The Hair-Do

If you never read my blog, this is the day to start. It's sure to be enjoyable for all tuned in.

I would like to call today...the day from down under. And by that, I am not referring to Australia. Yes, that is right. H-to-the-E to the double hockey sticks. I feel like I am out of control. I just read that after I wrote it, and I though...hmm, am I a control freak? Well, yes, I am. I will admit it. And sometimes there is no controlling your kids little minds. i.e. Mr. Glossy Hair.

Let me preface this by saying that my favorite lip gloss is from Victoria's Secret. It's very thick and sticky, and is more of a lip shine that gives you a very glamorous look...

You see, today a friend of mine called, and I talked for a few minutes while I was feeding the baby. I figured that Zachary was in my bed watching "Homas" as usual, and having a small break from running around and driving me crazy. I should have known that the silence was not a good thing. I called his name...no response. I heard him in the bathroom where I figured I would find him washing his hands, as he loves to do this. The hallway smelled very vanilla-ish and very familiar, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. When I walked it, he was sitting on the counter washing his hands surrounded by bubbles from the foam pumper. His hair was very shiny. It really just looked wet and I figured that he had been trying to wash his hair with the soap. Not the case. He had squeezed an almost entire, brand new VS lip gloss/shine into his hands and put it in his hair. Five hair washings later, and it is still as thick and sticky as ever. Needless to say, we are going to try dishsoap, and then lava soap if that doesn't work. Otherwise, head shave.

The Hot Date

Yes, that's right folks, my first hot date in what seems like forever. We finally got to have a little get-away at Tim's yearly training. We went to the Kalahari resort in Ohio and it was fabulous.

The first day was good. The welcoming meeting was excellent. I tell you what, after watching the video shown by the commander, I will never text and drive again. For those of you who haven't seen this PSA, they are showing it now in the UK and it was recently on the news. It is very graphic, but worth watching. It is also extremely powerful. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGE8LzRaySk

Everyone always tells me that I shouldn't be doing that, and I don't listen. After I saw this, all I could think about was my kids. I can't even explain the silence in the room while it was playing.

On with the date - next was the spouses meeting, and that evening we went to a costume party. Tim did end up being the Tin Man, and I, the wicked witch. It was quite a sight.

The next night was the formal, which was wonderful, and our flight won lots of awards. On Friday, our last day, we did go to the water park, which is the biggest indoor water park in the country. My body hurt so badly the next day I could hardly move. I think I am getting old.

The Halloween Weekend

I ran out of coffee creamer this morning. Luckily it wasn't until I had poured my third cup. I am exhausted. Elaina has been sick with a cold for going on two weeks. She hacks and gurgles all night long. We rub her down with Vicks and use the warm-steam humidifier every night, but she still only makes it a few hours before she starts up again. My poor thing. Last night was especially long because of the weekend. Both kids were completely off schedule and Zachary thought it was time to wake up and watch Thomas at 11. Then again at midnight. Then again at 4. He did sleep in until 8:30 (or until what would be the equivalent of 9:30 with the time change.)

It was a great birthday weekend. On Thursday I met up with my mom and had the kids pictures taken at Milham Park. We all agreed that the pictures turned out nicely, but that the Mill Park in Scotts is a much better location for Fall photos. If I can figure out how to post them on here, I will so you can see them if you aren't on Facebook. I am still learning about this blogging world. (If you are on Facebook and we aren't friends, just click on the picture of me to the right and it will take you to my page.)

On Saturday I went shopping and out to lunch with my mom and Debbie. It was a grand ol' time. I found a dress for the annual which is this week (so excited!). Then on Sunday we had Tim's promotion luncheon at TGI Friday's and headed back to spend some time with Papa Mark, Uncle J and Auntie Katie. We finally made it home last night around 7ish.

And update: Tim has yet to prepare his costume for the party. "Toto" said he doesn't have a costume, and Dorothy is bailing out. Looks like its going to be me (the wicked witch) and Carol who is dressing up as a munchkin. That will be a sight. The flight chief is supposed to be The Wizard of Oz, but we will see if he follows through on that. More to come.

The Costumes

Halloween is this weekend. I suppose I should probably decide what my children will be dressing up as. I always start thinking about a few months before hand, and seem to wait until the last minute to whip up a costume.

Next week is Tim's annual training which translates into a three-day party with fancy dinners each night, including a few hours of training while the wives get pampered at the spa. Each night is different, and one is a costume party and the theme is movies. Our flight chose "The Wizard of Oz." Tim is supposed to be the Tin Man and still hasn't found any of his items to concoct a suit. And yes, if you know Tim, you know that he has great intentions of being completely silver, including silver mascara, face paint and an actual tin costume, but that he will end up with a less-than-recognizable ensemble including a gray sweatshirt and the possibility of old painted tennis shoes. Maybe some gray face paint if we are lucky. I, on the other hand, being the smarty that I am, chose to be the wicked witch. It is not only fitting to my mood as of late, but also the easiest costume to get your hands on. Especially three days after Halloween. Am I a genius or what?!

I think Zachary may be a Jack-o-lantern if they still have the costumes at Meijer. There is one that I have been eying for a few weeks and if they have it, it's probably 90% off by now, and it would be easy and warm to let him just wear sweats underneath. I think Elaina may be a flower. A friend of ours let us borrow the costume and it seems that it would also be warm. We'll see. I will post pictures after the holiday! I know that seems like empty promises since I have been blogging for months and only posted a few pictures, but I really will this time.

