Don't go in the water

by teresa

My boys have been in such a frenzy in anticipation of this week. Why, you ask? It's the discovery channels annual...SHARK WEEK! They can't get enough of these shark shows. Hours after hours crammed with useless shark knowledge. How long do they live, what do they eat, can they eat a whole person, how many teeth, what's the biggest, what's the smallest, blah, blah, blah? Enough already....I'm over it....and it's only day two! As I'm typing this Nick is yelling for me to "COME HERE NOW MOM...AND SEE THIS COOL SHARK EATING A DEAD WHALE!" Lord help me.

Ben attended VBS at a neighborhood church today. He had a great time, saw tons of school friends and is excited to go back tomorrow. He has been performing the songs/dances and memory verses non stop since returning home. I can't wait till our churches VBS (Aug. 12-15). It's a water park theme(Take the plunge with Jesus). We had the meeting at church last night...and it sounds so cool. I will be the snack shack lady, Chris is on the cooking team, mom is running the kiddie pool (the nursery), Lauren is working with preK & K and Nick is on the teen praise team. It's a regular family affair! If you are reading this...and in town...please sign your kids up too.

Before I run off to whip up dinner for the fam....I thought I would post some pictures I snapped of Maya yesterday. She was two weeks on Friday....she weighs 8lbs6oz and is now 21 and a half inches (she grew and inch and a half in two weeks).

Anybody have Super Nanny's number?

by teresa

Nick's back from camp. He had a great time...but was glad to be home. He was very sweet and huggy with me.....and wasn't home an hour before he was napping comfortably on the couch. Home sweet home!

Mom took me and Katy out to lunch today...with Kaden, Maya and Ben tagging along. We were entertained (embarrassed) by Kaden as she threw crayons, ripped the dessert table display in half, screamed, repeatedly tried to tip over her high chair , reached over to poke Maya with a fork(twice) and grabbed her macaroni with her bare hands and put it in her hair. Two year olds(next Thursday)...ya gotta love 'em!

Ben has been super annoying lately too. What happened to my sweet little baby? I think he is having Kristian and Kai withdrawals....and it's putting him in a permanent bad mood. They are gone for two weeks (a week in NC and a week in Ohio) with their other grandparents. He has been very bored and does not act nice when he is bored. He keeps saying rude things to us like..."you sure have a chubby face mom....NO OFFENSE." or "you have a weird laugh dad...NO OFFENSE." When we fuss at him he gets all offended(breaks down in hysterical tears) and says..."I said no offense....why are you picking on me?"
Eight year olds....ya gotta love 'em!

Why am I up and blogging after midnight?
Two words.
Diet Coke!
I need to go caffeine free.

The only thing wrong with doing nothing is that you never know when you're finished.

by teresa

Everybody who reads our family blog knows Chris, my husband is awesome. Super dad. Super spouse. Super boss (from what I hear). Super funny. Super smart. I love him....and he is liked by anyone who meets him.
But......yesterday.....Superman had a brain fart.
Do you want to know what he called me?
Lazy.
That's what the hubby called me yesterday when I asked him to fold a tub of clothes(while I was lying across the bed with a tummy ache). He reminded me that the day before I had asked him to clean up an accident the dog made. He said ....the house is your responsibility. He did a little giggle and some back pedaling after he said it(no doubt caused by the look on my face). But it was still there.
Lazy.
Maybe I should give him a little taste of lazy....
What do you think ladies?

Mom....no need for you to comment because I know you adore your son in law....and he can do no wrong in your eyes. If I were to go on strike you would come over and bring him home cooked meals , keep him supplied with ice cold diet cokes and pick up his socks from the spot on the floor where he tosses his clothes and rush them to the washing machine.

Where'd I put my conair foot massage thingy?

by teresa

Preview is over...and I am beat. Hurt feet, achy back and my mind is spinning from all the info that has been crammed in these past two days. Chris says I'm a big wimp. Whatever! I can still say I've had three human beings cut from my belly and he whines over a hurt toenail.

Ben is tired too. While we were at preview...he was at Katy's with Kristian and Kai. And from the way he is laying comatose on the couch right now, I think they must have played hard the entire seven hours each day.

Nick is off to another week of church camp...which was very convenient for our busy week. He came home from camping at 4:00pm Sun. night and left for camp at 7:30am Mon. morning. That was some super speeding laundry/packing service on my part.

