Here's a little compilation of things that have been said around here lately:

1) The Millenium Falcon (from Star Wars) is called "the Milligan Falcon."

2) If I forget to put my seatbelt on before I start the engine, Spencer says, "Step One, Seatbelt. Step Two, turn on the car."

3) "I am never, EVER going to buy Spencer a birthday present!" said Colin when his brother made him angry.

4) Spencer to the cat: "What are you little fella? What are you? You're king of the cats, aren't you?"

5) Colin: "Mommy, I don't like it when you take pictures because that just means we have to go to the picture store AGAIN!"

6) Colin: "When are you going to put pictures of my triathlon on your blog?"

7) Spencer: "Mommy, when you cut my fingernails, I can't scratch my hand when it itches."

8) In reference to our little family game of calling out unusual cars as we go down the road, we have this exchange quite often. Colin: "Yellow car!" Spencer: "Colin, stop that! I'm not playing that game!" Colin: "Yellow bus!" Spencer: "Caaaaahhhhhlin! Stop that!! I'm not playing!. . . . . . Yellow car!"

9) My favorite is from church this morning. As we were singing, Colin was leaning up against me. He suddenly looked up at me, his face aglow, and said, "Mommy!! I can hear your heart sing!"

Check this out to see how magazine images are changed to unrealistic standards. If you have a teen or pre-teen girl, I suggest you show her, too.

h/t Charles

Saturday In The Park
Big day. Got up at 5:20. Yes. a.m. We carried the boys to the car and drove to Tulsa for Colin's second ever triathlon. We arrived about 7:20 and it was already hot, Hot, HOT. Colin did well. 150 meter swim, 2 mile bike and 1 mile run all in about 40 minutes (we won't have the exact time until next week). Our friend who is a captain in the Tulsa fire department came over to watch.

After the race, we headed over to the fire station and the boys got to crawl around on the engines and learn all about them. The engines had to leave twice while we were there, so we saw a little action. Very cool.

Next we headed over to Kate's on 41st for a most fantabulous lunch of asparagus crepes, creamy potatoes, grilled cheese on homemade bread, the best ever German chocolate cake and sugar cookies. After we had our lunch, we loaded up our cooler so we could stock our freezer at home. We got lasagna, Mexican casserole, quiche, pear bread, Pantry bread, iced brownies, Hello Dollies and lemon bars! We're going to be eating well for a spell here. If you live anywhere near Tulsa, you really ought to stop in. You can eat there AND/OR you can buy things to eat at home. The casseroles, cakes and pies are delicious comfort foods your entire family will absolutely love. And, you must take home at least one loaf of Pantry bread. The bread was Katy's mother's recipe and for many, many years Mimi made the bread every day and took it to the store for Katy to sell. Now Katy makes it and it is fluffy, sweet and delicious.

After lunch, we went swimming for a few hours to cool down. (It was 106 today!). Soon after we got in the car to drive home all my boys fell asleep...and they are asleep still.

A fine, fine day.

Anyway, all this fine dining has me in the mood for a food meme, so here it is:

How do you like your eggs? Boiled, almost hard in the middle, but not quite.
How do you take your coffee/tea: English Breakfast tea with milk and sugar.
Favorite breakfast foods: French toast and/or boiled eggs with toast.
Peanut butter: smooth or crunchy? Smooth.
What kind of dressing on your salad? The Blueberry Vinaigrette at Big Cedar Lodge in Missouri. Heavenly.
Coke or Pepsi? Coke with lots of little ice cubes.
You're feeling lazy. What do you make? Crackers and cheese, sliced apple.
You're feeling really lazy. What kind of pizza do you order? Sausage & Mushroom or Barbeque Chicken
You feel like cooking. What do you make? Peanut Butter Cookies. What else?
Do any foods bring back good memories? Well, those crepes I had today reminded me of the days when I worked for Katy 27 years ago. . . Wow. I'm surprised I can remember that far back!!
Do any foods bring back bad memories? Well, there was the time I ate a pound of white chocolate. That was a really bad idea.
Do any foods remind you of someone? Chicken soup smells like Uncle Ed's college apartment.
Is there a food you refuse to eat? None that are indigenous to North America...but it isn't a good idea for me to eat Zucchini unless it is baked in a bread.
What was your favorite food as a child? Mashed potatoes.
Is there a food that you hated as a child but now love? Um...you'd have to ask my mom about that. I don't think I've changed much in that department.
Is there a food that you loved as a child but now hate? Spaghettios with Franks.
Favorite fruit & vegetable: Blackberries & Spinach
Favorite junk food: Ruffles
Favorite between meal snack: Buttery crackers.
Do you have any weird food habits: No. My weirdness lies elsewhere.
You're on a diet. What food(s) do you fill up on? Beans. Scary, huh?
You're off your diet. Now what would you like? New York Cheesecake!
How spicy do you order Indian/Thai? Just short of medium.
Can I get you a drink? No thanks...well, maybe a Coke.
Red wine or white? Red. Dry.
We only have beer: Uh, no.
Favorite dessert? Chocolate sheet cake or New York Cheesecake.
The perfect nightcap? Just a cup of ice water.

