Carpoolers

One more post for the day, hey, I've left you high and dry for over a week, I need to catch you up. Anyway, if you are looking for a funny show, watch Carpoolers. I'm not sure when it actually airs, Tuesday perhaps?, because I watch it online at abc.com. It is hilarious. It's the first show in a long time to make me laugh out loud on occasion. It's about 4 guys who carpool to work, they work in different places but apparently all in the same building. Dougie is 22 and he and his wife, Cindy are very Cleaver-ish, but she's OCD. Laird is a divorced, shallow but hot dentist. Aubrey has like 7 kids and a wife who never leaves her recliner and Gracen has a man-child son named Marmaduke that just makes me chuckle to think about. So if your Tuesday night is lacking humor or you find yourself with some vacant time and Internet access, you should tune in.

Marmaduke's Bio
Twenty-two years-old and still living at home, Marmaduke is a counterculture misfit whose countless endeavors are as bizarre as his name. His unique view of the world often confounds his father but his mother Leila is always there to offer her unconditional support whether it be assisting him in the purchase of his own ATM machine or encouraging him to pledge an online fraternity. Marmaduke is part renaissance man and part renaissance man-child. A genius, a rebel and a lunatic, Marmaduke keeps all who know him on their toes.

Ok, I just went to the carpoolers site to verify some of my name spelling for above and it appears that the show may be being cancelled. I guess not enough people find Marmaduke as entertaining as I do.

Family Projects

The weather has been warming up a bit. That has allowed us to spend some time outside and we are really enjoying our new property. Diesel and I are growing grapes. One plant each of four different species. They are 2 year old plants. I have no idea how to grow grapes so I've been on the Internet tyring to figure it out. They are in pots right now but husband dug me four nice big holes yesterday and today he put in two posts (with Quickrete and all!) to tie the wires to that these grapes are supposedly going to grow on. I have to train them to grow up to the wires, one at 36" and the 2nd at 60" high. From what I'm reading grapes need a lot of pruning and care. I shouldn't have a problem with that part through the summer.
I've also been busy trimming bushes, removing bushes, weeding flower beds, picking up sticks and beginning today-hauling compost from the back up to the garden bed that we are building up. Husband and I laid out the railroad ties in somewhat of a square and now all I have to do is fill it with compost! I brought up two trailer loads today with the 4-wheeler. I'm guessing it will take 10 or more. Big Love went with me and he had compost all over him before we were done. He's rolling around right now trying to fall asleep. Maybe if I cut the computer and it's light off it would help. later.

Healthy Boys

Well, both boys are healthy. Took them in for a checkup. Diesel only gained 1 pound in a year, he weighs 34lbs. He did very good standing still on the scale and standing tall and straight for his height measurement. We practiced at home. I was told he would have a finger prick so we put our favorite band-aid, Thomas, in Diesel's pocket. They didn't do the prick but he still wanted to put the band aid on in the car. I eventually convinced him to save Thomas until the next boo-boo came along.
Big Love only weighed 28 pounds. We were really surprised. I figured he weighed a good 30 and husband was thinking 35. At 28lbs Big Love is finally on the growth chart. He's in the 97th percentile. Since birth he has been above all growth chart lines, so join us in welcoming him to the growth chart! He was 2'7" if I remember correctly. I could be wrong on that, if so I'll correct later.

taxes

Husband has gone to town to turn our taxes in. Before he left I asked him how much it costs. I am SHOCKED! Since when does it cost over $200 to get your taxes done. Last time I paid for them it was $85 and I thought that was an extraordinary amount, even though that was 10 years ago. Hubby says I was young(er), single and blond, that'st why I got a 'deal'. whatever. So ends up we're getting some money back. I asked if I could have 1/3 for a decorating fund. He asked if he could add 1/3 of it to our emergency fund. I agreed quickly, he's going to mull that over and get back to me. Keep your fingers crossed ladies! Gotta go, I think I hear a sale calling my name...

