Funny Now - But, Not So Funny At The Time

It's a Diamondbacks week.

This means it's a lot of "me & the Cuties" time.

Last night, we (me & the Cuties) got home late.

We stopped for "dinner-during-the-drive"

vs. waiting until we got home after 7 to eat.

The Cuties love dinner like that.

So not healthy.

It still makes them happy.

When we got home,

to the bath they went.

Scrub, scrub, scrub...

Splash, splash, splash...

Clean, clean, clean...

After baths, I took the Cuties

into Lily's room to dress for bed.

As I was helping Brady with jammies...

Lily shuts the door.

She heads on over ready for her jammies.

Brady laughs.

No big deal, right?

WRONG!

Lily had locked the door PRIOR

to shutting the door.

Again, no big deal, right?

WRONG!

I am a bad mommy.

We turn the locks around.

Not to lock them in at night.

But, rather at nap time...

when they are learning to sleep in big kid beds.

And, I'm lazy...

We have yet to switch the handles back around.

So...we (me & the Cuties) are locked in Lil's room.

No key to get out.

No cell.

No house phone.

No milk for Lily.

No teeth brushing before bed.

No way out.

(I tried the window. We have screens and sunshades...

I would have to break the screen and/or sunshade

to escape.)

No daddy to rescue us.

Me = VERY mad.

Brady = laughing.

Lily = crying for milk.

Me = Yelling.

The Cuties = whining for ice cream

(I had promised earlier)

I knew I had to calm down and relax...

we were stuck.

So, we read books.

We cuddled on the bed.

We fell asleep.

3 hours later...

The Hottie lets me out.

I guess this was my punishment for turning the locks around.

But, hey - it works.

Too well.

Not Again...

We thought we got out of this with Brady being our only casualty...But today - Lily and I - have joined the ranks...



Well, this isn't exactly how it happened to us...
but, you get the picture.

Y-U-C-K, YUCK!

Un-BE-Liev-ABLE

AI = Awesome!

I heart HEART HEART American Idol!

I don't know if you remember,

but I am a HUUUUGE Adam Lambert fan.

I think he is awesome.

Pure talent.

Vocal range like no other.

Creative.

Different.

Amazing.

Unbelievable.

All that = Adam.

I do not remember Adam or Kris

from the early Hollywood episodes.

But once it hit the top 13 -

Adam stood out to me immediately.

He was my favorite from that point forward.

2 weeks later - I noticed Kris.

He was pretty good, too.

I followed both of them throughout.

Always, Adam #1

Kris #2.

Tuesday night of competition...

both = PHENOMENAL.

Yes, Adam is still my fave.

But, Kris is awesome, too.

Kris is more "American Idol-ly."

I even put that on my FB page.

Verbatim - "I do like Kris - I actually think he might win - but, Adam has been my favorite since the beginning and my favorite tonight."

Tonight's finale:

There are no words.

To have been there - would have been...

simply AMAZING.

The show was extraordinary.

So much talent.

So many performances.

So exciting.

Perfect.

Almost.

I wish there could have been 2 winners.

Even better -

my mom said tonight she wanted

to go to the AI concert.

So, while we were watching the show...

my dad goes online,

and...

buys us girls all tickets

to the July 20 AZ show.

WHAT??

Yippee!!

I CANNOT wait.

I seriously think I'm

turning into a teeny bopper.

Why - you ask?

July = AI concert

August = Twilight Convention

Yes, seriously.

No judging.

I am VERY excited.

I think I turned 13 in February

vs. 30.

Back to the show.

It's over.

It was an

Un-BE-Liev-ABLE

season.

I love AI.

Kris is awesome.

Adam is simply amazing.

The finale - full of surprises

and excitement.

L-O-V-E-D it!

