Summer Fun!

We are officially one week into summer and having a blast! So far we have celebrated the last day of school with an ice cream
party . . .

enjoyed a weekend on the lake with the Brennans . . .

picked delicious, fresh strawberries at a local patch . . .

visited Fort Ben State Park for a hike in the woods . . .


and some fishing . . .



not to mention a pony ride or TWO . . .


and a few family pics . . .

So Excited (We Just Can't Hide It)

Nothing says 'SUMMER' like the return of my favorite show.
Lilah and I decided that a celebratory dance party was in order. I chose the music, she chose the PhotoBooth special effects.

Prepare to be impressed.









And of course this Post Title is a tribute to my sisters...


Oh, and Happy Last-Day-of-School, Kirby and Max!
AL

Deluxe Camping

This weekend the McElroys and Brennans met in Bloomington, IN for a fun filled weekend of camping. Okay. . . I'll admit it, I use the term "camping" very loosely. We did have A/C, beds, bathroom, shower, and 2 flat-screen TVs with cable so let's just call it . . . "Deluxe Camping". What a great time!!!! We played on the boat all weekend - tubing, swimming, exploring, fishing, eating . . . fun, fun, fun. We squeezed in a few laps at the campground pool, a nature walk, and a few rounds of Putt-putt. Now there was a hint of drama - for one, Alison LIED to me and told me that the bottom of the lake was "not that bad" when touched with your feet . . . and I can tell you that YES, it is!!! I will be placing a water shoe order before our next trip there. Also, I was attacked by a mini-tarantula, but Alison came to my rescue as I danced around the boat like a fish out of water. Lilah refused to eat the BBQ chicken and baked beans for dinner one night explaining, "It's all brown and that's not my favorite color!" After I laughed she informed me I was not her friend :) We even managed to avoid painful all over body sunburns (I'm the overprotective one who broke out the SPF 70) and didn't even suffer from numerous bug bites - I'm sure that had nothing to do with the fact that we had "an inside" to hang out in. Overall, a fantastic time was had by all, and we'll even give you a glimpse of our good times below. ENJOY!!!! Jen

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Kinda Like the Little Red Hen

Who will help me plant this garden?

"Not I!" said Max "And don't worry about me eating any of the veggies at the end of this story either!"



"Not I!" said Kirby "But I'll be happy to take some unflattering photos of the process."



"Not I!" said Lilah "But may I water it in the nude?"



"Not I!" said Jer "Yet let me offer you much unsolicited advice!"



The only true helper so far is Clyde the Fake Snake and he is mostly just full of hot air.



He is supposed to be scary - yet, earlier, I saw a squirrel straddle him as I watched from the window.

The wildlife is already laughing at me...
Mother Nature is next.

AL

Our SportsCenter

This weekend consisted of our last regular soccer tournament of the season. Both boys had three games each, and at different fields, but at least it was local. Oh, and Jeremy had his first outdoor coed soccer game. Here are our stats:

Max: 2 ties, 1 win, countless great plays
Kirby: 2 losses, 1 tie, countless great saves
Jeremy: 1 win, 0 calls for a rescue squad (yay!)
Lilah: 7 snacks, 1 meltdown, 1 mermaid Barbie bribe
Al: not nearly enough Irish coffee for any of the above

I have lots of great photos of Max playing soccer this season -thanks to the awesome camera-weilding moms on that team- and now I finally have a decent one of Kirby's crew:



AL

Stay tuned for these upcoming posts: 'Max Looks Cute in Baseball Pants' and 'Al's Garden Boasts a Fake Snake'
Exciting!!

Six Weeks

Hey! We've stayed really busy here, getting ready for summer in two weeks. Work is going great, lots of parties/graduations/exhibitions. Monday is the girls' gymnastics exhibition and June 3rd is their graduation. So lots of pictures coming.

Its been six weeks since my Spring Break in Mexico. Just thought I'd post a before and six week after picture. I got this shirt (3 sizes down, by the way) because it reminded me of Al and since I've been wearing it everyone has gushed over it so I think its a keeper, for a little while anyways. :) By the way, the before pic was with my private nurse, Lourdes. She was something else! lol More to come!

He'd like to be called Lemon?

For your viewing pleasure, here are two weekend videos featuring our solo-kayaker, Star-Wars-theme-song piano player, and eldest child, Kirby 'Lemon' Brennan.





Hope you have a great week,
AL

Some Advice for Today

Go fly a kite.



Love,
AL

A Few of My Favorite Things

I had a lovely Mother's Day.

