Just turn the light off.

You know, there are soooo many opinions about global warming. Or climate change. Or whatever the current PC term is these days. And, as it is with all things that are politically charged, the opinions run the gamut from Global Warming Is Going To Be The End Of The World all the way to Global Warming Is An Absolute Hoax.

Regardless of any of that, what bugs me the most about all those discussions is the absolute drama of all of it. Do you know what my parents made me do when I was growing up? Turn off the lights when I wasn't in the room. Do you know why? Because not doing so wasted electricity. Do you know why they didn't want to waste electricity? Because they were taught by their parents to avoid being wasteful. To be conservative with the things you have. To avoid spending money needlessly. To. Be. Temperate.

We didn't run the air conditioning at 62 in the summer or the heat at 82 in the winter for the same reason.

I could go on, but you get my point. Sometimes I think all the global warming/climate change brouhaha is nothing more than people needing things to be more dramatic than they should be. We are told, in the Holy Scriptures, to be temperate. (Titus 1 and 2 refer to it). And our good common sense (as well as our parents and grandparents) tell us that most things are fine, as long as they come/are used in moderation.
So why can't we just say, folks, turn off the lights when you're not using them so you don't waste electricity. Don't drive to drop off a package down the street when you can walk instead, so you don't waste gas. Reuse things when possible so you don't waste what you have. Why can't we simply say any of those things any more?

Why does it have to be SO full of guilt-ridden drama?
Sheesh.

For you Birmingham, AL Folks

Give Michael's a call when you feel like eating out "fancy" and see if Tommy G is playing that night. He plays live sax there, from time to time! (You go, Uncle Tommy!)

I'll see your tacky and raise you a pair of Hanes

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Kathleen sent out some pictures of her kids doing various and sundry kid-type things. All precious - she has three kids from 5 on down. The constant theme throughout the pictures, by way of her captions, was the general tackiness of their activities and such. Now, please note that I found nothing in the pictures at all "tacky", mostly because I have pictures of my kids doing pretty much everything hers were doing.

However, I'm quite sure that I have trumped her tacky.

This afternoon, as we were waiting on Miss Claire to come for our speech therapy session, the kids wanted to play outside. Due to the copious amounts of rain we had, the backyard was a sludge fest, so they went to the front yard/driveway. I, however, really needed to fold clothes. Soooo......

I proceded to open the back door of the van, and fold a load of clothes right there where the whole neighborhood could see me. And, it was a load of whites, so I was folding my and the Mr.'s unmentionables.
The only thing that would have made it more of a punchline for a redneck joke would have been if I had also been barefoot, nursing a newborn.
Tacky is in the eye of the Hanes-folding beholder. :-)

Why Ballet?

Amy and I were talking during the picnic on Mother's Day about the need for more adult ballet classes that are really affordable. And at good times during the day to not only accommodate working girls but also those of us who want to go during the day. (Don't think this conversation didn't get me to thinking about donating some teaching time if someone else would donate some studio space for some inexpensive classes. But anyway.....)

And it got me to thinking about why ballet produces such amazing physiques. Granted, some of it is genetics. I don't know that Mary Lou Retton would have turned out to be the steel waif that Gelsey Kirkland is. Maybe, maybe not. Their lives were spent training for two entirely different things. But, there are things about ballet that produce muscle tone when you're not even "trying". However, there has to be some effort to pay attention to technique, which is why there isn't a ballet class on every corner. It's hard to just let go and have fun when you're needing to concentrate on what you're doing in order to get the best results.

My brain goes crazy from that point thinking about all the things that a "fun" ballet class would have to include if it was to be productive also. However, it made me want to share a few things, "secrets" if you will, about why a ballet dancer looks the way she or he does.

