She was quite proud of herself...





Matt and I spent the weekend working on back breaking projects. My car broke down. Matt fixed it but it took way to many of our precious weekend hours. I started painting Skyler's room finally. I meant to do it at the beginning of the summer. It's half painted. I'll do the other half this week. Zack's team won another football game 14-0. They were flying high with excitement. Skyler had a bit of trouble on the soccer field. Apparently she's realized she's really good so she's decided that she's a one woman show, stealing the ball from her own teammates. We had to knock the ego down a few pegs.

Another crazy weekend...we can't wait for the next one!

RANT...

I've got myself all worked up into a snit this afternoon. I'm getting really tired of hearing lies about the proposed health care program. I am a giant nerd and usually have NPR on in the car. Today I accidentally hit a button and the radio scanned to the next station which happened to be 89.1 WWIP Daily Christian Radio's noontime show Jay Sekulow Live! I didn't realize what I was listening to for a minute and sat with my mouth hanging open as I heard this moron tell people that Obama is obsessed with abortions and that his bill budgets $178 million dollars to bring Planned Parenthood, the abortion factory (his words), into the schools. He was this >< close to saying abortions will be performed in school.

As soon as I could, I googled to discover what the fuck he was talking about and found that the bill provides "$178 million for evidence-based comprehensive sex education programs that prevent teen pregnancy". Slightly different than his statement that Planned Parenthood was setting up an abortion shop in your local high school.

Typical listeners of Christian radio are people who live in the south and are huge proponents of abstinence only education. You know which states have the highest rates of teen pregnancy? South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas. Hmmm. Anyone making the connection here? Are there any bells going off?

People BELIEVE the hyperbolic drivel that comes from these idiots and it does them and the children of their states NO favors. Please. Please research what people are saying about the health care bill (and anything else you hear that just doesn't sound rational) yourself. Google is easy peasy to use. Cross check key words in multiple locations. And trust your instincts. If you think to yourself "I just can't believe that X would do this..." check it. Don't just repeat what "they" are saying.

*steps down from her soapbox*

Walking Through the Garden...

Pics from our recent peaceful, joyful, blissful, evening at the Botanical Garden:
















They got along. Skyler posed for me. Zack practiced his sullen rebellious look that went nicely with his hair (which I regretted as soon as I decided it was a picture night). We had a nice evening together (without sports) for a change.