Quotes Of The Day. (I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried...)

"God is so strong, he could pick up the Empire State Building and put it down in the middle of the Hawkeye football field....but I don't know why anyone would want to do that." -Noah

"So, I had this dream last night that I was onstage with the Jonas Brothers and I was playing drums for them but all I had was my snare with the stand. I was trying to make it sound cool, but a snare by itself doesn't sound all that great...so the crowd starting boo-ing me and threw bananas at me. Isn't that wierd? I mean, if I were going to play drums for a band, it wouldn't be for the JONAS BROTHERS!!!"-Jackson

"This backpack is COMING TO MY HOUSE!"- (naughty) Lily, as I tried to pry a princess backpack out of her hands at Gordmans

We are going to Chicago next week for a little vacation. I was given our itinerary last night. Yes, that's right, our itinerary. Complete with Chicago skyline clipart. There was a time in our marraige when he would have handed me this and would be quite serious about it. I think he does it now just to get a reaction out of me. It worked.

*sidenote: we went around the table last night at dinner and threw in our ideas of what to do in Chicago. I see my ONE idea made the cut...can you guess what it was???

I Love Target. And I Love These Shoes.

I mean, who doesn't love a purple pair of shoes. What more can a girl ask for???

Yesterday, as I was picking Noah up from his Sunday school class he came running up to me and said, "Mom, can Andrew come over and play today?" I don't recall him having a friend named Andrew, so I ask, "Who's Andrew?" Noah spins around and points to 'Andrew' who is smiling at me with a sheepish grin. 'Andrew' is a youth helper in SundaySchool and is a JUNIOR in HIGH SCHOOL. To defend the situation, Andrew is a very nice boy and am in no way making fun of him, just the situation. Noah and Andrew have known each other for several years and are 'buds'. So, Noah is pulling on my arms and saying, "Please, mommy. Please, mommy!" I stand there in several awkward moments of silence, "uhhhhhhhh...let's go talk to your dad." I'm sure this kid really doesn't want to hang out with Noah, does he?!? Isn't it kind of wierd? This is Noah's itinerary-
1. He will show Andrew his room.
2 They will go downstairs and play video games.
3. They'll have a snack.
4. They'll play outside.
5. Andrew will go home.
He's serious. Noah has been asking non-stop, so he will have to get an answer. So, here goes....

PROS AND CONS OF HAVING A 17 YEAR OLD OVER FOR A PLAYDATE:

Pros:
-he can drive himself. Obvious plus!
-Noah will be entertained for an afternoon and he probably won't be fighting with his brother
-he will stop asking me every five minutes when Andrew can come over.
-I don't have to pay for free babysitting??
-he can drive himself home! Duh!

Cons:
-do I need to call and talk to his mom first?
-will he laugh at Noah and hang up?
-will he bring his friends??
- will the 10 year age gap prove to be too big?
-do I pat him on the head or do I shake his hand?
-what will we talk about? Legos? College?
-do I serve juice boxes and fruit snacks?

Thoughts?????

Mom's Ready For School To Start.

The boys are starting to get restless....they are picking, picking, picking at each other. This morning, Jackson started accusing Noah of needed to take an anger management course. Of course, Noah has no idea what that means which is making him even angrier.

Self-Portrait.

I love it!! Can you guess who it is?

Not So Innocent.

She's not afraid to sock it to ya. Especially if you're an older brother!

New Look....Thanks, Em.

Well, everyone is getting new looks and suddenly my old blog was looking...old. Last night, Emily was trying to walk me through getting this new design. Trying being the keyword. I actually threated at one point to start double clicking because I was getting frustrated. She gets annoyed when I try to doubleclick on things that shouldn't be doubleclicked. When I cut and pasted the entire directions on how to download new blog backgrounds into the little box, instead of just the code needed, she just about lost it. I finally told her to just do it. I don't need to understand how to do it. It's kind of like having your very own magical blog fairy. It just magically appeared. Voila!

This Picture Brings Me Great Joy.

This picture was taken a few weeks ago and it still makes me laugh so hard. No only is it such an enthusiastic smile, but it requires such skill and talent to eat a cheese puff with a fork! This one may have to become an 11x13 for the niche above the fireplace.

