Bring On The 'Nanners!

So it's Labor Day.. which means-- Labor Day sales..
at the grocery store.
I know.. THRILLING.
One of the better deals to catch my ever-wandering-and-so-unsure-WHAT-to-purchase-and-prepare eyes, was the 20 cent/per pound, bananas.
Wow. 20 cents. Better buy LOTS.
So I did.. bout 20, to be exact.. and since, have been anxiously engaged in adding them to anything I can, before they (you know the drill..)
1. brown
2. sit on your counter cause you're sure you'll make banana bread, and then..
3. end up in the composte pile.
They have been eaten straight, in SlimFast shakes, and sliced-- with peanut butter.
I have always enjoyed the banana and peanut butter combo.. and in recent months have often even added a single chocolate chip on TOP of the banana slice, nestled into the peanut butter..
BUT, it wasn't until this morning.. that I added the final, and in my opinion.. PERFECT, final touch.
Imagine if you will.. a slice of perfectly ripened nanner..
a swirl of creamy, albeit generic, peanut butter..
a delicately placed chocolate chip..
and finally..
a piece of nutty pecan.
Go ahead.. try it.
Unless you have a nut allergy..
or are maybe grossed out by bananas..
you're GONNA like it.
I know I did.

Well What's Not Cute About That??

Sophie turned 3 this year.. which means a few different things.
1. She is getting, bigger. And that's sad. Included in that fact-- is that she is growing out of some of my favorite outfits and shoes of hers, which is also, sad.
(May I mention, however.. that the latter has caused justification in purchasing new, fun, fall get-ups.. and that is not sad.
THAT, is fun.)
2. She has grown even fonder of eyeshadow, lip gloss, and anything with a "heel".
3. She still thinks boys kissing girls, is gross.. and that the boys on underwear packages WEARING underwear.. is even grosser.
4. She has learned to walk a fierce, imaginary catwalk.. and refers to herself as Emily pretty often, for no apparent reason.
(Oh.. and USES that phrase "for no apparent reason" on occasion.
Like the other night.. I hear a clunk.. and then there she was, running to me with tears streaming down her cheeks exclaiming,
"I just fell on the floor for NO APPARENT REASON!")
5. And really, the most important part.. and point of this particular entry..
the girl is finally old enough, to play KICKBALL.

Seriously.. I repeat.. WHAT is not cute about that??
She has been waiting all summer for this.
She loves her shirt, loves her hat, loves her coach.. and loves finally being the one to rake in the prized "after-snack."
She also highly enjoys being asked by her coach, "Where are ya gonna run to?"
So she can point really hard, at first base.



Here she is "digging in" with those versatile pink, flip-flops.
On the beach, or at a.. um.. kickball game-- where CAN'T you sport pink flip-flops?
I really did get her a pair of tennies after the first game.

Pink, "sparkly" tennies.. of course.

Why It's A Good Thing I Went To The Gym This Morning...

'Cause.. well, when I got in my car to go.. the steering wheel was still greasy from the cheese-filled Pizza Plus breadsticks I just COULDN'T wait to get home to eat last night-- so snarfed down at least 3, while driving.

Multi-tasking. It's A Gift.

Tonight, between approximately 9:00 and 9:15.. I:
1. Bathed a child.
2. Boiled, prepared, and served, pasta.
(I know.. late dinner. But dinner none the less.)
3. Threw in some laundry.
4. Changed the sheets on Sophies bed.
and
5. Fixed a shelf full of toys that collapsed in the process.

Impressed?

Mr. Bo Jangles...

or as he's often referred to round these parts.. simply-- "Jangles" turned SEVEN today!
Seriously? Seven?? That's so not 5, or 6. It's SEVEN. Something about it's harsh odd number character and threatening sharp shape.. just makes it seem so much bigger, older.. so, SEVEN.
So of course, in perfect Katy's-A-Spaze fashion, amidst school registration, dentist appointments, and out of town visitors, --
I kinda missed this birthdays sudden approach.. and on Sunday night, roughly 48 hours before the big day, when Bo asked,
"So when's my party?" I answered, completely unprepared, yet unfazed.. "Well on your birthday of course."
Hey! Nothin' a few apologetic last-minute'phone call invites' and trip to Wal-Mart can't make happen! The day arrived-- and,
WA,LA..

