Our $20 pool....

It has saved us from the heat these past couple of weeks! I truly don't know what we would do without it especially with the temperature hitting 100 degrees plus some days.

Jackers is totally into me taking his picture lately. He actually asks, "Momma, take a picture of me." I didn't see that coming. Maybe he is working on his future underwear model pose?

And O-Man is still into putting everything in his mouth.

FYI...he is drinking fresh, frogless pool water.

Love this...love them!
Owen affectionately calls Jack, "Gaa"! Tonight as I was rocking him to sleep, he started yelling, "Gaaaaa....Gaaaaa....Gaaaaa"!

Oh yes, Beasley is still with us! 

He even has his very own pool that is saving him from the heat as well!

Walking around like this also helps! 

It's not getting old....

Catching frogs is just not getting old.  I figured that because we are halfway through the summer, the thrill of catching a frog would be long gone. This is true for me, but nope, not for the Jackers. It's even starting to rub-off on Owen, however, I do think he gets more of a thrill out of slapping the frog out of Jack's hand than the actual catching of the frog! 

 

...Every frog/toad is named Charlie or Cactus. 

...Every frog/toad gets a home in our 5 gallon bucket.

...Every frog gets released back into the pond at the end of the day, "to be reunited with his family and friends" or they are so big that they jump out of the bucket back to their freedom.

...Every frog/toad gets his belly rubbed by the Jackers because "he is my new friend Momma and I need to take care of him".

And if God-for-bid we do not catch a frog on our outing, serious tears well up in Jack's eyes putting the full-court pressure on me to assist in the mission. Argh! But, I do because then I hear Jack say, "Oh Mommy, I am just so happy that you catched me a frog...I am so happy Mommy". 

They have even made their way into the pool, you know, to swim with us!

Brothers.....

Ten on Tuesday

1. Jack attended his very first summer camp (well, besides Camp MiMi-PaPa) last week. It was held at a local gymnastics gym and its theme was Super Hero. So, it was a little bit of gymnastics, tumbling, crafting, safety and super hero's all mixed into one for a three-day camp. It was pretty much perfection for the Jackers and I must say pretty nice for his Momma as well! I think another one is in his future!

Last day of camp. He needed to dress-up like a Super Hero (aka Batman, Superman, Spiderman), but we just don't have anything like that yet! We improvised and he went as Captain America.

There he goes, off to his last day of camp.

Next thing I know, he will be off to his first day of Kindergarten.

What happened to this Jack?

                                                             Image by JM Photography

In this picture, Jack is the same age as Owen is now.

Time.slow.down.

2. These are the books currently on my bedside table. Have any of you out there in Blog Land read any of these? Which one should I go with next?

3.  More evidence that I am old. My 16-year old cousin, Emily, came for a visit recently. She was reading Us Magazine and mentioned that she could not believe that Megan Fox got married. And here is the conversation that followed:

Me: " I know and to Brian Austin Green."

She gave me a little puzzled look, so I asked her, "Em, do you know who that is?" 

Emily:  "Ahh, no!" 

I couldn't believe my ears as BH 90210 was a staple of my tween/teen years! I was a faithful watcher and if for some reason I couldn't, I VHS taped it (of course!).

Me:  "Have you ever seen Beverly Hills 90210? Do you know who Tori Spelling is?" 

Emily: "I think I have seen it, wait, is Tori Spelling a girl or a guy? Maybe I don't know who that is, but I swear I have seen that show...I think!"

Really?

4. The fruits of our labor our starting to show and someone is very excited about this.

It's a baby Beefsteak or is it a Big-Boy?
I can't remember.

5. I jumped on the bandwagon and made two things I am seeing a lot of lately. 

Headboard Bench....I followed this tutorial and it was perfect. After sanding, painting, distressing, antiquing, painting again (b/c the antiquing didn't work so well) and sanding some more...I still think it needs something. I am thinking a stenciled design on the seat of the bench?