~Pointing your toes. This doesn't just make your foot look good at the end of your leg. That is why dancers do it. But the other result of pointing your toes is an extra workout for your calf muscles. Going up and down on your toes a million times definitely gives your calves a workout. Add to that pointing your toes every time your foot leaves the floor, and you've doubled your workout. Keep your leg straight when those toes are pointed (even when your foot is still on the floor) also engages the muscles in your upper leg.
~Core body work. The reason dancers look so graceful is that they seem to be able to do crazy things with no effort. Believe me, there is a LOT of effort goes into standing en pointe in attitude derrière. But a good dancer makes it look as simple as sitting on a couch watching Dancing With The Stars. How does she do that? A core that is as strong as any Olympic athlete. Ballet dancers aren't going to win any medals for lifting weights, trust me. But the muscles from their sternum to their hips (and just below if you want to include the glute muscles) are incredibly strong. They are used constantly during classes, and the stronger your core is, the better your dancing is going to be. That goes for pretty much any kind of physical traning, but it is "extra true" for dancing of all types. The beauty of that for regular people is a strong core usually equals a flatter tummy and a slimmer back. Not to mention better posture.
~Stretching. Dancers have to be super limber in order to put their legs and arms in the positions that they are required to perform. Thus, they have to stretch a lot, every day, in order to get there and stay there. The benefit of that kind of stretching is longer muscles. Longer muscles that build up over time give you that impossibly graceful, strong appearance that even a 5 foot nothing person can still have. Ballet dancers don't just appear to be "skin and bones". They appear to be "muscle and bones".
~Arm positions. First, second, third, fourth, fifth. We all know the names of the arm and foot positions, but doing them is what gives ballet movement another measure of grace and beauty. However, doing them over and over during class is what produces those back muscles and arm muscles that look like they have been airbrushed on. Hold your arm out to the side in a slight curve, and don't let your elbow dip down. Now hold it there for three minutes........ uh-huh - see what I mean? Combine that with some barre work that has your legs going all over the place, and you get a full-body workout, head to toe (literally), on pretty much every exercise you do.

Ballet is an incredible exercise experience. If you are needing to bulk up and add serious strength to your body for sports, then you'll have to add some weight-training to your day. Ballet doesn't produce bulky muscles. (with the exception of men when they get into the more advanced levels, and then their legs can get pretty big). But, for most women, having long, slim, strong as steel muscles is just the ticket. And if you think about those little "secrets" listed above when you are doing your own workouts, you might just begin to see some of the ballet benefits too!

Mother's Day Pictures

Happy Mother's Day to all of you wonderful, beautiful women who give your heart, tears, passion, and breathtaking joy to your children. And to those who are missing their mothers today, she loves you.


Mom - thank you for still being the one who keeps us all together. Every day may be mother's day, but you definitely deserve a spotlight today. I'm looking forward to us all being together next weekend!

We went to our regular church service, and thusly got to be with my mom. Then, we left and went to Jmk's mom's house. We changed clothes, and headed to a local park for a picnic! It was so wonderful, and I enjoyed everything so very much.

To my dismay, though, I left my camera at home. It's so very rare that I don't have it with me, and there are so many things that I would have snapped. But, since I didn't have it, I had to take mental pictures. Let me share some with you:
~Seeing Granny looking beautiful at church, and my mom, looking beautiful.
~Knowing that I am so blessed to have this intergenerational connection.
~Holding my kids during church, hoping I can always remember the feeling of wrapping my arms around their little, squirmy, soft, beautiful selves.
~SueSue in her precious polka dots.
~The quilt on the grass with the picnic baskets and the cooler full of cokes and water and Capri suns holding down the corners because of the breezes.
~The beautiful blue sky with nary a cloud.
~Tooter and Poodle picking the prime spots on the quilt right next to SueSue.
~The yummy sandwiches and Zapps!
~Strawberries, grapes, apples, and cheesecake. Mmmmmm.
~Crunchy BBQ potato chips inside a ham and turkey sandwich with mayo and mustard. Mmmm.
~My children smiling, eating, and loving their family.
~My husband stretching his legs out behind me.
~SueSue taking the kids to the playground - watching them grab her hands and look up at her with complete trust and love.
~Getting to talk to my dear Amy, uninterrupted. Just the two of us.
~Watching Jmk and Jay play horseshoes. No kidding!
~Watching Tooter and Poodle throw horseshoes at the poles.
~Watching me cringe, hoping that no one catches a horseshoe in the head.
~Getting waaaay too much sun on my legs because the breezes were distracting me from the sun.
~Loading up in SueSue's car to head back to her house.
~Grabbing the bread to walk down to the duck pond to feed the ducks.
~Telling SueSue about Honey taking us to the pond near her house.
~Remembering that the scent of plastic bread bags in the freezer still remind me of being at Honey and Gra's house, knowing that we were about to go feed the ducks.
~Watching SueSue walk back on to her patio and seeing her new grill from her kids.
~Driving home, wondering how my dad was doing; if he was thinking about Honey today.
~Driving home and thinking about how blessed, how lucky I am to have married a man with a family that means so very much to me.