It involved a fancy brunch overlooking the big city, a soccer game in which each boy deliver a red rose to his mother at the last whistle, and Chinese Take-Out to top it off.
I also received flowers, cards and cookie dough - lucky, lucky mom that I am.

But adorning my shirt yesterday was one of my very favorite Mother's Day gifts, given to me six(!) years ago by my eldest:



The best part, of course, being his sweet preK signature on the back.

I may spruce up today's Tshirt-and-yoga-pant look with a macaroni necklace made by Max.

And as always, I'll also be sporting numerous stretch marks across my belly. Yes, the ones that I've given up trying to smooth.

They're worth it.


Photo, early 2007

Hope you had a lovely day, too!
AL

Surprise Guest Blogger!

I can't tell you how happy it makes me to introduce this new blog segment entitled Popsy's Ramblings.
Not only is there a very appropriate tribute to Moms included here; there's also a hidden life lesson: Find out what is right by eliminating all that is wrong.



OK, I was wondering the other day how all my kids and grandkids could be so much smarter than me. After careful consideration I have decided it is because they understood one law that took me years to learn. MOM is right. They always knew they could go to MOM and get the correct answer and trust it to be right. I only found that out a few years ago, so that is why I am behind in the smarts department. Thanks to all you MOM’s, we love you!

Just because I am not the smartest doesn’t mean you shouldn’t listen to my ramblings though - because once in awhile I hit upon something. After I figured out the Mom thing, I started to wonder why I enjoy the Sudoku puzzles so much. Then I realized it is because you solve them not by knowing what goes into the square but rather by knowing what does not.

Since all my daughters, my mother, and my sister are all educators; I have some advice. Start teaching the kids in school Sudoku puzzles because it is that technique that will help them on all of these multiple choice test they have to take. You can answer just about as many of the questions by knowing which 'distracters' it isn’t as knowing which one it is. Most kids will be ahead knowing this little bit of information. It keeps them from getting anxious when they read the question and do not know the correct answer. At that point, they have to weed out all the 'distracters', decide which ones it cannot be and then they know the correct answer.

Enough from me,

Love,
Popsy

**Also, I now know what to get Popsy for Father's Day... check out this Sudoku T.P.! Thanks Popsy! Love, Al

Trombonist in a Tie

Did you know that the state of Ohio has its own official rock song?
Betcha didn't think we were that cool.... It's true, though - I learned it on wikipedia.

Kirby (out of view, sorry) and his 6th grade band did an outstanding job:



The end gets me every time :)
AL

There's a HulaHooping Dance Sequence!

I was already crazy about Zooey.

And then I saw/heard this:


Now it's a rather serious obsession.


Speaking of obsessions, Lilah is now a Wookie --
That's the Star Wars equivalent of a Trekkie (I'm sure you knew that, right?).

She begs to watch the movies, begs to wear her SW Tshirts again.

And she spent the afternoon as R2D2.

It wasn't too bad really, just a lot of moving her head around and making bleeping noises...


What are you obsessed with today? ;)
AL

Friday Find

I promise, promise, promise to upload some pictures on the site soon of actual people!! lol. But my Friday Favorite for this week is children's ibuprofen. Brooke's been sick with a fever for four days last week and stayed out of school all five and even missed her field trip to the zoo. Taylor woke up today with the same thing coup and fever. So I guess we'll go through it again. Thank God for Grams and Grandma who have offered to stay with her this week until her fever is gone.

By the way, please keep Craig in your prayers. He was sitting at his desk the day after I got back from Mexico and the vision in his right eye went blurry. He went to the doctor who immediately sent him to a specialist. For some reason there is swelling all around his optic nerve cutting off his vision and colors. He got lots of blood work and an MRI. We get the results tomorrow. He still can't see and I'm trying to drive him around as much as I can but its hard with him working in Jacksonville and me in Macclenny. So thanks for the prayers!

Too Soon to Countdown?

Today our legs were bare.

Pasty white, and with hairs like that on a baby elephant's head, but bare.

So what else could we do but throw some sea shells in the sandbox and pretend to be at the beach?



Only 42 days until it's reality!

Happy Weekend,
AL

Friday Favorite :: Links Edition

Friday was nice.

I love that no matter how long it's been since you've stepped foot in a grocery store, you can somehow always manage to find a bag of Top Ramen in the far corners of your pantry.

So I opted for Crossword over Kroger on Friday.



Please note the beautiful bowl. It was on sale and thereby the only thing I could afford at this, my new favorite store.

