Brace Face

This was me before.

This is me now.

I took the plunge and got braces. It cost a pretty penny, but my hopes are that I will save the life of my teeth in the long run. I only cried a few tears in the office, and a few when I got home. I expect that that will be all. I am pretty good humor about the full metal mouth, the food that will be stuck in my teeth, the constant drooling, and the extensive cleaning routine that I have committed to for the next two years of my life. The pain is minimal, thanks to the cocktail of Advil and Tylenol that I am on, and I might even loose a couple of pounds from not being able to eat much. (Straight teeth and weight loss - there are just so many perks!)
Brynn is obsessed with touching them (get your fingers out of my mouth, squirt!) and pretending that she has pink, purple and blue braces as well. Cannon doesn't even notice (typical boy).

Babysitting

I recently had the opportunity to watch my cousins little boy Will. He was born on Cannon's first birthday this year. Jennie was telling me that he is exactly one year younger, one pound & one ounce heavier, and one inch longer than Cannon. That is funny. The kids loved having someone around to play with, and it made me think that having three might not be soooo bad. Of course, Will is a dream baby (at least to me Jenn). He falls asleep when he is tired, signals he is hungry by a little pouty lip action, and loved to be outside with us during the day.

Brynn, Will and Cannon

Will and Cannon. Exactly one year apart!

Hiding Out

OK, so I admit. I did it. I had to find a moment for myself, and I used the bathroom. All you moms have done it. Things were calm in the house, and I saw my chance for some "me" time. I quietly crept past the daughter playing out in the yard. I snuck past the dog sleeping by the front door. I tiptoed by the son playing with toys in his sisters room. (I thought I was caught when he looked up with a guilty look, but he saw it was me and not his sister, so he went back to playing.) I made it all the way past the creak in the hallway, and into our bedroom. I was almost there.

I slithered into the bathroom, and quietly shut the door, lifting it slightly so that it wouldn't squeak as it closed on its tight hinges. Finally, some peace. I picked up the book that I have been slowly reading, in the bathroom, of course, and settled in.

I have always wondered why my mom always took so long in the potty. I know know that she didn't have some irritable bowel issue, she just wanted some peace and quiet....

I was almost finished with the chapter, and then I caught my breath. Someone was standing outside the door, listening. Waiting to see if I would give away my position of secrecy. They waited, and waited, and waited. (Boy they are patient when they are hunting aren't they?) It was like they could sense me nearby. I held my breath, quietly turned out the light and prayed that I could have 30 more seconds to finish the last paragraph.

And just like that, it was all over. My heart started to pound as I watched my bookmark slide out of the book, and drop in slow motion. The sound it made as it hit the floor was practically inaudible, but their un-humanlike superpower of hearing picked it up. There was a turn of the doorknob, three sets of eyes peering at me through the dark, a squeal of delight, as if we had just finished a grand game of hide and seek, and I was once again bombarded by two kids and a dog with a million needs that only I could take care of.

"Mom, why are you sitting on the potty in the dark, with your clothes on, drinking coffee, and reading your book?"
Again, it appears that I will have to finish later...

Play Fun

Rich and I took Brynn, and my niece and nephew to a play this afternoon at the Santa Rosa Summer Repertory Theatre. It was a blast. The kids had a great time, and we all really enjoyed the time together. The kids were awed at the big stage and the costumes, songs and dancing. They even got to meet some of the characters after it was over. Afterwards we took them to Micky D's for an ice cream sundae. What a day!

The kids and Rich making silly faces. (They only way we could get my nephew to take a picture with us.)

What kind of auntie would I be if I didn't join in?

The girls.

The boy.

Kiss 'n' Snap

We are facilitating/hosting a young marrieds group that started a few weeks ago. It has gone really well, and we have been joined by 5 other couples. The group format consists of a DVD series every other Sunday night, and a "Date Night" on the in betweens. We had our first date night, and it was the "romantic" date. It was a kiss 'n' snap.


The idea is to get a picture of yourselves kissing at five different places, and really act like you are dating again. As a bonus, you were to put the pics in a mini-album, or journal and write something about each other underneath each picture to save for your 10 year anniversary. Sort of a reminder of what the first years of marriage were like. Rich and I, to be on the same page as the rest of the group, participated as well. We had a lot of fun, although I was really embarrassed to take so many kissing pics of ourselves. I am always looking for the flaws in my appearance rather than just enjoying the funness (I made it up, OK!) of the moment.
Here is our Kiss 'n' Snap Date:

Kissing in the Car before we drop off the kids. (Not so romantic, but oh well...)


Kissing at Dinner. Baja Fresh, mmmnnn!


Kissing in the Dressing Room at the Store. Don't get any crazy ideas. It was innocent. Rich just needs new jeans for work, and this way, no one would see us taking ANOTHER picture of ourselves kissing....


Kissing in the car before we went to pick out our movie.


Kissing before we had to take the kids home. Notice the father in law in the background slurping his soup....


We are such pros. We actually wrote this book:


And hopefully we will be kissing for a long, long time...

Gross

OK, here is a little more information about me than most of you will want to know. I just blew my nose, and a boogie got stuck between the keys on my keyboard. I tried to fish it out with a pin, but I ended up shoving it in farther, and now I can't even see it anymore. I hope that it doesn't cause problems with the keys so that I have to take the keyboard in to get fixed. Here's how that would go:

Me - "Excuse me, I was wondering if you all repaired keyboards?"
Nerdy Computer Repair Guy - "Yeah, what seems to be the problem?"
Me - "Well, the letters 'r', 'e', 'd', and 'f' don't seem to be working. They just kind of stopped working, and I don't really know why...."
Nerdy Computer Repair Guy, now joined by co-worker - "Lets take a look. Hhmm, there seems to be a crusty, dirty thing stuck between them all, lets see if I can get it....There, got it, oh my gosh (gag, dry heave, gag) is this a boogie? What kind of person are you? (cough, gag, cough ) Who wipes their boogies on the keyboard? Are you (gag, gag) insane?"
Me, red faced, to the computer guy, and the entire store who is now listening - "What? That's disgusting! There's no way that its mine! Its not mine, no way, I would never do that...It's not mine, it must be one of my kids...."

Oh Gosh, my face is already red. Please, please, please don't let it happen...