Thanks for sharing my mother's day with me. I don't have actual pictures, but the pictures in my mind will hopefully last always.

Crow Time

Go PC!!!

Ahhhhhhh

Hear that? It's the sound of no roofers and of kids who can go outside. Gotta love that sound. :-)

Sanity fading........

This is day three of hammers and air compressors. Our sanity is fading and our nerves are completely on edge. We are having the roof replaced due to storm damage. Ugh.

While we are very glad to be getting a new roof, the process tries every ounce of patience we have. In addition to the noise, the kids' outside time has been seriously limited, because even though the roofers are cleaning as they go, there are still shingles and nails flying about intermittently.

So, anyway, we are having to mostly play inside. Big hat tip to Kathleen for this great idea. Painting the bathtub! Just get a cheapo can of Barbasol shaving cream, put the kids in the tub, and let them have at it!


By the time we got to this point, they were slipping and sliding and giggling like crazy. It was a hoot. Then, I gave them a couple of cups to help "clean" the tub, and that kept them busy for another 30 minutes.

Yeah, it was a little messy, and there were some extra towels to wash. But that stuff is totally worth it.

And I will be so glad to get back to peace and quiet around here!

My Baby Peed! :-)

In the potty! :-)

Toot has shown no signs of being ready to potty-train for real. And I was so spoiled with Poodle (she practically trained herself, at least that's what it seemed like, before she was two), that I've just been waiting for Toot to start showing signs of being ready/interested. Regardless of readiness, every night before bath time, we set him on the potty just to get that to be part of the routine. I really don't think he ever had any idea what he was supposed to be doing.

WELL! Last night, it just happened to work out that he needed to teetee while he was on there. Woohoo!!! Poodle and I went crazy!!! (Jmk was outside talking to the roofers. They're here. That's another story). I'm so happy for Toot!

I still don't think he's ready to start training for real, but it was really neat to see that happen last night. I don't know how far away real training actually is, but I'm sure it will be here before we know it. That's how it is with kids, it seems!

The Swingset Saga

We finally have a swingset back! Insurance paid to replace our 4-4 storm damaged one, and Jmk got his dad to come in on a Saturday to help get it all together.

This is Jason organizing the eleventy hundred pieces that the set comes in. He separated the wood into types, and then organized each phase of the project according to the instruction manual.






PopPop came in the next morning, and they got to it. They got an amazing amount of work done in one day. Especially considering that they were sandwiched in by rain that morning and later that afternoon. They just built as much as possible in the garage!

As you can see, there is a ton of mud where the set is sitting now. There were three trees there. 4-4 took 2 of them, and we purposefully brought down the hickory so that it wouldn't be a lone tree taking the full brunt of any future storms. So, because of the major muddy mess.....






Jmk proceeded to lay some sod the next week so the kids wouldn't have to wear mud boots every time they wanted to play.












He could barely get the swings attached before they were running to get on them.













Jmk put the finishing touches on the set last Saturday afternoon while the kids were taking their nap.

And here is the final product!

It's almost exactly like our old one as far as features go. The only difference is an adorable little picnic bench that is just the right size for little ones.









You can see that Poodle *really* digs the idea of the picnic bench. They have both taken to getting bowls of snacks and taking them out there in the afternoon. I can also see a lot of Popsicle eating during the summer there!










Very happy little ones to have their swings back!
Thanks for all your help, PopPop!


(And it goes without saying, honey - you did a wonderful job. Thank you so much for being such an awesome daddy. I love you!)

My Mom wouldn't make it in Hollywood

My mom would never make it in Hollywood. I now have proof. The land where Ashlee Simpson is coy about having her nose updated is a place where my mom would never fit in.

Four days after having eyelid surgery, my mom went to church - bruises, swelling and all!

