Babing Suits

We are heading to the beach with a Pink and Green theme. Everything must be monogrammed. I am dieing over here!
I will not be wearing the pink or green babing suit. I am all for a navy suit that makes the a** look as small as possible. And a cover up. I will be out shopping as soon as I get some sun, cellulite looks so much better brown. When at the beach, I like a nice solo cup full of adult beverage and a book. I am easy. My kids will have PBJ for lunch and chicken nuggets for dinner. And they want to be left alone in between, there are waves to splash in and sand to dig. I am watching, with the threat that if they drowned each other I will kill them. By the end of the week they are very brown and happy as can be. I will be the Mom in the group that is not going to care enough to color coordinate my kids with my wrap. ;o) I hope I don't embarrass my friends. Just kidding!

My boys like to pick out their own clothes. They are very picky like their Daddy. J says, "Babing Suits have to have sharks or fire." It is all about being cool at the pool. Rock on 6 year old! Little boy's bathing suits are one step up from the tattoo that they want. I have little pirates on my hands, I should buy them swords and eye patches. If tattoos were acceptable at the Baptist Church my boy's would be asking.

Rain, rain, go away...

We had a great weekend, besides the in-law's!
Saturday night we went over to ACE's house for dinner with another couple, Beach bunny and Drug boy. We were supposed to eat outside, but we were rained in. ACE is a great cook and loves to try out new recipes. We get to eat the results. We had the most amazing dinner that night. ACE started us off with a guacamole shrimp bruschetta that was out of this world. The greatest combination of flavors.
Shrimp Bruschetta with Guacamole- make this and you will love me forever!
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1542958

The boys went outside to discuss the grilling process of the bacon wrapped filets and the girls finished off our first bottle of wine. And we ate more bruschetta. Beach Bunny and I had figured out that we are going to be on vacation the same week. At the same beach. Our boys play great. We play great. Its going to be FUN. Beach Bunny invited ACE and Mr. ACE to come down for a long weekend. I hope they get to come to the beach and play with all of us. I am going to have the best summer ever. When Paint boy and Drug boy found out about the vacation plans, they really started planning- the boys (all 6 of them) will be going on a deep sea fishing adventure. The girls will be hitting a spa(Yeah, massage!). All of us will pack into one truck and head over to Island's of Adventure one day. (I hope this is early in the week so that I can get that massage after a day at the amusement park.) Beach Bunny is from there so she has babysitters available and we will get to go out and eat without children. I am very excited!

We planned all of this and it wasn't even time for dinner. This is what happens when you get too many JLs in one room- we can solve the problems of the world, plan a major vacation and drink a couple bottles of good wine.

Dinner was bacon wrapped filets, fresh green beans sauteed with shallots and the yummiest macaroni and cheese with roasted red peppers. Everything was delicious. Eat-every-bite-even-though-you-are-full delicious! ACE is not a dessert girl. When you go to her house your dessert is another glass of wine. I love it! The older I get, the less I want sweets.

On Sunday we went with the Lawyer family to the Taste of... event. It was so fun- until the rains came. Paintboy and children eat there way through the Taste every year. No worries. Paint boy went back to his gallery and got umbrellas and the Lawyer's wife and I headed over to Doodlebugz and bought new umbrellas. If you get a fabulous silver handled umbrella with your monogram on it for your birthday, don't worry, I tested it for you! In exchange for the purchases our boys received free Webkinz! Yeah for FREE! Welcome to the family, Snowbell. I love the Taste event because I try all the new restaurants without the commitment. It is like "Speed dating." For $3. They laid it out differently this year. Everything was very spread out. It was good, sometimes you feel like it is a crush of humanity. Some of these people only come to town once a year for this event. I am serious. There were some strange people standing in the rain to eat food on a stick. It reminded me of the Fair. Yikes!
Starbucks was there passing out free small coffees, I had 2. I love some coffee, but not while carrying an umbrella, bag of fliers my kids kept picking up, somebody's water bottle and my purse. We had come straight from church. I was getting done.
The kids were great and had a blast. The Lawyer's wife and I laughed about everything. Paintboy was wet and they weren't selling beer until 12:45. It was time to go. He was all done.

Since I am not eating many sweets,I am enjoying drinking my calories these days.

