Bullet Point Friday!

**So I bought some microwave popcorn last night.  I am a fan of caramel corn and kettle corn.  This had the words "salted caramel" on the outside of the box so I assumed...YUM!  Well, it tasted good, but barely had any caramel taste to it at all.  J.D. saw the box this morning and asked me now it was.  I told him disappointing and told him why.  He suggested that the next time I should read the ingredient list before I buy it.

**we have a dog...a miniature dachshund...she's little. And she is fast..  So something got into her yesterday and she decided to take off down the street.  Nathan and tried corralling her for awhile.  The little stinker would come just to where we could touch her and then turn around and run.  Sara stood at the door laughing at us. She said that she wished she had it on video so she could share it with the world.  Yet another reason my kids don't have smart phones!

**i bought my kids pop tarts as a treat for breakfast.  They were thrilled. They always feel like the pop tart setting is a waste on our toaster because we NEVER have pop tarts.

**Ashley went to the store with me last night.  As we were leaving I realized I forgot to get eggs. I mentioned this to Ashley and she said can't you just use banana as a substitute.  To which I replied...not for scrambled eggs.  I don't know why not was her response.  And she wouldn't understand since eggs and bananas are number 1 and number 2 on her dislike food list.

**I. Am. So. Excited!  One of our kids has decided to follow in his mother's footsteps and play the trumpet.  I pulled out my trumpet for him last night and began reminiscing about the fun that trumpet and I had together.  Then I had a brilliant idea!  I haven't really touched my trumpet much since I graduated from high school.  Sooooo...I suggested to him that I pick it back up again, shake the rust off my playing and then we could do a duet together.  His answer...."ummmm, no" partnered with a look of complete disbelief that I would even suggest such a thing.  I was almost to the point of begging, when he looked at me again and said "that is not going to happen."  Sigh....but I haven't given up!

I will leave you with a shot of two of the three handsome men living in my house:

(We've decided Nate's football nickname is "Heinz")

Where I've been

So the last couple of weeks I have been about a block from my house, hanging out here:

watching this guy:

If you look closely the second one in the back row has the last name Horn on his practice jersey.  That is Nathan.   In the first picture he is in the same row and he is the one running.  (These were ipad pics.  Hope to get my actual camera out to practice soon to get some good shots.).  I didn't get any pictures of John.  His team was away from the regular practice field last night.  They had gone to a different part to practice on the sleds which John absolutely LOVES!  This week was the first time this year I have actually gotten to watch them practice.  I took on a new role this year.  I am a board member now of our local JFL (junior football league).  I am responsible for registration.  So I have been consumed with making sure 103 table players paperwork is in order as well as all our flag and cheerleaders.  I have enjoyed it, but I missed getting to watch this.

Something interesting to point out....those of you who have seen John in his football uniform, may remember how he looks in it as he stands, walks, runs, etc.  (or that may just be a mom thing).  All the boys look alike when they are in uniform with a helmet so you learn to recognize your own kid's movements.  Those of you who know my boys also may know how different they are....they are built differently, act differently, etc.  The craziest thing happens when you put a football uniform on them though. They look just alike!  They stand alike and even run alike (Nate is still faster).  I can't get over it! They are definitely related when they are playing football.  I hope in high school they get to play on the same team at some point.  It would be so fun to have them both on the same field at the same time on the same team!

Do you see it?

Do you see an owl in this tree?  Yeah....me either.  My daycare kids are convinced there is an owl in the tree hooting. I can't seem to convince them that it is probably a dove.  They don't believe me.  And it does sound a lot like a hoot.

It has been a busy week here filled with football practice, work for both of us and a birthday yesterday for Joe.  Oh, and allergies....I have seriously started praying for frost so the itching can stop. Itching in my eyes, throat, ears...you name it, it itches.

Tonight we kick off the year for Salt and Light...our youth groups at church.  Our pastor does a family night of food and fun.  We have walking tacos which we discovered last year must be a regional thing because many had no idea what in the world a walking taco was. Another leader and I chopped and diced as well as browned meat this morning.  It is going to be a fun year.  I help out with it and the leaders were asked to submit an idea for a theme for the year.  There were some really good ones.  I am so curious to see which one we are going to do.

And now it is time to make our way inside...one of the 2 year olds is afraid of the owl, one is taking off her shoes and the itching has once again commenced. 

Quote of the day

Our quote of the day came very early this morning at the breakfast table.  Joe was sharing how far and how fast he had run this morning. It was a pretty impressive figure.  He has gotten fairly fast. Ashley, in an effort to be encouraging said..."dad if you entered a 5K you could beat....(long pause as she thought hard)...someone who is slower than you!" Brilliant, Ash, brilliant!

Hot Water

The definition of irony at our house today:  on the hottest day of the summer we have no hot water.  Well, that isn't totally true.  We still had a little hot water out of the faucets, but the leak in it was bathing our basement floor in hot water. So we had hot water; it just wasn't where we wanted it. So Joe got an early birthday present...a visit from our friendly plumber and a new water heater! Just what every 41 year old wants for his birthday, right?!  Happy Birthday babes!

Bush Baby

So Ashley woke up on Sunday morning looking like this:

Her eyes were completely dilated.  She looked just like a bush baby, and while it was kind of funny and creepy all at the same time, it was a little scary.  Go ahead and google causes of dilated eyes and you will be a little nervous for her too.  We drilled her with questions about other symptoms and of course her dad asked her if she had been smoking marijuana lately.  She had no other symptoms and she assured us that she had not become a druggy.   They looked a little better this morning but we went ahead and called the doctor.  A sure way to cure someone is to call the doctor.  By the time Joe picked her up from school for her appointment they were back to normal.  The doctor looked her over for good measure and the conclusion is that she was having an allergic reaction to an environmental allergen.  She may be back to normal, but I think the bush baby nickname may stick.

The promised picture....

So as promised here is the first day of school picture.  I had to change my instructions this year as they lined up for pictures.  Normally I say tallest to shortest, but this year I had to say oldest to youngest.  When I said tallest to shortest there was a discussion between the oldest two on who was tallest.  I think poor Sara will get passed up in this next year.  But I am pretty sure the boys are going to pass them both up at some point.