A Little Late, But Worth the Wait

We just got back from cake and ice cream at my mom's house to celebrate her birthday. I know your birthday wish was that you could keep that hat on forever, but sorry, Mom, I need it for a few more weeks :)

Everybody Do the Dinosaur

While we all wait for the turkey hat picture of the day, which will not be until at least 9pm (don't worry, it's totally worth it) I will now resume with some regularly scheduled blogging.

Two Saturdays ago I got to take my kids to Dinosaur World for Cindy's classmate's birthday party.


Dinosaur World is an attraction here in central Florida that features at least two gigantically huge fake dinosaurs facing the interstate that takes you to the Tampa airport. Yep, I have lived here for over 18 years of my life and that was pretty much all I had pieced together about this place up until now, so I jumped at the chance to finally go and see what Dinosaur World is actually all about. Plus, seeing as how I will never be one of those parents that spends more than a quarter for my children to have a birthday party, I make it a point to attend every event birthday party we get invited to. We have had some good times in the past two years! And it usually only costs me a Nerf football or a Zooble house. Sweet!

So what is Dinosaur World? Well, it's just a couple of acres of dense Florida woods that have some sidewalks put in and lots of huge fake dinosaurs and little plaques to tell you what they are. And a very large gift shop. And that's about it. So for an adult, it's terribly average. For a kid, it's pretty cool. Personally, I think it should be called Mosquito World. I got chewed alive at this place! Probably because I was wearing capris and my sunless tanner lotion- which I am convinced is made with some sort of mosquito crack that makes me irresistible to those blood suckers. Next time I am wearing my beekeeper's suit...


They did have a pretty good playground at this place. My kids loved it and it even made Cindy want to take pictures???










Here I am frolicking among the majestic brontasauri... Photo by Luke. Not bad!






This was "The Boneyard" where the kids could uncover a giant dinosaur fossil in the sand. A better name for this little house would be the Mosquito Golden Corral. That is why the picture is being taken from outside where I was standing to avoid being nibbled to death.



Come on, Luke, when I say jump in front of a giant Stegosaurus skeleton so I can take your picture, JUMP! Cindy got like three feet of air that time...




Skeptical Luke does not believe this sign...



It wouldn't be a real Dinosaur world without a fossil dig. Cindy found enough shark teeth to sink a battleship. Lucky for me, she only got to keep three fossils. Luke got a "fossilized plant stem", a phrase he has repeated about 1300 times since that day.




I asked Luke what he would do if a T-Rex tried to eat him. Good thing they are extinct.




Not the best photo op board I have seen, but the kids thought it was hilarious.



And finally, one more pic of Luke hamming it up for the camera :)



So there you have Dinosaur World. Loved by kids, tolerated by adults.

Ticketmaster

Today features my football ticket-taking pal, Julie. She teaches with Jacob in the math department. We have sat in the little booth at the Auburndale football stadium all season for both JV and Varsity football games selling tickets and basically telling each other our life stories. We even worked together last year too. It's been fun to get to know her. She is an Air Force brat who has lived all over the world and she is a very good teacher. In my opinion she is way to nice to her students- always donating to their fundraising causes, sponsoring clubs, volunteering for things, loaning them money when they are short a dollar to get into the football games- you name it. She is a kind, generous soul. And a great person to pass the time with. And also very good at wearing hats that look like cooked turkeys.


And speaking of Auburndale, which is chock full of rednecks and more camo than Modern Warfare 3 when it gets cold outside, on the way home from taking tickets at the game last night I caught the song Camouflage by Brad Paisley on the radio. The second stanza of that song has got to be one the all-time greatest country music verses ever penned. This is the verse:

"Well, I asked Jenny to the prom
And her mom knew how to sew
So she made a matching tux
And gown from Duck Blind Mossy Oak

We took pictures in the backyard
Before we went to the dance
And the only thing that you can see
Is our faces and our hands

Camouflage, camouflage
You should've seen the way it popped with her corsage
Camouflage, camouflage
Ain't nothing doesn't go with camouflage"


I can't wait for prom this year at AHS because you just know someone is working on this right now. YEE-HAW!!