Which leads to a funny story- J watched me make a cocktail on Friday night, not the first time that I have done this, just the first that he has noticed. I usually drink wine.

J- What are you doing?
Me- Making a Cocktail.
J- That's a funny name, what's that you're pouring?
Me-Cranberry juice mixed with vodka. and now the lime.
J- What's Vodka?
Me- Its like wine.
J- huh.

So tonight Paintboy is pouring a beer and J asks, "Do you need the vodka to mix with it; because Mommy has started mixing Vodka with her wine." Paintboy said,"It doesn't surprise me." Yeah, I had to explain that Cocktail thing again.

I make you feel fuzzy

Your Slogan Should Be

Hairgirl. Champagne for the Brain.

The Slogan Generator

A little notice please

Both boys had ballgames this morning at 9:00am and 9:45am. No problem! Yeah, until the phone call at 10pm last night- MIL and SIL were coming in the morning. For breakfast. At my house. That was NOT ready for MIL.
The woman's hobby is cleaning her house and her daughter's house. You heard me correctly. My MIL cleans my SIL house. Every week. She is happy when SIL and family put their dishes in the sink and don't leave them on the table. Monday mornings she does the dishes from the entire weekend. It is insane. I know. They see nothing wrong with it. Needless to say, I am overly sensitive to how my house looks when MIL is coming.
I stayed up until 1:30 am making sure everything was ready. Then got up at 7 am to start working again and get a little Continental Breakfast action started. They were running late. As Usual. They ended up meeting us at the ballpark. AAARRRGGGHHH! The only good part of all of this is that my house is clean.

Both boys had fantastic games today. A dad on C's team lost it on the coaches- Paint boy . (His son was pitching and walking everyone. The coaches put in a new pitcher.) It was so ugly that the umpires had to get involved. I hate psycho parents! I felt sorry for his wife and son. I will be happy when this season is over. This is the worst team and worst parents we have ever had to deal with.

C is off to his first Big time boy/girl party. These parents are crazy, the kids are going to be there for 5 hours. He is so excited!

Are you going to Taste of ... tomorrow? We will be there with the Lawyer family around 11:30. Be there (at the Square) or be square!

I committed

I finally broke it to Paint boy that the boys and I are headed to Seagrove this summer! He loves us and doesn't like our family to be apart. He will be lonely. We are already going as a family in July. All the usual excuses I get when I want to go away.Wah, Wah. I love him, but I am going to the beach.
We are getting a house for a week with The Lawyer's Wife and Kiddos and June Cleaver and Kiddos. That's right people NO Husbands! We are bringing a babysitter and a Wii. That should take care of the 2- 12 year olds, the 3- 6/7 year olds and the 2- 3 year olds. Yeah! Everyone has a friend!!!
Lawyer's Wife and I have one mission during this week; FIND THE RECIPE FOR SEAGROVE TEA. Do not tell June. She has one recipe that she will not share with anyone. I mean deathbed recipe. June is very sweet and will bring her tea to any function, but you are not getting the recipe. It is the most fabulous fruit tea that you can drink plain, with white wine, or add vodka. It is FABULOUS! For about 72 hours last summer I thought I might be receiving the recipe- Thank God that I didn't, but there is still a small part of me that can't wait to figure it out. Last summer, June would make her tea at the beach and take the trash out immediately. To the neighbors trash. So the Lawyer's wife wouldn't snoop. She is that serious. The neighbor's trash.
Even if I don't figure out the recipe I will get to drink massive quantities of tea. (and not have to be at a baby shower.)

Lock your car doors

I have watched the Duggars on TLC for years. Its like a car wreck that you slow down to see if you need to stop and help. I want to grab this girl and tell her to get a grip. I know that God has given her all these blessings. I know that they can afford all of their children. I know that she has enough love for them all. What about Time? Does she actually have time to hug and speak to all her children every day? It reminds me of "Horton hears a Who", where the mayor has 97 kids and spends 12 seconds a day listening to each.
I work hard to make sure that I have really spent quality time with my boys every day. It is hard between work and normal life, but I try. C has reached a critical time in his life- Middle school! I am so in love with the boy he has become. He is sarcastic and funny; very observant of the world around him. J is finally growing out of temper tantrums and whining. He has always been loving, but boy, what a roller coaster. Now we have more ups and less downs. He is turning into a little C. His idol! Our trip was the best thing ever for our family. C and J are now the best of buddies. How do you know who they are with so many?
How do you make time with more than 3-4 kids?

