Back To School, Back To School, To Prove To Dad That I'm Not a Fool

I can't believe that summer is over, and school is back in session. NEVER has a summer flown by so quickly for me. It was a summer of exciting accomplishments for us, with both my kids learning to ride their bikes without training wheels (on the same day...thanks Grandma!) and Payson learning to swim with no swimmies in the deep end. Why do they grow so fast? Which leads me to...

Macy's first day of 3rd grade

(The sun is bright in her face, and a million degrees. She insisted on wearing her new school clothes, even though it meant being covered in thick fabric from head to toe. I remember doing the EXACT same thing as a kid. She came home miserable, announcing she will be wearing her old summer clothes tomorrow.)


Payson's first day of Kindergarten
(What??!!)

(He was all too happy to wear old summer clothes. I had to drag him to get new school clothes. He begged to wear shorts, so at least I had one comfortable kid at school today. This picture makes it look like he has a hole in the head.)

I wanted a picture of him walking out with his class. I ran over just in time to capture this precious moment. Mrs. W. had no idea I was watching as she kissed his swirl goodbye. My heart was full.


Hot, exhausted, and bursting with first day excitement,
my two scholars.

The Journey Continues

A year ago I added that scale to my sidebar.
So you could all track my weight loss and celebrate
with me as I shrunk down to the person I wanted to be.
I lost just over twenty pounds.
I'm sure you've noticed the scale hasn't changed in a while.
Like, half a year.
But the good news is,
I'm still there.
I haven't gained it back.
(Well, maybe like 3 lbs, but who's counting?)
But I'm not done.
I have not met my goal,
and I still can't wear skinny jeans.

So....
my sister and I are starting our very own weight loss group.
(See details here.)
EVERYONE is invited.
This means you.
All it is is a group of people who have one thing in common:
They want to lose weight.
We will meet weekly,
motivate each other,
give tips, advice, praise,
weigh in in private if we so choose
(this is the only thing that works for me)
but best of all,
we will lose weight.
Together.
It's free.
It works.
I've done it.
You can too.

Hope to see you there!!

Come Again?

The other day in the car, listening to Viva La Vida:
Macy: Mommy, who's St. Peter?
Me: He was one of Jesus' apostles.
Macy: Oh.
A minute later...
Payson: Was he on American Idol?


Payson, after witnessing Julia break her arm at the reunion: Mommy! Julia loosed her arm!
Me: Julia didn't lose her arm, sweetie, she broke it.
Later, after realizing he must have thought that breaking her arm meant breaking her arm off...
Me: Payson, did you think Julia's arm came off?
Payson, oh so nonchalantly: Yeah, I thought it was laying around somewhere.
Um...why were you not freaking out more???!!!

I knew I had kids for a reason...free entertainment.

Did You Know...

I am currently reading Twilight for the fourth time. I think. I've sort of lost track.

Did you know that in Chapter 13, the one entitled Confessions, she uses the phrase "his golden eyes" three times? No, it gets better.

The phrase "my eyes" is used eleven times.
"Your eyes" is used twice.
The word "eyes" all by itself is used three times.
And...wait for it...the phrase "his eyes" is used a total of twenty times. In one chapter.

There is also...

"our eyes," "his eye," "his glorious, agonized eyes," "his lovely eyes," "his eyelid," and "his eyebrows." I'm not kidding.

This makes for a total of forty-five "eyes," or some form of the word.

*

Every night Bill and I watch episodes of Friends on DVD. We just finished Season 3.

Did you know my favorite Friends episode of all time is The One With the Morning After, when Ross and Rachel break up? Weird, I know, but I could watch it over and over. It's so real, so emotional. I loff it. I loff it ah lott.

*

Did you know that I am quite possibly the last person on the planet who isn't on Facebook and doesn't Twitter? It is a little bit agonizing for me to not be a part of something that seems to be taking over the world, but I am holding strong, waiting for the craze to die down, the fad to pass, and pushing on with my little old blog in a one-woman effort to keep blogging alive. (I realize I am not the only one still blogging, but I might be the only one who cries if it ever dies out.)

*

I have an embarrassing weakness for Jack in the Box's Oreo milkshakes.

Did you know that a large has 1169 calories? It depresses me to think about, but you know what makes it all better? A large Oreo milkshake from Jack in the Box.

It's Hip to Be a Square

I am an even numbers kind of girl. I like things to be neat and orderly, like even numbers. I have to eat Peanut Butter M&M's in two's--you know, one for each side of my mouth. When I buy cans of soup or beans at the store, I always have to get two or four. It's a disease, really.

So my point, you ask? Well, something about my blog has been bugging me for quite some time. See my followers down there to the right? Yeah, I have nineteen. It's KILLING me, people. It's like, the ultimate insult. Not only is nineteen an odd number, it's one away from a tens!! It literally causes me physical pain. It's like buying nine of something, and not rounding it up to ten. Absolutely absurd!