Talk may be cheap but intelligent conversation is very expensive these days. Ask anyone with a kid in college.”

by teresa

Chris and I are getting ready to leave for day two of Freshman Preview.
Yesterday was a big information day. I think we listened to twenty different speakers. Half of them were telling us to cut the apron strings....and the other half were telling us to cut the check. Lauren (and the other 250 newbies participating in this session) got to spend the night on campus. I heard one of the orientation leaders saying something about showing them campus life, getting them used to walking from here to there, and a pajama dance party. Sounds like fun. of course when Lauren heard this she freaked as she had packed some ratty old gym clothes to sleep in. So the three of us ran over to the bookstore and picked out some cute, pink ODU jammie pants and t-shirt. She was happy about that. She also met with a rep. from a neat sounding sorority (Alpha Xi Delta) that she is excited about. They do all their fundraising and outreach to the benefit of sick children(Ronald McDonald House charities). They took her info....and are supposed to email her. The three of us will meet back up with her this morning and after a couple more lectures....she registers. I can't wait to see what and when her classes will be. We keep telling her....NO 8:00AM CLASSES. But who knows if she will listen to us.

7 books...4,100 pages of great writing

by teresa

I got the book around 1am Saturday morning. The Barnes & Noble party was good....but after not getting my copy by 1:00am(they were real unorganized about the distribution process)...I drove over to Walmart...walked in and walked out a minute later with the book.

I read it.

It is a very long book.

My neck hurts from slumping over for so long.

It was worth it. Death, marriage, birth, love, betrayal, war, etc.

I can't say anything else....as my sister and others who read this blog have not finished yet.

Here's some pictures from the book release party.

by teresa

The past few days have consisted of visits with baby Maya, reading and not stepping foot near my washing machine.
The past few nights have consisted of me and the hubby relaxing on the couch, eating dinner on the couch(ooooooooh, that's a no no), and watching tv till midnight.

Tonight Katy and I are taking her kids to Barnes & Noble for the HP book release party. Should be fun. I will spend most of my Saturday devouring all 784 pages....and then passing it on to my sister.

No calls from the boys...I guess camping is going well. Hope they are not melting in the past few high 90's days.

Caution...excessive levels of cuteness. Viewer discretion is advised!

I love that new baby smell....as opposed to the teen boy funk I got going on in my own home

by teresa

The boys are off on their camping trip.
They won't be home till Sunday evening.
So.....I'm off to hold the baby.
See you in five days. hee hee

What a whirlwind weekend.

by teresa

Besides the fact that Maya arrived on Friday morning....we also had my grandfather's 90th birthday weekend planned. Friday...a surprise party at the YMCA he works out at. With cake and refreshments for all the staff and patrons. With him working out there every weekday (missing only two) for the past 25 years, he has lots of friends there. The staff even had the daycare children come in to sing happy birthday to him. It was real special...and he seemed to be blessed by it. Then on Saturday...all his children and grandchildren took him out to dinner and then cake back at mom's house. The only downside of the evening was when the waitress dropped the bowl of mustard all over him, my mom and Uncle Jim. It completely covered his glasses, new shirt and his lap. It was funny to laugh about later...but at the time it was so sad. They were all treated to dinner on the house.

Maya is now home....and everyone around here has babyitis. If we don't see or touch the baby every few hours we go into withdrawals.

Today I must run some errands. Get camping stuff for the boys camping trip(they leave on Wed. for 4 days) and head to the grocery store. I also need to catch up on laundry...which was set aside for visiting with all the family over the weekend.

Lauren did me the huuuuuge favor of taking the boys to the beach for a few hours so I could do these things in peace.

Sugar and spice...and everything nice

Hospital chairs are not comfortable to sleep in!

by teresa

After the hospital put off calling Katy in all day yesterday (it was supposed to be first thing in the morning) we were finally told to come around 6:00pm. That made for a long, long night.
We got settled in, hooked her up to iv's and monitors and them watched some tv. She started having contractions on her own around 6:30pm...so they put off giving her the pitocin. She labored (mildly) all night...only dilating to 3 by 6:00am. So they hooked up pitocin at 6:30, broke her water at 7:45, gave her an epidural at 8:45 (which only worked on her right side) and she deliver around 9:45. No pushing at all. One minute (literally one minute) she was 7 cms....the next the nurse checked her...and the baby was coming out. She had to hold the baby in while I gloved up her other hand, threw a towel over Katy and opened the birthing kit. She moved her hand, out popped Maya, Josh looked in shock and awe, and I got to play nurses assistant handing scissor clips, syringe, and blanket. Once things were over...the doctor arrived. She is so beautiful (aren't they all) and much loved. Josh's family came in from out of town to see her(their first grand baby) and our family has been visiting through the day too.
She will be spoiled rotten for sure.
Funny story....Mom took Kaden up to see the baby. Maya was in the baby warmer for the first twenty minutes of the visit. Kaden stood at the warmer pointing and saying "Baby Maya" "Baby Maya". Happy, smiling, pointing. Then....mom picked up the baby (how dare she) and handed her to Katy. Kaden whined, fussed and yelled(in her I'm going through my terrible two's early way)..."PUT MAYA BACK NIGHT NIGHT!"