And...thanks Dad!!

p.s...Funny story. My mom had Ashley, Me, & the kids (Cori had to work) over for an AI party. We ate, we watched AI, and the kids danced. It was perfect. My mom even had a special dessert. She tells us when she went to Bashas' to buy a cake - she asked them to write American Idol on it. The gal at Bashas' tells her - wow, this is the 2nd one today. My mom says she thought - whew, I'm not the only nerd. So...my mom buys the cake and brings it home. When she gets home - she tells my dad what she ordered from the bakery. Next thing she knows...my dad opens the freezer and pulls out the ice cream cake he had printed with the words "American Idol" from the very same bakery. So...I guess, my mom isn't the only nerd - my dad is the other! Too funny!

Kindergarten - We're Coming!!

Today - Brady graduated from Pre-K.

No big deal, right?

Well...Brady's school celebrated the graduation with caps and gowns, tassels, and songs. The class of 2022 gave us a glimpse of what they have learned from intro to reading to weather to counting by 5's. Lots of singing - followed by diplomas - followed by food and pictures.

Of course, Nanny was there shedding tears.

As Mrs. Allison handed out the diplomas - she introduced each child giving a brief rundown about their likes/dreams. For example - "she loves to help her mom, she is good at coloring, and when she grows up she wants to be a dentist."

For Brady's description - it went down something like this: "Brady loves to play baseball. He is best at hitting baseballs. Baseball is his favorite. And, when he grows up, he wants to be a baseball player."

Could we have expected anything different? I think not.

Some of the cutest of the morning were:

Lots of dentist aspirations.

Lots of policeman aspirations.

Lots of fireman aspirations.

When she grows up, she wants to be a babysitter.

When he grows up, he wants to shave.

When she grows up, she wants to be tall.

Sooo adorable.

Congrats Brady - we officially have a Kindergartner in our house!!

Lots of Birthdays this Week!!

Happy Birthday Marie!!

When? May 11th

Who? Rie to the Cuties, Marie to Us, Wife to Glen.

What we love about her? Her relaxing and welcoming spirit, and unconditional love for Glen.

We love you!!!

p.s. we just got word they'll be heading out to the AZ sunshine in July to spend some time drinking beers in our pool. Can't wait!! :)

Happy Birthday Brad!!

When? May 11th

Who? Big Brad to the Cuties, Brad to Us, Best Friend (pretty much brother) to the Hottie.

What we love about him? All around good guy with a great family and huge heart. Big Brad is awesome!

p.s. Big Brad just celebrated the birth of daughter #2 - Congrats!!

Happy Birthday Mike!!

When? May 15th

Who? Uncle Mike to the Cuties, Mike to Us, Hubby to Cori.

What we love about him? Funny, energetic guy that you can always count on to have fun.

Mike is celebrating the big day with a poker party tonight...see ya later!

Happy Birthday Billy!!

When? May 16th

Age? 25

Who? Uncle Billy to the Cuties, Billy to Us, Brother to Me.

What we love about him? Super fun, uncle of the year, willing to do anything for his family - we love you Billy!

p.s. we had to force a celebration out of him. But...we'll be stuffing our bellies at Joe's Crab Shack in celebration of the quarter century birthday tomorrow night. Yummmmmmmmmmmmmy!

More Mean Girls vs. HSM

Has anyone seen this post on AZFAMILY.COM?

Read it.

Wow.

Sad.

Disgusting.

Un-frickin-believable.

I feel for this poor girl. She was not only humiliated on the day the yearbooks were distributed...but - will continue to feel some sort of humiliation every day that she looks at that yearbook and sees the term, "fat***" under her Freshman picture.

The school has decided to collect yearbooks and place a sticker over the derogatory words that are "mistakenly" printed throughout the yearbook (apparently this girl is not the only one affected).

Seriously? That is the measure they have taken to resolve the issue? As if this makes it suddenly ok? And, not hurtful? And, forgiven?

Not to mention, I have been reading comments about this same issue. Many people are just as disgusted, yet, many think it to be not a big deal. Comments I have seen a lot of are..."it is wrong, but they should move on and learn from it. If she doesn't like the way she looks, maybe she should change it."