Hat for Teacher

Introducing Cindy's awesome 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Small. When I asked her to wear the hat, she didn't even ask why, she just said, "Yes!!" (There is something magical about this hat- seriously, no one even questions me when I ask them to wear it. WHY?) I guess I should start asking for favors from people way more often. Anyway, Cindy LOVES Mrs. Small. And we love Mrs. Small too. She is a wonderful teacher! In fact I think Cindy's Totem Pole of Love and Admiration looks something like this:

AND P.S.... HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!!!!

Turkey Ham

While this picture does expertly show off Cindy's goofy side in the Turkey Hat of Destiny, it also shows off her ever-growing hair, which I have now been given permission to cut since Halloween is over. So, the question is, what do I do with it??? I have recently discovered that she officially has my hair; when she gets sweaty or it's really humid, she has ringlet curls underneath that top layer. And don't forget about the awesomest cowlick in the US she has either. So to just chop it off seems kinda haphazard. I really want to think about this for a few minutes and pick something that kinda makes sense. Just whacking it seems so boring, but at 7 years old, what can you do? Options? Suggestions? Aunt KaRyn, where are you????!!

Yes, There are Thousands and Thousands of Uses for a Turkey Hat, All of Which I am Going To Tell You About Right Now...

This is Tina, who was one of the very kind chemo nurses that took care of my mom while she was doing her treatments. Tina was actually pretty entusiastic about wearing the hat, which further shows just how awesome she is :)

One of the last times I took my mom up to the cancer center, I dropped her off and then ran some errands. I found this turkey hat at Target and had to have it, but the best part was when I picked my mom back up, I went in to the cancer center wearing this hat and it brought joy into the hum-drum lives of everyone who saw it. Especially my mom, who needed a good laugh that day :)

It's Top Ten Tuesday! With a side of turkey hat...

Wow, Halloween last night was awesome! I will blog about it much later in the week, but for now while I try and bring myself out of the candy-induced coma I fell into last night, allow me to make two big announcements. The first is that I have decided that from now on, and particularly when I feel like it, Tuesday's posts will feature a top ten list for your enjoyment. I am writing these lists all the time anyway, so let's just give the people what they want, right?

Secondly, if anyone remembers, a few weeks ago I did kinda promise you something very fun every day leading up until Thanksgiving. So now that I dug myself into a giant hole on that one, it's time to pay the piper. Every day until Thanksgiving, you can come to Sweeneyville to see someone (known or unknown to either you and/or me) wearing this amazing turkey hat I bought 3 weeks ago. Luke is officially taking Day 1:

#1
What a trooper! Luke actually loves this hat, it might end up in his stocking come Christmas...

Also, if you have any suggestions of persons you would like to be seen wearing the hat, I am open to hearing your thoughts :) And I am officially giving myself until 5pm EST to post the hat pic each day. Mom, be patient.


And now, back to the Top Ten List...


For today's list, I need to give you a little background. Since my little brother Brian has been at BYU, he has had a few run-ins with BYU police, specifically the parking enforcement division. And if you know Brian at all, you know that ALL of these occurrences are completely innocent and unintentional violations that had no pre-meditated motives whatsoever. This seems to be a theme with Brian. So much so that one day he vows to start a blog called "The Accidental Outlaw" and tell the world of his clueless life of crime. Anyway, after his latest phone call describing what happened to him with BYU police "this time", I decided to write this list. With a little help from my pa, of course...

TOP THIRTEEN NICKNAMES FOR BRIAN USED BY THE BYU POLICE DEPARTMENT

13. Blondie
12. Captain Careless
11. Like taking candy from a Brian
10. Ol' Once-a-Monther
9. Senor Centavo
8. The Absent Minded Transgressor
7. That kid that's dumber than Obama
6. Sir Parks a Lot
5. Easy Money
4. The Heedless Horsemen
3. Oblivious Rebel
2. Badda-Bingham
2. Fish in a Barrel
1. SpongeBri TicketPants

Have a Spooktacular Day!