But the worst part is, only twenty followers are shown on a blog at any given time. Which means I have three neat, perfect little rows all filled up with five pictures, and one with only four. That one blank square stares at me every time I log on, mocking me, laughing at me. "Nineteen," it sneers. "You only have nineteen."

So, you know you want to be that follower, the big one, number twenty. You know you want to. Who can be the first to fill that empty spot, that cold, lonely, empty spot just begging to be filled?

Will it be you?

Dude. Check it out.

Um, hi. Did anyone catch this yesterday on MSN home? I did, and I liked it. I liked it ah lott. How is it that in the books, I thought Jacob was an annoying bug that I wanted to squish but Movie Jacob seriously makes me understand why Bella was torn. Click the link to see what I mean, and let's all just enjoy the part where he hugs Bella with his shirt off.



'The Twilight Saga: New Moon': Lautner Previews the Film

Has anyone heard what the surprise movie at Fairchild is?

Teaser Tuesday

Inside the restaurant, I saw that my assumptions were correct. It was exactly as I had pictured it: Small, dark…intimate. The dining area was a single room with a dozen or so white-clothed tables lining the walls, each lit by tiny hurricane lamps. Many of the tables were occupied, mostly by couples. On the walls hung black and white pictures of old fishing boats. A man in a white shirt and black pants led us to a table in the back right corner. I was relieved to see the tables directly around ours were empty…we would be able to talk without being overheard.

© A. Leppert

Memories, Mayhem, and A Whole Lotta Mathews

It's official. I am exhausted. My head hurts, my back is sunburned, I can barely keep my eyes open...all the signs of one awesome family reunion. The last three days are somewhat of a blur. We just went, and went, and went. It was so fun to see and talk to family I rarely get to see and do fun stuff with my kids that they've never done before. And best of all...no Mathews Plague!! A success, in my book.

Here are some highlights (and lowlights) from our fabulous reunion:

* Our family's Amazing Race team won, thanks to Bill's quick thinking and apparent extensive knowledge of the Tri-Cities. They got to take home the coveted award, aka a scary looking mask that was spray-painted gold.

* I learned to knit! Just what I needed: Another addiction.

* Got aaaaaall caught up on my gossip and found out fascinating things about the people I went to high school with (aka ex-boyfriends).

* Macy learned to kayak.

* Payson's paper rocket shot the farthest off the air tube.

* After hovering next to it for an hour, Macy won the auction item she wanted so desperately...the one I donated (???), only to crush her poor cousin who also wanted it. It's okay, Macy said she was going to write her a letter saying she was sorry.

* Bill and Abby took an unintentional detour during the Fun Run after missing the turnaround point. We were about ready to send out a search party for them when they came jogging toward the finish line, at least 45 minutes later. They are still arguing over whose fault it was.

* Our roll-making class by Staci came to an abrupt hault when her daughter broke her wrist (badly) surfing down a hill on a piece of cardboard. A whole lot of drama and chaos ensued as they rushed her to the emergency room. She had surgery today, and a plate put in, as I hear it. Needless to say, we were all a little nervous for the ice block sliding that came shortly later, but it was incident free. Keep little Julia in your prayers!

* We watched Madagascar 2 outside on a projector screen, bundled up in blankets, with popcorn and candy from our very own concession stand. SO FUN.

It was a wonderful, wonderful weekend (minus the broken bone), and we made memories we will always have. A ginormous thanks to Marilyn for all the work she put into it. I didn't take a single picture, because my sister took enough pictures for the greater Northwest. It wasn't until today that I learned we'd have to pay $10 to get copies. Good thing I got connections.

Now I can get back to life, and...ya know...blogging and stuff.

Dog Days of Summer

I can't believe it's August. Why does summer always blow by? When I was a kid it seemed like summer lasted forever.

We've had a great summer so far, but I'm starting to get that panicky feeling that it's nearing an end and we haven't done everything yet. Thank goodness my sister made a goal to do one cool, fun thing for her kids every day this week and invited me along. Today we went to the sprinkler park, tomorrow--free books at Barnes and Noble. We're looking forward to Monsters vs. Aliens at the free movie next week and then our Mathews Family Reunion next weekend, which is always a guaranteed blast. We're doing swimming lessons every morning and spend every afternoon at my mom's pool. I guess, in retrospect, I've done a pretty good job of squeezing all the fun stuff into this summer. *Pats her own back*

But the fun part for me has been writing. Sorry if you're all sick to death of hearing about my novel, but it just gets more and more exciting as I go and actually make progress! I am on Chapter Four, which is a HUGE milestone for me. I am loving it, and I hope you will all love it. I have been writing pretty much every spare minute I have and loving it. That's a lot of the reason I haven't been blogging.

Hope you are all having a fun-filled summer as well!