For Sale

'07 Mustang Convertible. Driven with reckless abandonment by crazy mother of four who now sees what a ridiculous decision it was to buy the thing in the first place. Knee indentions in backs of seat from 12 year old trying to squeeze in back seat only temporary. Hump in back seat not deemed appropriate seating for third child. Nor is the trunk.

Moms in midst of mid-life crisis, inquire now! The flags are flyin' and people are buyin'!

Cell Phones

Josh has a cell phone. I know. I know. I was always the one to say he would not have a phone until he started to drive........that I would NEVER get my 7th grader a phone.......that is just crazy......what does a 12-year-old need with a phone?

Let me tell ya. It all started back in August. On the day before school started to be exact.

Everytime Josh would "dramatically" point out that another of his friends had gotten a phone and now eeeeveryoooone had one except him - we would say "Oh good! One more friend whose phone you can borrow if you ever need to make a call!!" (Yes, we do think we are hysterically funny parents.)

Back to August. Football practice was in full swing and they were practicing until at least 5:30 every day. So that day, I pull up at 5:30 to pick Josh up and he was sitting in the parking lot all by himself. (Well, there were 2 other boys but that did not matter one bit to this mama!) No coach to be found. I am shocked. Appalled. Flabbergasted. They left my baby in the parking lot. This would never happen at soccer practice! Don't they realize how cute he is and how much he would sell for on the black market??? I was completely freaked out.

So, the very next morning, I was at the AT&T store when it opened and bought a new phone. I added a new line for Josh and gave him my old phone. (At least I didn't give in to giving him a new i-phone or anything.) Then I drove that phone up to the school, got him out of class and gave it to him. He was so excited - that part was really fun.

That phone fell apart within a month - imagine that - and now he has a nicer phone than I have. But it was free. Maybe when he gets a new one, he'll give it to me!

The best thing about that phone, besides being able to talk to him whenever I want, is that it is a great motivator. Our parenting motto when it comes to disciplining our children has always been "Hit 'em where it hurts." (not literally. Please don't call DHS!) And losing his phone is where it hurts! He was grounded yesterday from his phone. I'm not sure how he survived.

So, do you remember your first mobile phone? I guess mine would be the car phone I had in my Tracker in 1994. It was installed in the car - connected by a cord. I couldn't take it out and it would cut off the call if I turned the car off!! It was the size of my current house phone. My friend had a bag phone that he would carry into the movies - remember those??


Where would we be without our phones? At least Roman hasn't asked for one.

Yet.

B.

Cupcake Monday

Seriously........isn't everyday a cupcake day?

Today is a special cupcake day because these yum yums are going to my friend, Tonya cuz it's her BIRFDAY!!

**party hats**streamers**balloons**

Happy Birthday Tonya! Woo Hoo! She's turning the fabulous 29-one-more-time and doesn't look a day over 21!

I have to tell you about these cupcakes. They are Roman's favorite and she's the one who made them this morning. They are Strawberry Soda Cupcakes (recipe to follow) with Strawberry Mist frosting and our favorite edible glitter. Everything is better with a little bling, kwim???

The recipe deets:

To a white cake mix add 3 egg whites, 1/3 cup oil, and 1 1/4 cup of strawberry soda. Mix. Fill. Bake. 350 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes.

That's it! So easy and so delish. It's like eating a piece of a cloud! (I've never really eaten a cloud - but it's what I think a cloud would taste like!)

The icing was made by my friend Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker. They like to help me out on things like this every now and then! *wink*

I hope she likes them!

Peace, love and cupcakes,

B.

Donnie Osmond or Shaun Cassidy

Roman and her friend, Madison (hi Mat!! *waving* cuz I know you read my blog!!) were on YouTube watching videos of Donnie singing "Puppy Love." Madison was seriously swooning and I was swept back to the late 70's - early 80's.

So most everyone I knew back then was "in love" with one or the other. Ya know - played the record all the time, had the poster covered in Lip Smacker lip gloss kisses and had every picture they could tear out of Teen Beat taped to every surface in their room!

