You know how kids are...

Who was I talking to the other day, about being a kid and obsessed with nintendo?

Well, thanks to that conversation I got a chuckle during my last run.

I was again thinking about nintendo and the wild fascination us kids felt for Mario and his fire-spitting powers.  I can still sing the theme music and actually prefer the looming tune played when you braved the lava-filled lower layers.  Oh and remember the sound when you'd go down the pipes?  WAW, waw, waw... 

Oh boy we could play for hours.

I couldn't help but smile when I remember my babysitting adventures with Steph and Stace.

I was never the best babysitter and didn't get many of the jobs around town and totally didn't care.  Kids are kinda annoying but you may pay me to keep them alive.  Don't expect any perks.  But when I began watching Steph and Stace, who were more buddies than rugrats, babysitting became tolerable.  Even fun!  We played the piano, sang loudly (and awesomely), made up stupid jokes that made us pee our pants, ruined meals in the microwave, make-overs GALORE and even performed skits with dramatic deaths and romantic twists...

You shoulda been there.  We had a blast.

One memory in particular I will always love.

Steph and Stace had a nintendo in the basement.  Me, being the cool babysitter and a few years older, appeared so talented as I conquered all the "hard" levels...  We would sit on their white, fur rug and take turns while the others huddled and cheered.

One day we were firm and focused.  -determined to get beyond the current level when something small and black dropped onto my shorts.

I jumped.  Steph jumped.  Stace jumped.

Everybody screamed.

A carpenter ant had just fallen from the ceiling.  Seriously.

We giggled and shrugged and returned to the game.

Another drop.

Then another...

It was one of the weirdest things I've ever experienced.  Every, maybe 8-15 seconds, these huge ants were falling to the floor.  Seriously!

Now, you'd think that we'd call someone.  Let someone know that something really strange was happening that might just be a real problem but no.

You see, that Mario music was humming softly from the tv and you know how kids are with their nintendos...

Miss you Steph and Stace.

love, your big, fabulous sis.

I'm blogging about the beach because I want to, not because you told me to.

So I live fairly close to the ocean.  I would pause to brag a bit, but most of you reading this are in the same boat/valley sooooo...

Unlike my SIL, who fills her happy cup with every frequent beach outing, I take more convincing to go through the drudgery of such a trip.  Usually overcast, cold and windy.  Sandy diapers.  I'm lazy and the park is closer.  Sandy food.  Sandy car.  Sad, sandy Garret (decided 2 years ago that the beach is scary)... 

yada yada-  Today we went!


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I will now give tips for a successful beach trip.


Tip #1:

Any kids who don't like the beach should stay home.  (Garret enjoyed a quiet day with daddy.  ...Socks flailing everywhere.)

Tip #2:

Take pictures even if your daughter just cut her hair for the second time in one week.  ...Again.  She did it again.  Her bangs are the length of, um, something really short. 

Tip #3:

Bring a sweet, energetic teen who is adored by both your Brenda and your Suzie.  Also, don't be afraid to shout  You there!  Chase my kid and get me a sandwich!.

Tip #4

If adored teen has a mom who is also a bosom friend, bounce around her garage until she agrees to also come along.  

 Tip #5

Forgo watching young ones while said, adored teen takes pictures of said friend and self, bouncing through the surf over and over and over again until you have such a picture-

Tip #6

Take a moment to realize how awesome it is to have a teen, who has a mom, who has a WILDLY cute toddler, that is your Suzie's best friend.

Crazy.

 Tip #7

Go home and blog about it even if you're all mopey about blogging lately 'cause doing nothing is easier and your computer mouse is acting wonky even though you replaced the batteries and smacked it a few times.  I mean, there's people starving all over the world but BY GEORGE, WHY can't a computer and it's appendages just WORK.  Feel free to pity me (not hungry people) and donate money so that I may fling this computer through the window, call up Lowes to come replace the window and order a fancy new computer that enjoys all my pictures and blogging and mouses.

(mice?) 

I bet the new computers these days do things like laundry and foot massaging and say  You? a mother of three? every time you sit down.  Are those ones expensive?  Could you donate a little more?? 

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I'm not spoiled.

I'm not.

YAY for beach day!!

just rolling with it...

Well, turns out the last post was a segue to this one!

Brenda's current obsession has something to do with Rapunzel, I think.  

Her last obsession (birthdays) was fun as searching for things like remotes, batteries, phones became a game of patience since things were eventually returned wrapped in foil, clothing or toilet paper...


But here we are today with a salon on the back patio-

 Chewing on paper gives her that wildly-eccentric quality that we love in our stylists, right?

Brenda might need to get a patent for her cutting-edge fabreze/hand sanitizer hair treatment.  ...She won't say much about it except, "hold still".  

Who dares me to hand her a pair of scissors?

Anyone?

summer hair

Brenda has blown into Summer with a woman-power haircut.

(She started it.)

Honestly, she looks so refreshed I've been thinking of doing the same. 

Anybody out there remember my awesomely short, Clay Aiken hair cut?  ...Would you believe I'm considering it again?  Thoughts? 

Really, it's 'cause I've been doing a bunch of this:

and if I have to dig through the backyard to look for one more hair tie...

(Had a BLAST during last week's relay!  Wanna hear about it?  Wanna wanna wanna????)

feeling smothered with love!

 So I was going to do a post about the kids, running, something to do with ice-cream... but instead I need to blubber about what I came home to tonight-

(If I had 'before' pictures, you'd know that a couple adults and a handful of young women REALLY worked fast and hard...)

 

I just can't believe it.  It's just so pretty....

I think I'm a lucky girl.

fun fire hazard

I'd say it's about once every few months that we lose power.  (Living out in farmland?)

It'll last maybe an hour.  ...maybe 4 or 5.  So knowing it's temporary makes for a fun time to reconnect and play with a little fire.  ...Brenda.

Last night it was after 7, sometime.  There's a flurry of excitement while we shut down and light up.  Flashlights are popular toys and candles are NOT to be played with.  ...Brenda.  Garret had already passed out for the night but the rest of us enjoyed a late, candle-light dinner.  Tuna- a favorite of Brenda's and fruit- Suzie's. 

Later, Brenda went to bed with a battery-powered lantern, Mike drove to Walmart to charge his phone in the car and buy jello, and Suzie and I settled into my bed with a candle and a pile of books. 

The house was delightfully/eerily quiet without any tv, radio, fans, computer whirring... 

Maybe we should do this more often?