What's up Uncle Buzz?

Spencer chose Buzz Aldrin for his 3rd grade biography project.  He had to research, create a project board and then dress up in character for a "living wax museum" night at the school.  He was adorable--and I was so proud of him for his hard work and research.

As we were walking around the Living Wax Museum, we came across this gem from one of Spencer's classmates (which was quickly removed by a teacher)... Evidently Terrell Davis was white as a child.  I bet this shocked his parents....

Pumpkins and Rockstars

Sunday evening, Dad picked me up from the airport in time to come home for dinner with the family, carve pumpkins with the kids and then III and I headed out for the AC DC concert-- we had a blast!

Icefest

Talk about fun!!!  I spent a long weekend (last Thursday - Sunday) in Niagara Falls with some friends.  Just a girls weekend away with some of the funniest chicks I know!

This is Patti.  She was our Canadian host. She is a VIP at the casino and we were treated us like royalty all weekend.  Nice, eh?

This is Gina.  She is our loud mouth Long Island, Italian friend that can make you laugh even WHILE you are getting into trouble. hahah--Poor Gina!

 This is Cheri. She is a crazy Californian who is queer for electrical power and will make you laugh until your sides hurt.  This girl is dangerously funny!

We spent our time, shopping, dining, drinking, touring...and laughing harder than I have laughed in a LONG LONG time. Some of my best memories from this weekend include cheers at the roulette tables, Cheri cussing at Glenda Anne at the slots, Gina getting in trouble for gymnastics in the chairman's club, doggie kisses from Max at Patti's house, bottles of yummy icewine, hilarious dice games in the suite and the best surf and turf I have ever eaten! This was seriously one of the best Girls Weekends away you can imagine-- I was spoiled rotten!

A cakewalk that will give kids nightmares

Feeling a little crafty, I thought I would google some cakes that I might possibly make for the cakewalk at Halloween.  I came across this one:

Poor ol' Frankenstein looks a little hard up, dontcha think?  Seriously, that's nuts!  This cake got the shaft big time. Who would want a cock-eyed cake?.......(enough???)

Paranormal YACKtivity

Have you seen the movie Paranormal Activity?  It is very Blair Witch-esque and filmed with a handheld camera; therefore, the camera movement was substantial. I don't normally have motion sickness, but I got quite nauseous during the film....twice. The movie was good.  The quick sprints to the ladies room were less than fun. A great meal at Maggiano's was quickly lost. Thankfully Will was more than understanding!

I originally thought Will's little Chi-Weenie dog (Lacie) looked like a love-child between a Chihuahua and Yoda but we decided that she looks like Fire Marshall Bill. Especially when she works that bottom lip for a pout!
What do you think?

Seriously? Duke beat State???

Saturday, Laura and I went to the Duke-State game. We had a great day of shopping (Sephora, Lush, etc!) tailgating (wine, cheese, chocolates, etc!) and dinner out (Greek at Taverna Agora).

Will's seats are excellent-- 50 yard line, 3 rows behind the Duke bench, so other than being harassed by the surrounding State fans- it was fantastic.  When we first got there and were going down the row to our seats, the guy on the end said, "Holy Crap! A Duke Girl and a Carolina Girl. Well isn't that just great?"  We knew it was going to be rough in the sea of red...

We handled the heckling from the State fans much better than we handled the bottles (plural) of wine while tailgating BEFORE the game...in the sun....yeah, not so smart :-)  The walk to the stadium was...uhmmm...interesting.  But alas, after some water, we were fine!

And Laura REALLY enjoyed seeing the history making game where Duke actually beat State.  I mean c'mon-- who would have predicted a 49-28 win for Duke???

Since Will has to work every game, he kept an eye on us via binoculars (kinda creepy, huh?) and contact with us through lots of texting (kind of sweet, huh?)

Friday Night Smackdown

A Friday evening play date sounded like a good idea when Laura and I were sitting at K&W having dinner tonight and planning our trip to Raleigh tomorrow.

Sure, let me have the kids for the evening-- they can play while I do some laundry and baking....uhmmm, yeah,  how did that work out for me?

I was referee, noise police, snack provider and at least three times, nurse to the injured. 
How can a game of Hide and Go Seek be the auditory equivalent of a cacophony of motorcycles driving through a speed metal concert?

Feels like Autumn

The weather has finally turned cool-- and it was the perfect weekend for it.

Spencer had his first ever sleep away/church retreat/lock-in this past Friday night. The Third Grade retreat included pizza, movies, fellowship and a new bible. Spencer enjoyed every second of it and made several new friends.

It was an excellent weekend for staying in, cooking up yummy cool weather foods, cuddling up on the couch and watching football.  Too bad Carolina lost this weekend or it would have been perfect.

