Celtic Woman

If you've never seen their outdoor concert in Ireland on PBS late at night during a telethon, you don't know what you're missing!  I like Celtic Woman for the romance & history ad Andy likes them for the thunderous drums & Braveheart-ishness.  Our fabulous friends Jack and Jen took us to the concert at a local amphitheater venue just 5 miles from our house.  Samantha the Magnificent came over to watch the boys, and they were, quote: "Great!"  (It would take another blog entry to go on and on about how wonderful Sam is!).  Anyhoo ... we were the youngest at the concert by 50 years, but we still all enjoyed ourselves, even despite the $5 bottles of Pepsi!

Yay!  We're out without kids!  

Jack & Jen

No cameras were allowed, but I tried to get a pic of the bagpipe player on our way out ... in the mass exodus, I got bumped, and ended up getting a pic of this sweet nun instead!  LOL

My favorite song was 

Spanish Lady

And the dancing fiddler was as always, most entertaining!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wzMfSiOkMQ

Parking Lot

I cannot overstate how obsessed attached Aiden is to his cars.  They don't have to be Matchbox, but be really anything that has four (or more!) wheels.  He organizes them on the dining room table to keep the organization from being demolished by his little brother.  His growing imagination and real world role-play encompasses his cars.  I present to you: "Parking Lot."

Another Day at the Duck Park

We absolutely adore the duck park in town.  The boys and I made it a date last week, and we hit the library, the pub next door, and then the duck park 2 blocks from that.  We worked on manners and eating etiquette at lunch, and Aiden even ordered his own lunch for the first time.  He was quite proud of himself.  And the park was abounding with ducks: the boys were actually overwhelmed!  ...  and then there was the squirrel! 

 Reading a book while waiting for his sandwich

It's a Germany Day

It's raining cats and dogs.  Mom and I always call days like this Germany days, because they remind us of our stint in Bavaria.  But I'm not complaining.  It's a wonderful change from sunshine, forces us to relax and take care of inside business, is great sleeping weather, and washes the world clean again.  Reminds me of Jesus and how his blood washes us clean of all our ugliness and sin ... revealing a clean, refreshed new creation.  And that's just not a one-time deal: "the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfullness."  ~Lamentations 3:22-23

Proof That We're Sick

In accordance with things that Aiden wants (or doesn't want!) to do, he is either "sick again" or "feewin' awl better!".  Ashton and I do not have that luxury: we are definitely sick.  I'd post a pic of me, but no one really needs to see me in this state of no-makeup and stuffiness. 

Such a sad, I-don't-feel-well face!

Does the mess and boy-wiping-nose-with-shirt say it all or what?!

Action Shots in the Park

The Vacuum That Sucks ... Even Better Than Ever!

"Sucking" in our society is never a good thing, unless you are a vacuum cleaner!  I was freaking out yesterday, (secretly pricing Dysons!) when the Green Machine lost its sucking ability.  But Andy mustered up the energy after a 12 hour shift at work and went to town trouble shooting.  1 plumbing snake and 1 clog of dog hair, long girl hair w/ a nucleus of a pretzel M&M later, and the 4 year old $79 Green Machine is back and better than ever!  For this clean freak, the day is looking up!

Graphic T's

My fam was a bit obsessed with sending graphic t's to Aiden when he was little.  Now Ashton wears them - they just make me laugh and think of my family!

Fence & Tuck

Aiden loves to watch the animals that visit the bird feeder.  With the only prompting being, "Aiden, what do you want to name it?", he doles out names for the non-feathered critters.
Drum-roll, please!

  "Fence" is the chipmunk and "Tuck" is the rabbit.  I love my peculiar kid!

Boys In June

In my opinion, my little munchkins have grown quite a bit in just the past few months, so here are some pics of them from June.  Ashton has since had a few haircuts and cut 2 more teeth, and Aiden is a big talker as well as a big listener.  I can't believe he's almost 3 & a half!  So here they are doing what they do best: causing messes & general pandemonium around our house, keeping me mopping, punishing, laughing and shaking me head in amazement.  (I also sneak in as many hugs and kisses as I can!)

"Mom.  Mom!  Mom!!!  We ate awl da pwetzels fwom da bag.  Da bag fwom yur purse, Mom!"

If I could add the noise of wooden blocks crashing onto wood floors, I would.  Just so you could get the full effect.  (And that shirt was Andy's as a kid - adorable!)

"Mom!  Check out how high my SR71 can fwy!  Look Mom, Look!!!"

"Aiden, can you give me a sweet face?"

"So what are you up to, Aiden?  You look like you're up to no good."

"Ah, yes, I should have known.  Turning on Daddy's XBox ... just for the fun of it ..."

"And possibly to be able to give this smug look!"

The Black Veil Has Been Lifted

After 3 weeks of walking around in a funk, avoiding tackling any great tasks, even blogging, I am jumping up and down, screaming out of glee and relief, making a sleepy Ashton cry his eyes out in confusion because after misplacing it, I finally found

the camera!  The little red camera.  The little red camera that we have only had for 6 months.  The little red camera from my in-laws!  The little red camera that held all the photos from my parents' visit & mine-n-Andy's 36 hour romantic getaway to NYC.  To make a long story short, I mysteriously misplaced the camera just 2 days after we came back from The City and I had checked everywhere: the grocery store, the 4Runner & all my bags.  Out of desperation today when I discovered I had not downloaded our NYC pics to the computer, I tore open the couches.

Voila!  The little red camera lay next to some cheerios, M&M's and half of a dismembered dog toy.  Praise the Lord!  I was so depressed that I had lost the medium to communicate our lives with family and friends so far away.  So to all, I am back!  And to the friends who are close, yes, I'm now up to getting together for a bbq or playdate!  I can confidently say: "Keep posted.  I'll be be posting!"