It's Zoo Time

We had a fabulous time at the zoo the other week. Dear hubby and I already had the day off and decided we'd keep the boys home from daycare and set out on a family adventure to the zoo. The crowds were small and the temperature was perfect.

Everyone say CHEESE!

There was a lovely Mama and baby elephant. They were easy to fall in love with.



Jamison became fast friends with this little guy.

Even through this thick pane of glass this tiger kept a keen eye on Jamos and Jamos kept a weary eye on him. Jamos even jumped back a few times when he walked by. It's amazing how he already gets the predator and prey roles...That tiger looked hungry.

After the run in with the real deal he wanted nothing to do with this tiger...metal or not. He was outta there!



The fearless Camden conquered the tiger with his sinister smile.


After a long and exhausting day at the zoo we headed through the parking lot toward the car. Jamos having had as much as he could take and finally succumbed to the the call of Mr. Sandman, but not before he gave us some very funny footage of a kid trying to win the battle over gravity...gravity won.

Enjoy funny video below.



I hope that it doesn't make me a bad mommy that I watched this over and over again and laughed harder and harder. It broke my heart a little too....a little. My poor sleepy head.

It was a fun day.

Zoo pics coming soon - Giveaway on Lola B's blog!

So I'm a little behind getting the pictures from our recent trip to the zoo. The hold up is the hilarious video from the zoo that I'm trying to download to blogger is taking like a hundred years. Really, it's more like a few hours. I don't know how people do it, I need more tips and tricks on navigating this blogging world!

Anyway, in the meantime, if you want to checkout a lovely blog that will make your heart happy go over to Lola B's. She's having an awesome give away, but most importantly you can enjoy her beautiful writing and hear a little Priscilla Ahn and some other feel good music.

Have a great weekend, my precious followers...all 5 of you!

Two by Two

Camden came home the other day with an assignment he had worked on in school. The directions on the top of the Noah's Ark themed assignment were...

Draw a matching animal so that you will have two.

Here is his precious artwork, which had my eyes streaming with tears of laughter and pride.

Tigers and tigers and tigers...oh my!

The Turtle and the turtle

Curious George and his brother George W....:-)

We found Nemo! His time lost at sea has taken quite a toll.

Snips and snails and puppy dog tails!

That's SOME pig!

All kidding aside, I couldn't be more proud!

I give this assignment an A+ for talent and good humor. These are truly precious times.

Crazy Day

Okay, so I’m going to pretty real with you today so the faint of heart should close this post now. I had a crazy day. It started crazy and calmed in the middle and ended crazy.


I was late to work today. Late for a meeting which I host. That’s never a good way to start the day. Showing up with everyone but the host already in attendance. I hurriedly rushed in with my purse and without my notes. Just as prepared as usual…not! (I know that’s an outdated phrase by the way, so save it). Anyway, I had a extremely MUNDANE day working on org charts. You might ask yourself why am I doing this mundane task when there are perfectly capable administrative assistance to do this, as I did when I was an administrative assistant. You might ask but….you’d be waiting until eternity for a good answer, so don’t bother asking.

Anyway, I headed from work late to pick up my boys because my dear hubby needed to work late. It’s my usual routine to be a little late to daycare. Not that makes it okay, but I’d hate to throw off their routine of being late to get to their families, due to my late arrival at daycare.

As I was just getting out of the car I felt this strange and depressing familiar sensation….

You know that Always commercial when the girl is getting off the elevator just to discover that her skirt is tucked into her pantyhose and the tag line is….

“A leak would be worse.”

…well lets just say I can completely relate to this tag line. Me and my lovely cream colored pants walked sideways and used strange things to not so discreetly keep my backside away from the view of the daycare staff. Did I mention that this was my second day in a row of my being relate to that lovely little tag line?

So anyway, I picked up the boys and due to my little “situation” my plan to drop by the grocery store was out of the question, without a quick trip home. So home I went. I had planned a quick zip in the house and out, but of course Cammy who had been wheezing the whole way home had to have a snack, so in we went to take care of my “problem” and get him his watermelon cubes and his breathing machine.

Off to the store we went, setting up the breathing machine as we bounced down the driveway. But wait!...where is the thingy we use to plug the blasted thing in?...Where you ask?...not in the car that’s for sure.  So off to work we go to find two of the thingy’s in my dear hubby’s car….(a shaving emergency caused him to grab the one from my car….lovely!

So, I picked up thingy, and got Cammy going on the breathing treatment. We hit the grocery store and then went home to cook dinner.

I got the ground beef cooking, and turned the water on to boil for spaghetti which is where the insanity continued. It went something like this…

1. Somehow the flame for boiling the water got switched off which I didn’t discover until a while later as the gas streamed into the room. I open the window.

2. Next I preheated the oven and opened my crescent rolls which sat unrefrigerated for too long and were now unable to be separated into six triangles and were more like sticky blobs that I rolled into various shapes.

3. Then later as Jamison played in the pantry I looked down to see a huge mess of sage all over the floor. It’s amazing what those little cans can hold.

4. The house begins to fill with smoke due to something going on with the broiler.

5. Fire alarm goes off; I run to fan it with a towel.

6. Vacuum up the sage

7. Fire alarm goes off; I run to fan it with a towel.  I open the french door.

8. I begin to realize that maybe the smoke is not due to just to the broiler, but my burning crescent rolls.

9. Remove burnt crescent rolls from the oven.

10. Kids eat

11. I eat

12. Camden tells me one of my burnt crescent rolls looks like a whale.

13. I do story time

14. I put kids to bed

15. I type this post for your amusement and reading pleasure.

I’m going to bed now. Thanks for letting me vent to you…all four of you.  Good night.