WHAT???

The girl is 15 years old. 15. 15! High school is such a difficult time in a teenager's life. Teenagers are constantly changing and walking that line between youthfulness and naivete, with only glimpses of maturity. They are only beginning to learn just who they are and who they want to be.

To verbalize such a derogatory comment is one thing. But, to put that derogatory comment in printed ink. In a yearbook. For all to see. - That is entirely something different.

Yearbooks are meant to be treasured memories of an era. One that you can look back on to laugh, smile, cry, and reminisce. Unfortunately, all this girl will be able to do with this very yearbook is to look back in anger and sadness.

I have no idea of what punishment should be for the mastermind(s) behind such malice. The culprit(s), too, are very young; however, the difference between right and wrong in this case is obvious. Even at 15, the culprit(s) should have known their actions were wrong and callous.

So, should there be a punishment? Absolutely.

Severity of said punishment? Difficult to assess. Failing course grade? Suspension? I'll leave that to the district. But, I definitely think this warrants more than just an "I'm sorry" and a sticker.

That's my two cents...

Do I Have the Best, Or What?

The Best Husband, That Is?

For Mother's Day he put together a collaboration of my blog postings of the cuties. He created a spreadsheet (of course), along with a powerpoint presentation to introduce each post, and had it all bound together into a book of Mommy Memories.

I L-O-V-E, LOVE it!!

Sunday morning I woke up to Brady and Lily coloring me a picture at the kitchen counter. Brady sees me and says, "Hi Mom. We're not coloring you a picture."

"Of course not, Buddy." I say, as I hear Bryan chuckling to himself.

Too cute.

I don't need or want anything extravagant or fancy or expensive. What the Hottie gives is even better. It's perfect.

He definitely knows me.

We celebrated Mother's Day with dinner at BJ's Brewery (mmmmm) followed by Sunday night Softball. Can you believe it?? Big League Dreams decided to have the playoff week on MOTHER'S DAY! Seriously? Oh well...the kids sure had fun! Thanks to Nanny - they sugar highed it with Icees.

Happy Mother's Day

This is my favorite mom.
She showed me the importance of fun, friends, and most of all, family.

I love you Mom!

D-Back Fun

Friday night was family fun night.



Luckily we were gifted 4 great 3rd base seats.
You know, the ones right in the way of any foul line drives.
No worries - we didn't catch anything - although the very first foul of the entire game was caught by a fan about 4 row in front of us.

The cuties were surprisingly good.


Of course, no game is complete without some diamondback dogs.
Chase field has a thing called the Value Menu.
Diamondback dogs - the size of normal store hot dogs - for $1.50.
Perfect.

Of course the Hottie needed more than just one.
Understandable...they are small.


Later we snacked on some kettle corn.

Yummmmmmy!

The cuties were really good.
Did I already say that?

I just can't get over it.
They were very well behaved.
Brady - we expect it - he loves baseball.
But, for Lil - this was her very first MLB game.
She loved it.



Not really the "watch baseball" part.
But, the whole experience - seats, game, food, people, fun.
As for Brady - he could live at a ballpark.
He loves baseball.

If you ask him - what do you want to be when you grow up?
Hands down answer - "a baseball player."

When you ask him - what position?
His reply - all of 'em.

I'll try to give other suggestions of careers...you know,
pro-sports is a tough, competitive field.
I'll say - how about a doctor, lawyer, teacher, astronaut, mailman, etc?
He always answers - no, I want to be a baseball player.

You can't say he isn't passionate.


The fact that he knows an MLB player...well, that only makes him want it more.
So - look out Red Sox...I see an aspiring player coming your way.

What Does He Really Think?

Brady's Pre-K hosted a Parent Appreciation day.
It was so cute.
It was obvious how much they practiced.
They sang many songs about their love for their parents and grandparents.

Brady...has no problem with stage fright.
I think he craves it.
He was one of the...should I say...most boisterous of all.

