Way to go Ryan!!!

My boy is so talented!!!

Awards for two different contests were awarded at tonight's PTA meeting, an Art Contest and a Citizenship Essay Contest. Ryan entered both contests and won Honorable Mention in both. We are super proud of him and he is quite proud of himself. The theme of the essay contest was "Pride is Forever". Here is his essay:

I am proud that we have a president. He tells us what to do. He helps us control our county. He tells us to stay calm when we are scared. I am glad that he keeps us safe. I am proud of my president. When I grow up I wish I could be the president.

Short and sweet!!

The theme of the art contest was "Wow" . I asked Ryan what made him say "Wow" and he said, "cool guys on skateboards." So that is what he drew. On the left is a guy on a skateboard ramp with spiked hair and a skull t-shirt and on the right are spectators.



Here are some pictures from tonight:

Ryan getting his Essay award from the principal

So proud!!

(the medal he got was sweet... it was a gold tiger paw with his name engraved on the back)

Ryan and some of the other Art contest participants

(notice Ryan chatting it up with the girl beside him...always the charmer)

Ryan with his awards and picture

Oh no she didn't....

Oh yes, she did!!!!!

See this post for details.

And no, Bobby, it does not look like this...

Our First Date

October 19, 1997... Bobby picked me up at my Mom and Dad's house and took me for ice cream at Baskin Robbins and to Freeman Park to swing on the swings..... our very first date. Who would have known that eleven years later we would be dropping our children off at Mom and Dad's so that we could go back to that same Baskin Robbins and to that same park to celebrate that special day.

Love you Babe!!!

My Children and Gas (yes that kind of gas)....

One of the downfalls of the public school system is that your children learn a whole new vocabulary. Sometimes this is great...Ryan came home last week reeling off all of the names of Christopher Columbus' ships from that historic voyage in 1492. But he has also learned lots of other words that we tried so hard to keep out of his young vocabulary.....most recently...fart. Yes, everyone does it but I hate hearing that word come out of my sweet little 6-year-old's mouth. And of course he had to teach it to his sister.

So in an effort to teach the children a little decorum, I taught them the phrase "pass gas", a slightly more gentile term that was not quite so offensive to my Mommy ears. Of course, as I will illustrate below, it did not turn out exactly as I planned.

Illustration #1

Mommy (walking into the laundry room and opening the garage door): "I smell gas!"

Meg: Ryyyyyaaaaaannn (with nose turned up and in a disgusted tone)

I had to explain to them that the stench was from the lawn mower in the garage and it smelled like gasoline because Daddy just mowed the lawn. There was no one to blame for the foul odor except for Daddy. Which now that I think of it, is often the case:)

Illustration #2

Only moments later we were in the car headed to Maw Maw's. Out of seemingly nowhere, Ryan asks, "Do camels shoot gas"? Bobby turned around and looked at him very quizzically, but Mommy can always translate...... Do camels PASS gas? Of course I guess I do see his point, sometimes gas....passes and sometimes..... it shoots!!

But why did Ryan asking this question??? Check out the picture below. Notice the noxious fumes emanating from the camels rear and the bystander saying "PU".......boys???

Photo Shoot

Monday was a perfect day for pictures. It was slightly overcast, the sun was peeking through just a little to provide perfect backlighting plus .......the kids were out of school and I actually had time to take some pictures. I did try to get artsy-fartsy and take some extreme closeups and serious pics. Some of them turned out pretty good I think.

Picture Catch Up...

It has been so crazy around here that I have fallen behind posting pictures. So prepare for picture overload....

Picture Ryan drew for an Art contest at school. The theme was "Wow". Bonus points to whoever can tell me what this is a picture of!!

Erin's Baby Shower

We decorated onesies (this was my favorite one that I painted)

Sarah, Babs, and Erin

Harvest Party in Mississippi

Ellis and David chatting

All the kiddos

The Girls

The Boys

Me and Bob

Ryan's Star of the Week Poster

The Bartlett Festival

Jack living dangerously



Picture Day at Meg's Preschool

I wanted some outside shots

I hope the photographers turned out better:)

More Mississippi Pictures

I HAVE A CAR!!!!

I am too exhausted from haggling to go into all of the details, but I am the proud owner of an '05 Toyota Corolla. It is so pretty and shiny:) It is white... which I am not happy about, but I will deal. I am not one of those crazy people who actually wash their car on a regular basis. The only time my car gets washed is if it happens to be in the driveway when my kids are playing with the hose. I give them sponges and let them go at it. Needless to say, a 4 and 6 year old don't give the best car washes, but hey...I take the help where I can get it. So anyway, I guess my pretty white car will be a lovely shade of dirt within a matter of months.

Actually I found a place online where I can get magnetic polka dots. How cool would that be!!! Bobby swears that he would not drive the "clown car", but I think it would be super cool. I would love to be the lady witht he polka-dotted car. Of course would move them around periodically so they don't unevenly fade my car.....but can white paint fade???

Oh and did I mention that it is pimped out! Coming from my very base model Civic, all I really wanted was power doors and locks, but this sucker is loaded. My radio actually tells me who is singing the songs, how cool is that??? Now would I have actually paid more for those features...probably not, but when you are buying used you get what they are sellin'. Plus no car payments!!! That is the best part of having a gently used vehicle, sure we could have put a nice chuck down on a new Civic, but I hate bills and I didn't want to add any more.

As my buddy Kris put it, we went from a Honda family to a Toyota family and I think it is the beginning of a beautiful relationship:)

The Saga Continues....

Well, many people have been wondering about the car situation. From the picture and story below you can probably deduce that Bobby's Accord was totaled in the accident a couple of weeks ago. Thankfully the owner of the vehicle (but not the driver) had insurance. The insurance was with State Farm and they handled everything wonderfully. We got full value for the car, new car seats, and we were reimbursed for all towing and car rental expenses. We love you State Farm!!

But things can never go that smoothly. A week to the day after the accident my Civic decided to die. Well...not actually die but catch a serious illness that would cost $800 to cure. We decided that since we had been planning on purchasing a "new" vehicle in the Spring anyway we would go ahead and do that now instead of sinking more money into the old one.

So where does that leave us. Bobby's car totaled....My car seriously ill....Bobby pimpin' in the rental Ford Focus....Barbee bumming vehicles off of very sweet parents and friends. In search of two "new" cars.......

After an exhaustive search, Bobby finally found a pre-owned Camry that he loves and he traded in my Civic to them "as is". I am still searching and I loath it!!! You would think buying a vehicle would be fun. I don't need much. I just want another Civic that is a few years newer, has power locks and windows and four doors. But apparently with gas prices soaring, Civics are the hot vehicle. Hey People, I was driving Civics before they were "green". I have been loving my "go-cart" and saving the Benjamins since I was 18. So if you see a gently used Civic for sale, holla my way.