TIME CRISIS 3

There he was, my 34-year-old husband surrounded by not 1, not 2, but 3 balding middle-aged men. These men, standing close but not too close were watching over Trey’s shoulder as he shot down hundreds of bad guys while playing TIME CRISIS 3 in the auditorium of our local multi-plex. I could tell by the way he held the gun that he was unaware of the onlookers.
Trey enjoys playing these violent shoot-em-up, bad guy vs. good guy video games whenever we’re even a sliver early to the movies. With children in the home it’s hard to allow these games. Once August learned to read we had to remove certain movies and games from his line of vision. August would question why he wasn’t allowed to see any James Bond movies if daddy has the entire collection on VHS.
I’m not a huge fan of these games, but watching my husband stand with his legs wide and his arms stretched out in front like a giant triangle of death defying power, head lowered so as to aim all the better kind of turns me on. His determination to get each and every evil doer, his ability to jump up from behind a truck using not just his eyes and his middle finger to shoot but the power of his legs and feet to do the actual jumping of his character. Later he confessed that he chose the pink gun over the black one because he figured men played the game more than woman…so the pink gun probably had better aim. See, he thinks these things through…not only can he defend me if say a man dressed in all black carrying a machine gun flips a vehicle in front of us but he’ll keep his head, he’ll be sure to shoot only that bad guy and no one else who may randomly walk in front of the bad guy.
When the group surrounding Trey dispersed he turned and saw me standing off to the side as I frantically scribbled these words on a napkin knowing it would be the perfect thing to blog about. He was now ready to enter the theater to watch Live Free or Die Hard. On our way to our seats he quietly announced, "The sight on that gun was off..."

DIY

I decided it was time to turn into a little bit of Amy and a little bit of Ann today so I took on a diy project and....drum roll please...I re-caulked the bathtub!!
So let me say this: taking the old caulk off= pretty OK, almost even fun. I listened to This American Life on my iPod while i worked. It was the one about dream homes. It started out with a gal who now lives in Chicago with the Jesus People...they didn't go too much into it but it was interesting none the less.
moving on...
Putting the caulk on= painful, horrible, no good, very bad time. Holy crap. Not okay. It looks great but it was not easy for pity sake! I don't know if the hole was too small or the caulk was too thick or the caulk gun was bad but wow, it took all my might to squeeze that crap out! Pretty sure I'm going to have some wicked bruises on my hands tomorrow.
But ladies and gents, I did a project all by myself...and I'll never do it again!
On other home improvement issues, we're getting the house painted by College Pro painters. I'll post pictures when they're done.

I feel like I've had lot's to post about but absolutely no time to actually sit down and post any of it. I don't think we'll have a rainy day this week so I won't be able to sit the kids in front of the TV while I blog but on a good note, the kids and I (and the dog) are having a good summer full of sun, parks, friends, outdoor movies, beaches, family and late nights.

More on all that when I get some good old fashioned alone time.

So Much to Say

We've been up to a lot lately...
I've tried to re-make Pinkberry here:
(not nearly as good...but ok.)

We went to that lunch time concert in the park that I mentioned in the previous post...the weather was...well, take a look:But the show was just great and well worth the few rain drops.

I changed my hair, yet again. It's a process, still a bit orangey-yellow but it'll get there:
Hazel was in a wedding over the weekend. Kathie came by to make her hair oh-so-beautiful:
(also a process.)
Hazel had to be at the chapel and hour and a half before the wedding...she's not so good at waiting:
She made it through the wedding just fine...no tripping, no falling...but she let it all hang out afterwards during the picture taking time:
The reception was nice...all she really wanted to do was dance, dance, dance:

Today we had a bit of a family reunion. My grandma Mid came to town with my Uncle Bob and Aunt Claudia so my Aunt Emma and Uncle Ken brought them all over for a nice family dinner. Kat and Justin and Emma's son Benny rounded us all out for a Reynolds dinner. We broached such topics as boils, hives and scabies...it was great fun!
So now we face another week of summer. Will the sun come back? It's been raining like Ca-razy...especially for the summer...ahhh...Seattle.

Doing my Part

Been feeling just a wee bit bad about all the plastic bags I bring home from the grocery store (although now that we have a dog we DO re-use said bags), and it just so happens that the project of the month this month is TO THE MARKET BAGS!! How perfect.
Off to the market to find a fun print with which to make a bag...


I know those ironed plastic bags are blowing up all over the crafting blogs these days, but I guess if I'm going to have them around the house I'd rather use them to pick up dog crap then iron them together to make a new fabric.

