You Don't See That Every Day

Dear Friend overseas, I haven't been too good at keeping in touch, and I apologize for that. But you know how summer gets around here! Let me catch you up on the month of August at least. I have to do that before I can post back-to-school pictures. The Cousins came to town. We're naming this summer the Summer of the Cousins. In July as I posted earlier, my kids got to hang out with all their paternal cousins - which hasn't happened ...ever. In August we had cousins come to stay at our place. Which involved the necessary trip to the Oregon coast, since it was in the triple digits at home! What a beautiful day it was too! No wind, warm and just about perfect. It also included the traditional damming-of-a-river. Some of them worked hard at it. We had the traditional fare at Mo's restaurant and ended the day with ice cream. We also spent one of the hot afternoons at a local aquatic center. I got up the courage to go down the big twisty slide, but no way ...

My girls want to be in the movies. They take turns making up scripts and filming themselves and friends with the video camera. Well, the quest for fame, for being noticed, is not a new concept. Doesn't everyone want to be Where everybody knows your name ? You know the phrase "15 minutes of fame" that Andy Warhol coined about our yearning for notoriety? I think that's what it is.  (Back in my day, we used to pretend to be radio announcers. I had a cassette tape filled with my own announcing, and then music from the actual radio. *cringe* It has since been destroyed.) So my girl got a brief glimpse of it this past weekend. She was in her school play, "Annie" as an orphan, and plenty of people she knows, and plenty of strangers, came to watch. It wasn't until after the show that the 'fame' came to her. A little girl she didn't know actually asked for her autograph! It still makes me smile when I think of it. (And I am pretty sure it made my ...

When was the last time you went to a movie? I'm not a big fan of going to movie theaters. The sound is usually too loud for me; the seats are sticky; or I imagine creepy crawlies all over them. And I can't pause the movie to go to the bathroom whenever I want to. So to my husband's consternation I haven't been to the movies in years. He, on the other hand, enjoys going. Especially to those action kind of films that are so loud. I still remember seeing The Rock - or maybe it was Con Air -  back when I was pregnant with our first child. Not only because it was Nicolas Cage (!) but because it was so loud I had to pile our coats over my tummy so the little guy inside would settle down! Now, I won't rule out going to a theater. There are a few movies I would like to see if someone wanted to take me.(The Heat; Saving Mr. Banks) But I guess I'm cheap enough to actually wait until they come out on cable or DVD. However, we had a family outing last night that included...

My girls have been playing with the camera. Here's what one of them came up with, her own movie of favorites. We don't have a title for it yet. Any suggestions?

 We're working through the computer issues we have had. I think I am back to being able to blog with photos again. Here is the birthday cake from last weekend. It's hard for me to believe my little girl is 7. Here is littlest sister peaking out from behind *some* of the gifts.   It's amazing how gullible a 13 year old can be sometimes. And how much my husband likes to try and trick him (and the girls) whenever he can. We were attempting to fix a cable that connects our Xbox with the TV. G had the boy semi-convinced that holding the foil on his head would help the "signal". He realized when I got the camera out that this wasn't quite the case.     We woke up one morning to a hot air balloon nearly over our house. It was close enough we could see the forms of the people in it. I'm sure they could hear us too. Little K was pretty thrilled with the whole thing. Later in the day she had a (homemade!) granola bar. I made them a little differently th...

We've lived a full week - in 2 days. The kids came home on Monday and the girls decided to make a movie. Oh, have I mentioned we are 'electronic free' for the summer? Thus, the need to make their own entertainment instead of being entertained. It was mainly the girls who developed the storyline and gathered the actors. The idea centered around a murder no less. A cereal murderer. Oh yes, you read that correctly. C-e-r-e-a-l.  Not only entertaining but highly comedic. If I could find the little camera they used I might just be able to blog some of it! So as they were playing around, I took a moment to sit in the hammock and look up, and this is what I saw, for the few seconds I had my eyes off my 2 year old. Lovely. On Monday I got up the courage energy to make a bunch of phone calls I had been putting off. The dentist, the ob, the hair salon, the doctor's office .. and amazingly some of them were able to get me in this week. So that's why I have...

I had some alone time today! I did not have to take any girls with me I went to pick up the Boy from school. And I also got to go for a run, all on my own! Which gave me lots of quiet time to think. Here is what came of it: 1. I am trying to budget better. i have been keeping track of what we spend daily, and monthly. The one month (October, blech) that I did not keep daily track, we went over on our spending. Oops. It's a great motivator, for me, to try and beat the numbers each month. 2. Should we keep Netflix or not? I have been thinking about where we can cut costs. Yes, the looming bills for the remodel are spinning in my brain. And I am in the cutting mode. But ... I sure like watching certain shows I can only get through Netflix... unless I buy it from Amazon. Hmm....and then I could sell it ... I think I might be leaning towards Cut. 3. I am beginning to think of gifts for that holiday that comes after Thanksgiving. I won't say the word, because November belongs to...