What I just heard

Sitting in the office checking my email I often hear random things. This is one of those times.

Marine was in the kitchen washing dishes and the two newest recruits 5 and 6 were in one of the bedroom.

Recruit 5: Dad! Recruit 6 is trying to wear my pajamas!

Dad: Well hurry up and put them on and then he can't wear them.

Why can't all things be this easy to fix???

A CHOICE HAS BEEN MADE!!

My cute Marine and our Recruit 2 went paint shopping the other day. I made my recommendation and helped pick out a blue shade and green shade. They came home with a RED shade. Here are the updated photos. Some touch up and detail work need to be done, but the room is well on it's way to being completed!

Kelli: "hey, let me get your picture working!"

Recruit 2: "Mom, I'm working."

He kept his back to me. He was just finishing the first coat. It obviously needed a second. He was a little worried at this point about the color.

Kelli: "Son, do you like the color"

Recruit 2: "I'm living in a big strawberry." then silence.

I left him alone and came back as he was finishing the second coat.Kelli: "Hey, this looks a lot better!"

Recruit 2: Grunts

Kelli: "Um, how bout a photo?"I may have been badering a little longer than I've inidicated above...

Kelli: "Seriously! just give a quick happy look since you're nearing the end."

Recruit 2: "Mom. seriously."Kelli: "Oh that's a good one, thanks son!"

If you know his father, you will recognzie the stance, the look, and if you could have heard him, the tone of voice. It's almost frightening. I backed out to the door way right after this was taken.

The paintee was a lot more cooperative than the painter.

Upon exiting I asked him again if we could call it the strawberry room. He said no, and then said over his shoulder "It's the Iron Man Room."
He's a funny boy!

Recruit 2 Returns from UNC Lacrosse Camp

July 2nd I drove to Chaple Hill with some other moms to pick up our cute little boys. They were playing in the middle of a tournament when we finally found them.

Grey Shorts, Navy Blue Helmet, White Shirt. He is Mr. Lacrosse!

My cute son wishes it had been longer. I do too. It was a little pricey for basically 21/2 days of Lacrosse. He had a great time and is now home.

When we first got there I couldn't find him. There we stood, three moms looking for our little darlings amongst a myriad of Lacrosse gear clad youth. One mom found my MIDI before I did. She recognized his legs. He does have nice legs.

Shortly after I spotted him they had a quick water break. He walked over and gave me a hug, but was very cool about it.

All three boys were on different teams. Recruit 2's team was Wingate. They won the division 2 championship.

The head coach spoke to the boys at the end of the tournament while waiting for the buses to come pick them up. He told them the most important thing in their life would be their core family and they needed to thank their parents or grandparents, whoever had provided them with this opportunity and give them a hug.

We all three stood there thinking the boys would come over to us right away and give us a hug... AFTER we got back to the dorms and gear was loaded and everyone was checked out, then the other two boys gave their mom the sweetest hug. Then I got mine. Nothing can be easy for me can it?

We ate lunch at the restaurant on the hill or on the rooftop or something like that. It was decent. I had fun just listening to the boys talk about their adventure. There was lots of arm punching and wise crack exchanging on the ride home.

One of the boys apparently developed a gastrointestinal reaction to either lunch or the fact he didn't have "alone time" in the bathroom for the last four days and the last thirty minutes of the trip were spent with the windows being rolled up and down. It just goes to prove the male species is the same regardless of age!

Girls would have been mortified.

These boys cackled and hollered everytime. I think the other two boys were secretly upset they didn't have any ready ammunition to counter the one boy's attacks!

These are great kids!

Some kids are just born cool!

So this is the funniest little boy. He's cool, he's smart, and he's funny without meaning to be. He delivers his comments with an even casual tone. A little clipped, like he's too cool to give you too many words. He says things offhand as if subjects like pluto and saturn are everyday conversations. He has a temper though. Sunday in church he was not happy with me.

He had to be corrected a few times for squirrley behavior and was really getting frustrated. He leaned over and mouthed to me "Can we just go home??"

