Tank and Tummy Night

Tank and Tummy night here at the Linthicum/Alderin house means going to dinner and then the aquarium store. Apparently that is a big deal of fun for Will and Spencer -- me...not so much.
BUT...I had to tag along this time....because I wanted to control the $$ spent at the fish store.  However, I am pretty sure Spencer and Will talked idiots at the pet store into taking the snakes out of the cages SEVERAL times just to make me run to the front of the store in a panic. Trying to make me not want to go with them next time, right?
They spent over an hour looking at fish...seriously...I spent less time picking out my new car.
Then they decided on sharks.  Spencer got a red-tail black shark (he named Kenny) and Will got a Black shark...that's albino...so yeah, his black shark is white.  And quite ugly. We call Will's shark "ABS" for albino black shark or possibly A Buttugly Shark...not sure which. (I guess "Powder" wouldn't have been a nice name?)

Spencer was so excited about his new fish, we let him sleep on the living room couch so he could fall asleep looking at the aquarium. .

Loo Loo Again

This weekend was a Girls Crafting weekend-- filled with scrapbooking, sewing, jewelry making, card-making and of course, Hurricane Irene tracking.  We had a couple of great dinners out, went to see The Help, raided the craft section of Mighty Dollar, planned Julie's baby shower, giggled through Jen's Zumba demo and Dee learned a valuable lesson...ALWAYS lock the bathroom door. (my poor Dad is STILL embarrassed!)

While I had a girls weekend away, Will and the boys took a break from their weekend of eating junk and playing video games to tour the HPU campus to see where Will is now working.

First Day!

Today is Spencer's first day of 5th grade.  And his last "first day" of elementary school.  How did my baby grow up so fast??
I remember when I took him to his first day of Kindergarten and I thought the 5th graders looked HUGE--way too big to be bustling down the hallways with our wittle kindergartners.  Now I am wondering if other Kindergarten parents sat this morning thinking the same thing looking at Spencer and his friends going into school, high-fiving over weekend soccer goals and plans at recess later....

And yes, Spencer picked out his own first day clothes.  The boy, will NOT wear anything other than soccer clothes!

Today is also Will's first day on the job at HPU.  The middle picture is him showing his new work ID badge and he is making the same face as in his ID picture--- it looks like he had to poop really bad and then a four year old drew a straight line across with a sharpie for his mouth...quite unfortunate.  He could fake he lost his ID and get another one...but there is a $50 replacement charge--- so I say he has to keep the poop/sharpie mouth picture!

5 months later....

What's the 5th month anniversary?  Jewelry?   Furniture Pads!
Will and I have been married for 5 months but he has still been working in Raleigh and commuting each weekend. But as of this past Friday, he is an official resident of Trinity. After a wonderful career at NC State Athletics, he is ready for his new challenge at High Point University. (If you mix Carolina Blue and State Red you get purple anyway, right? So HPU is a good blend of our "house divided" marriage.)

Of course, moving is never fun.  Jimmy backed the truck and trailer into the front yard and missed a tree by mere millimeters! You couldn't fit a packet of kool aid in between the trailer and the tree---but there was no damage!
The house is a mess, we have boxes and furniture everywhere!  Hopefully we can celebrate our 6th month anniversary all settled in! But I am not complaining-- I FINALLY have my husband home all week instead of just weekends!

Fit for a Queen

Back in May, for either her Birthday or Mother's Day (I forget...) I gave Mom a gift certificate to The Lexington Tea House for a British Tea Luncheon.
Then I proceeded to work 70 hour weeks on a huge project and we haven't been able to go...until today.  I actually took a lunch break for the first time in months!


Our tea luncheon was...OH MY GOODNESS....

The British tea included: 
May Flower Tea Sandwiches • Cucumber Tea Sandwiches• Chicken Salad Croissants • Fresh Fruit • Cheese Straws • Pastries, Cakes and Scones with Devonshire Cream and jam• Pot of Hot Tea and Iced Tea of the Day
There was twice as much food as we have EVER gotten at a normal tea house. We ate our fill and had a huge takeout container full for Spencer!

Not too many Dicks around

Have you noticed that fewer and fewer kids have nicknames?
I am talking real nicknames--not ones like Scooter, Skippy, Fartface, etc.
When was the last time you met someone under 60 named Dick (for Richard)?
Almost everyone at Spencer's school goes by full name such as Michael (not Mike) or Stephen (not Steve) or Jeffrey (not Jeff).

Traditional names that customarily got nicknames (Robert, William, Joseph, Richard, etc.) are not as popular anymore and somehow it became vogue NOT to shorten a child's name.
"This is my son, Alexander."
"Hi Alex!" 
'No! It is Alexander!!!"

So why do I care?  I don't.
I just happened to overhear a kid snap at another kid's grandparent at a soccer game when the grandpa cheered for "Chris" and was immediately corrected to "Christopher."  I am sure the Grandpa's generation shortened Christopher to Chris without any implied insult.
Geez!

Sugar High!

How happy do my boys look?

After an evening of visiting Nana Linthicum, dinner and a little shopping-- we decided to end our Friday night with a trip to Krispy Kreme,  The "Hot and Now" sign was on so we HAD to stop.  Sometimes it is the simple things that make family time memorable.