the point is, well...never mind

My children do not love Mexican food. They like some of it, they tolerate most of it, but if they had their choice, they would rather eat something, anything else.  This obviously upsets Seth and me because we grew up on Tex-mex food.  Where did we go when we ate out anywhere nice?  Mexican food restaurant.  

(Note:  I was not always happy to be eating at a Mexican food restaurant when I was child either.  I remember throwing quite a fit, at least according to my grandmother, when we all ate at The Plaza for some reason or another.  Then Jana told me to get the quesadilla.  I asked what that was.  Cheese and tortillas?  Grilled in butter?  Sold! And I have been in love ever since.) 

Ok, so now I see that maybe I was not always a lover of Mexican food either (after re-reading my note).  But now I love it and my children don't so they don't want to go.  We went to Senor Tequila the other night and Noah had a cheeseburger.  Rhett did order the taco but decided he should have ordered a cheeseburger too.  (To be fair, I think people go to Senor Tequila for the drinks.  Strong and tasty margarita but the food was so-so). 

I am not really making the point I started out trying to make because of all my (asides).  So I am going to stop trying.  Stop trying to make my point but not stop trying to get my kids to fall in love with Mexican food.  Am I making any sense at all at this point?

unpack boxes: check! Paint gameroom: check!

On Friday, I unpacked our last box.  I was so tired from unpacking boxes that I did not outwardly show any excitement, but let me tell you, inside I was jumping for joy.

In our garage, we have 5 bikes.  One is going to Goodwill (we currently have a big pile for Goodwill in our garage to replace the big pile of unpacked boxes.  Maybe that is why my excitement did not last for long.  Two bikes are broken.  That will change.  Hopefully, soon.  I really want to go bike riding by the river and enjoy the fall colors and weather.  So that means sometime before Fall is over, I need to get bikes fixed.

In our house, the gameroom is painted and pictures are hung and yay for that.  Seth helped me finish and he also taped the hallway for me.  Sweet guy he is.  That is my least favorite part.

That was my weekend.  How was yours?

if all days were like birthdays

I'm 33!  And a day.  I woke up this morning really, really tired.  Maybe I just had too much fun yesterday. Because it was a really, really great day.

Here are my birthday highs and lows:

• My father-in-law thought I had only turned 30.  Yay!
• My sons were hilarious.  Around 6 last night, we head to Target to get a few things (mainly, supper!) and Noah brought his money to buy me something.  So I told him he could buy my cake.  He was excited and picked out the biggest cake he could (out of the choices he had from me).  He was thrilled to do this.  Well, Rhett has been inquiring about what to get me for a week now.  At first, he told Seth he would like to contribute $50 towards a new laptop for me.  When we were at Target, he honed in on a chocolate pie.  I, very nicely, told him we didn't need a pie AND a cake.  He asked what then could he buy me?  I pointed out the lip gloss area and said I really needed new lip gloss.  He happily picked one out and was in the middle of handing it to me when Noah yelled, "The lip gloss is $8?!? Who would pay that for lip gloss!?!"  Rhett froze and very nicely, told me, "Let's see if we can get you something else."  He then picked out two Twix bars and estimated that he owed me $1.40.  Happy Birthday!  I am still laughing at that one.  He is more like Seth than I knew!  Noah then added another dollar to his stash and bought a Hershey's candy bar for him.  He gave me a wad of ones and called it good.  Love it!  Here are some fun pictures from last night.  The first one is funny because we had already blown out the candles and Seth said to pretend. 


• My sweet husband took the entire day off of work to spend with me.  It was so nice to spend a whole day with him that didn't include a "have to" list.  Although, some things managed to work their way in our day, it was really a wonderful day.  One of the stores we went to was Saks Fifth Avenue and if you have never been in one, you really should.  It is a hoot.  I don't know any person that would buy a $400 Burberry vest or a purse that looks like any minute it could jump up and run away (a furry bundle it was!) but it was fun looking around that is for sure.
• The texts, phone calls and Facebook messages I received were an added bonus.   
• Seth and I watched the season premiere of Modern Family last night.  One of our favorite funny shows, it really delivered on laughs.  It is nice to end your day laughing.  One of the characters wears button down shirts that Seth and I saw at Saks Fifth Avenue and we chuckled at that too.

And really, only one low.  Our Scout is sick.  We are not sure what is going on but hopefully will find out Friday when the blood work results are in.  I know that she is old but no matter how much I prepare for it, it still is heartbreaking.  I talked to the boys about it and it will be a hard, hard thing.

One last picture of my sweet boys and me:

Have a great day!

do you see what is coming?

Yes, my birthday.  And before I get a little depressed (because, frankly, turning 33 is as exciting as turning 32, which wasn't very exciting because it is one step closer to 35.  Which means one step closer to, well, you know.) I am going to tell you what the boy in photo has done for me.