But this chickie - never one to follow the crowd - was not crazy for either one of those two cuties.

Andy Gibb was the heartthrob for me! I LOVED him. I never even paid attention to those others! "Shadow Dancing" was my all-time favorite song.

And, for as much as I LOVED him, today that is the only song I can remember that he sung!! So much for that kind of LOVE, huh?

So, which one of these guys melted your buttah? Don't even try to pretend that they didn't - especially when Shaun became a Hardy Boy!!

Don't throw it all away,

B.

No Time

No time to blog but I {heart} Calvin and Hobbes. Calvin and I completely agree when it comes to getting up in the morning!! And who wants a worm anyways???

Have a great weekend!

B

Pet Peeves

Don't do this. Don't ever do this.

See this picture? Do you know what that is even though it is a blurry picture? (explanation to follow.) Those are Christmas lights. Turned on. On November 11th. And they've been on every night since Saturday night - which was November 8th.

That. Drives. Me. Crazy.

I understand it was a beautiful weekend. No wind. Perfect for putting lights on one's house. I'm all for that. In fact, I wish we would have had time to do that ourselves knowing the day we pick to do it will be -30 degrees with 40 mph winds! Just don't turn them on yet!!!! Can't we just enjoy the end of fall? Can't we get a little turkey in our tummies first? Can't we get the haybales off the front lawn before you flip that switch?

About the blurry picture. Josh and I were coming home from his CHAMPIONSHIP FOOTBALL GAME last night (sadly, his team didn't win. bummer.) and I started grumbling about those lights when Josh said, off-handedly and with a small amount of sarcasm, "You're probably gonna blog about that, aren't you?"

The light bulb went on in my head and I whipped out the camera to go get a picture as we drove by. Now this house is on the other side of the 'hood but worth the drive-by. I roll J's window down and start to snap a picture when the truck in the garage starts to back out!!! Busted. So I was trying to take the picture, step on the gas and avoid Josh as he tried to dig a hole in the floor board so he could crawl into it!! You can't imagine how many syllables he made "MOM!!" into as his eyes about rolled out of his head!

Me - I was laughing my fool head off! I would have gone back for a better picture but that might have been the end for J. I sure love that boy!!

B

Junior High

First...........I just filled up the 'stang with gas for $23.88!! It was $1.81 per gallon!!! WOO HOO!!! Yippeeeeee!! As much of a fixation that Linda R. has with her sitemeter, I have that with the price of gas. Every single day, I notice what the price is and if it is up or down from the day before. Get a life, right?

So, since everyone blames the President when gas is high, I just want to say "Thank you President George W. Bush for my $1.81/gallon gas!" and "Can you possibly get it down to a buck before you leave office???" *wink*

Junior high. Do those words just bring fear to your heart and make your pulse race? Do you immediately flash back to your own jh years? I'm a "yes" to both questions.

There's going to be a dance Friday night at our jr. high. Of course, I jumped up and down with my hand in the air when the call went out for parents to sell tickets during lunch and chaperone. I am SO in, pick me, pick me!

I went to sell tickets yesterday. It was so fabulous/crazy/gut-wrenching/funny/sweet/nauseating! I just want to say "hang in there" to all those pimply, gangly, braces-wearing kids who, within the next 3 years, will be beautiful people.

So this is the *jist* of what I saw:
-lots of skinny jeans
-Coach boots - who gets Coach boots in jr. high?
-chips and sour straws for lunch
-a girl I've known since she was in kindergarten holding hands with a boy I didn't know
-Josh trying not to make eye contact with me and then deciding he needed money
-all Josh's friends coming to talk to me
-lots of straightened hair
-cliques

I was glad the mom I was working with had the same issues with her 8th grade son! He cut his eyes and gave her the low wave and chin nod just like Josh gave me!

