More of the Drawer...

I am really liking the "junk drawer" format. I can rarely finish a sentence around this nuthouse, let alone put together a cohesive posting. This way, I can just throw a bunch of random thoughts together and call it good.

Sorry I have been a bit absent as of late. Beautiful weather, a rampant stomach flu bug, and taxes (which require my husband to use the computer) have kept me away. But fear not...the weather is turning terrible starting tomorrow, we all seem to be on the mend, and the taxes...well....let's hope they are finished soon. This year is a doozie, what with moving and rental properties and whatnot. Anyway, with further ado...

*The weather this past week has been glorious. Absolutely stunning. I LOVE that first day. You know the day. The first really warm, balmy, breezy day right after winter. The birds are singing, everything seems fresh and renewed. It just makes you want to get outside, throw on your Daisy Dukes and a bikini top and wash the car. So I did.

*Well, actually I put on capri pants and used tons of self-tanner on the bottoms of my legs so as not to scare off said birds due to the sheer white-girl-ness of my legs. My Daisy Dukes were in the wash.

*A while back, the weather was not nice and we had a stay-inside-and-clean-out-the-closets-day. When you clean out the closets, you never know what kind of "treasures" you will unearth. Matthew found this, and this is how he spent the day. Nap, dinner, and all. He was oh, so pleased with himself when he discovered he had a tail.

*The hooligans and I met my parents at the South Carolina Aquarium in Charleston a few weeks back. They had all kinds of awesome fish, sharks, rays, jellyfish...you name it. They even had a great touch tank where you could pick up and hold hermit crabs, sea urchins and little rays. My kids, however, spent their time playing on the play boat, fairly oblivious to the aquariums teaming with fantastic sea life all around them. Here is the captain.

*They also were enthralled by the machine that squishes a penny and turns it into a souvenir with a picture of a shark on it. Matty liked his so much that, while during a momentary lapse in adult supervision, he ran away and tried to jam it into the working mechanisms of the escalator.

*Here are Mitch and Papa walking in the aquarium. Does anyone else out there have really weird kids, too?

*I had the opportunity to sub a few weeks back in Mitch's class alongside the beloved Ms. Pam. For President's Day, Ms. Pam read them a story all about George Washington...the hatchet, the cherry tree, I can not tell a lie, the whole nine yards. Then, they made a George out of paper and cotton balls for hair. She did a great job presenting the lesson and story and having the kids create the art project. Really, I was there. It was great. When we got home, I said,

Me: "Mitch, tell Dad all about George Washington."

Mitch: "I don't know."

Me: "What did he do? What kind of tool did he use?"

Mitch: "A tape measure."

Me (holding up his George artwork): "Mitch, who is this?"

Mitch: "A pirate. ARRGHHH!"

*Grandma Julie recently sent the boys a beautiful amaryllis bulb for them to plant, water, and watch grow. Mitch, with his inner farmer yearning to break free, took matters into his own hands. "Don't worry, Mom. I opened up the flower and found a vase and everything. It's all set!" Nice.

*Finally, Mitch has started a new endeavor as of late. He has qualified for some speech articulation help from the district. It is great! We go twice a week down the road, he has a wonderful speech therapist, and he loves it. His first letter he is working on is letter "Ff." He pronounces F's like S's. Well, he is making great strides and we practice, practice, practice. Recently, while practicing with Grandma, he announced, "Boy, I sure do say a lot of F words!" All in due time, my dear, all in due time.