Watch Out for that Tree!!!

So I didn't feel like typing the whole "George, George, George of the jungle...watch out for that tree!" but that's what I was referring to in the title. Whew! Enough explanation. Well, a little more actually. I went to the gym this evening with Rory at 4p. The thunderstorms started when we got there. We left an hour later and saw the power out everywhere. When we got home, Kevin escorted me with my eyes closed to the back door, and then moved his hand. Here is what I saw.

And this...

This...

Kevin said it didn't make a sound. We're guessing it was the wind. Good thing we had to get one of those electric saws a while back to cut the limb that was over the church roof next door. This, unfortunately, was not the other limb that we still have to take care of that's hanging over the roof of the church. Sorry...I have a thing for prepositions. Kevin went outside to further investigate with pictures.

This is the view from the walkway to the deck.

Close-up...

This is from the backyard looking up. It looks much bigger from this angle. It broke the trellis surrounding the grill. That stinks, but it will fit in nicely with our half finished projects decor. :) I'm glad that no one was hurt. It was never something I worried about...those trees coming down on the house because both of them are angled away from the house. I guess I get to add a new fear to my list. Yay! Not!

The Wrong Side of the Tracks

Sometimes I'll round the corner from the kitchen to the living room and find a perfect picture of my kids. Then I dash downstairs to get my camera (because that's where I blog and unload the pictures...and LEAVE IT) and run back upstairs hoping they haven't moved. Somtimes...it works.

I really like how Rory and Logan are sitting the same way. And all their heads are cocked toward the TV. (I know...bad mom) And they're all sitting inside the train tracks.

And then I'm spotted...

And here's what happens...


They're such hams.

A Family That Eats Together...(Fill in the blank)

...laughs together is what I'm saying tonight. Let's recap the weekend. Friday, Kaelyn and I went on our regularly scheduled datenight. We went and got ice cream although I'm not sure I would call it that. It was like gelato and neither of us finished it. First Baskin Robbins stopped carrying chocolate sprinkles (when I asked in the drive through what sprinkles they had and heard rainbow, I actually said, "Eww" into the speaker). Now our TCBY has been replaced with a "healthy" ice cream and smoothies bar.

On Saturday Kevin took Kaelyn to...wait for it...GET HER CELL PHONE. Yes ladies and gentlemen, Kaelyn finally got her cellphone she wanted. It started on Friday when Kaelyn's Go Phone ran out of money. She asked if she could use her giftcards to load more money on her phone. I told her she probably could and could even use her giftcards to buy the phone she wanted. She squealed in delight because apparently she hadn't thought of this. I looked up the balance at the cards she started to throw my way. One of them from 2 years ago still had $100 on it. Some people are just born with a horseshoe up their arse. She ended up only needing $35 of her hard earned cash. That's pretty funny to me. So in doing the math, that child still has $185. She originally saved so much because she thought she would have to pay her first month's bill on the spot, but she didn't need to and she got to keep her phone number. She's like a pig in mud.

Saturday night Kevin took Kaelyn, Rory, Logan, and cousins, Sam and Nik to the carnival. I asked him to take pics, so I could blog, but he didn't. Actually, it's my fault. I forgot to give him the camera. They had so much fun and came home with lots of stuffed animals. Yay. They didn't get to bed until 8p, an hour past their bedtime, and they didn't go to sleep until 9p. That didn't stop insomniac Rory. She was up at 5a and had Logan right there with her. She woke him up. Then she found out that Sam had spent the night. It was all I could do to hold her off until 9a, which is Kaelyn's wake up time on the weekends.

So today Rory and Sam played this morning until Sam got picked up. Kaelyn and I went to Church. It was our (Kevin and mine) free eat day, so we had roasted chicken with WHITE rice (such an indulgence!). We were eating and Logan was eating his food really good. He asked Kevin for some more. Kevin gave him more and told him that he did something special to it. Logan asked if he put butter on it, and Kevin said, "yes." The sound that came out of Logan's mouth is hard to describe. It was kind of a throaty grunt and moan at the same time. It was cute and hilarious. While this was happening I was feeding Marley her first taste of rice...albeit white. She kept closing her left eye. I checked to see if anything was in it, but there wasn't. I finally thought that maybe she was winking. So I winked back at her and she did it again. I waited a little bit and then winked at her again. AND SHE WINKED BACK! And as if that wasn't enough...may I have the video please!?




Isn't that cute!? We tried to take it a couple of times, but this one turned out the best. If you think that's great, take a look at this pic I got of her winking. You can't see it, but her left, top, front tooth broke through today. Thank goodness because maybe now she'll stop whining and crying.

There are no words for family dinners...or this picture. I think it ranks up as a best for Marley. Happy Monday!

Hair Today...Gone Today

Sooooooo...the question on everyone's mind is..."What's Obama going to do next?" HAHAHA! I should say, for this audience, "What isn't Obama going to do next?" Well, I did the deed. I got my hair cut. I was super nervous, but the girl (and she was a girl) was really nice and seemed to know what she was doing. For instance, I told her I had already showered that morning, but she wanted to wash my hair again. When she put the conditioner in she massaged my head. That's right, I got a massage...while shampooing...Where is this place you ask? Frederick, MD. It was awkward for me. I didn't know if I was supposed to say thank you after it or what. I said nothing.

