Heh

They say a person's house tells a lot about them. I've always thought that was true to a certain extent. I don't particularly think my furniture and home decor says anything but "These people shop at IKEA a lot and desperatetly need new carpeting. And they should really dust more often." But the other day it occurred to me that this saying is absolutely true in one respect.

Our last big move was from Tifton to Albany almost five years ago. We had four boxes marked "clothes". We had thirty-six boxes marked books. We have a lot of bookcases in this house and we need several more.

Kitchen bookcase #1 with cookbooks


Kitchen bookcase #2 with craft books


Master bedroom bookcase (which also houses our DVDs, but it's mostly books)


Library Book Basket #1 (What? Doesn't everyone have a basket by their front door to put library books in?)


Library Book Basket #2


Playroom Bookcase #1


Palyroom Bookcases #2 and #3


Side tables in the girls' room, which I make them clean off the accumulated books once a week


Bookcase in the girls' room


Books from my bedside table


Living Room Bookcase #1


Living Room Bookcase #2 (Both bookcases were custom made for me by my awesomely handy husband, because he's cool like that. During the holidays he's going to add some more shelves to the top somehow and make it look totally cool.)


How many boxes do you think we'd need now??

Friday Night Lite

The girls are off spending the night with a friend (aka our third daughter, Katie). It's a Friday night, *and* it's payday (for both me and him) so you'd think we'd get dolled up and hit the town (such as it is in Albany), making the most of a free night.

You'd be wrong.

James is painting road show props for tomorrow night, and I'm keeping him company in the kitchen by playing DJ with iTunes. (Currently "Fool in the Rain" by Led Zeppelin is playing. I'm trying to figure out what, umm, artificial stimulants Robert Plant and Jimmy Page were taking when they came up with song. It's like they were listening to salsa music while on a bad acid trip. Not that I'd know what a bad acid trip is like, mind you.)

Moving on...

A few weeks ago we met up with all of the Vicars and the Coxs and went out to Mark's Melon Patch to pick pumpkins and look at sunflowers.

(Holy Cow! iTunes just went from Led Zeppelin to "I Know That My Redeemer Lives". Talk about a bad acid trip!)



They insisted on having their picture taken with the tallest sunflower.


All the kiddos (minus Meghan, who was with her parents somewhere)


Mama V and Papa Rich took Nathan and Samantha off to Cordele to see Thomas the Tank Engine, and Helen, Ryan and Meghan came back to our house to pick up a load of wood. The girls decided to have some fun with Meghan and my camera.

(Now this is just ridiculous. iTunes just went from Coldplay's Don't Panic to The First Noel.)





Obviously someone took this picture before the subjects were ready!








Such cuties!

And with with "You Want It" by Cheap Trick, I'm done. Adios!

That Autumnal Rush

If I was pregnant (WHICH I'M NOT!!!) I would call what I've been doing "nesting". Since I'M NOT PREGNANT, I'm just going to call it...something. I'll let you know when I think of the right word.

I've been stretching myself a little more lately. Moving out of my comfort zone. I was out of the house past 6 PM THREE NIGHTS IN A ROW last week. Crazy, I know. :P After talking about it for three years, I finally got a Relief Society book club going. I've also started one for the 8-11 year old girls at church. I've been putting a lot of effort into preschool. I've been thinking about my health and well-being (both mentally and physically) and actually DOING something about it. I've been trying to be a better wife and mother. I've been reading a lot. I've cleaned out a few closets.

It's all good.

Halloween was a hoot. The girls and James went to various parties while I stayed home to hand out candy to Trick-or-Treaters in the neighborhood. I think a good time was had by all.

Madeline was a flapper and Isabella was Tonks from the Harry Potter books. I think they both looked great, but I'm especially proud of Bella's handmade 'Weird Sisters' t-shirt.

Sorry

I know I haven't updated in awhile, but I've been busy shopping for gold stretch pants and a bedazzled eyepatch.

There's something in the air...

Meet Gertrude.



We found Gertrude in the 90% off bin at Michael's a few years ago. She cost a whopping $2.50! James had to take her home with us. He even buckeled her into the back seat for the ride home.



Then he started posing her in random places and taking pictures of her.



She's really become part of the family.



During the Halloween season, Gerturde sits on a chair on our front porch so she can greet all our visitors. Today, she and Poppy decided to spend some quality time together.



How sweet!

(Gertrude wants everyone to know that she loves visiting other people, so if you'd like her as a guest just let us know!)

So...October, is it?

When I bought our U2 tickets back in May, October seemed so far away. Now we're already half way through the month! Sheesh. I'm getting old if I'm constantly commenting on how fast time is going by! Wait, let me chase those pesky kids off my lawn. :P

So what's going on around here? School is good for all of us involved with a school. Madeline is loving her guitar lessons and her teacher says she is getting better every week. Isabella and I go over to the library for a "big kids" craft time while Madeline is at her lesson, and I'm consistently amazed at her "out of the box" creativity. She *definitely* gets that from James!

