Foiled Again.

I didn't advance in the interview process with the company with which I was interviewing.

Rats.

So, Zonk, if you are reading . . . . I won't be in Atlanta anytime soon . . . Boo.

Beachy!

I've been blog boring lately haven't I?

Well, this past weekend, my family and I went to the beach to enjoy a long weekend. We swam, ate sea food, swam, explored. All in all, we had a great time. OOO, and I finally read the last Harry Potter book. Yay me!

So, here is the boy having fun. The dark haired boy is my nephew. He went with, he needed it. Oh, and the cute guy in the background is my hubby.

More Duke Boys

Hey, there are some more Duke Boy pictures below the fold! Enjoy!!!

I Love Luke Duke!

Ok, I've told ya'll here before that I love the Dukes of Hazzard! In fact, I am a Luke girl.

Yep. I love Luke Duke. In fact, I love him and I get to kiss him everyday - albeit a smaller version!

I already posted that this is "Fair Week". With Fair Week comes certain obligations, one of which is the "Kid Parade". Each year kids dress up in a specific theme, this year's theme? Your favorite television character. My baby? He was Luke Duke. The sitter's Boy was Bo Duke (cause he is younger) and a friend was Daisy. The three piled into the General Lee, and proceeded to win, 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place at the Kid Parade.

My Boy got 2nd Place. Here is a camera phone picture. I'll post better ones tomorrow!

He has the boots, the hair (curtesy of a wig since my boy is blonde), the white cowboy hat, the blue shirt, the only thing missing is the "YeeeHawww!" Ain't they cute?

*walks away singing Good Ole Boys . . . *

Boy Fun

You know I'm all about the memories . . . with that in mind I am like the energizer bunny. Which is to say, I work long hours each week, only to fit in time for "fun stuff" whenever humanly possible.

Let me explain - I do not want to be one of those people who finds out in their old age that their child harbors some resentment because they worked too much and had no time for them. So, while I work - too much - I always find time for the Boy and that means Boy Fun!

Take last week and this week too for that matter, I worked a grand total of 57 hours with two hour commutes each day which left me out of my home for a total of 67 hours last week. Now, that doesn't leave a lot of time does it?

Here is where making memories comes in. On Tuesday it was pouring, crazy downpours. I took the boy out to the driveway where we proceeded to dance around like maniacs in the rain. Who says mud puddles aren't fun?

Then there was Thursday where the boy and I watched a Bollywood film and proceeded to dance around like maniacs singing songs in Hindi - a language neither of us know . . .

Then there was Friday . . . Wait, I know what you are all thinking! You are thinking "Damn, she dances around like a maniac a lot". You are correct, nothing throws a four year old child into fits of laughter quite like watching mommy dance around like a maniac - remember, little memories. . .

Ok, back to Friday, we went to the Farm Show. It is back to back farm shows here and we are country folk so we do farm shows - BACKOFF! We toured the livestock barns, ate corndogs and fries, drank milkshakes, listened to a blue grass band and "petted cow babies" for several hours. The boy was loving it. He loves the farm show and especially loves the pigs. He was mad I didn't let him come home with twenty baby chicks though.

Saturday he went to a picnic with my folks and just to relax a bit, my hubby and I worked at a dual wedding for 500 people. We didn't have to cook this time, but rather we just served and made sure things were filled etc . . . Did I mention it was outside in the blazing heat and in a soggy field? ack.

Sunday? Snuggle time. The Boy and I do this "kissing competition" thing. We see who can get the most kisses in when the other isn't looking. Except it is rather awkward to keep kissing his head etc . . . so, we kiss our fingers and touch each other, dueling pointer fingers. So I kept touching his nose and he thought making a pattern was fun so he'd kiss my head, my chin, my nose, my cheeks, this went on until he was rolling with laughter then to calm down he asked me to sing to him (something I don't do well), so I sang "Baby Mine" from Dumbo and before I knew it we were both sleeping in a ball on the couch.

This week? Work, work, work, interview, work and then the Beach for the weekend! Yay!

How about you? Anything fun going on?

Swimming . . .

Well, trying.

It is busy here. And, we just had a tornado that was coming through downtown Pittsburgh - good times.

I've got stuff to post, just no energy. So, back I go, trying to keep my head afloat.

I've an interview with a major international corporation next week - keep your fingers and toes crossed ya'll, I need it!

Memories

I have a motto for my life as a parent - it has nothing to do with discipline, that is my job. It is about being a teacher, making memories.

The motto is simple: "It is with the smallest memory that we smile".

I know, not poetic, but something I am known to say quite often. And when better to make memories than the summertime?

I don't get much time off - so the Hubby, Boy and I make time. We fish, picnic, camp, swim, quad, dance, sing . . . you name it.

The past two weeks have been memory weeks. My family is having personal issues that are too much to go into here or anywhere else for that matter - so I have been taking time to just snuggle at peace with my family. Plus, it is Shark Week on Discovery so there have been several late nights and much snuggling while I'm told all about the "baby black reef tip" or the hammerhead my boy just saw on t.v.

Two weekends ago I took my boys - the Boy and the Nephew - to the Linesville Spillway - "Where the ducks walk on the fish". I've been going since I was tiny - going to feed the fish bread.

It is a carp breeding and study area in the overflow of a large lake. There are so many carp that they are literally sticking out of the water waiting for you to feed them stale, moldy, bread. Every year, I make one trip out to see the sight. It is really quite breathtaking. The lake, the countryside, the wacky fish and the ducks and geese who do actually walk right over the fish to eat up some bread too. Here are a couple pictures of the fish, the boys throwing bread etc. . . They had a marvelous time. Remember, it is the small memories.

Then, this past weekend, I took a long weekend to camp with friends in the woods of Oil Creek Park in N.W. PA. I believe at last tally there were 14 adults and 11 kids on the trip.

Few people know that Oil Creek Park was the site of the first successful oil well in the WORLD.

Anyway, we camped, fished, swam, ate birthday cake and had a blast. The following pictures need explaining though. But remember - it is all about the memories.

Here we have the men-folk all fishing together.

Here we have a very happy little one enjoying his birthday cake (he just turned three). Don't you just want to scoop him up and love on him?

Two more smoochy boys eating cake!

And here we have a fun sight, all the adult men-folk challenged to several games of B-ball by a bunch of teens. The "boys" our boys that is - actually won 2 of 3 games. By the third, they were so tired the younguns walked right over them! My hubby is the really tall - really white skinny guy in the back!

Here we have some sort of Native pow-wow and demonstration. Yes, that is the Boy dancing with a sword!

And last, but certainly not least, my pride and joy, the apple of my eye, my man - drinking a beer stuck to a toy paddle. He claimed his grip muscles were not working properly and he needed leverage. Whatever. I still love his dumb ass, and I sooo know what all our friends are getting for Christmas!

The best part about the trip, and the one I failed to capture on film is that we had a major hour-long downpour. Everything was soaked, everything was in a puddle. The children discovered said puddles happily. They ran across the field and slid through mud puddles on their bellies. They went down a big metal slide and landed in a 6-inch deep mud puddle. They splashed and played and got dirty and had fun. So, when it all comes down to it, isn't that where it is? F-U-N? Memories, the things we remember or that are triggered by a sound, a smell, a feeling, a sight - usually remind us of fun or love or family. Sure we've bad memories too, but I'm talking the ones that cause you to smile without knowing it. Memories. Go out and make one today.