When I went to jr. high, I threw up every day for the first two weeks. But what little I do remember wasn't TOO bad after that. What do I remember the most? Playing the flute, being 1st chair all the time and going to competitions. Playing half-court basketball and winning Regionals. My coach's name Sue Martin (because that was my middle and maiden name.) Peter Williams, Bobby Shanahan and Kenny Boyett - the school hunks - all a year older and the reason for my throwing up. A gray-haired math teacher who could only hear in one ear and whose face I can remember so vividly but not her name because she gave me pretend swats for talking in her class. Finding Jesus the summer after 7th grade.

I think when I go back on Friday to sell tickets again, I'll try not to shake my head sadly and give them encouraging looks. Most of them are having the time of their lives. They are catepillars on their way to being butterflies!

And to answer the burning question I know you all have: Of course, Josh doesn't want us to chaperone and being the kind, loving parents we are, we're DOING IT ANYWAY!!! bwahaha

B

I Still Have It...

...I just can't remember where I put it!

That's the title of the Rita Rudner book I just finished reading. And except for the fact that she is a huge Hollywood comedian who makes a bazillion dollars and lives in Vegas and prolly doesn't do her own laundry or cooking - we're very similar!!

So if you ever run across it at the library, give it a looky. It's an easy read full of daily insights that makes you go "um hmmmm, me too" at everything she writes.

Here's one of my favorite quotes from the book:

I bought a new wrinkle cream
If you use it once a day, you look younger in a month.
Twice a day, you look younger in two weeks.
I ate it.

Um hmmm, me too.

B.

The Weekend by the Numbers

Another weekend gone. All spent at the soccer fields. And what do I have to share about it???

9 games watched (1 didn't include anyone I even knew but it was a good game!)
1 first place medal
3 games that Josh limped from the field with a hamstring injury
1 person that sunburns in November - that would be moi!
2 teams full of great peeps that I love hanging out with
0 parking spaces close to the fields
8 blogs to catch up on tomorrow
2 terrible refs that resulted in
1 throat terribly sore from yelling - moi again!

I'm SO going to bed! Nighty night!

B

Election Funk

What a week for our country. An election that made history like no other election in a long time. And we got to be a part of it.

Then why have I felt like a gray cloud was hanging over my head the last three days???? I'm not even a political person. I know what I believe but I don't get into arguments about it. I wasn't out putting out signs or working in a campaign office.

(Sidebar: I did campaign once. For Burns Hargis when he ran for Governor back in the late 80's. I worked the phones and helped organize a rally. But not because of any intense desire to see him win because he would change our state - because the couple I babysat their children for many years took me along for the ride. It was really a great experience. He didn't win. If he had, my life story might be a little different. He prolly would have wanted me as the Lt. Governor!!! haha)

Anyway - back to the point. I think I just really paid attention this year. Maybe I am growing up.

And then today Truth revealed itself to me. After months of speeches and ads, we all got the chance to choose. In reality, we get to choose our leader on a daily basis. In a political election, majority rules. In the daily spiritual election, our choice stands on its own - no matter what everyone else chooses.

God doesn't change. God always chooses us. In the promised land, Joshua challenged the people of Israel "Choose you this day whom you will serve...As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." A few verses later the people collectively said "We will serve the Lord."

I've made my choice so why am I so funk-y??? Well, I'm done with that. I'm back. The only funky I'm going to be is the groovy, way-out kind!!!

Yay God!

B

Crazy Weather

Look what we got this afternoon! Hail.............and lots of it!




This is in one of my flower beds. That's a gazillion little pieces of ice. There were some golf-ball sized ones, too.

My poor, little pansies. *sad face* It looks like someone took a machete to them. I guess all that sweet-talkin' I did to them was for nothing! I did talk to them after the storm and gave them little shot of Miracle Grow....

I was out in this storm. Yes, me and the 'stang. Going to pick up Josh from football practice. I looked everywhere for a place to get my car under a cover! I don't think the hail I was in was as bad as the hail at our house. But, still, I was not a happy camper!

Now, I'm too nervous to go in the garage and check for damage.

I'm such a chicken.

B

Just Do It

Today's the day. Take a chair. Take a book. Take a snack. Make a plan to be there for a while if necessary. Just do it.

GO VOTE!!

W.U. Part II

...continued from previous post.

The rest of the weekend we spent with Roman's team at a soccer tournament.

