May the Force Be With You.

Halloween this year rolled out with a Star Wars theme. Star Wars has been a huge hit here for the past 6 months at least even though the boys had never even seen any of it until about 2 weeks ago. I had to kiss sweet costumes goodbye and just bite my tounge as they picked out their own get ups. I must say though, Rhett as Yoda totally cracked me up. Especially when he put the "force" on you as he is doing in this photo. We briefly did our church's fall festival and then came back to the neighborhood to trick or treat door to door. I had proposed three rules to be followed 1) Take only one piece of candy 2) Say thank you 3) Don't run three miles ahead of me because I cannot tell you apart from all the other Storm Troopers and Boba Fett's. None of the rules were followed. Excitement trumped them. Bottom line: No one was lost. No one was injured. Everyone came back with loot.I will admit that at least part of the time the "one piece" rule was working. We probably had half of the candy this year that we did last year. Good for me. Less that I have to sneak and throw away.Aunt Tracie came up to share in the festivites. I think she had a good time just watching Rhett run around in his cuteness. She had him screaming Trick or Treat at the top of his lungs from the sidewalk before he even got to the front door of houses. He could hardly contain himself. She also let him have his birthday present before his party. Big hit.

We were happy to have her here along with her furry friends. She was even a sport and dressed up like a Kentucky cheerleader.....much to Bobby's chagrin. He should know by now that Baker blood runs blue!

Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

We've Hit the Big Zero-Three!

Today is Little Buddy's third birthday! Time has gone by so quickly that I'm shocked we are celebrating this already. At about 6:15 this morning I decided to fashion him a birthday crown out of some cardboard. It really turned out to be a hit. He stood statue-like on the kitchen chair while we sang happy birthday to him. He didn't move an inch while we were singing. My voice must have scared him stiff... Even after the song he still seemed a bit shocked. I'll have to admit that I, myself, was shocked as well. Shocked that I had it in me to be singing when it clearly was NOT daylight outside. If you've ever lived with me you know that I DO NOT talk or interact with others in the morning.....especially if the sun is not yet awake.

I didn't spend a lot of time on a special birthday breakfast. I know. Boo on me. He was ecstatic when his toaster strudel showed up bearing three candles.

And, what is a mini-party without your best canine friend? Chicky Bear was lucky enough to make it down stairs for the festivities. He hasn't missed much in the small time he and Rhett have been friends.

Happy Birthday, Little Buddy! Stay tuned for birthday blowout party pics!

Look What the Attic Drug In

My mom, who is a saver of all things good and bad, made a trip into her attic a while back. She took all the things that she has collected from my 30 years of life and gave them to me in a rubbermaid container. It was full of first grade writing samples, spelling tests, elementary school report cards. A great find: a diary from my tortuous elementary school love life (another story for another day if you're lucky). There was a lot of fun memrobilia to peruse. Then I came across these:





I thought to myself, "Well, how unfortunate that she has placed these incredibly huge glasses in a baggie along with all of these other semi-normal ones I wore in elementary school. These must have been my grandma's or from Goodwill or something. Surely. Surely to goodness." Then, wouldn't you know? I found this:


AAAAUUUUGGGGGHHHH!!!!!! I totally DID wear them!
For TWO years worth of school pictures! I just can't imagine the eyeglass woman looking at my mother with a straight face and telling her these were a good fit. Where was my sister when this was going on?? Did she not know the proper face to eyeglass ratio either?? Maybe she tried and I ignored her advice just like the time she tried to tell me I was using the curling iron upside down and that's why I was ending up with a crink instead of a nice curl under (which, if you look closely enough can be noted in the second picture). In any case, I'm thankful Bobby has already taken an oath to love me forever. I'm afraid that if these pictures had surfaced 9 years ago he may have thought twice.

The good news is, however, my glasses are on the comeback. Just ask Nicole Richie.

Great Seats? Check.

Lately Bobby has been able to score great seats for concerts. Just a run of good luck and being able to maneuver a little E*bay and ticket auctions. This Friday night it was Rascal Flatts opened up by Taylor Swift. It was great!KJ and TJ joined us for the festivities this go around. It was a blast to have another couple to scream with.Taylor Swift opened up the night and I was really impressed with her. Her voice was great and she rocked the stage more than I expected from an 18 or 19 year old. She flung that hair around like nobody's business. The mother in me was a bit concerned for her neck health but after a concert full of filps and flings she still seemed to have no trouble rotating. I practiced it a little when I got home. I immediately threw my back out and I'm still wearing a neck brace. You can't do the same things at 30 that you did at 18 :)

She let us know that she wrote every song on her first album that went triple platinum. How awesome it that? Talk about talent. She also warned that if you ever break her heart or mess with her friends that you'll definately get a song written about you and it'll be on country radio. Too funny.
Then the big show: Rascal Flatts. They were lowered from the ceiling on a big metal stage out of a big explosion. A seriously big explosion that almost caused me to fall to the ground in fear of Al Queda. Not joking. I was so relieved to see them coming out of the ceiling and not a bearded man in a turben. KJ and TJ were pumped!!! Ha. I told them to give me their concert faces for this pic. Don't worry. They'll still be able to teach your Sunday School class. Besides, this was a charity event. ALL the proceeds ($700,000) went to the Children's Hospital in our area. Rascal Flatts has given over 3 million dollars to VCH in the past 4 years. How can you not get excited about that??
Here's a little bit of Gary, the lead singer.
and Jay.And some sweet guitar playing from Joe Don. I'm a little sad his name is Joe Don. I find that a little odd. Whatever. Bobby said he's married to a former playboy bunny. I guess the name hasn't caused him too many problems in life. Go Joe Don.