SNOW DAY

We got snow last night. Not as much as we would have liked or were expecting, but it was beautiful just the same. Yes, I said was. I went to take a picture of it and it's gone! Arg. So sorry, no pic of that, but I did get a cute video of Diesel. He's saying, Kite King Kangaroo (all words that start with the letter K).
Tonight was supposed to be date night, but we can't find a sitter, so I'm crashing girls night with some girls from Sunday School. TGIFriday's here I come!

sandy,sandy

Sandy Brasfield, or Dr. Brasfield as we like to call her, has a blog site. It's called Replaced Southerner, if you want to view it click on her name. And for the record, Dr. Brasfield was the first person to visit my blog, so thanks for your interest :)

weather

The weather yesterday and today was absolutely gorgeous! Yesterday the whole family played outside. I weeded and trimmed and raked and Daddy changed flood lights and filters. The boys played in the sand box and 'helped' trim some ornamental grasses. Big Love really enjoys carrying things around, he had 1/2 of a shovel handle yesterday. I broke it like a week ago. It makes him so happy we hate to throw it away. But it's one of those things that if someone came over and saw it laying about they would wonder, why don't throw that away? Why do they have a broken handle laying around? Maybe I'm overthinking things. Husband says I do that. Anyway it's about 3' long so I think he feels pretty proud of himself when he has it, like he has a big person toy or something.
Diesel was introduced to his bike helmet. That didn't go well, but we talked it up a lot and put great emphasis on the fact that he had to wear it because he was soo big and because he could go sooo fast. That seemed to help a little. He really does fly and he runs the same path around the driveway over and over, faster and faster and there is a little hill and then a curve so he has to lean and turn at maximum speed or he'll crash into a small rock wall, which does happen on occasion. So we the parents are in agreement that the helmet is a good idea.
Today we took the new t-ball stand outside that Big Love got for his birthday. Diesel can hit it off the tee, BL just like to push the ball off as big brother sets it up there on the tee. Diesel doesn't think that is as fun as BL. I also discovered that Diesel can pitch! He threw it right over the imaginary plate over and over and I hit it. One whizzed right by his head before I realized maybe swinging at full throttle wasn't such a good idea with a 3-year old standing 6 feet in front of me. Smart Mommy. I did end up hitting him in the face once. I basically just let the ball hit the bat and it bounced back at him, but it still hurt him. We took t-ball back inside at that point.
The boys and I delivered a hot meal to a family with new twin girls tonight. They were so tiny. Born at 5+ pounds, now 6. I made chicken parmesan and garlic toast and threw in some birthday cake. I let Diesel carry the cake, he liked that. BL slept through the whole trip, we left him in the car. Oh the laughs that would bring from some old friends, but I digress.
Oh, and my Bible study was this morning. It was great. We talked and shared and our teacher/leader gives us so much insight. It's awesome! I just love being surrounded by godly women, or at least we're trying to be. A new friend even saved me a seat, that mad eme feel special. I'm really going to try to have one hour of time with God every day this week. I'm counting the Bible study for today!
Goodnight.

The Birthday Party

Well, the party went well. At least we think so. All the food was eaten and a couple of friends did almost all the cleanup. The kids stayed happy and I got to visit a little with friends. Big Love got several toys, some large ones. Seems that since we've moved to a larger home SOME of our friends think it is their personal responsibility to fill it up with child paraphenalia. Whatever. That's why I love having a playroom! Throw all the toys in, close the door, viola! instant sanity!

One regret is that I don't get to really catch up with folks in that type of gathering. I was saner than usual, but typically I don't sit still for more than a minute or I start to feel like I should be doing something else, cleaning up or getting someone a drink. You know, when it's your party you want to flutter and make sure everyone is having a good time and while this is fun, it prevents me from serious girl talk.

Church was fun today. Our class was hysterical. We're watching a video series about marriage and the guy is just so dead on, we were both laughing out loud and shaking our heads in agreement. One thing that was so funny was how men and women differ when talking on the phone. A woman can talk on the phone, cook dinner, referee the children, and email all at the same time. But when a man is on the phone he wants silence all around him and any distractions threaten the integrity of the phone call. His illustrations were funny.