Tie T-Shirt.....I followed this tutorial and it was so easy! Instead of sewing around the edges, I hand-sewed embroidery stitching. I like...I like a lot! More ideas brewing!

6.  I really, like really, really want to do:

Board and Batten somewhere in my house.

and 

make myself some new lamps or paint some new lamps.

and

oh, just a little project known as painting my kitchen cabinets and island a creamy white!

She did it here and in less than 24 hours. Hmmm.......

7. We attended Woofstock this past Saturday as Pat's company was volunteering at the event. And we came home with him.....

Yes, we are the proud new foster parents to a rescued Golden Retriever named Beasley.

 He is such a great dog, but the bottom line is: we are such suckers.

We will see......

8.  Giraffes in Wisconsin Dells....who knew?

9. MUST find a way to go to this grand event!

Junk Bonanza 2010

Anyone want to go with me?

10. Read THIS and then go give big hugs to your hunny and your kiddos, stat!

A Reunion in Pics.

Pat's family had a small family reunion in Green Bay a few weekends ago! 

In an attempt to get caught up, here are a few pics and tidbits from the weekend.

Group Shot...first take...not bad!

Lauren, Luke and Jack

The piano may have been the biggest hit of the whole weekend. 

Whenever I couldn't find one of my boys, there they would be sitting at the piano (pounding away!).

I was watching Jack and his cousin Luke playing at one point. They each took turns picking out the song from the song book that they "wanted to play"! Very cute!

Annie, Owen and Lauren

Pat's sister and her family belong to a country club that has an amazing outdoor pool. Seriously, amazing! I know that the boys and I could spend hours and hours there on a daily basis! Jack was the very last one to come out of the pool as he could have stayed in there all day. 

Note to self: need one.

Fact: Owen is happiest when eating.

Fact: Owen's cousin Lauren absolutely L.O.V.E.S. him to pieces.

Evidence: Look at this top-notch chauffeur service she provided the little prince, complete with sunglasses. Oh and the balls, you know, to keep it a little more manly and all.

 Fact: Motorized child vehicles are magnets for little boys (well, probably all children).

Evidence: See HERE.

The fun(ny) in trying (emphasis on trying) to take a kid group photo.

Owen, Ellie, Lauren, Jana, Luke, Jack and Annie

Nope.

Fact: When a group shot is asked of my nieces, Annie and Ellie immediately make the above faces. Seriously, never fails! But it cracks me up, I mean look at that intensity!

Nope.

Nope.

Almost.

Almost.

Nope.

N

Nope.

And nope.

And an almost again!

Argh..oh well, an almost it will be!

Luke, Janna, Ellie, Annie, Lauren and Jack

Living room picnic while watching Pete's Dragon.

Did you ever do this when you were little? My family did quite often in the summer when it was real hot outside. We did not have central air and so we would have a picnic in our family room in the basement just to be cool while we ate. 

Fact: I love the movie Pete's Dragon.

"I'll be your candle on the waaattteerrr"

It was a great weekend! We were all tuckered out by the third day. 

Can't wait for next year!

Conversations with Jack!

1.
Jack: Mommy, why do you cheer and get so happy when I wake up in the morning?

Me: Oh Jack! Because I just love you so much!


Jack: Well then, do you not love me when I am still sleeping in my bed at night time?


Me: Jack, I always love you! Always!
 

2.

Me: Emily (my 16 year-old, sweety cousin who visited us this past weekend), would you like blueberry pancakes or plain pancakes?

Emily: I'll have plain pancakes. 


Jack: Mommy, but we don't really eat planes, right? We can't eat plane pancakes, right?


Me thinking: Oh jeez, it's darn early to be explaining the difference between "plain" and "plane". 

But, I tried.

 

Warning:

This is the price I pay when forgoing scheduled nap-time to play at the beach instead.

A.

B.

C.

D.

Reminder:
While a napless meltdown is occurring, think happy thoughts, start a mental countdown to bedtime and remember the following Owen:

Uffda!