Back in the Saddle Again???

It's ME (and Little Friend ;) )!!! I've been thinking for several months now that I NEED to get back to blogging.  I don't know that anyone has actually missed my blog. I never had very many readers. But I haven't kept a journal in years-- I've tried to keep notebooks with lists or random thoughts or cute stories of the kids but I'm not consistent at all, and my house is such a mess that I have something like 3 of them hidden around the house and can't find them when I want them.  I'm also finding that as I age my once borderline-amazing memory is becoming borderline-craptastic.  And I have these adorable, hilarious kids whose lives just beg to be documented! ;)

I mean, look at that face. Really.

Look at that little charmer.  I can't believe he's been two for over four months now.  How did that happen so fast? He has become SUCH an independent little fellow, and is developing the most wonderful vocabulary.  Several times a day I just have to chuckle at the things he says.

We had such a long winter up here in the Great White Northern Tundra that Little Friend had a hard time getting used to the idea that he no longer needs to wear a winter hat.  These pictures were taken in the beginning of MAY! It's now JUNE and he still asked me this week where his Snoopy hat is.  In all fairness, it was probably only about 60 degrees when he asked, and it does get extremely windy here.  But still...

Whenever we go to the park, it always strikes me how independent he is, and how different he and Kiddo are at this age.  Little Friend rarely asks for help and is completely undaunted by lots of steps or tall slides. 

He LOVES to be outside, and I think he would take off without me and leave the house on a regular basis if it weren't for the fact that he is very fussy about his feet.  The good news about that is that he won't ever go outside without shoes. So as long as I remember not to let him wear his shoes around the house, I think I can keep him inside until I'm ready to go out too.  I don't know what I'll do once he can get his shoes on by himself...

We have been really glad that we live close to TWO parks here.  This one is really quite nice.  The other one... well... not so much.  The equipment is great, the location is good, but the kids who play there do not pick up after themselves.  Additionally, somehow the big, heavy trash can was removed by some pranksters and I hear it "blew away." The city still hasn't replaced it.  So it's a mess these days.  I had plans to take some gloves and my own trash bag and clean it up myself on Isaac's birthday, but we got busy and I haven't done it.  I'm curious how long it would stay clean.  But I digress.  That's a whole other post in itself.

  

And I can't forget THIS handsome guy.  Doesn't he look so grown up? I can't believe he's almost SEVEN.  He is getting so tall and lanky, and acts like a teenager half the time.  He absolutely loved the long, long winter and was reluctant to give it up for the Spring.  According to him, he "hates" Spring, and only likes Summer and Winter.  However, I don't hear him complain at all when it's time to go to the park, or to play outside.  And he sure didn't mind when he didn't have to drag a bag of snow clothes with him every day to school anymore.  

He finally lost his third tooth.  Oddly, it was another bottom tooth.  His top teeth don't even seem wiggly.  When he lost the first two, the adult teeth were already growing in behind the baby teeth, so this is the first time he's experienced the sensation of having a "window" or gap where that tooth once was.

 This Spring, Kiddo has been ALL about sports.  We don't get any channels, which I mostly really like, but he'd been begging to watch some sports.  After attending a women's college basketball game, he decided that basketball is super-exciting and was always asking to watch replays on ESPN-3 online.  Imagine his shock, when halfway through the NCAA tournament, he discovered that we'd NEVER told him about this most wonderful event.  He watched as much as we'd let him of the last 2 weeks and I am amazed at how many players and teams he learned about.  Knowing how intense he is with his interests, I guess it shouldn't surprise me.  Yet somehow it always does!  Next year I imagine it will TRULY be March Madness in our home as Kiddo has plans to watch every.single.game.  And guess which old & forgetful lady who will have to learn & actually remember enough to converse with him about all of these games?

Kiddo also had his first experience with team sports in May.  We signed him up for Spring Soccer, which was to have started in the beginning of April.  Because of all the snow refusing to melt, it didn't start until the first of May! It was kind of a rough experience for Kiddo, as he isn't used to having to work hard to learn something new.  But I think overall it was valuable for him, and due to the shortened season, the Parks department is letting all the kids who signed up for Spring do Fall Soccer for free.  He & Daddy have been playing outside more now that it's warmed up, and hopefully in the fall he'll be more prepared.  But again, that's a whole other post that's just waiting to be written.  At his request, I took A LOT of pictures.  I'm supposed to make a highlights video for him, you know... He really is TOO MUCH.

