Booger Collection

As promised....

A couple weeks ago Luke got up to go to the bathroom after I put him in bed. I stood at the door of the bathroom to make sure no tomfoolery would happen. As he was walking out he paused, reversed course, and picked something up off the counter.

Mommy: "What is that?"
Luke: "Nothing."
Mommy: "What is that?"
Luke: "A booger."
Mommy: "GROSS! Throw that in the trashcan! That is disusting! Why did you pick up a booger off the counter?"
Luke: (whining) "This is a good one! I need it for my Booger Collection!"
Mommy: "WHAT?! No, throw it in the trash. You have a booger collection??? That is gross! Where is it?"
Luke: "I just started it. This is big booger and I want to keep it."
Mommy: "NO! THROW IT AWAY!!"

Luke begrudgingly throws the booger away.

Mommy: "And if I EVER find a booger collection in this house you will be in big trouble."

So much going on.....

I have been absent from the blogging world for way too long. The reason is that I have been preoccupied with the thought of starting my own business. For those of you who did not grow up with me, let me give you some background:

I was the sole employee of a gift shop in Derby, KS during high school. It was the best job ever. The store was called Ashbury's and was very much a Hallmark knock-off. We had Crabtree and Evelyn, Aromatique, Dreamsicles, Beanie Babies, cards, music, Boyd's Bears, Mary Englebreit, etc. The list goes on and on. Basically, if it was in a Hallmark, we had it and then some. I loved it because I basically ran the store on weekends and eventually when I came home from college I would run it all summer. All that to say, it has always been my dream to open a similar store for myself.

OK, now back to the present. I signed on with Blessings Unlimited (www.rebekah.blessingsdirect.com) on Sunday, September 21. I am now an Independent Consultant with this company which just so happens to be owned by Hallmark. That's right. As Chris puts it "You own your own Christian Hallmark store now but it is just all in our front room." Yep. I am so very excited. Now, I am not the pushy sales person that would probably post big numbers for the company but I am passionate about the ministry opportunity and the products. All that to say, I've had a one-track mind for the last couple weeks.

There are plenty of amusing kid stories to share with you---and I will. Just be patient, and when I grab a few minutes I'll post the one about the Booger Collection or the Lollipop Pee Pee or Mary's New Teeth. Ahhh....got you interested don't I???

Stay tuned....

Oh Isaac

Here's another one for your anthology of Isaac stories:

It was beautiful weather on Monday so I decided to walk to Luke's elementary school to pick him up at 3 p.m. It happened to be a Grace Sprouts preschool day so Isaac had not taken a nap that day. No worries, he seemed happy and joyfully pulled out his little tricycle to ride the 1/4 mile trip to the school. I loaded up Mary in her stroller, put Luke's scooter and helmet in the basket and we started off.

Isaac rode his little legs off for the first 5 minutes. Then, in an instant, his legs could go on no longer. He screamed. He stopped moving. He cried, "Why did you make me ride my bike?" I screamed. I pushed his bike with the stroller. I cried, "Get moving."

At one point Isaac pedaled into the middle of the street and stopped and cried. I kept on moving. That didn't work.

As we neared the school cross walk I stopped to talk to one of the first grade teachers. I said, "If a mom ever asks you if it is a good idea to take a 4-year old out for a walk when he hasn't had a nap, please tell her 'no'. " To which the teacher replied, "I'd never take my 4-year old out without a nap. That's crazy."

Thanks.

Random Observations on the RNC

1. To attend the RNC you must wear a sportcoat.
2. To attend the RNC and be a woman, you must wear feather boas and an obnoxious hat.
3. To be the potential First Lady, you must wear a crazy rhinestone pin and huge pearls.
4. Rudy Guiliani likes to hear himself speak. He eggs the crowd on and laughs at himself.
5. If you were in Student Council in high school, you were probably recruited to make posterboard and Sharpie marker signs for people to hold up that say:
a. Drill Now
b. I love Mac
c. Roll Tide, No 'Bama
6. You have to yell "zero" at weird times and hold up the "OK" sign but I guess that they mean "zero".