After four games, 2 feet full of blisters, and 1 swollen ankle - they took 2nd place! We won this tournament last year but the competition was fierce this weekend. We're very proud of our girls!

I wasn't kidding about the blisters on Roman's feet! After her 2nd game on Saturday, both heels were covered with huge blisters because her cleats are too small! (Fine time to tell us that. It put us in a little bit of a pickle: Wear old cleats that cause a blister or buy new cleats that might cause a blister until they get broken in!!) We decided to stay with the old cleats and lots of bandaids.

Wrong choice. Seriously wrong. Even with a gazillion bandaids, after her 1st game Sunday, she now had blisters on her toes and more on her heels. By halftime of the final game, she was in terrible pain. She toughed it out while I sat on the sidelines with the "BAD MOM" sign on my forehead!

First thing today we went to our fave store and got new cleats. And just look at what she picked out! Everyone's going to need sunglasses - those puppies are bright!

She gets this from Josh. He likes his cleats to make a statement. I think these are saying "What were you thinking??? I'm made for soccer-playing bumblebees!"

She says they are the most comfortable cleats she's ever had. And that's with feet covered in blisters!

Ouch.

B

Weekend Update

The title of my post makes me think of Saturday Night Live so first things first. Did you see John McCain on SNL? That QVC sketch just cracked me up!

And with that - don't forget to vote tomorrow. Laura A. and I would like for all the political calls to stop now. She's already voted and I made up my mind a long time ago! But I do have to tell you a little something cantankerous I did a few weeks ago. I somehow temporarily lost my mind and answered a political call and took their survey. After I grilled the poor guy calling about who he worked for, I answered questions for about 10 minutes. They asked the same questions about 5 different ways so I just started making up answers. I answered it a different way every time. **snicker** Moral of the story: Don't put too much importance in the polls. You never know when I took part!!!!

So back to our weekend. Looky at my little pirate. Cute, ain't she, matey?? She didn't want to t-or-

t but she did want to hand out candy. We ended up at her friend Macy's house because they get a lot of action and we don't in our neighborhood. She did go t-or-t'ing with Macy and then again when Kylee came over. I've said it before and I'll say it again, they are cutie patooties. That's them in the top picture.

As it usually goes for me, I've just deleted the pictures from the soccer tournament. Refer to next post for the rest of the story...

TV Caller ID

We have recently received this newest bit of technology at our house.

Picture this: I'm on the couch in my jammy pants. The remote is in one hand flipping between Food Network and TLC. A diet coke is in the other. I'm under my snuggly soft blanket and the pillows are finally just right under my head. And, then, the phone rings. Ugh.

Behold! The number pops up on my TV screen! It's ________ calling and I'm not getting up to get it! (Of course, it's none of you. I would get up for that call. Really. Trust me.) Wahoooooo! Finally, some technology I can sink my teeth into!!

Technology is everywhere and I am being left behind! Josh can command his phone to call me. Roman can Skype Hannah without any help. Richard can, well, he can do anything with everything technology-related. Me - I have to look at the instructions Roman (may I remind you she is 10!!!) gave me to attach a document to an e-mail every time I want to do it! Aye yi yi.

But, today I may have made some progress. It only took me two tries to move the time back on the clock in my car.

I think I'll just stay on the couch and wait for my phone to ring!

Using my rotary dial phone,

B.

Untitled (because I can't think of one)

Pretty much every day is a soccer day in this house. If Josh or Roman don't have practice or a game, there is EPL on the tv or header practice/shooting practice in the backyard or the made-up-by-the-Wright-children game of "sooker" in the front room. That's soccer played indoors with a tiny ball that they think I won't notice when it sails into my pretty things and they shatter. Somehow they think re-naming soccer will trick me!

This post isn't really about soccer. Roman is playing in a tournament this weekend and on the way to her first game this morning, I saw something that made me smile. Little boys out playing football in their front yard. And they were all on the "skins" team. And there is just something about shirtless little boys that is so carefree and fun. Everything goes slow motion and "Sunshine On My Shoulders" starts playing in my mind!

