11 Years Ago Today...

... this face came into our world...



Well... He didn't really look like that eleven years ago today.
He was a tiny bit smaller and had a very red and angry face.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG E!!!!

A.k.a... "the boy"

A.k.a.... "Destructo"

A.k.a... "the naked ninja" (Don't ask.)

You are the best son anyone could ever ask for. We love your sense of humor, your kind heart, your desire to learn, and most of all... your need to conquer everything. Never change!

You are a blessing to us and a gift to the world!

We LOVE you.

Ten On Tuesday

Here's Ten on Tuesday... from preggo Chelsea...

1. What television character do you identify with?
Squidward from Spongebob Squarepants. And often times, little ol' Spongebob himself. Hey, gimme a break. I live with a 10 year old. (But I do love Spongebob.)

2. Describe your morning routine.
I... hear the alarm, hit snooze, hear the alarm, hit snooze, hear the alarm, stagger to the potty, shower if it's a non-go-walking day, don't shower if it's a walking day, get the boy out of bed, get dressed, feed the boy, take the boy to school, come home, eat something, check emails and Facebook and blogs, and figure out what needs to be done that day.

3. How do you do lunch? Bring from home or dine out? Same thing every day or mix it up?
I do like to "mix it up." Sometimes I grab lunch out with a friend, and sometimes I eat lunch by myself at home. I have been known to eat a real meal, but sometimes PB&J or cheese and crackers is lunch.

4. What is one moment that, although seemingly trivial at the time, changed your life?
The boy, who was 4 at the time, telling me his "foot hurt." It was the beginning of a nightmare for us as a family. It was a flesh eating bacteria that almost took his life. It's an amazing story, and it undoubtedly changed us all. I should tell it sometime.

5. Name your top three beauty products.
1. Clinique moisturizer (the yellow stuff)
2. sunscreen
3. some form of lip gloss, chapstick, etc. (not lipstick)
I guess I'm kinda low maintenance. Kinda.

6. What do you do when you’re alone in the car?
I sing loudly or pray... whatever is necessary at the moment. But I do a lot of thinking, too.

7. What is the ideal city for you to live in? If you can, take this survey (< that’s a link) and tell us the results. Do you agree with them?
Hmmm. I took the survey, and it put me in Tennessee, Kentucky, or South Carolina. Interesting. I would have chosen Charleston, South Carolina as my city to live in. But, I do love Tennessee.

8. Are you waiting for something?
Yes! The return of Dan/Daddy... our preacher soldier who is due home very soon.

9. What was the last shocking news you heard?
That a dear friend was having emergency medical testing done.

10. What are three things you wouldn’t do for a million dollars?
1. Own a snake.
2. Hurt someone I love.
3. Be naked in public.

PS... I just realized the link for the quiz in #7 isn't working... sorry!

Come For The Pizza... Stay For The Fun

Ever have one of those conversations about "going back in time" with someone?

Those moments of:

"Remember when we were 11?"
"What was the name of that song we liked?"
"Who was our 5th grade teacher?"
"What were we wearing?"

Well I put on my time traveling shoes last weekend.
And went straight back to 1983. Or somewhere close to that...

Hello Showbiz Pizza!

Remember me?

In case you're confused... This is NOT Chuck E Cheese. I repeat. This is NOT Chuck E Cheese.

Showbiz Pizza Place was here on Earth first. Chuck and his big mouse self came later. And brought despair and eye-twitches to the world that we knew as pizza, games, and a show.

Do you sense any resentment?

When my brother and I were kids, we had the awesome privilege of dining at the local Showbiz Pizza Place. There was pizza, salad, beer for the grown-ups, video games, skee ball, and a show with singing animals.

I know, I know... It sounds like Chuck E Cheese.
Again... this was NOT Chuck E Cheese.

There is a long and twisted tale of bankruptcy and dueling characters... the two places were actually owned by one company. But alas, in the late 80's (early 90's?), the Showbiz characters went away and Chuck was made the main focus of the company.

The Showbiz characters were very different. Not only were there more of them, they sang current and past hits (hello Beatles!), and they did little comedy routines. I remember the adults even laughing. (Something that does not happen at Chuck's. Adults only cry and beg for mercy at Chuck's place.)

