I Have Returned.

In case you noticed, I've been missing for a week now.  And in case you're thinking I was on some wonderful tropic vacation,  you could not be more wrong.  I was home alright.  Home with two boys sick with the dreaded H1N1, swine flu.  And let me tell you, last week sucked.  

Last week sucked big time.

The boys are fine now, but last week was a whole different story.  Headache, fever, body ache, sore throat, coughing, tired.  They were miserable and it's always terrible to see the boys sick.  But they had exactly enough energy to argue over who had more couch space, who got to choose the next television show, who was the sickest.  Be happy I spared you of a week's worth of "boy B has a fever of 103.5 today" and "boy C has a fever of 102 and won't stop asking me for McDonald's" and "when in the hell is this swine flu going to leave my house".  We watched movies, "Full House" marathons, we played video games, we watched game shows (who knew you could find an episode of "Family Feud" on at any given moment).  I was subjected to a 1st grade spelling test (which, according to my son, I failed miserably).  My friends on Facebook became my lifeline.  They humored us by playing along with our game show questions, they offered to leave Starbucks on my porch.  It was a very long week for all of us.

But I'm back now, the boys are back at school, H1N1 has left our home,  every surface in the house has been saturated with Lysol.

It is so good to be back.

3:33 p.m.

Ridiculously busy day today.  So just for fun, I asked my son to pick a time, anytime.   I then set the alarm on my phone to go off at that time.  The plan was to stop what I was doing when the alarm went off and take a photo wherever I was at that point in the day. 

He chose three o'clock in the afternoon.  

As it turned out, in my fascinating life,  I was at Walmart flying through the aisles with my oldest son at 3:00 p.m.  And I did not hear the alarm over him repeatedly telling me we needed to hurry home (his sleepover guests were scheduled to arrive at 4:00).  The photo above was taken in the parking lot at 3:33.  The exact moment I checked my phone and realized not only had I missed the alarm, I had missed 3 phone calls as well.

Yes, it's a very fascinating life I lead.

Lessons Learned from a Fall Field Trip.

Chaperoned my son's field trip to a pumpkin patch today.  And what a perfect day for the trip. Couldn't think of anything I would rather do then spend the beautiful fall day with my little guy and his classmates.

And of course, there was much to be learned today.

1. I learned that if you scratch a farm dog in exactly the right spot, he will pee all over an unsuspecting 6 year old.  Can I mention how relieved I was this child wasn't riding home with me?
   
2. Prickly burrs grow in pumpkin patches.  Something I wish we had learned before we let loose a group of 1st graders into a field to find a pumpkin.
   
3. Prickly burrs also grow in corn fields.  Again, something I wish I knew before I spent 15 minutes removing the burrs from the pumpkin expedition.
4. There is one strand of corn silk for each kernel on an ear of corn.  Did not know that. 
   
5. If there is one cat and one person with cat allergies on a 100+ acre farm, the cat will indeed find and stalk that one person.
   
6. This rule also applies to bees and children terrified of them.
7. I learned that the inside of a green pumpkin is orange, the inside of a white pumpkin is white.
   
8. Soybeans eaten directly out of the shell taste horrific.  Trust me, they need to be roasted first.
   
9. If you've watched or read "Children of the Corn", you'll find corn mazes a lot less charming and a lot more frightening.  Stupid, scary movie.
10. Speaking of children and corn, if you are responsible for 5 boys in a corn maze, chances are they will all choose different paths in the maze.  Some will even make a path of their own (at which point the map becomes completely useless).

No bee stings, no allergic reactions to soy nuts, all children returned safely home.

A very good day.

"Sisters, Sisters..

....there were never such devoted sisters,

Never had to have a chaperone, no sir,

I'm there to keep my eye on her.

Caring, sharing...."

Sisters are great.  I ought to know as I am lucky enough to have two of them.  And they are the reason I've chosen this week's "Cheap Wine with a Pretty Label".  I'll get to the review in a minute, but first I can't resist sharing an old family photo of the three of us.