Then I remember that I was like that when I was about 6 or 7 years old. I **loved** being shirtless! When my brother, who is 4 1/2 years older than me, was playing outside without a shirt, I would do the same thing! Where ever I was at the time, I would strip off my shirt and run around like I was one of the boys. I don't remember anyone making a big deal of it so I guess I just phased out of it.

I was a tomboy. Kinda. Or maybe I was just a nudist wanna-be.

Yikes!

B

Co(r)nfusion

So there was a little confusion in our house this week. And anytime I need to use the word "confusion" I have to say "cornfusion" because that's what Roman's Latin teacher says. For example: "Those declensions can be a little cornfusing." or "Don't be cornfused by those prefixes." It is something she and I giggle about all the time and we have no idea if he really means to say it that way or not. It's changed that word for us forever!

Anyhoo....my sweet hubby called at the beginning of the week and the conversation went like this:

R: I've been given tickets to the OU-Nebraska game on Saturday.
B: The OSU-Nebraska game! Oh wow! but Oh no! I never did get my Cool Chicks Wear Orange shirt. (notice the breakdown in communication when somehow my brain got excited about sitting in a suite at T. Boone Pickens Stadium!!!) I've got to get off the phone right now so I can get online and order one. I hope I can get one this late.
R: I thought we could invite the N's. (the biggest OU fans in the world.) Do you wanna go? (never noticing the breakdown in communication on my part.)
B: Duh. Gotta jet. Gotta get that shirt ordered!

I get off the phone and on the computer to find the shirt. It's a company called "Cool Chicks Wear..." and I skip the online ordering and call up the company cuz this is such an emergency. It's 8:15 and I've obviously reached the mother of small children who are not happy about having their breakfast interrupted. But I don't care because this is important. I NEED this shirt before I set foot on OSU's campus again! The lady is super nice and says I will have my shirt the next day. Whew. Because she's in Tulsa (how handy) and I was going to make the drive to get it if I needed to!!

I'm all set now, right?

Now that I can think straight, the deets of my conversation with the husband start going through my mind. Why are we inviting the N's to an OSU game? The firm has season tickets to OU games. Why did Richard say he would have to borrow an OU shirt from Randy?

Then it hit me like a Mack truck. There would be no OSU-Nebraska game and no one in Norman would think my new shirt was very cute! waaaaaaaaaaaaagggggghhh!

The shirt came on Wednesday and it is SUPAH cute. Turns out, I'm not going to be able to go the OU game anyway - Roman is playing in a tournament this weekend and has a 5 o'clock game Saturday evening. So, Richard's making it a "guy thing."

Now I'm left wondering 2 things: 1.) Is my brain so orange that it wouldn't even accept the possibility of an OU game? (I do like OU football, honestly.) 2.) How much attention does my husband pay to our phone conversations???

Oh well! At least I've got my shirt!

Catch ya later,

B

Corn Maze

Let me just start this post with my usual, ginormous **SIGH** that I always have when I try to put several pictures in a post. And, yes, I would rather just complain than take the time to research the reason for my problem because I'm sure the search would reveal "USER ERROR!!"

I also know that when I hit the "publish post" button, all the captions will move at least 3 paragraphs from the photo it belongs with. And, these photos loaded in the opposite order that I wanted them. So here's the wrap up at the beginning:

Two cute girls, one evening at the corn maze = lots of fun!

The last thing we did, was make S'mores over the camp fire. Yummo! to quote my fave chef. It wasn't much of a fire. And, if you look closely, there aren't any marshmallows on the girls' wires. We were wrapping up and I realized I didn't get a picture of them roasting marshmallows so I made them pose this picture!!!

The girls rode in this barrell train pulled by a riding lawn mower. It would "whip" them around - as much as that was going 5 mph! I think Macy had bruises on her knees from Roman leaning on them!

This duck race was so much fun! The girls each had a rubber ducky in their lane and they pumped the water to make him race down the pipe.

Seriously, they did this about a gazillion times!

