The Third Time's a Charm

I'm so bad. I just don't go to the bank anymore. It was bad enough when we had a bank in our grocery store. Now, the bank is not there anymore and so... now I really don't go to the bank. All of our banking is done electronically.

This is a bit problematic because Lulu and Bro were given Christmas money to start a savings account.

1st trip to the bank (in a timely fashion) - I was told that I needed to have their ss#s, which I did not have, so I had to come back.

2nd trip to the bank (beginning of May) - Got to the very end of the transaction and was told that my license had expired... just one day ago.

3rd trip to the bank. - You know what they say? The third time's a charm.

Kids? Check.

SS#s? Check.

Valid ID card? check.

Lulu introduced Bro to a bank tradition - the lollipop. Note: This is Bro's first lollipop.

Lulu took Bro on a little stroll around the bank while Napmom opened the accounts.


I think that he wore her out. Luckily the bank was empty today.

Bro filled out all of his paperwork.

And he listened patiently to Lulu's advice about the benefits of saving NOW for college.

Bro waited patiently...

... while Lulu added up their deposit totals.

We did it! Sorry that it took so long to get to the bank, but I think that this was a successful trip. Next? Lulu wants her own credit card. Oh my!

Exercise

What should I do?


Should I back blog (and share all of things that we haven't been talking about because I've just been taking some time for myself)?


• Because what you didn't know was that I cut the comb-over on the top of Bro's head and had to take him to get his first (impromptu) haircut because I messed it up.




• We went out on the boat again, with Luvs2Boat.





• We ate some good ol' Maryland hard crabs for July 4! By "we" I mean that Dear Husband ate the hard crabs. Bro actually got sick that night and, of course, he only wants mommy to hold him when he is sick. Eating hard crabs = a two handed exercise. Oh well!


• I bought Bro the cutest Charlie Brown shirt, but he refused to let me get a cute picture of it. I was hoping that he would just quickly turn around and flash some sort of cute smile.

Alas, this was the best that I got.


• We went to our family reunion. Bro and cousin J played all day long. Look at these cute best friends.








Instead of rehashing the past few weeks, I could let you know that I have (kinda) started a new exercise program.


Look guys, let's be honest here. I have a desk job. It is my job to sit on my butt all day long. Working exercise into my regular day is hard. I'm NOT trying to make excuses for myself, but there is no time to workout during my workday (obviously) and I'm not gonna put my kids in daycare all day long to come home and drag them to ANOTHER daycare so I can get some exercise. I'm just NOT gonna do it. My HEART won't let me do it. Don't even think about suggesting it.




So, I have to exercise before I go to work in the morning or when I am dog ass tired in the evening. Ideally, I'd like to just go running for 30-45 minutes a day... somehow.


I decided to go running in the morning. Get up at 6:00. Run until 6:30. Start my day.



Day 1 - was okay. I got my butt out of bed (15 minutes later than I wanted to), put on my shoes and headed out the door... when the chilly morning air slapped me across the face. Note to self: I don't think that this is gonna work too well. I'm not being pessimistic - this is just pure honesty here.



Day 2 - Didn't get up to run. Thought about it. Was tired from staying up until 12:30 a.m. the night before reading The Sugar House a mystery by Laura Lippman (local author). Obviously the book was very good. I don't even like mysteries that much. I think that this one kept my attention because I had to giggle (inside my head) about all of the little political jokes and innuendos in the story.



Day 3 (that's tomorrow) I hope that I'll be better.

Somethings gotta give - I can't be sedentary for the rest of my life.

For all of the moms who work out of the home... how do you fit exercise into your daily life? What is your secret?????


Coming Soon: We finally opened Junior Saver accounts for the kids.

Water, Water Everywhere

Yippee! I know I haven't posted videos in awhile, but I do take video actually.

Here are two videos from a recent trip out on Luvs2Boat's ski boat. Sooooo fun!

Disclaimer: These will only be interesting for those who really know me.

Disclaimer #2: It is very difficult to record on a moving ski boat. I did the best that I could.


When we pull Lulu behind the ski boat, Bro relaxes in my lap, as seen here.

Lulu's favorite part about being pulled behind the boat is "falling" off of her float. Here, she is kneeling on the tube, taunting/daring Luvs2Boat to knock her off of her float.

Note: :-) I tried something different and I saved the videos in a "for e-mail use" format which was supposed to make them easier to upload and e-mail. Alas, it looks like it ruined the quality a bit too. So, I'll never do that again!

Ta Ta For Now!

Smile: Missions 16-20

Yes, I'm still here.

Yes, I'm still taking pictures.

Yes, we are still trying to capture pictures for the photo contest.

