A Junior!

Yep, my baby's heading off (in his own car that he bought) to start his junior year today ( I know - we're SO much later than the rest of you!).

He's dreading it. He hates school...H-A-T-E-S school with a passion, but he works really hard and makes great grades. I'm extra proud of him because he's been sleeping in until 2 o'clock in the afternoon all summer long (when he wasn't working) and he got up on his own this morning, no fuzzin', no hitting the snooze button a thousand times. It's usually quite a chore to get him up and out.

AND he let me take his picture:

He did say he wasn't going to smile, he just said he would let me take it!

We're gonna miss having him around all day (well after 2pm when he wakes up!). He plays with Austin and Logan SO much. In fact, Evan pretty much keeps the family in stitches all the time. He has a very dry, perfect timing type of humor.

My case in point:

Me: "I wonder sometimes what Austin and Logan are going to look like when they're all grown up."

Evan: "Yeah, well, they're probably going to look just like they do now."

Me: "Well, I know, we all look like ourselves some...."

Evan (a height-obsessed basketball player): "No, I mean just like now, they're probably done growing, right? I don't think they're going to get much taller."

House Rearranging

We've been busy "redecorating/rearranging" to make better use of our space.

We've been promising Mason and Evan for quite some time that we would upgrade to a plasma/HD/Flat screen thingy TV. Normally not my cup of tea, a TV is a TV and something I rarely watch. But this time, with a wall mount, I would gain mucho space-o.

So, a week or so ago, I mentioned that we could go ahead and proceed. I asked Mason and Evan to go do the research at several stores and come back with two or three options between "said price range."

Long story short - the men went out and hunted and slayed the biggest dragon they could fine. They literally came home beating their chests with the thrill of victory for their kill. Not only was the size about 4 times what I had in mine, but it had far more bells and whistles than I had known possible. The clarity was so great, they told me, you would actually be able to see the mint date on the quarter tossed at a football game. Which is the whole reason your watch football in the first place, right? I could see the drool on all three of their beast slaying faces. And I made a mental note to change the Christmas budget to $25 per each idiot for the next 9 years to make up the cost difference for this latest addition to our family (that they assure me will last for the next 20 years).

New TV: $(insert ridiculous amount here)
Wall mount: $225
New Cables: $90

Extended Warranty: $295

Guaranteed (not to fall off the wall) Installation: $400
Total Price of TV: $Thousands

Grey Leather sectional Couch in mint condition found on craigslist.com (by the real Huntress in the family!): $500

Two minutes into first TV viewing session and Logan hurling a hard ball within two inches of the stuffed and mounted animal on the wall and hearing the collective gasp from the cavemen as for one brief moment they thought their victory celebration would be oh so short lived:

Priceless!

Some fun in the midst of rearranging. Mason and Evan dressed the boys up in their "muscle" shirts.





And for those of you who need help telling the twins apart, Austin is the one currently showcasing a new-do compliments of having a mini-shaving session with dad's razor!

You've at least got to appreciate a nice, clean line!

(...and if you look very closely off in the distance, you'll notice the beast sitting quietly atop it's new permanent perch...)

Reintegrating Daddy - Chaos ensues

Daddy finally had a day off. The whole day off, not the kind where he still works 4 to 5 hours.

I had visions of grandeur, bells ringing, the heavens opening up for a day of rest and peace for Mom.

But Daddy and I were not in-sync.

My day started off in bed. Gary had just woken up and gone downstairs (hmm, maybe he'll make a pot of coffee, yea!). And I heard a baby wake-up, go to the top of the stairs and cry: "Mommy, mommy, mommy!!"

I waited. And waited for Gary to come get the baby. He. never. did.

I got out of bed. ugh. And got the baby. I went downstairs.

"Gary, um - did you hear the baby?"

"Yeah. Uh, but he was calling for you."

Oh.

My.

God.

Are you serious?

The rest of the day just followed suit. We were like two un-well oiled machines that hadn't worked together all summer long. lol

I escaped to run a few errands because I was yelling at the kids, yelling at Gary, and I think yelling at the dog, too.

When I came home, everybody was upstairs. I went up and collapsed on my bed. The twins came in and out. I was on the phone with a friend. After I finished chatting, I lay in the empty, quiet room. I could hear Austin and Logan downstairs. "Hmm, let me make sure Gary is with them." From the house phone, I called his cell phone which was on the kitchen counter. He doesn't answer. I dial it several times. Then, from my cell phone, I dial the house phone. Three times. He never picks up. So, I. get. up. - ugh.

And I find Gary in the nursery rearranging their pajamas. (Why? I don't know?)

"Gary - the kids are downstairs. I'm not with them."

"Well, they were with you."

"Yeah, but they left. You're in charge today, honey." (you know that tone, right? lol)

"Well, but they were with you....why would I think or know they've left."

Ugh!

I go downstairs. And. Oh. It's so bad.

They have brought down the ginormous jar of Vaseline and emptied it!!! All over their table. All over their face, their body, their arms. They're TV. Our TV. The ottoman. The chair. Apparently, a clean-up was attempted - because a full box of wipes lay in disarray - also covered in Vaseline.

I got nailed before I could access the situation, so my shirt, my pants all got slimed in Vaseline.

And yes, my brain thought - capture this in pictures for the blog. But I was way too angry to even attempt. And would Vaseline even show up?

I threw the two of them out the back door and shut it - they were sliming everything in sight! Gary knew from my yells to get downstairs and started cleaning up (how the frick do you clean-up Vaseline!!!) right away.

I grabbed paper towels and headed out back to clean-up the boys......who had jumped in the swimming pool!!

Super - what could be better than wet vaseline!

So...I left the house again. lol. I went to Nonnie's for a girl's movie night.

But, God help us - Gary's off again tomorrow!

Bin full of Bargains!

I love a good bargain and nothing says "bargain" better than End of the Year Clearance. Earlier this year, I hit the motherload of all sales! Macy's was having a Buy One, Get One Free (A Twin Momma's DREAM!) sale on their already marked down items. $32 sweaters were marked down to $16 - so I got some fantastic sweaters for $8 each!! I think I bought out the table.

Then, later I went back and their clearance rack marked 75% off was an additional 35% - I bought all the way up to 4T. I think I came home with 8 Macy's bags filled to the rim for only $150.

So, Nonnie and I pulled out our 2T and 3T bin to see what we had ready for this fall. And I got excited all over again looking at my purchases!!




And I may not have girls - but these guys know fashion and they love new clothes!
Logan modeling black cotton long sleeve sport themed shirt paired with fashionable casual/dressy black shoes.


Austin modeling one of 1,000 new sweaters with classic zipper pull paired with his all time favorite, new tennis shoes.

Check us out!

Maybe this view is better, Mom?

Clothes tested and approved for jumping, flying and rough housing!

Mom - we may know good clothes when we see them, and we don't mind playing dress-up and modeling for you, but we just want to remind you that we are ALL boy - Okay? Got it?

That age old question...

Boxers?

Or

Briefs?