Yes, that's right

Do the messy art stuff at Grandma's house.

Last lake trip of the summer?

Say it isn't so. But I think it might have been. Bummer.

Please enjoy these snapshots while I go bemoan the whole 'being a grown up and going to work' thing.

3 July 2011

15 June 2011

9 June 2011

Two Thoughts Tuesday: Lessons Learned Lakeside

1) The larger the wake, the farther and higher the rocks will skip. This is not only fun to watch, but also makes you feel like a champion rock skipper. The downside to this of course is that the larger the wake, the more likely you are to end up with a wet bottom. And soaked children. Who think the best thing to do when drenched is crawl up into the hammock with Mama. Or give her a nice big hug.

2) No matter how breath-taking the view or sweet the photo opportunities,

it is never enough to distract you from what a careless job you did shaving when the cruel sun hits your legs. This is why one should always carry tweezers in her lake bag alongside the towels and sunscreen.  Otherwise, a person having just a touch of OCD might spend the entire day staring at the three stray hairs on her knee. Or so I'd imagine anyway.

Color Me Happy

My favorite part of dying Easter eggs is seeing all the colorful bowls lined up before the party starts and the mess ensues. I think this must in some way relate back to my 8 year old self's obsession with Rainbow Brite. An obsession which also probably explains why I like chunky belts and moon boots, but that's probably a story for another day.

Anyway, please enjoy these pictures of the children coloring eggs with Grandma at the lake.

 Yes, that's Grandpa over there steadfastly ignoring the entire process. Not a fan of arts and crafts time.  But he is more than happy to spend countless minutes looking at smiley faces with them. So I guess it all evens out. Somehow.

My second favorite part? All those colored eggs of course. Can you find mine?

Third favorite part? All those yummy egg salad sandwiches that are just on the horizon. Yum yum.

Wake Up Little Suzie

Yes, I know that it's supposed to be Susie, but my mom spells it Suzie so I took a little creative liberty there. Isn't the first time I've done so, and won't be the last either. Anyway, today is my Mama's birthday, and in the off chance that I forget to call her tonight like I did last year, I thought I'd devote an entire post just to her. And you know what that means, right? Vintage pictures!!! Two of my favorites actually.

 

Awwww. Just look at those little shoes! And whose face is that staring back at me--my mother or my daughter? I'm not sure. I'm a bit confused.

And this next one? Well it just makes me laugh. Every time I see it.

According to the back of it, this is my mother's second grade picture. But what I really want to know is who drew the chain link fence over her face, and why? Or is it a grid for target practice? Like I said, makes me giggle.

Happy Birthday Mama!

The Final Monday

I never thought I'd see this day. Or rather that this day would see a blog post, yet here I am on the 27th day of December staying strong on the whole daily posting thing. Though I do have to tell you that in the month of January, you'll be lucky if you get a post a week. I believe they call this a recovery period.

So yea. Monday. And even worse, the Monday after Christmas. That's a whole lot of boring right there: clean up, restore a bit of order, laundry, groceries, and not even a gym date to break the monotony up. Add into that the final meal with the Gparents, and you've pretty much set yourself up for a day spent in the doldrums.

Then after the kids went off school, I contemplated perhaps deChristmasifying the house. I stumbled into the dining room and was met with this:

Yea, that mess of stuff has been sitting there since I Christmasified the house at the beginning of the month. I never got around to putting these unused pieces away. Martha has taken back my Quality Homekeeper's card. Having been put face to face with my own sloth, I decided to wallow in it one more day. I'll tackle the dismantling of the decorations that had the honor of making it off of the dining room table tomorrow. Maybe. 

We finally wound the day down with a little piano practice for Chase.

It's like the blind leading the blind here. Sometimes I think that I dreamed having those years of piano lessons. Musical aptitude = nil. And so does this post, really.

On the 26th day of December we...

Went shopping...I just loved these galoshes.

So happy and springy. But I didn't think I'd have anything to wear them with, so they didn't make it into this pile o'purchases.

And then in my true paradoxical nature, I went from obscene consumerism to watching The Corporation.

After 2.5 hours of seriousness, we had to lighten things up a bit.

And then put on our dancing shoes...

 

So we could properly chase UFOs.

And that, my friends, requires a whole different documentary.

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

Oh Bernard, we're going to miss you and your mischievous ways. But we're oh so excited for Santa to come to our house tonight. And how do we show excitement? Why we tackle our sibling of course. 

But at least Chase's hair looks good while he's at the bottom of that sister mush. See his new haircut?

And then the excitement hit a new high when Grandma and Grandpa arrived at last from the 'Wood.

After which much mayhem and silliness ensued.

But not for Mama because she had to make the Christmas Eve chili.

And it was good...

Just ask Mr. Poindexter here.

Or little Ms. Neat & Tidy here:

After dinner, we listened to Christmas carols, played Snow Monster and made a lovely holiday craft.

Then it was time to leave cookies & milk for Santa. It's kind of a miracle that any sweets were left on the plate though because every time we turned around, Amaya was cramming another one in her mouth. I finally distracted her by letting them use a marker to sign their names to Santa's letter. Tricky Mama, I am.

After observing my daughter and all of her sugar intake, I did the only logical thing--I sent her up for bath and bed. But there was no rest for the Mellon--Santa required my assistance since apparently the elves really are on strike. So the big man in red just dumped all of the presents in our family room for me to arrange under the tree. And by me, I mean Grandma.

Santa also forgot to assemble a few things, so I had to do that too. And by me, I mean Grandpa.

Of course, the problem there is that G-Pa got a little distracted by the toy guitar.

Who says Christmas is only for kids anyway?

I Can't Say 'Thank You' Enough

I know I've been picking on him just a wee bit this week, but today I'd like wish my dad and all the other men & women who have served or are currently serving our country a Happy Veterans Day.

Thank you so very much for answering the call, for all of the sacrifices you have made and will continue to make, and for proudly standing in harm's way to defend our freedom. God Bless America!

Rebuttal: Dad

So I got an email from my dad today in response to yesterday's post. Thankfully, he hasn't written me out of the will yet. Here in his own typed words, Dad's official statement regarding the allegations that he schmoozes his way out of speeding tickets.

Just to set the record straight.    When I was dating your mom, I traded my VW beetle for a Ford Pick-up Truck.  The day I bought it, I  picked up your mom and then went up to interstate 68 to see how fast it would run. I got caught that day, and I was awarded a ticket, not a warning!  Tell Andy that when his hair turns gray he will get a break too. 

There's only one flaw in your reasoning there Papa--Drew doesn't have any hair to go gray. Guess there won't be any ticket avoiding in his future unless by some miracle he learns how to drive like he has sense. Given the odds of that, I might as well start planning on wallpapering my bedroom with traffic citations. très chic

Just one more question: how many tickets did you rack up while cruising along on this contraption?