Since my kids already dressed up and did a big trick-or-treating/fall festival shindig up at our church this past Friday, I have to keep reminding myself that Halloween is not actually over yet and I still have to take them trick-or-treating tonight. Because if there is one thing we need around this house it is more candy! Our supply is running dangerously low, we only have maybe a 4-year supply and that ain't how we do things in Sweeneyville.

Cindy's costume was a big success this year. And even more successful were her Leia buns! I took all the advice of Internet tutorials everywhere and took two long socks, wrapped them in some nylon knee-highs and made Halloween history. Cindy was absolutely thrilled with her hair. She kept looking in the mirror and freaking out saying, "I look EXACTLY like her!! People are going to think I am the actual girl from the movie!!" It made all my sewing, re-sewing, hemming, and hood-making work worth it :) Here are a few pics from Friday night...


It's a little known fact, but Darth Vader wore his Spiderman shoes a lot for extra comfort when he was interrogating prisoners and force choking his crew.


Does Cindy work in a bakery, because her buns are incredible!



She's part of the rebel alliance and a traitor! But she has a blaster, so we can pretty much let her go...



Yes, I did even make her a hood. She owes me BIG TIME for that...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

The Results Are In!

Well, it's finally time to review this year's school pictures. And I even have a bonus for you! I totally forgot about Luke's picture day this year and so I didn't even order a single photo of him, which was kind of making me feel bad. But I was secretly hoping they would send home some sort of teaser photo that would at least show me what I was missing, and more importantly, allow me to show all of you what it looked like without having to go online and buy some sort of multi-million dollar reprint package. Well, whattayaknow? They did send me a little flyer with his pictre on it :) Score!

Take it away digital camera! Because scanners are way too high-tech for Sweeneyville...

LUKE



Did I mention that I totally forgot it was picture day that day? And that my children have been triple certified in the unnatural half-grimace? Not crazy about his hair, not crazy about the smile, but I do love that this picture shows a Lego Stormtrooper on his shirt. If Jacob can have 6 years of school pictures in a shirt with the General Lee on it, then I guess Luke can have Lego Star Wars on his :)


CINDY



I would have to give this picture an overall B-. The hair looks great. Kinda wishing both sides weren't in front of her shoulders, but overall it held up pretty well. I am once again not digging the smile that doesn't show her teeth and also says, "I am really uncomfortable doing this, please hurry."

I think when you are around your kids all day and you see them laugh and smile all the time, you know what they look like and have expectations of what their pictures should look like. So when you get their pictures back and they aren't captured just as you think of them in your mind, it causes you to be a little critical. Honestly, I am pleased with both of their pictures. Luke and Cindy are beautiful kids and I take a lot of comfort in the fact that at least their pictures didn't turn out like this:























(I don't own these photos, they came from here.)

Pumpkin Carvers Guide to the Galaxy

Step 1: Go to a local pumpkin patch and pick the perfect pumpkin. It took Cindy and Luke about 30 minutes to find "the one". "The one" meaning "the one Mom could afford to buy" and not "The one the kids wanted to buy so they could carve it and then move in because it is spacious enough to be a studio apartment."

Step 2: Name the Pumpkin. In honor of the girl pug on The Adventures of Milo and Otis, our pumpkin was named Sondra. It's French, you know.

Step 3: Have Cindy remove the guts and complain about her life of servitude. Luke will then makes faces of disgust and attempt to touch a spoon. Maybe.




Step 4: After several pencil and paper rough draft sketches, let Mom do the actual knife work and steer the pumpkin-carving ship on a more sensible course, avoiding the "rectangle eyes" and "seven teeth" that were originally wanted.


Step 5: Pose with your masterpiece for all the blogosphere to see and admire :)