singing in the rain

Lately, a lot of my facebook friends from the West Coast (Oregon in particular) have been complaining about the constant (month-and-a-half long) RAIN. It sounds like it's been a pretty miserable May so far. To my friends and family back home, I wanted to show y'all that it sometimes rains in the South as well.

After a wicked hot and humid day, as expected a few thundershowers showed up this afternoon. What do you do when it's 80 something degrees and raining??

Lauren and Tyler say you do some singing in the rain...





I tried to take a picture of the steam rising off of the ground as the rain came down. It was that warm out!
Not Pictured: After L and T's clothes became too wet for their liking they simply took them off and continued playing outside, right up until Matt made them come inside... something about being inappropriate.

graduation, fundraiser, fun in the sun

Last week Tyler graduated from his 3-year-old pre-school class. To celebrate they sang the "Peanut Butter Song." His teacher actually called me about this song because it CRACKED TYLER UP. A verse in the song mentions something about "peanut butter in your underwear." Tyler just thought that line was the most hilarious thing in the world. His teacher called me and said his reaction was the cutest thing she ever saw. Tyler would start laughing at the beginning of the song in anticipation and he would laugh again every time he thought about the underwear part. I can just see him cracking himself up.
When they weren't singing the kiddos were goofing off in front of a mirror...
...or proudly? showing off their artwork.


Last Saturday I had a 40th birthday party to attend. (I swear my friends are getting old!) While I was at the party Matt took the kiddos to the 2010 Arthritis Walk at Atlantic Station. Lauren has a good friend who was diagnosed at 2-years-old with arthritis and we were very happy to support her by attending this fun event. Matt said the kids started off being complete grumps.

Eventually they came around and had some fun.

Or at least I think they did. It's hard to tell by Lauren's expressions on the slide.
They proudly sport their "Kylie's Cause" t-shirts...Tyler takes it up a notch with the yellow hair.
Bubbles...and a train ride definitely add to the event.



It's getting warm around these parts so I decided to have Tyler's full head of hair chopped off. I like to add hair gel and spike it up but seconds after I spike it Tyler takes his hands and smears it down straight. He prefers it flat. Luckily, I have one picture of it spiky.
It's been so warm around these parts lately that both the cat and Tyler take their naps on the cool kitchen floor.
After a refreshing kitchen floor nap it's back outside to play. SLAM DUNK!

this week in pictures

Tyler discovered he could do Yoga on the Wii.

He actually got 3 stars.
Not sure the name of his pose but it looks perfect.

Lauren got her costume for her dance recital. They are cowgirls.
She'll get her cowgirl hat at the recital in June.

dancing for the parents
(you can see me in the mirror (purple tank-top))

Tyler snuggled with his blanket, a lot.

I went to Mom's Night Out for Game Night.
Lisa and Carey kicked my heiney at Pictionary Man.
My team dominated at Taboo so it wasn't a total loss.

Don't tell Matt about this picture because it's supposed to be Mom's Only.

Our neighborhood pool once again hosted playgroup.
We will be at the pool A LOT this summer.
Come on by any time.

My addiction to all the bargain blogs paid off this week.
I received my long awaited for jackpot.
For purchasing things like toothpaste, Clorox bleach and what not I received a big box from Procter and Gamble.

10-inch saute pan w/ lid, measuring cups, timer and spatula...all PINK for breast cancer awareness...and all for FREE!

also free:
(I wouldn't buy rice in a pouch unless it were free.)

It was alright...a little cardboard-ish...hopefully the Whole Grain was healthy.
The Greek Pork Chops and Summer Corn Salad, however, were DELISH.

We took our rice, corn and pork outside to enjoy the evening sun.

(Mr. T's awesome, no?!)

photo by Lauren
Notice I chopped my scraggly ends (all 4 inches of them.)

photo by Tyler
(ain't he handsome?!!)

Oh, and also a house in my neighborhood burned down Monday Night.
(all human family members escaped safely)

I don't have any words.
I'm good at making light of subjects and making jokes but there is absolutely no humor in the picture above. This family lost their home, pictures, hard drives, heirlooms, business (the father worked at home,) their private piece of this earth, EVERYTHING. The 4000 square foot house was a total loss. They were able to get their cars out but the Harley, cat and everything else inside is GONE.
I still tear up when I drive by it.

a kickin' top fuel kind of weekend

Lauren came home from school on Friday with her first school yearbook. It's pretty cool. I didn't get my first yearbook until middle school and that was just a paperback not a hard cover like this one. (I covered up the name of her school because that's what responsible blogging parents do...so I'm told.)
Wow...700 students attend her elementary. All this time I thought it was a small school.
The kickin' top fuel weekend started off with a quick nap for the boys. After a long night of sleep they deserved some shut-eye sofa time. =)
With five minutes to spare I woke the boys up and threw everyone into the car. We were off to Lauren's last soccer kickin' game of the season (of her life?)

All smiles on the way there....
She's still smiling because I told her I'd give her 50 cents if she kicked the ball six times. (I'm so not above bribery.) She was all about kickin' the ball!
After the game the team had their end of season celebration.

cupcakes

medals with their names on them

and pictures
(Somehow our team missed the scheduled picture day but a photographer parent was nice enough to snap photos of the team and players individually.)

Great Job LAUREN!

Unrelated Side Note: At Bunco this weekend I was told I'm pronouncing My! Daughter's! name wrong. I pronounce it LORen (like the "lor" in Lord) but apparently in the South Lauren is pronounced LARen (like the "lar" in lark.) Who knew?!

After a soccer kickin' day we had Miss Olivia come over to keep the kids while our friend Clark took a bunch of us to the Southern Nationals at the Atlanta Dragway. Clark's family owns many of the autoparts stores in our area and they get tickets to just about each and every local event. He had some extra tickets to the drag races and was nice enough to take Matt, Matt's co-worker Doug, and I along. Hospitality and VIP passes included.

We found our seats.

Doug (not looking,) Clark and I

And then I made my rounds.

me and Ron Capps

Tony Schumacher!! and me

I felt so tall with them boys. I can't wait to stand next to some jockey's when I go to my first Kentucky Derby. okay...back on track!

After we enjoyed our VIP complimentary gourmet lunch buffet (I had the chicken and Matt had the steak...both were delish) we went back to the stands to watch some races.

top fuel dragsters

(nitro) funny cars

pro stock bikes
one is a Harley can you tell?

pro stock cars

The next few pictures are really cool. I wish Matt was around to help me explain them but I'll do the best I can. While we were back at the US Army hospitality suite I got to watch the crew work on Tony Schumacher's car. It was amazing!

They basically take everything apart, clean it up, and put it back together.

backing the car into the work area

super charger/blower and intake manifold (obviously)

can you believe they even take the manifold off the supercharger and check the lobes?!
me neither. WOW!

the heads and headers are off too
the tank is refilled
not just gas but nitro-methane
(I pour that with my cereal!)
Very quickly they put the car back together. The intake manifold awaits.

The complete process took all of 10 minutes. Unbelievable.

Although my good buddy Tony Schumacher didn't win I had so much fun at the races today and learned a lot about Drag Racing. (one of Matt's favorite past-times)

Back at home we found the children and Olivia having a blast. Olivia...#1. unloaded the dishwasher, #2. did Lauren's hair in a fancy flip pony-tail, #3. Played outside with the kiddos, #4. Played inside with the kiddos, #5. taught them chocolate chip math...MATH! #6. made them a fancy lunch and dinner and #7 was the best sitter ever. Don't even ask for her phone number because she's ours...all ours! =)