Chilihead over at Don't Try This at Home has challenged us to compile a list of things we cannot do. Easy Queasy. Here they are.

1) I can't get my header the right size on my blog. Chilihead used the same artist and look how great hers looks. Man, I'm jealous.

2) I cannot keep my desk clean.

3) I cannot keep my house clean.

4) I can't fry chicken.

5) I can't figure out why my photos are stored in two different places on my computer.

6) I can't keep eye makeup on all day long.

7) I can't seem to grow grass in our back yard.

8) I'm not so very good at laundry.

9) I can't remember to take my thyroid meds every day.

10) I can't stay awake when I don't take my thyroid meds every day.

11) I can't get my husband to stop feeding the animals.

12) I can't knit. I'm not very good at sewing, either.

13) I can't find enough hours to do all the things I want to do.

Want to play? Leave a link!

Today is the greatly-anticipated HOME TOUR and you have just arrived at the home of The Happy Homemaker!! Please take your time and enjoy. When you're finished, come back up here and go on over to BooMama's place to find more homes to tour!! Thanks BooMama!!

Welcome to our back porch (where all our closest friends enter our home)!
This is how my office looked one day for about 5 minutes.
This is the view from my blogging space. That tree on the left was planted in memory of my mother-in-law. The tree on the right is a brown turkey fig.

This is the boys' plaything. I put the lattice up around the bottom of the fort and made a really cool sandbox in there complete with benches and a latching door. Thought it would keep the cats out. Nobody ever latched the door...

This is the stair case and one of my favorite scrapbook pages.

The boys' bedroom, which is my favorite room in the house when it is clean.


This was "the white bathroom" before the boys decided to hang from the L-shaped shower curtain rod and the plumber took out the sink to find a leak in the wall and the new sink broke when it fell into the tub and broke into a thousand pieces. But, that's a whole 'nother story.

This is my colorful bathroom, though you can't see all the colors so very well here. I tried to adjust the brightness and got this strange effect. Anyway, you'll notice the previous owners installed two sinks. It really confuses our guests for some reason.

The living room. If you were really here, I'd offer you a cola and we'd sit down in here to chat. Thanks for dropping by!

Well, I thought I'd work on a little summer recap as I clear off my desk and sort through photographs and drawings. Let's start with this drawing that appeared in our bathroom this morning. We've been working on remembering to flush and Colin thought he'd make himself a reminder and place it next to the toilet. When I discovered it, it was hard not to laugh out loud. It just reminded me how flushing can, in fact, lead to whirled peas.
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Colin learned to shoot a bow and arrow
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Myriad Botanical Gardens
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Exploring the "jungle" at the Botanical Gardens
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Red Earth parade in Oklahoma City
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A friend sent a bouquet of these cute froggy cookies. They tasted good, too!
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Space...the final frontier. (VBS)
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Goliath tries to scare David.
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The flower pot by the front door and a box of crayons...
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The boys spent a lot of time in the garden drawing flowers
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Dianthus...one of my favorite flowers
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Colin completed his first triathlon
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We picked our own blackberries and peaches.
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Spencer with his best friends and his coach.
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Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History in Norman, Oklahoma
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Almost eaten alive.
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The boys made their own dinosaur skeletons from the body parts Colin keeps in his room.
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Aren't they cute? That's my mom on the right.
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Yesterday we went to the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History with some friends. Although 10,000 daycare kids were there, we had a nice time and the boys loved the skeletons. Colin took his notepad with him and sketched a few. The museum is good, though I can't quite understand why a third of it is devoted to Native American history. Of course, one could argue that humans are "natural" as much as dinosaurs, but only Native Americans?? Why not pioneers? I would even understand a section on archaeology. I'm sure there is a reason and I'm counting on my readers to enlighten me.
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Lately I've been stamping instead of blogging. Here are a few of my recent creations:
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Random Acts of Rudeness

Last week James volunteered to help at a local duathlon. His job was to stand at an intersection out in the country and stop cars when the racers were coming through the intersection. Having been hit by a car at an intersection during a race two years ago, I'm sure James was taking the job seriously. One lady sat at the intersection briefly before yelling out her window, "You're wasting my time." She then proceeded to drive around James into the path of the cyclists!