Seven seven-year-olds at a seven-year-old, party.
(Complete with a pinata for a, um.. 3-year-old.. that was "cleverly".. I use the word lightly.. presto-changoed into an obvious B. Ya know.. for Bo.)
A scavenger hunt and few water balloons later.. and a party had been had.
Oh.. and inner tube races..

'Cause what's a party without inner tube races?

I really enjoyed the hard-cold-cash look in his eyes here..(I mean.. what's a party without hard, cold, CASH?)

So many fun friends, so many fun gifts..

SOOOOO many weird faces..

and so many happy birthday wishes from me.. to my darling, hilarious, seven-year-old, Jangles.

I love every bit of your double-dimple-faced little self. Happy birthday my boy.

Missed Me--Missed Me.. Do Ya Wanna Kiss Me??

I know. You've been on the edge of your computer chair seat.. awaiting my return.
Well.. I'm BACK! Back from a really RADICAL trip (can you tell I was chillin' with my very much younger, and oh-so-much cooler nephews and nieces while ON that trip?? I have now committed myself to using both the words "radical", and "rad" on a regular basis. Hope you enjoy it.)
Back from 12 days of getting to look at, and talk to, and laugh at.. my brothers and sister..

and their darling families.
I'm back from morning jogs to the boardwalk and circuit training on the pool deck overlooking the ocean.
Back from days lounging on the beach next to my hubby..

while my kids roll in the huge, crashing waves.. and dig in the brown-sugar sand.
Back from nights strolling each towns fry-filled boardwalks..
and eating more Grottos pizza and Cream of Crab soup than any 37-year-old with a mediocre metabolism should ever indulge in.

Back from sister time..
..girl time..
and a highlight.. "spa" time!
Back from midnight rounds of 'Celebrity' and 'Charades'..
Candy Kitchen treats out the wa-zoo...
and cousins.

Lots and lots.. of darling.. entertaining.. fun, fun, cousins.
Infact.. RAD cousins.

(they don't actually MAKE these faces in real life.)
Trust me when I say there are at least another 50 shots of those very fun cousins.. but this downloading is gettin' a little tedious-- and my kids would appreciate my attention at SOME point today.. so I'll stop. But ya get the idea.
So for now.. though I loved every minute of it.. I'll just be back. Back to ortho appointments.. football practice taxi.. and watering our dying lawn. Back to laundry, and bills, and our busted bumper. (Oh yeah. Did I mention Jasens fender bender before leaving?? No injuries.. other than.. um.. the bumper.) So even though I would go BACK.. in an INSTANT even.. it's always good to BE back. Back to our town, and streets, and friends, and home. Back to our own pillows and blankets. Back to bed before 3am (well.. for the most part..) and eating fruit on a regular basis.

And back to hearing about all of your own summer adventures through the beautiful world of blog.
Happy sporadic summer posting to all.

Why I Don't LOVE The Pool..

So we've frequented the local pool a few times this week. 3 times to be exact.. which is 3 more times then we attended last summer. (Something about the random rash-infusing virus that was plaguing pools in our general area.. turned us off.. a tad.)
But in general, I've been a fan of pools most of my life. They represent summer and tan lines, and a good virgin pina colada when there's a fancy "pool bar". We had neighborhood pools for the first 8 years of marriage and our kids have grown up with pink cheeks and pruny skinned fingertips and toes. So I'm not sure why, just recently.. when I focus on what a public pool is (a huge cesspool of bathwater, essentially..) I have a hard time not throwing up in my throat a little.
MAYBE it's because when I do think too hard about it.. I come up with a mental list of all the things I know to be somewhere IN that clear sparkling, oh-so-inviting, TUB of humans.
Namely:
Sweat. Lots of it.
Spit. Even more of that.
Boogers. Seriously.
Dandruff. Think about it.
Scabs. Soggy, soggy, disintegrating, scabs.
And hair. BOTH kinds.
I know.
There's chlorine too.
I get it.
But I don't believe in it.
Don't trust it.
And don't accept that it's capable of doing what would be necessary to kill,dissolve and destroy the items above--
without killing us all in the process.
So there.
Sorry to poop on your summer fun.
(Oh yeah.. POOP. And PEE. Add those to the list.)
But it's not all bad. I will admit, though truly disgusting.. there is an upside to turning the kids loose for hours to frolic in others mucus and secretions.

This is how you find them way before bedtime.
May all your little ones avoid various types of disease.. and get tuckered out too.
Happy tan lines to all.