Hats and comments regarding said hats

Last night was declared "Mom's Nite Out" by my friend Elissa and myself. We need moments away from our precious families from time to time...so that we'll still love them the next day. I can't speak for Elissa, but the every day stressors
that occuur in my household definitely leave me ready for a break. Awhile ago, my wonderful Hubs began to realize that I needed a break as well. So we declared Thursday nights to be "Mom's Night". On Thursdays, I can do whatever I want. Within reason, of course.

I really, really appreciate the Hubs giving me this time every week, which is just for me. Sometimes I grocery shop. Sometimes I sit at Panara Bread with a good book and a Greek Salad. Sometimes I shop for the kids. Sometimes I shop for me! Sometimes I bring a friend, and sometimes I go it alone.

This week, since the Hubs had to work on (GASP) Thursday,
Elissa and I made plans for Saturday evening. My parents took the children to a fair and Halloween costume hunting, which meant that Hubs was able to have some alone time with Call of Duty on XBOX Live. As you can imagine, everyone involved was pleased as punch with these arrangements.

So off I drove to meet Elissa. I was running late, and she was awesome enough to put our name down at the restaurant, which was super-crowded. And, as luck would have it, her pager started singing right when I walked through the door. Is that Devine or what?

We ate. And laughed. And laughed. And ate. And laughed and laughed some more. To-go boxes were needed, which was fine with us. We skipped out and I rode along with Elissa in her husband's BMW...right across the street to Michael's. A craft store that has just opened.

I realize that some of you are laughing right now at the very idea of me walking willingly into a craft store. I am not crafty, I don't sew, I don't knit, and I don't scrapbook. But. Someone....who is not me and who's name begins with the letter E convinced me that I could begin making my own jewelry. She was very convincing, this friend of mine, and I left the store with supplies to make a necklace and a pair of earrings. I kinda sorta made the necklace last night. I wore it to church today. I received several complements and one sweet lady asked if I'd bought it at Wal-Mart. So maybe I need to "embellish" it a little.

Anyway, we became very silly in the craft store, amusing a fellow shopper and several employees before we left and headed to ....Marshalls! Elissa was looking for comforters for her soon-to-be-5-year-old-twins. Which she didn't find. I was looking for some crazy-good deals on some shirts or shoes. Which I didn't find.

What we did find was...Hats. And we had such fun with those hats. Even though they were impractical. And made our heads look long. We were so silly trying on these hats. And then, when Elissa posted the pictures to FaceBook, even sillier are the comments that were made. I'll list some here:

‎

A silly hat,
A silly hat,
I wear it on my head because that's where it's at
I know it looks as funny as can be!

...If someone saw my silly hat,
they'd think it was the funniest thing they'd seen!

I love you ladies...and your hats. :D

P.S. We neeeeed another girl's night soon; it has almost been a month!

--Elia

"heeheeeheee... this one makes me smile... and laugh! It's so deceiving... she looks so sweet and innocent here."

---Kendra


"I know, right, ?"

---Elissa

"I just love how my stomach makes that black hat look sooooo small!"

---Erin


"We moms wear many hats."

---Elissa

How profound. I couldn't agree more. I couldn't love this picture any more, either!

Jordan being Michael Jordan

Jordan has a new favorite movie. "Space Jam". Starring Michael Jordan and all of the Warner Brother's cartoon characters. We found an old VHS copy of this movie awhile back, and Jordan loves it. He watches it at least once every few days.

After church last week, Jordan had a chance to show off his skills on the court. I told him he was doing a great job with the basketball and he informed me that he was Michael Jordan. And then he showed me his stuff:








Love him!

On how my routine's out the window.

Tuesdays. I used to love 'em. We had a routine, the kids and I. And if you know me, you know how I love a good daily routine. Until last week, our Tuesday routine was as follows:

Wake up. Do some school. Grab a quick lunch (usually gluten-free mac and cheese with peas and carrots- a favorite with my boys). Jump in the car for Shaun's physical therapy appointment. Then, it was on to Monkey Joe's for Free Tuesdays. That's right. Free admittance. For us, that's almost a savings of twenty bucks. We'd meet up with some friends and the children would jump themselves silly while the moms talked until 4:30. That's when we'd head over to Stevie B's for pizza. Because on Tuesdays at Stevie B's, kids eat for one dollar. That's a crazy-good deal. So, we'd eat, the kids would play, and us moms would talk (some more) for another few hours. Afterwards, we'd head home, get baths, and the kids would be so worn out they'd go to bed early. What a great day! Here's a few pictures from past Tuesdays:

Shaun flirting with a MJ employee.


Most of the "regulars".




Two Tuesdays ago, we went to Monkey Joe's as usual. I signed the kids in and they took off. The teenaged employee put my wristband on and then said, " That'll be six dollars". Huh? I informed him that this was Tuesday, and admittance was free! Then he informed me that admittance was now three dollars on Tuesdays. Well. I decided that I could deal with spending six dollars, especially since my kids were already jumping! We continued on with our Tuesday as usual.

Last week when I signed in the kids at MJ's, the same teenaged employee hits me with "That's seventeen dollars and ninety-eight cents". I think I actually gasped a little and sputtered "Are you charging full price on Tuesdays now??". It seems that yes, Monkey Joe's has done away with Free and/or Reduced Tuesdays. Talk about disappointment! I was able to somehow talk the staff into letting us in for three bucks, same as the week before. But I don't think I can do it again. Which means that our Tuesday Routine is out the window. Because I will NOT pay almost 20 bucks for my children to jump on inflatables. I refuse. Its ridiculous!

