The "J" List

The "J" list is like Oprah's "O List" only cheaper, much much cheaper! It's some of my new or new to me favorite things!

On the left is "The Green Album" cd! It's Muppet songs, sung by current popular artists! How can you not have a good day when you start it listening to Mahna Mahna? Bean thinks we should listen to it every day on the way to school and Sissy already has it on her iPod! (It's not on mom's iPod but that's a post for another day.) There's also a "Kermit Unpigged" cd!

The odd pink thing is a poo bag holder. I saw a diaper bag dispenser (just like this one just labeled differently) on Another Ten Miles blog. Heather pictured it on her "Baby Must Haves" post. I saw that and thought perfect "in the car" trash bags! They're small, contained and refillable! No more hunting under the seat for a stuff mart bag! Woo hoo! I found the pet version in pink at Target! Thanks Heather!

Turtle Wax Bug and Tar remover! We have big bugs and they leave big squish marks on the car. No more squish spots!

Greeting cards from the Dollar store! My friend Laurie told me about them! I'm very excited! I spent $14 on 3 greeting cards! That's crazy! I really want to be able to make card and have them ready on time (ha) but just in case that doesn't work out...Dollar store here I come!

Hello...Kettle?

I've learned a lot from my kids, for example don't say "yes" to a child if you don't fully understand the question, toddlers like to color with lipstick, more about Polly Pockets and Clone Troopers than I ever wanted to know. I've learned about fashion, when Sissy says "that's kind of Mom-ish" I should put it down and walk away, she doesn't mean it as a compliment.

Yesterday I was listening to the loving sounds of my children interacting, oh no, wait that was Leave it to Beaver. I was listening to my kids argue on the way to church. Anyway, Sissy started to lisp when she wants to be cute. I find it less than adorable coming from a 16 year old. Bean likes to talk "baby talk" to the dog. Sissy finds this less than adorable coming from her brother. She told him to quit because it annoyed her. Strangely, I told her the same thing about her "lisp" just the other day.

Tonight, Sissy yelled at Bean because he didn't put his cup in the dishwasher. Her rant went something like "He's 8! He should be able to put the cup in the dishwasher! It's not that hard!" I told her "I know, I thought the same thing this morning when I asked you to put the cutting board in the dishwasher."

I was told once when you point a finger at others you have three fingers pointing back at yourself. I've learned that's true, the behaviors we dislike in others are often things we do ourselves. The next time I have the urge to complain about someone else I'm going to make sure I don't do the same thing. Then I'm going to keep my mouth shut.

Where Did Summer Go?

I can't believe my kids go back to school in one week! I'm wondering what happened to our summer? Apparently we have been very busy. I took Bean shopping to finish up his school supply shopping and was surprised at how few supplies were left. I don't know what I'm going to do about Sissy's. She doesn't find out what she needs for her classes until school starts. Yikes!

Summer has passed with a blur of activity! June was spent at karate, karate camp and play group for the Bean. Marching band practice for Sissy and a road trip to my nephew's High School Graduation. Whew!

We were home two week (more band and karate) and left the beginning of July for a vacation in Texas. We went to visit Honey's brother and his wife. Honey's mom flew down to join us. We went to the Johnson Space Center, the Gulf at Galveston and did a little shopping. Texas has a lot of outlet malls! Bean's favorite thing, his uncle's magnetic toy and cable tv. Sissy's favorite was shopping. (Pictured in front Bean, L to R Sis-in-law, Honey, me, Sissy, Bro-in-law and Mom-in-law)

We left Texas and drove around the Gulf to visit my friend and her family! We met them at the Gulf in Florida for breakfast. The kids got to try out a boogie board and we saw dolphins! We visited some more, had lunch, said our good-byes and headed home. Honey was on vacation the whole week after we got back from TX/FL. I had no idea what day it was for those two weeks. We didn't have a schedule, no band practice, no routine.

August started out with an impromptu trip "home" for the weekend to the fist annual Homecoming. Honey left Sunday, Bean and I stayed so my sister and I could help my dad with some organize/purge projects he'd been putting off. The "girls" also went to do a little shopping at a flea market/craft sale/Amish market. That was a lot of fun, HOT but fun! All my "finds" fit in my trunk. Woo hoo!

The first week of August was band camp for Sissy. Our brave band director loads the kids up on a bus and takes them to a college campus for a week. They come home hot and tired but they learn a lot and really become a cohesive unit. Honey went for part of the week to be a chaperon, he came home hot and tired too.

This is our last week of summer, Sissy is volunteering at the hospital, Bean is squeezing in a little more play time with his friends. I'm just hoping I can get them back in routine with as few melt downs next week as possible.