Go Bucks!

vs. 

So, sadly my beloved Buckeyes lost today against USC (15 to 18).  However, I must make this clear...I am NO fair-weather fan.  I will continue to show them my support and eventually the heartbreak will subside.  I give sincere kudos to the USC quarterback who said three "praise God's" in his sideline interview following the game.  In a time when everyone seems to thank God first and foremost, it sometimes feels like it's just the thing to say.  It felt to me like he REALLY meant it.  That makes me feel better already.  Good game to all involved.  And praises to God for allowing us to see another day and enjoy another game...and I'm not just saying that.  I LOVE COLLEGE FOOTBALL!

Stay tuned for our annual family Buckeye pics. Here are some from last year...

Not Oak or Sumac

                        +                       +

Camden was standing in front of the full length mirror rubbing his eye when the following conversation occurred...

Camden: My eye itches

Mommy:  It itches?

Camden: Yea, maybe it's eyebee

Mommy:  Eyebee?

Camden: Yes.

Mommy:  What's eyebee?

Camden: It's a tree and it's covered in bees and if you touch it and then touch your eye you get eyebee and your eyes itch.

Mommy:  (understanding slowly registering)...like poison eyebee?

Camden:  Yea, poison eyebee!

Mommy:  Laughing

These are a few of my favorite things

My dear hubby knows me so well.  The things that crack me up..."I used to go home and think about..." (inside B&N joke).  The memories that reduce me to tears.  The special little things that bring a smile to my face...which brings me to this post. 

The other day, which will be referred to from this day forward as "Grumpy Saturday" the same grumpy day that my dear Cammy brought me "My miracle" (see my earlier post), my husband, upon his return home, asked me to close my eyes as he had a surprise for me.  Being the ever obedient wife that I am (quiet your snickers), I did as I was asked. 

All of a sudden a heavenly aroma filled my nose. An aroma I am familiar with.  An aroma that always makes me feel happy and full of contentment.

I love the smell of cedar and my dear hubby knows what it does to me....

Raindrops on cedar and whiskers on kittens

Bright cedar kettels and warm cedar mittens

Brown cedar packages tied up with string

Cedar is one of my favorite things...

That's one of MANY reasons why I love him.  He is also one of my FAVORITE things.

Raindrops on Andy and ...

:-)

Cherry Cordial

Mommy:  Camden do you want some Cherry Cordial ice cream?

Camden:  Yes!

(he begins devouring it)

Mommy:  How is your cherry cordial ice cream?

Camden:  It's great!

Mommy:  What's in it? 

Camden:  Strawberries?

Mommy:  What's the name of it again?

Camden:  Cherry cordial ice cream

Mommy:  What's in it? 

Camden:  Raspberries?

Mommy:  What's the name of it again?

Camden:  (thinking it through)...Cherry Cordial....Cherries!  It's got cherries in it! 

Mommy:  What are those other things?

Camden: ...cordial?

My Miracle

So, yesterday started off grumpy and continued that way off and on...mostly on.  My dear hubby decided he would take Cam to visit his great Mam-ma for a while leaving me here with Jamos, who was napping. 

Before they left Cam started searching for crafts to take with him.  He asked me what I wanted to make for me while he was gone...in my frustration and exhaustion I said "A miracle".  He asked what a miracle was made of and I rambled out something like happy wishes and dreams come true, and people who were kind. 

They left and I had on college football which made me feel a little better. I LOVE college football, no matter who's playing I can watch it all day on Saturday and Sunday. I always cheer for the underdog unless my team is playing...Go Bucks!

The boys bid me farewell and my dear hubby suggested I take a nap.  I thought this was a good idea so of course Jamos, sensing I was about to finally get some much deserved sleep, woke promptly up and demanded my attention and energy. 

I spent the next several hours watching football dozing on the couch and waking up startled to see where Jamos had wandered to...most of the time he had nestled himself into the media closet pulling DVD cases off the shelves.  I know, bad mommy!  I deserved to be punished by being sent to my room for an indeterminate period of time......for a nap.

My hubby and Cam came home later that evening with the ingredients for the chilli he wanted to make.  I was in the middle of my single glass of wine when they arrived.  While he was working on his chilli which he later professed was "Some GOOD chilli"...and also said was burning his lips, Camden said he had a surprise for me.  "Close your eyes", he said.  I obeyed his request and then he said "Okay, you can open them."  Again, I obeyed.

"What is it?"  I asked him.

"It's your miracle!" he said. 

It was beautiful.

Clean House

I woke up today with a mission to get this beautiful assortment of counter decor under control. 

After I tackle that, I'll get my hands on this...

I'm grumpy today...and I don't know why.  My poor hubby is grinning grimacing and bearing it.  I feel like the only thing that will make me feel better is a glass of wine and a clean house...or maybe a nap (which he suggested I take) I must be pretty tough to take today.

Jamos woke up with me woke me up early this morning.  As I was searching for my camera in the car, he snuck out the door to get some fresh air.

It was hard to get him back in the house.  It looks like it's going to be a beautiful day today.

...at least outside of the house...