So now our Tuesdays have changed. I assume I'll actually be making dinner in my own kitchen, since I can't really imagine us waiting around Gainesville for 2 and a half hours on one dollar pizza. What will I do with all of the extra time I'll have on Tuesday evenings? Maybe I'll get some cleaning done. And my Jeep needs a good washing. I'm also behind on the laundry. Somehow, none of this sounds as fun as all the conversations my friends and I had around the Stevie B's table...

Oh, Tuesdays! You were nice while you lasted!

Detour

The boys and I had a field trip planned for today. We were scheduled to visit Burt's Pumpkin Farm with our homeschool group. On the way to Dawsonville, it began to rain. Some phone calls were made it was decided to try to reschedule our trip, rather than clomp around in all the mud and dirt while looking for pumpkins with our kids. NOT that clomping around in the rain and mud isn't fun, but we decided to reschedule it anyway.

I thought fast. I didn't want to just take the boys home and do regular schoolwork today. They were expecting a field trip! But it was raining outside, so that made educational nature hikes in the mountains impossible. Then, I remembered Dahlonega, this cute little historical gold mining town which lies inbetween our house and Burt's Pumpkin Farm. So, we made a detour. We made it to Dahlonega and even found a wonderful parking space in the rain...God was smiling down on us!

We decided to visit the Historic Gold Museum and Court House. I remember going there on a field trip as a kid, and it was lots of fun. We were able to take the guided tour with a group of 35 7th graders from Atlanta. I was a little worried, as my boys can me a wee bit much for some people to handle, but both of sons behaved like perfect gentlemen. I was proud! Jordan even sat, still and quiet, during a 17 minute educational video on gold mining in Dahlonega.

Jordan thought the whole experience was "good", but Shaun was really into it. He listened intently to all of the speeches and had a good time seeing all of the exibits. On the way back out to the car he was so excited that he told me all he had learned:

"Did you know that the chairs we sat in were over 100 years old?"

"Did you know it took three weeks for the men to get back to Georgia with those coins? These days, its only a three day drive".

"Did you know that Benjamin Franklin...um...I mean Benjamin Parks was the first one to find gold in Georgia? He was hunting deer and he tripped on a yellow rock."

And on and on. I loved it! I love that he's interested in history. After the tour, I let the kids pick a treat from the gift shop. A vile of gold for Shaun (4 bucks) and a small bag of rocks-er-I mean stones(!) for Jordan (3 bucks).

We finished our trip with lunch at Chick fil a.

Here are some pictures from our day. Shot from my iphone, so the quality is bad. :)


Shaun with a mining tool. Not sure what its called.


Sitting on the 174 year old chairs.

The view from the top of the courthouse.

I can never get a good picture of Jordan on my phone...he's just too fast.


I bribed him with this bag of rocks if he sat quietly through the movie.

Shaun and his vial of gold.



Lunch at Chick fil a. My favorite picture from our day.

It was such a good day. So relaxed. I haven't really enjoyed spending the day like that with my boys in a long, long time. The only downside of the trip is that Shaun now has "Gold Fever". I see a trip to the Consolidated Gold Mines in our near future.

Firsts

There's only one word to describe my family's life lately. Busy. We've been so busy. We're finally back in the swing of things with school. The kids have started attending a co-op. Chris has been working tons and tons of overtime. Etc, etc, etc. Its been awhile since I've posted anything, and a lot of "firsts" have happened since last time:

1. Jordan's first bike ride. While at my mom's for a visit, my babe taught himself how to ride a bike sans training wheels. I was pretty amazed. He's now a pro.

2. Shaun's first sleep-over. Shaun spent the night with a friend. This is the first time he's ever been away overnight, aside from spending the night with family. I was a bit of a nervous wreck, but things went just fine. When I left him, he had tears in his eyes, so I fully expected a phone call from my friend Rebecca at 2:00 am. But things went just fine. Shaun and his friends actually were sound asleep by 8:00- they had played hard outside all day long. When I picked him up the next day, Shaun asked why I was there- apparently he wanted to stay longer. He's growing up.

3. My first meal at Red Robin. While Shaun was "spending the night", I was having a mom's night. At Red Robin. Oh my. Delicious isn't the word. I'm hooked. I want to go back. I had this monster burger topped with avocado dip and feta cheese. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

4. Chris' first Dad's Night Out. I've been having a lot of "me time" lately, and I guess Chris was jealous. At any rate, he informed me that he was going out to a movie with a friend from work. Since I'm such a good wife, I had no problem with this. And I didn't laugh at all when Chris' friend would up having to work late, forcing my Hubs to see a movie by himself. Hee hee!

5. Jordan's first self-inflicted hair cut. Jordan's co-op teacher came up to me in the hallway at church and exclaimed, "That baby of yours! I looked at him and he was leaned over the table chopping his hair off..and hiding it in his pencil box". I went into Jordan's classroom to survey the damage and found a huge chunk cut into his bangs and the hair on the back of his head. When I asked why in the world he would do such a thing, Jordan informed me that he needed a haircut. Sigh.