Lauren's trip to Guatemala

Stuck

By Chris

Charleston return trip is stalled in rainy Atlanta now. Been here 5+ hours. Flew out of Charleston now nearly 7 hours ago, and have yet to run into another nice person ;). Everyone here is crumpy and tired. Blackberry's out of juice . . . need to find a plug. Canceled flight started it all. The best option they could find for me was a flight to a different airport than where my car is. Teresa knows. Lauren's supposed to pick me up. Hope ya'll are watching online . . . because the new flight is now showing delayed. The only thing left to do is blog . . . so . .. random stuff to capture for history (we are going to print this whole thing and bind it one day):

- Learned earlier this week that we really shouldn't let Ben have Jolt. That's one of those energy drinks. He wanted it; we let him. Like throwing gas on a fire. I think he actually bounced off a wall and spit out a two-hour hyper run-on sentence.

- Our old rickety gate finally broke off this week. So, we have to actually walk Shorty the dog or guard the opening leading to the front yard. He pretty much minds me at the gate opening, but he tries to fake out the little ones. When the gate is up, he would run and do his business all quick. Now, he loafs around looking at you . . . no hurrying up about it. I don't know if he's shy or trying to figure out how to get out??

- Picked up an on-sale big box fan at the hardware mega store this week. Teresa's been complaining about the little replacement one she has been using for a couple of weeks. She likes big, loud fan noise all night every night. The new fan cost $12 on clearance. The computer prompted store associate asked me "would you like an extended protection plan on your home cooling device . . . " Hahahahahahahahaha.

- I won't give all the details, but have you ever had someone tell you something about yourself that you didn't even know? When it happens, it's a real live demonstration of the inaccuracy of the rumor mill. It's happened to us twice recently. The latest was a family wishing us well as we moved out of the area. Huh? We're moving? I heard one side of the conversation (Teresa was on the phone) . . . classic.

- Finally, the latest drama in our 'hood is a fox on the loose. Father-in-law has spotted it several times walking down the street and in yards. He has excellent survaillance details, and the neighbors have theories about his intents and living quarters.

Hot, Sticky and Polite

By Chris

Been slack about my commitment to blog while on the road. So . . . I'm on the road. Charleston, SC. Attended an outdoor event. Hot, HOOOTTTT and sticky with a suit on. Sweat pouring. Lots of it. Charleston hot is different from other hots. It's instant stickyness when you step outside hot. I live on the water, but this is different. And the people seem to be proud of it . . . "It's July in Charleston .." they keep smiling and saying. And, it doesn't get them grumpy either. Everyone here is super duper nice and engaging, it seems. Parking lot attendant engaged me in a little conversation and thanked me very sincerely for parking in her garage. She counted my change very slowly, and calmly, and nobody in the line behind even beeped or anything. It's typical summer travel. Packed planes and delays. I've circled over Atlanta waiting for a spot to land for a combined 50 minutes this week already. All is good. Soooos sorry to miss Potter in the middle of the night ;))

Go see it!!!

It's 2:45am.
Just got back from the movie.
I loved it.
Katy loved in.
Nick loved it.
Judging from the cheers and claps at the end of the movie....everybody loved it.
It was hands down the best Harry Potter movie yet.
Which is not surprising....as The Order of the Phoenix was the best book in the series.
I can't wait for the last book to come out on the 21st.
I just realized both my boys will be out of town at the camporama that weekend. I have got to scrounge up some children to take to the Barnes & Noble book release party so I don't look like some kind of nut case by myself.
Here's some pictures of the night.
The lady behind us in line had cool gryffindor socks on!
Me and Katy....waiting in line. Man...were my feet killing me!
Me kissing baby Maya.
Nick supplying us with the necessary caffeine to keep us awake till 3:00am.

by teresa

For some reason my blog won't let me type a title anymore.
How weird.
Not much going on today.
Nick is off to Busch Gardens (in this blistering heat) with a group from church.
Chris is in SC (or NC...I can't remember)...not to return till tomorrow.
Lauren is doing....whatever Lauren does.
With Ben at camp....I am looking at twelve hours to do whatever I want.
I will go to the library (I must have this...and Chris wants this).
I need to mail my g-daddy's birthday cards. His 90th is this weekend....and we have sent letters and passed out flyers to everyone who knows him encouraging them to mail him a b-day card. Hopefully he will get 90 cards for his 90th. Cool.
I also have a LetsDish appt. late this afternoon. My fridge is looking a little empty....but after today I won't be able to close the door.
I ought to take a nap sometime today...since I will be up till 3:00am for the HPOOTP premiere tonight.
Speaking of Harry Potter....I forgot to tell you we bought Ben two fish. We named them Dumbledore (golden color) and Voldemort (gold outlined in black). Two days later Dumbledore was dead. I have a feeling there was foul play involved.