We talked styles, and she mentioned that her friend's hair is similar to mine as far as curls and volume and that she always wears it up because she doesn't know what to do with it. Jillian (that's my hairdresser) just cut her hair and showed me her picture. It looked good, so I had some idea of what I was in for. We talked about silly things...the kids, music, Notorious B.I.G. She had just watched his biography on something. Point being...she was a cool chick. By the time all was said and done, she said I would be able to towel dry my hair and put some product in it and be done. So she completely wet my head, showed me how to put the product in, and sent me on my way. She offered to dry it for me, but she wanted me to see what it would look like "au natural" since that's how I would be wearing it everyday. She was really excited about it. I was...too. I've never had a hair cut (that I liked) that showcased my curls. She said the last thing she would ever do was straighten it. Well then. Without further ado, this is how I walked out of my house this morning.
When I woke Logan up, he said, "Wow Mommy. Your hair is beautiful. It's messy, but it's beautiful." Kevin said I looked like I needed a Rasta hat on. This is my hair "au natural" before the cut. Most of you don't see this because...let's be honest...who would want to? This is how it was when I arrived home from the salon.

To be honest, I wasn't really sure what to think about it. I told Jillian it would take some getting used to. I had to live with it a little. So I spent some time letting it soak in. UNTIL....I remembered I had ears!

And then it got a little easier to stomach. Every time I see myself in a mirror, I think I look a lot older and that I look like a mom. Kevin says, "You are a mom." He doesn't get it. Here's a rundown on reactions.

Kevin - "I like it. I didn't think you would go that short."
Renee - "I like it, but I've always liked your hair, Nora."
Rory - "Wow Mommy! You look just like me. But you need to not have the curls anymore."
Logan - "Wow Mommy!"
Marley - " "
Kaelyn - I like it. I didn't think you would go that short." Kaelyn had been in the car with Kevin, so I don't know if he coached her on this answer or not. She said exactly what he did though...no lie.

So there you have it. I can't pull it back. I sweat more when working out for some reason. I look old, and I look like a mom. I asked Kevin how much he thought it was. He said, "Well, including tip..." And I said, "OH MY GOSH!!! I FORGOT TO TIP HER!!!" I immediately called her and apologized and asked if I could mail it to her. She said not to waste a stamp and if I choose to come back, that would be cool. I feel so bad, but I'm rambling. This haircut with a bottle of serum for frizzing cost a total of $48. Plus she gave me three trial packets of shampoo, conditioner, and frizzy serum for free. I can't believe I didn't tip her. But $48...that's not bad. Again..this place is in Frederick, MD. I told Kaelyn already that I'm taking her to Jillian for her next haircut.

Taking a Blog Break

So I went to the bookstore to use my Barnes and Noble giftcard. I got some books, so I wasn't going to blog so that I could read. Then I remembered that Maureen, Rory's Godmother, had called, so I called her back. I just got off the phone and have to feed Marley. So after all that, I was going to say that I deserve to just sit and read tonight, but I think I had a better time talking to Maureen. By the way, I'm getting my hair cut tomorrow. Please say a quick "Please let Nora get a good haircut" for me tomorrow. I'm going at 1015a. Ciao!

Basement Update

So I'm still on my decluttering kick. Some days go better than others. When I'm not sleep deprived and my kids aren't demons, it goes very well. I was reading my book from that guy on TLC's Clean Sweep, Peter something. He says to look at every room and decide what you want that room's purpose to be, and then break it up into zones. When I look at the basement, I see a playroom and a place for Kevin and I to watch TV in the evening. So that's what I did, I broke it up into those zones.
This is the playroom zone. This is what you see when you first turn the corner from coming down the stairs. Well, it's not what you see now because the playhouse is set up to block off Rory and Logan's "house." The bookshelf in the back has a mate to it and both are cleared because there's one bookshelf by the TV holding all my books now. Eventually, those will come out of the room. To the very right of the picture, there is our black sofa. That sets up the next picture.
This is the other half of the room. It doesn't look like this normally either because Logan is not allowed to walk on the furniture like that, and Marley's not allowed to have remotes. The bookshelf in the right of the picture is over by the other one, and a different bookshelf is there. Other than that, this is the basic layout. Rory says she likes it because she knows where everything goes. That doesn't help in her cleaning up, but she could do a really good job if she wanted to. They ask to go downstairs daily now. I like that because maybe the living room will be somewhat presentable more often since that's the first room you see when you walk in the house. I still have a lot to do, but I'm making progress, and it's progress I can see. This blog tonight is so boring and short because once I got home from the gym, I cleaned me and Kevin's bathroom. I hadn't done it in a while and actually tried to make it one of Kaelyn's paid chores. It was that bad. She didn't fall for it. Every now and then she's got some sense to her. Unfortunately, it normally works at my disadvantage. :) Good night. I hope mine is.

Update on The Artist

Kaelyn came home with her Art classes tribute to Andy Warhol. I don't know much about Andy, but I know the different colored faces and such. Kaelyn had to draw herself, and then sculpt herself out of wood, and so forth. It was a pretty in depth project. Here's what she came home with today.

Sorry about the glare. That top middle one looks scary with it. Anyway, I don't know how she does these things, but she's definitely got a knack for it. On our "date" night last Friday (when I got my scans) we went to one of those "paint your own pottery" places. I have always wanted to go, and Kaelyn knows this. She says she kept telling Kevin to take me there, but he never did. I'm glad I got to go with her for my first time...but then she did this.

In less time than it took me to ruin an etched tile. I'm not even going to show you the picture. It's embarrassing enough by itself, so there's no way I'm putting it next to her stuff. She even painted the back of this with her name, date, and to Mom. She wanted me to use it as a utensil dripper or whatever you put the spoon on while you're cooking. So that's where it is. She just free-handed this thing...like the mug. It makes me mad sometimes that I don't have an artistic bone in my body.

Just for kicks...here's a video of Marley's new talent.