bon qui qui

i am still alive. just spending some quality time with my sisters watching Bon Qui Qui. I may or may not get around to posting the pictures of their fabulous visit.. until then, enjoy the skit from Mad TV

where, oh where, did my weekend go?

I really don't like Mondays. It means 5 more days before another weekend. This past one was outstanding. Not because we did anything out of the ordinary.. but because there was nothing on the schedule. Those are my favorite kind. A few of the weekend highlights were:

• My husband bringing me flowers on Friday after work. This rarely happens.. not because Aaron is a cold-hearted snake, but because I hate the "expected" flowers and I will scold him for buying them on my birthday or a holiday. It's way better getting them for no reason at all!
• Eating late-night ice cream with our boys. Zack kept requesting more BUMPY ROAD.
• An early Saturday morning date at IHOP. No kids. Just me and my man (and delish blueberry pancakes + stuffed french toast.)
• Going grocery shopping as a family.. I know this doesn't sound exciting, but when the checker offers your kids stickers to keep them entertained, it actually becomes quite hysterical. Before we knew it, Luke's ENTIRE face was covered with big, florescent orange stickers that said, "Thanks for shopping at Smith's" Ben had to hold his hand out to the car so Luke wouldn't bump into anything.. Have you ever taped down your eyelashes with big stickers? According to Luke, it FLIPPIN hurts when you rip them off.
• Eating lunch at Sonic with a big bounce house for the kids. Another perfect meal because #1) the boys weren't around and #2) I didn't have to cook.
• Luke begging to drink a swig of Dad's "Dr. Phil" because he was sweaty from the bounce house. Of course, after the third time he said it, he realized it was actually called Dr. Pepper.
• Sitting on a bench outside of TJ Maxx with the fam... and challenging one another to an ice-spitting contest. When it's Sonic pebble ice, those suckers can go faaaarrr.. Just watch out for pedestrians.
• Playing glow-in-the-dark-hide-and-seek In order to play correctly, each person needs a Star Trek lasor shooter that comes inside the current boxes of Frosted Mini Wheat cereal. Must be played after bedtime.
• Sleeping in on Sunday morning until 10 am. I totally dig church @ 1pm.. it gives you enough time to make blueberry pancakes that taste almost as good as IHOP's.
  
• Seeing my husband cook Sunday dinner wearing my apron. Oh how I love him.
• Hearing my boys talk about how much they LOVE the new series we're reading: Fablehaven. Ben thinks "reading a good book is exactly like watching TV in your head... except that it takes WAY longer find out what happens and sometimes it makes you fall asleep... and the characters in your head never look as cool as they do on TV." sounds about right.
  
• making a double batch of chocolate chip cookies and eating dough until Zack got a "headache in his tummy."
  
• getting a note like this under your pillow late Sunday night:

And now it's Monday. Lucky for me (and my kids) we have visitors coming in just a few hours... two of my sisters, SIX of my nieces and nephews AND A PUPPY! They will be here until Thursday.. so asta la vista, baby!

Book #2 ------ Return of the Jedi

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I am finally posting pictures of 2008's BLOG BOOK!

I went with BLURB again and even though it took a while to edit, I am very please with the outcome... as well as the price. It's 440 pages, 8X10 hardbound.. Inside is over 2500 pictures of our year. I paid $96 (including shipping.) It was printed and shipped in about 3 days. As far as I am concerned, this is the best blog printing company... and I am not even getting paid to say that. Now, here are a "few" pages of the massive book. --26 to be exact. Hopefully if will give you an idea of the different formats you have to choose from. Take a lookie.

The only complaint I have is: it seems like the pages were trimmed more than what I saw on my final draft.. Thus, a few of my borders were cut off. But I have never been a perfectionist, and I am not going to let it bother me. If you're about to do a book of your own, make sure you give your images extra chopping space (on all edges.)

My favorite pages are the kids' artwork, the funeral program and the Christmas cards... things that I want to keep anyway, but are filed away and never get looked at. I love that they are now accessible AND I don't feel guilty about throwing away the originals. And the comments from the memory post are kind of like attending your own funeral-- before you die. I really do love these.

There you have it, folks. Download your blog and get to work! It's really not THAT hard and it makes the time you spend blogging feel almost worthwhile. If you have any questions, ask away.

Where's the ALOE when you need it?

Denett and I took our kids to swim at the Marriott on Monday. It was HOT! We made sure to sunscreen our kids (because we're not completely irresponsible) but we didn't exactly protect ourselves. Little did we know we'd get fried. I actually love getting sun.. but I hate it when you can't sleep at night because the sheets hurt your skin... and my kids hate that I scream at them every time they touch me! Seriously, why do they have to be touching all the time???

All in all, it was a great day.. The highlight was most definitely Ben's cannonball. Denett and I could not stop laughing... and those flabby women hated us!

Even though I am complaining about my first sunburn, I am SO excited for summer!! (Yes, even the 100 degree temperatures.) Swimming = less laundry, exhausted kids, and sun-kissed skin.. what's NOT to like? To get us in the summer mood, we've been listening to a new music list... SUMMERTIME songs!

Is there a specific song that reminds you of Summer? Please do share..

you know you're a bad parent when....

while driving to Sonic for HAPPY HOUR (1/2 priced slushies from 2-4 pm)

Son #2 says: I am so hot, I would give anything for a slushie.

then

Son #1 says: Really? Would you rather have a slushie or a MOM?

and

Son #2 responds: Um.... I accidentally...... kind of....... want a slushie more.