I don't even hold it against them - the outrageous prices, I mean. Because it is all so breathtakingly lovely. I was happy to simply mingle in its midst.
And buy a half-price bowl.... oh, and this letter B.




Wanna see something else completely astounding? Behold these itsy bitsy packages, filled with flowers or tiny odds and ends at the World's Smallest Post Office. So simple and so brilliant. I had one of her teeny tiny letters sent to a dear friend in Miami. It came with a magnifying glass.

Lastly, Amy K.R., the author that I posted about here and here has, fortunately, not yet filed a restraining order against me. She actually invites me to her blog; a blog that gives weekly missions of the oh-so-sweet sort. Check this one.
It's her birthday. How could I not participate?

Wishing you a great week!
AL

I Speak for the Trees

On this day for the last few years, I've marched into the elementary school with my favorite Dr. Seuss book under one arm and a brown bag of seeds under the other.

The Lorax is lengthy, but with funny voices thrown in and those Brown Bar-ba-loots who end up with "gas, and no food, in their tummies!", even the kindergarteners were mesmerized.
For my grand finale, of course, when the Once-ler yells "Catch! and lets something fall. It's a Truffula Seed. It's the last one of all!", I threw out a seed into the carpet circle of cross-legged listeners.

Last year, unfortunately, I almost took out one of Max's classmates by throwing a gladiolus bulb at his little noggin. 'Death By Onion' is what that poor kid thought.

This year, however, Max noticed my Earth Day plans on the calendar and has spent the last several days begging me NOT to come in and read. I finally succumbed. After all, I would never purposely embarrass my son.

Would I?

And could his refusal have something to do with my bad aim?

Whatever. The fate of those cute Bar-ba-loots is on his shoulders now ;)

Happy Earth Day,
AL

Sent to the Principal's Office . . .

Yes, I was sent to the principal's office today . . . because he wanted to tell me that there is one permanent position open at our school and he was recommending ME for the job!!! I have been a temporary teacher this year and last year covering full year maternity leaves. I can't tell you how excited I am about this possibility!!!! I now have to wait to have this recommendation approved at the next school board meeting so it will be official! Then and only then will I feel total relief and will no longer have to worry if I will get to stay at the school I love so much with the people I enjoy so much!

Jen

A Little Blue For You

Two of my favorite pictures from the weekend~


Aren't they perfect? And right at eye level in the front yard! We check on them every morning - and try really hard not to scare Mama Robin.



Here our boys in blue are cheering on another Elite team between tournament games. Max and headband are on the far right... I'm not exactly sure who Lilah is attacking on the left.

She is little sister to all, annoyer of many.

AL

An Easy One

My Friday morning was atrocious.

Yet I survived.
I got by with a little help from my friends.

And then I dragged one friend in particular on a road trip to OU to see this:



AND we had pancakes.

A fabulous Friday, after all.

AL

Friday Favorite

My Friday Favorite is broccoli and cheese soup. I met Craig for lunch on Thursday (so we could fix my phone) and went to Applebee's. They have bottomless soup and salad. I only had a bowl while Craig really showed the meaning of 'bottomless'. lol, but the broccoli and cheese was sooooo good. It's been on my mind now. I ate a can over the weekend and now fixing a bowl from the frozen Panera's brand. Yummo.

Friday Favorite

Laughing and playing with the kids at my school's "Falcon Fest" is my Friday Favorite this week. I must say that I love seeing my kids (students, that is) when I don't have to teach them anything or reprimand them for belching ridiculously loud for a laugh during Social Studies (yes, that really did happen today)! So tonight the kids and I had dinner together at Paradise Bakery and hustled over to school where we . . .

Wrote on glow-in-the-dark walls . . .

Used fancy bicycle pumps to blow up balloons until they popped!!! (So glad I didn't have to clean that mess up . . .)

Spray painted our hair . . .


Had ice cream sundaes overflowing with whipped cream . . .


But none of this compared to the Human Sphere! We waited in line for at least half an hour, and they were quite patient! When it was their turn, they hopped in a big plastic bubble, watched the zipper go up until only a leaf blower of all things could fit in and a tornado of air inflated the gigantic ball! They ran (rolled) down the hall, tripping on each other and laughing the whole way! It was the most fun to watch so I can only imagine how fun it was inside. Here are a few pics, and of course a little video of their escapade!



