hello?

is there anybody in there?

just nod if you can hear me.

is there any one home?

pink floyd. hee, hee

ok, so i haven't posted in a while. and yes, my life is busy. most of the time i feel like i am mopping up a tsunami with a q-tip. but that will be another post. anyways, i got all worried that i had inadvertently put too much out there about the children of the corn. so i went back and edited all 86 posts (in one sitting, in a hard chair, and my @$$ may never wake up) and gave my kids nicknames. it won't detract from the writing. (hahaha) my oldest girl is called little mama now. it fits. my son is simply the boy. and my youngest daughter....well, many, many, many nicknames popped into my head. but they also probably would be brought up later "in session" so i avoided those, even though they are quite accurate. and landed on calling my littlest sweetpea. cause most of the time she is. plus, its easier to understand than "honeybadger" which may be funny now (and also more apropos) but will not involve me using old you tube videos to explain to sweetpea when she's older.i also almost went with calling sweetpea "the third" but doubted that many of my cool friends would get my nerdy sci-fi reference there. and collectively, i will call them the children of the corn. plus, i changed our family and friends names to initials for the most part. i also plan to change the name of the blog...maybe.....if i can think of something.

so as i was editing the posts....i was also reading. i used to be fairly entertaining. ok, maybe not like, kimmel or conan funny....but at least relevant and somewhat witty. and then the children of the corn took over my blog like they did my life!!!

so i am going to try to post more often, and i am going to be trying to mix it up. ideas from other blogs. lists. random thoughts or things i noticed, and wanted to talk about with an adult (or grown up...or older than 10...audience). current events. recipes. things i nailed (or failed) from pinterest. maybe some school stuff.

but of course, the children of the corn will make regular appearances. how can they not take up a bunch of space on my blog, when they take up so much space in my heart ? (and take up so much time...and money....and patience....and sleep....haha)

well crap!

dangit. somehow summer is already over. how did that even happen? i mean, wasn't it just june? and now its mid-august, and i have to report to work on monday morning. sheesh.

we have really had a fun summer. i honestly can't remember more fun. the heat has been brutal, and put a damper on some of the things we wanted to do, just because its really hard to want to do anything outside when its 108 degrees every dang day. stupid heat wave.

but we did manage to swim...kc pool, my moms, our neighbors. we did arts and crafts at cousin camp. we went to the movies (a bunch!) and roller skating. we took our first family vacation to colorado. we started repainting the inside of the house.

and mostly, the kids played. and played and played. the big kids had a lot of fun playing super-imaginative games together this summer. they played house, and college, and camping. they played "vet-express" (which involves putting all the stuffed animals in the big thomas the train tent) and pet store. they played board games and hide and seek. it was just a relaxed fun time to be together.

and it passed all too quickly. but before i get all mopey, there will always be another summer! only 9 mos to go!!!

and in all fairness, though i do adore summer, i love fall too! so much to look forward to...almost all our family has a birthday between september and november! the state fair. halloween. cooler temps. playoff baseball. football season, hockey season. a wedding (not mine! lol!). and thanksgiving.

but this summer i did discover (haha thanks emily) the biggest coolest time wasting site ever. pinterest. love it. can't live without it now. i tell you this because 1) i will probably reference it in future blog posts and 2) every now and then i may change up my format just a bit, to include cool things i have done in my classroom, or great books i read, or some of our favorite recipes, because all of these can be shared on pinterest. lol. i am that dorky. but it is fun, and has given me some wonderful recipes, some great ideas for my classroom, my home, clothes....the list is too long. and lots of people post their ideas from there blog, so every once in a while don't be shocked to see that. and i promise you that if i am posting a recipe on here, i have made it, and it is very very yummy!!!!

let me know what you think!

colorado!

so, long story short, i took the kids on vacation to colorado for a week. thank goodness for uncle b! the kids and i flew to colorado for a vacation. i know. i knew as soon as i booked it that i was insane. but it wasn't as bad as i imagined it would be....but i have a very vivid imagination!

needless to say, the kids were thrilled to take an airplane! and really, if i had a big suv or minivan, i would have driven. but i don't. and i couldn't imagine the drive....so we flew. and the way there was WONDERDFUL! the flight was terribly bumpy, but the kids were amazing. ellie slept the entire way.

we did so much in our time there....i felt like we hardly slowed down to catch our breath! but it was a great time. MANY of the pictures are stuck in my camera, and i will try to upload them at some point this week. but above, the little kids are riding on polar bears at the denver zoo's merry go round. the kids loved the zoo. especially the polar bears, seals and jackals. the dallas zoo is great, but we don't have anything like that. oh, and the hippo was a big hit too.

the big kids are outside the denver aquarium in this picture. most of the pics from the aquarium are also stuck in my camera. but the aquarium (while crazy pricey!) was one of sweetpea's favorite things! so it was a good time!

b and the children of the corn at casa bonita. casa bonita is something everyone should experience. its just something else. its pancho-esqe food....most everything is all you can eat....and the quality appeared to be about the same. (for me, thats a drawback, but i do know some people that love them some panchos!!!) but then, there restaurant is clearly the attraction. there just aren't words. there are puppet shows, and a pirate cave, and an arcade, and a mercado...with sweets and everything. and there were a bunch of light ups for sale. and tables everywhere. and little melodramas with captured princesses and pirates. oh, and don't forget cliff-diving. what's mexican food without a cliff-diving show while you eat it??
and of course, i took little mama to the american girl store in denver. she had to go. and she loved it.

and i am leaving tons out. we saw cars 2. we saw the pirates exhibit at the museum. aquarium. zoo. dinosaur ridge (which was REALLY REALLY cool) met some of b's friends. visited rocky mtn. national park (which was wonderful) and also got to spend an evening with my bff from college, mary, and her boys. which was a great night....

so all in all, a surprisingly good vacation. a little drama here and there, and a few time outs, but overall, not as bad as i pictured. but, i am in no hurry to do it again either! haha!