Personlities

As the boys have gotten older, they have developed their own distinct personalities.  But they have really always had the same basic personality traits.  It just seems to get stronger as they get older.

Owen has always been out there.  He's always been active (to say the least) and very sure of himself for the most part.  Even when he was in preschool, he was never a follower.  If he got into trouble with "that" kid, he damn well meant to do it.  He was stubborn and opinionated and very in your face.  Gah.  That hasn't changed much.

Shane on the other hand, has always been quieter in all aspects.  He is my reader.  He would much prefer to sit and read or watch TV or play on the computer than be outside.  He's never been in your face with anything and any decision he makes is usually very calculated.  It's always been more of a passive/aggressive type thing with him and it's not getting any better as he heads into the teen years.

So I wonder what they will be like as teenagers.  I'm pretty sure I know what's coming.  With both of them.  And there's 1) a whole lot of laughter coming from my mom's house and 2) a whole lot of "I'm really sowwy, mom.  Take the curse off.  Please?!" coming from my house.

But it does make you stop and think if people perceive you as you think you are or if you have a realistic perception of who you really are or what you are really putting out there.

For example, I'd say that I've got a pretty strong personality.  There's really nothing that I wouldn't step into the middle of and if I see someone getting mistreated that doesn't deserve it, I insert myself directly into it.  I can't help it.

I'm also pretty loud.  And some might say obnoxious.

And I have no qualms about giving my opinion on something if needed.  Or even if it's not.  ;)

It's the New Joisey heritage in me.  I can't help myself.

But at least I do it kindly.  Cause I'm a good southern girl too.

Well.  Unless you really piss me off.  Then it's all Joisey. 

But I think that I pick my battles better as I have gotten older.  And I've also gotten more tactful (if you can believe it) about dealing with situations.

But even though I know how I was in college and the last twenty years, it's hard to remember if I was this direct as a teenager or younger child.  Did I allow people to bully me or to take advantage of me?  Or did I stand up for myself?

Personalities are weird.  Perceptions of your personality by both yourself and others is weird.  And I'm hoping that I'm a little wrong about what I'm in for with the boys.

Cause if not, I'm in trouble!

Field Day 2011

I love Field Day.  :heart:

Seriously.  Is there anything better to a kid than Field Day?  I will miss Field Day when Owen gets out of elementary school.

I remember practicing the three-legged race when I was his age with my bff using my dad's tacky wide 1970's ties to tie our legs together.  We didn't care if we fell down.  In fact, we probably tried to fall.

A few pics from the day.

Owen and a few of his friends.

Pretty sure they meant to win the third grade tug-o-war contest.  The anchor meant business, no?

PULL!

Victory!  Yes!  Third Grade Champions!

"Look.  I know we won the Tug-O-War and the Relay, but we're not done yet!"  Mrs. Lee is so competitive!

Gotta love the funny faces.  

Field Day was a huge success and a huge thank you goes to our amazing PE teachers Ms. Scott and Mr. E for pulling off yet another fun Field Day full of memories! 

Washing a Stupid Vase The Very, Very Wrong Way

When one is washing a vase such as this one, one should probably use a wash cloth and not their hand.

Because one never knows when there may be a piece of the glass broken on the vase.  A piece of broken glass that looks a little like this.  And by "a little" I mean it *is*.  :/

Because what will probably happen (and by "probably" I mean "it will") is this:

Which is going to cause one who wasn't so bright to wash a glass vase with their hand, a trip to here:

To get this done:

And then they're going to be constantly reminded of their stupid mistake because their hand is going to look like a mummy.

And then they're going to be sad because they can't play tennis for a while.

Stupid vase.

Stupid me for cutting my stupid hand.

But my friend who convinced me to go to the ER isn't stupid.  Although I was mad at her at the time.  (Not really.  I didn't yell "I hate you!" or anything like that.)   I just didn't want to go.  And I'm kind of hard headed and not always in a good way.  I have had my fill of sitting for hours in the ER in the last month.  And so I reverted to a defiant 12 years old. 

The conversation went like this:

Her:  "GO!"

Me:  (The defiant 12 year old) "NO!"

Her: "GO!"

Me:  "OK.  FINE!  I'll go.  Are you happy?"

Her:  "YES"

Me:  :-|

So I guess that the moral of the story is to not wash glass with your hand.

Or leave the dish washing to someone else.  ;)

Either way, this sucks.

Oops. Did I Buy That?

I was shopping at Kohl's the other day and saw this super cute top.

I was in a hurry so I just grabbed what I thought was the right size, went up to the register and paid for it all excited because I thought that I had found a sleeveless shirt that "might" just fit me.

When I got home, I tried it on and it didn't fit.  It was too big.  Bummer.

