Daddy

At our reception...look closely, he's holding out empty pockets. He's got such a sense of humor!

These are pictures of pictures, so they're not very good quality. I'm having some scanner issues, so it's the best I could do on the spot. Also, Superman and I got married nearly a decade ago, so no comments from the peanut gallery on my hair! I was a teen in the 80's, and hadn't quite gotten over my obsession with hairspray!

(**EDITED** to add photos of Daddy being his typical self!)

Meet my Dad. I caught him off guard over Christmas when I snapped this picture. Normally he's grinning from ear to ear. I think I got my giddy-ness from him. He's a bubbly, jolly soul despite what this photo depicts!

Daddy is one of those people that you either love or hate. I happen to love him! I've been a daddy's girl pretty much since birth.

There's not a lot of gray area concerning him! You either hate his passion, drive, and determination, or you love him for those very same qualities. He's sometimes misunderstood, but he has one of the most sincere hearts of anyone I've ever known.

Take this week for example. I received no less than four phone calls from Daddy in one day. He was letting me know that one of the fire service trucks his county had ordered was delivered and sitting a mere 10 miles from my house. He made sure that I knew the name of the salesman, just in case I wanted to take the joys to check out the new truck. He reminded me that he had taken my oldest joy to look at sample trucks at this particular car lot months ago, and therefore C would be able to show me right where to go. He then called to see if we had made it to said dealership to look at said truck. He later called to let me know he was leaving his county and headed in our direction. He made sure to give me his ETA...just in case we might want to stop by and check out the new truck, and oh yeah, we could see him, too.

Knowing it would make Daddy's day, as well as the joys' day, Superman and I loaded up and headed to the dealership. We entered through the back, and I called to see if he was there yet. In typical Daddy response he answered, "Yeah, we're around front. We're the bunch of kids playing with the lights on the truck."

And that was nothing less than an understatement.

Before we even made it to the side of the building, the night sky was lit up with flashing red lights. The cars were reflecting flashing red lights. The glass buildings were reflecting flashing red lights. My retinas were blinded by the refections of flashing red lights.

And although I thought I was only going to come in contact with my dad and one other man, a 16-passenger van load of firemen and my dad and the other man and every salesman at the dealership were all outside "playing with the lights" on the new truck.

And considering I had been baking all day, had my hair pulled up in a ponytail, was wearing a sweatsuit, and had on not one stitch of make-up, this could have been one of those "hate him" moments. But let me just share with you one example of just why I love my Daddy. When I shrieked, "Dad, why didn't you tell me there were going to be people here? I don't have my face on!" He said, "That's OK bug, come look at the new truck!" His child-like enthusiasm saw right past my frizzy ponytail, my frumpy sweatsuit, and my colorless face! He just wanted to share his joy and excitement with me and my family.

We love you Daddy! You're a wonderful dad, a great father-in-law, and a super Paw Paw!

And by the way, the new truck was awesome- especially the flashing lights!

ART at the Circus

Call it what you may, I call this ART. This was one of my most favorite parts of the circus. These young girls were amazing. Their training, poise, and dedication was obvious. I was completely hypnotized by their act. Without any further words, here is my perspective of "art" at the circus.

INSANITY at the Circus

At what point does an act, stunt, or trick cross the line to insanity? How about climbing a PVC-like pole that stands 4 stories in the air...using no net or safety harness. Yep, I'd say that pretty much crosses the line to insanity!Hey Bello! We see you up there!
Good heavens, Bello! What are you doing standing up and balancing on that pole... 4 stories in the air... with no net or harness?Oh, my! Surely you're not hanging upside down. Do I need to remind you that you're 4 stories in the air?Even watching Bello's shadow in the upper deck seating made my stomach cut flips!

But Bello was not afraid, oh no! Bello was in love! In love with this little lassie.

Thus inspiring him to climb a PVC-like pole, 4 stories in the air, without the safety of a net or harness.

Hmm, I wonder if Superman would have chased me up a 4 story pole? Maybe up 4 flights of stairs or 4 blocks down the road, but probably not up a 4 story pole!

But for the sake of me telling this story, let's just say that Superman did follow me up a 4 story pole. And then I decided to come down the 4 story pole in 2.39 seconds, like this.I guarantee you that Superman would not chase me down the pole like this... upside down... for 4 stories ...holding on to the pole with nothing but his legs!

Like I said, INSANITY!

Ringling Brothers, Barnum, and Bailey Circus

To get it all in, this will be the first of three post on the circus. We took a bazillion pictures, and are having a hard time narrowing it down. Thank heavens, my big lens still works, so we're not down to a disposable camera just yet! Here is just a little glimpse of the happenings at the circus. We'll also be posting some of the "art" as well as some of the "insanity". Keep checking back this week for more!

This is Bello. The theme of the circus was "Bellobration". He was awesome. He is a clown, acrobat, dare-devil, entertainer, etc. I truly believe there is nothing Bello can't do!

Here's a preview of the "insanity". And yep, it included Bello!

The show lasted 2 1/2 hours! It was unlike anything I've ever seen. Ringling Brothers, Barnum, and Bailey surpassed my expectations, and I have every intention of taking the boys again next year. By intermission I was feeling bad that we only paid $11 for each ticket. I felt like we owed them more money for all the entertainment we were receiving. Then Superman bought the joys snow cones...at $8.00 per snow cone. Suddenly, my guilt of underpaying went away!