I'm the one on the left.  If I'm not mistaken, my mother made us all those matching dresses for Easter Sunday.

Back to the wine...
I have to give credit to my niece for bringing Middle Sister Wines to my attention, she's always scoping out new labels for me.   But, boy, I really had to search for this one--looked for weeks before finally finding it at Target of all places ($10.99 a bottle, by the way).  It was definitely worth the search.  And I know if you have a sister, you'll get a kick out of the website, the clever wording and awesome wine varieties (Rebel Red, Drama Queen and Mischief Maker to name a few).

I had some crazy times with my middle sister growing up.  And I'm sure we would both agree the day we created a circus in the backyard was our most memorable childhood story.  There are two different versions of this legendary tale in our family, both end with my sister losing a mouthful of teeth, a bloody smile, a standing ovation from the neighborhood kids and an emergency trip to the dentist.  Unfortunately, there wasn't a "Trapeze Artist" variety of this wine, so I settled for the label that would get me in the least amount of trouble with my middle sister.  "Forever Cool", a California Merlot, seemed like a safe choice.

I enjoyed the wine and I truly can't wait to try them all.  Come to think of it, I ought to buy a bottle or two for our younger brother while I'm at it.  Poor guy probably deserves it the most for putting up with the three of us his whole life.

The Igloo in Picture 10.

Here's a fun trip down memory lane. I got tagged yesterday by a fabulous new cyber friend, Victoria at The Moss Garden. I like this tag--it's clever, unique and had me curious about my own results.

The rules? Open your first photo folder, scroll to the 10th photo, post the photo and tell the story behind it. Tag people to do the same.

My 1oth photo went way back to the winter of 2003.

It's a gigantic igloo snow fort I spent the day making with my two older sons. Funny this picture turned up, the boys still talk about building this creation. My youngest son was in the house napping (I noticed the patio door is cracked open so I would be able to hear him when he woke up).

We took a huge toy bucket and filled it with snow as if we were making an oversized sandcastle at the beach. When it was complete, there was no snow left in the backyard and the fort was taller than either of the boys. Speaking of my sons, they were 6, 3 and 7 months old at the time. Just looking at this photo exhausts me.

The remnants of the fort remained well into March before it finally melted away. A nice memory, I was happy to think about the day again.

And I am tagging the following: a niece, a cousin, two bloggers with fantastic photography and a blogger that never ceases to surprise me. I'll let you try to figure out which one is which.

• An Apple A Day
  
• Flickers of Memories
  
• Piles of Rock
  
• Waterstone
• Where Eagles Dare

Undefeated and Looking For a Sure Thing.

That's the run down after two weeks in our (completely legal) Fun Family Football Pool.  I am currently undefeated and have every intention of keeping the streak alive.  My little guy, on the other hand, is winless.  The only winless participant, I should add.  He is handling this very well so far, but I'm thinking if he loses a third game...let's just say, we need a sure thing this week.  

We need a victory for the boy. 

My middle guy, also undefeated and very competitive, feels his brother's pain.  He actually spent the better half of Sunday evening researching possible options for his younger brother.

His carefully selected list is above.  

So which one is it?  Which team is the sure thing, guaranteed to win, keep civility in our home, keep the boy happy, football pick?

He has until noon Sunday to decide.  Let's hear what you have to say.

A Nice Way to End the Day.

Went to bed last night and was 

greeted by this post it on my bedroom door.

A note from my little guy.  The perfect way to end my day.

Go Take a Hike.

Really.  You should.

Every fall, the MetroParks in the county I live in hosts a Fall Hiking Spree.  Basically, participants have 3 months to hike 8 of 13 selected park trails.  First time hikers receive a hiking staff once the spree is complete, veteran hikers receive a medallion to hang on the staff.  Pretty cool and free for residents of my county.

Every fall, I say I am going to do the spree.  And every fall I never get around to it.  Until now.

And I am so glad I did.