Along with playing soccer, Kiddo has decided to learn about the British/English Premiere League, which is pretty much his father's favorite thing EVER.  It is fun and listen to them talk about teams and players together.  I told Daddy-O that this must be the moment he's been waiting for his whole life... to finally have a son old enough to appreciate his favorite hobby-- the son who was born right in the middle of the World Cup, no less.  I think it will be so fun to see them watching together when the season starts up again in August.

 

Say It Isn't So!!!

I just read an article that says that Charles Barkley may be in trouble for some gambling debts. I think he hasn't paid something like $400,000! I can't even imagine that! Gambling has never really made sense to me, and it is disheartening to see people wasting so much money when they could be using it to help people. On a personal note, I hope he'll just pay off his debt and get back to doing what he does best: entertaining people.

One thing most people would probably be surprised to know about me is that I LOVE Charles Barkley. I think he's one of the funniest people on the planet. Yes, he's controversial. No, I don't agree with everything he says. Sometimes his language is a bit too colorful. He's brutally honest. But there's few celebrities that I can think of who give a better interview. When I hear he's going to be on any talk show, I get way too excited and make it a point to watch. When I worked at ACT, I even listened to his book, I May Be Wrong, But I Doubt It on disc, made my husband listen to it, and also listened to a long interview with him I found in the Books on Tape section of the Library. Really, though, how could you not be intrigued by a title like I May Be Wrong, But I Doubt It?

Anyway, in case you're wondering why in the world I love this crazy guy, here's just some of the wit and wisdom of Charles Barkley. I was, however, disappointed that I couldn't find anywhere the exact quote from an interview he did with Jay Leno. It went something like this: Jay teased him about having gotten out of shape. Charles indignantly replied, "I am too in shape. Round is a shape!!!" It was too, too funny. Enjoy!

• I don't care what people think. People are stupid.
• I figure if I kill the first one, word will get out. (on how he plans to handle his daughter being old enough to date)
• I'm still trying to get my grandmother off her old behind and into the Olympics. Why not? She can dust. (on the sport of curling)
• I heard Tonya Harding is calling herself the Charles Barkley of figure skating. I was going to sue her for defamation of character, but then I realized I have no character.
• These are my new shoes. They're good shoes. They won't make you rich like me, they won't make you rebound like me, they definitely won't make you handsome like me. They'll only make you have shoes like me. That's it.
• (Charles in response to Kenny Smith's jokes about his weight) I am not fat, it's the camera, it puts on 10 pounds. (Kenny Smith) Well, there must be a whole lot of cameras!
• Sports are not for old guys, this ain't baseball.
• That's wronger than ketchup on pancakes.
• On why he voted for President Bush: "My family got all over me because they said Bush is only for the rich people. Then I reminded them, 'Hey, I'm rich.'"
• "I think the biggest problem is parents are so concerned with being friends with their kids. You're not their friend. You're their parent."
• "I came to the realization a couple months ago that I am fat. If you get tired from walking - and that's all that golf is - then you are officially fat."
• "People say I eat a lot. I really don’t. More or less I just eat all the time.
• "You don't wear Nike, it's going to happen. They gave him all that money to wear those cheap Filas." re: Grant Hill's foot injuries.
• “How long do you think Steve Nash spent on his hair? 5 seconds? 10 seconds?"
• EJ: "Did they recognize you in South Dakota?" Charles: "Yes, they did. It was easy because I was the only black person there. When they see me walking down the street they say 'There he goes again'. And when I come back the next year they say 'He's back yawl!'"
• "My goals are to play the piano and get really, really, really fat."

I think aliens are inhabiting my body...

...because I actually watched the whole second half of a football game this afternoon-- and for once, I didn't hate it!!!!

I think it's actually this guy's fault.

Darn that Chris "Beanie" Wells!! And Go Buckeyes!!!