So I returned it to Kohl's yesterday.  When the nice lady rang up the return, I started giggling.  Outloud.  Because I am so freaking blonde.

Instead of buying a regular top, I had accidentially bought a maternity top.

Yep.  That's right.  A maternity top.

I cruised by the rack that I had bought the top at just to double check and make sure that the clerk didn't make a mistake.

And yep.  I am that blonde.  I definitely bought a maternity top.  

l

But now that I think about it, my mom bought a shirt just like that last summer.  I wonder if she's really a blonde too and bought a maternity shirt by accident also.  Teehee.

And now I'm really glad it was too big.  

All I know is I rock.  I rock.  I really, really rock!  Yay me!

Teehee

Having Fun Learning! What a Concept. ;)

The best part of elementary school is watching the kids in plays and concerts doing their best to show you what they have learned over the last few months.

Our music teacher developed a program to support the other teachers in our Standards of Learning statewide testing.  She did a great job helping them learn the material in a fun way.  What a concept.  Making learning fun.  :)

I give you Mali.

So yeah.  Owen has on a pink bandana.  What about it?  You don't like it?  Well.  GOOD!  That's why he wore it.  ;)  He's never one to back down from a stereotype or a fight.  I have no idea where he got that from.  ;)

If pictures are worth 1,000 words, then what are videos worth?  For the grandparents.  Enjoy!  :)


Life is so hard.  All they do is work, work, work!



Hummmmm.  Uh-huh-uh-huh...yea!

Slowing It Down!

Picture of the day.

A prop plane's propellers slowed down by my camera phone: cool!

Meeting up with friends in Asheville, NC: even cooler!

Actual prop plane trip:  yeah...not so much!

=)

The Circle is Complete

A few weeks ago, Shane had his annual eye exam.  He had complained a few days prior to that that he was having trouble seeing the board from the back of the room.

I mentioned it to the doctor and, sure enough, Shane's vision had gone from 20/20 to 20/60 within the last year.  She asked if he had had a growth spurt because that will change the shape of the eye ball. 

Wow.  Who knew that a growth spurt could change the shape of an eyeball that much.

I can see!

Yeah.  This should work just fine!

Well.  The circle is complete now.  All four of us have bad vision.  Not necessarily a club he wanted to be in I'm sure.  :-|

And yes.  He has finally grown a little taller if you caught that!  That's what I'm taking out of this.  tee-hee  ;)

Learning A Valuable Lesson...The Hard Way

 In reading a friend's blog, I was amused that her partner punked her into matching socks by getting her to agree to play a matching card game.  My friend thought she was agreeing to play concentration to match cards but what she got instead was a pile of socks to match. 

Teehee.  That is so wrong. 

But I'm so totally going to borrow that idea to punk my family into playing that game.  It's brilliant.

But that got me to thinking about something equally mean that I did to Shane when he was 3 or 4.  He loves to play card games.  So I asked him if he wanted to play 52 card pick up.

He said OH YES!  He was so excited to play a new game.

I asked him if he was sure.

He said OH YES.

Then I asked him if he wanted to know the rules of the game first.

He said OH NO.  Let's just play.

I proceeded to get a deck of cards and threw them up in the air.

He looked at me like I had lost my mind and asked me what kind of game that was.

I said 52 card pick up.

He said what?

I said yes.  There are 52 cards in a deck and now you get to pick them up.

Oh man.  The look on his face was priceless.

And yes.  I *am* kinda mean.  And by "kinda" I mean I *am* mean.

But that's okay.  It served a purpose.  He always asks what the rules to a game are now. 

And I bet you any amount of money in the world that he will NEVER agree to 52 card pick up again!

But I wonder if I can punk him into matching socks.  I am soooooo gonna try it!

teehee

"Love Depest"

Happy Mothers Day to my mom and all of the awesome women in my life who are like moms.  ;)

To:  me

Love Depest:  Owen  :heart:

I've had an awesome Mothers Day!  Breakfast and the newspaper in bed and tennis later.  I'm hoping that Shane and Owen continue to be good.  Oh.  And they put their clothes away.  ;)

It Does Absolutely Nothing

Not just any old platupus... the super platupus can, do absolutly nothing...

Tee-hee.  I love their advertisement videos.  :up:

The Considerate Thing to Do

I have said it a million times.  I love comic strips.  I'm pretty sure that the illustrators are spying on me because some of them hit so close to home it's ridiculous.

So I give you today...don't call me...before you text and find out if it's okay to do so...

Starring Jeremy as June.  Oh yeah girl.  You know it it's true!

I would NEVER call June without texting her first.  And if she *calls* me...I immediately answer because I *know* it's an emergency!  No doubt about that.  Cause she always texts me first and asks if it's okay to call.

Cause that's the considerate thing to do and she's considerate like that.  ;)

June, this blog is dedicated to you!