Griffin is on a little vacation with Grandma. For the last three years he has gone to spend the week around the 4th of July with Grandma doing fun things, skipping rocks, riding bikes, hunting for frogs, being the center of the ice cream eating world and loving every second of it. So the boy has been gone 34 hours and 15 minutes, I love it for him, I hate it for me. I miss him.

And the crazy thing is that if he was home, because I am an awesome mom, I would probably be frustrated about something, the kids not getting on with going to bed, the tv room being a mess, toys left outside. But since he isn't here all that is happening is my guts hurt and I want to hug him.

I don't have much to say lately except...

I love the July 4th holiday. I love the festivities, I love fireworks, I love cooking outside, I love all the hub bub surrounding the day and I love my red, white and blue flip flops.

That and my aunt-in-law took Griffin to get a faux hawk today and let him die it blue.

PS And by die I mean dye.

I am having a little heart failure....

Griffin just asked me how someone gets pregnant.

2 reasons

Just because I think she is cute and I run this dog and pony show...

And because I miss Mel...

Two of my favorite gals...

...and I love them.

I haven't had much time or energy to do much of anything lately. I have been overwhelmed lately, super tired, really excited by life. I especially am loving the people that my kids are turning into. This 7 year old man is something else.

One of my friends has quite the eye for photog and did not take this pic.

Every year, Sean has a birthday. And every year for the last 15 years it has either been while we were at Young Life camp or during SOS. Luckily he isn't me and doesn't need a lot of whoop-e-dee-do on his day. But it is still the day that we celebrate the love of my life...

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I love you SMM.

So now I'm a facebooker. I can't stop. That, Perez Hilton and Webkinz will be the end of me. Yes Webkinz.

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I need to find some control somewhere.

I wrote this twice and twice this "computer" deleted it. So for the third time we will be quick so my anger stays at bay.

Here is to the best daddy in the history of daddydom.

These three little people are incredibly lucky to have a dad that is head over heels in love with them, who works hard to support them, who is their best encourager, who is their best playmate. Who would have thought at 38 and 361 days, Seans three best friends would be 7, 3, 2.

We love you daddy!

Well its Friday night and apparently someone has a crush on me. I have gotten so many emails that say that I am cute and that there are plenty of eligible men waiting to meet me, tonight! Can you believe that? They'd drop their plans for tonight just to meet little ol me! Who would have thought? I wonder how they all got my email? I may have to pass their info along, I have some pretty cute single friends and after all, I am taken. When I respond to their emails, they all seem to handle me being off the market pretty well. I guess there are lots of fish in the cyber sea.

What a day, what a day. May I first say that our lawn is horrible, know that we know that. I just am not up for gigantor water bills in order to keep up. Even so, we still mow it. Today was mow the grass day. Normally this is one of my favorite days of the week. I love being outside, I don't mind pushing the mower because in my brain, this is some sort of super duper exercise program that Billy Blanks et al haven't come up with yet.
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Today though, was different. And I'll tell you why.
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FRICKIN CICADAS.
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It all started as it normally does with the adding of the liquid gold to the mower and the starting up which I am self conscious about anyways because who can really know how they look pulling the starter pulley thing over and over while the machine and my neighbors laugh.
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Usually I mow around the edges of the yard twice then work in row like fashion. We have two trees in our yard that in the springtime are the prettiest trees ever, today they were a playground for cockroachian torturers. As I ducked under the first tree in a matter of seconds, there was a swarm or those daggone cicadas and they were in the shape of an arrow coming right after me. I had no choice but to swat and flail my arms to rid them from sucking my blood.

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Our mower is one of those self propelled ones. Today, it was self propelling its way into our neighbors deck because I needed both arms for self defense. If that mower wasn't so heavy I would have swung it around to aerochop those things. Now our neighbors have one strip from our side yard to their deck until they mow again.

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The taunting continued and I could only swat and shoo them away nicely for so long. At some point I think I even yelled at them loudly enough for the guy putting new siding on the house next door to become convinced he shouldn't turn his back on me or I'd aerochop him too. As our little red toro hummed along, I swear to you I think they thought it was their mother ship coming to get them. They just plopped right on there for a little ride.

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As I said before, I normally go in a linear pattern, today not so much. Their horribleness also like to lay in the grass. I just happened to rid the world of quite a few of those &*%^$ as I could by running them over not on purpose but because I thought today would be good for no pattern at all, just circles and lines and right angles whenever I felt like it. PETA Schmeta.

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Here's the other thing. At one point a little stick got in my sock so I stopped for a sec to get it out (the stick by the way made my ankle bleed). I put my shoe back on only to find that one of the crappin things flew in my shoe and was in there when only my foot was supposed to be.

