Charlotte

This little friend was perfectly positioned directly outside of Jack's bedroom window. It became our end of summer science project; observing her as she spun her web, captured insects and wrapped them up for dinner and re-built sections of the web when we had a particularly windy or stormy day. Unfortunately for us, the rain and wind we experienced from Tropical Storm Fay was too much for her web to handle. We woke up one morning, opened up the blinds, and Poof! our little friend was gone.

First day blues...

My poor baby, was pushed in PE and fractured his hand on the first day of school. He never cried and was a total brave boy. We are dissapointed that he'll have to miss fall baseball, piano lessons, PE and playground at school for 6 weeks. Total bummer. For us, that is. He has the best attitude about it. And is so proud of his bright blue cast...

OPI Cajun Shrimp

Could there be anything that looks better on your toes in the summertime??? Seriously. It's my absolute fave. This color rocks the casbah.

Ode to The Victim as he turns 46

So I thought it would be nice, since today is my husband's birthday, to steal my friend Kim's idea and acknowledge all the things that I love and appreciate most about Vic (nicknamed "The Victim" many years ago by my BFF, Karen) . So here goes:
1. He is a great dad.
2. He has a tremendous work ethic.
3. He has his priorities in the right order.
4. He is very handsome.
5. He has a good moral compass.
5. He is funny and makes me laugh.
6. He is a great provider.
7. He is laid back.
8. He is reliable.
9. He is punctual so we always arrive on time.
10. He always agrees to spend time with Jack so I can go off and do all my "stuff".
11. He never gets tired of playing Uno, Skipbo and Texas Hold 'Em with us.
12. He loves his family.
13. He is willing to ask for help when needed.
14. He has patience when teaching Jack something new.
15. He has interests of his own.
16. He can roll his tongue.
17. He looks amazing in a suit and tie.
18. He looks amazing in a golf shirt and shorts.
19. He looks amazing in a t-shirt and jeans.
20. He watches "So You Think You Can Dance" and "American Idol" with me when he doesn't really want to.
21. He is the best dancer, ever. Seriously. He can dance like Justin Timberlake. It's sick.
22. He always knows the name of the band that sang a certain song.
23. He was a rock climber and "bivwacked" off the side at night. Very "Indiana Jones".
24. He never expects me to help with the yard work.
25. He likes being at home and hanging around the house together.
26. He doesn't check out other women when we are out together.
27. He let's me be in charge of the checkbook.
28. He doesn't make me feel bad about spending money on things.
29. He asks for my advice about work-related issues and really seems to value my opinions.
30. He doesn't complain if I sing "over" a song that's playing.
And Jack's list...
31. He plays games with me.
32. He hits golf balls with me.
33. He's nice.
34. He taught me how to ride my bike.
35. He taught me how to play baseball.
36. He makes me "Daddy's Famous Oatmeal" for breakfast.
37. He goes fishing with me.
38. He wrestles with me.
39. He let's me eat in my room or on the floor in front of the tv when Mom's not home.
40. He watches sports with me.
41. He reads to me.
42. He calls me to talk when he's traveling away from home.
43. He leaves me notes when he leaves to go out of town.
44. He makes me laugh.
45. He sings, "Moe's for dinner".
46. He let's me drive the golf cart.
Happy Birthday, Vic! We love you! 46 looks good on you;-)

Houston, we have lift off!

Finally!!! Our little buddy is riding his bike. On his own! We are so proud. It took some time, some coaxing, a bribe or two and a definitely a few tears but Jack has conquered the beast! Now all he wants to do is ride, ride, ride. You go, BOYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

The Vampires are taking over...

Our book club read, Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer. We all LOVED it and most of us have gone on to read the rest of the series. (Scroll below to a previous post for the link to the Twilight website). We met last Sunday and were asked by our hostess to dress in our best vampire/goth outfit. It was hysterical. We all had fangs, lipstick bites on our necks and we drank Bloody Mary's, and talked for hours about Edward, Bella, Jacob and all of the gang from Forks, WA. So much fun!
This is my friend, Kristi, dressed up as a "Matrix" Vampire. (Look at that coat!)
Here are Kim, Myself and Amanda (our hostess with the mostess).
And a group of us showing off our vampire teeth. Hey: make us mad and we'll bite 'cha!
If you haven't read this series that begins with Twilight, I really recommend it. It is just a great love story with a happy ending. So awesome.

Three things that make me smile...

1. Jack on his boogie board! This was a first for him, he wasn't so "all about the water" until this year. His Dad taught him how to catch the waves before they broke and he was hooked. He spent a lot of time this summer on his boogie board.

2. Beach house baseball! Jack is really into baseball right now. We met a lovely family at the beach this summer who have a boy the same age as Jack. They became fast friends as they were into all of the same things...baseball, boogie boarding, netting minnows at the lake, swimming, etc. They had a total blast together.

3. Kurt! And here he is: what a great kid. Everytime I see his picture it makes me smile. He was such a fun little boy. Total southern drawl and "Yes, Ma'm" everything. Cracked me up. Anyway, this is a family that we will definitely stay in touch with. (His Mom, Jamie, makes the best margaritas.) They don't live to far from us at home, so we may even hook up with them away from the beach, too.

How we roll...

This was the transportation of choice at the beach all summer. We had a great time with the bikes. It was the first time that we explored our beach area this way and it was very fun riding to Starbucks, riding to dinner or over to Seaside for the activities of the day. At this point, my not-so-little guy had not yet learned to ride a bike on his own, so the tandem bike was the way to go.