I took the photos above.  My little guy surprised me by asking for the camera halfway through the hike.  He's never done that before, so it was interesting to see the journey through his eyes.  His photos are below.

It's okay if you like his photos more than mine, I do too.

I will note that I did have to drag the boys to the hike.  No interest at all on their part.  But once there, they had a wonderful time playing with sticks, climbing on rocks and tossing stones in the pond.  And they spent the entire car ride home picking out the next trail.  It was a great day.

1 hike down, 7 more to go.

We Are Ready For Some Football.

It's that time of year again.  The return of football and also the return of our family's "perfectly legal fun football pool".

We can thank (or blame) my dad for creating and maintaining the pool.  We can also thank (and again blame) him for making us change our names for the season.  From September until Superbowl Sunday I am known as ShaNayNay around here.  And no, I did not choose that name.  I have to note that one person's identity has not been changed.  Not sure how they got away with that.

In theory, it is a fun family pool that keeps us all together throughout the season.  In reality, there will be lots of trash talk, disqualifications and several heated conversations about ties and playoffs.  Heaven forbid you call in your pick at 12:01 on Sunday afternoon (the rules clearly state you need to have your pick in by noon).

What's the prize?  The prize is a yard sale find trophy complete with the winners name and year engraved on the base.  The winner has possession of the trophy all year and the bragging rights as well.  And believe me, there is definitely bragging.  I'll have a chance to take a photo of the trophy at the end of the season as I have every intention of winning it back this year.

For now, this is ShaNaynay, signing out.

A Butcher, Two Bakers, A Crazy Homemaker.

That was my family growing up.  My dad was the butcher and my mom stayed home with me and my siblings (we would have made any person crazy).  Luckily for us kids, both my parents were fond of baking.  And very good at it.

One of my favorite childhood memories was baking cookies with my dad to pack in our school lunches.  We'd pick a recipe from the old blue cookbook, and if we didn't have all the ingredients it required we would search and find a different one.  It was always a challenge to find a recipe on a day you didn't have eggs in the house.

Luckily for me, the baking gene appears to be hereditary.

Nothing like a warm chocolate chip brownie and a glass of milk after a long day at school.

We Made It.

It's official.  We made it through our first week of the 2009-2010 school year.  And despite all my worrying, everything worked out great.  The boys have easily adjusted to the change.  They've made many new friends and the younger two have pretty much forgotten they ever attended another school.  I would never have thought I would be able to say that 3 days into the year.  No tears or screaming or boys being angry with me for this decision.   In fact, I'm hearing a lot more "please and thank you" and otherwise respectful words out of their mouths this week.

Keeping my fingers crossed for a great school year!

I Can Tell That We Are Gonna Be Friends.

“fall is here, hear the yell

back to school, ring the bell

brand new shoes, walking blues

climb the fence, book and pens

i can tell that we are gonna be friends”

 

My sons started school today.  Scratch that.  After 7 years, my sons began a new school today.  With much preparation, they all seem to be fine and are actually very excited about the change.  Me?  Well, I’ve been a bundle of nerves for a week, I can’t do anything today but wonder how they are doing.  Frankly, I’m counting down the minutes until I pick them up this afternoon to see how their day went.

Academically, my boys will be fine.  It's the friend thing I always worry about.  School is so much easier when you have a good friend by your side.  So throughout this nerve wracking morning, my favorite back to school song plays over and over in my head.

I can’t help but hope that my little guy finds a new friend like the one in the song.  Someone to chase ants and worms with.

And that my middle son finds a partner in crime, someone to share a giggle with.  There’s nothing like listening to his infectious laugh.

My oldest?  He’s the one I worry about the most.  I pray he can find a friend or two that he feels comfortable around.  I hope his year is filled with good things and people that are kind to him.  A true friend or two to play video games with, ski with, confide in.  And I truly hope he comes home with plans for a sleepover in the immediate future.

 

“…and when i wake tomorrow i'll bet

that you and i will walk together again

cause i can tell that we

are going to be friends”

15 hours and 13 minutes.

