Sometimes...

Sometimes those automatic toilets flush when you are still sitting on them.

Sometimes you put on all your make-up and then forget mascara. (which we all know it is essential)

Sometimes you put your underwear on backwards and don't realize it until that evening.

Sometimes you walk into the Men's room in your hurry to relieve your bladder and you have to stay in the stall until your sure the bathroom is empty. 

Sometimes you are talking animatedly to a group of people and a bird flies by and poops on your head. (True story!)

Sometimes you say things out loud-when maybe you should have kept them to yourself.

Sometimes your kids are really honest-TOO honest and they like repeating things to strangers, when you have told them a million times DON'T TALK TO STRANGERS especially about what mommy said to daddy.

Sometimes you hear the music to Grease and you start doing the hand jive and your best friend asks you to "Please- Stop."  in a tone of voice that tells you they are mortified.

Sometimes you laugh out loud and then have to stop, because you realize your the ONLY one who thought it was funny.

Sometimes your 12 yr old son says "Your just a minivan kind of person!" like a minivan is the only car you would EVER want to drive and you drive one by choice.

Sometimes it dawns on you that you've lost your coolness somewhere between giving birth, buying a minivan, and belting out Miley Cyrus and Jonas Brother tunes aloud in said minivan. 

Sometimes life is funny and embarrassing and you can't believe all this is happening to you. 

"Have you ever gotten the feeling that you aren't completely embarrassed yet, but you glimpse tomorrow's embarrassment? "
-Tom Cruise ( who  knows a WHOLE lot about embarrassment) 

 Sometimes, Tom. Sometimes...

Organization: Flatware Organizers in the Bathroom

In my search to bring order to the chaos that is my life, I bring to you my little tips to inspire.

You know those little divided trays you use in the kitchen drawer

to keep the forks and spoons from mingling.

Well, they can be used in the bathroom too! 

Birthday Ice Cream @ Baskin Robbins

I had no idea we had a Baskin Robbins by our house, see how unobservant I am!

It is very important to know where the nearest Basking Robbins is. You never know when you will need some ice cream. I am partial to the Rocky Road and the Bubblegum.

Lucky for me I have well informed in-laws, who took me and the boys to our nearby Basking Robbins for my birthday ice cream.  If you don't know where your local Baskin Robbins is you can find out here. Ours is really cute and they always have fresh cut flowers on the tables, not those yucky dust fake ones you see so much these days, but beautiful fresh bouquets of flowers. Very impressive.

I got a Banna Split but it's more like a Sundae with bananas as I get it with all vanilla ice cream, and only fudge topping. 

Josef and Grandma and Grandpa Mitchell got scooped Ice cream cones.

Ian got a Snickers Sundae.

The younger boys got clown icecream cones. 

Aren't they cute, we had to photograph them fast before they were eaten.

Kaleb's was almost gone by the time he got his picture taken.

 

Grandpa and Oliver.

Did you notice the fresh bouquet of flowers in the above picture?

Thank you for the birthday ice cream Grandma and Grandpa Mitchell!

It was very yummy!

Vocabulary: Words I meant to use

http://www.flickr.com/photos/powerbooktrance/ / CC BY 2.0

So...for some reason I always want to start every blog post out with the word 'so'. I think it aloud and almost type it and then always change it so that I am not using 'so' to begin each and every blog post. More than anything it is simply the word to tell my brain, ok brain we are going to write now. I often talk that way too, saying 'so' first as a way to let people know I'm veering off the straight and narrow within conversation and going my own way. As in, "So! I have this really cool idea if I could only get you to go along with it too we will both have loads of fun."

I am rambling on now and what I really meant to write about was words. I often find myself with a lack of truly awesome words to use in my writing and daily conversations with adult type people.  I used to be SO (oh! I also use SO to make what I'm saying much grander and urgent than it really is) incredibly good at using the just the right words to convey my meaning exactly but in a non-confrontational way. Vocabulary has power. Don't ya know? I often blurt things out, brilliant ideas even, and they just sound crude because they lacked the right words.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/southernpixel/ / CC BY 2.0

This is a dangerously embarrassing confession, but in Middle School I would read the dictionary on the way home on the school bus. Yes, I was a complete dork, but a smart dork. I loved finding new words to just throw into every day conversations. For example once I said casually to my best friend. "Wow! Look how beatific you are today. " To which she replied with a look that said, Your a total dork. And she was right.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/perpetualplum/ / CC BY 2.0

Well, I've been thinking lately. (Scary thought I know!) With Mommy Brain, having had 4 kiddos and talking to little persons all day, my brain cells are pretty much fried. I've gotten really lazy with my vocabulary. Especially since those little persons are all guys and therefore long lengthy speeches full of eloquent words are not necessary. Their preferred methods of communication involves one word commands and various grunt and nod sequences. I'm not saying this is bad, just the facts about the level to which my vocabulary has fallen. 

To perk up my lacking vocabulary skills. I've got a list going. (bear with me I'm type A) I've been writing down any completely cool words I come across and I'm going to try to use them in my everyday life.

For today my 3 newly loved words were:

advantageous

umpteenth

countenance

 Aren't they grand?  I've already used them today in comments on other blogs or in phone conversations. 
Maybe it will also make a difference in my writing and my dangerous addiction to my Thesaurus.

If you've got any truly marvelous words or just ones that are fun to say send them my way.

A Wordless Happy Birthday to Me!

Mitchell Moments: The Freeze Gun Incident

" And I pulled out my freeze gun and blasted you all," Josef said in a commanding tone.

"You're frozen" he added.

The circle of three boys stared at him unblinking, arms and heads held in dramatic positions, frozen.

Then all at once they burst into laughter.

Weapons powered by imagination

are often less effective than the real thing.

Things That Make You Go "Hmm" #4

I have two this time...

#1

We had Hot cocoa tonight and  I drank mine out of this handy dandy ceramic mug. It was a gift to my husband from a coworker way back when we were engaged. He worked a temp job at Hewlett Packard in Boise (it's closed now). He was part of a team that assembled and packed a certain model of printer, to be specific the HP Color Laser Jet 5/5 M Printer.

You may ask " How do you know this? That seems something rather silly to remember."

You would be completely right.

He only worked there 6 months and that printer is seriously outdated now. All the ones they made are probably in some landfill now adding to our techno-junk problem.

WELL-

The co-worker, a lovely lady with a particular passion for ceramics, painted everyone who worked on the printer team their very own commemorative mug. It was complete with a hand painted and detailed printer illustration, catchy work phases they used while working  like "referbs", and the model of the printer along with it's final day of production. I can only imagine how long these must have taken her to paint and fire. It was totally cute and kind of weird.

The weirdest part yet is-

We still have this mug some 12 years later and here I am drinking my Hot Cocoa out of a mug with an ancient printer painted on the side. Hmmm...

#2

I've been working on this pencil drawing of my niece Chyanne from a school photo of her for 3 days now. I just draw a bit at night to help me relax before bed. Well I left all my materials and my sketch book out on my night stand. I hit the ground running the next day without putting them away. That afternoon I went in my room to find this. I was a bit sad and even more sad that no one has admitted to it. (I am sure it was one of my boys) I didn't like the way her lips had been turning out anyway. but still it was like being vandalized. Not sure what to do about it... thinking I will just let it go. Hmmm...