Shopping and freebies

I have to share my favorite store in town, Doodlebugz! I buy all my happies there. The couple that own the store are friends, but I would shop there even if I didn't like them. It is so packed with fabulous goodies that you have to make circuits around the place. I mean in totally different directions. Clockwise and then counter clockwise. IT IS FULL! I always stop in and just tell Stacy what I need a happy for and she has 6 or 8 suggestions. The girls know where everything is in that store and can help navigate. They have a gift for anyone- men and kids included (except my FIL, the cattle farmer).
I know y'all are wondering why I am talking about this but I saw Stacy yesterday and she told me about this great promo this weekend. WEBKINZ! If you spend $10 at the store Friday-Sunday you get a free Webkinz! FREE, people. Perfect birthday present, stick it in the closet. On Saturday they are going to have games and Webkinz prizes, in addition to the $10 deal. I am heading over and I am stocking up. Afro- check the stores in your area. This is a Webkins event not just a doodlebugz event.
Sunday is The Taste of event! I love this more than any other event in town. You can try all the restaurants in town for just a couple dollars. It is packed. I think it must be everyone's favorite event. My kids love the jumpies and the antique firetruck they bring out of the museum. We will be there chowing down and jumping around.

I have been tagged

I have been tagged for 5 Unimportant things about me, by Teri!

1. I always have my toes done. I love a Pedicure. My husband has seen my "naked' piggies only twice in 16 years. The last time was 6 years ago while pregnant with J. My pedicurist had to cancel and I went ahead and took my polish off. Needless to say I couldn't see my toes well enough to polish. Paintboy thought that the Earth was going to stop spinning it was such a big deal.

2. I never drink Beer. Never ever. My Grandmother told me once that it wasn't ladylike. However, falling down drunk from too many Vodka Cranberries is ?!?? (That's me , not her) Its all about how you hold the glass.

3. I only like ice cream with stuff in it. I don't like it smooth. Bring on the Chunks, Nuts, and Chips.

4. I fell down the 2 story escalator at the Atlanta airport at 3. From the top. All the way down. Somersaults. People trying to catch me. I was a teenager before I got on another one. I have a deathgrip on my children on escalators.

5. I like to give my friends nicknames. (Even before blogging) Paintboy and I have nicknames for everyone. Very rarely are you referred to by your name. Sometimes its as simple as , "firstnamelastname" all the time. Like my kids don't know who you are unless we say the whole thing. Sometimes it is a variation of a nickname, from a story that then gets changed. ( ex. initials are JR, then gets called Junior, then gets turned into a mobster name- Juney. Crazy!)

Bonus #6
I despise Juice Mustaches! My kids only drink juice from a straw. (Capri Sun or juice boxes.) I hate how trashy a mustache looks. You might as well take your child to Walmart with no shoes and a juice mustache. Yuck!

I am tagging
Lawyer's Wife
Abnormally Normal
Afro
Green Magsterpie

Just a little longer...

You Are Most Like Carrie!

You're quirky, flirty, and every guy's perfect first date. But can the guy in question live up to your romantic ideal? It's tough for you to find the right match - you're more than a little picky. Never fear... You've got a great group of friends and a great closet of clothes, no matter what! Romantic prediction: You'll fall for someone this year... Totally different from any guy you've dated.

Which Sex and the City Vixen Are You?

Busy, Busy

Real life

I am back in RL mode.
Paintboy left Monday for a business trip, very good idea after spending an entire week with your family. I wish I got to go on business trips.
I went to work and made people beeeautiful all day. I love my job!
Then it was off to a JL meeting. You have to go to April's meeting because we meet with our advisers and pick our placement for the next year. I have worked on the HUGE fundraiser for 6 years and chaired it for the last 2. I am taking a break! Kind of. I am going to be the Fundraising chair for the PTA at J's school. Sooo, I worked that into being my placement for next year. At least I am working for my family for once. This child has never known a moment when his mom hasn't worked on the Market. Poor baby is so excited that he will see me next year.
The meeting was great! Whole Foods came and did a "Wine and Cheese tasting". Yummy! Coupons for wine and everything. The speaker last night was the director for SafePath. (It is our local child advocacy center.) We are starting a long term partenering with them. She was very interesting, I am very excited about working with them. A very productive day.

