July is full of birthdays for our family. We start with Jeffrey’s birthday on the 1st and as the month goes on we add Nana, Pa, Jennifer, Mike, Ethan, and Clay. So we might as well just put a huge birthday bow around the entire month of July – it’s a party-filled month. Today was Nana’s special day and she loved having the kids at home and talking to everyone. We even had calls from the vacationing grandkids…Jeffrey and Jennifer.
Fun times and party traditions at home! Loved the food, fun, and fireworks at Clay & Ann’s this week. It’s the best party of the summer! Even though it rained, it didn’t slow the kids down a bit. Fun on the trampoline and playing washers and of course grabbing a snack between activities. And to top the evening off – we had fabulous fireworks!
Yes, you could now call us the “Cat Scratch Fever” family. We were so totally spoiled with Ollie Moe. He’s such a laid back, big, old fat cat who just quietly hangs out. Not getting into much – just occasionally shreds a roll of paper towels or cries to go out on the deck to harass the bugs. He pretty much follows Emily around and loves to curl up on the heating pad and watch TV with the rest of the family. Even when he was a kitten, he was never destructive or very mischievous. He even let Emily wrap him up in towels and carry him around like a little baby.
But Baby Cat, Tinkerbell is an entirely different story. She is a wild child – constant climbing, constant biting, and constant scratching. She hides under the furniture waiting for you to walk by so she can attack your toes and bite your feet. She jumps up on the bed waiting for you to walk by and then she leaps on to your clothes, clawing her way to your shoulder to sit and see what’s going on. At first we thought this to be so cute and sweet, but lately we’ve gone through more Neosporin (with pain control) than I care to admit. We have scratches up and down our legs, shoulders, and hands. And if you are wearing jewelry… well, just take a look at the scratches on Emily’s neck where she “played” with her necklace.
She pounces around more like a Tigger, than a little kitten. In fact, we are now calling her TiggerTink and are beginning to think that maybe she’s some sort of rare “attack cat” breed that we’ve never heard of. Either way, she’s become one of the family now. And I must say, both she and Ollie Moe have personalities that have some definite similarities to our “real” children. You figure it out!
Getting ready for the leap...
Flying kitty...
Safe landing!
Pics of Emily Ballerina in her latest peformance with the Ballet and Performing Arts dance studio…Emily was in the Sleeping Beauty waltz in Act I and lead the little ballerinas in Animal Kingdon in Act II. The performance was held at the Scottish Rite Temple in El Paso. A very old, beautiful auditorium with 2 spinx’s statues on pillars guarding the front entrance.
Indian girl Emily in Act II
Act II scenery
Act II - Other Variations - Animal Kingdom w/Pocahantas
Emily with "Little Flower"
Final touches on the ballerina bun
The make-up spread - Thanks to Jen!
The lipstick had to be just the perfect shade of Red!
Dad with Act I costume
The Sphinx
Heading home!Emily gets roses from her Dad!
We have a new critter at our house. I know…what were we thinking. But this little kitty is so cute and funny that I just couldn’t resist. Technically, she’s for Emily, but I’m the one rocking her to sleep at night. She’s 6 weeks old and pounces around and climbs on everything. She’s a little wildcat from El Paso!
Fun times! I was the official 6th grade “water boy” today for Emily’s school field trip to Western Playland. I walked around all day holding all the water bottles, sun screen, stuffed animals, & purses. Of course I had to snap a few pictures! Emily loved the rides and had a great time. And even though it was no Kings Island, it was a very nice day and it was fun watching the kids having so much fun!
Emily and friends buying Dippin Dots
The Paratrooper
The Phantom Fury
Learning new stuff – actually it’s just copy, cut, and paste – but still very cool. From facebook to blogging… and back again!
Create Your Badge
You would think by now, homework would no longer be an every evening event at my house. But no, it’s surprising how much homework one lone 6th grader can have. Lately it hasn’t been too bad, but tonight – it’s really driving me bonkers! We have (and yes I say We because all answers have to be researched on the Internet which means we have to share laptops, which is a whole different story) pages and pages of a workbook to complete about the Holocaust. While this is definitely a worthwhile study topic and something I do want my children to learn about – I just don’t want to have to help with the homework. I know, I’m a terrible mother.
But I admit it – I really, really hate homework. Now normally, I don’t use the Hate word – there are really very few things I actually “hate”. But in this case it’s totally true. I hate homework. And after raising 4 kids and spending countless hours stressing over spelling words, math tests, term papers, and pointless essay questions, I am ready to retire from the homework arena. While Emily is still only 12 and really can’t be considered “raised”, I try to pawn her off on her father or an older sibling to bug with homework questions. So Jeffrey & Jen – it’s payback time!! Please answer the phone when Em calls!
You have to check out Chemenn’s blog for more very cool Easter pics!
