Second Verse (Not Quite) Same As The First

Confession time. I’ve been known to like boy bands. I was a NKOTB (New Kids on the Block for all of the non-fans) junkie and went to 3 concerts throughout the pre-teen years. Then into the early adult years, I was seen at 2 different ‘N Sync concerts (one of which even included sporting some body glitter!). And of course, now we have JT to enjoy. Love him!

So imagine my excitement to hear the newest New Kids’ album/CD/song on ITunes/whatever you’re supposed to call it these days. I recorded The View to see them perform. And the verdict...

Wow, I feel old. And wow, they’ve gotten old. The voices aren’t quite the same. And the dance moves just make me laugh. I’m sure this means my fan club membership from 1988 will be immediately cancelled, but I can’t help but wonder what happened.

Have I lost my youthful spirit? Have I just grown up? Or do boy bands only work with boys? The real question, though, is which one was your favorite? I was always a Donny girl. Now it’s your turn to spill the beans on your NKOTB crush…

Bye Bye Summer

Since we don’t have school calendars yet to tell us summer is over, our signal that the long days are coming to an end is that the outdoor pool is closing. To enjoy every splash that we could, we went swimming 3 times this weekend.

Tate can’t get enough of the water. And excuse the goofy life jacket, but he also has absolutely NO fear when it comes to the water.

We have loved packing a lunch and coming to the pool just about every Sunday morning (yet another plus to going to church on Saturday nights) and watching Tate have a blast.

To really make the most of the last day of the pool, he went down the water slide all by himself. It’s still pretty hard to believe that 2 months ago he wasn’t even walking and today he walked across the bridge and went down the slide on his own.

Bye Bye summer. It’s been fun.

Go Bears!

Tate wanted to join in the celebration of the kick-off of CAL’s football season today. He’s wishing for lots of touchdowns!

If you live near the Mid-Cities of North Texas or near the suburbs of the Bay Area and hear some crazy, loud yelling today, that would be my family. Don’t be scared. They all mean well, they are just some serious (and loud) fans.

Go Bears!

Tagged

I was tagged by my sister’s husband’s brother’s wife…or Jenn ...to keep it simple. I’ve done the “6 Randoms” tag before and am already a pretty open book, so I’ve had to think hard on this one.

1. I’ve had the exact same breakfast probably 90% of the time every single day for a good 8+ years. What is this breakfast that I can’t seem to live without? Two pieces of wheat bread, reduced fat crunchy peanut butter, and a Diet Coke (or 2) with a straw. The really weird part is that I fold each piece of bread in half. I have no idea why I do that. I’m pretty much addicted to this for breakfast and never get tired of it. I’ve even been know to bring my own bread and peanut butter with me when I travel. Embarrassing!

2. I’ve mentioned before my hobby/obsession with gift wrap, stationary, greeting cards, and cute paper napkins, but I’m not sure if I’ve ever shown the evidence. Let me first say that this little hobby was much easier when we were a two income family with no kiddo. My trips to Samplehouse and Swoozies are much less frequent these days, but I still stock up on Costco gift bags and when Target has their big clearances (see all of the red tags).

I had to find an armoire to house all of my goodies. And Wade even made my day once by giving me the book, “The Passion for Gift Wrapping.” It’s a sickness.

3. I can’t roll my Rs.

4. Typos really drive me crazy even though I’m not the best speller or grammar-er.

5. Although, I did make it to the final four in the 2nd grade Spelling Bee. I then misspelled giraffe. 2 Fs...not 2 Rs...what was I thinking?!

6. I absolutely hate being late but find myself late most of the time.

That's enough of my weirdness for now.

Happy Birthday Wade!

It seems like just yesterday that I dropped a Hershey’s chocolate bar and card off at the ACU University Park apartments to wish him a Happy Birthday for the first time. Things have changed some. Now 12 years later, Tate and I met him for a birthday lunch at Pei Wei and we’ll enjoy a nice brisket dinner at home as a little family of 3 (4...Macy). And of course, some ice cream for dessert.

I’ve written about all of the many things I love about Wade here. If you know him well, then you know that he is one of the most honest, caring, fun, funny, and hard-working people I know. My life is blessed to have him in it, and Tate is one fortunate guy to have Wade as his Dad.

More Cousin Time

We had a fun day with Tate’s older cousins, Trip & Mary Tish. I love so much watching these kids that I knew as babies play with and interact with my little baby. Tate loves being with them so much, and they seem to be pretty entertained and amused by him as well.

I do have to say that things have changed from the days of them coming over and playing with our little box of kid toys. Now that they are 8 and almost 11, we set up video games, watch movies, and bake cakes for fun.

During the movie-watching part, I learned a little lesson. The movie ratings system has changed a little since the ‘80s. Goonies (which is rated PG) caused a few uncomfortable moments for all of us. So my strategy was to just talk to them really loudly during those scenes. Not sure if it worked, but am sure it added to their questions about their crazy Aunt Kelly.

But any questions of my odd, loud talking were erased when we took them to the indoor pool (while it rained outside) and we competed with them in an Olympic-like who-can-go-the-furthest-water-slide contest. This was my first time to go on the big slide…and it was really fun. I actually found myself asking them to go ride it again. I guess all of the Olympic hype is really getting to me. :)

We ended the night with some yummy spice cake, another round of playing with Tate and his toys, and a sweet picture of 3 sweet kids.