I know you are all wondering what happened to my children in all this. Nana Judy! She picked the boys up, fed them dinner, took them to baseball, gave them baths, helped with homework and put them to bed. I love my mom! She is the best Nana in the world. She moved to our town to be an "Every day Grandma", not just a special event one. She has gotten her wish and loves every minute of it! My boys are upset if they go more than a few days without a Nana fix. I am so lucky. Trolls-You don't have to tell me that I am spoiled and selfish, I know I am. She made me this way and she loves it. I plan on doing the same for my boys. I am trying to brainwash them into believing that this is the only town that they could ever live. So far, so good.

More Vaca adventures

Monday morning we were off on our adventure. We headed north up to Montezuma's Castle. It is a 5 story, 20 room cliff dwelling.
They accessed their home by ladder. It was amazing. I was having issues with J wanting to walk on a retaining wall. No way could I handle ladders to the house!
Here he is pouting because I made him get off the wall. Oh the memories!

When we finished there, we headed off to Jerome, a cliff side mining town for the afternoon. Jerome had a huge boom population of 15,000 but when the copper mines closed in the 50's the town dwindled to 50 people. There are about 500 that live there now. There are about 50 retail places in town and they all want your money!
I saw on Food Network a place I wanted to try for lunch, The Haunted Hambuger! We got a seat on the deck and we had an incredible view. It was a great hamburger. I do have to say that it was our first introduction to a vacation without Kid meals. They didn't have a kid's menu- no big deal. 2- $9 hamburgers and 2- $3 Sprites, does not a kid's meal make! Paintboy decided on a $3.25 beer, he said the quarter was worth it- there was a lot of beer in our future. I tried a Prickly Pear Margarita- at $4 a bargain and very good!
Paintboy is a snacker. He often needs an icecream to get through the day. This is the first of many to come.

The town has a famous jail that used to be up the mountain. One day during a mining blast it slid down the hill. The town left it where it stopped and now people throw coins in for the Historical society. Of course, we had to empty Daddy's pockets before we could move on.


We headed north to Red Rock State park for a little hiking and views of Sedona. While hiking, C started complaing about the rash on his stomach from the raft in the pool yesterday. He is transforming into "Itchy, Scratchy." J kept picking up rocks. He is a real little Geologist, we have to buy or find rocks where ever we go. Now remember we are in the desert, we kept telling him to stop and he just wouldn't listen. Paintboy tried telling him about the "snakes that he might find".
No snakes- JUST a scorpion!
About 2 inches long.
Under a rock that my child has just picked up.
My hysterical child.
That now is terrified to move in case of scorpions attacking him.
Boy, did we have fun hiking back- Paint boy, Hair girl, Itchy Scratchy and Whiny Moany.
Welcome to our Vacation!

We made it back alive!

We had a fabulous time! I would highly recommend taking your children to Arizona. There is so much to see and so very different from the South. We literally had temperatures ranging from the high 80's to the low 30's! I am not a super outdoorsey person ( I had to buy new shoes with lots of tread for the trip) , but I had the best time hiking and walking across the state.

I have so much to share that I am going to break it up over a number of days.

We are going to start in Phoenix- the first two days we stayed with Paintboy's very best friend. He and his wife used to live here and we were pregnant at the same time. We don't see them often, but it is like "it was just last week" every time. Paintboy and his buddy are the same person, we are all so comfortable around each other; laughing, drinking and talking with ease. I love these people!
We went to the coolest Art Festival on Sunday. There was live Tribal music playing and amazing artists and merchants. The kids even seemed to have a good time. J was able to pick an orange off of a fruit tree and has decided to dry it and "keep it forever". So cute!
We headed home so that the little ones could nap and the big ones could swim. It was in the high 80's that day. C swam for 2 hours, off and on a raft. Needless to say, we had major scrapes on our belly. (More on that to come) Later that night we had a HUGE family dinner with some of their relatives: great food and tons of wine.

There are amazing saguaro cactus growing around Phoenix. We learned that they don't grow their first arm until they are at least 75 years old.( So you see lots of penii shaped ones in the new developments.) It is also illegal to transplant a saguaro over 12 feet tall; because it will die within 3-5 years. (once again, a LOT of penii)
Can you believe how HUGE this Saguaro is? C is almost 5 feet tall.