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And I don't want to talk about when one flew in the car when Parker and I were trying to go the the store. Or when I was reputting my hair up and one got stuck inside my ponytail. These little devil pets are not my friends. Or the one that flew in my shortpants.

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So someone better give me some flippin answers. How long are these little nightmares staying? Why are they at my house and not at my aunts 2.7 miles north or my friends 1.1 miles west? Why are they so dang loud? What is their purpose? Why did I see people collecting bagfuls of them?

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Screw the neighbors, I'm covering my yard with pebbles and cacti.

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Amidst the chaos of all things today, the first Friday with no school, our nephew being here, the first day of the pool opening, the fourth baseball game of six baseball games in ten days, me not feeling great (but its mind over matter), tonight is awesomeness. Tonight the QCP have a show and I couldn't be more excited. If you are looking for something fun to do tonight, head to Cincinnati Ballet Tech at 8 in the pm, pay $5 at the door and prepare to be amused.

Happy Birthday my sweet girl

From this...

...to this in 730 short days.


Which also happens to be 1,166,832,000 miles around the sun.

My trip around the sun

I have had lots of good weekends in my half-way-to-70 life. This past one is dangerously close to the top of the list. Two of my BF's and I spent the night at my other two BF's house.

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We did nothing but eat, laugh, admire the stars, tell stories and watch the occasional home movie. Oh and we hid from Debbie when she went to the bathroom, every time. The first time she used the facilities, as she left the room she said, "Oh and I have nightmares of going to the bathroom and coming back to everyone hiding from me." At that point we, at Holley's leading, felt like we had no choice but to hide with that admission.

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We hid in the laundry room, the closet, the office, the garage and my favorite, under the deck. After the deck hiding, Debbie came back and we giggled as she sighed, "Oh crappin dogs you guys..." Peggy tried to give her a hint as to our whereabouts by tossing a rock over the railing and up onto the deck. Peggybelle was a great athlete but I don't think rock tossing was her sport. As she hurled the rock, it was mostly up and not so much over her head as it landed right exactly back on the top of her head. I just thought it was a pebble she threw but apparently it was more of a gigantic boulder that could have crushed her skull.

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Those memories along with harmonious singing (choreography by Suzer), lobsters, jaunts down memory lane and the most beautiful ring from my grandmother-in-law and my aunt-in-law, go down as my favorite 35th birthday party ever.

M*A*S*H is my favorite show. I once told a group of gals that tidbit and they groaned with disdain like I was an ignoramus.

I love Niagara Falls. The wax museums and neon make it feel a little bit touristy but I still love it.

Many moons ago Sean and I hopped in the car with no particular destination. We decided which way to go at each turn and ended up in NF, Canada.

The entire drive was occupied by M*A*S*H trivia. And I have to say I am unbeatable. I have been challenged and remained victorious, even against PSmiles.

Happy Birthday to my friend Leah!!!

Post Script: Sean said he was waiting for this to get funny, it doesn't get funny, it is just a beautiful song.

I heard on the radio today that The Rusty Griswold's will be at the Taste of Cincinnati. Wouldn't you know I'll be there too.
When I was in high school, I had a couple of friends obsessed with Vacation. That led me to seeing that movie more times than one would think possible. Vacation and Friday.
I think this is my fave part. Actually my favorite part is when they tell Clark they don't want to go to Wally World anymore and he gets a little surly. And really actually my favorite part of the Vacation movies is the dam part from Vegas Vacation. And I know that hurts my husbands soul to know that and I couldn't find a clip of that because I think I was one of 43 people who saw that movie and the one person that liked it.

Tonight I thought I would stop by the UDF to pick up some deliciousness for my kiddies and me. We had a little party and our mouths were invited.

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When we pulled up to the home of the some ice cold perfection, the line wrapped around 2 corners and two employees were directing traffic.

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I couldn't imagine what all the to do was about and thought back to the time 6 years ago when the gas station near the first house SMM and I lived in had a sign that read $.99 and the whole of Middletown went berserk.

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Surely this couldn't be the case, but then I saw it, the sign on the corner for the UDFs gas read a mere $3.67. (That is per 1 gallon.) Well I'll be darned.

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Since I didn't think that was that much of a bargain and we just filled up our tank on Sunday for $88.17, we took our cookies-and-creaminess and went home.

In light of another's disparaging remark made last week, I thought I would take the time to set the record straight. I have in the past and will continue today and in the future to be a lover of vegetables. I think their contribution to my life has been unparalleled and I realize the value of my life has only increased with vegetables. I only speak highly of the vegetable, except for a time in my life when I experimented with mushrooms. I tried them sauteed, fried, roasted, braised, stewed and I maintain today that they are incompatible with my palate.

