BUENA VISTA

many many moons ago i worked in a huge building filled with office after office, cubicle after cubicle. my space was at the very back corner on the third floor.

directly across from me was my friend darlene who had a great sense of humor and kept me laughing regularly.

not far from us was the water fountain.

there was a tall, dark & handsome guy who worked in the department down the hall. he visited that water fountain frequently.

and darlene dubbed him buena vista.

and oh, was he ever. LOL.

imagine my delight when, one evening after work, he asked me to go out with him.

i was beyond ecstatic. and definitely a little nervous. okay, scratch that. a LOT nervous. because buena vista might be an understatement.

i'm trying to put my best foot forward as the evening progresses. we went to a neat little restaurant on the ocean front and then after that went for a walk on the beach.

we talked about our lives. i didn't have much of a work history at this point. i think i might have been 21? 22 tops? i had worked for a photographer, i was a full time nanny, i worked for attorneys...and now i was the administrative assistant to the vice president of PR.

as we stroll along the beach my heart is pounding. i definitely want to make a good impression.

he begins to talk about BABETTE'S FEAST

.

i don't even remember the exact details of what i said but i know that it had something to do with elephants. oh wait a minute...that's BABAR, not BABETTE.

this is what you get for spending all your time playing with children instead of going to foreign film debuts.

there was no second date.

class of 1959

check out this photo from my dad's 1959 yearbook.

i am blown away by how much austin looks like his 'papa' in this picture.

right down to that serious stare!

jordan & hudson look SOOOO much like their daddy. carson is looking more and more like sissy but i still see a lot of ladley in him. but austin...he's DEFINITELY gotten most of his genetics from my side of the family.

WOW.

SMOKIN' PASTA!

hudson is getting all kinds of extra lovin' today, staying home from school with a bad cough.

not only does he get to skip out on friday pizza at school (apparently it's not so tasty) but he gets to have his favorite meal: buttered noodles.

good thing i have this wonderful kitchen to cook in. between the noodles & the cereal, i'm not sure how i would be surviving in my tiny old kitchen.

so i'm getting the water ready to boil and the question is submitted:

'mom, why don't you ever buy us cigarette pasta?'

whaaaaaaat?

'look, they have ties and cigarettes and tires. why do i have to have the twisty kind?'

at 8 years old, he GETS it, he REALLY gets it.

i love carson. (i mean, i love all my kids LOL...but carson's take on life humors me in uncomparable ways).

here is a short story he had to write in school:

he's got it all figured out already. hee hee hee.

chatting with carson

carson: mom, i'm so glad today is saturday. i do NOT want to go to school on monday.

me: why?

carson: because we're doing a musical and my music teacher is really getting annoying. she keeps making us do stuff over and over again.

me: honey, i'm sure she's just trying to make sure you get it all perfect. i'm sure she's not TRYING to be annoying.

carson: i know she's not TRYING to be annoying. she already IS annoying.

*****************************************

dear music teacher,

this was too funny not to share.

with much respect and gratitude for all you do,

a giggling parent

:)

planets (by carson lee, april 9, 2010)

planets

In our class we are lorning about planets. We have lots of fun. And I'm talking fun. And I never new there was a word called the atmosphere. It is a round ball of air around Earth that's all I know.

I also know all the planets but the sun is not a planet. So let's begin

Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto.

There you go now you now how the planets go.

And also memorize them and do not go in space without a helmet.

easter 2010

hope you had a blessed and happy easter. bobby worked for easter services. the kids and i attended church and then headed over to the lake for a few quick pics before racing home to get the turkey in the oven. no ham for us this year. i had a turkey in the freezer that was taking up valuable space :)

love this pic of them...they didn't even know i was taking it.

can i just once again say how thankful i am for my home? it bears repeating. if you get tired of me saying it, that's fine. but really, truly: I AM SO THANKFUL FOR MY HOME.

and i'm thankful for my family too :) love that we can gather together and celebrate!

my sister seems to think that my new kitchen is inpsiring me...this is something i definitely wouldn't have attempted in previous years LOL

so here's the deal...in the busy-ness and preparation of getting the meal ready, i ran out of time. i had hard boiled the eggs the day before so the kids could color them...but then we decided we'd wait and the cousins could all decorate them together...but then we got busy again with getting dinner on the table and it didn't happen...we were hoping the boys would forget. they did NOT. so we attempted to actually 'color' the eggs with marker. for any of you who think you might want to try this at home: don't. it doesn't work. we are going to have an egg coloring day when nana is back in town. but they DID sit still and quiet for a few minutes while trying :)

refer back to that busy-ness up there and know that since daddy was working, mommy was kinda busy and forgot to hide the kids treats (i got them each a new bathing suit...we don't really do the whole basket thing). anyhow, after the crowes and papa left, i just tucked their presents around the room...even so, jordan takes this very seriously...check her out..don't get in her way when she's looking for a surprise LOLOL.

