Chocolate Bar by Cooper

I went to the grocery store this afternoon and when I left my child was reasonably clean. When I returned about an hour later, that was not the case.

Jon and Cooper came out to help carry the groceries inside and Cooper was covered in something that I assumed was dirt.

I was wrong.

"What happened to you buddy? You're a mess."

"Oh, well, I tried to make a chocolate bar"

Huh???

When I walked into the kitchen it was a disaster.

Chocolate fingerprints were all over the counter, cabinets, microwave and fridge.

This was what I saw in the sink.

"Coop, what in the world???"

"Well Momma, I was hungry and really wanted a candy bar but we didn't have any. So, I took some chocolate chips, melted them in the microwave, poured them onto a plate and stuck them in the freezer. Then I tried to eat it."

"I see. How did that turn out for you?"

"Not good at all Momma"

I'll say.

I'll give him an A for creativity and resourcefulness.

Other than that? Epic FAIL.

Hope you're week gets an A for more than just creativity and resourcefulness!!

Overheard....

If you were in our kitchen this morning, here's what you would have heard.

Me: Coop, are those the best pancakes you've ever eaten??
Cooper: Well. I mean, they're good momma...maybe not the best. But still really good.

And then 10 minutes later as I'm mixing up a crazy concoction found on Pinterest (details coming).

Jon: What are you cooking up now?
Me: Oh, just these bars that I've been obsessed with lately. I'm not sure they're going to turn out like they're supposed to.
Jon: Sure they will, you're the best cook ever.
Me: I'm really not...it's ok, you can be honest.
Jon: Well. You have made some pretty bad stuff. But MOST of what you make is delicious.


Sigh.
Reality sometimes hits me right in the face!

Happy Saturday-

the note

when i woke up this morning, the 1st thing jon said to me was, "you may want to take a look at the refrigerator".

well, good morning to you too!

but after i took a look, it all made sense-



gone to man cave-
goodness, that little kid makes me laugh.

(and so does our fridge- that's another post though!!)

Vegetable Challenged

Cooper didn't have school today (but Jon did) so we spent the day together at the river. Our neighbor planted a fall garden in our field and there were some random crops still in various stages of growing and we were doing some exploring.

I found this-



And I promptly sent the picture to Jon with a message that said,
BEET IT!
I thought I was so funny.

Until tonight at dinner when I said, "Hey, didn't you think my beet message was so hilarious?"

And he said, "Yeah, especially because it was a radish!"

Oops, I'm beet red!!
(and I make myself laugh!!)

But really, does that look like a radish to you? It was white inside, and it did smell radish-y, but my word. It was enormous!

Here's hoping you ate some veggies today that were recognizable.

5.9

It doesn't seem like a very big number....but as far as earthquakes go- it's big enough.

Big enough to feel...even though at first I thought that my washing machine was off center.

Big enough to scare me once it was all over and I realized what it was.

Earthquakes and Virginia don't typically end up in the same sentence. Today they do for the 1st time in 100 years.

Thankfully though, not big enough to cause significant damage or harm anyone (that I'm aware of).

And, as you can see from the below text from my friend Jess- not big enough to stop a woman on a mission.

"Just tried to text you back but it won't send. You ok? I was in line at Brusters when the earthquake hit. Don't worry, I still got my ice cream."

Hope you and your family are safe tonight!!

Early Morning Exchange (or, Men are from Mars)

I've debated on whether to post this....I don't want to give anyone the wrong idea about my sweet hubs...and it does sort of call into question his humanitarian qualities. He really does have lots of them.

But, if you can instead focus on the difference between how men and women communicate and think about things, it may shed some light on questions that roll around in your head on any given day. I know it did for me.

And, it made me laugh for a good 10 hours.

I was ironing my clothes when I got this message.

From: Jon
Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2011 06:51 AM
To: Carolyn
Subject: (none)

a strange car pulled into the house next door with the old woman....he appeared quickly, got out of the car and headed towards her house.
have you seen any activity?

WHAT???
I responded back with this-

From: Carolyn
Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2011 06:53 AM
To: Jon
Subject: (none)

It was the paper man. He delivers to her door.

And then I read the message again.
And again.
And I started to laugh.
I read it again...and kept laughing.
And it dawned on me that we were speaking two different languages (again).
And so I send this message to him.

From: Carolyn
Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2011 7:21 AM
To: Jon
Subject: Re: (none)

Honey- do you find anything mildly hilarious about your message?? I cannot stop laughing!


And this is what I got back-

From: Jon
Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2011 7:54 AM
To: Carolyn
Subject: RE: (none)

uh not off the top of my head....I thought she might be dead



Are you kidding me?? You thought she might be dead???
For the love...
My reply-

From: Carolyn
Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2011 8:38 AM
To: Jon
Subject: RE: (non)

honey- do you mean that you thought she have already died and the man in the strange car was coming to check on her??

because the way I read it was....

hey- i saw a strange car and a man outside of her house and I'm hoping that he hasn't gone in and killed her....and I noticed it but I was in a hurry to get to work and didn't have time to stop so I'm checking with you to see what the status is......hopefully he didn't come next door and get you and coop too.

