Hey, I'm only a month late!!

Ok, that could mean something COMPLETELY different. And before you ask NO! I am not making any announcements - Are you CRAZY!?*# Have you seen the state of my house!?! And the state of my mental (where did I put that anyways?) Today is the one month anniversary of Hayden's 7th birthday. I thought it was finally time to post the pictures. It was a MONSTER party. And I let go of the reins this year and truly let Hayden plan what he wanted -- including the grey frosting with green spiderweb. So though the cake looks disgusting and the goody bags and napkins didn't match, we had fun. The following pictures are of our "mad scientist" experiments. I didn't get pictures of all of them - just the spectacular mentos/diet coke one. Also some pictures of Steve's rockin' obstacle course where they had to throw stakes into Dracula's coffin, jump over Jaws, crawl thru the tunnel of terror, zig zag past the wolfman and fight Darth Vader (Steve). They had to use their imagination in some of it but I thought it was cute. And it got 5 crazy 7 yr olds running around outside. The other pictures are of the very Mexican pinata (I'm too cheap to buy a matching piece of cardboard that they are going to beat senseless with a bat) and other assorted photos that I thought you might enjoy. Happy Birthday Poodleduck!! He's going to kill us one day for calling him that!

Top 10's

Steve and I have been attempting to assemble our top 10 movies. Hey, for two couch potatoes like us it ain't an easy thing to do. So here goes:
First up:

Steve's Top 10 movies of all time:

10. Swing Kids (Steve LOVES anything to do with WWII, combined with dancing - couldn't miss)
9. The Princess Bride ("where the mutton is nice and lean")
8. Raiders of the Lost Ark (DUH)
7. Red Dawn (ok, its an obscure 80's flick where the Russian's invade and they hide out in the mtns.)
6. Singin' in the Rain (Steve secretly wishes he was Gene Kelly - the previous dancing comment was a joke)
5. The Incredibles (Greatest animation movie - EVER!)
4. Apollo 13 (the beginning of Steve's obsession with Tom Hanks)
3. A League of Their Own (Steve also LOVES anything to do with baseball, and he secretly drools over Gina Davis in this one - I can say that because I'm the wife)
2. Big Fish (I'm not sure how to describe this one - Steve's a big dreamer and this movie is like a big dream with giants and conjoined Chinese ladies, oh, and FISH of course...Steve loves FISH)

Drum roll please....
#1. Forrest Gump (The end of Steve's obsession with Tom Hanks)

Now he did award some honorable mention and depending on his mood they may make the rankings. The following are awarded to movies that he didn't think of until after the first list was finished: That Thing You Do, The Lion King, It's a Wonderful Life, Bambi, Much Ado About Nothing, Star Wars, Hook, Blazing Saddles, The Patriot, Follow Me Boys, and Field of Dreams

Ok, my list is way harder. Steve is the one who can look at a menu once and know what he wants to order. I have to peruse the menu for an hour and still change my order 3 times while I am ordering. But here goes...

Rachel's Top Ten Movies

10. Amadeus (LOVE Mozart)
9. Forrest Gump (I love crew cuts)
8. The Mirror Has Two Faces (Babs!!)
7. Raising Arizona (I've seen it so many times I won't even watch it anymore but it is a classic that is part of me)
6. Ivanhoe (the 1982 version with Sam Neill, Anthony Andrews, and James Mason but I think it is out of print so I might not have seen it since 1982) CLASSIC!
5. Hook ("Oh, there you are Peter!")
4. The Scarlet Pimpernel (Anthony Andrews - yes, yes the obsession - Jane Seymour version) ("Is he in heaven, or is he in hell. That damned, illusive pimpernel")
3. It's a Wonderful Life (this movie is only this low because I can only really watch this at Christmas time)
2. Singin' in the Rain (I secretly wish that Steve WAS Gene Kelly :)

Another Drum Roll, if you don't mind:
#1. Sense and Sensiblity (I truly believe this is the best of Jane Austen though on my list it kind of represents all J.Austen movies)

My Honorable Mention (and if you know me well, you know my numbering is bunk, all these movies are my faves and I have a terrible memory lately so I'm sure there is a movie or two out there that I am forgetting that when I will remember it will tick me off that I have forgotten - so here's to those...) That Thing You Do, Overboard, Annie, A League of Their Own, Serendipity, Fools Rush In, The Wedding Singer, Never Been Kissed.

