Water!

My neighbor told me this great idea this morning. I mentioned that I haven't been drinking enough water, and so my carpal tunnel is acting up again. She said that she used to put rubber bands on her cup every day. One for each cup she needed to drink. Then, each time she finished one she would remove the rubber band. Talk about a great visual for those of us easily distracted...

I'm ready for today!

Slacker Blogging

When you are a family blogger (like me) and slack off get behind in your posting, it can cause a problem.

Like the one I'm facing now, for example.

It's literally been months since I've blogged regularly, and a LOT has happened in those months. So what do I do now? I figure I have a few options:

Option 1: Do a "memory dump" from my camera.

The drawback with this option is two-fold. First, I haven't been taking that many pictures.  Second, my kids have been using the camera and putting it to use in their own nefarious plots. There's no telling what I'm going to find there.

Option 2: Go through my life month to month and give you the Readers' Digest version of the "big stuff".

Unfortunately, a dry retelling of my family's life story (with or without pictures) is of little interest or entertainment to anyone. Including me. And considering it's my life story... pretty lame, don't you think?

Option 3: Just pick up where I left off like nothing ever happened.

Yeah, right. I'm so obsessed with telling "backstory" on everything that there's no way my OCD is going to let that happen.

Option 4: Quit blogging altogether and just record my life on Facebook.

Tempting, but................ no.

I guess that leaves me with no where to go but Option 5. What is option 5, you ask? You're reading it.

What you are going to get (assuming there is anyone left who reads my blog anymore) is a Monster Blog Post. It starts off with a lame attempt at humor, and ends with a quick synopsis of where we are in our lives RIGHT NOW, and how we got there - if it's relevant.

So, I guess I should start with the first Big Thing that happened this summer that I kind of skipped over in my blogging lapse. We put our house on the market. 

Now, if you are "friends" with me on Facebook, you may be well aware of the roller coaster this has been for us. This is where I take a moment and tell you that if I never have to do this again it will be too soon. I worked like a dog for several weeks to get deep cleaning, minor repairs, and a couple of improvements done and/or finished. I packed up a bunch of our stuff that we could live without temporarily, sold the boys' bed, and rearranged kids rooms to make the house "show worthy". And then, every time we had a showing or an open house, I would turn into this crazy-Nazi-mom that had the girls and Ben (if he was home) cleaning, de-cluttering, and loading extraneous objects into laundry baskets to stuff in the van so they wouldn't be seen.

Seriously. Have you ever tried to make a house look like a family of 6 does NOT live there?

After a summer of this, we decided it was time to take the house off of the market. We were committed to staying in our middle school district for the year, and we would make the space we had work for us. We signed papers with the Realtor, took the sign out of the yard, and told our friends and neighbors we were staying. And that's when it happened. We got an offer on our house. After some quick looking and heartfelt prayers, we decided to negotiate with the buyer and try to reach an agreement that would work for both of us. 

Oh, yeah. And we had to find another place to live. One that would keep us at the same middle school, but was in our price range and gave us the extra room we wanted. This was not an easy feat, mind you. But as of two days ago, I can confirm that we have an accepted offer on another house. We anticipate moving in around early-mid October, and the details on THAT house will take up more time/space than I'm willing to give it here. Suffice it to say that we are excited about it, and it was just what we needed: a foreclosure. We submitted an offer (along with 4 other families), and our offer was the best. You know that feeling you get when you win an auction on eBay? Yeah, that was kind of it. Only much, much bigger.

The second Big Thing that happened this summer is that my mom came to visit for a week. We loved spending time with her and showing her around central Oklahoma.  She got in on July 3rd, so we had to go to the Liberty Fest Parade the next day. This is such a highlight of my summer! I can't believe I didn't go the first three years we lived here. 

We came, got our seats, and the kids snacked on muffins while we waited for the parade to start.

Once the parade actually started, though, it was a whole different story for the boys. Connor spend most of the parade like this:

And Maddox wasn't too keen on the noise, either.

And now for 3 of my favorite things from the parade:

The Boy Scouts and their 50-foot American flag

A SWAT vehicle with a dog mascot hanging out the door

 Our neighbors, Terri & Eva who we caught up with before the parade was over.

And just because one of my kids is pretending to have a clown phobia...

There you go. 

While my mom was here we also hit up the zoo and I got up close and personal with the white peacock that is one member of the free-roaming family of peacocks and peahens that lives there. His name is Elvis. Isn't he gorgeous?

The visit was way too short, and we were sad to see her go. I was especially grateful to have her here during a particularly hard rough patch between me and Olivia. I don't know what magic my mother has, but she is such a compassionate listener, comforter, and friend. I love you, Mom. We all do, and we can't wait till next time we can give you hugs!

And last (and probably least)... the third Big Thing that has happened this summer. I realized that I have lost what little ability I had to slow down and relax a little. So, I'm working on getting it back. Wish me luck!

And now, to finish up this monstrosity of a post and reward those of you who were valiant enough to stick with me ALL the way through... here's a great video of my son, Connor. He's now 5, and takes after his Papa Joe in a very specific way...

This is what his plate looked like when he was done. Just looking at this picture makes me pucker.