Holy Toledo!

How in the world did he do that? He as in Michael Phelps. I thought for sure the gold medal streak was over, but no, the Wonderboy did it again. I'm curious if this will be a "Where were you when Michael Phelps..." moment.

Other random Olympic thoughts...

For many years, my Dad was on the swim team and was next door neighbors with Mark Spitz. Pretty cool, huh?

I think when we go to the pool this weekend, it would be really funny if Wade and I did a Phelps like warm-up....dried off the side of the pool, sipped the water, stretched our legs, and did 3 crazy arm thrusts. Then jumped into the kiddie pool to walk around with Tate.

Watching Bela Karolyi watch the girl's gymnastics was hilarious.

Now the insanely fast, inhuman track and field begins. Even though it took me 100 times longer to finish my marathon, I get to feel like me and the Kenyans are kindred spirits. Isn't that what those Visa commercials are all about...One World. Kelly and the Kenyans.

Happy Olympic Weekend!

I Heart the Olympics & Fun Cousin TIme

So with only four days into the Olympics, I’m already tired because I’ve been staying up way too late watching it all. But it has been worth it.

The strobe light drums in the Opening Ceremony:
So, so cool!

Michael Phelps:
Wow!

The 400-free relay:
Edge of the seat!

The guy’s gymnastics:
Happy for China, but wish USA would stop saying ‘That’s what I’m talking about.”

Synchronized Diving:
Crazy!

The 32-year-old German (former Russian) gymnast and Mom:
Pretty inspiring…maybe I should try out my vault again? :)

The commercials:
Love the J&J Mom ones and the 24-hr. Fitness ones

13 more days to go:
Woo-hoo!

*****************************************************

In addition to the Olympics starting, we had a really fun weekend hanging out with my family while my sister, Shannon, brother-in-law, Brad, and two cutie nieces, Mallory & Morgan, were in town. Shannon gives the play-by-play here.

Following are some fun cousin pictures from a trip to the zoo and our feeble attempt to get a picture of three children two and under to sit still, look at the camera, and smile. Good times.

And finally, a big shout out (why is that so fun to say?) and best wishes to Brad as he kicks off (ha!) his third season as soccer coach of the men’s team at the University of Mary-Hardin Baylor. Go Cru!

8-8-08

The DVR is set. The Olympics issue of Newsweek has been read. The normal evening activities will soon be put on hold. Bring on the Olympics.

I have always enjoyed the Olympics. And every two years Wade & I turn into TV junkies watching every minute we can of the competitions. Thank goodness the DVR will cut that time down a lot now.

I’m not sure what it is, because I’ve never played sports or am a very sporty person, but I love watching the athletes compete. You name it…swimming, diving, gymnastics, track & field, synchronized swimming (true talent), I love it all!

I love the drama. I love the music. I love the features of the rags-to-riches stories that make me cry. I love the medal ceremonies and hearing any national anthem, even if it isn’t ours. I love rooting for the underdog or watching the rock star prove why he’s that good (go Michael Phelps!). It is just fun.

Wade & I were talking about it this week and I had a funny childhood memory that I hadn’t thought about in years. Although her Olympic moment was before I was watching much TV, I LOVED the Nadia Comaneci story. I had the 1980’s made-for-TV-movie about her almost completely memorized. With the love of Nadia and the excitement of Mary Lou Retton’s gold medal in 1984, I decided I wanted to be a gymnast.

So to see if I had what it took, I set up an in-home vault. I would run down our long hallway that ended right at the back of the love seat. Then I would flip over the back and do a headstand on the cushions finishing it off with that trademark gymnast “ta-da!” I'm sure I did his at least 100 times (sorry about the couch Mom & Dad).

Even though my gymnastics classes the next couple of years did not prove to be my big discovery, the Olympics still got me to dream a little.

So to get you in the true spirit of the games, here’s one of my favorite Olympic moments of Eric Moussambani, who had only learned to swim eight months before his Olympic debut.

Kelly Green…Well Sort Of

I had been saying I should do it for awhile, but I finally gave in and bought some of Target’s reusable bags today. My oh-so-chic-and-green blog friends Jennifer and Lynley motivated me along.

So far, I’m impressed. This was a Super Target (groceries and the wonderfulness of regular Target items) kind of day, so what would normally be about 8 or 9 of the plastic Target bags fit perfectly into 3 of the reusable bags. And I loved how it was nice and compact in the back of the car…not flopping around everywhere and crushing the bread.

Now I do have to say that I will miss when all of my stashed-away plastic bags are gone. I’ve been reusing those to bag the really stinky diapers. If a true environmentalist is reading this, I’m sure they are protesting out of disgust…disposable diapers in a plastic bag! The landfills ache with the sound of those together. But hey, the Diaper Champ can only do so much.

Although today is one step forward in my greenness, I’m thinking the amount of wet wipes I’ve used to clean Tate and his love for yogurt has made a wash out of any progress I’ve made to better the planet. Just doing the best that I can!