Summer Happenings

Hey Seattle Mama's,
I'm trying to make the most of this whole summer thing and wanted to pass on some of the events we are going to fit into our weeks:

this coming week is our church's VBS. It's a pretty good program where everyone meets at the church for dinner at 5pm. Parents are welcomed to stay for dinner and then leave at 6pm when the kids start the actual VBS program until 8pm. It runs from Sunday through Thursday. Here's a link:
Bethany Community Church VBS

I think we're going to try to go to this Music Under the Stars program that the Seattle Chamber Music Society is putting on this summer. There's on on Monday night and they continue throughout the summer. Looks like it could be a nice time to listen to music while we picnic on the lawn of Lakeside School here in Seattle. Here's a link:
Seattle Chamber Music Society

I also found info on this Lunchtime Music Series at Hamlin Park in Shoreline (hello AK!). This event is also free and runs from noon to 1pm, think we'll go to that if we can fit it in on Tuesday. We are going to Jonah's house to celebrate his birthday but I'm not sure what time we'll be done with that...
Here's a link:
Lunchtime Music Series

We've got soccer camp and drama camp and swimming on Friday's. We've got family coming for a visit and friends coming for a visit. We've even got a camping trip (I KNOW...WEIRD)! I think this week we'll head over to the zoo during the day maybe on Wednesday if anyone wants to meet us there just give me a call.

Ahhh, summer...the long days...the hot days...the days and days needing to be filled with something other than TV and DS.

Let me know if anyone is interested in joining in.

Hot Town, Summer in the City

We're still trying to get into some sort of schedule for the summer. It would be so easy to let this time slip through our hands with lazy summer afternoons!
Thus far we've gone to Cali to visit family (see previous Ode):Had a family reunion of sorts:

Swam with our good friend Jonah:

Played PLENTY of DS!:

Enjoyed a can of BUZZ COLA (thanks to Auntie Kathie):

Yesterday we escaped the 97 degrees by making our way to Bellevue where we sat in a gloriously air conditioned theater to watch the Nancy Drew movie. It was cute. I don't remember reading the books when I was young so I'm not a die hard fan but I thought the story was engaging for the kids and I didn't mind it either.
After the movie we had some pizza in another gloriously air conditioned place then we hit the mall to look for a dress for our friends wedding. I was happily surprised at Banana Republic where I found a very cute dress AND 2, yes 2 pairs of shoes. Why 2? Well, let me just tell you: the shoes were 50% off AND another 40 % off!! I SAVED money by buying them! 2 pair for $60.00!!! That's better than PayLess!!!!! How could I not buy them both?!
So that was a good day!

Today we met with Auntie Kathie to pick out some invitations for her reception. Weddings are in the air and I have to admit, it's quite fun.

Ode to Amy

The hardest part of visiting with Scott and Amy is not the first day there…it is not even the day I come home. The hardest part is always, always the third day home. By the third day I start thinking about funny events I could share with Amy. I remember songs…that song…that high pitched wooing…sleepless...that song that I bought off stinking iTunes today. I start thinking about how Amy will laugh that infectious laugh of hers when she hears that I spent money on that song.
I begin wishing that instead of sitting on my couch alone watching bad TV that I was maybe sitting on the couch that she designed watching bad TV with her…listening to her scoff at the judges decisions…Dancing With the Stars was never as good as it was when I watched it with her. Watching TV together knowing that one of our lovely daughters will eventually emerge from their beds requesting a kiss or a drink or an announcement that they've peed on the ground rather than the toilet...you know, the usual. Just having that other body there to experience the frustration of motherhood throughout the day makes it so much better.
Oh how I wish we lived closer...an not in a place where the temps reach 101!

UPDATE:
DEAR AMY HAS INFORMED ME THAT IT IS NOT "DANCING WITH THE STARS". THE SHOW IS ACTUALLY CALLED "SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE". AND YES, I WATCHED IT LAST NIGHT!

Family Reunion

For Tank!

Tank wasn't sure where we were going...he was just excited to be included:
Once we got to his mom's yard he was a bit shy but then his brother woke up all was well with the world. Tank is twice as big as his litter mates...he's a stinking giant!

Bringing Many Back

The kids and I survived a trip to California. I've posted the pictures on my flickr page...please take a look at them.
We had an amazing time and the pictures really don't do it justice. Amy, you are the best sister-in-law/friend a girl could ever ask for, thank you for sharing your life with us.

Summer is in full swing here. August and Hazel slept in until 10!! Oh glorious summer, how I love you. Trey is not working tomorrow so we all get to enjoy an entire day together...I can't wait.