That’s all that’s left of the summer of 2009 at our house.  And we must have had too much fun around here, because it went by entirely too fast.

We made many wonderful memories this summer.  Here are the ones I remember the most:

1. Celebrated my middle guys 9^th birthday this summer.  A birthday that will go down as the year I locked the entire family out of the house (and car) on the way to his birthday dinner. I will never hear the end of this.  Never.
2. Sleepovers anyone?  The boys slept over, had sleep overs, slept in each other's rooms.  They were nomads.
3. After 17 years, the washer finally gave out.  This was the year I entered the 20^th century and bought the front loader.  For the record I miss the old machine terribly.
4. It was a life changing summer.  Decided to spend our life living life and not living in the car.  We walked to get ice cream, rode bikes to get lunch and drove 2 miles to the pool instead of 30.
5. This was the year our youngest was old enough to join his brothers on the swim team.  And also the year our new team beat the old team.
6. My baby lost his first tooth this summer.  How can that be?
7. We made wonderful new friends and kept the old ones.
8. We watched old friends move out of town and in turn, gained a new city to visit.
9. Coldstone Creamery makes cupcakes.  Big discovery this summer.
10. Business was good the summer of 2009.  Received recognition from Martha Stewart, completed my first official celebrity order, worked with clients in Australia, Canada and the U.K.  Saw my work in a magazine.  Awesome, awesome, awesome.
11. This was the year Michael Jackson passed away.  And my hard rock music lover son discovered pop wasn’t so bad after all.  Still working on that moon walk.
12. Got to see the inside of a toll booth this summer.  Really could have gone without that experience.
13. We became a family with an overpriced and never used basketball hoop at the end of our driveway.
14. Learned how to play ghosts in the graveyard and stayed up until midnight playing it.
15. We didn’t go to the beach this summer.  And that was okay.
16. Our family ate our body weight in hamburgers, mini corn dogs and ice cream sandwiches.  We drank soda.  Bed times no longer existed.  We got up late and there were days the boys never changed out of their pajamas.  We didn’t always collect the mail.   The boys played too many video games and watched too many movies.  We ate candy and didn’t always brush our teeth.   We relaxed.

And it was the best summer ever.

52 Manholes.

That's exactly how many manholes and utility covers stand between our home and the ice cream shop.  Not only did my son and I count each one on our walk today, we took pictures of them all as well.  

Here's a dozen of our favorite photos:

Love the various patterns and details, never really stopped to observe them before.  Funny the little things you notice when you allow yourself time to slow down and look around.

Shopping with Boys and Wooloomooloo.

Yesterday was day 68 of summer vacation for the boys.  For 67 days, we have had a wonderful time hanging at the pool, relaxing, eating our body weight in ice cream.  Good times.  That was until we went school shopping.  

And everything fell apart.

Let me give you a brief synopsis of school shopping with 3 boys (and a husband).

Why do we have to go?  Because I need your foot with me in order to buy you shoes.  Can’t you just trace my foot instead? You’re going.  Stand up straight so we can measure your feet. These shoes are too tight.  They hurt. (My children have been in flip flops or barefoot the entire summer.  Socks feel tight at this point).  Walk around and see if they fit.  I said walk.  Stop running.  Get back here now.  Stop touching your brother.  Stop touching your brother.  Are you touching your brother?  Leave your brother alone.  Yes, you have to try the pants on.  Stop touching your brother.  Stop licking the mirror.  Stop touching your brother.  Are you kidding me, no, I will not buy you candy.  How many more stores are we going to?  He’s touching me.  It takes a lot longer when you horse around.  Oh, Dear Lord, are you seriously touching your brother.  I have to go to the bathroom again.  How many more stores are we going to?  I swear if you don’t stop touching your brother.  You can ask me as many times as you want, but I’m still not buying you candy.  Get away from your brother.  Look, Mom, my leg is bleeding in my shoe!  You can't possibly have to go to the bathroom again.  For the last time, get your hands off of your brother!  This is the worst afternoon of my life.