I do LOVE YOU!


From: Jon
Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2011 08:43 AM
To: Carolyn
Subject: RE: (none)

Now that is funny....as I re-read it that is the way it sounded!


From: Carolyn
Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2011 8:46 AM
To: Jon
Subject: Re: (none)

Seriously- you are a riot.
I am snorting.


And the very next message I got.....

From: Jon
Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2011 9:04 AM
To: Carolyn
Subject: RE: (none)

Is anyone you know there a notary? We need to have that form notarized and send it back in.


Just like that, we're onto a new topic.

So, a few things about the above.

1) Our neighbor is quite elderly and rarely leaves her house. She's had a few incidents where the rescue squad has come to help her, but she seems to be doing well as of late.

2) If you're one of the two neighbors who does read my blog...I promise, if you needed help, Jon would be the 1st one to save the day (as long as it wouldn't make him late to school. In that case, you'd need to rely on me!)

3) This explains a ton about the differences in women and men- A TON. It reminds me that I shouldn't read so much into some of the things that Jon says- he's truly not thinking the same way that I do.

4) One of the things that I adore most about my hubs is that he does make me laugh SO MUCH. He can put a smile on my face for the entire day with a simple sentence.

5) If he thought that someone was really trying to hurt his family, he'd do anything and everything to keep us safe. This story wouldn't be nearly as funny if I didn't believe that with every ounce of my being.

Anywhoo- men are from Mars.
No doubt about it.

Happy Monday!

Feedback taken

This is Tim.
He looks this way because I haven't been posting often enough for his liking.
(Katie doesn't really care about my blog- she's more concerned with making healthy eating choices!)

He's right though....I've been slack.

I've had good reasons....sort of.
I'm working on it.

My hope is that Tim will soon look like this.....




I know, I know....
You doubt me.

So does Katie.



I think I can do it.
And then Tim and Katie will look like this....



Love you guys......and love the fun we had this weekend!!
Thanks for making me laugh- hope I returned the favor.

Why I shouldn't fish.....

for compliments.

This is the conversation that occurred just moments ago in my house.

Me- Hey honey, don't you think I look cute today?
Him- You do! Probably the cutest I've seen you look in a long time.

Long pause.....

Me- Really?? I look the cutest you've seen me look in a LONG TIME???
Him (realizing that perhaps he should re-think his statement)- Well, yeah, you know- since yesterday.

Nice recovery. (she said with sarcasm)
I'm sensing that this may be a loooong 3 day weekend.

Hope you're doing something fun!

Dolphin Dip 2011

While we were eating dinner on Thursday night, the subject of swimming in the ocean on New Years Day came up. I'm a bit cautious about ocean swimming in the blazing hot summer, so it NEVER occurred to me to take a dip in the middle of the winter.

But Jon- evidently it's on his bucket list.
It's also never occurred to me to have a bucket list, but that's for another day.

Jon asked the waitress whether there was a Polar Plunge type event and she laughed and said, "we call it the Dolphin Dip and it's a HUGE deal".

Can you tell where we're heading??

We made a quick trip to obtain the proper attire for the dip- stopping of course for a photo op that couldn't be passed up.


Cooper added some extra drama for good measure-


Fast forward to New Years Day- 1.1.11

The boys were ready (yes, Jon was a little more ready than Coop) and I nearly choked when I saw the muscle shirt....but they did say "come in costume".



And so, we arrived-



We weren't sure what to expect...


There were families in costumes,


kids dressed for the occasion,


dogs named Roscoe,


acrobats,


and more acrobats,


guys who hadn't stopped celebrating from the night before....


even a sword yielding belly dancer.


Yup, you can do it all at the Dolphin Dip!




Before long, there were thousands of people on the beach....and it was almost time.


They were off!!


At this point I started to panic a bit...although I could see Jon, I couldn't find Cooper.

I shouldn't have worried- he and Jon had the best time. The Star News Online did an article about the event and Jon and Cooper are in picture #23. They're on the far left side of the shot.

I started breathing again when I saw them coming out of the water-


I couldn't get towels on them fast enough!



I think 2011 is going to be a good year- these guys do too!


I am so proud of my boys- so brave, so spontaneous, so much fun!



Love you both!!

he's a funny one-

On Saturday, Jon and I had the following text exchange-

Me- Hey, do we have an electric drill?
Him- No
Me- Really? I thought we had all sorts of electric power tools in the house
Him- Everything switched to battery operated in 2002 We got rid of the electric drill then
Me- Well for heavens sake. Do we have a BATTERY OPERATED DRILL???
Him- No
Him- I have it with me in the truck
Me- You're KILLING ME
Him- What are the odds that you'd need a battery operated drill this weekend? About as good as me needing a bra
Me- Nice. I've called George- I'm going to borrow his.
Him- Be careful


I'll give it the guy- he's funny.
And he's right- when was the last time I picked up a power tool?

I was pretty proud of myself...the shelves and cabinet pulls turned out just great.