What a fun night! All of my students were so happy to meet the kids and were pretty well behaved. Only 6 more weeks left with these kiddos, and yes I probably will miss the belching a little - but only a little! jen

First Day Back at Work

Just wanted to update everyone that I went back to work today. Everything was great, since I've lost 21 lbs, I'm a size down, woohoo.

Everything went great. I was just a little tired so came home and rested before I picked up the demons. (lol. I NEVER call them demons, but today, it fits.)

Made tacos from real tortillas from Mexico. Craig liked them and so did the kids. I guess it was worth smuggling them!! (Just kidding, I declared them!!)

Love you all, Emily

Home Sweet Home

Ahhhh. Finally, 24 hours after leaving our hotel in Hermosillo, Mom and I arrived in Jville. The tickets I bought offline didn't allow enough time in LAX to go through customs, get baggage, take a bus to another terminal, wait in line for baggage drop off and get to the gate. I didn't realize you had to do all that. The choice was stay in LAX for 10 hours and take the red eye into Jville or go to Atlanta, layover and leave in the morning. So that is what we did. Trust me, you've never seen two people happier to get home!

Dad met us in the airport and you know what? I think he might have missed us!! :) Dad dropped mom off at work and drove me home and then drove me to pick up the kids at school. There was NO way I was waiting until 3 to see them. No way. I was a little worried Cody would be mad at me, but he ran straight to me and hugged me for five minutes. Oh, it was so sweet. I teared up but I think his teacher understood.

Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers. I know this was the right thing to do and I'm so glad the whole process was as top notch as I expected. The surgeon is the in the top 3 in the world for this procedure and performed just as I hoped.

Thanks again, Emily

Taylor is riding without training wheels!

Taylor is so determined. She is shy but when she makes up her mind, she has made up her mind. We took the training wheels off one bike and Brooke has been practicing. Taylor has watched and watched but was too nervous to try. She even called Popsy one night and told him she thought she just might try that tomorrow.

Well, grandma took the girls to church and then back to her house. Taylor just picked up Cody's bike and started riding around the neighborhood. Stopping, turning, everything. Craig snapped this pic for me.

They then went home and she got on her bike and rode all the way to Grams' house. I bet I can't contain her now! I'm so proud.

Exciting Night

Mom and had had nothing really do to on Saturday and Sunday except the private nurse coming to visit. So we decided to get a little exercise and walk to the nearby mall to see a movie and I wanted to look for t shirts for my kiddos.

The mall is about .25 mile away and we went into the new Sears. It was quite the store, had everything from baby stuff to motorcycles in the walkway of the second floor. About half the stores weren't open yet but we walked through. The funny thing is a lot of the shirts were in English like "California" and "Hannah Montana".

We went to this new movie theater. It is quite the experience. The nurse, Lourdes, told us to go to the VIP section because they have recliners and waiters. We had a little mix up with the starting time so arrived an hour before but had fun talking in our comfy seats. A little problem ordering, accidentally got mom a SMALL diet coke and me a BIG water, when it should have been the other way around.

The movie was fairly good, we picked a movie that Dad nor Craig would EVER go see with us, it was a musical. We started to leave and I realized I lost my phone, we ran (well, as much walking fast as I can do with a 10 inch incision, lol) back. I was in a panic and just kept saying 'phono', 'phono' and walked right past the ticket guy. He was on his headset and I thought we was seeing what he should do but really he radio'd the cleaning crew in our theater and they were already looking for it. Mom finally stuck her small hand down in the recliner and retrieved the phone, only for the screen to be completely smashed. I was at least happy we found it. It would have driven me crazy to not know where it was.

The walk back was uneventful and we had a late supper in the cafeteria. Still chicken broth for me, but it is so yummy compared to the thick jello (geltina) and nasty sweet apple juice from the five days in the hospital. The poor nutrition dept even came and asked why I wasn't eating it. lol.

Mom is my food police. She keeps me straight. Tomorrow I start soft foods (for three weeks), so very excited. I've only had jello and broth for twelve days. I'm already getting recipes for when I get home. I heard ricotta fluff is good.

Today we may get adventurous and get a cab to take us to Walmart to get those tshirts I couldn't get at the mall for my kids. We are still waiting on the nurse to visit, but she, like everyone else, is on Mexico time. It is very funny for everyone to be in such a slow pace. Meals take hours and forget about doing anything during siesta.

Back at the hotel

Mom and I are back at our hotel. Basically, waiting for Tuesday to fly home. The private nurse comes everyday to give me shots and check on me. We basically read, watch TV and play on the Internet. WAAAAYY too much time to miss my kids and Craig. Could cry I miss them so much. If I could get on a plane right now, I would. May walk to the nearby mall and movie theater if we can figure out if any English movies are playing.

