9 Things Most People Don't Know About Me

My friend Sara over at Running From the Law is doing a ten day blog challenge with a list of topics, and I thought it'd be fun to play along. I missed day 1, so I'm starting out on day 2. Be sure to check out Sara's blog, she does all kinds of cool stuff and her blog is awesome!

So anyway, today's topic: 9 things most people don't know about you.

1. I have a huge fear of bedbugs. They're so gross. Something in my bed, feasting on me and laying eggs and pooping?

Ewwww!

I check for them when I change the sheets and I always check for them when I stay in hotel. I have issues, I know. But now you want to go check your bed, don't you?

2. I love real-life murder mystery shows. Forensic Files is my favorite. It's scary and gory, but the bad guys always get caught.

3. As a direct result of #2, I am a total wimp spending the night alone. It never fails that the cat is acting jumpy and weird, and there's some strange noise. If any axe murderers are reading this, don't even think about coming to my house. 'Cause I have a plan.

4. At Girl Scout day camp in second grade, I picked Goldenrod as my Indian name.

I made a beaded headband and we learned a song that I still sort of remember. My head is full of random stuff like this instead of more useful information like, say, where I left my cell phone.

5. Before I stayed home, I was a lawyer. I worked as a clerk for a judge. It was an interesting job and I really enjoyed it. I spent my days researching, writing and listening to attorneys argue their cases. I miss it sometimes, but I don't ever regret staying home. Before that I was a teacher. I taught 6th grade English and 4th grade before heading to law school.

6. This is what my fridge looks like.


It's a cluttered mess of pictures, artwork and Bible verses.

It's happy and messy, just like the kiddos.

7. For the longest time I didn't think I wanted kids. And then one day when I was about 27 years old, I decided I had to have a baby. Scot walked in the door that night and I laid the news on him. Scot didn't flinch and just said, "okay." Definitely one of our better decisions. :-)

8. I danced for several years growing up. Ballet, tap and jazz. I can still do a mean time step.

9. I have six toes. Not really. But I can't think of anything else. :-)

Thanks for the blog topic, Sara!!

Me and My Shadow

This morning I woke up to Brooke yelling "MAMA!!" from her bed. Soon she was inches from my sleeping face asking, "Mama, do you want to get up now?"

An hour later I stepped out of the shower to find that she had stripped down to nothing and was about to join me. As I put on my makeup, she was right next to me pretending to put on makeup, too. (Nathan did the same thing yesterday, but that's a whole different post.)

And then there's the phrase I've been hearing a lot lately: "will you play with me?"

Will you play with me?

Will you play with me???

If I had a dollar for every time I've heard that, I'd have to stop blogging because my private island wouldn't have internet access. It's all day, every day. First thing in the morning. When I'm making dinner, when I'm eating dinner. When I'm giving her a bath. When I am playing with her!
Most days, I really do love that she wants to be with me so much. She's my little fanclub of one. It will be a sad day when she no longer comes to me in her superhero cape, fairies and princesses in hand, and asks me to play. On the other days, I pray for an extra dose of patience.

And then we play, me and my little shadow.

"To Do" List

I had full intentions of being productive today.

Brooke had preschool this morning, and Nathan takes a long morning nap. During this time I would:

1. clean me
2. clean the downstairs bathroom
3. vacuum
4. mop the kitchen
5. dust

But halfway through #1, Nathan decided he didn't need a nap. There was no convincing him. So we compromised. He could get up and play at the park if I could take pictures.

And since he's only 14 months old, I told him that he agreed.



Maybe I can get something done tomorrow.


Or maybe not.



Cleaning is overrated, anyway.

Up, Up and Away

We took the kiddos to see their first air show this weekend!

Driving in, the excitement was palpable.

Well, Scot and I were excited, anyway.

But once we got there, everybody perked up. It was great to get so close to the planes.





(I should tell you that I had no idea what I was taking pictures of, I just took pictures of the prettiest and fanciest-looking planes.)

And then the show began. The Blue Angels took the runway. It. Was. Amazing...

...and crazy. Who does this??


It was loud, but the kids didn't mind at all. We were completely in awe.




But all that upside-down, flying 2 feet away from the other planes, near-miss stuff?


No thank you.

Those poor pilots' mamas. I couldn't stomach being a pilot's mama.



So don't even think about it, little dude.

Once upon a time...

...there was a preschooler who made a Johnny Appleseed puppet at school.

She liked it. A lot.



The preschooler gave her mama Snow White and drafted her in to play with her.


Johnny: Snow White, do you want to eat an apple?



Snow White: I don't do apples. It's a long story.


And then Johnny and Snow White noticed a foul smell coming from one of the woodland creatures.


The End.

Hodgepodge

Brooke has learned her first ever Bible verse. I just love it!

Translation: "God loves us and sent his Son. 1 John 4:10."

In other news, fall is coming! The weather is starting to cool down, and we can now leave the house in the middle of the day without bursting into flame. Our little dogwood tree has one tiny red leaf.

Isn't it cute??

What are you looking forward to most this fall? For me, it's pumpkin spice lattes, tomato soup, chili, and football. I should confess that I forced myself to come up with something non-food-related.

Oh! And I also can't wait to take the little guys to the pumpkin patch. They'll get a kick out of that. And hello, photo op!

Down South

We loaded 'er up again this weekend and headed down south to see my husband's family.

Scot's brother and his family drove a long way to come meet up with us. We don't get to see them very often, so it was a real treat. They have three sweet little boys. Sweet, energetic, wrestly boys. Is wrestling a "boys only" thing? Because we never get to wrestle at my house.

Anyway, they're lots of fun and really cute.



This is their youngest. He's two. Very two. He knows what he wants and how to get it. But I like a man who knows what he wants.

We made some more delicious ice cream. I know I've referenced homemade ice cream about 345 times on my blog, but I'm going to do it again because this picture is too cute. And because it's my blog and because homemade ice cream is awesome.


We hit the best kid joints in town: the park and the petting zoo. We had a great time.







It was a great time. Hope you're having a good one, too.