Bad Day

See those strange red markings all over the pajama shirt? That is exactly what an entire load of Hopers clothes look like after being washed and dried with a crayon somewhere in the midst. About half of her wardrobe fits in a load of laundry, so she'll be running low on clothing until winter comes! I'm keeping the pajamas, since she doesn't have to go "out" in them.
Today has just not been a great day. In addition to the laundry fiasco, Seth's pressure cleaner went kaput in the middle of a job, and the chicken I was going to make for dinner came out of the package smelling rotten! I think we all just need to go to bed now and try life again tomorrow.

Noodle's First Day of School

I just had to put this picture out there because I think it's so fun to mark the first day of school with a snapshot on the front porch. We are starting our first year of homeschool today. Noodle is very excited and is already soaking up new information like a sponge! Some of the day's highlights (for her) involved going to the library and playing with some other homeschool families at Chuck-E-Cheese. We had a great day.

Have You Been Tagged? I Was.

My dear friend Gabbi left me an odd comment on my blog saying that I had been tagged and that I should go to her blog for more information. Once there, I found that it was part of a little blog game and that I was to write 8 random facts about myself and then leave a comment on 8 of my friends' blogs to have them come read. Sort of like the email thingys that circulate, except this time, I get to pick the facts.

The Rules:
I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
People who are tagged need to write their own blog (about their eight things, and it could be a myspace blog, too) and post these rules. (**if you’re a non-blogger, you can email them or send them a myspace message!)
At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Eight Random Facts/Habits About Me:

• A lot of you know this about me. I have a randomly mutated genetic blood-clotting disorder. Hey, can anyone spare some Protein-S?

• Touching other people's feet makes my skin crawl. (shudder) I just don't like 'em, okay?

• I grind my own wheat and bake my own bread. (I have an electric grain mill and a bread machine, so it's not as "Laura Ingalls Wilder" as you're thinking.)

• I color coordinate my closet, alphabetize my movie collection, put every photo into an album, and wash all my bedding at least once a week. Hey I just like organization. Not to mention, I'm allergic to dust mites.

• A lot of my favorite movies are superhero, comic book-type stories. They must have a good ending, though!

• Scrapbooks make me happy.

• I've really gotten into reading history lately. It's become my new favorite genre. Right now I'm reading a biography on Benjamin Franklin (yea for the library!).

• I like to sit in my yard and pick weeds. I find it theraputic, except during the 100 degree weather we've been having lately. I find that psychotic.

Pre-Cruise Excitement

Hey, you know what? We're going on a cruise!

Okay, so maybe a few of you have heard and you're already really tired of hearing about it. Maybe you should just skip reading today's post.

But, if you haven't heard yet, and you're interested in where we're going and what we're doing, then come ON IN! I'm super excited. I've never been on a cruise before. Here is where several of you will interject to ask me if I'm sure I won't be seasick the whole time. I'm pretty sure I'll be fine, so hush, all you party poopers. (We'll bring the dramamine just in case.)

Well here's the boat. It's Carnival's Inspiration. They said it's as tall as the Statue of Liberty, which seems odd, but then again, I've never see the Statue of Liberty in real life either.

And here's what our room is supposedly going to look like. It's an exterior stateroom with a picture window view of the ocean. It also has a closet and a bathroom area (obviously) that you can't see in the picture.

Seth, Noodle and I are the lucky cruisers. We're not going to bring Hopers along because it wouldn't be as much fun for her and she won't even remember it anyway! It's a 5 day trip. We leave out of Tampa, go to Grand Cayman Island, then Cozumel, Mexico, and then back to Tampa again.

Noodle is sooo excited also. We've been telling her about all the wonderful things that she can do and see on this cruise. The boat has what they call "camp" for all of the kids during the daytime. You can sign your child in and out whenever you need to and they go and do all kinds of supervised activities and contests. She can't wait. (A whole boat full of new friends? Right up her alley.) We told Noodle that we're probably going to go snorkeling with stingrays while at Grand Cayman. She thinks that's pretty cool.

And then there's Mexico. We signed up for an excursion to see the Mayan ruins at Tulum.I'm very excited about this because I love history, and getting to put my hands and feet on a piece of it is just amazing to me. Noodle and I are going to study Mexico and the Mayan people for her first week of home schooling before we leave for the trip. Then, when we get back, she's going to create a report about it. She's already corrected me on the pronounciation of "Mexico" after I gave her the spanish version. "No Mommy, it's meh-hee-co."

So I'm sure you'll be hearing plenty more about this from us. It's also very likely I'll be doing a post-cruise post, too. 14 more days! Wooo hoo!

OH WAIT! I forgot to mention the best part. It's all being paid for by my dear mother-in-law! Bless her...

Not My Kids

I walked into Noodle's room to find something totally unexpected... Rather than Hopers crying and abused, or Noodle angry and defensive, I found the two of them quietly playing with stuffed doggies on Noodle's bed. What's going on here, did someone kidnap my children and replace them with angelic clones? Suspicious, very suspicious...