So... On with the story.

My brother somehow found out about a guy in Alabama who purchased and refurbished a set of long-forgotten Showbiz characters. (Apparently my brother has WAY too much time on his hands.) Anywho... It was a lifelong dream of this guy to own and operate a Showbiz. He, too, had loved it as a child.

Well, this guy made his dream come true. And my brother, knowing we would be close while visiting the Wild Animal Safari, made plans for us to go.

Yes. We KNOW how to have a good time.

We dusted off our booties from the safari and drove a few extra minutes and found ourselves at a real-life (resurrected) Showbiz Pizza.
All the gang was there...

Fatz and Dook and Beach Bear and Mitzi... The "Rockafire Explosion" (or as we like to call them... "The Band")



Then there's Billy Bob and Loony Bird...



And don't forget Rolfe and Earl (in his stylin' Pepsi hat)...



We had such a fun time...











My brother and the boy even got a "backstage" tour from the owner. More good times.

As a child growing up, I adored Showbiz Pizza. But, to be fair, I've spent more than my share of time in the other place. I can't even begin to count how many afternoons and evenings I've wasted away in Chuck's place over the last 10.5 years. Enough times to need medication.

So I can be an honest and unbiased judge.
And...
My heart will always belong to Billy Bob. And 1983.

Africa, It Ain't...

Pine Mountain, Georgia... it is.

That's where we spent last Friday with my brother, sis-in-law, and nephew. We loaded everyone into the car that morning and headed on over to the Wild Animal Safari.

I don't know if you've heard of it.
I don't know if you've been.
I do know most of you would run in the opposite direction.

This is technically our second visit (hang head in mock shame). We went when the boy was only 4, and Aunt April couldn't make it then. So we knew...
Well. We HAD to go again.

When you arrive and pay for the tickets, you can choose to drive your own vehicle through the safari or rent one of their vehicles.

Driving your own involves signing a 12 page waiver that uses words like "gore" and "irreparable damage."

Renting and driving their vehicle means burying any dignity you have and spending the next hour in this sweet ride...



Our side door didn't work, so we all had to climb in through the front. Nice.
Read just a bit further, and you will see why this tail light is broken out. (It wasn't my brother's driving... that's another whole post.)



The basic concept of the "Wild Animal Safari" is to ride through their park and see the animals in a "natural" setting. Nice concept.

In truth, you ride through their park and get accosted, molested, roughed-up, and harassed by some pretty big creatures who want the tasty(?) food you purchased at the ticket counter.

NOT buying a bag of food isn't a wise choice. Heck... we had food, and the giraffe tried to eat part of our cool minivan.

Good times.

Since most of the van's windows are broken, the animals poke their heads (horns and all) INTO the window. INTO your face.
And just so you know, most of these guys are BIG . And smelly. And covered in mud. And DRIPPING with slobber. Dripping. Did I mention the slobber? Cause the fancy word, saliva, just doesn't cut it here, folks. It's slobber.




Told ya they got close.




That's the boy's head in the pictures... he was in the front seat with his uncle. Screaming and laughing and having the best time.




I don't know where he is in this picture... perhaps the floor?




Or it's possible they ate him.



It's not all giant beastly things. There are about a million cute little deer, turtles, donkeys, zebras, and even pigs. We got to pet a giraffe. Who was much more interested in chewing up our van.



Little Noah wasn't quite as scared as his big cousin was 6 years ago (the first time he went through the park). He just kept changing the lap he was sitting in... depending on whose window had the biggest nastiest head in it at the moment.



Good times.

If you have a few more minutes, go over to Rogersland.

(Scroll down a bit past my cute nephew hunting Easter eggs...)

There's video. I think I laughed harder at the video then I did when I was actually there. Maybe I was dodging a big slobbery bison at the time.

Recovering is Hard to Do

Is it a sign of old age when you need a week to recuperate from your weekend?
Or is it a sign of a good time?

I didn't "see ya'll on Monday" or participate in "Ten on Tuesday." I'm lame like that.

The big city of Atlanta was a hoot of a good time. So much of a hoot that it's Wednesday already. Almost a week since the good time.

We traveled on last Thursday afternoon in hopes of making it there for dinner and before Noah went to bed. So we had to snack on the road.