Monday is my last doctor's appt. We go to the clinic and get the stitches taken out. I think that is the last step before we are homeward bound on Tuesday. All the tubes and drains were taken out yesterday. I had a bad experience with a pain pill so now scared to take them. The pain is not too bad, just at the incision. A little disappointed; you would think for not eating in two weeks, my pants would be falling off me and they aren't. I guess I'll have to be patient, not one of my virtues. :(

So a little on the bright side, Craig is home with the kids so I can call him on Skype pretty much any time and talk to the kids. Poor Cody says "hello mommy" to the computer because he thinks that is where I am. :( Tear, tear.

I'll be home soon and it will all be worth it.

Can I say how awesome my mom is??? She is fantastic. She eats by herself in the cafeteria and gets me what ever I need. She is still waking up in the middle of the night to help me get comfortable. I am in awe of how lucky I am.

Emily

A Pink Lady

This week, when I was doing this:



I was thinking about this:



You can see it on my face, can't you?

And while we're on the subject, I'd like to offer a formal apology to both my sisters and the Dollyhigh girls for my intolerable behavior.
You see, at eight years old, I strongly felt that I was Stephanie Zinone and therefore having anyone else play her(me!) in our dramatic reenactments was simply unfathomable.

This new ride-on mower, however, is as close as I'm going to get to my Cool Rider --
a realization that strikes me as both ridiculous and wonderfully appropriate.

;)AL

Delicious AND free!?

I know it's not Friday, but I had a favorite to mention today! Since we're on Spring Break and it's a bit rainy, we met our neighbors for bowling! So much fun! Even more fun than the actual bowling was Chase dancing in his bowling shoes. He loves to imitate break dancers and those shoes and a slick floor are the perfect combo for some "sick" moves. There were flips and slides and an attempt to moonwalk! He was cracking me up! Ryan bowled a 100 by the way - can you believe that?! She did awesome, highest score out of 9 kids! Afterward, we headed to Chick-fil-a for lunch. I ordered my usual and (here comes my favorite part) the cashier said, "Your meal today is on the house." I was flabbergasted, and I'm sure the words, "What? How?" came out and he just said, "It's our pleasure." So my meal was free! Yes, FREE!!! And that is just one more reason why I LOVE chick-fil-a! Jen

Thanks for the well wishes!

Thanks everyone for the well wishes. I was really out of it yesterday and in TON of pain. Unbearable, pretty much. The thought of going into my own stomach to arrange the intestine BACK, did cross my mind more than once!! lol

I'm a little better today and I know it will only get better and better. Before you know it, I will be a healthier, happier mom. :)

Mom is doing great, she has had refried beans with every meal, including her cheese omelet this morning.

Thanks again for the support, I'm looking forward to going home next week!

Emily

Peeps in a Blanket

Good night, bunnies. Sleep well. I'll most likely eat you in the morning.

Happy Easter!
AL

Welp, I'm packed!

Today, we went to the church's Easter Egg Hunt. The kids love going to this party because it is at a home with mini horses, goats, a zip line, trampoline, and tire swings. They had a ball. I'm sorry to say, Brookie only found one egg, but she did some conniving and shady 'trades' and somehow got two from Cody. :)

My favorite thing this week is........Jello. Why, you might ask?? Well, I haven't eaten in four days and jello is the only food I've had. I even found myself taking dips of the jello powder while waiting on the water to boil!! lol. It tastes really good if you are wondering! :)

Welp, I'm packed and ready to fly to Mexico with mom tomorrow. I'm staying with them because dad is taking us to the airport at 4am. I'm missing Easter with the kids, but I know its for a good, long term reason-so I'll be seeing them and their children one day!

Love you all and hope to update you next week! If not, maybe the Skype sisters will update you for me.

Love, Emily

It's still Friday isn't it?

My Friday favorite this week is Artscow.com. Oh how I love this website! The freebie photo books are my most favorite! Today I ordered 3 photobooks and shipped them from Japan for only $28.47! Since I had free books I decided to break my Year in Review Project into quarters. I have finished January through March so I made them into a photobook. It will be great to see everything in print and make any corrections - I plan on putting all the pages in one book but it will be big! Jan thru March were 23 pages by themselves :) I've updated my album if you want to take a look! Jen

A Lazy Spring Break

So far consists of...


Playdates





Hikes




And fancy outdoor dining



AL