Camera bit the dust

For the record I do at least have an excuse for falling off the wagon....

My camera bit the dust. Or more accurately sand. But that was only after it went swimming in the ocean while turned on. And oh, yeah, stayed there for a good 20 minutes being tossed here and there before I realized it was missing (I was supervising a 2 year old in the surf at the time. And did I mention the red flags were at full mast (aka only idiots should step toe in the water - and the lifeguards were quite adamantly chasing off anyone who ventured much past knee deep). Yeah... um common sense? Not so much....

Actually we had planned to meet some friends at the beach (they set it up). And I hadn't even checked the weather. They texted us to tell us they were rescheduling the morning of (which I didn't get because I have texting turned off on my phone - don't ask...). To make a long story short(er) we decided to go anyways (the car was already loaded, the kids were already in and the rain chances were only something like 30% at the crack of dawn and in the late afternoon neither of which being times that we would be there). We were by no means the only ones on the beach, though parking (parallel parking!) was thankfully sparse enough to land me a pull in spot on the seawall feet from a stairway down the beach at our favorite beachfront. It was a bit grey and cloudy, and even pretty ominous looking offshore for a while, but the cool breeze and break from the heat were a welcome relief that let us play far longer than we would have otherwise.

Squeak!!

I am practically vibrating with excitement over these guys! These are the teacher appreciation gifts for the kids' teachers. I LOVE how they turned out!


They are popcorn sliders. It is actually really pretty cool how they work. To open them you don't untie the ribbon - you just pull it out.

And out comes the bag of microwave popcorn and the gift card/movie ticket sleeve. How cool is that?? :)

Here's the gift card/movie ticket holder I came up with. I am actually planning to put movie ticket vouchers inside. I got a good deal on tickets from our local theater that have no restrictions and never expire. Just perfect!

And the 2nd flap... Inside is a little folder pocket where the tickets go. Soooo cute!

Crab Rangoon

I have recently discovered that I love Crab Rangoon. But not just any crab rangoon. Oh, no. Crab Rangoon from a restaurant that has gone out of business. So for the last month or so I have ordered the crab puffs from every asian restaurant I happen by. These came from a restaurant just around the corner from us. And though they got an A in shape and crunch, sadly they were missing that little something that I can't quite put my finger on that made my favorite puffs just perfect.

Kicking around ideas...

I have been racking my brain trying to come up with a good idea for teacher appreciation next week. I got some paper and some bits and pieces of scrap and played around with a popcorn slider idea. It needs some tweaking, but it shows a lot of promise.

Mother's Day

It only seems appropriate to post a picture of the boys and I today. Unfortunately this is as good as it gets... And for the record I was talking to someone off camera which is why I have such a totally goofy look on my face. :) Kevin got the boys shirts that said something like "My Mom Rocks." They showed off both their muscles and their farmer's tans.

Circus Act

The 3 ring circus.

More pics from K's camera. Mine is conveniently missing it's SD card. Hopefully I will find it soon. And um, yeah, those are pool toys. In our neighbors front yard. I don't know either... I must have been napping.

Perspective

I was downloading some pictures from my husband's camera today and came across this one. Sometimes I wonder if the kids secretly grab ahold of his camera and go to town because there are always pictures that I cock my head first one way, then the other about.


If it's actually Kevin who is taking these, well that just might explain a few things. :)

Time Flies...

And um, yeah, I meant to do that! :)

Say Cheese

The boys have been taking pictures of us like crazy. I guess turn about is only fair. :)

Cheeze

I can only imagine how the conversation at school must have gone trying to teach the kids to look at the camera and smile. Somehow I don't think this wrinkled nose piranha like teeth display was what they had in mind. But it still makes me smile and laugh every time.


And for the record I had nothing to do with Connor and the tub. He took his jungle book and crawled in to read.

Red fish, blue fish

Connor had the meltdown of the century today. He's generally a pretty easy going kid, but lately he has become pretty attached to some fish that he got for his birthday. When we got home he had forgotten where he left them and went nuts crying and looking for them. I finally found the yellow fish, and the green fish, along with a random red fish that we have no idea where it came from. But we couldn't for the life of us find the orange fish (which Connor calls red). He carried on like the world was ending. And it's heartbreaking because it is so out of character for him to be so upset. At one point I sent Kevin upstairs to find the blue fish that had made its way to the tub in the hopes that he would take it instead. Kevin came back out and said there was no blue fish. I sent him back to look again. He came back a second time - "There is no blue fish in that tub." And by that tub he means this one:

And for the record that blue spec practically in the middle of the tub. Uh, huh. The blue fish. Kevin did eventually find the "red" fish and life went back to normal, or as normal as it gets around here. Note to self: Do not pass go. Go directly to the store and buy more fish.

Mesmerized

The boys were happy to have Kevin home as it meant parking in front of the t.v. on Sunday morning to watch some videos while I tried to catch a few more z's...

Family Reunion

Yesterday Kevin came home from his trip to Taiwan/China. I think he's still trying to figure out what time it is and what time zone he is in. Though hopefully it helped that we spent most of the day outside in the sun running around chasing the boys. It was the extended family reunion today at the park. Kevin and his brother chased the boys around most of the time while I got to sit down for the first time in what seems like ages. :)