Nothing but the finest for me.

We did make it by dinner and before bedtime.

At approximately 7:45 pm on Thursday night, the boy and his cousin began the wild rumpus that was their weekend.

Laughing, screaming, laughing at nothing, yelling, running, more laughing at absolutely nothing, more running, spitting, getting in trouble for spitting, laughing at spitting, and then a little more laughing.
And that was just Thursday night before bed.

I promised pictures and stories of the good times, and I have SO much to share...

It's gonna take a few days.

We'll start nice and slow and sweet...

The boy taught his little cousin how to make "soup" in the yard. From sand and leaves and Lord only knows what else. We wanted to make sure my brother and sis-in-law knew how to dial Poison Control before he's 3. We did.




There was a dress rehearsal egg hunt to get us all prepped and ready for the big day. They hid, and I had to find. Sadly, there's no candy involved in rehearsal.




There was plenty of lounging around and snuggling, too. Personally my favorite thing to do with my two favorite boys.



Rest assured, it gets much more interesting. There are even giraffes and singing gorillas involved. You have at least 3 more days of our family's stories to look forward to. Try and contain the excitement.

Nothing Like a Good Road Trip

We are headed out the door. Headed over to Rogers Land. This will probably be our last adventure as "Mom and Son" in the Great Deployment of '09-10. Pretty soon we will be a family of 3 again, and I get to pass off the driving to someone else! Woo hoo!

I mean, I just got up and going, and I am already dreading it. Not dreading the trip... Been looking forward to it. Not dreading seeing my brother and sis-in-law.. I wish we lived closer. Surely not dreading kissing this face...



Just dreading the driving. I am not a patient car person. After about 2-3 hours, I'm done.

I will promise you that this trip will be blog worthy when it's all said and done. There are certain activities in the works that just give me shivers of excitement. And I am not joking.

Have a wonderful weekend, folks.
See ya'll on Monday.

Attack of the Zombies

Consider yourself warned.
These were some kooky questions... but I loved them!

Here's Ten on Tuesday
1. Quick! Zombies are coming!! What do you do?
Scream. 'Cause screaming makes everything better. Then, I would run. I am NOT a runner, and I hate exercise. But, I've always said, "I don't run unless something is chasing me." Zombies would qualify.

2. Whew, that was a close one. …I think your phone is ringing. Oh, it’s your best friend! She thinks she’s been bitten by a zombie. What advice do you give her?
Put some Neosporin on it. And meet me at Starbucks.

3. You realize it’s time to leave your current location because it’s clearly not safe anymore. Are you going to move at night or day? Defend your reasoning.
I would go during the day. I like to be able to see what's going on. I don't think Zombies like the light. Oh, that's vampires, isn't it?

4. During your relocation, you come across a weapon superstore. My, that’s convenient. What kind of weaponry do you choose?
Yeah baby. A flame thrower-gun thing. That IS the correct terminology. 'Cause I have seen movies where they burn Zombies, and it works.

5. As you leave, an old lady on the side of the street begs you to help her. Do you? Why or why not?
Well my first instinct is YES! Help the old lady! But... what if she's a zombie?!? I would have to get a little closer to her and look into her eyes to SEE if she's really an innocent old lady. I think Zombies have weird eyes.

6. Good choice, you’re clearly a good person to have around in a zombie apocalypse. Oh hey, there’s a wifi signal here! You can’t stay long but this is your chance to gather some intel on the current situation. What’s the first website you check?
Whew... Glad I thought about the old lady being a zombie...
Umm... I would check CNN first. (I know it's not part of the question, but then I'd check Facebook. To make sure my family and friends are ok.)

7. SHH! What was that noise?!
The sound of me gasping for air and my heart beating out of my chest 'cause I had to run.

8. I think it’s time to get out of here. I hope you have a plan. Where are you going now?
I have no idea. Honestly, they probably would have caught me by now.

9. Wait a minute, that looks like a bite mark on your arm… You may be infected too! Will you tell other people?
Told you they'd catch me. I will tell them to join me in my Zombie Army. (I don't want to be alone.)

10. How does this story end?
With me having nightmares. I can't even watch "crime" TV without dreaming something is after me. Now it'll be Zombies.