meanwhile, hudson is nursing a little boo-boo...

while it might SEEM like a great idea to keep a broom next to the trampoline...you know, for brushing off leaves and pollen...listen carefully: IT'S NOT. we had a little mishap and he's just fine...but he would NOT put down the wet washcloth.

hudson, injected with all sorts of extra sugar, has a melt down because he can't find his surprise. this would have been way more fun earlier in the day LOL

meanwhile sissy has found her bikini. um, teeny TINY bikini. what on earth was i thinking? it is being returned pronto and daddy is checking out burka.com for other swimwear alternatives.

:)

and there you have it: easter 2010. may we always remember the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross. and may we live our lives in a way that would reflect our thankful hearts.

she flies through the air with the greatest of ease...

i don't know what song that is but i'm pretty sure it's ancient.


the kids have been having a BLAST on the trampoline the last few days...some shots of their tricks:

look at austin...he's like, 'I'VE GOT YA JORDAN...I'LL CATCH YOU.' hee hee.

you do NOT know how badly the patched fence from hurricane ike drives me nuts. but for the sake of sharing some cool pics i'll get over it.


austin's 'hii saved me' shirt. check out his mii Jesus :) LOVE IT.

trampoline yoga pose LOL

carson about to crash :) and check out the little green shed thingy that the original owners had in the back yard...THAT survived but our oak tree didn't. go figure.

speaking of puzzles...

sometimes things happen in life.

things that you should probably own up to.

but don't.

and that feeling of guilt just never really leaves?

well, i'm about to share one of those moments.

listen closely...because i'm only going to say this once. and if the subjects of this story ever approach me about this, i will DENY DENY DENY (and quickly delete this post LOL).

sooooooo, many moons ago i was a teenaged babysitter.

and one of my jobs was for a family with toddlers. they had a split level house.

for those of you who don't know what this is, it's basically like living on three levels...the kitchen is one level, the family room is another, the bedrooms, another.

the dad was an AVID puzzle putter together-er...i'm sure there's probably a name for that...but we'll just call him an A.P.P.T. (hee hee).

now, if you're an A.P.P.T. one thing is for certain: you are one who loves detail...attention to detail is CRITICAL for an A.P.P.T.

he always had a different puzzle 'in the works' on the dining room table. and the kids weren't allowed in the dining room...

but the kids WERE allowed in the family room. DOWNSTAIRS. out of sight of the kitchen. where i was making sandwiches one afternoon.

i went downstairs to tell them lunch was ready.

oh the shock. the panic. the sheer horror.

they had gotten into the trunk that kept ALLLL the boxes of puzzles. ALL.OF.THEM. and they had dumped them. ALL.OF.THEM. everywhere.

what's a girl to do?

this girl scooped them up and put them in assorted boxes, put the lids back on them, put them back in the trunk and never.ever.ever said a word.

can you EVEN imagine this poor dad the next time he tried to put together a puzzle?

split levels are not recommended for parents of toddlers. this is reason number 342.

hudson is SIX

and has been for a couple months LOL. i should really pay more attention to my poor neglected blog.

so here are a few pics from his birthday...he went to the movies with carson, jordan & austin:

and then we had a small get together for cake (with REAL candles this year as opposed to last year's upside down match sticks :) yay for mommy getting her act together...hee hee.

his gift from us was a set of electronic drumsticks. which he seemed to love. he later came to me and said, 'i'm not trying to hurt your feelings or anything but could you pleeeeease take them back and get me some real ones instead?' he doesn't like the fact that these play sounds that are NOT in his head...he doesn't want the extra noise...it doesn't match what he's hearing :)

and if you're observant, yes, he's wearing different clothes...we had his party the next day :)

i made puzzle jars for each of the kids out of starbucks frappucino bottles and put each child's initial on the top. i thought they turned out cute. of course, i saved the boxes so that they'd know what the picture should look like...otherwise that would be SOME puzzle, huh?

which reminds me of a puzzle story...i'll save for another entry :) stay tuned.

happy birthday huddy-duddy. we love you SO very much. xoxo.