We also enjoyed the late summer sun while walking around at the Dixie Classic Fair.  Spencer enjoyed the Honeybee exhibit and bought some honey / honeycomb. Fair foods, petting zoos, agricultural exhibits, stupid games, lots of rides---and some quality family time!

Happy Birthday III !

III's birthday was celebrated with soccer team photos, a game, a quick dinner and then cake at Mom and Dad's house. We'll go out this weekend and have a "real" dinner with him-- but this is the best we could do on a weeknight totally controlled by the kids' schedules.

We gave III an AirZooka. Let's just say that Mom's poor cat will have some serious nightmares about airballs tonight.....

What's the Hoth soup special?

I got the call from school today-- Spencer was sick and needed to come home. He seemed fine this morning but IV was sick yesterday (has the flu) so I assumed it wouldn't be long before Spencer was sick. He is warm, body aches, slight headache and very tired. No other symptoms...yet.

He napped a little and then played Legos. When I had my lunch break, I fixed broccoli and cheese soup. Of course, after I take the time to make him his favorite soup, he took two sips and decided he wasn't hungry......

Scrapbooking Yeah!

We scrapbooked this weekend-- well, I guess it is better described as all the girls got together for a weekend and we worked on whichever projects we wanted: cards, scrapbooks, jewelry, etc.
I blinged up a denim jacket! Jen stopped by Saturday and we oooohed and aaaaahed over little Miss Khloe! Stacy finally earned her "Priceless" T-shirt and was inducted into the Loo-Loo crew. It was a great weekend....but I am exhausted....

Congratulations Jennie & Ivan

Friday night was Jennie and Ivan's wedding--it was beautiful and Jennie looked gorgeous! Our guys had football this weekend, so Laura and I were each others' dates, and, of course, we had a blast.

Since Jennie is on her honeymoon, it is safe to post a few pictures. Laura and I decided that Jennie will get more than plenty sweet, wholesome wedding pictures, so we would slip in a few pictures to make her laugh.
Here is a sample:



Notice, we even got a few of the other wedding guests in on the action. Poking our fingers in the cake, stealing the silverware, stealing the wedding gifts, rocking the mic, the gratuitous bathroom humour, etc. Jennie will love it!

Little Rembrandt

I signed Spencer up for a new after school art program called "Little Rembrandts." It has three sessions-- each session is 6 weeks long and he goes for 1 hour each Thursday. ($60 per session)
He LOVES IT!!!
Here is his first project-- a still life drawing of a backpack, ruler, pencils, apple and bottle of glue.
He was SO EXCITED to give it to me and practically giggled the entire time I hung it up on our art wall. I love to see him passionate about something that doesn't involve fart jokes....

Crazy Conversations

Yesterday, I overheard a conversation between Spencer and my nephew, IV.
I had to hold back the giggles.
It went something like this.

IV: I bet Jesus could sing.
Spencer: What?
IV: You know. When Jesus was on earth. I bet he was a good singer.
Spencer: Probably. He was probably good at everything. I bet he was picked first to be on kickball.
IV: Do you think they had American Idol back then? Cuz I bet Jesus would win.
Spencer: They didn't have TV back then. But I bet they had kickball.
IV: Hmmmm... I want to sing like Jesus.
Spencer: yeah. Whatever.

Ticket to Ride

We took Spencer and IV to the Greensboro Fair last night. The boys enjoyed several rides, a petting zoo, a few games and some regular goofing off. It was the perfect amount of fun for a Monday night!

Rock & Roll Jennie!

I poured over the 144 pictures from Jennie's bachelorette party and finally found a few pics safe for the blog. If you want to see all the pics-- you have to get permission from Jennie :-)
:snicker:

Fall Soccer has begun

This year, we are the tornadoes. I can't speak for the rest of the team, but violent, dangerous, rotating columns of hot air pretty much describes Spencer and IV so I guess tornadoes is an appropriate name.
Spencer and IV enjoyed their first scrimmage this past weekend-- and enjoyed goofing off with their friends/teammates. Should be a fun season!

Bow-wow-wow-ser's Birthday

Bowser's celebrated his first birthday this week! He got a big rawhide bone, lots of kisses and his very own ice cream cone!
It's hard to believe that he was once a little puppy!

Mid-Week Party

Friends, wine, Bud Light Lime, a few appetizers and desserts and Wednesday night became a party. Oh and Jen was hocking her Premiere Jewelry...haha--but we had fun. It was nice to sit around with friends I rarely get to see! The kids had a FANTASTIC time-- they were so cute together. All the pictures in the collage were taken by Spencer. He is becoming quite the little photographer!

Turtle Brownies

I found an EASY recipe for Turtle Brownies and I thought I would share it here since it was incredibly quick, easy and tasty!