I'm sure I'll add more later...

Art World

Okay it has taken me forever to get to this posting. The kids have been out of school for a month now (aha, maybe that's the reason I'm getting NOTHING done everyday!) and I have been meaning to post some of these pictures of the artwork that the boys did throughout the year. Can I just say, without being too much the mommy, that I am SO impressed with the art they did! It does help that they have a REAL art teacher. They worked with so many different mediums; ceramic, aluminum foil, water colors, pastels, metals. There are some that really show some talent, I think. And if you don't think so we'll just chalk it up to my bad picture taking. :)

Walkin' On The Sun

Hey Everyone, this is Steve.

I wanted to post a public service announcement to my friends and family...DON'T COME TO GEORGIA IN THE SUMMER!!!

Oh my goodness! I feel like I am walking on the sun! When I was a kid, we used to go to the beach in So Cal and run around all day, playing in the water and having fun. I didn't even know what sun screen was! On Monday last week I am bobbing in the local pool and goofing off with the kids. Pulling Tyler and Jake around in the water, shooting water pistols at the others and everything is fine...or so I thought. Evidently, they use a different kind of sun in the South. A friggin' hot one! That night I could still feel the burn, but by the next morning I felt great! In fact, I was excited to get back to the pool. So I packed up the chittlins and mosied down to yonder cement pond fer a nice dip. (Sorry, my inner southerner just came out. I feel like tearing the sleeves off my flannel shirt and watching NASCAR.) I obviously hadn't learned my lesson. By the time we got home my shoulders were already screaming out in pain.

We decided to take the kids camping near Lake Lanier...that's the lake in Georgia where the braniacs who control it have been shipping our water off to FL and AL to protect wildlife wetlands while we in Atlanta are enjoying all the benefits of water rationing. I don't know who left the heater on at the campsite, but DUDE it was hot there. Actually, it was probably 75 degrees, with 700% humidity. I had to take a break after setting up the tent. What do the kids want to do? Swim in the lake? Nope. Have a water fight? Nope. They want to BUILD A FIRE AND COOK MARSHMALLOWS! Who are these kids? I am sweating to death and my kids want to build a campfire on the SUN!

Around 9pm I get the kids in the tent (along with a storm cloud of black flies and one very hungry spider) I have my shirt off and a fan blowing on my back. I am barely falling asleep when my back totally catches on fire! I flip over (which is very painful in my lobster back state) and I see Hayden has turned the fan onto himself. Can you believe that simply turning the fan to face him would actually cause pain to my back? That was an odd feeling. So I said, "Hey, turn that thing back on me." And poor little Hayden says, "But daddy, I am hot, too." He just melts my heart...melts it like a Hershey's bar in my back pocket. Through tear-filled eyes of gratitude and love for my second son, beaming with pride in all that he has already accomplished, I said, "I don't give a crap! Give me that fan back!" Ahhh, parenthood. Well, I survived the night, so did the kids.

The moral of this tale is simple, avoid Georgia like the plague! You will get a wicked bad sunburn and end up depriving your son of the simple pleasure of a fan on an incredibly hot night.

Man, I miss New Hampshire.

Why I have the best husband in the world...

Here I am sitting on my cushy bed in air-conditioned comfort with a bowl of cool ice cream while my husband is in a tent near Lake Lanier with 3 kids in humid weather with a raging sunburn on his back. Its his "vacation" week this week and since we have no $$ so we thought we would go camping. Its a big step for him, truly. I know he is a creature of comfort but lately camping with the kids has been more important to him. Sure, I talk big. I think camping would be great for the family but when it comes down to it, it is just a lot of work and un-comfort. I'm soft, what can I say? I would love to be a little more "granola-y" but I'm not sure I have it in me. This is what truly impresses me about Steve. I know he would rather be sitting with me with the ice cream, the bed and the air-conditioning - we've pretty much built our life around, but there he is pushing himself in the name of family togetherness. On top of it all he has a raging sunburn because we've been to the pool 2 days in a row and he forgot that in his 'regular' life he is a vampire and never gets to see the sun. Anyway, I think men rarely get enough credit these days so here's 3 cheers for my guy. I love you!!