I thought they were all succulent and squishy. The lower part felt like bark with very few needles.

The boys thought this one looked like "a man holding himself".

All these pictures were taken right outside of the subdivision gates. There is so much land and space and then major development. It was very different. My friend is very excited because they are getting a grocery store in their development. The closest one is 20 minutes into town!
I have always lived in a city. I gauge where to live on a Publix, a Target and a Lowes/Home Depot. If they aren't within 5 minutes forget about it!

Sunshine here we come

Well the house has been cleaned, the dogs are taken care of and the last load of laundry is in the dryer. I am trying to pack for 4 people with weather ranging from 40's at the Canyon to 80's in Phoenix and everything in between. It is part of the adventure!
The Art Walk went very well last night despite the tornado warnings and torrential down pours. Lots of people and a number of sales, means a fabulous turn out in May. We have a new Trolley here in town that will take people around and do tours, but during the Walk it will make a circuit to all the venues. You can ride from beginning to end. Very Cool!
I went and had a bite to eat with The Lawyer's and I got to meet Mrs. Green Magsterpie! She is so adorable. I want to get to know her better because she lights up the room with her personality. What a fun girl!
We are off! I will have lots to share when I return. Have a great week...

Walking in the rain

Tonight is the First Friday Art Walk here in town on The Square. The first Friday of every month, local galleries, museums, restaurants and businesses showcase art and artisans from 5pm -8pm. Its a free event and going to be a lot of fun. Wine and art go hand in hand, so of course I'm there! PaintBoy's Gallery is the final destination on the Walk. After visiting at least 10 stops on the Walk, you take your map back to the Gallery and receive a prize bag. Free and you get prizes, good times!

I know all of you are thinking it, but I am going to say it- "Yes, I have been doing all the running around!" He has to prepare the gallery, so I have been out getting wine, food, flowers, finding the black tablecloths, the specific candles, etc. BTW- we are leaving tomorrow for a one week trip to The Grand Canyon. Have I packed the first thing? Has PaintBoy given it a second thought over the Walk? Not so much.
Okay, I just got off the phone with the Lawyer's Wife and I was checking the weather for AZ. I seriously thought I had changed my computer to Celsius when it popped up that it is 12 degrees at the Canyon right now! 12! How in the world do you pack for Phoenix being 85 and the next day its 12? I have an issue of that many layers and that much stripping to handle waking up to 12 and by the afternoon its 65. I am only going for 7 days but am going to have to pack for 4 seasons of GA weather. Holy Crap, what have I gotten myself into??!?

Coffee cups are for Pinot Grigio

I had a LONG day.
It started with the salon computer deciding that it was not going to turn on this morning. Well, let me rephrase that, it would turn on and then turn off about every ten seconds. I called my computer guy right away and he headed over. This would not be such a big deal in most salons, but I use online booking. My clients book their own appointments online and we confirm them. All client information is kept online. We also do all our accounting online. No computer = Bad day!
My first client showed up with her 3 year old daughter for her color appointment. Such a sweet girl that is never a problem. Until today. She decided to throw a temper tantrum like never before. The child was actually growling. Mommy handled it , but it was only the beginning of the day. I was tired by 10:00 am.
I am taking next week off to go to Arizona; because of this I had to work a ton of people in to my schedule. I typically have 7-9 color appointments a day, today I had 13. I could have handled it except several people brought their children this afternoon and evening. I can promise you that I was working like a demon to get those women and their children out of my salon. With every one that exited it grew quieter and quieter. By 7 pm I only had about 3 clients left in the salon. One of which had brought a bottle of wine ( it was her peace offering for forgetting her appointment last night and me working her in tonight) that I proceeded to open. We are in a salon, so there were not a lot of choices for beverage containers; and since I didn't want to share, I decided on coffee cups. I instantly thought of our friend "Sippy cups", I had become "Coffee cups"! I can promise you a cut crystal goblet of the finest wine has not tasted as good as that coffee cup of Pinot Grigio. That bottle was empty way too fast!

I have 2 more days of clients and then it is vacation for 10 days!


When you type Pinot Grigio , the spell check response is Pinto Gringo. That made me snort with laughter- Spotted white guy. Give me a break, I did drink most of a bottle of wine on an empty stomach.