Who talks like that?

There are all these dumb quizzes on Facebook that ask many questions that should 'reveal' something about yourself that you may not have been aware of before.  I'm not really sure what you're supposed to learn or get out of this inane knowledge, but I see many of the questions are similar to those you might encounter in a professional ice breaking session.  I've always hated them as they tend to make me overanalyze things, which is something I can (and will) do on my own w/o needing a question to prompt it. 
One of the questions asked wants to know what my pet peeve is.  It's not the first time I've been asked and I usually come up with a common, normal response that probably isn't all together true, but fits the bill.  Well, I've come up with a unique pet peeve.  Using someone's last name when intimately addressing them.  Like in a romance novel: "I love you, John Smith" or even just in normal conversation.  While watching Mad Men last weekend Betty chastises her daughter Sally at a formal dinner.  "Sally Draper!"  It was then, I guess that I realized how irritated I am by it.  I can't say that it will cause me to stop watching Mad Men ('cuz damn, that's a good show)- maybe they talked that way in the fifties. However, in 2010 dialogue, it makes me cringe. It has caused me to boycott beloved writer to many, Janet Evanovich (her atrocious writing, boring subject matter, and repetition also contributes to this decision).
Maybe it's just me.  Maybe I'm just jealous since I don't exactly have a name that rolls sweetly off the tongue. 

What we love about...

The big balls (tee-hee).  Clean thoughts, please.  The Target back home on Niagara Falls Blvd. has giant, red, cement balls that sent BK into a fit of excited squeals ("baaaaaaaaaal").  Since it's a favorite word in a very limited vocabulary, she jumps at every opportunity to use it (curse Vanessa for having furniture legs that resembled the beloved "baaaaaaaaaal" - very frustrating!) Here's Bailey testing out one of the target balls.  FYI - we had to test out a couple - they could vary in comfort, you know. 

Poppa

Cutie pie Emma

BK gives Poppa kisses

My Dad... do you think he loves being a Poppa? Unfortunately, I don't have any shots of Poppa with the grandsons, however, he is now "Poppa" to 5 - Frankie, Emma, Bailey, Wesley, and Charlie. We had a few fantastic visits at Nana and Poppa's house while on our 2 week NY stint. Next time maybe we'll let the boys into the photos!

CJ is cozy with Poppa

Helping the girls "paint"

Swimming!

Just when I started to worry...

 about running out of blog material, FZ lays this one on me at lunch today:

"You know what, Mom? If Paul Bunyan and Johnny Appleseed were for real, they'd be mortal enemies.  Know why?  'Cuz one plants the seeds and the other one cuts down the trees they grow into!"


Even though I have plenty of other catch up posts to make, I couldn't wait on this one!

Addendum: Frankie just got upset when he heard me relaying this story to my mom w/o asking his permission to share it. When I informed him that I didn't need his permission, I received the following response: "Fine! Then I'm going to tell the world what you look like naked when you're wearing your boobs!"

Watch out world.  Or I'll take my boobs off.

The 4th!

Despite the garage sale madness, we still managed to celebrate the 4th - sorta.  We decided that we'd make the trek to Caseville to check out the beach and town since the kids and I had never been there.  It would have been more enjoyable had Bailey been in a happier mood.  Heck, if she had been in ANY other mood it would have been better than what she started out in!  The sibling picture attempt... Bailey was crying and had just whacked Frankie in the face with her headband.  Frankie was irritable because the sun was in his eyes (and probably some sunscreen as well), and CJ was looking away from the camera - my guess in an attempt to avoid a stray headband blow, sunscreen in the eyes, or the sun.  Most likely, all of the above.  Good times.

 

Lovely.  Will my children ever take a decent picture together?

bathing beauty... when she's not screaming.

We have happier kids when they're not near eachother.

Later that night - fireworks in the front yard.

Garage Sale results

Well, I have to say the garage sale was definitely a success, but it's hard to tell if the effort was worth the payout. It was a LOT of work. I guess I could use exhaustion as the reason for the missing blog posts for nearly the last month. It has been a general theme. However, I think a more viable excuse would be that for the week prior to the sale, we were busy with prep and the week following the sale was dedicated to packing for our 2week NY stint. And of course, blogging from NY was out of the question... state laws.

FZ did a great job handling his first lemonade stand. Here he is setting up his display to bring in the buyers. Quite a little marketer/salesperson. Very few people were able to resist his dimpled smile when he politely asked if they would like to "buy a glass of tasty lemonade". He even went so far as to offer free samples ("like at Sam's Club, Mom") to rake in customers. Our only glitch went something like this:

Aunt Mary: "Ok, Frankie, if your lemonade costs $.25 and someone gives you $1, how much change should they get?"
FZ: "I give them 3 quarters back."
Aunt Mary: "Great! What if they give you $1 and want to buy some of the bottled water that's $.50?"
FZ: "Then I give them 2 quarters back!"

Sounds perfect right? About 2-3 hours into the sale I notice a little girl (maybe 9yrs old) with a glass of lemonade. Here's my convo with Frankie...

Me: "Hey bud, how's business?"
FZ: "Great! See that girl over there? She gave me a $5 bill!!!" *excitedly waving said $5 bill* "That was sooo nice of her, so I just gave her all my quarters for her change."

Hmmm. So we've started working with the money flashcards...