Boo-Hoo!

I was too proud of my new patio!!! I had not even had anyone over yet for a dinner or a get-together or anything, and now we have no table to sit at! A stupid summer storm blew up out of nowhere yesterday afternoon. I did not even realize it was windy, but apparently it was like some kind of straight-line winds and my beautiful new red umbrella smashed my much anticipated and shopped for glass table. I don’t know if the wind picked up the umbrella and then slammed the table down and broke it or if the pressure on the pole shattered the glass. Either way it’s broken. We heard the most awful noise and I immediately thought, ‘that sounded like glass breaking, but no!!” Todd thought it sounded like a shotgun. We went out and the umbrella was up against the brick wall and glass was everywhere. He has to wrestle the umbrella to get it closed. Thankfully it is not broken too. But my table!!! Waaaahhhhh!!

Slide + Water + Slip&Slide = Fun

Caeden and Lael have been begging to get out the huge waterslide now for weeks. I keep putting them off, it is a big pain – I guess I am just being lazy. Anyway, Todd worked out a deal with them today. He put out the Slip&Slide (which is a breeze to set up) at the bottom of the slide of the playset. Turn on the water add the kids and that equals several hours of fun!

Oh and last night – we had a movie under the stars! Todd brought home the projector from work and he set up a screen on the side of the playset. Caeden and Lael chose Narnia to watch, and we got blankets and chairs and were ready. When it finally got dark, we started the movie. It was awesome! Caeden fell asleep about 1/2 hour into it, that poor kid can just not stay awake much past 9:00!

Chace is 14!

hard to believe!! 14 short years ago I became a Mom for the first time. In some ways it does seem like just yesterday I was holding that sweet bald baby in my arms and other times it seems like a lifetime away. Well, technically it was a lifetime, Chace’s!! Anyway, I am so proud of the young man that Chace has become. He is really a great kid. He mentioned the other day that he is now a freshman – 9th grade next year!! He will still be at Liberty, but a Freshman, he now has a title, not just 7th grader or 8th grader! eeeeekkk!
Todd had Field Boss Duty at Palmer Park on Chace’s birthday so we decided to celebrate with his birthday dinner Friday night. He did ask for a special dinner on his birthday, one like MiMi makes. Uh-oh – he wants hamburger steak with grilled onions and mashed potatoes. I am on the spot, I don’t want to mess it up, I mean it is his birthday after all! So, I make it and he says it is good, of course, he is always sweet about anything I make, but he does admit that there is something special about the food that grandmothers cook. Nena had her specialties that nobody could duplicate, Grandmother did also. LaLa has some delicious dishes and MiMi too. Maybe one day I will rank up there with ‘the masters’, automatically when you become a grandmother your cooking gets elevated.
Friday night after Caeden’s game we went out, Chace wanted Dylan to go, of course. He had chosen Sakura to eat. Chace missed out when we went there a few months ago, but he loves Japanese food, especially when they cook it on the hibachi right in front of you. Our chef tonight was really really good. He put on a great show and the food was absolutely delicious. If you are in Madison or Huntsville, you should really check them out!!

Dentist Trip

All three kids had dentist appointments today. Hurray for no cavities! Caeden needs to have 3 teeth pulled, Lael has 3 that are loose (which she is ecstatic about because she has lost NONE, and Caeden has already lost 3!) and Chace needs braces soon. We have known this for a long time, so no surprise there. I made an appointment to have Caeden’s teeth pulled and another one to have the impressions and X-rays done for Chace’s braces. Whew!

This dentist office is amazing though. They just moved into a new office and it is the coolest. There are two sections in the waiting room, one boring one with chairs, magazines and the tv’s. The other half is like a McDonald’s playplace, complete with slides and tubes and full of happy kids. There is also a tv there playing cartoons, and some sort of game system built into the wall. I’ve never been to a doctor/dentist appointment and heard the kids say “Aaaww Mom, already? I’m not ready!” when they call their names to go back. That happened today – they wanted to stay and play!