back in BIZ...

My camera is new and better than ever.. and we are back in business.. The lemonade kind.

Ever since our money lesson about a YEAR ago, my kids have been BEGGING me to do a lemonade stand. I am TOTALLY COOL with having pretend stores in my house and all. But being out in the heat... getting sticky... and asking other people to dig in their purses for a quarter, is NOT on my list of favorite things to do. We originally planned on doing it the week that Aaron's G-pa passed away... and then we had to go to a funeral, so I was really hoping they would just forget about it. When Ben's birthday rolled around and we asked him what he wanted to do to celebrate, this is what he said, "ALL I want for my birthday is to have a lemonade stand!" Oh geez. I had to pinky promise him that we would do it the week after his birthday because I wasn't doing it over the 4th. So, today was the big day.

My boys could HARDLY sleep last night because they were so excited... they woke up bright and early and made sure to put on their yellow "business" shirts... (because WHO would ever buy lemonade from a kid who wasn't wearing yellow?) Ben couldn't find his reunion shirt. I may have chucked it thinking "they will never wear these again" but little did I know. After a minute of stressing about it, he wiped his forehead and said, "GOOD thing I have another yellow shirt!" Right-O.

We headed to the park (that thankfully had water to play in) and sold a whopping 23 glasses of lemonade for a quarter a cup.. which equals a total of $5.75. When you consider that the lemonade, ice and cups cost about $7.50, it makes for a pretty SAD business day. We paid $1.75 to sit out in the heat for an hour and beg people to buy Country Time. Was it worth it? Definitely NOT... but my kids would beg to differ.

We did get several moms who were actually excited to buy. They would say things like, "It's been forever since I've seen these! I am so glad you're doing this!" I felt like saying, "I not very glad about it!" But I just smiled and acted like I was enjoying every minute of it. It was fun to see my kids squeal about every sale. It's crazy what kids think is FUN, isn't it?

*A big thanks to my gal pals who came out with their kids to buy a glass! I appreciate them keeping me company and for supporting our family in our business endeavors.

**and a HUGE thanks to all those who wrote memories on the previous post! I need to break my camera more often and beg for compliments! Seriously, I felt like it was my birthday yesterday! LOVE TO YOU ALL! OXOX

Strolling down memory lane..

Do you remember when?

Since everyone else is doing it (and because my camera is out of commission..)

I am doing THE MEMORY post.

Here are the rules.

1. As a comment on my blog, leave a memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember! If we're only blogging friends, write about a post that is most memorable. If you don't have a blog and don't know how to sign in, please comment as anonymous.

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll be sure to write one about you... either on your blog, in my comment box, or I will email you back!

3. If the memory happens to involve my husband, please include him! I'm SLOWLY converting him to blogging... one of these days he will except the truth and be an active member of my blogging world.

4. If you can't say something nice, don't say nothin' at all ☺

Can't wait to hear ♫♪ Memories.. of the way we were...♪♫

Camera-less

Our camera is on the fritz.. I know, you don't believe me. After a crazy holiday weekend, it threw a tantrum and won't turn on anymore. Yes, it's brand new and YES, it's going back to the store. My husband knows me well and bought a lifetime warranty, baby.

It's amazing how MUCH you want something when you don't have it. Believe it or not, sometimes I go a week without taking a SINGLE picture. But it's only been 24 hours since my camera broke and I cannot tell you how many times I've wanted to use it!!

What? You want to know WHAT I wanted to take a picture of? well, let me tell ya..

#1- Zack grew hair in unusual places: After he licked the brownie bowl (without his shirt of course) he had a beautiful chocolate goatee AND two perfectly-coated brown nipples. He ran to Aaron and said, "Daddy, look at my choc-lut HIPPOS!" The picture would have been oh! so cute.. but you'll have to use your imagination.

#2) FHE on the neighborhood train: Zach and Kate Hulet are some of the coolest neighbors ever. Their kids are mighty lucky.. not just because they are named after U.S. Presidents, but because they their parents build incredible toys for them. If you need proof, just watch this 3 minute video of their little boy's room.

Who needs Disneyland when you have a tire swing, slide and climbing wall in your bedroom? Anyway, we decided to buy a house next to the Hulets JUST SO our kids can ride their train. What train, you ask? Well, if my camera was working, I would show you the pictures.. Maybe someone else took a few shots of tonight and wants to email them to me. If not, the rest of you will have to suffer.

#3) Luke's black eye: Luke is a lover, not a fighter. But SOMEHOW he woke up this morning with one blackish, purplish eye. I kept asking him what happened, but he couldn't think of anything. I finally concluded that Ben elbowed him in the middle of the night. But by lunchtime, it started getting lighter.. and by dinnertime, it was just a bunch of tiny red dots under his eyelid. Bruises just don't disappear that quickly, do they? Nope. But suction marks/blood blisters do.. And then it hit me. Just before dinner we had this conversation:

Me: Were you playing with the vacuum hose last night?

Luke: Yeah.

Me: Did you put it over your eye?

Luke: Yeah.

Me: Was it hard to get off?

Luke: Yeah.

Me: Did it hurt?

Luke: Not really. (but with his NYC accent, it's pronounced "Not Willy")

And the mystery was solved. Again.. the story would have been much better with a picture of his adorable, round face and black eye.. but such is the life without a camera.

*Counting down the days until it's fixed....

Fourth of July Festivities

This past week was so busy and chaotic! We need some R&R after our 4th of July celebration. I don't believe we got into bed before midnight ONE single day last week. We spent the evening of the 4th at the Simpson's house... and BOY! do they know how to throw a party! There was yummy food, a cotton candy machine, ice cream cones, misters coming from the garage, four wheeling, and LOTS of fireworks. And, unfortunately (for Aaron) we took a bazillion pictures...

Thanks to Rachel and Tom for throwing a killer party! Our kids will never recover!

birthday party

The 4th of July weekend is the BEST TIME TO PARTY! I wonder if our others kids will eventually feel bad when they realize that EVERY YEAR Ben has had a huge, crazy, invite-the-entire-neighborhood kind of party when all they get is cupcakes and a little confetti. But it's their fault for being born in the winter (or mine for not wanting another summer pregnancy.) Party #7 was a success... and quite scaled down from his first birthday when we had over 100 people show. This was just a few kids and their parents. We went swimming, BBQ'd hot dogs, threw water balloons, had a killer Transformer pinata, ate cake and swam some more. It was a lot of fun and Ben got spoiled. He has a great group of kids here- ranging in age from 2 to 10. We love our friends and neighbors. They are our family away from home!

Every year I make a delicious flag cake for Ben's birthday. It's made with cheesecake pudding and whipped cream topped with fresh strawberries and blueberries. This year, about 3 hours before the party started, he asked if he could have a flag cake AND a Transformer cake. So we made some extra chocolate cupcakes, threw a couple of miniature TF toys on it and we were set. I know Ben is probably ready to part with his traditional flag cake, but I am not ready to stop making it! It's just too yummy! This year it was half the size it usually is, so we're taking baby steps.







The craziest part about this entire night was NOT that I got chocolate frosting on my chest... but that right after this picture was taken, I left Aaron with a mess to clean up and I rushed off to a wedding. I went with wet hair and stayed out until midnight. It was crazy (and oh, so much fun!) Thanks to all who came and especially to Aaron for supporting me and my love to throw parties!