My Little Sis

September is a happy/sad month for me. Today would have been my sister's 25th birthday.
It's absolutely glorious outside - the air is cool and the sun is warm.
I wish I didn't have to go anywhere today.

Swimming, anyone?

I can only assume this is why the Neuse smelled like poo today:


There were tons of dead fish washed up at Union Point Park and tons more floating belly-up in the water.


It was pretty gross. Drake, of course, was fascinated.

I guess I'm just stupid, but I can't figure it out

I am so disgusted I don't even know where to begin.
How can our brilliant leader keep blathering on about global warming and healthcare reform and ignoring the troops in Afghanistan who are pleading for reinforcements?
Here are my thoughts on the matter:

WHO REALLY CARES ABOUT "CLIMATE CHANGE" WHEN PEOPLE'S HUSBANDS, WIVES, FATHERS, MOTHERS, BROTHERS, SISTERS, SONS, AND DAUGHTERS ARE AT RISK IN A FARAWAY LAND FOR A COUNTRY THEY'VE GIVEN AN OATH TO DEFEND AND A COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF THEY'VE PLEDGED TO OBEY WHO FINDS MORE SIGNIFICANCE IN THE TAXING OF COW FARTS THAN PRESERVING THEIR LIVES?????

But, hey everybody, at least we've reduced our carbon emissions!!!!!!!!

Why is it that some people can care more about our carbon footprint than the tiny footprint of an aborted baby?

When we place other agendas before the priority and sanctity of human life, I think we leave room for the eventual justification of genocide.

But then, that's just me. Maybe I just need to get in line with the rest of the bleating sheep and get my priorities straight.

Got this email from a neighbor

HR 615

On Tuesday, the Senate health committee voted 12-11 in favor of a two-page amendment, courtesy of Republican Tom Coburn which would require all Members of Congress and their staff members to enroll in any new government-run health plan.

Congressman John Fleming has proposed an amendment that would require Congressmen and Senators to take the same health care plan that they would force on us. (Under proposed legislation they are exempt.)

Congressman Fleming is encouraging people to go to his Website and sign his petition. The process is very simple. I have done just that at:

http://fleming.house.gov/index.html

Senator Coburn and Congressman Fleming are both physicians.

Regardless of your political beliefs, it sure seems reasonable that Congress should have exactly the same medical coverage that they impose on the rest of us.

Please urge as many people as you can to do the same!

Fall at Last

Thank goodness for autumn. It's my favorite season, only I wish it were a little cooler. Yesterday was so nice. We just went to church, even though George left early and I couldn't get all the kids out of the house on time and Lucy almost fell out of the car onto her head. Luckily, Skylar caught her upside down by the hem of her skirt. Basically Lucy was just hanging upside down with her head a foot or so from the asphalt. Ahhhhhrrrrrggggg. But everything was fine once we actually go to church (which it always is) and Lucy was really good for me while I taught the lesson in YW.
We came home, ate lunch, and everyone except the big kids got naps. I slept REALLY well and felt so refreshed when I woke up. Then we started dinner and had friends over. It was just a nice, relaxing evening. I haven't cooked a real meal in weeks. George made a teriyaki pork roast. I made homemade mac n' cheese, cabbage, and I even threw together a peach cobbler for dessert (I haven't had dessert in sooo long!). None of it was anything fabulous, but just all the smells and the feeling of fall in the air made me feel cozy and happy. I lit my favorite candle which smells like apple cider, a sure sign that fall's a-coming.
I'm sure I sound like a dodo, but is it so wrong to be glad to be happy?

I think Prozac should be something automatically added into the water supply, like fluoride. It's been one of THOSE weeks at work, and I'm really thinking there are an awful lot of people out there who could use an overdose of happy.

Put your hands up

I went into Target for milk and pull-ups this morning and $80 later we come home with this:




One of the coolest costumes I've seen in awhile. It's Jengo Fett from Star Wars. I knew Bart would go bananas over it. We got the matching gun to go with it.

I was up late & watched the Man in the Moon, with Reese Witherspoon. Made me miss my little sis.

Two Pretty Girls

Skylar took Lucy and disappeared upstairs. About half an hour later, they reappear looking like this:



Lucy was sporting her very first makeover. Skylar had put lipstick and body glitter on her.


The girls were quite pleased with themselves. I can only take this as a sign of times to come.

MIA

I temporarily fell off the face of the earth.
I'm back now, but somewhere along the way I turned 30. Go figure.


Over my birthday weekend, we went to Disney and weaned Lucy. It was a really big weekend!


Before we left, Lucy discovered the joy of home-grown tomatoes and George tested out our new camera.
It was really hard to leave Lucy for the weekend, especially since I had never spent more than a few hours away from her. I didn't worry too much about Drake, as he was going to have his "Aunt Minnie" all weekend.

Outdoors

Two cute boys playing football....

"Second Mama"

Drake finally figured out what the pedals are for!

The princess in her carriage.



Sometimes I think I forget how nice it is just to be outside playing in the yard.

I will have my cake and eat it, too

Vanessa made me the PRETTIEST pink cake for my birthday!!!!
It's seriously too pretty to eat.

We never had a kid puke in the van whole time we owned it (like 6 years). We have owned our Pilot for less than a month and already two out of four of our children have barfed in it.

??????WHY, why, why do all my posts end up coming back to poo or puke??????

Yeah.

So Lucy puked today while we were driving home from dropping Sky and Bart off at school. She made this weird sound, but all I could see in the rearview mirror was a line of drool on her chin and I thought she was just making weird baby noises again. But when I went to get her out of her seat when we arrived at home, wheeeee-ooooo. She was sitting in a puddle of puke. She even got her favorite monkey that she sleeps with. Yesterday she spilled milk all over the monkey. The monkey has had more baths this week than Lucy has.

Gone is the lovely leather smell every time I get into the car. Now we're greeted by the aroma of cheap air freshners and too much Febreze.

The cute red rug we bought several weeks ago for the living room is already picked and pulled from Drake driving cars on it. It took him maybe two days to accomplish this.

Honestly, why do I even bother trying to have anything nice? My kids are lucky they're so dang cute.

This is why my house is so dirty

I just finished reading an excellent book called "The Glass of Time" by Michael Cox.

Excellent, excellent, excellent.

A little romance, a lot of mystery.... I had a really hard time putting it down.