Hanging out with Harry

We met the Lakadosch family in the strangest way: shopping at Target. Diana came up to us out of nowhere and introduced herself. We talked for awhile and went on our way. Then, we saw them again at the zoo one day on Andy's lunch break. Then we saw them at the Greek Festival downtown...Then AGAIN at Barnes and Noble, the library, an finally, at church (which was weird beacuse we live in the Bible Belt and Catholics are outnumbered.) This city isn't huge, but there are over 500,000 people living here, so seeing the same person everywhere you go is more than unusual. We decided for this reason, that we were "supposed" to be friends and have found out we actually have a lot in common. Diana and her husband, Joel, came over to our house for dinner a couple of weeks ago and then we helped the celebrate their son, Harry's, second birthday last weekend. I wanted to post pictures of these two things earlier, but I'm running late with it as usual!





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It's Finally FALL!!!

Even though it's been over 90 degrees this week, I am wasting no time decorating for Halloween! (Gotta get a move on so I can jumpstart Christmas). (I've already been listening to Christmas music). (Hey, shut up). Landon picked out three pumpkins for us at The Fresh Market today and we spent some time after dinner painting them (and watching The Biggest Loser--Woo Hoo!! We're addicted!). Here are some pictures of our masterpieces:

Didn't Think About This Part

Last night I went to bed with a new haircut, that had been fussed over and waxed up by a highly qualified stylist......This morning I woke up with a cross between a mullet and a rat's nest. You know, instead of a party in the back, it's a party all over...or--wait-- that's still flattering myself a little. It's more like the hangover than the party. Do I really have to style this every day? And where the heck did my network go? I see how it's gonna be!

The verdict:

Today I felt like I was starring in that cell phone commercial that shows a "network" of people following the cell phone customer wherever he goes...Only, instead of a phone network, I had a "hair network". Imagine getting your hair cut in front of over one hundred strangers who are there to critique you. That means over one hundred different opinions were given to me and over two hundred eyes were staring at me for the better part of an hour. It was a little bit intimidating, but in the end, I decided every haircut should be like that. I heard everything I needed (and then some...) about my overall appearance before I even stepped out of the salon! I am telling you, self-conscious flew right out the window! And now I'm one step further from having to be turned in to one of TLC's makeover shows for frumpy moms. Anyone want to volunteer to update my wardrobe next? Tim Gunn, hmmm?

Uh Oh.....

I agreed to be a "hair model" for a hair show today. For your viewing pleasure, I'll post a picture of My Royal Baldness after all is said and done....

Ohhhhhhh Lawd!

What a Great Day!!

We had the BEST time today helping Jack Kauffmann celebrate his second birthday! The weather was hot and sunny, allowing all of the kids to run around outside. They rode on Jack's train, took turns hitting the pinata, played "Pin the nose on Elmo", checked out all of Jack's toys (demolishing the living room!) and ate cake. Landon was so exhausted afterwards that he fell asleep as soon as we got home.

It was so great to be able to see so many members of the Sanda family (read more about them at Sharon's blog) all at the same time. I've known them all since I was eleven years old--I grew up with them and now our kids are growing up together. It is the most amazing thing to see them all playing together (and probably the closest thing I'll have to nieces and nephews for a loooooooonnnng time--LOL!) Anyways, Happy Birthday Jack! Thanks for inviting us to your party! We had so much fun!!!
SHARON, WE MISS YOU!! NOW MOVE BACK TO SC, WOMAN!

At the Risk of Being Called a Blogging Copy-Cat...

I saw this on Kim's blog today and liked it so much that I decided to post the whole thing directly in my blog for everyone to read, rather than posting a link to Kim's blog. Do stop by Kim's blog, though, if you ever have a chance. It's one of my favorites and she is a GREAT mother--one I totally relate to and look up to!!

"Here's another great "Daily Groove" message that I found in my inbox this morning!

THE DAILY GROOVE ~ by Scott Noelle
www.enjoyparenting.com/dailygroove

:: The One-Body Principle ::

Suppose your right leg began twitching for no apparent
reason. If it persisted, you'd do something about it.
You might massage your leg or take some vitamins
that support nerve functions.

But you wouldn't yell at your leg or threaten to hurt
it! Nor would you ignore it and think, "It's the leg's
problem, not mine." Such responses wouldn't make
sense because your leg is a part of YOU.

Likewise, when your child's behavior seems
unreasonable, you can overcome the temptation to
react negatively by responding to your child as if s/he
were a part of your body.

Like the parts of your body, your child functions well
when you pay attention to his or her signals and,
instead of resisting those signals, you do your best
to honor and respond to them. There's no blame; you
just deal with it.

Today, imagine you and your child are like one body
and notice how that perspective affects your
interactions."

http://dailygroove.net/one-body

Feel free to forward this message to your friends!
(Please include this paragraph and everything above.)
Copyright (c) 2007 by Scott Noelle

Thanks for the great post, Kim! It's something we should all remember when our patience is running short!