My husband will kill me for this, but I just GOTTA post it!

Have you ever went to get into your car and realized that there was chocolate melted in the seat?  

Then you wonder, 'what if I have chocolate on my pants now that inevitably looks like poo?'  

What do you do when there is no one around and you need to be sure before you go to class that night?

Well, my husband has the answer:  you use your Blackberry to take a picture of your rear and the possible area of the chocoate stain and send it to your wife who, despite your pleading not to post it, WILL post it for all 10 of you who read this!

That's just funny, people!

And, yes, there was a chocolate stain!

"With nothing but a t-shirt on..."

My husband has a habit of removing his shirt as soon as he walks in the door from work and wearing his white t-shirt around for the rest of the evening. I cannot express to you my disdain at this action! However, when my 2 best boys wear their t-shirts together, I cannot help but think how handsome they are. Funny how a little guy changes your views on life!

"I said NO!"

Why is it that our children will inevitably pick up our worst habits and phrases and even use them against us?

Apparently, this phrase is what I must say to our dog all the time, because Garrett has chosen to say it to her all day. Every time Bailey comes by I hear, "I said NO" from Garrett, who is otherwise speech-delayed, for all intents and purposes.

Earlier in the week, after a run-in with an unsavory woman at the local McDonalds, Garrett said, "Mommy.....upset?" "Yes, Garrett, Mommy IS upset!"

Randy is convinced that Garrett will be one who can worm his way out of trouble with his hugs and kisses. After he wakes up or when its been a while since I've seen him, he says, "Mommy...missed you!" as he squeezes my face next to his.

Next week, I'll teach him, "You are going to make Mommy crazy today!"

Good Friends

A few weeks ago, we went to ATL for Randy's mom's birthday. While we were there, we had lunch with a good friend and her family. I hadn't seen Beth since Garrett was about 7 weeks old!Beth and I went to highschool together and we were in each others' weddings. I don't get to see her too much, but it was so nice to get together and see her sweet Audrie who is only a few months younger than my Charlotte!

Never do a 'Blind Finger Sweep'

According to the American Red Cross, one should never do a 'Blind Finger Sweep' in a choking child--you should only remove the object if you can see it.

This should also apply to other things, such as:

Yesterday morning when I got Charlotte out of bed, I felt something small and hard in the back of her jammies. I asked Randy what he thought it was, and (judging by the size and texture through her jammies) we concluded that it felt like a Cheerio. So, I went in with a 'blind finger sweep' and came out with not a Cheerio, but a dried-up poopie ball--just the size of a Cheerio! Apparently, it had slipped out the top of her diaper sometime in the night.

So, after a good hand-washing and sanitizer later, I can safely say that the Red Cross has it right! NEVER do a 'blind finger sweep!'

For our Daddy

This one is mostly for Randy, who works all day and goes to school 2 nights a week and still has to study and be a husband and a dad--all of which he is great at!

These videos will keep you occupied while those professors ramble on and on about international business!

We love you, Daddy!

There is nothing sweeter...

...than the first strawberry of the season!

Worthless Wuthering Wednesday

So a few weeks ago I started reading "Wuthering Heights" which has been dubbed "the greatest novel of all time" by someone who apparently knows about these things. Obviously, no one asked me. Let me tell you: for it to take me 2 weeks to read 1 book is really saying something.

The bottom line: Don't bother with this one; don't even worry with the movie.

It is not the terse language or difficult dialect that I struggled so much with, but the characters themselves have no redeeming qualities to speak of! I cannot say 1 nice thing about Miss Cathy or her beloved Heathcliff or any of their amazingly dysfunctional families.

Ms. Emily Bronte, on the other hand, was apparently living vicariously through this novel. The daughter of a preacher who herself was reclusive and died at a young age! Get out of the house, people! Don't write crazy things about ghosts and evil people--I don't care how passionate they are about each other! GET OUT OF THE HOUSE, EMILY!

Again: Don't bother with this one; don't even worry with the movie!

I love my job!

With temperatures in the 70's today, we headed to the park!

I know that everyone thinks their kids are cute, but I've just got to say that mine are REALLY cute! This one is gonna be a heartbreaker--just like Daddy!

This was Charlotte's first time on the swing!

She mostly liked to watch everything that Brother did!

We have a similar picture of Garrett in this tube when he was about Charlotte's age.

Garrett climbed the steps and went down the slide BY HIMSELF! He normally wants me to help or go with him, but today he was a big boy!

I LOVE MY JOB!

Favorite Foto Friday

My little Charlotte is just too cute!

I know you're wondering

So, last week I took a poll about your bathroom habits.

It seems that the general consensus is that most folks also use the 2nd stall in the public bathroom--GREAT! I thought I had it all figured out, but I guess you all thought the same thing. A few of you felt that the 1st stall allowed too much space between yourself and on-lookers (Thanks, that just added to my already ridiculous problems with public toilets).

Apparently, we should be using something like the 4th stall, if you are lucky enough to find a bathroom large enough.

So, I gave it a shot. I used the 4th stall at my local Sam's Club and was pleasantly surprised: plenty of paper, plenty of seat covers, no left-over poo in the potty! Success!

Thanks to all of you who have now enlightened me!

God of Wonders

You know the things you tell your kids that you feel don't really sink in?

One such thing happened yesterday afternoon. Garrett came running to get me around 5:00 shouting, "God! God!" So I ran to see what he could possible be talking about. He was so excited about the sunset casting its light into our kitchen: red and orange splashed around the room. He continued shouting, "God! God!" until I realized that he was telling me that God made that beautiful sunset.

Sometimes, we need little reminders of God's wonders!