For several months I’ve been determined to figure out which brand of jeans fit the best and decide which pair of jeans I can anoint my most favorite ones! I really don’t know why I’m obsessed with this – maybe because my size has changed over the years and every time I think I’ve got the whole jean thing figured out – the styles, the cuts, the color, and even the fabrics have changed and what used to fit me fine now either make me look like I have thunder thighs or short stubby legs.
I remember when my oldest daughter and I (that would be Jennifer) spent a few Saturdays at all the malls in Lexington, KY trying on every pair of jeans we could find. It was a blast! We had so much fun in the dressing rooms throwing jeans over the door and grading them accordingly. At that time, literarily about a decade ago, the winner was Gap jeans. Today I can say the I didn’t even try on a pair of Gap jeans for this contest.
But what I have done this time around is drag my youngest daughter (that would be Emily) from the mall to the outlet stores looking for a pair of jeans that are affordable, easy to find, cute, and of course comfortable! Now Emily is perfectly happy with a pair of Limted2 jeans and did not really understand my persistence with finding the “perfect” pair of jeans. But she was a great sport and my voice of reason as I tried on pair after pair.
I also made a few phone calls to my ever-so-opinionated family members to get their opinions and have read with extreme giddiness (if that’s a real word) at all the comments that popped up on my blog with submissions of the World’s Best Fitting Jeans. Plus in looking at my blog stats, the World’s Best Fitting Jeans post has been the number 1 top post with over 7,000 hits.
But alas, the fun comes to an end…. And the World’s Best Fitting Jeans will be crowned!
I set the following categories to include winners: Best Fit, Best Looking, Best Wash and Wear, and Best Overall Value.
And the winners are:
Best Fit goes to Calvin Cline – I love the weight of the fabric, the color selection, and the back pockets. I can wear any top with them and they look fabulous. They are dressy enough to wear to work on “Jean Fridays” and I always get more compliments when I wear them than any other pair of jeans.
Best Looking goes to my Ann Taylor jeans – I got these for Christmas (from my adorable husband and yes I picked them out, paid for them, and told him to wrap and put under the tree for me). This was my first pair of Ann Taylor jeans and I’ve fallen in love with them. They are a bit on the “dressy” side and I call them my “date” jeans. They are jeans to wear when you want to look just a bit more polished when going out.
Best Wash and Wear goes to Banana Republic – My son and his wife (that would be Jeffrey & Chemenn) nominated Banana Republic. I had never tried this brand on and it just so happens that the outlet mall down the road has a Banana Republic outlet store. So I ventured out to try some on. I bought the stretch fabric in a basic blue jean color. They do stretch out quite a bit as you wear them so they probably get washed more often than any other pair I own. (Not that all my other jeans don’t get washed – it’s just that the BR jeans looks as good after they are washed as they did when I purchased them).
Best Overall Value has to go to my Wal-Mart Faded Glory jeans – this is the pair of jeans I wear on totally casual days with a t-shirt or sweatshirt. I’ve had them for a couple of years, but bought them at Wal-mart for about $11.00. You can’t beat that value!
And now for the Grand Champion – the pair of jeans that wins the title of World’s Best Fitting Jeans is Tommy Hilfiger! These jeans are great – the fit, the cut, the fabric, and the sturdiness. I like jeans that still have a real denim feel – not a flimsy, thin, weak fabric. I really like the style, with a waistline that fits just below the waist, but not so low that they are way down on the hips and feel like they are going to fall off if you sit down. These jeans scored high in all categories but the cut – straight through the thighs and legs with just a slight flare at the bottom to make them the perfect boot-cut jean.
I’ve had a blast critiquing brand after brand while collecting a fine assortment of jeans. Now, I have not purchased every pair of jeans that I tried on – but it sure has been fun playing this game! I’d like to mention just a few more brands that I really like: Buffalo, NY and Company, Chico, Eddie Bauer, and Lucky.
Halloween is a big deal in El Paso. A much bigger deal than in KY; not that we didn’t enjoy the events & fun of the season at home; but it takes on a life of it’s own here in the border country. For example, at home, Halloween is often cold and rainy but this year the temp was about 80 degrees. Great weather for trick or treating! Another different tradition is that the kids get out of school a 1/2 day for Halloween – that’s a little weird to me – but Emily loved it. Anyway – with another new experience under our belts, we enjoyed the sights and sounds of the spooky-holiday, watching the trick or treaters, and having fun passing out candy!
Here’s Emily and Jeff getting ready for the Trick-or-Treaters!
Yes, the official results are in and Jeffrey Bruce passed the Bar exam! Of course, I knew there was never any doubt, but now that it’s official, I can claim my bragging rights as any good mother is expected to do! We’re very proud of you, Son and know this is just the beginning of great things in store for you! So we’re sending via the wonders of technology our huge and gigantic Congratulations!!
Congratulations on passing the Bar!!
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