1 package of chocolate cake mix (I used Devil's Food)
1 cup of chopped pecans
2/3 cup of evaporated milk
1 stick of melted butter
-----------------
Mix these four ingredients (batter will be stiff) and divide the batter in half.
Press 1/2 the batter into a lightly greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

While that is baking, unwrap the caramels from a 12 oz. bag of Kraft caramels and slowly heat the caramels along with 1/3 cup of evaporated milk over medium-low heat until it is a smooth mixture.

When you take the chocolate base out of the oven, pour a 12oz. bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips evenly across the entire base.
Then drizzle the caramel sauce evenly on top of the chocolate chips.
Then take the remaining batter (the 1/2 you saved from the beginning) and drop it in rounded tablespoons across the top on the caramel sauce. It doesn't matter if some caramel is still showing.
Return to the oven for an additional 20 - 25 minutes.
Let it cool completely before cutting it into bars.

P.F Who ???

I did it.
After combining a few "copycat" recipes I made what my family feels is the best substitute recipe for PF Chang's lettuce wraps.
Even the "picky" eaters (my nephew, IV) and the constant complainer (my brother, III) enjoyed this dish!
Nothing but full bellies, empty dishes and compliments to the cook....my kind of recipe!

Wine and Chocolates

Tonight, Laura and I went to Chapel Hill to A Southern Season for a Chocolate and Wine pairing class. We had THE BEST time--the chocolates were rich and yummy and the wine was delish-- so much that after class, we spent plenty time shopping in the wine shop and totally forgot to even visit the chocolate shop! And Laura is even a professional chocolatier!!
After the wine and chocolate tasting, we went over to 411 West for drinks and apps. Laura--aka chief hoochie-- saw a friend of her sister's and got us free apps and dessert. Win!

People of Walmart

You know how I have an immature sense of humor?
Well this site cracked me up. Yeah, I know....shame on me. But c'mon. You know it's funny!
My new goal is to get my local Wal-Mart on this site!

Third Grade!

Sunday evening, Spencer got out a calendar and proved to me that technically it was still summer and therefore school should NOT be starting back yet -- yeah, nice try little man.

But today, he was all excited to go back to school. He couldn't wait to see all his friends and....go to PE.

I let him pick out his own clothes-- and he chose his favorite Mario Bros T-shirt. Combined with his new super cool GI Joe lunch box-- he was loving it!

End Of Summer Beach Trip

click on any collage to enlarge photos

The boys start back school on Tuesday, so as one last hurrah to the summer we went to Myrtle Beach for a long weekend.

We spent each morning-afternoon on the beach-- the weather was FANTASTIC!
Jimmy found a big starfish and then later on we found a little crab and a dead puffer fish. The starfish was by far the biggest hit with the boys!




Spencer and I spent an evening touring the aquarium. He LOVED LOVED LOVED it. I complained about the $30 admission but he really enjoyed himself...so I guess it was okay.



Even though we relaxed all 4 days, and didn't really over plan or try to squish too much into the long weekend-- we had PLENTY of things for the boys to experience: miniature golf at Dragon's Lair, rides, rock climbing, trampoline jumping, fresh seafood, shopping, frozen custard, and lots and lots of goofing off!


and don't fall for that bloody finger/pain picture in the collage. Spencer LOVES the joke/prank shop at the beach and buys a new joke each time. This time he bought the old pin through the bloody finger gag....where does he get this warped sense of humor??

And what is a family vacation without our traditional "butt ugly family" pictures? Gotta love goofy pictures for the scrapbook!

Party at Lydia's!

Last weekend, Mom and I drove up to Virginia to visit with family.
We spent a good deal of time shopping, but the bulk of Saturday was dedicated to celebrating with family at Lydia's (my cousin) house.

Victoria was celebrating her 18th birthday:



Lydia was celebrating her 31st birthday: (Check out that dainty candle blow!)



and Tina Marie was celebrating her 50th birthday! She embraced 50 without dragging the hell out of 49....



Everyone had a a great time and it was nice to see family--outside of weddings and funerals!

Egg-stremely bad smell!

Last year Spencer got in trouble for egging our house.
I asked him to take some outdated eggs to the compost bin and for some "made sense in his 8 year old mind" he thought it would be fun to throw the eggs against the side of our house.....sigh.....

Two weeks ago (before we left for Alaska) I cleaned out the fridge and had Spencer take the food to the compost-- or so I thought.
With the 90+ degree weather, I kept saying, "it really stinks at the front porch!" Poor Bowser got the blame.

Upon pulling up some vines, I found that instead of composting the eggs, my son had decided to hide them like Easter Eggs. They rotted and deteriorated. Oh so gross!

Bless his heart. I think the little punk is trying to get out of doing chores.

More pics

I have 26 over-priced pictures I purchased from the cruise to somehow squeeze into my scrapbook as well. The cute ones of Spencer I will probably frame and hang-- I wanted to scan them in to put them here on the blog as well...but the stupid scanner broke...but here are a few to share: