She is feeling better...

and that makes me happy.

We have a sick little girl. That makes for a worried, tired, nervous, anxious mother bear. Medicine and tests and extra kisses are helping. I am thankin' my lucky stars she is on the mend...and she is still sassy.

Da da da da...there is a new Smiley baby!
Congrats Paul and way to go Carrie.
Now there are two Levi's we love.




And the Steelers are 2-0
(zip it Brad)

Not only is there a 2nd grader in the hizzowse but a preschooler as well. And apparently, we just have kids that get excited for school. Cooper was swept into Griffins excitement tornado and could not have been more excited to go to school.
What a day...

1 - 0

A second grader now lives in this house. We watched him board the bus like an old pro, find his seat with Kendrick and start greeting all of his old friends.

I have a lot of friends who have kids that were not so excited for this day. Griffin on the other hand could barely sleep last night. He went to bed almost shaking with excitement. He slept with a smile on his face and woke up giggling. He told me last night before he fell asleep, "The suspense is killing me! It feels like Christmas is tomorrow!" I want to bottle that excitement just in case he doesn't feel this way in 10 years.

Conversely, I have not been excited for this day. I could barely sleep because I was nervous about second grade. I don't know why and I realize it is ridiculousness. This year he is a little fish in a big pond. Second to sixth grade seems like such a huge age difference. I am worried he won't be able to find his class, lose his lunch box, someone will be mean, he'll get lost finding the bathroom. And the whole time, I will be at home, unable to swoop in and save him.

My swooping days are coming to an end...

Setting: Fixing breakfast, everyone in their PJs, a sweet morning in the Murphy kitchen


Sean: Cooper, who has the prettiest mom in the world?
Cooper: MEEEEEEE!!!!

Sean: Parker, who has the prettiest mom in the world?
Parker: MEEEEEEEE!!!

Sean: Griffin who has the prettiest mom in the world?
Griffin: Me? You don't mean right now do you?

Is using the turn signal too much to ask? Maybe someone has thought it through a lot more than I have and can explain the not using of the blinker. But to me it seems like it is in a fairly convenient spot and pretty easy to operate. So come on, can we just be a people that scooch our little hand over to the lever and let the world know, "I'M TURNING LEFT, YAHOO!"

Saturday was Parker's flower girl debut. If you are wondering who can do flower girling better than anyone, its Parker. She was wonderful, walked down the aisle holding her princess wand perfectly. She even tried to coax the ring bearer who cried and wouldn't go. If you are in the market for a flower girl, she's your best bet. The bride was just about the most gorgeous bride I've ever seen. I wanted to high five her husband but I thought that may be inappropriate.

The whole day gave me hope for my family. These two families are amazing pictures of what love, commitment and parenting can do. The two that got married are awesome. They are committed to each other, to their Jesus, to their friends. They also wrote notes to their parents saying they wanted a marriage like theirs, I feel like that is a pretty big deal coming from people who have seen those marriages every day.

It was a great day but better than that, a great start to Ross and McKenzie's journey.

And Parker was cute.

Summer is closing down. With that, our free entertainment is over and I don't get to see my bf Fridayly.

But this Friday, I get to watch this little girl practice for her first flower girl roll...

Get out the tissues.

Disclaimer: I LOVE THE OLYMPICS

Last night we sat down to watch the games of the XXIX Olympiad. And of course after a rousing Trampoline competition, we were hunkered down for a ping pong match. And what a match it was. I couldn't believe the athletic prowess of those gentle giants. They were nimble like cats and ferocious as ...
OK, really?
It isn't even called ping pong. It is apparently called Table Tennis. The table is in the middle of a huge empty room so Griffin is convinced the table is smaller than the one at Peggy's house. They hold their paddles in an odd way and do fancy throwing up of the ball (if that's what they even call it) before they serve and I even heard grunting.
Now the table tennis ball, they only use one. They don't even have someone to shag it for them after each point, they have to run and get it themselves. Even at Aunt Pegs there is a bowl of extras. Those guys look like morons as they chase a mini bouncing ping pong ball around a huge empty space. I think I'd complain.
We watched for a couple of points and finally Griffin said, "I can't believe this is in the Olympics." And I must say, I agree.

And P.S. There was a North Korean shooter that got 2 medals taken away after he failed the banned substance tests. Seriously? Shooting a gun and banned substances? Isn't that Oreos and water?

I miss my friends. And Parker is having withdrawal. (I wasn't going to use this picture but she cried when I deleted it.) Aren't you sick of $17 diet cokes yet?
Mice.

Happy ___________!!!!!

'Tis a big day in the lives of people I know and love...

Happy Birthday to Katy...
The first person to hold our daughter. I love Katy, I love her laugh, her loyalty, her heart, her guts and that she now loves diet coke. Would you believe at one time she didn't?

Happy Birthday to Liz...
My Wooster connection. A lot of our lives are more similar than I would have imagined. I love her brain processing, I love her competitiveness, I love her commitment to change and I love her sister.

Happy Birthday to Mel...
My favorite friend that lives waaaay too far away. I dream of the day we can be next door neighbors. There are few friendships that are as easy as mine with Mel. I miss her.
And Happy Anniversary Bleah!
How lucky I feel that we are friends. I tell Sean every time we hang out that I love being with them and I wish we could hang out more. And I'm afraid I love them in a creepy, stalkerish way.

HAVE GREAT DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had a etymological surprise yesterday. I was talking with a girlfriend who used a phrase I had never heard before.

In an ideal world, Sean and I would be leaving Sunday to go visit her and her husband and do some work with them for a couple weeks. But sigh, that's not the case.

She told me "it is bucketing down." Any guesses? All I can hear is the brogue and it makes our non plans for next week sadder. Apparently it is raining cats and dogs and we would have needed raincoats. Ah well, at least it should be sunny in OH.

PS This is also the friend that Griffin said of her husband, "You didn't tell me he'd sound like a leprechaun."

Why won't this girl sleep?

Mommy's tired...

The feel of today...

Yesterday there was a tootsie roll in the dryer. With my clothes. On my stuff. Then my kids colored with tootsie roll flavored markers today. If you know me at all, you realize the nightmarish horrificness of this.

It is like those little brown demons are coming after me. To destroy me. Their plot to rid the world of AMM is subtle but it is there and very real.

I thoroughly dislike birds. They scare me, they flutter and are unpredictable. And as much as I have been told they aren't dirty or crazed, I choose to believe Hitchcock.

And who uses a bird as their cute little know-it-all that is really a condescending, arrogant, candy-stealer? The tootsie roll.

Watch out you small, brown, gag inducing nastys, I will get you. All of you. And that daggone owl.

What an amazing weekend...
In the midst of the rampant infections in our house, we went to a cabin with some of our bfs and it could not have been more awesome. We swam, tubed, boated, ate, euchred, and laughed so hard my muscles hurt. All the while we were only and hour and 15 minutes from our house. It was a gorgeous cabin, a beautiful setting and I really don't know how it could have gotten much better. Well a little more sleep would have helped.
I realize I have been a little picture crazed lately, in keeping with that, here are some more.

It is a little crazy around this house today. Not much sleep was gotten by anyone. I am very much looking forward to nap time. I feel like I may have some strep in my throat and I am looking for the semi that ran over me in my sleep.

Normally we tried to be unplugged from tvs and playstations and movies during the day but not today. Today is games and pajamas and cartoons and sofajumping and snacks all day with lots of whining and tattling.

It is very Lord of the Flies in our house today. And I kind of don't care.

I figure after a week of staycation that was chock full of everything possibly fun, I should venture back to blogification.


It was a terrific week, really, really great. And I don't know what the best part was other than being with my family and really liking being with them.


On a side note, I am an eavesdropper. Griffin and his best friend were discussing the best cartoons yesterday and I eavesdropped. Kendrick asked Grif about a show that Grif said he wasn't allowed to watch. Kendrick responded, "There isn't any fighting in it." Griffin's reply?

"Just because there isn't any violence doesn't mean that the content is appropriate."

Just a thought but I feel like when Cooper and Parker are hiding and whispering in a corner, they might be up to some mischief. Although they show their faces every so often and reassure me, "Mom, we aren't doing anything so you don't need to check on us" so I think they are ok.

This is the first of many parenting tips by Annie Murphy. Yes, you can be a mom just like me.