Ahhhhhh.......the corn maze. We started it before the sun went down but got so hungry in the middle that we finished later with our flashlights! We had to answer "Oklahoma Facts" questions to find our way through. Thank goodness because I am seriously directionally challenged. But, we did have the human GPS, Richard, with us to get us out after dark!

I think these flowers are zinnias (?????) Doesn't matter - they were beautiful just like these two girlies!

We really had so much fun that night. The weather was perfect. There were so many things to do that I didn't post pictures of - like the tire horses made into a merry-go-round sort of ride and the corn cannon where the girls shot ears of corn out of a cannon-ish gun thing and the giant hay bales they climbed on forever! We did a hay ride and walked through a huge pumpkin field.

The girls said they wanted to go in the Haunted Hay Maze. But, really, Roman can't even go in the Halloween Express store without holding my hand and avoiding all the mats on the floor that, when stepped on, make creepy noises! We just stuck with the tame stuff. It was freaky enough being in that giant maze in the dark!

I almost forgot my favorite part of the evening! They had a small petting zoo with lambs and goats. We were getting food out of a machine so we could feed them when a tiny, baby goat is suddenly right there trying to get it out of the machine. It was a little startling but, I look up and Macy is about 50 feet away. The girl moved like lightning away from that goat! It was so funny. She did eventually come back over and feed that sweet baby right out of her hand.

So much fun. We have fall weather once again. Yippee!!!

Happy Fall, Y'all

B

Little Nuggets That Don't Get Their Own Post

1.) Thanks, Jesus, for your presence every minute of every day.

2.) We turned in our info card at Wildwood yesterday.

3.) Josh is having a killer sports week: Scored the only goal in his 1-0 win tonight at his soccer game. Scored 3 extra points in his football game last Thursday. Got a sticker for his helmet. Coach said that was a big deal!

4.) No photos of Friday night. Couldn't wear the new jeans because they were made for a giant. Couldn't get hair as big as I wanted. But, the evening was more enjoyable than I expected. Ginormous shrimp cocktail = happy me!

5.) OU Women's soccer game on Sunday was a blast. Huge horse mascot scared the boogers out of me. Roman's team did Goal Patrol - now they all dream of playing at OU.

6.) Bunco tonight. Won the cutest snow man that I think will live in my house all year long.

7.) Hyped up on cappucino right now - probably won't sleep tonight. Expect more rambling posts.

Peace out,

B

An Open Letter To My Children (or why I blog)

Dear Wright Children,

If you're reading this, I must be dead.

Naw. Just jokin'!!

This thought came to me several weeks ago and I just now can find the time to really put my thoughts into words and get them on the screen. I was pondering life's great question: Why do I blog? (You know me and my a.d.h.d - I thought about it for about 5 seconds and moved on to something else profound!)

When my friend Katrina's mom died, she found a book her mom had been working on. It was a fill-in-the-blank kind of book about her mom's life and her memories. Ferne had been working on it for K. What a great discovery for my sweet friend.

Of course, that made me think about my own mother. I have mom issues. It's not something I need to go into great detail about. It is what it is and it certainly shapes the mother I am to my children. But, because I know very little about my mom and her life I started realizing that blogging is my way of preserving little glimpses into my own life for my children to see years from now! (That was a little wordy, wasn't it??) I want them to know what a full and wonderful life I have and that if they find they are a little twisted, sarcastic, fun-loving, love the Lord, have great hair - well, just maybe, they got some of that from me! (The hair is a given - you've all seen their dad!!)

And, for my friends that read my posts, well, you are just gravy. The cherry on top. You bless me daily with your comments (or with your e-mails or phone calls because you can't figure out how to leave a comment...you know who you are...*wink*) I feel like we are sharing life together and that puts a big ol' smile on this girlie's face!

So back to you, Wright children. Being your mom is the greatest adventure I could have ever asked for and I wouldn't change a thing. Every smile, every victory, every tear, every challenge, every change, every giggle, every tickle fight, every doorknob (secret Wright inside joke), every minute is precious to me and I write it on my heart. I don't want to miss a thing.

Love,

Mom