I stage whisper "No, I have to teach and you have to go to primary!"

Recruit 5 dramatically asks "Well then can I have a new teacher?!"

I respond a little exasperated " You want a different primary teacher?!"

Recruit 5 emphatically says "YES!"

I mouth emphatically back "NO!"

Recruit 5 slumps back in his chair looking resigned to a fate worse than death.

I slump back in my chair feeling somewhat unloved. I'm his teacher...

All American Boy!

This is recruit 4, although he looks more like inmate 4 in this picture. I didn't realize how disturbing this picture was until I was going through folders. I've often thought we were going to bail him out of jail one day, but this was just to vivid for me. What I do like is his one eye is partially hidden. With his other eye staring straight at me. I think what was really happening here was he was mentally sending me a message to go get him a gatorade and a big league chew. Ah, the staples of baseball season in a minor league dugout.

I like this picture much better. He is free from confinement and probably fixing to ask me for money because I never did go get him that gatorade and big league chew. I love those freckles!

There's Gonna Be a Toooornad-a!

When I was little and we lived in Alabama, the tiny house we lived in had a big picture window. I was terrified of storms, especially if it looked like ripe conditions for a tornado. The legend goes I would stand at that window with my Dad looking out at the gathering clouds and say "it's gonna be a toooooornad-a!"

We are currently under a tornado warning, or watch, or something. My Dad would really like this post if he were still around. He was always watching the weather, not just where he lived, but he always knew what was happening where I lived. In fact, he would probably have called me about the same time the local Weather Service sent out their beep warning across the air waves!

The view from the deck in our back yard... OOOH I can hear the thunder growling outside now.

I'm not scared of storms anymore. I think they're crazy! It's all the negative ions in the air probably...

View out front down our streets. UhOH, I'missed getting stickers for our garbage pick up. I'd better get Wade...

He's such a good boy! Well the rain is really coming down now. My Dad would love this storm! No gray drizzle for him. If it's going to rain, then it should RAIN! He'd go out in the barn and listen to it hit the tin roof. That's why we always kept it a tin roof. Well it's fast moving, should be over soon. I miss my dad...

Recruit 3 almost chokes on own saliva while laughing during routine dental hygiene.

Warning: This Might Not Be Something You Want to See; but it was funny. Well at the time it was funny. Now it's just proof we are krazy.

I am a complete beast about the kids brushing their teeth. I've paid for several different dentists in a few different cities Hawaiian vacations. So when I saw that my darling daughter was not as diligent in brushing her teeth as she should have been, especially with braces on, I requested she bring her paraphenalia in and I would brush them just like I did the little boys.

She was quite happy to do that, which should have clued me in she wasn't in her right mind.

What ensued took longer than necessary. Mostly do to the fact she got the giggles so bad she almost choked and died on her saliva! It all started when she jumped and said ow while I was concentraiting on my brushing with braces technique. Apparently my reaction was to fling my arms up and down like owl wings and instead of yelling 'whoo whoo' I yelled 'what? what?'

For whatever reason she found this so funny starring up at me from her upside down position that we had to stop several times. Here she is not foaming at the mouth, but is begining to calm down after almost dying. She actually had tears in her eyes but they were falling into her eyelids.

Now I am demonstrating to her how I can appropriately brush her teeth and practice my photography skill. There is NO REASON why she can't brush effectively when standing right side up at the sink in a bathroom!

And again she pictures me flapping around in my purple Grumpy pajamas and starts the episode all over again. The child actually started wheezing. Can you see the tears by her right eye rolling up her face?

Yet diligently I continue to scrub, oops I mean brush, her teeth AND capture each moment. I have failed recruit six in the teeth department but this child will have photographic evidence I cared by golly!

And AGAIN she looses it. If I could have recorded the sound of her giggles you would have heard maniacle laughter and me in the backround saying "seriously? Can we just get through this?"

I was even able to floss her teeth and snap the shot! It's like sewing and flossing all mixed together. As soon as I was done I sent her packing from my room. The little toot.