Lifelines

Rifling though my Red, White and Boom photos and came across these.

We were SUPER lucky down there as we were right in front of Kevin’s (Jenny’s husband) office and so we were allowed to use the bathroom.
A REAL one.
Not a porta-thingy that is disease harboring and sick as funk.
I would have worn a diaper, honestly.
I don’t do porta-thingies.
And no, I don’t care how “nice” they are.
I still don’t.

Jenny and I took these kids into this swanky office building and they were absolute LUNATICS.

They were cute little lunatics but lunatics nonetheless.

Here they are full out RACING (and shrieking) through the building.

Does this one even need a description?

Ring-Around-The-Rosie was SUPER neat at top volume in the elevator.

And as nuts as this was, it was the better of my two trips to the potty.
The second time, Kevin and I took the kids, and I discovered in the bathroom with Creux where his “lost gum” had gone.
We’d given him some in the car to make him stop fussing in the hour long wait we had in traffic and it went “missing.”

That’s because it was in his BUTT CRACK.

I went to wipe him and realized he had green sticky crud between his plump little cheeks.

SERIOUSLY.

I tried in vain to scrub off what I could with him standing the bathroom but it was a “you need to lay down” type of job (which I promptly handed off to Charlie).

Who in the hell gums their butt cheeks together?

Repeat after me:
CREUX.

Sorry, folks. No pics of that disaster.
But don’t count him out yet.
Surely there’s another Calamity Creux Strikes Again! moment just around the corner :)

***This post was dragged from my drafted archives where it had been sitting, awaiting some cute 4th of July photos to be added.

And can you believe that the huge belly profiled here was holding a wee six pounder???
(Um, because I can NOT.)***

On the 3rd, Westerville had their 4th parade.
Makes sense, no? :)

And since I just KNEW if we left the house, my contractions would pick up and I’d have my baby in a field off of State Street (which seemed like a fine idea at the time–I was just SO ready for that baby!), we decided to go to the parade.
Playing into this hugely was the fact that Creux had been so terrificly behaved at Red, White, and Boom the night before.
Had he been an animal, I would never had baked in the 90 degree heat, watching…gah, I don’t even KNOW what I watched in that stupid parade.
People advertising for public office, REALTORS, some really sweaty cheerleaders.

Needless to say, the parade wasn’t a hit for the Martin family and we won’t be going back any time soon.
Parades require patience and you’ve got to be pretty rapid fire for this gang or you’ve got to like toss some high end goodies and I don’t mean Tootsie Rolls.

We bailed way before this was over.
No one wanted to leave at first and then a boatload of lollies were thrown our way and suddenly, with each of my kids double fistin’ sticks of sugar, they said, “We’re ready now.”

SO glad to know we really went for the candy.

When I came home from the hospital on July 5th, having delivered and dashed, I was informed that I had “some packages” waiting for me.

Those packages were the K12 shipments for both boys for the upcoming school year.

IT’S JULY!!!

What in the hell do I want with this stuff IN JULY???

Those boxes have been sitting for two weeks in Charlie’s very orange and very unfinished (and now starting to grate on my nerves) office.
Just. Like. This.

(Although Chas asked me right after the delivery if he could open his science box.
I said he could.
And then I asked, “What is it?” thinking it would be something…I don’t know…interesting.
And easy.
“Chemistry!” he answered.
“PUT IT AWAY!” I bellowed from the kitchen.
Friggin’ chemistry.
I was hoping for dinosaurs.)

Yesterday I had precisely seven minutes of “free time”.
I decided to pick a boy and unload his stuff.
Looking at the schooling spaces, Chas’s was much emptier so I grabbed a knife and slit open his boxes.

There were some good things.
Like this:

I was really excited to see that book and I know Chas will like it.
Somehow this escaped my required reading in my schooling years but I read it on my own a few years back and am so glad that I did.

This one will not go over well:

We’ve dabbled only briefly in Shakespeare and I know he doesn’t like it.
I don’t either.
(Ugh, the LANGUAGE barriers! I find it such cumbersome reading, I really do. And yes, I know it’s a classic and that it’s a tragic love story, and I do love a good tragic-y tale, and it’s probably totally lame to insult Wills and all but there you have it. I’m lame. It’s official.
Chas, despite this, because I know you’re reading this post, my hands are tied in the matter. You shall read this annoyingly written book. Who knows, you may even like it! I doubt it but stranger things have happened :)

And THIS is our history reading?

Are they DELUSIONAL???
From pre-history to the Civil War–talk about hitting the high notes!
What’s the rush, anyway?
I mean do we really have to cover like over 200 years worth of “Here’s What Happened” in nine months of schooling?

Needless to say, we’re not super anxious to hit the books just yet though we will get started when the OLS opens up (well before the actual school year begins). I like starting early because we usually miss quite a bit of time throughout the year doing fun family things.

But still, it’s just July!
I’m already fielding catalogs filled with Halloween costumes and even heading into Michaels right now is annoying as they’re filling the aisles with pumpkins.
PUMPKINS!

Can’t we just enjoy the darn season?
At least until August?

I’m excited to see Rhyse’s stuff but dreading the unhaul.
I still haven’t boxed up LAST year’s curriculum for return so I’m running behind on these things.
Not like I don’t have a good excuse (I do! I do!) but still.

Am now suddenly dreaming of a Schooling Room Phase II project.

Oh, Grit List Workers…I’m baaaaaaack :)