And as much fun as that sounds, the day ended with us getting stuck in rush hour traffic for a solid hour.  I’ll let you imagine how enjoyable that was after an exciting shopping excursion.

 

All of this led to a bonus “Cheap Wine with Pretty Labels” post.

Wooloomooloo is a Red Blend from South Eastern Australia.  The wine was good.  Quite honestly, this probably wasn’t the best day to have me pay attention to the taste of wine. You could have given me a glass of swill and I would’ve been thrilled.

So here’s my review.  Cool label, good (much needed) wine.  Cheap ($7.99).  As for the name?  I am positive it’s a swear word that means school shopping sucks.

Catch Another Butterfly.

Spent the day chasing after butterflies in my backyard.  And I've got the pictures to prove it.  I've also attached the lyrics to one of my favorite butterfly songs by John Denver.  I remember the song from Sesame Street of all places.

Hope you take some time to read the lyrics, and I hope they inspire you to take some time to catch a butterfly or two.

Do you remember days not so very long ago

When the world was run by people twice your size?

And the days were full of laughter

And the nights were full of stars

And when you grew tired you could close your eyes

 

Yes the stars were there for wishing

And the wind was there for kites

And the morning sun was there for rise and shine

And even if the sniffles kept you

Home from school in bed

You couldn't hardly stay there after nine

 

And I wonder if the smell of morning's faded

What happened to the robin's song

That sparkled in the sky?

Where's all the water gone

That tumbled down a stream?

Will I ever catch another butterfly?

 

Do you remember campouts right in your own backyard?

Wondering how airplanes could fly

And the hours spent just playin'

With a funny rock you found

With crystal specks as blue as all the sky

 

And I wonder if the smell of morning's faded

What happened to the robin's song

That sparkled in the sky?

Where's all the water gone

That tumbled down a stream?

Will I ever catch another butterfly?

 

Now I watch my son, he's playin' with his toys

He's happy, I give him all I can

But I can't help feelin'

Just a little tingly inside

When I hear him say he wants to be a man

 

And I wonder if the smell of morning's faded

What happened to the robin's song

That sparkled in the sky?

Where's all the water gone

That tumbled down a stream?

Will I ever catch another butterfly?

Will I ever catch another butterfly?

No Vacancy.

I am always fascinated by the creative games my boys come up with completely on their own.

On Tuesday my little guy spent the day turning our entire home into a hotel.

Bedrooms were all numbered.

Check in this way. His makeshift lobby was downstairs.  He set up a desk with a cash register and signed us all in when we arrived.  Sadly, this was taken down before I had a chance to take a picture.

He wore a bellhop hat all day, showed us to our rooms, and waited on us when we ate in the hotel restaurant (a.k.a. the kitchen table).

We all enjoyed watching him play and were a little sad when the hotel closed.  Can't wait to see what he comes up with next.  In the meantime, I don't have the heart to take down the numbers.  So until further notice, you'll find me residing in room 98.

Seven Boys, a Lifeguard and One Very Dead Bird.

When I look back on today, I will remember it as a wonderful evening catching up with two of my closest friends.  Our nine children all played together in the pool, out of the pool, around the pool and ate entirely too much junk food.

I will remember the day as one of the last times our families will all be together for awhile as part of our close knit triangle will sadly be moving away this weekend.  No goodbyes tonight,  I recall "see you later" being decided as our parting words.

I will remember tonight as the night I was introduced to Coldstone Creamery cupcakes.  Oh, yeah.  And you had better believe they are heavenly.  Unbelievably rich and delicious.

Tonight will go down as the night my middle son and one of his closest friends since preschool had their first official sleep over (praying there is actually some sleep involved in the sleep over).

But our sons?  The boys, I am sure, will remember this night as the night of the dead bird.  Helpless little guy stuck in the hood of my friend's car.  And there's no doubt they'll remember the poor lifeguard, his belly still full from the cupcake we had just fed him, trying not to vomit as he removed the poor creature for us.