Friday:  I looked in his school agenda and saw this in the note section of Week of September 20:  "Get Mom best birthday gift ever!!!"

Monday:  Rhett draws me a picture.  It is of me, sitting on the couch, reading To Kill a Mockingbird.  I asked him how he knew that was my favorite book.  He said he remembered me saying that this past summer. 

Tuesday:  Seth wakes me up and says that Rhett made me breakfast so get up before it gets soggy.  I went in and had Chocolate Frosted Mini Wheats (which aren't as delicious as you would think) and enjoyed every bite. 

And its not even my birthday yet!!  What a sweetie.  I tell you, there is something special about a 9 year old. 

There is definitely something special about Rhett.

In case you needed this today

And the best part?  It is all true!

Inhale. Hold. Slowly Exhale. And repeat.

Even though it was 95 today, I can feel it in the air.  The season is changing.  The wind is cooler.  The sun is setting earlier.  It is getting harder and harder to get out of bed in the morning because you feel the nip in the air. 

I've started going to yoga classes.  I love it.  Love, love it.  My favorite part is focusing on each breath I take.  I mean, when do we take the time to do that?

We've joined the Y.  Hopefully, the boys will start Tai Kwon Do there soon.  Did I spell that right? Seth is on the ball and is calling people left and right to fix our leaky roof (over the patio), to see about leveling our yard, to get an estimate on tile (to go over the stained concrete that we are not enjoying).  I am going to finish painting the halls and hopefully, the game room this month.  I'm so tired of painting but its gotta get done.  Can't keep the tape on the baseboards forever can I? 

But this weekend?  I hope we just enjoy it.  Spend time together, having fun and cherishing each other.  I hope, especially tomorrow on 9/11, that we take a moment and thank God we've got each other and pray for those who don't have their 'each others' anymore.  I hope we focus on slowing down and just be.

Love all around.  Namaste.

something strange is happening around here

Noah loves school. 

Yesterday,  he got off the bus, gave me a hug and said, "I had a really good day today, Mom."

Last night, he had a 'best thing' about his day, but no 'worst thing'.

Ok, will the real Noah please come forward?

On the other hand,

Rhett comes home tired.

Last night, he had a 'worst thing' but NOT a 'best thing'.

I'm gonna call this one a fluke.  I mean, everyone has their bad days.  And really, the older you get, the less fun school gets, am I right?  And he did have homework, which can ruin anyone's mood.  I hope his day is better today.

And this morning, Noah woke up, grumpy, like normal.

I breathed a sigh of relief.  He's still my Noah. 

wishing we were still on vacation

Friday, we drove to St. Louis to visit our friends that used to live across the street from us in Edmond.  I love these people.  They have two kids that my sons adore and we just have such a great time when we are with them.  These are the friends that we hung out with every weekend for the last year that we lived there. I miss them everyday. They live in a beautiful neighborhood and while we were walking, I took a photo of my view. 

The boys all went to a Cardinals baseball game and the girls (myself, my friend and her daughter) went to get mani/pedis and ate lunch at a cute cafe.  We also ate out (just the grown-ups) one night where I tasted veal for the first time.  I felt guilty eating it, then felt even more guilty when I thought it was the best thing ever.  Luckily, I had only a bite for an appetizer.  Whew.  (I'm normally have no problem eating meat, seriously, my dad owned a feed yard! But eating baby cows?  That's just sad.  And delicious, but still.)

Today it is back to it.  I don't think any of us wanted to get up and face the day, but we all did, even if the boys did miss the bus.  Oh well.  I had to drive to pick up the dogs anyway.  Now, I need to face the big pile of laundry but if you noticed, I did manage to distract myself from that for awhile.  This is my new blog template!  Not as good as the first, but better than the one from the other day. 

Have a great day!

never thought I'd be doing this*

Good September to everyone!  I love September.  Even if half the month is hot, it means Fall is only 22 days away.  And speaking of 22 days away....

hee hee.

Anyway, here is something I've been working on this morning (until it started raining, but thank God for rain...it means it is a little cooler)

These little things are GoGos.  No, not the music group or the boot.  The toy that now has captured Rhett and Noah's short attention span.  My kids love them.  Rhett lost one by catapulting one underneath our kitchen cabinets and was so sad.  They come with names and personalities and even have online games (but that must be a pre-requisite with toys nowadays. (Hey, I have spell-checker again! Yay!) These little things are my photography subject this week.  My assignment is Depth of Field.  So I am shooting these little critters in different apertures or f-stops to show depth of field changes.

Notice how the background changes?  One is softer, the other sharper?  That is depth of field.  And that is how aperture works.  Cool or what?

Here is my sky:

And our moon:

And the clouds that began raining on me...

Hope your Wednesday treats you well.  We have two more days of school and then we are off for a 4-day weekend!! 

*This meaning laying on the wet grass taking photos of my sons' colorful toys.  But I had more fun doing it! I can't wait to see where I'll take these guys next!