"And now,' cried Max, "let the wild rumpus start!'

This past weekend was one for the books at Casa de Chaos. On Friday night we witnessed the renewal of wedding vows by our closest friends. It was really quite touching, and the Barnacle was really enthusiastic about it. The woman sitting in front of us must have agreed with him, as she kept turning around to look at him with an eye borrowed from Hot Wheels 3. Mercifully, the Princess volunteered to take him down the hall, and we got to watch the end in silence. At that point I was wearing a variety of cereals that he had managed to leave behind, bless his wee heart. Did I mention he can now announce, "I poooooooo!", and is cutting four teeth? All at once?

Saturday we picked up speed as we ran errands, did chores and schtuff. Dropped the kids off at my in-laws who were taking them to a grange fair. Later in the day we went to a barbecue hosted by one of the gals from my Bible study. We had a lovely time but the sheer volume of small children in the back yard created quite the hullabaloo. Small people everywhere, with all variety of snack and drink and wreckage to pick up behind them.

Sunday was church and then home for the Princess' 9th birthday party. More wild shriekings, with lots of kids running around throwing water balloons at my brother and each other, jumping in and out of the pool with water guns, and all the grandparents hiding from the aquatic fun in the house. Much fanfare was beheld as she opened her gifts, including two new WebKinz and the brand new, just came out, 'Mom, can you believe it?!' CD of the Camp Rock soundtrack. I'm already hearing the songs in my sleep.

Have I mentioned how happy I was when Monday finally arrived?

Just Keep Swimming

Where did my blog list go?? It's there when I go to edit the template, but I can't see it on the page. I'm annoyed because that's how I go read other blogs. Foo.

Well I'm off to the camper in a few hours, and I'm only taking the Boy. The Princess is away at church camp until tomorrow and the Barnacle is staying home with the Man. It's the de-barnacling of the Barnacle you could say. It will be the first time that he and I are apart for more than a few hours, so we'll see how he does.

We have some new pets here, six little fish. I asked the Man what kind they are. "Cheap starter fish." he replied. They are teeny and greyish and that's the extent of our knowledge apparently. The Boy named them (not sure how the Princess was so gracious about this) and now they are called Nemo, The Boy, and Hot Wheels 1 through 4.

We had talked every once in a while about getting fish for the kids but nothing ever came of it. Then out of nowhere, the Man gleefully arrived home a week or so ago with a tank, rocks, filter, plants, fish food, plastic castle and so forth. We had new neighbors move in up the street and they put the whole kit and caboodle at the curb the first day. Guess they were tired of it or their fishies were lost in transit. Either way, we are shameless curb shoppers in this family, so home it came to be cleaned and refilled, much to the joy of our children. The only thing we needed to replace was the lid for the tank, as it was cracked.

The first night the fish were with us the Man and I were watching tv and I discovered something fantastic. The sound of the water falling into the tank from the filter could not be drowned out enough by the tv to prevent my body from constantly needing to pee. The Man promised to fix the lid or replace it. The next night the cracked lid was temporarily taped and in place and I could relax without any pressing bathroom needs. It was sometime later in our evening that we heard a loud noise come from the kitchen. The Man had just been walking into the room when one very wet and FREAKING OUT kitty came flying across the kitchen counter, crashed into the fridge and tore up the stairs. Apparently sitting his fat rump on the cracked lid was not a good idea, and he got a closer view than he had planned.

The fish won't talk about the incident but I have a feeling that Hot Wheels 3 is holding a grudge. He keeps giving the cat a fish-eye. (I know, worst pun ever, hahahaha)

This & That

ThrillScore.com - The husband of a gal in my Bible study is the creator of this web site. You can search or browse for all the roller coasters, thrill rides, family rides, and water rides you've ridden, and add them to your ride list. You can even search or browse by amusement park. Your score goes up as you add new rides that you've experienced, and you can win prizes as you reach certain milestones. Very fun for all you thrill seekers out there! I'll be waiting for you at the end with my funnel cake.


3-D Logic - This is a fun little game that you will either love or hate. It has 30 levels, but they don't necessarily get harder each time. They seem to throw in an easy one here and there just to keep you guessing.

The "Blog" of "Unnecessary” Quotation Marks - Misinterpreting bad punctuation since 2005

I've Been Tagged!

Tara at Deal Seeking Mom tagged me and in order to avoid housework this morning I will play along. Here are the rules when you get tagged:

1. Link back to the person who tagged you
2. Mention the rules on your blog
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours
4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they've been tagged.

My Unspectacular Quirks
1. I can do this weird flippy thing with my left thumb. It's like a double joint effect of some kind that people see and say, "Ewww..."
2. Since Tara confessed her love for NKOTB, I will admit that I still have my Hanson CD. And I still love it. So there!
3. I do not like water ice or frozen slushy drinks of any kind. I find them weird and they hurt my teeth.
4. I hate Starbucks. (Although I don't think it's a quirk, I'm sure the Starbucks fans all just gasped.)
5. I can draw on my face with my (gold) wedding ring. If you're a woman reading this, odds are that you can do it too. Odds are also that you are now going to the bathroom to try.
6. I'm a huge Garth Brooks fan and have every single album he has ever made, including the box sets. I guess that's not so quirky? But I do have a pencil drawn portrait of him hanging in my office, so maybe that is.

Trish at Beneath the Couch Cushions
Amy at Life with My Boys
Kat at ScaredyKaterpillarsNoMore
Stephani at her Cake Blog
Shannon at Run the Earth, Watch the Sky
Jenn at Ivy Six Pack

The Infamous Driveway Incident

Tara mentioned the Driveway Incident and because I delight in embarrassing my children, here's the story!
When I was expecting the Boy I joined a message board for moms due in March of 2002. We all became very close, and are still in touch today in fact. We coordinated some trips so some of us were able to meet in person after our babies were born. This was the first time that me, Kimmy and Tara were meeting in person and it was a really great time.
I was potty-training my nearly 3 year old Princess at that time. I had told her that if she had an emergency and was outside, that it was ok to pee in the yard. The adults were all sitting on the front porch while the Princess and Kimmy's daughter ran around together. Somehow, the 'emergency' part did not seem to register with her, and every time I turned around, she was peeing in the grass or the driveway. I'm sure there were several stern talks about the use of the potty indoors but they fell on deaf toddler ears.
This issue faded from my mind however, as I was gabbing with my fellow March moms and taking care of the Boy. So I didn't immediately react when the Princess dropped trou in the middle of the white stone driveway. I groaned and said something to the Man about her peeing outside yet again. At which point Tara said, "Umm... I don't think she's peeing."
That's right. My blonde-haired, blue-eyed, cherubic little Princess turned red-faced and grunting as she pooped in the driveway of a woman I had just met. I didn't know whether to die from embarrassment or laughter. Thankfully the Man went and cleaned it up. He didn't seem to mind until he noticed that I was taking pictures. He'll thank me someday though, when I whip out those pictures on Prom Night.