I know that I have alienated a few Republicans on this one, but come on. Did you watch it???

Weekend Shopping Trip

Here is everything I bought this weekend at Kroger, CVS, and Walgreens. I got all this for $31.75.

Here's the detailed list of what I purchased:
1 Uncle Ben's Ready Rice---coupon for one free in mail
1 Sara Lee Wheat bread---coupon for one free in newspaper
3 9-roll packages of Charmin---on sale at Kroger for $3.74 + used three $0.25 coupons from P&G insert
2 Boxes Hefty Big Bags---on closeout for $2.99 at Kroger + used a BOGO coupon
2 Gillette shave gel---on sale at Kroger for $1.49 + used 2 $0.55 coupons from P&G insert
1 Noxema shave gel---$1.49 at Kroger + used $1 coupon from magazine
6 cans of Pringles---on sale at CVS for $0.88 each + used 2 $0.30 off 3 coupons from P&G insert
4 Cover Girl Outlast lipsticks---on sale for BOGO at CVS+ used 2 BOGO coupons from P&G insert (all 4 FREE!)
1 Shick Quattro for women (with 4 Bonus blades!)---on sale at Kroger for $8.99 + used $4 coupon
1 Febreeze Noticables---on sale at CVS for $6.99 + used $5 coupon from P&G insert
4 boxes Kleenex---on sale at Walgreens for BOGO + used $0.50 off 3 coupon
2 South Beach Diet pizzas---on sale at Kroger for $3 + used $1 coupon on each
3 boxes Excedrin 24-count ---on sale at Walgreens for $1.99 + used 3 $2 off PM coupons (worked on regular Excedrin!)
2 KY Warming massage oil box set (one included a back massager and the other a romantic CD)---on closeout at Walgreens for $2.99 + used 2 $3 coupons (FREE!)
2 Star-Telegram newspapers

HOORAY! This, my friends, is why you should clip coupons. Have a great week!

First Day, First Grade

Luke started first grade on Monday. It is a different feeling to have a bona fide elementary student in your house. When he was in kindergarten it didn't feel real---probably since he was only in school from 8-11 each day (what is up with 3 hours of school???).

Luke is so much like me in so many ways. He wasn't a bit nervous about school this year. His best buddy, Drew, was in his class and sat right next to him (they got separated today,but that's another blog at another time). He was confident and happy to return to school. I am so very proud of him. Luke's teacher is Ms. Hyland and this is her first year at our school. She's been teaching for 8 years and I can tell she is a dedicated and compassionate teacher. She is so cute and excited, truly excited to be a teacher. God is so good to put Luke in her care this year.

We started a tradition last year that Chris would take off work for Luke's first day so he could be there for drop-off and pick-up. We also began the tradition of having party hats and horn blowers when we pick up Luke at the end of the day as a "Happy First Day of School" celebration. He loves it. This year the theme for our little celebration was Star Wars.

Happy first week of school!

Well, that was short lived....

Don't faint as I start my story.

So, today I was dusting my dresser. (I know.)

And Isaac started playing with a little music box on my dresser. Here's how our conversation went:

Luke: Where is that music box from?
Mommy: Daddy's grandma. She died before you were born but we saved it for Isaac.
Luke: Grandma? Like Daddy's mommy?
Mommy: No, Daddy's grandma. You didn't ever meet her. She is Paco's mommy. (yep, we call Chris's dad Paco)
Luke: Do you think Paco misses his mommy?
Mommy: Oh, I bet so.
Luke: Why?
Mommy: Well, wouldn't you miss me if I died?
Luke: No. Because then I'd go live with Uncle Jer-Bear and I could watch Star Wars whenever I wanted to.

So, it was a good thing I got breakfast-in-bed yesterday because otherwise I'd be a basketcase today.