As a young girl, I enjoyed the cooked carrots. I have heard many a story that cooked carrots, strawberries and potatoes were the only foods I'd eat. Notice 2/3 of all consumed food in my formative years were vegetables.

To further demonstrate my affection for ground grown lovers of my soul, I will conclude with a list of my favorite...

broccoli

collard greens

dark green leafy lettuce

kale

mustard greens

romaine lettuce

radicchio

horseradish

spinach

carrots

black beans

black-eyed peas

garbanzo beans

kidney beans

lentils

navy beans

pinto beans

tofu

white beans
corn
artichokes

asparagus

rhubarb

ginger

wasabi

bean sprouts

cabbage

kohlrabi

cauliflower

celery

cucumbers

radishes

eggplant

all peppers

chilies

iceberg lettuce

all potatoes

onion

zucchini

Now please don't question my love for fruit.

I saw something gross at WalMarts yesterday. Well, I usually see lots of things gross but this one thing seemed really gross.

Harvest Wheat Vanilla Pringles.

I am not sure how the nasty-flavor-comer-uppers of things still have jobs? Do people buy stuff and try it for the try something nasty factor? Because I would throw up. I am sure these chip-likes are delicious to someone, somewhere about whom the tribe has spoken. But I don't think I will try them. I am more of a habitual creature.

My kids would still pick to eat those instead of green beans.

It is a busy weekend in our house. Here are three of the biggies minus the one that I am forgetting that is really important...


Tonight these two hot to trotties have an improv show that guarantees to leaves your sides splitting and knees slapped then...

This little fella has a ball game and shoots to improve his .750 batting average then...

These two. What can I say about these two? It is a super huge weekend for them on accounta they are gettin hitched! Congrats to the most famous couple getting married May 10 except maybe Jenna Bush and the two that love my family more than I would have ever thought anyone could. YAY Snellings!

I realize I have been tough on one Mr Cooper lately. I'm sorry Cooper bear.
My favorite things about Cooper
His birthday is April Fools Day
He is a great big brother
He is a great little brother
He loves easily
He forgives easily
He is the best cuddler
He loves to give hugs
He knows long division
He likes to sing to Parker
When he counts to 15 he skips 12, 13 and 14
He is fun
He is funny
He has crazy hair
His heart is tender
His heart is sweet
His heart is kind
His favorite activity is rocking his sister to sleep

I'm kinda missing these peeps a lot...

I am hoping it is just a three year olds developing language that caused our blow up this morning. As Griffin was fixing his breakfast of champions, Cooper starts fitting and fussing which is now his norm.

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From now on, if I say Cooper, just assume he is whiny and argumentative.

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I am going on the clues of him throwing his body on the ground and screaming that he wasn't entirely happy with the breakfast cereal that he was given. The Apple Dapples were substandard and he wanted the Marshmallow Stars. I realize the Marshmallow Stars in its non generic form mock our people but they are tasty deliciousness.

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Which Cooper now knows because in his writhing and wailing on the floor he was screaming, "I WANT CHUCKIE'S ARMS!"

Car games are all the rage in this family. So much so that when we drive Griffin 3 miles to school, we play a game. Lately it has been 20 Questions. Cooper is not awesome at it. A typical round with Cooper playing is...

n

Cooper : I am thinking of someone.

Annie : Is it a boy or a girl?

Cooper : Its Cooper.

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When he is the guesser, it goes like this...

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Annie : Ok, I am thinking of someone.

Cooper : Who is it?

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I usually win when we play.

Opening Day '08

I am not sure how this day could have been better...

We are headed to Kansas City. Maybe we'll get some steak and some barbecue. Maybe we'll catch a Royals game, go to the plaza...that's all the KC knowledge I have.

My sweet Grif has strep. I thought as soon as the warmth came, the sun would burn off all the germs. Alas we called and the doctor squeezed us in and we made the trek to the Boro, me and all 3 kids. All was fine until I realized Cooper had a toy in every pocket, one in his sock and one up his shirt in addition to the one I told him he could take. He then had to use the bathroom, I left Griffin in his room, crossed the hall with Cooper and Parker and it was occupied so waited. As soon as it was empty we went in, it was...not pleasant, I think the person in front of us was at the doctor for some kind of stomach issue.

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Moving on, Cooper does his thing and the doctor knocks on the door, "Are you guys ok?" To which I'm puzzled and open the door and say yes and he says, "Oh because someone pushed the alarm button that calls the nurse for help." Nice. Parker pushed the I fell off the toilet button. With all that wide open hallway, Parker takes off through the nurses station across the building, Cooper comes out with his pants around his ankles wondering what the commotion is. All the while, Griffin is pitiful and patient while waiting for the strep test to come back positive. I think they were glad when we left.

