Labor Day is better known as Pool Closing Day

Around here, Labor Day marks the end of afternoons at the pool, because most of the pools close down. When we were in Paris, Gpa Bob took the boys swimming at the Lake and the pool almost everyday...sometimes twice a day. We belong to a club pool and much of the summer was spent there...that is, until our good friends, the Turners, bought a house with a pool. Which was of course, days after we paid our dues to the club pool. Personal Pools in Radford are unheard of, so we are "livin' large" to have friends with a pool. We are hoping to sneak one or two more days in, but the leaves and the winter weather will close even this pool soon enough. G was very timid in the water last year so we put him in swim lessons at the hospital indoor pool over the winter months and it made all the difference. He was nonstop!
The ever popular handstand contest.
S loved the water--all summer. But it took awhile to get him in the float. Once he made the jump--literally--from baby float to boy float, there was no stopping him.
F, B, and B kept trying to get me to capture their jumps--turns out I need a higher end camera. This was our best one. Note F's tiny waist and emaciated ribcage as he sprawls through the air.
Goodbye Summer--Fall, we can't wait for the leaves and finally wearing our cute sweaters we bought on clearance last year!!

9 years and 4 grades later...

9 reasons why we love our oldest son:

1. He doesn't just think he's smarter than his parents, he usually is-
2. He read Harry Potter books 1-4 in about 2 weeks
3. He plays with his brothers like they are his best friends
4. He can beat us at board games
5. He loves Mexican food as much as his mother
6. He readily expresses his emotions
7. He is learning how to do his own laundry
8. He takes learning about the gospel seriously--sometimes too seriously
9. He can kitchen dance like nobody--and has taught his brothers to do the same

F turned 9 this past weekend and his birthday was on Saturday, which meant his party could be one his actual birthday. His excitement was uncontainable!!! We went to the Wild Animal Park in Ft. Chiswell. For our CA family, no it's not as cool as the SDWAP. For our VA family, yes, it turns out that Ft. Chiswell has more than the Flying J truck stop, & an abandoned outlet mall--there is a wild animal park there!

Our fears of it being too corny were unfounded, and for what it was, and what we paid, it was totally worth it! There had enough animals to make us feel like we'd been somewhere. And the bus tour was crazy because these mondo animals were totally in our faces as they ate out of our hands. We fed emu, an ostrich, a camel, a bison, and something that started with a E and looked like a beast from the African plains. We also saw zebras, wildabeasts, potbellied-big babies, water buffalo, monkeys, and several other animals whose names escape me. Clearly, below is NOT our F, as he was not interested in getting this close!! Not sure this child was either, sorry C!
A socological look at the day revealed something funny. The girls in our party were feeding these animals out of their hands, petting them, and letting the animals slobber all over them. The boys, however, "didn't want to get dirty or slimy." Hhmmmm...

All in all though, it was a great way to spend the day. We then went home, went to the pool for awhile, opened gifts from family, ate dinner and went to bed.

Only after he sweet talked us into running him to Hollywood video to buy a game with his accumlated b-day money. Thanks everyone!

Back to School means Back to Clearance

F started the 4th grade yesterday. Can you believe it? I can't--he is making me old...not feel old, because I don't feel old, just old...if that makes sense.

But we have a great/sad story. F needed new sneakers because he is gigantic. So there was a Foot Locker clearance store we have purchased all our nice, name brand sneakers from. We went Saturday to get him a pair and they had closed down! We hit all the other (all of 3) stores that we could find some decent clearance shoes at, to no avail!

We went home and looked online, because there are always sneakers on clearance online. After browsing through hundreds of clearance shoes online, I couldn't find anything under $35 after shipping. F had found this pair of skechers he fell love with, but my promo code wouldn't work, so they were too expensive. We decided to quit for the day.

Then Jack remembered there was this random shoe store in town that we never go to, so at 8pm that night F and Jaime went out. The had THE pair of skechers he wanted, but they were only on sale for $30.

Time out for a rural town moment--to many of you, $30 may be a steal of a deal! In our little town, however, with our clearance stores, and Foot Locker outlet, I have never paid more than $15 for Nike, Converse, New Balance, the works. So it was an adjusment. As we were leaving the store, no shoes purchased, I saw a pair of Airwalks on clearance for $3, so we bought them. As our receipt printed, it also printed $5 off coupon for Skechers.

I broke down. I told F he could buy the now $25 pair of sneaks. He LITERALLY started dancing through the store, singing. The women at the register were just laughing, they were so amused. I realized the joy that you feel when you get that one thing you wanted, more than anything else, and it was a good moment.

Note shoes above!!

While clearance shopping has been, and always will be the fashion motto at our house, I guess I need to loosen the purse strings sometimes...for the sake of the children, oh, and for world peace of course!

Why have drunks been having all the fun?

I have a friend who just learned how to email (no comment, LAUREN!). I was laughing because like a children first learning to read, her love and use of emoticons is overwhelming. I laugh mostly because we all used them (you know you did at least once), but about 10 years ago, when we first started emailing. What does this have to do with my entry?

Well, with the new Singing Bee game show on NBC, I have fallen in love all over again. I am their exact target audience! (Stacy P, I sang Whitesnake the other day and thought of you...) Since I won't make the show, I have discovered the next best thing...KARAOKE!! What drinkers on the club scene were doing 10 years ago is only now coming to my life, and well, "I've Been Waiting..."

Karaoke Revolution Party has literally, changed my life. We played for 3 straight hours the first night we brought it home, used from Hollywood Video. Thank you to whomever loved it enough to let it go. I will love it now. When I was in high school, I always told people I wanted to grow up and be a lounge singer, but since I can't hit a note--at all!--I knew my dreams would die. But alas...I challenge any one of you reading this to a Sing Off--I may not know what a tune is, but I can Karaoke like nobody's business. So may I take this opportunity to invite all of you to come stay in VA with us and just try and beat me! Bring it!! (Clearly this post is by Jaime--not Jack)

And the DDR dancemat is my dream birthday gift! Also, better late than never!

Killing brain cells at an early age

F and G spent the afternoon "creating" a new city on Tony Hawke Underground and the second Jack walked in the door, it was a call to action! All the boys must gather to skate the new scene...even S, who has probably lost brain cells faster than the other two, seeing as children are not even suppose to watch tv until age 3, and already he must have his own controller. I am mortified--but at least it is quality time together???

Note the standing position for all 4 of them! Guess you have to take these things seriously--no lounging during gametime!