A nice night.  Could have done without the bird.  But a very nice night.

I Survived Survivor.

My family is crazy.  Not that this is some earth shattering revelation I have recently discovered.  This is a fact I've known for some time.  And I'd be surprised if any one of them disagree or is offended by this remark.  They're crazy.  That's just the way it is.

But what I didn't realize until yesterday is that my family is also very, very competitive.  I'm talking win at any cost, nothing stand in my way, someone may get hurt, competitive.  Yesterday was the day crazy and competitive came together in my family.  And it was like nothing I have ever seen before in my life.

Every July for the past 8 or 9 years, my dad's side of the family gets together for a "Survivor" picnic.  My uncle plans and runs all the events for the day very much like the TV show (minus the million dollars, but you would never have known). Aunts, uncles, cousins, sisters, brothers, boyfriends, girlfriends are all broken up into predetermined teams. Each team of 4-5 people sport matching bandannas and participate in food challenges, water challenges, trivia and the final relay event that wraps the whole day up.  The winning team members each get a trophy at the end of the competition.  Sounds like fun, right?

(Me and the rest of the pink team)

That's what I thought.  I'm thinking fun family picnic, catch up with the relatives.  Nice way to spend the afternoon.  But I hadn't figured the competitive crazy gene flowing through the veins of my family into this equation.  This was not a quaint catch up with your cousin picnic.  Oh, no.  These people came dressed to play and played to win.  My brother had actually cleared a spot on his mantel in anticipation of bringing home a 4th trophy (the others are not only on the mantel in his living room, but have lights directed on them as well).  There was trash talk, vomiting, penalties and talks of disqualification (absolutely no alcohol involved, I know it's hard to believe).  Strategy was whispered between team members.  Competing teams sized each other up.  A wedding band was lost in the flowing creek in the midst of the water challenge.  Nothing slowed these people down. 

In one of those "sounded like a good plan at the time" moments I volunteered to take part in the water challenge.  That's me in my freezing cold creek water soaked linen shorts.

My sister in law deserved MVP honors as far as I was concerned.  She inhaled the pork rind, uncooked spam, grass jelly (yes, grass not grape) platter my uncle put together.  She may have been the only person that didn't vomit at this leg of the relay.

(My uncle finalizing plans before the competition begins)

There was no winner in the challenge this year.  No trophies were handed out for the first time ever.  But if anyone deserved one, I would have given it to my uncle.  Because despite all the trash talk and arguing, his planning year after year plays a part in keeping this crazy family together.  Everyone shows up, people drive in from out of town and my son is counting down the days until next year's "Survivor".  My aunt even maintains a family website filled with photos of past events.  It is amazing to say the least.

So I have officially survived my first "Survivor".  And I am now quite sure I have no business competing in the actual television version.  But if Jeff Probst ever does come knocking at my door?  Boy, do I have a list of names for him.

A Pretty Cool Gig.

A friend told me today, "You know, you really have a great job."  Simple phrase, but it got me thinking about how lucky I am to do what I do.  For example, this was my work environment this afternoon.

That's me sitting on the couch working on a wedding poster.  My middle son sat next to me watching Spongebob, my youngest was busy constructing a Playmobil city around my feet.  

It's how I work most of the time, actually.  On the couch hanging out with my boys enjoying a relaxing afternoon together.  Sure, I've been up working past midnight every day this week.  Functioned off of 4 hours of sleep on Wednesday, and I'll probably be awake by 6 a.m. tomorrow.  But when I do wake up tomorrow morning, I'll be busy creating an invitation for a 40th birthday party.  And whether I'm working on a design for a birthday, a wedding, or a birth announcement, every day I get to be a part of a celebration in someone's life.  

I admit, sometimes I'm in my bathrobe creating designs.  There are evenings I'm answering emails while enjoying a glass of wine.  There's even a chance I'm assembling invitations with an out of control Playmobil vehicle driving around my legs.

And I wouldn't have it any other way.