by teresa
*updated at bottom*

Lauren arrived back home around 2:00am Saturday morning. She had a wonderful time. As a matter of fact.....I wouldn't be surprised if in five years...she was living there....and teaching. She has such a passion for that country and the people. God Bless her in all she does! I will be putting together a little slideshow later of some of her pictures.
This morning we are driving Ben, Kristian, Kai and two other boys to church camp (about two hours away). Last year (their first year attending) we drove them....and I cried till we got half way home. This year....I think I will be ok. Except maybe for Kai. It's his first year....and he seems a bit apprehensive. They will return Friday afternoon.
What a quiet week we will all have. NOT!
My sis, Katy will be delivering (induction) tomorrow. I will be her birthing partner again....and I am soooooo excited.
I love me some babieeeeees!
Pray that it will be a smooth delivery (her other three were good) with no complications. And quick....we like it quick...don't we ladies?

Update:
We just got back from taking the kids to camp. They all did great....no tears (from me or the kids). Kai was a little quiet at first....but was laughing and happy by the time we left. Kristian and Ben were totally at ease and had to be begged for goodbye kisses.

Katy had some aggravating news from her morning Dr.'s appt. The doctor forgot to schedule the induction with the hospital. So it's a no go for tomorrow. She said maybe Thursday...but she has to wait and see. What a bummer! It's also pretty inconvenient. She had planned it that the kids would be at camp....her childcare clients all ended today (and will not begin again till Aug. 13th....which means the money stops today too)...and the baby's grandparents (Josh's parents) were on their way from out of town to see the baby.
But there is one silver lining which made it not so bad. Now she will be able to join me and Nick tomorrow night...for the midnight show of the new HP movie. Lauren (who is not a big harry fan) can stay home with Kaden.

My favorite things

by teresa

Books(fiction)
Keds
Target
School supplies
Krispey Kreme donuts
Grilled cheese and tomato soup
October weather
Old people and babies
Blogging
Newspaper crossword puzzle
Minivans

*note: Of course my favorite things are my God, church and family....but this list is all of my superficial favorite things. All the things that make me....me.

What are your favorite things? Answer in my comments.

After Chris read my post he told me to put up a list of his favorite things. This is his list word for word.

Basketball
Booty
White Nike's
A clean car
A new pen
Daytimers
Mowed lawn
Balanced check book
Marriot bedding
Positive people
Old school hiphop
Coaching soccer
Baked ziti

Who's calling me so late?

by teresa

The boys and I spent yesterday having some fun in the sun. I surprised them with a trip to Ocean Breeze water park. Did you guys know that it cost a bazillion dollars each to get into a water park? Geesh. We stayed for six long hours cause...well...when I pay a bazillion dollars for something ....I'm gonna get my money worth. We came home tan...and tired! Really tired! We all climbed in the bed at 9:00pm. Not before we went to moms and enjoyed some grilled barbecue chicken and fixins for dinner.

When the phone rang at 11:15pm I was so out of it. I figured it was Chris calling from his Charlotte business trip. But no. IT WAS LAUREN! The reason that last sentence is in all caps...is to stress the surprise at Lauren's call to home. That child has NEVER phoned home when out of town. She's been to New York, Florida, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and 10 years of summer camp. We beg, tuck reminder notes, and stash quarters...but never have I got a call. She laughed at my surprised voice....then informed me that they MADE everyone call their parents. *pout* I thought she missed me *pout*
She is having a blast...and even asked if she could stay three days longer with her friend Marian's family (Marian stayed with us when she visited the US). She said the kids are so precious and eager to learn. She was assigned her own class and had fun making up games and talking with them. Her six years of Spanish has flooded back to her and communicating is a breeze. She was exhausted from painting a church earlier in the day was just sitting down to dinner (it is a couple hours time difference). Another shocker is that she remembered to take some pictures. Over a hundred so far...and I can't wait to see them (and her). Only four more days till she gets home. Nick will be sad....because he has been sleeping in her room (away from his pesky brother) since she left.

Today I plan on catching up on some laundry and finishing the book (A Thousand Splendid Suns) I started at the water park yesterday.

Note to the children in my house....

by teresa

Boogers....we all have them.

They belong in tissues.....not on my bathroom wall!

Gross.

Why? Why the bathroom wall? I mean.....how lazy is that? You are right there beside the toilet tissue.....but you reach up and smear it across the wall instead.

If I find out who the culprit is....and I WILL find out who did it(even if I have to do dna testing)....there will be some hardcore bathroom scrubbing in your future.