One of the cutest parts of the day was the "interview" type narratives that the teacher put together. She interviewed each child about either their mother or their father. Throughout the performance, she would read the interview - and we all found out how...pretty much our child views us. Bryan didn't get the whole interview from Brady...but here is the ending of how Brady sees me.




Brady's interview was around the middle of the program. So...I had plenty of time to hear other interviews and rack up enough nerves about what would be said about me. Many kids had talked about their moms and dads loving the computer, apples, salads, working, video games such as Kill Zone (which was funny). All I was thinking about was the Everyone Loves Raymond episode in which one of the twins wrote a story that was read aloud during open house describing "The Angry Family." I was only thinking what kind of therapy would we all need. Needless to say, no worries needed.

Have I mentioned how I love Brady's Pre-K? Yep...many times. 2 years from now - I hope Lily will be in the same class with the same teacher. Is she tough? Yep. Is she strict? Yep. Is she knowledgeable? Yep. Is she loving? Yep. Has she increased Brady's skill? Without a doubt.

Forgotten Camera

Lately...I haven't been taking many pictures.
I think I'm in a photo rut.

Hmph...

Maybe because I need to download the pictures to Costco.

Maybe it's because we really haven't been doing anything too exciting.
Maybe it's because I'm lazy.
It really could be any of those reasons.

The truth is - I REALLY NEED TO GET TO COSTCO!

We haven't been there in 4-ever.
Seriously.
I love Costco.
I'll have to go Friday.

I need to clear some space out on my SD Card.

We have extras - but, I've got my favorite.
And, we have a "family date" planned for Friday night.
Diamondbacks game followed by fireworks.

All 4 of us.

We're hoping to make it through the fireworks.

That all depends on Bugs.
Can she make it?
I foresee lots of snacks in our future.
Lots of walks around Chase.
And hopefully, only a little of crying.

Oooh...I forgot the best part.

Free tickets = AWESOME.

As I was browsing my SD Card...I picked 3 favorites:

Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo reminds of Mexico...duh, of course.
Mexico reminds me of Rocky Point.

Rocky Point reminds me of:

1) Sandy Beach.
2) Camping out on the beach - who needs a hotel?
3) Warm ocean water.
4) Shelled beaches.
5) Early morning reefs.
6) Riding quads all day and night.
7) Cookouts.
8) The fish market.
9) Glass-bottled sodas.
10) Bartering.
11) Buying Mexican blankets.
12) The Mexican Hat Dance.
13) JJ's Cantina. 14) Many hours of Bob Marley15) Family & Friends.
16) Basically, many years of my childhood.

Those were the days.

A We Miss You Letter

Dear Hottie,

We hope you are having fun on your Boys Weekend. You know...doing all the boy-type stuff you don't get to do everyday.

We have not been too busy - a lunch play date, shopping, birthday parties, dinner with Robin and Lincoln, visiting with Nanny and Poppy, baths, and story times. It has been rather relaxing.

Of course, we miss you greatly. Several times a day at least one of the cuties will ask if you come home today or tomorrow. Brady is a bit sad that this is a "boys trip," yet he was not able to join in on the fun. No worries - I promised him when he gets older...

Enjoy the rest of your trip. Be all boy-y...if you know what I mean. We'll see you tomorrow afternoon when you enter back into the land of reality and boys weekend is over. Happy and sad all at the same time. Isn't that what the ending of vacations are always? Happy to be home, yet sad that the fun has come to an end.

We'll leave you with a picture of what you have missed:


As you can see...same old. same old.

We love you. We miss you. We hope you are having the best time EVER!

Love,

Me and the Cuties

p.s. I've been reading a lot.

Out-of-Towners

Remember them?

This week, these boys, along with their parents trekked along to their old hometown from their new hometown....but just for a visit. We planned for the weather to be perfect - luckily Mother Nature was willing to oblige.

With sad hearts, we said goodbye last night - as their return trip began very, very early this morning.

We already miss them.

Sometimes, don't you wish visits wouldn't end?

We do.