I guess I need to back up a minute here. Okay, 11'ish years ago, my mom had cataract surgery on her left eye. While the surgery was successful, it left her eyelid stretched beyond its limits. (Think stretch marks from pregnancy, that kind of thing). 5'ish years later, she had the same surgery on her right eye. Fast forward to a couple-three months ago, and she's in for an eye exam to check on her eyeglass prescription. She's doing the eye chart exam, and has to literally lift her eyelid up in order to see the whole chart. (Her left eyelid - it has done the most drooping since her surgeries). The optician in that office does a vision field exam with her eyes "normal" and does one with her eyelids sort of taped up in the position that they should be. Big, huge difference. Don't get me started on how nervous this made me about her safety with driving and the like.
So, her ophthalmologist refers her to a plastic surgeon that specializes in eye surgeries and Mom proceeds to almost immediately start questioning whether or not she should do the surgery. She doesn't want to be seen as vain or as trying to look 35 or some such thing.

Let me interject something here. While I have always been leery of the idea of plastic surgery, and "messing around with what God gave you", I'm sure a lot of that stems from my extreme tight-fisted'ness with money. After seeing the results of Mom's surgery, I can honestly say that in some situations, this type of thing - even if it is done purely for aesthetic reasons - can be a really great thing! My opinion of the whole shebang is starting to change. Perspective can do that a person.

So, anyway, she finally takes a deep breath and goes in for the surgery not quite 2 weeks ago. Let's face it, if you have to lift up your eyelid in order to have a clear field of vision; if you are literally looking at your eyelid when you are looking straight forward, then this surgery can seriously improve your quality of vision.

And, bonus for Mom, you can see her whole eye again! No, she doesn't look 35 - at almost 70, that wasn't what she was going for anyway. But, the excess eyelids are no longer blocking her eyes so her whole face looks fresher. And, when I talked to her as she was on her way home from the actual surgery, she said she could already see a huge difference in her vision. Yay!

So, anyway, back to the Hollywood thing. We know most of the folks over there have all sorts of things fixed, sucked, tucked, pulled, and lifted. They exist in a world where image rules, so who can blame them? But their tight-lipped attitude about it seems to be more than just medical privacy. They're almost ashamed they had things "done". My mom, on the other hand - because she really hates missing church - showed up 4 days after her surgery looking like she lost 3 rounds with Mike Tyson. She came to Poodle's last swim lesson the next day still bruised and slightly swollen. And, no, she wasn't walking around with sunglasses on. Nooooo - she was out there for any one to see! Like I told her - she didn't do anything wrong. And what she did to fix her line of vision had the nice added advantage of opening her eyes back up.
Go Mom!!!

Now, is this about to lead to a life of botox and face lifts and restalyn? Nah. As much as she enjoys surgery (not!), all the rest of that stuff is not appealing to her. But I'm proud of her for not just doing what she needed to do, but for putting on her big girl pants and for trying hard to not be ashamed about it. Even though she was worried about people thinking she was vain. Even though she didn't want to be a subject of conversation. Even though she knew a lot of people might not understand.
Way to go!

Fun With Bread

Hat Tip to Parents Mag for this one. Take a piece of bread, cut off the crusts, and flatten it with a rolling pin. Spray a muffin tin with non-stick spray and fit the flattened bread into the tin. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes, and you have a fun bread cup for the kids! We had to take a picture of our lunch on Tuesday because we thought our bread cups were just too cool. :-) (And, bonus factor, Toot actually ate some of the toasted bread, which his Royal Pickiness usually doesn't do).

Well, Daddy....

...he ate his pancakes at the table this morning. sigh.......... And didn't make too much of a mess. I guess we'll be putting the high chair up before too much longer. ::sigh again::

Of course, we still need the high chair for nacho night. That ought to buy me a little more time.
:-)

I'm ashamed.

No self respecting Parrothead, even a Parrothead-lite like me, would ever misplace their copy of Bob Marley and the Wailers Legend. Sheesh. Where is that thing?

Another 3-worder!

"kiss the hurt". Said this morning to me so that I would kiss a bump on his foot. :-) Yay 3-worders!

Speech and Spelling updates

Alright. I have been trying to "write" a post in my head about Tooter's speech progress. And I've been attempting to write it concisely while still being nicely descriptive.

I just can't.

