You gotta love the Blue's Brothers! I believe I have mentioned before that our oldest was invited to a special "Sweet 16" party. The family went all out! The invites were like wedding invitations and the theme was "Famous Couples". His girlfriend was unable to attend due to a family trip and he chose the next best person "J". "J" is a great kid and filled in nicely as Jake from the famous montage. From the fedora's to the shades and the infamous jailhouse knuckle tattoos (no they are not real). These two really did their homework. I believe Belushi & Aykroyd would be proud of these two young men. While dropping the duo off I snuck a peek at J.F.K ,Willie Nelson & a Barbie and Ken also making their entrance. To be young again and carefree. So here I am blogging and updating and looking forward to the pick up at 11pm. Maybe I can snap a few shots from the party goers tonight.

Meeting "Miles"

We had to go and see what all the hype is about. We really aren't Nascar fans but this sculpture has blanketed the news and papers for about a week now. Nascar is coming to town next weekend and we wanted to catch a peek before all the fans head into town. So on our way out & about yesterday we stopped in to meet "Miles'. Appropriately named after the track better know as "The Monster Mile". Again I know nothing about Nascar but this giant monster was a sure pleaser for the kids. He stands 3 stories tall and really has a real (life-size) car in his hand. We were told by the security guard on duty that his red eyes glow at night. The boys enjoyed hearing that. And here again out little man has a mix between the peace sign and the cub scout sign. I suppose it's a phase.

Graduation Day!

Our little man was totally psyched when he made his last exit through those preschool halls. In fact My hubby and I were taken back. Here was our little man whooping it up on his exit and making the peace sign. If this is the rowdiness he exudes at his preschool graduation then can you image what I'm in for at high school! I was misty eyed as I watched my baby graduate. It seems all too real that in just two short years our oldest will be crossing that bridge in adulthood. My goodness how the years have flown by.

Hope everyone had a safe and happy Memorial Day. We had a strange virus run through the family on Friday, Saturday & Monday. We have all seemed to recuperate and are back to eating again.

The 80's

Anyone feelin' like the 80's tonight? I am!!! I suppose you can say I've taken another memorable trip down memory lane....no I haven't been drinking! I was randomly sifting through the free movies on OnDemand and came across some great 80's hits. Pretty in pink, 16 candles, Breakfast Club. So it got me thinking. WOW! Has it been 20 years + that have really passed. It all seems like yesterday. While some memories are fleeting, others seem almost as vivid as what I ate for lunch today. I remember my first smooch, pets I had (annoyed), Bob's Big Boy meals with Grandma Crosse, swimming, eating my giant white flop-eared rabbit (long story). I begin to remember the 80's when I hear great songs on the radio such as the songs sang by Tears for Fears or Talking Heads. These songs always seem to take me back in time if even for the briefest of moments. Where were you in 1980 something? Rockin' out to Madonna with your bangle bracelets and legwarmers or living like a rock star with Tommy Lee and the bad boys with Motley Crue?

My little man

This is my little man! Here he is posing his usual look...mouth wide open. This boy has a lot to say. Yesterday he was in the backyard with his brother and some friends playing on the playset and mucking up the backyard as usual. From inside the house I could hear him blow his whistle and shout out a command: "SILENCE". Either I have a natural born leader on my hands or he will be a dictator to some unknown country in the future. What a proud momma I am!

Mommies & Music

Happy belated Mother's Day to all of you momma's out there. My Mother's Day went pretty well. In lieu of gifts I simply asked my hubby to tackle 12 items on his "Honey-do" list. The majority of the taskings we small (like hanging a picture). Others were a little more involved like bringing all of the yard sale stuff up from the basement. But what a trooper, he did them all. YEAH!!! The boys were sweet and made me homemade cards. I even cooked my hubby's favorite dinner last night (yes I know it was Mother's Day) but I too was craving roast beef with gravy and scalloped potatoes. It's been cold and rainy here this past weekend and the mother of all wind and rain storms hit us last night and hasn't left yet. We've had 50 mile a hour winds with unbelievable downpours. I don't want to hear a thing about a drought in this area for awhile.

So what's up with my new music? Well I'll tell you a bit of music trivia I heard today. Apparently today is Steve Windwood's 60th birthday (I just love his voice). Before he branched out on his own he was the singer and piano player for the Spencer Davis Group. The amazing part of this story is that he wrote this song "Gimme some lovin'" at the age of 15. Unbelievable! I can't imagine my oldest writing a song at the wee age of 15. Yes, I know I love the oldies :-)

The "Quicker-Picker-Upper"

No I'm not referring to Bounty! I am the "quicker-picker-upper". It is my duty to pick up all the camping stuff and restore it to it's proper location. While the boys do cart their dirty clothes upstairs for the wash.... there it sits until I come by and throw in in the washer and dry & fold. With the exception of Kyle's clothes I also put the clean clothes away. And I didn't even go on the camping trip. However, I am not complaining! I can't stand to camp. My parents ruined me on this along time ago. We always camped when I was a kid for summer vacation at the beach. This has lead me to despise camping. Although I have no bad memories of camping as a child. In fact I liked it. But now as an adult, well its just not my cup of tea. So I leave all scouting events to Tom and gladly clean up the aftermath. As long as I don't have to sleep in a tent, swat at bugs, or have to use a porta-pot in the night, all is well being the "quicker-picker-upper".

What happened to April?

Today was a busy day! Heck, the whole month of April seemed to fly by. Between baseball games, scouting events and life in general I seem to be pretty occupied. Some have called this a "rat race", I suppose I'm the rat always on the run for that next piece of cheese. Today was no different. I was out the door and on my way to another field trip with my preschoolers. The farm was out destination and I was all prepared with hand sanitizer and tissues. After Andy and I breathed in all the fresh farm air we were off to the commissary. What a treat, NOT!!! Apparently me & everyone else with an I.D. had the same notion. The commissary was packed. Bumper to bumper carts and rude people were among my company. I only hit the commissary once a month for all my grocery needs, with Tom stopping in once or twice to replenish milk & eggs. So you can image my cart is packed and most days I end up parking my full cart over by the deli and finishing up with a second cart. Then it's home to put everything away. Grocery days are the best days for the boys. They tear through the food and never know where to start first. I have caught on over the years and now lock all duplicates up in a foot locker and replenish my pantry upstairs as needed. If I let them eat at that pace we would have no food (snacks) left by the 15th of the month.

Once home and grocery task accomplished the laundry was calling for me. A faint "Wash me" could be heard from the piles of clothes in each of our rooms. While today wasn't officially "wash day" I did throw a load in for the guys since they will be camping this weekend (what a thoughtful mom & wife). The boys are attending the Scout Jamboree this weekend, which happens to be in our area this year. All of my guys really enjoy camping and roughing it. I on the other hand prefer to sleep in a bed with electricity and all the amenities one needs at my fingertips. I'm not much of a camper at all. There's nothing attractive to me than having to pee in the woods. Nope, not my cup of tea.