two and a half truths

Avoid fruits and nuts. You are what you eat.
-Jim Davis
My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four; unless there are three other people.
-Orson Welles

Forget love. I'd rather fall in chocolate.
-?

Ask me about my grape juice.

I made grape juice from the vines in our backyard. Dabbling now and then in such domestic mannerisms gives me just enough of an elevated ego to join my fellow homemaking friends in such conversation as...

"So my pumpkin crop is looking plump."

"Oh great! I made grape juice."

"What am I going to do with all this zucchini?"

"You oughta try my grape juice."

"Do you blanche your broccoli?"

"Ummm... grape juice."

See? I fit right in.

I just gotta do this.

For quite a while I was regularly reading this blog of a young married gal who lives in New York and is into fashion and good food. A fun glimpse of New York life for me. Then one day they introduced their new puppy. 'Well, isn't that cute', I thought. A puppy. My tune changed when, months later, they were still gaga over this dog. EVERY POST. EVERY PICTURE. They even did that annoying thing where they write a post as though the dog is writing it, referring to his 'mommy' and 'daddy' graciously letting him use the computer. GAG. I haven't been back to that blog in a while. Good luck to them and their dog obsession.

That being said...

FEAST YOUR EYES-

'peek-a-boo' Mario

'hide-and-seek' Mario

'ready-to-pounce' Mario

and

'kitty's-got-a-new-friend' Mario

Of course my blog is different. You all really want constant updates of my cat. Right? But I won't do that 'letter written by my pet' thing. That's SO lame.

Remember August 14th?

Well, I do.

It was the HOTTEST day of the summer.

Hubby was wearing a tie.

I was shooting a wedding.

...all because...

Mike's sister fell in love.
Tonight, I was finishing up the family portrait on photoshop and I got a little verklempt.

...all because...

I like these people...

You may notice that our little munchkins are not included. GASP!!

...all because...

We were too lazy to bring them.

And I was 'with-camera'.

And Mike was helping dancing.
We'll be organizing some additional family pics (to be including my 3 chidlets) soon so no worries.

Really, don't worry.

It's all good.

All because...

Ummm, I don't know.

Look! Pretty picture!More shots available on the photoblog.

All because I uploaded them there.

duh. ;)

8 steps to Mario

Leroy?
Richard Garfield III?
Ronnie?
Jeffrey?
Mr. Bingley?
Gilbert?
Niles?

Mario.Yeah, yeah. We got a cat. Thanks to an allergic friend...
Mike and I sat on the hallway floor throwing names around and it was Brenda who, while coaxing him out from under her bed, called him Mario.

It's been fun to watch Brenda become his faithful guardian. She showed Suzie how to pet him softly saying, "Like this Suzie." (waving hand in air) And when Suzie was soft Brenda laughed and said, "That's SO cute!"

Garret only glanced Mario's way with a little smile and a wave. That relationship may take some time.

And for two adults who have always claimed to not be "cat people", Mike and I are sure acting mushy...

And just to give the real baby of the family some props-
Here's The Suz coming out of the back room all dressed up and demanding an outing. As I had no such outing planned, Mike stepped up and took Suzie to work (the shop on the other side of the yard) for a daddy-daughter date.

For the sake of blogging-

I've been so busy hating my computer lately that I forgot to say good bye to Summer. How embarrassing. I hope Summer's not offended...



But HEEEELLLLOOO Fall!!

...makes me want to go shopping...

SORRY I got nothin'.

I could write about the FABULOUS vintage dress I bought for a crazy-awesome, upcoming church activity. But I think I'll wait til after the event when I've got pictures.

I could write how The Suz says 'ready set go!'. (It comes out 'Say, Saa, DA!') But, well, that's it. It's mucho cute-O.

Oh, OK, how about my glee over all THREE of my brothers calling me in the last 36 hours to tell me about awesome dates or house projects? teehee.

Hmmm, if I could pipe the aroma out of this post I would write about the cinnamon rolls I made today. But I can't. Sooooo...

I hesitate to write this for fear of the commitment, but I'm thinking of re-vamping Brenda's room for the upcoming addition of The Suzinator. Can they share a room amicably?

What else, what else...

TV is starting to really disgust me. And just as I'm about to give it all up 'Biggest Loser' and 'The Office' start up again. What's a girl to do?

Has everyone heard the awesome muffin joke?
Two muffins are sitting in an oven, baking. One says, "Dang, it's hot in here." The other says, "Holy CRAP! A talking muffin!!!"

compliments of the World Wide Web-

uh-oh

If you watch SNL- Laser cats!!

mmmm..

so cute-

Oh this would be me-

controversial-

**funny caption here**

my favorite-

Bless his heart...

AAHAHAHAHAAAHAAAA!!!

OK, back to my chores...

If you think I'm cool...

I'm adding a note to clarify that he did not personally do everything. In his team he is mostly in charge of the finish work and does a LOT of it himself. Yes, he is VERY talented!

This post is making me hungry...

Garret on his first day of 3rd grade. He's a happy boy.
I could eat him up with a little yoshida's sauce...

Brenda waiting for Lego Star Wars time. (hmmm- Just a glass of milk to wash her down, please.)

Suzie (I would devour her with dressing on the side...) demanding her own close up...

Me with friends after our town festival's charity runs.
(I would not eat my friends 'cause that's mean.
...and gross.)

That's it! Short and sweet.
Like butter.