While I'm sure he isn't unique, describing his progress requires lots of explanation, it seems. Shortest version is he is doing just fine and is adding words to his vocabulary. Period. Longer version is more muddled. When a child is first learning to talk, they'll just attempt a word, the parents will get all giddy and it's all the coolest thing ever. Ca ca for cracker is the smartest thing they've ever heard, and eventually ca ca turns to cacker and of course, eventually gains that final "r" to become cracker.
Toot hasn't quite worked that way. For example: He wouldn't say his sister's name. Hasn't until about.... oh, I don't know..... about 3 weeks ago. Granted, he can't say the "r" in her name (it's a "w" when he says it), but he says her name quite clearly now. Thing is, he never tried to say her name, until he could say it just like he is now. Never tried making the first letter a "w" sound also, like SHE did when she was learning to say her name.
He's also done the same thing with his own name.

It's that kind of thing that makes his vocabulary seem to take longer, and when he says words, it's almost anti-climatic, even though it seems like it wouldn't be. It's very hard to explain. We get excited to hear new things, but he is so extremely unimpressed with himself when he talks. I guess we sort of take cues from him? It's so weird. Anyway, the biggest differences now are that 1) he will try to imitate almost anything you ask him to imitate. That's a huge step forward. And, 2) he's started within the past week to point to things and people and give their names if he knows them. That's been fun. When he started doing that was when we realized that he was able to say his own name. He had never used his name before then!

He'll count out objects up to 20, and "thirteen" is incredibly cute. I doubt I'd know it was the word "thirteen" if he didn't say it between 12 and 14. It has a few extra syllables and some random unintelligible sounds. But it's really cute. Sort of like when he says "apostrophe". :-)

AND, on Saturday, he really tried to say "put shoes on". That's the first time I've heard him try to use a 3 word phrase. It wasn't clear, and his eyes proved that he was unsure about what he was saying. But he tried to say it without any prompting, and that a definite step forward!

So, while he isn't carrying on conversations exactly, he is most certainly progressing towards better speech. It's good!

Now, for our spelling update. Poodle was "doing letters and numbers and words and stuff" on the computer. What that means is that I open up Word, and she just types stuff. Sometimes it's gibberish, sometimes real words. And when she does real words, it's usually "mommy", "daddy", her name, Toot's name, etc. Well, a few weeks ago, she decides she wants to spell "Suzanne", which is the name of her beloved puppy dog that her Aunt Amy gave her eons ago. So, without help or even letting us know she was doing it, she types out "SOOZAND". We thought it was, of course, terribly cute. But then, we are a tad biased. :-)


p.s. Eli - thanks for that call. It's nice to be "normal" with friends like you. :-)

I'm coming back.

I promise. I'm just in a mental fog right now. There are things to post about, and I just can't focus on any of them. So weird. Gotta get my brain together! :-)

More fun from email

Hat tip to Malinda from the Wren list! I had seen some of these, but not all of them. They're pretty funny!

SOUTHERN PHRASES

'Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit.'

'It's been hotter'n a goat's butt in a pepper patch.'

'He fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down.'

'Have a cup of coffee, it's already been 'saucered and blowed.''

'She's so stuck up, she'd drown in a rainstorm.'

'It's so dry, the trees are bribing the dogs.'

'My cow died last night so I don't need your bull.'

'Don't pee down my back and tell me it's raining.'

'He's as country as corn flakes.'

'This is gooder'n grits.'

'Busier than a cat covering crap on a marble floor.'

'If things get any better, I may have to hire someone to

help me enjoy it.'

How Smart Is Your Right Foot?

Hat tip to my...... 1st cousin once removed?...... Laurie. (If she and my mom are cousins, then she is my...... cousin of some sort. I just never can keep that straight). Anyway, this is cute. And, fwiw, it IS doable, if you write the number six veeeerrry slowly. :-) But don't try it slowly at first. That will ruin all the fun! ha!

HOW SMART IS YOUR RIGHT FOOT?

You have to try this please, it takes 2 seconds. I could not believe this!!! This will boggle your mind and you will keep trying over and over again to see if you can outsmart your foot, but, you can't.

It's pre-programmed in your brain!

1. Without anyone watching you (they will think you are GOOFY......) and while sitting at your desk in front of your computer, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles.

2. Now, while doing this, draw the number '6' in the air with your right hand. Your foot will change direction.

I told you so!!! And there's nothing you can do about it! You and I both know how stupid it is, but before the day is done you are going to try it again, if you've not already done so.

Send it to your friends to frustrate them too!