Losing Canines (Teeth)

What a difference a week makes! One week ago, I couldn't come up with any stories to share. Today, I have so many things going on that I want to share, it's going to take me two or three posts to get it all said and done! Let me begin with this fella.
My oldest joy came running into the bathroom tonight to let me know that he had a loose tooth.

2.47 minutes later, he had pulled his lower right canine- by himself.

Now, before you get all hot and bothered, and start beating yourself up about your own parenting skills, because you have no clue which tooth actually is the lower right canine, let me go ahead and confess that I had no clue either. However, about the time I realized he had already yanked a tooth out of his head, I also realized I didn't know if it was a baby tooth or a permanent tooth.

Fearing an emergency trip to the dentist, panic set in and I was just about to call KK and pick her dental hygienist brain... for help with our dental emergency... again. But then I realized it was already after 9:00, and her little one was most likely sleeping.

It's amazing what a panic attack and a Google session can teach you!
Tonight, it taught me that I had no need to fear. The tooth he pulled was his lower right canine, and most children loose their canines between the ages of 9 and 12. He's 9, so we're right on time.

And it's so nice to be on time for something!

Did I mention that this brave little man pulled his tooth by himself?

2.47 minutes after realizing it was loose?

Or that patience is a virtue he hasn't quite developed yet?

Yep, he's mine!

It's SNOWING!!!

If you can look past the dying pond palms and all the dead leaf debris, you will see a rare sight for those of us living down south!

It is SNOWING!

And I love me some snow!


About 15 minutes ago my phone rang. When Superman announced that it was Nana Mae, I thought to myself, "What on earth is wrong?" Panic struck me, and my heart began to race. Then I heard Superman's startled voice say, "Snow?!?!"

With that, the boys and I made a mad dash to the door. I never even had a chance to talk to Nana. But that's OK! Nana and I have this unspoken code between us. Anytime there is snow, we call each other. Sometimes it's like tonight, as a way to let each other know that it's snowing, and to look outside. Sometimes it's like this past Thanksgiving. I was in the mountains with my dad's side of the family. We woke up the morning after Thanksgiving to see a blanket of white. Of course, my first thought was to grab my phone and call Nana.

So I did!

At 7 a.m.!

And we giggled and chatted about the snow! Even though she wasn't there to see it, she got excited with me.

Because that's how our unspoken code works!

Yep, I love me some snow!

And so does Nana!

And These Are the Days of My Life

I'm so sorry that I've been away so long! Life has just been more chaotic than usual!

I've had dozens of ideas floating through my mind. I've stopped and started more post than I can count. But for some reason, the flow wasn't there?!?!

Can you get blogger's block? If so, I have had a severe case!

However, at this very second, I need a place to vent and to whine!

Consider yourself warned, very little creativity to follow...

I took my camera with me to Boys' Club this afternoon, determined to snap some photos to post. When my youngest child came through the craft class I help teach, I forgot to even turn the camera on. When my oldest child came through for his rotation, I remembered to turn the camera on, but quickly found out that my camera lens is broken.

You see, my littlest joy- the one that looks like his daddy, but acts like his mama, bless his heart- well, he's no more capable of sitting still than I am. Unlike me, he likes to do laps from the kitchen to the living room, and sometimes through the bedrooms, in order to run out some of his energy. He also likes to do his laps while skipping, bouncing, jumping, forwards, backwards, crab-crawl-style, etc. This past weekend, I'd warned him to stop running in circles. He then began to gallop in circles. Because we all know, galloping isn't the same as running!

As my littlest joy galloped around the house, I heard a crash. I didn't even have to turn around to know what I heard crashing to the ground.

It was my camera.

My beloved Nikon camera.

The beloved Nikon camera that Superman warned me upon purchasing it, is the last camera he's buying for me.

Because it's the second really nice camera he's bought me in the last decade.

And it's the second really nice camera that my littlest joy has had a hand in breaking.
(That's my story and I'm sticking to it!)

For W's 5th birthday, we braved Chuck E. Cheese for his party. He invited some of his friends from school and some of his cousins. It started as a wonderful party, even though we were at Chuck E. Cheese!

I was busy serving pizza and cake to all of the children, so I put my camera down in the case on the floor. When I walked back to pick it up and take some pictures, my camera was sitting in a puddle of Pepsi inside the camera bag. One of the children had knocked their drink over and it had landed in the camera bag... without any of us knowing!

Needless to say, my Canon was fried. We took it to the camera shop on the way home from the party. They sent it off for repairs, only to have it returned with a note saying it would be less expensive to replace it than to repair it!

Superman made me go without a new camera for several months. Until I whined and snotted and snorted and cried and snotted some more.

When he could bare my whining no more, we transitioned to digital.

Unfortunately, I'm most likely now going to be transitioning to disposable!

Bless my own heart!

P.S. Superman doesn't know yet! So let's keep this just between us!

NOT Long-Winded

I just can't seem to get in the mood to post.

I've tried and tried, but everything keeps coming out long-winded.

I'm good at long-winded.

Very good at long-winded.

But somehow, I just don't think that my 8 loyal readers would appreciate long-winded!

So, just for you, I decided to just post some of my favorite pictures.

They're not necessarily good pictures, but they are some of my favorites because they make me happy.

And they don't require me to get all long-winded!

Enjoy!