Have a safe Halloween. I mean it! Be careful. Love to all.

The Trash Day

Happy Tuesday. It's Tuesday, right? I can't seem to keep track. Especially since Tim works crazy hours on all different days. Well yes, it must be Tuesday. I know this because I heard the garbage man whiz by this morning without stopping to get my trash. Maybe this is because it failed to make it to the road. Have I mentioned that is one of the TWO chores I ask Tim to do? No Tim, the herbie-curbie does not have a mind of it's own. It will not wheel itself to the end of the drive-way, but I know it's a lot for you to do. Let me feel your muscle. :::sigh:::

Today I have been making some headway in the house. I call it pre-winter cleaning. That would be the spring cleaning that does not get done until the fall. I guess I have a good excuse since I was pregnant in the spring and nesting in my garden. What is my excuse for the other years? I do have to say, however, my garden is beautiful and I can't wait to see it next year. Especially since I put in about $500 worth of new perennials. Nesting will do that to you. If you need a nice clean house or a revamped garden, just get knocked up in or around October. Works like a charm.

Kids are doing well today. Zachary is running around playing with his new "Homas Game" which is otherwise known to us as a Thomas the Train puzzle that his dad bought for him. He can't get enough. He loves Homas. He needs to see Homas. He needs more Homas. More Homas, Mommy. More Homas.

The Ode to Tana

Recently a friend of mine told me how much she loved reading my blog. That made me feel great because I figured I was pretty much wasting my time writing down the silliness of my life for others to read. I was pretty sure no one read it. So, this one is for you, Tana! Enjoy.




This weekend was a good one. It was great to have some time without the kids. I love them to death, but sometimes they need a break as much as I do.

It started on Friday night when we were invited on a "hot date" out with my brother and sister-in-law. (Any time we go somewhere, we call it a hot date. When we go to the store with Zachary, he asks if it's a hot date. We, of course, say yes.) Jonathan (Timothy's brother)is the GM for the Holiday Inn Burdick's in Kalamazoo, and he invited us to come stay in the hotel and have dinner. It was great! We were like little secret shoppers watching all of his little worker bee's! And I have to admit, we did catch some of them in the act of not doing their jobs.

After martini's and dinner, we headed back to the room. You see, the original plan was that the four of us would share a room with two doubles or queens. Instead, they ended up only having a king available, which we figured we would deal with by bringing our own air mattress, right? Well, Timothy goes to blow up the mattress and I am sitting on the bed talking to Katie. He gets done, and I thought to myself, "That didn't take very long." I look over and, you guessed it, I see there on the floor...a twin size air mattress. I believe my response was, "Are you fucking kidding me?!" "Don't worry," he says, "You can just sleep on top." Needless to say, we ended up with three in the bed and the little one said Timothy could sleep on the miniature air mattress. Either way, tons of fun.

Saturday night was a great time too. I wish I had the pictures to share, but I am waiting for a friend to upload them. The best part was when we had had a few drinks and decided to hit the dance floor. Well, I am not sure if you have ever watched Seinfeld, but I like to use the "Elaine dance" as my signature move. Yeah, it's pretty sweet alright. So I am doing it in this big group of people, and I go to do the kick, and my shoe goes FLYING off of my foot. Luckily (sorry Kel!) it hit Kelly and not a stranger! LMAO I could not stop laughing! The alcohol helped fend off most of the embarrassment and I put my shoe back on, only to continue with my dance of sweetness.

The Cookie Book

I know, I know, I said that I would blog every day. Most of the time the hours in the day just go by so quickly that I don't even think about it. I am left wondering where the day went and what I am going to make for dinner, followed by two baths and different bedtime routines. As of late, we have been at a loss due to the fact that the "Cookie Book" (as Zachary calls it) was left at Mimi's. This would be "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie." It used to be one of my favorites, really, but now that I can recite the entire thing by heart, my tune has changed. He must have the cookie book every night or he will not survive. I suppose having it memorized came in handy on the first few nights as I told him to use his imagination and rattled off the book in it's entirety.

Zachary has been talking my ear off lately.

Zachary: There's a big airplane.
Me: Oh, yeah? How big?
Zachary: Heavy. It's coming too?
Me: Yeah, it's coming too.
Zachary: It's a big one. It's a heavy one. It's going to the airport.
Me: I imagine it probably is.
Zachary: I have it? I have that big airplane?
Me: No, it's too big.
Zachary: It's too big? I can't have it. It goes to the airport.

He cracks me up.

I am loving my new van and I am sure Tim will be glad when he can get his little truck. I must admit that he gets the "leftover" car every time. It will be nice for him to finally pick something of his own.

This weekend should be fun. Tonight Mee-Mah (Sabrina) is coming over and hanging out until tomorrow when we go down to Kalamazoo for the weekend. She is going to teach me some new sweet moves for when we go boot stompin'(as Kelly says) on Saturday for Lance's and my birthday. It should be a great time. Luckily I scored a hair appointment tomorrow. I am getting some interesting looks having the front of my hair colored fuschia. It was for a good cause, but I am ready to be "normal Liz" again. Well, I suppose "normal" is relative.