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Then Meijer got us and informed us it would be a 30 minute wait. I tried as hard as I could to entertain a 102' degree 7 year old, an irrational, hard headed 3 year old and an almost two year old who are all hungry and tired. We walked around, looked at the lobsters, tried to avoid the toys, played I Spy, and ate in the delectable Mejier cafe.

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$58.03 and 40 minutes later, we were home.

Bdays all around

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Happy Birthday Joe and Brad or Brad and Joe. I am showing no favoritism by listing either first. Happy birthday to two guys that I think are swell but who are we kidding, I like them but LOVE their wives.

Don't let this sweet face fool you

We are only three days in and I am more convinced than ever that what Sean and I discovered 4 years ago is so true, 3 is waaaaaaaaaaaaaay worse than 2. The terrible 2's are just a warm up for what comes with 3.

Happy Birthday to You

Happy Birthday to You

Happy Birthday dear Cooper

Happy Birthday to You

h

Who knew that one little person who has been around for 3 years could bring so much happiness to so many people. Have you ever known that you know that someone is destined for something big? That is this little man. I'm telling you, keep an eye on him.
n

I can not believe he is going to be a big brother...again.

10 and counting...

I love him.

The best day of 2008

Griffin and I just found out some very important information...

The Cone opens for the season on March 25th.

TODAY IS MARCH 25th!!!!!

What a beautiful day.

At some point they will have to acknowledge that we are what keeps that place going.

It shall be renamed The Cone/If-you-lost-the-Murphy's-you'll-find-them-here.

What a great weekend...

Feel free to leave awesome ideas for Spring Break fun to curb the choruses of, "I'm boooooooooooored."

Day One

Its here and gone and my life feels a little bit better....

It works at the pool

So the rains keep coming and this has been Cooper for the last two days...

non stop...

even at the library.

Here is my list of things I wish I could say and know that if I did, I'd sound like a moron.

1. Home slice
. 1a. Home skillet
. 1b. Homes
2. Bro
3. Dawg
4. Badonkadonk
5. Chillax
6. Dang skippy


Who's with me?
Word.

I feel like Spring is toying with my emotions. Saturday and Sunday came with the sun and warmth and the flip flops and now the threat of the biggest snowfall this year on Friday? What the *&$%^@???

Despite the beauty of March 1st and 2nd, I am still considering March coming in like a lion. I think the coming in of March in a lamb-like fashion would have been 80 degrees and sun everywhere.

If the weathermen are right, this betrayal will officially end my relationship with March. Except for St. Pat's Day. And the 16th, my friends bday. And the 27th, our anniversary. And the 9th, the Big 10 wrestling championships. And the 22nd, Shawn Thomases bday. Buddha comes home the 22nd too. So March we are done! Kind of.

Post Script: How can weathermen keep their jobs? I don't understand how someone could be so wrong in their job yet keep their job. What other job could our 7 year old do with about as much accuracy?

They're engaged!!!!

And I couldn't be more excited. I don't know if I could love these two more than I do...

Congrats guys!

KLR

Ahhhh, I can't wait...

It excites me that baseball games have started. I would say that I love baseball but I think I really like it. More realistically, I love what it represents. I love that it means summer and outsideness and peanuts. Baseball just feels right. Soon enough we will be at Griffins machine pitch games and I can't wait.

In the busyness of life (may also be read as intestinal infestation), we missed two old friends from Pennsylvania over the weekend. Two guys that were college students at Penn State during our stint there were in town for a conference. And we missed them. And that makes me sad. And it made me miss them and State College and our friends and the pig farm and Faccia Luna and the girl that cut my hair there.

The bottom line is my guts ache because we don't have incredible wrestling 4 minutes away.

I think I can see it!

j

Happy Valentines Day!

I got in line at WalMarts 3:22 pm. I loaded my groceries and pulled away at 4:07 pm. What the #(%!@???? you might ask? Well the cashier was in no hurry, the gal in front of me had 5 separate orders and her husband had another, and there was no price tag on the little love day present I picked up for Griffin. Well why didn't you switch lines? I had unloaded my booty and thought it couldn't possibly take too much longer, there were two ladies behind me who had me jammed in and there was one (1) other lane open in the whole of the store.

So I learned a little about supressing anger and trying to be patient and not lash out at the sweet little lady behind me in the motorized cart with the matching leopard print fur hat and coat. And that that particular WalMarts doesn't have Valentines Day paper plates or napkins... at least I couldn't find them, their staff couldn't find them and that same staff wasn't all that crazy about helping me find them.

2/5/08

How in the world do you put words to this woman? The worlds most generous, compassionate, kind, loving, smart, beautiful, hilarious, faithful, witty, open, emotive, adventurous, passionate, imaginative, available, patient, crybaby (I know she's teary now) is having a birthday today and I love her.

Happy 28th Birthday Peggybelle!