I've settled very nicely into the preschool year. I love my aide (she's a kindred spirit for sure!) and my kiddos are a fun challenge. It's definitely a different dynamic than last year, but I'm becoming a better teacher because of *this* class, and that's always a good thing. We're heading into the Halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas AXIS OF EVIL (she said with tongue firmly in cheek) where the kids will be hopped up on sugar, consistently sleep deprived and totally out of any normal sort of routine. On the flipside, it *is* a very fun time of year, and I'm looking forward to it (for the most part).

James' VPP Program tenure in the Safety shop ended at the end of September, so he's now back to his regular Leaderman duties in the paint shop. While in the Safety Shop he rewrote and/or revamped over 200 procedure programs. He really impressed his supervisor and his supervisor's boss (i.e. the Colonel at the base in charge of the entire Maintenance Center) and I'm really, really proud of his hard work! He was also elected as Union Chaplain and as a Union Steward, which basically means he gets to say all the prayers at the Union meetings. I told him I thought it meant he should get his union dues reimbursed to him, but they didn't go for that idea!

All in all, things are pretty chill. It's almost my bedtime i.e. my favorite time of day! James just walked in the door from YM, so with that I'll say adios for the time being.

Last post dedicated to the awesomeness of U2, I promise

James and I are slowly coming off our high from this week's awesomeness. We both agree that it was the MOST FUN we've ever had together, including our honeymoon, so that's saying something.

With our run of luck this year I kept waiting for something to spoil our plans but really, things couldn't have been more perfect. Our hotel was lovely and confortable, MARTA got us where we needed to be when we needed to be there, the Cheesecake factory was yummy (Even though we had to walk 2 miles to get there- The MARTA train let us off on the right street, and we didn't realize how far away from the station the restaurant was or that a bus could have dropped us off practically in front of it! We made sure we road the bus *back* to the station!).

Of course, the best part of all was the concert. We got there about 6:30 for a 7:00 start, but Muse (the opening act) didn't go on until almost 7:30, and U2 didn't go on until 9:00. We had a fun time watching all the drunk people (including one lady in super high heels who had five beers before the show even started- we were sure she was going to go over the railing at some point when her "dancing" got a little out of control.)

U2 definitely needs to be seen live to be fully appreciated. Bono's voice sounded amazing, and the show itself was pretty incredible. You could see the band from all points in the arena (hence this being the 360 Degrees tour) and they had HUMONGOUS video screens so you didn't miss a thing. Technologically it is pretty dadgum impressive!

U2 played for a little over two hours, and the time just flew by. We didn't want it to end! The best part was the encore where they played With or Without You, and James put his arms around me and we danced together. *sniffs*

We ended up walking back to our hotel from the Georgia Dome (just a little over a mile). The night was just gorgeous the skyline was beautiful, and it was so much fun to be walking with probably 1000+ people up International Blvd to various hotels. All in all we had the time of our lives, and it's something we'll never forget.

*Happy Sigh*

Two One Day MARTA Passes: $17



Hotel and valet parking at Hyatt Regency Atlanta: $78






Dinner and two pieces of Cheesecake from the Cheescake Factory: $35



Listening to U2 play most favorite song EVER live with your most favorite person in the world's arms around you as you both sing along: PRICELESS

This.

This right here is why U2 is amazingly awesome.



This, too.



And then there's this.



This time tomorrow James and I will be with Bono and the boys in the ATL.

*SQUEE!!1!!!!!!11!1!!!!1!*

IT'S COMING!!! OUR TRIP TO ATLANTA TO SEE U2 LIVE AND IN PERSON IS ALMOST HERE!!!!11!!!1!! I DON'T THINK I CAN CONTAIN MY EXCITEMENT MUCH LONGER!!!!!

(And if you try and rain on my parade, NANCY, by saying "The anticipation is greater than the realization" then I will set you up for a nursing home so fast the drool won't even have time to collect on your hairy chin!)

In other news, how good looking is Larry Mullen, Jr??


VERY good looking, I'd say. They years have been kind to my favorite drummer.

Lucky Number 13

(The day after we got engaged)

i carry your heart with me

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

- ee cummings

Madeline's Birthday

Being the lazy mother that I am, I don't do big birthday parties for the girls every year. We do big parties (i.e. lots of friends and mucho dinero spent) on what we consider THE BIGGIES- 8, 12 and 16. So birthdays around here consist of their choice of dinner and cake and then presents with the family (and which ever extended family happens to be around at the time!).

This year Madeline asked if some friends could come over for dinner and then spend the night. She caught me at a weak moment and I said yes. We ended up with two friends for dinner and one friend who stayed the night on the 11th (the day before her actual birthday).

Madeline requested homemade pizza for dinner and then ice cream sundaes for dessert. On her actual birthday she wanted nachoes and chocolate chip cheesecake. The girl has pretty good taste. ;)

Her big present was a guitar. The music teacher at her school teaches a free guitar class to Fifth graders after school once a week. She actually got the guitar as an early gift because the class started before her birthday. But she also got an American Girl Hair Care Center, which she had been wanting. She told James and I later that her birthday was perfect, and I guess as a parent you can't ask for more than that, can you??