So Long Pal....

Been nice knowing ya.

Today is the day that we're turning off our cable.

Yup.
No.More.TV.
So long...farewell....

Oh, the horrors.....and with ABC Red Carpet Premiere Week just around the corner.

I was talking about it at work and my boss asked, "what kind of a moron turns off their tv with an 8 year old in the house?"

Um....Us!
(to note, I adore my boss...totally adore!)

Everyone seems to have the same reaction....WHY???

Maybe we're crazy, maybe it won't work, maybe I'll go into complete withdrawal, maybe it will be the worst thing we've ever done.

But maybe...just maybe it will be ok.

Maybe we'll all read more.
Maybe we'll spend time talking to each other during the week.
Maybe we'll find new ways to spend our early mornings, nights, afternoons and weekends.
Maybe we'll play games together.
Maybe we'll be inspired to be more creative.

I know we'll save money...

We'll try it for 6 months and see what happens.
It's not like we can't call the cable company and tell them that we made a mistake.
It's also not like I can't watch my beloved favorites on the internet...or hulu, or netflix.

How's Cooper handling it?
Pretty well. His eyes got a little teary, but overall he's been ok with the idea. We don't have tv at the river so the idea isn't totally foreign to him.

We'll see how it goes.
Wish us luck....you know, since we're basically morons and all!!

Earl

These are our friends George & Jess.



They have hit national news because their vacation was cut short by Hurricane Earl.
You can share in their 5 minutes of fame by clicking here-

I'm thankful they're home safely & love that they were picked from obscurity to be interviewed!

Who's There??

During the summer months, Jon paints houses.
He usually lines up about 3-4 so that he's got something to keep him busy when school is out. He is strictly an exterior painter- and loves the time that he gets to spend outside and being his own boss.

Sometimes, there are funny stories that accompany his daily routine.

Like the time that he was up on a 32 foot ladder and he dropped a hammer. And how that hook part of the hammer somehow got caught on his shorts and pulled both the shorts and his boxers straight down to his ankles.

And how he froze when he realized what had happened and was literally naked 2 stories up and had to slowly reach down and pull up his pants and then hope that nobody had seen him!

Yeah- stuff like that.
It's comical.

This year, he's painting a house that belongs to some friends of ours. And they very kindly gave him the security code to their house so that he could use the bathroom if he needed to while he was there.

And yesterday, he needed to take advantage of that code.

Evidently, he was in a position much like this one-


(and probably wearing the exact same outfit)

And he was minding his own business when he heard a rustle coming from the bathtub.
And then he realized that there was someone, or something hiding behind the shower curtain.

And of course, his shorts were again around his ankles.
(is this verging on too much information??)

So he begins to panic a bit because he's thinking- well, if someone's hiding in there, I'm pretty much a goner.

And he says, "who's there"
And there is more rustling and some sort of a struggle.

And then all of a sudden.....



Their dog emerges from the bathtub where evidently he sleeps during the day because it's cooler.

And Jon's heart started to beat again.

Goodness, I couldn't stop laughing when he was telling me- and I'm having a hard time not cracking myself up as I type.

All in a days work, I guess!

Fork dropping

Last night at the dinner table Cooper asks whether he can talk to us about something.
Jon- nods
Me- Sure buddy, what's up?

Him- Well, I learned this new way to change my clothes in the locker room. All the big kids put their shirts on 1st and that way, nobody can see you when you take off your bathing suit.

Jon- nods.
Me- Huh, sounds like a pretty good idea, is it working for you?

Him- Yes, I do it every day. Except there is this one kid named Russell and he doesn't do it. He just takes off all his clothes at the same time and he's all naked.

Jon- nods.
Me- Well, that's ok. Some kids are just more modest than others. Maybe Russell just isn't that modest. You know, everyone is different.

Him- Well Momma...there is something else.

Jon- senses something interesting could be about to happen, so he looks up
Me- What else?

Him- When he's naked....(big pause) he dances.

Jon- drops his fork and spews the bite of dinner he just placed in his mouth
Me- (trying to maintain composure) Really...huh. Well, you can just look the other way and not pay attention to him.

Him- Yes, that's what I do. It's DISTURBING.

Jon- says nothing but concentrates on not choking
Me- I can understand why you might think that. Just try to concentrate on something else. Hey- how's your chicken tonight??

One never knows what may come up at the dinner table. The thing that I can be sure of though is that my husband continues to be ill-prepared for difficult conversations. The teenage years aren't looking good.

Hey, Annie-

get your gun!!



My mother is many, many things....all of them wonderful. One that doesn't come to mind however, is gun toting.

Until now!
Why in the world my dad decided that he needed this crazy pellet gun is beyond me- but he did....and my mom is very accepting.

When I'm having a bad day....I'm going to come to this post and get a good chuckle. If only Cooper had lent her his hat!



Can you imagine??

Love you Ma!!!!

RV Blocking I95 South

I was checking the weather report (for the 100th time) and saw this.

In case you saw it too and were wondering.....it's not us!!!
Hope you're warm and safe tonight too!