He went thatta way!

We had a girls' lunch at Chik-Fil-A before leaving town with Grandma, Teriney and her kids.

The play area was closed to clean a "spill".

We were the lucky group sitting by the door that got to explain it to several groups.

A boy and girl walked up to the doors to go play.

Me: the play area is closed today.

girl: why?

Me: they're cleaning it.

girl: why?

Me: someone had an accident and they're cleaning it.

boy: who?

Me: I don't know. (this is where a six year old boy gives us the third degree)

boy: was it a boy or a girl?

Me: I don't know.

boy: how old were they?

Me: I don't know, it's just closed to clean it during lunch. sorry.

(boy and girl walk away, looking doubtful that we weren't leading them astray to keep the play area to ourselves)

Grandma: it was a boy about your age!

Me and Teriney: (laughing so hard we are going to make more "spills"!)

ps-while the girls were disappointed to not play, I love Chik-Fil-A! I can't eat there all the time, my stomach would rebel, but I just love going to a clean place with clean facilities and a clean play area where they give you placemats, the kid straws are "bendy", you can get a fruit cup instead of fries, and there are sweet ladies who refill your drinks, give your kids free ice cream, and hand out samples of their shakes. It's worth the extra buck or two every once in a while!

My Sammy

This is Lu's boyfriend.

She thinks he's the best.

Her adoration started early.
On a road trip to Dallas, she loved just having him around!
If I'm busy, she wants her Sammy.
When I tell the girls we're going to Grandma's, Lu starts chanting, "I see my Sammy" over and over! I am sooooo thankful for my Sammy who babysits my kids, helps me when I'm trying to get out the door, breaks up fights, holds Lu when she's cranky, and I think, secretly, he kind of adores her too!

RLS

I have cyclic insomnia. It's not bad, but one week a month (you figure it out!) my restless legs drive me insane enough to bother my sleep. This is my week, so I'm tired, a cranky mom, and annoyed that I'm up at 4:24 AM. But all the nerves in my legs are activating and making me want to move, wiggle, and kick my legs.

I get restless legs from my mom. I inherited a lot of things from her. I have her hair, her eyes, people think I'm her when I answer her phone, but at 4:24AM, this is not my favorite inherited trait. For as long as I can remember, she has jiggled her legs through each and every evening. When she was forty, she started medicine for it. Hers isn't once a month, it's every day, all day. I dread mine getting that bad in ten years.

But mine is already getting worse. Just in the last year or so has it begun to disrupt my sleep at all. Before that, it was limited to when I was bored or just really tired. But luckily, when I was tired I could go to sleep and that would resolve it.

I hope when I'm forty, they have this RLS thing more figured out.

Pillowcases and Crepe Myrtles

The crepe myrtles are in bloom! They drop pretty white and pink flowers all over my car. But I love parking under them because they create great shade!

My girl loves these trees!

She loves to peel the bark off the trees. grrrr!

She loves to swing on the branches and dance around "honey, honey" from Mama Mia!

So, ignore the house in the background and imagine she's dancing on the white Greek stucco countryside.

Because believe me, that's where her imagination is!

and yes, I made pillowcase dresses, perfect for dancing on the Greek shores!

And the pink and blue one is on it's way with its twin to Colorado!

Summer Days!

It is hot here!!

The humidity makes it feel like it's 10 degrees hotter than it is. Which is blazingly, stiflingly, blisteringly HOT!

So we have coped by running to Grandma and Grandpa's house for relief, swimming, eating fresh fruit, and running around in our diapers (for those that qualify)

So Spoiled

I miss my husband every day.

Sometimes I miss him when I realize I haven't gotten the mail in a week.

I miss him when I'm hauling groceries in the heat up the stairs to the apartment while herding two space cadets inside.

I miss him when the garbage can gets full and smelly. All too often on that one!

I am thankful for the small mercy of the toilet flushing tonight.

It's the little things, people!

Now before you laugh at me or get too grossed out, a few facts.

One, we had to leave our plunger in Minnesota for our renters.

Two, I have no idea how to work a plunger without making an even bigger wet, disgusting mess.

Three, my husband has perfected the art of plunging.

Four, he thanks his frustrating job in Utah for it! :)

Five, I have a knack of remembering to borrow my parents' plunger after the kids are in bed and I'm housebound for the night.

Six, the toilet wasn't really clogged for a week. It was Mama Mia clogged for a week.

You know,

"if it doesn't flush right away, just go away and try again later."

It took a few flushes to get everything down. TMI yet?

Tonight it flushed all the way!

Thank Heaven!

I still miss my husband!

Water!

The pool was closed for maintenance.

So, Grandma got out fun sprinklers for the girls to run in!

I love my mother's summer garden!

It was forced merriment for Lu. She wasn't sure about being sprayed in the face. But M was all about dancing in the water!

It was perfect!

Mom's Lantana! It's all different shades of orange, yellow and pink!

This was much more Lu's speed. Running around the closed pool!