Who are you calling Stinky?

One of my favorite lines in 'You've Got Mail' is from Joe Fox- "I would send you a bouquet of sharpened pencils..." I thought of this when titling my last post, (BTW- Thanks for the comments! Good thoughts from good people...) and I thought of it again tonight as I sat down to blog. (How long has 'blog' been a verb?)

If I were really cool, I would decorate my home with apples, chalk-boards, school bus artwork, and a pencil-bouquet or two, from mid-August until the pumpkins get carved. Perhaps I should have been a teacher. (I would be a great one if it weren't for the teaching part.)

Today was day 2 for Brenda (the sauciest 1st-grader in Seussville). And while she was happily learning away, Garret met his new teacher in his new classroom wearing new pants. (He was wearing the pants, not his teacher.) (Though her pants may have been new. She was dressed very nice.) (He fashionably starts Friday.) I signed up for some professional volunteering (experience makes you pro, right?) and Thursday I will sign up with the PTSO (Parent-Teacher-Student-Organization).

There's just something about this time of year that makes me rise to super-mom status.

It's just temporary, though. It won't be long before my pencil bouquets are all dull with missing erasers and my drive to be involved is strangely blurred by the drama on "Biggest Loser". (Gillian is AWESOME, except for when she tries to be a psychotherapist. I think she thinks that she's a doctor and I find that annoying, but hey, I'd sign up for a work-til-you-puke workout anyday. I'd be one of those people that is quiet 'til pushed so hard that their eyes bulge, they yell, they flail... and make tv magic.)

Oh boy, should I get to the point? Here it is-

Brenda in 1st grade.
Saucy, right?

Stay tuned for the reveal of Garret's 1st-day pics. 'Cause they don't exist yet.

So after all that I ought to call it a post and a night, but there's more! The Portland Zoo had an evening of free delights for families with disabilities. (I have a drooling problem so we were shoo-ins.) It was I, my mom, the kidlets, a bunch of other sweet families, aaaaaaand not many animals.

...must've been nap time.

It was a nice crowd, though. Nobody blinked an eye when Brenda covered her ears and screeched or when Garret wandered through strangers to steal their food.... Nice crowd.


Are you done yet, Lindsay?

nope.

Here is the stinkiest, stinker in Stinkertown.

Thanks Mike, for ridding the stink-maker of that stinky diaper. Though the stink still lingers...

stigmas with sharpened pencils

I don't home school my kids. Honestly, I don't really want to. But I hope that if the need to came along I would rise to the challenge and, perhaps, do all right.

I've had conversations concerning the subject and people seem to have strong feelings either for or against it. I give it a whole-hearted thumbs up! And after conversations with people of differing opinions I decided to do a little research in the facts.

Here are a few I found-

*Recent studies demonstrate that 98% of home taught children are involved in two or more social/community beyond the home each week, including such things as 4-H, Bible Clubs, Scouts, Ballet Classes, Music Lessons, Sports, Field Trips and Sunday School.

*The Galloway-Sutton Study, which examines five success indicators, showed home schooled children (with the exception of the psychomotor) excelling above other students in the academic, cognitive, spiritual and affective-social categories.

*ACT: (2002 and 2003) homeschool average was 22.5, national average was 20.8. SAT ( 2002) homeschool average was 1092, national average, 1020.

*More than 74% of home schooled adults 18-24 years-old have taken college classes as opposed to 46% of the general population.

I checked multiple sites to be sure I was getting real stats.

Another concern is socialization and as I read articles the answer was the same. On average, HS kids show more maturity in dealing with their peers and respecting adults, and have better adaptation skills in social situations.

I feel I should add that our devoted school teachers out there are needed and appreciated for their hard work. Certainly home-schooling is not for anybody on a whim! But as this was all swimming around my head, I thought I'd put this out there because there seems to be such a stigma with the whole concept. And the moms I know that spend their days adapting lessons to their kids individual needs ought to get a shout out.

You seriously ROCK!

So this week, as I send Garret and Brenda off to their classrooms, I feel grateful for the teachers who so patiently and professionally enrich my kids' lives. You ALSO ROCK!! For now, I believe my kids are where they need to be. (The public-school special-ed programs are where angels dwell...)

And someday, if the need did arise, I'd feel satisfied knowing that there are parents out there who make this home-schooling look good. Though it would be a 'hard pill to swallow' perhaps I could be one of them?

Exciting week ahead...

We're back to school!!!

...any thoughts?

a predicament

I thought I'd take a break from photoshop to do some menial journaling but alas, while waiting for some pics to load on the photoblog I became engrossed in a grueling game of freecell. This one was a toughy. Now, wanting to be a good wedding photographer, I think I should get back to my photo-enhancing but here's my sad post-page sitting, neglected...

So a quick post-

Yesterday I was a grumpy mommy. After a destructo-rich trip to my parents' place I thought I'd never take the kids out of the house again. (Hi Mom! Let me know when I can come fix the wall. ...and the carpet.)

I was better today. I smiled during Garret's multiple baths. Brenda's kitchen nightmare. The sibling rivalry. Even smiled during the 86 poopy diapers. (the number is an estimate)

How did I stay charming?

Snacking.

So what we have here is a predicament.

'Cause I wanna be a good mommy.

...in my hot jeans.

()()()()()()()()()()()()

Time to start planning a b-day party for Garret and Brenda. Any ideas?