WANTED: Hairdryer.

"Honey will you please go buy yourself a new hairdryer?" These are the words from my dear husband. As if it were so easy. I happen to have some sort of emotional attachment to my hairdryer. It's been by my side through thick and thin, curly and straight, short and long. It's like asking me to replace one of my children with a newer, more well-behaved model. (hmmm...tempting.) Since I'm actually now seeing sparks inside it and the whole upstairs smells like burnt hairspray every time I use it. It's time. I think to myself, let's go ahead and throw in a straightener while I'm at it. I deserve it, darn it (not.). I decide to haul the kids out to Target. Everyone and their mother is at the mall today, so I'm a tad bit frazzled by the time I reach the hairdryers. Who knew they would have an entire aisle dedicated to hairdryers. I think I recall having about 4 choices the last time I bought one in 1994. What has happened? We've got the E160, the fastdry Turbo Diffuser, and the Ionic Hotbrush. What are ions and ceramic what-nots and who uses all these attachments? Ummm...the baby blue one is kinda cute. Too bad it's not green. Is that a good reason to buy it? Upon further inspection I realize the price spread is a measly limited price reduction of $12.99 up to $85.00. How is that even possible. How can there be 70 bucks difference? At this point the two young ones are trying to touch and handle them all and the older is really wishing he were somewhere, anywhere else at that moment. Then the youngest decides she needs to poop. I panicked. I left with nothing. Empty -handed. This is going to involve so much more than I realized. The pressure is almost unbearable. I'm not even going to touch on the straightener subject.

Lily's New Dress.

Devastation!!!

Joe came into work the other day and his entire office was saranwrapped and TPed! He's got a list of suspects a mile long and is slowly whittling it down. I immediately thought it stank of the same person that encased his coveted 'office space stapler' in JELLO last year...I definitely give them an 'A' for effort and originality! He is now planning his evil revenge...

Why is it saying that Jackson wrote those last few blogs? My name is not Jackson. It's Laura. No way am I giving him credit for those breathtaking pieces of classic literature and prose I just wrote. Excuse me, while I confer with my personal expert on all things technically technological. Em? Help?

Lily: Where Emmy go?
Me: She had to go back home to Texas.
Lily: On a airpwane?
Me: yep.
Lily: NO FAIR!
Me: What's no fair?
Lily: I go up high in a airpwane. I have a backpack and a blankie and I go 'night night' on a airpwane.
Me: Maybe someday...
Lily: Right now?
Me: No.
Lily: AAAAW-WWWWW.

It's REEALLY Too Bad You Forgot Your Bracelet, Because It Looks REAALLLY Good With My Outfit.

I Heard If You Wash It Off Right Away, It Won't Hurt As Much.

Whitey.

Whitey is the newest addition to our family. There was a long internet perusal last night by a certain 7 -year old who came away with the information that Whitey eats leaves. This boy went outside and picked a stash of leaves that he washed off in the sink and stored in a ziplock for future use. Sweetness.

Poor Little Cookie.

Little 7 lb. Cookie went head -to- head with the 90 lb. nieghbor dog and lives to tell about it!! My 11 year old is the hero of the day. Luckily that dog didn't unleash his terror on my son! Bad dog! BAD. BAD. DOG! As you can see below, she looks like a puffball...but on the inside she's 'tough as nails!'. The bottom picture is of one of the matching puncture wounds she now sports. That dog was a BAD DOG! BAD.BAD. DOG!

Happy 4th.

Highlights of my Fourth Of July:
1. One of my very favorite persons in the whole world is here visiting.
2. My husband was 'violated' by a man dressed as a large pig during the parade.
3. Family bocce ball. Unbeknownst to me we have a large pit of despair in the middle of our backyard.
4. Good food. Good company.
5. Illegal fireworks in our backyard. Sshhh. Don't tell.
6. Sparkler dances.
7. Jello poke cake.
8. Watching the fireworks in Hills, Iowa. With a large Casey's sign for a backdrop. Good times.
9. Playing the alphabet flashlight game.
10. My cousins and aunt and uncle survived Charles City Fireworks '08!!!!

Trip To KC.