Mission 16: In or under a tent. 3 points

Mission 17: Cornfield. 3 points

Mission 18: With "Billy," the Naval Academy's unofficial mascot monument. 5 points

Mission 19: Any person wearing a military uniform. 8 points

Mission 20: A parking meter. 4 points (2 pt. bonus if time left on meter is less than 10 minutes.)

Yes. There was a smudge on my lens that clearly shows up in all of these pictures. Sorry!

Happy Fourth

There is not a liberal America and a conservative America - there is the United States of America. There is not a black America and a white America and latino America and asian America - there's the United States of America.

- Barack Obama, Keynote speech to Democratic National Convention, July 2004.

"Boat"

I have to admit that Bro has taken to nature in a way that I have never witnessed before. He is just drawn to it, in a way that Lulu never was.

Do you know what his first words were/are: fish, duck, turtle, bird, and meow (cat). What do all of these words have in common? What does this mean for Napmom's future? Oh my - I'd better get in touch with my outdoorsy side soon.

At Lulu's party, Bro got his first boat ride of the season.

Now, almost every word out of his mouth is "boat" "boat" "boat."

A water tubing, camping, Tinker Bell birthday

Lulu finally had her Tinker Bell party. We had great fun. Since it was a water tubing part, for safety reasons, she was only permitted to invite three friends to her party. She invited Gator, of course, a cousin, and another close friend.

First things first... here is the Tinker Bell cake that I made.

Here is the Tinker Bell cake pan template.

Lulu and her friends loved the cake. I, for one, think that the cake looked a bit more like Cinderella than Tinker Bell. I probably should have included Tink's ear and added the black outlining as well. It would have made the hair seem scragglier and not so neat and clean.

Either way, it was a hit so I am pleased.

Luvs2Boat and I set up the sleeping accommodations a day ahead of time. Yes, I own a tent (look closely - it's a two-room tent) and will be using it more often in the near future.

The girls had lots of fun jumping off of the pier...

and riding on the inner tube.

Their favorite part had to be flying off of the tube, swimming back to it, and starting all over again.

After the first round of tubing, we ate dinner, went tubing some more, had cake and ice cream, made smores, played Guitar Hero (I'm not kidding), and c-r-a-s-h-e-d by 11:15 (which is mighty early for a group this age).

We woke up Saturday morning to Fairy Grandmother's signature heart waffles. Yummy!

I have to give credit where credit is due... I just arrived with the girls, Fairy Grandmother and Luvs2Boat did the rest. This might have been Lulu's best birthday ever! She says that she wants to do it again next year - I hope that her grandparents are ready!

Chocolate Pudding - by Bro

Today is National Chocolate Pudding Day. Guess what mommy did last night? I know, I know - I have a milk allergy, so she only let me lick the spoon. I ran around the kitchen like a mad man and she couldn't even get one good picture of me with that new fancy camera of hers. She did manage to capture this look as evidence though. Shhhh - don't tell Daddy.

Enjoy your day!

Chemically speaking, chocolate really is the world's perfect food.
- Michael Levine, nutrition researcher

There is a pirate among us.

I'm trying my best to get a cute picture of my babies with the American flag... for several reasons: (1) this would be a cute pic to place in our house, (2) we have some very close family members with July 4th holiday birthdays who would appreciate a patriotic pic of the kids, and (3) I need a cute blog pic for the patriotic holiday... which is quickly approaching.

I took some pictures of Lulu and Bro together and some (many) of them apart.

Lulu, of course, was perfect in every picture.

Bro, on the other hand, proceeded to act like a pirate, wielding the flag like a mighty sword.

On another day, he decided to play peek-a-boo rather than hold the flag with the dignity it deserves.

What am I going to do with him?

How Do You Get To Wonderland?????

Hello tadpoles! Where have you been? I mean, where have I been?

There is actually a downside to having a nicer camera... it takes two lifetimes (yes, two, to be exact) to load these freakin' pictures onto my ole gray mare computer. I can't even think about trying to edit them too.






The biggest and best news is that it is going to be a very 'Wonderland' summer. That is, Lulu got the part of Alice in the summer Alice in Wonderland play.


She is especially excited about this because her most recent parts were Wickersham brother, surfer dude, and guard #2.

Did I mention all of this already? It's been so long since we talked.

On a slightly different note. I searched the Internet for an Alice in Wonderland shirt for Lulu. I finally found one on Cafe Press. Have you ordered from Cafe Press before? Honestly, I wasn't too happy with this shirt, which I ordered. (I bought the print a regular shirt, not a tank top.) The picture was rather blurry. I'll have to upload a pic of the shirt when I get one. Is this a common cafe press problem or maybe just a problem with this one set of shirts?????

Note: Lulu is not frowning or moping in these pictures. This is the look of an actress who is diligently memorizing her lines.

Coming soon: Lulu celebrates her birthday with some friends, Napmom tries to capture some cute July 4th pictures, Father's Day, and more.