Hiatus

OK, when my dad told me today that it had been awhile since I blogged, I knew it was serious. Here's a few things that I've been doing, I'll even make it a little game for you:

I saw... with...Seriously, others may tell you that they have the best baby ever. Nope, E wins hands down. (Perhaps I have a slight bias) He is so laid back and sweet. He got in his pj's and snuggled up and slept through almost the whole movie.

Then I went to Tulsa to see this...

with...

I have had the soundtrack to Wicked for years and to say that this cast even came close to my girl Idina is a pretty big compliment. It was phenomenal. And the teachers had fun enjoying their last few weeks of summer.

And then I did some of this.. Yeah, I don't know either. It was a silly night at the Hill.

I saved the best for last.

There's a reason that God loves little children, isn't there?

So there's an update. Not a whole lot, but school starts in a couple of weeks, so I'm rushing a bit to get ready. Here we go again! I'll try not to go so long next time...yeah, right.

Ugh

I know I'm not usually all that serious on this blog, but I was outraged back in February by the Chris Brown/Rihanna incident. This morning, Chris Brown posted an apology video hoping that he could be seen as a role model again. The whole situation left me a little discombobulated: the support he got from other celebrities, how quickly she reunited with him after the incident, and his lack of visible remorse all left me scratching my head. This confusion was not eased when I got to school. One of my kids asked a questions about it and so we talked about it for a few minutes and tried to make sense of the whole thing. About 90% of my class were huge Chris Brown fans and while most of them agreed that he had made a mistake, I had a couple of male children who told me that they were glad that he was smacking Rihanna around because she had it coming for talking back to him. We discussed why it was wrong and what could have been done to have a better outcome. That situation has stuck in my memory and has challenged me on many occasions. Why do celebrities have as much influence as they do? Is it a lack of parenting? Teaching? Lack of spiritual guidance? His sentence was 5 years probation and some community service. How do we teach our children (males especially) to respect each other when they see their favorite singers, athletes, and actors behaving badly and having next to no consequences for their behavior? I don't have a solution, just needed an outlet to vent.

I Dreamed a Dream

I had a dream last night that Michael Jackson came to my door and gave me a T-shirt to thank me for being such a fan (which, really? I have your greatest hits album, but that's it, man.) I then spent the rest of my dream convincing my grandparents that he was still alive. I woke up very confused. I have a feeling the gossip rags will start up with the MJ spottings sometime in the next week or so. I can imagine the headlines now: Michael Jackson, Elvis, and Tupac spotted playing poker with Martians and the pig headed girl! Pictures inside!
I think the MJ media circus is getting into my head, now it's affecting my dreams too?!? I need my news shows back, pronto!

Prayers

I just wanted to ask anyone who reads this to say a special prayer this week for all the kids at Capitol Hill. Many of the kids are dealing with things so huge that it's hard to imagine their pain. If you have a free minute in traffic or waiting in line at the grocery store, just remember them in prayer. Thanks!

Best friends

Last night at the VBS kick-off these two were all over the place. They raced each other on the obstacle course, which was pretty hilarious. They ended up on the same side and when they got to the top of the slide, we cheered for them to slide down and they both wanted to wait to slide down together. This is what I got for "Cheese!"

Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer

I have spent more time at the pool this week than I think I did all of last summer! On Sunday night, this lively crew came over for a swim: After swimming, we watched Bolt and Nikki, Moo-Moo and I stayed up 'til 3 a.m. looking at old yearbooks and talking. It took a little jolt (read: three cups of coffee at 10 p.m.) for me to keep up, but we made it and had a great time. Then, Monday morning, Eddie and Max came over to swim. I forgot to take my camera to the pool, keeping up with the baby and the 6 year old was enough to keep me busy, but we splashed and played until we were worn out. This one lasted about 5 minutes after we got out of the pool.

Max just chilled and watched a movie. I'd like to go to bed right now and catch up on sleep, but my lovely neighbors are having a drum circle next door. Seriously, that has to be what they're doing. My pictures are vibrating on the walls and every time I think that maybe it will be quiet, they start a new song. It's been going on for two hours. I can't even hear my own music because theirs is sooooo loud. This video is pretty funny...maybe next time I should just knock on the door and ask if I can join the party. Nah. (For the record, I only watch Antique Roadshow with my grandma.)

Hmm...

Just a few things that made me say "Hmm..." today:

A man with the greasiest, nastiest mullet I've ever seen running his fingers through his hair dangerously close to the buffet line at Furr's.

A fully grown man-boy (we're talking like 45) wearing nothing but a wifebeater and Star Wars pajama pants cutoffs at Wal-mart. Yes, you read that correctly, he summer-ized his 10 year old (they were from Episode 1!) Star Wars pants.

A lady at Redbox swiped her card backwards and instead of turning it around like the picture showed her (!!!) she proceeded to burst into tears and physically assault the poor Redbox machine.

My People magazine with this on the cover: This makes me feel cold inside. Stop the show already!!!! What is wrong with you???

Today wasn't all about "hmm...." moments, I got to have some great talks with a few CHCC kids, spend some time with this sweet boy:

and eat at Furr's with my grandparents for the first time this summer! Summer rocks.