Wordless Wednesday

Coffee at Midnight

It is almost midnight, and I am having my second cup of Dunkin Donuts French Vanilla coffee. Why? Colin is having Jacob sleep over for his birthday. Although Colin won't officially be 8 years old until 12:33 am on Monday, we celebrated his birthday tonight. Usually we don't do "small" birthday parties, but since Jeffrey is in SC, we decided to keep it low key. We spent the evening with our friends the Evans', both sets of grandparents, Aunt Mary and Uncle Wayne, and Edie. We had a good visit with our friends and family, but it just wasn't the same without Jeffrey. I know he wanted to be here too.

Here are some pictures from Colin's party.

Colin and Jacob are still going strong. They've played outside, in the bedroom, XBox, DSi, Wii, and now they are playing cars/army or something like that in the den. Colin wanted to stay up late, so we will see when they are ready to crash! Carson and Carter went to sleep a while ago.

We've had a busy couple of days. I spent three days in my classroom. I worked hard to get it ready for my new group of kiddos I'll meet in two weeks. This afternoon I had to ship my dress back to the company because it was too small **sniff** and then pick up Colin's birthday cookie. We came back home and I quickly finished cleaning the house. I'm tired! But I'm enjoying listening to the boys playing James Bond now!

Gene and Loretta came by this afternoon to drop off some pictures from the Baby Dedication and treats for the boys. I had let Big Dog in the house because it was SO HOT outside. Well, when I opened the door for Gene and Loretta to come in, I didn't think to look for Big Dog. The door opened.....the dog ran like the wind blows! I was not too excited to have to go after him. Luckily, he didn't go far, just next door to Ms. Crafton's. I got Big Dog to come to me and grabbed ahold of his collar. He tried so hard to wiggle out of it and I had to hold the collar on both sides of his neck. We got to the bush in Ms. Crafton's backyard and Big Dog decided to lay down on his back. I couldn't get him up (his name is Big Dog for a reason), so I had to wait patiently (HA),still holding on, for him to get up on his own. What a sight we were!!!! Needless to say after I got him home, Big Dog stayed outside.

Look What Big Dog Found

This afternoon, I was in the yard with the boys while they were practicing their golf swings when Big Dog started barking. Over the years, I've learned his barks, and I knew this one....he had something. Check out these two videos of him and what he found. Don't forget to mute the volume on the playlist below.

snake from Natasha Grimes on Vimeo.

One of these days

I'm going to write a book. You see, my life is worth living, so I have plenty I could say. Like:

The logic of a three year old says, that "Whatever," is a bad word, but "Whatever you say," is ok regardless of the sarcasm added to either.

The logic of a seven year old believes it is better to let a sore, loose tooth dangle back and forth for days than to pull it and deal with 30 seconds of bleeding regardless of any deal that could be made with parents, grandparents, and the Tooth Fairy.

The logic of a fourth grader is that, "I'll use my teacher's example for my answer so I will get a good grade." Low and behold said teacher refuses to accept the work. Said student then changes one word. Therefore, we now know that "the giraffe has a special adaptation called a death roll. When in danger, the giraffe bites its predator and rolls on the ground with it until the predator dies. The giraffe can then eat the other animal." Same student on previous test draws and labels the life cycle of a baby. Although incorrect (again), the student did know that it is better to get pregnant as an adult. Teacher still doesn't quite know what the arrow coming from between the pregnant person's legs was. She was too afraid to ask.

When talking about marriage, a 9 year old student says, "I can't get married. I'm not 15 yet! And then I can't get married until I have kids." Um, yea....

I know that these things are great!

How do I know? I've washed one in the washing machine, of course! The seven year old owner had no idea where it was. Yet, Mom heard it clanging against the dryer as she threw wet clothes inside. With water dripping from the flash drive, Dad placed it in the refrigerator to draw the moisture out. Mom was amazed at that trick (Dad is so cool)! After a few hours, the flash drive was as good as new. The seven year old owner was VERY lucky!!!!

We have a visitor in our home. You may remember hearing about him in the Bible. Lazarus is leaning against the wall in my utility room. You see, he has had difficulty being raised from the dead lately. Hopefully, he will be fixed soon. His getting a bit creepy watching me come in the back door in the afternoons.

Parents DON'T know how to drive. I don't know how we ever made it anywhere before our children were born. These back seat drivers are great. They know exactly how to get to school, church, and the Chinese Restaurant. Parents should ask directions before leaving the drive way. Seems children are quite amazed, however, when parents go an alternate route and still get to the intended destination!

Former neighbor almost calls police on possible burglar. She puts down the phone when she realizes it is just the dog peeking over the 6 foot fence. Another neighbor asks, "Did you hear that old woman outside about midnight banging a pan? She is crazy!" Embarrassed dog owner replies, "That was our dog throwing his water bowl against the patio door and on the patio." Dog owner must get out of bed one night to toss a metal chair over the fence because the dog is tossing it around.


You see, I have so much I could say. I'll stop here for now, but I could always go on!

Our Big Dog