Celebrating Al and Jason's birthdays

With dinner at Al Biernat's in Dallas.

An amazing restaurant we could never afford.

Thanks, Mom and Dad!

Boy humor with Jack

Jack was talking to my dad, and he said, "Papalu, what's an anagram of the word 'raft'?"  Then he started giggling to himself and looked up at my dad to see if he got it.

Jack's the only 7 yr old I know who would make a fart joke using the word "anagram".

Read this on the plane

Now I need to see the movie.

...which will likely not be as good.

But I recommend this if you're looking for an easy read in the vein of "Hunger Games".

Home again, home again

I came home to Jack standing on a stool, cooking tacos.

Sarah had brownies (from scratch,  not a box) in the oven.

Now Jason,  Sarah,  and Caroline are at softball practice.  And Jack is on Unit 2 of his Science textbook.   A book he's reading "for fun".

It's good to be home.

My view across the aisle this time

Much better than the bathroom.

(I'm sure she appreciates the compliment.)

Too much pressure!

I need a little more inspiration,  fortune cookie.

And a little less passive aggression.

Wubbanub inspired souvenirs

Wubbanubs are pacifiers attached to little stuffed animals.

Luke (L) uses a lamb (l) wubbanub.

Emory (E) uses an elephant (e) wubbanub

As souvenirs for the kids to commemorate my first trip to see Emory and Luke,  I bought the girls lambs, and Jack is getting an elephant hand puppet.

As an aside,  the cashier asked me if I wanted the price tags removed.  I told her that these gifts were for my kids so the tags can stay..... after all, my kids don't care how much things cost.

She laughed.

But she could relate.

Expensive...drop on concrete. Never use.

Happy Meal toy... put in place of honor.

A little down time

Pinot Grigio + HGTV + the possibility of a nap

=

Down time

My second-ever rental car

Not a Beetle but the VW is great :)

Our humble abode

We're staying at the Oakhurst Inn... in the attic.

But it's home-y and great. We are loving it!

Outing to the Trump Vineyard

No babies in this pic, but much love.

My first trip to a winery.  :)

After 10 hours of traveling....

We're exhausted but we made it.

And it was soooo worth it. Sweet boys!!!!! Xoxox

I'm holding Emory and Hil has Luke.

My least favorite part of the trip-- an hour and ten minutes in

I'm on the aisle and this is directly across from me.

We haven't even finished boarding and someone's already used it.

Seriously?

Favorite part of the trip-- an hour in

Hilary is taking this double stroller to Abby.  We've been pushing this empty stroller around the airport, and it's quite the conversation starter.

Two people have told us we lost our kids.

(Which made me wonder if they think Hil and I are sisters or partners.)

One little old lady told us our kids were precious.  Um. Ok.

Hilary and I started talking to "the kids" which really amused me.

Yay for empty strollers! They're hilarious!

Packed and off to see my nephews

Hilary and I are heading to see Brian, Abby, Luke,  and Emory. :)))

Hooray!!!!

Off to Virginia.... by way of North Carolina for an hour, then landing in Baltimore, and driving to Virginia.

Don't ask.

(I'm using Sarah's bag, by the way.)

My internship

Everything keeps falling into place.  Praise the Lord!


But it didn't feel that way on Wednesday...


Wednesday we had Splash Day at preschool.  I didn't see the thermometer but I'm estimating the temp to be right around 1,000,000* and the humidity to be at 7,000%. 


Give or take a few degrees and percentage points.  I've never been that great at math.


Splash Day is exactly what it sounds like.... A day for the kids to splash around in wading pools, on splash pads, on inflatable slides..  It's a blast!


Until clean up.


Clean up involves deflating, drying, packing up, putting away in the heat and humidity. 
Did I mention that it was hot?


This would've been fine if I could've put my hair in a ponytail and really gotten after it and sweat.  But I had an interview  at 3:00 on Wednesday with the head of the counseling department for the school district. 


No time to shower. And I smelled like a wet dog.


Around 2:25, I changed into a dress in my office, reapplied deodorant, tried to fix my sweaty makeup, and frantically looked for body spray that I knew I had packed. 


But no. I had forgotten it.


Great.  I still smelled like a wet dog.


I needed a tag to wear across my forehead that read "Hi, my name is Julie.  I don't always smell like this."


The meeting went well.
(But I seriously did apologize to him for smelling bad.  I had to.  I'd have been thinking, "Does he think I don't know I stink?" the whole time we were talking if I didn't just come out and say it!)


I'll be doing my internship near Frankford/Campbell so the commute should only be about 15 minutes for me.


I'm not going to start until the second week of preschool, which would be the third week of public school.  That gives the school time to get the year up and running, and it gives me the same chance at preschool.


I looked at my calendar, and-- even though I'm starting the second week of September and only interning on Mondays and Fridays (because I'll work Tues - Thurs), I will have 192 hours by the end of the first week of December.


I need 200 hours, but the other 8 won't be hard to get.


The semester will be busy, but I'm really looking forward to the opportunity and graduating in December!! :)  Woo hoo!!


Afterword:  When I got home from the interview, I sat down on the couch next to Caroline, and she said, "Ew, Mom, take a shower.  You stink."

Redneck reasoning ;)

What do you if you want to hang lights on an awning over the pool?

You sink a ladder in the pool, of course, and get busy!

Worked like a charm.

All the way from Colorado

Last year, Dylan,  one of my favorite students... not that teachers should have favorites but we do.... brought me caramel corn for every occasion.

Halloween.  Thanksgiving.  Christmas.  Valentine's Day. Easter.  Teacher Appreciation.

You might think I'd be sick of caramel corn,  but you'd be wrong. It's the best popcorn ever!

Homemade. Not sticky. Perfectly brown sugar-y. Candied pecans and almonds add to the salty/sweet thing.

I've been known to eat a gallon sized Ziploc of the stuff before lunch.

Dylan and his family moved to Colorado last summer. Jamie, his mom, and I are facebook friends.  Last week Jamie posted about making caramel corn for Dylan's teacher.

I asked her if she'd send any of the perfect goodness to former teachers.  I was joking... kinda... but hoping she would.

Low and behold I got a surprise package on my front porch.

A New Balance shoe box taped up with my address and a Colorado return address. I bet the Post Office thought this was a suspicious package,  likely containing a plant legal in CO.  It looked very sketchy.  But no... It's not that... It's MY addiction...

Jamie's caramel corn!

With a picture from Dylan.  :)

Made my day!!

Push through this week

All I gotta do is get through the next 6 days, then I can breathe....

for about a week.  Then hit "repeat" and start again.  ;)

But I'll take any break I can get. :)

Halfway house

Down on your luck?

Looking for a fresh start?

We offer halfway home services apparently.

We found this male chocolate lab without a collar tonight at the park.  He is super sweet, knows commands, and loves to swim.

We'll have him scanned for a microchip in the morning.  Tonight he's staying at chez McGlamery, aka Lab Halfway House.

We've sent texts and emails to the neighborhood.  All we can do tonight is keep him comfortable...

... and name him "Don". Our kids are horrible at naming things. ;)

Caroline's Pre-K Year in Pics

Caroline's teacher, Mrs. Missy, takes tons of pics and shares them with her families every year.

This year I sent in a flash drive and she copied 214 pictures of Caroline and her friends onto it.  It's pretty amazing. 

I will NOT be uploading all 214. Don't worry ;)  But here are some of my faves....