And because I put my friend's concert pic online I felt it only fair that I do the same. Here's me, rockin' it at the concert. I surprised my self with how many songs I knew and I belted out quite a few. Concerts are the one place you can catch me singing. The main reason being that it is so incredibly loud that there is no chance anyone's ears are going to pick up on the fact that I'm absolutely horrible. Seriously. Just ask my close friends. They'll tell you.I love me some concerts. Always a great date night. Next up? Who knows. With this economy this could have been my last hoorah!

(Non)Sleepover

After questioning me at least thirty five times about his arrival time, Grant's dream of having a sleepover with his buddy finally came true. At dinner time our buddies came to spend the night with us and these two had a blast. I know they are both boys but you would'nt have guessed it by all the chatting and giggling coming from Grant's room at 10 o'clock. Bobby had to go up there 3 times to get them to go to sleep. Here is a pic of the Chatty Cathies just as they hopped in the sack. With my three crazies plus two add on's there were five rambunctious boys running full tilt here. We ate pasta, chocolate chip cookies and popcorn and watched a great little movie. I'm going to be thankful for sleepovers of this kind. There will probably be a day that I'll have to be on my guard about boys plotting to sneak out and roll (or toiletpapering for some of you) the neighbors! Right now, as far as toilet paper is concerned, it's not so much the "rolling" as the "UNrolling" I have to be on the lookout for.

Little Buddy's newfound pottying also entails lots of tp trails. I've learned that our toilets can accept upto approximately a half a roll and that small children will do just about anything for M&M's. That includes devious business like ripping shreds of cardboard from a shoebox and dropping them into the toilet and then proceeding to attempt to pass them off as "number 2". It ALMOST got me.......but really, folks. I'm smarter than that. Errr.........maybe Grant clued me in and made me give it a second glance. Whatever. picture not attached due to implied nature of photograph.

It's Monumental

You know, there are days that will forever and always stand out in your mind. In my mind there's the day Bobby proposed. Then there's 9/11. And the day my children were born. The day I went to the mall to buy jeans and was told The Gap was closed for renovation. Kennedy's assasination........wait. I wasn't there for that one but I've heard alot and seen alot about it so I feel like it should be included as one of those moments. Then there is today. A day that will forever stand the test of time. A day when barriers were broken and goals were met that at one time we all doubted. Today is the day that, despite all the wetness outside, Little Buddy's pants remained DRY. Yes, friends. It's happening. The day we thought would come on the heels of starting middle school alas has come early. He tried to save face, literally, to avoid the ever haunting "potty shot" and only because he said "Please don't take my picture" I declined another shot.

Just to show his enthusiasm he did, however, give me a proud thumbs up. This is a day I shall weep over. I only hope that I haven't spoken, or blogged, out of turn. 'Cause in this house, you never know what tomorrow may bring..........

Conversation Piece

It is always interesting to have a conversation with a 4, well excuse me, 4 and a HALF, year old. Today was one that particularly got me tickled. It was quiet in the car. I usually don't play any music because beats and such intertwined with all the chatter, yelling, whining, and/or giggling usually just puts me over the edge. So, in an odd enough moment, no one was making a peep. Then enter Grant with his thinking cap on.

"Mom? Where does all the meat come from that we eat?"

Me: "Well, it comes from animals."

G: "You mean we kill all the animals and then eat them??"

Me: "Yep." I knew from the look on his face in the rearview mirror that he was seconds away from forcing me to initiate training for a vegan diet. Instead, he says

"Well, how do they get the meat to be in such thin strips?"

Rhett pipes in insert raspy voice and scary face" They chop them up with knives!" Thank you, Rhett for being so blunt.

Strangely, Grant just let it be after that. We pulled into Pub#lix parking lot, got out of the car and climbed into the very large, obtrusive, mommy cart that has a park bench attached to it and proceeded to the deli. When we pulled up Grant looked into the big glass container holding the meat and said,

"So, those are all dead animals in there?"

Me: "Yeah, pretty much. Except the cheese." I'm sure he's not going to eat the piece of ham the nice lady is about to offer him. But, in a wacky twist of fate he looks at the lady and says,

"Can I try the tiger?"

She and I just both laughed and I spent the rest of the grocery trip explaining which animals we DO eat and which we don't.............in America. I didn't have the energy to tell him he MAY be able to eat tiger SOMEPLACE on earth, you know, like, the same places that fry up cats and such. Nope. That'll be another story for another grocery day.