Yesterday we attended Colin's triathlon. As the children left the pool and headed to their bicycles, there was a slippery portion of concrete just outside the door. I saw one child go sliding across the walkway and decided to find a mat. As I was placing the mat down, a lady came through the door with a stroller and a young child. I asked her to hold up a moment while I straightened the mat. She proceeded to drive over the mat, even though I was holding the end of it up near my knees! I repeated, "Just one moment while I adjust this," but she stood there on the mat!!! HELLO!!!! So, I put the mat down and said, "Okay, just go ahead then" and she did. Never said a word to me.

Today I went to the grocery. As I was putting my items on the "runway" the lady and man behind me started putting their stuff on there too!! okay. So, I managed to get my stuff on there, although it was actually touching their stuff, and I gave the cashier the payment. I turned to put something in my cart, and when I turned back around, the lady behind me had moved into the little payment area and started unpacking her purse. The cashier and I looked at her, puzzled. Finally, I just stood off to the side and the cashier had to come around to give me my receipt and change.

None of these people added a moment to their lives by their rude behavior. They only contributed to a hostile society. Efficiency is good. Pushy behavior? Not so much.

Hallmark has released its Dreambook 2006 featuring this year Christmas ornaments. I was tickled to see that I can be oh-so-stylish by simply decorating our tree with styrofoam coffee cups and soccer shirts!! I'm not going to bother purchasing from Hallmark, though. I can find these items easily for a fraction of the price!

I'm back on line!! Woo Hoo!!!

My friend Dan is trying to coach me through a big blog change...but I'm a poor computer student, so don't be surprised if he deletes my entire blog and sends me away.

Today was a big day for our family: Colin's first triathlon. We left home at 7:00 this morning and took him to UCO where he swam 100 meters, cycled 5 kilometers and ran 1 kilometer! He did a great job and even smiled the whole way! He is very proud of himself and we are very proud of him. He said he is ready for the next triathlon (even if it is today). I think he may take after his daddy.

We found two kittens living in our garage this week. The mommy has been camping out here for several months and hid her kittens from us for two or three weeks. They are very cute, but afraid of humans. I caught the little orange tabby (male) yesterday and held it for a couple hours. He is still so young his eyes are a little glazed and his walking is steady but unsure. I think he warmed up to me. He fell asleep on me a few times. I'm still trying to sneek up on the gray kitten. I think they'll be beautiful cats, so I'm trying to domesticate them for YOU! Anyone interested?

Compared to weeks past, we had a fairly slow and relaxed week. We're trying to take it easy in July, so there will be lots of home time...time for getting bored and getting creative. Well, at least for the kids. I ALWAYS have something to do. In fact, I always have 5 things to do.

For much more information on Rwanda, please visit Into Rwanda. Exciting things are happening!

My computer has crashed. Bummer.

Anybody out there care to tell me how to put my own graphic at the top of my blogspot blog?

Thanks.

Random Stuff

We went to Braums and I saw a woman in her sixties. She was a little pudgy, wore a pink t-shirt and had the typical grandmotherly curled and teased gray hair. She also had a bandana tied around her head as if she were on her way to an '80s workout session. She left the store carrying a head of iceberg lettuce and I saw her tossing it in the air like a basketball just before she got into her black pickup truck and drove away.

Colin and Spencer each opened rock stores in our back yard. Although Colin put a small sign on the fence, nobody has come to the store. Spencer's rocks are all "no charge." Colin has items for one cent, ten cents, one dollar and "priceless."

Last night we met with our Bible study group and heard about their summer adventures. One family is living in Canada and learning to speak French. Another has been to Montana, Japan and Europe. One family just returned from 6 weeks in Rwanda. They showed us hundreds of photos of Rwanda (which is beautiful) and the many baskets and other homemade items they brought home. The best part of the evening was hearing some of the stories of the 10 students who are coming to Oklahoma (see below) next month. Mind you, they were not "good" stories, but incredible stories of horror, loss and hope. When they come to America, they will be no doubt be shocked by our ignorance of their past. I can't even imagine the cultural differences!

I have taken on more work because of the departure of our co-worker. I've been getting by with very little work for several years now, so it is quite an adjustment for me. Thankfully my boys are now old enough to entertain themselves for longer stretches of time so I can concentrate on reading.

The Cheesecake Factory is building on the grounds of Penn Square Mall. I've never eaten there. Anybody? They say traffic will increase at that intersection, which is not pleasant. Cheesecake, however, is something to look forward to.

What to you think is better for children: a messy house with lots of activities or a clean house and no life? Please comment.

Today we got the photos of the 10 Rwandan students who will be coming to Oklahoma soon! Seeing their faces and hearing a tiny bit of their story, I just can't wait to meet them. Please check out Into Rwanda to learn more!

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