Happy Birthday, Candy!

Today is my friend Candy's birthday.

I hope it is a sweet, happy and blessed one!

Summer Blessings

The weather is hot

Time spent with friends refreshing

Enjoy His blessings

This has been a good summer for me. I have a summer job. I was invited to a Fourth of July party for the first time in years. I saw my aunt and two of my cousins three days last week at a neighborhood festival. ( Three generations of women in my family singing "Pour Some Sugar on Me" and "Talk Dirty to Me" in the bleachers at the top of their lungs. Can it get any better than that here on this Earth?) Next week another cousin is having a barbecue, then the next another cousin her graduation party, then the next day some friends are barbecuing. I haven't had such a great summer in years.

I suppose I could complain about some things if I wanted to, I suppose. The weather has been hot and humid. The school I teach summer school at isn't air conditioned. It rained late in the afternoon on July 4. My feet hurt walking to the part where the festival was.... I haven't had a chance to go swimming yet because I've been busy.

But none of those things really mattered compared with the joy of teaching again, the laughter of friends, the voices of people I love raised in songs.... It's been awesome! I am amazed by how much I have been blessed this summer!

Check out the Bridget Chumbley's blog carnival for more thoughts on summer.

Different Song, Different Lyrics, I Promise!

I know. I haven't posted in a week. I blame Wendy. I know it is customary in our circle to blame katdish, but Wendy has NOT been keeping up with HER Life is Funny blog carnival. I really do try to participate in those.

How is her blog carnival different from Duane's Pleasantly Disturbed Thursdays? Wendy's blog carnival is all about remember a funny incident from your life, either recent or in the past, and sharing it. Pleasantly Disturbed Thursdays is all about rambling on and on in a stream of consciousness sort of way. One can plan for it, but then find that they are not typing what they planned to at all.

My new part time job is going great, thanks for asking (lots of you DO ask on the twitter, so no sarcasm, there). In two weeks and a day, it will be over. It has been interesting. I haven't worked with preschoolers for twenty years until now. When a preschooler puts a ball under her shirt, pretending to be pregnant, then ditches the ball and runs around with a doll proclaiming "I HAD MY BABY!!! I HAD MY BABY!!", that's completely cool, right? I usually just ask the baby's name....

It's music week, and my husband is disturbed that I am teaching the kids disco moves. "Aren't they a little young for this?" It's not like I'm teaching them to shake anything. My disco moves are pretty lame. You can't give what you don't have... So I think I'm in the safe zone. Any thoughts on this?

My Momma would be so proud of me! I have been wearing sunscreen and a huge hat. I know. I wrote about it last week. What I didn't mention is that when I was a child, my mom used to chase me around with sunscreen and wear hats, and I found it hugely embarrassing. Now that she is looking down from heaven, I know she just has to be laughing at me! (Also, the day I go DESPERATE for things to do with the little ones, and reverted to "Engine Engine Number Nine", a game she used to play with my cousins and me when I was little.)

I just looked up the lyrics on Google. Not THAT "Engine Engine Number Nine"! Good golly miss molly, I should now expect a bunch of complaints from parents thinking that I taught THAT to their kids when they say we played "Engine Engine Number Nine"...

Engine Engine Number Nine

running down Chicago line

please tell me the correct time

the correct time is what?

(Tapping a child's fist on every syllable)

(Child last tapped picks a number. Tap that many fists. Last fist tapped is out. Luckily they have two fists...)

What do you think I play with 3-7 year olds, backgammon?

Pleasantly Disturbed Thursday: Toys, Toddlers, Tea, and Hats

There is still no button for Pleasantly Disturbed Thursdays. That's DS's problem. But if you would like to see other contributions to Pleasantly Disturbed Thursdays, go ahead and click that first sentence...

I saw "Toy Story 3" on Tuesday. Does anyone else out there feel badly that they don't know what happened to some of their old toys now?

MITZI!? BUFFY!? WOLFIE!? WHERE ARE YOU? FORGIVE ME!!!!!!!!!!! I KNEW NOT WHAT I DID!!!!!

Three year olds have short legs. Mine are much longer, and I still have a hard time keeping up with them. Watching a three year old run is hysterical until you realize that if you chased her, you'd probably never catch her.

I know that conventional wisdom says that caffeine is energizing, but I feel way more energized after a cup of chamomile tea and a nap.

I had ideas for this post floating around in my head on the drive home last night. I guess they are now marooned on a deserted island somewhere, far, far away, waiting to be rescued. I hope they make a better match than the Skipper and Gilligan. It always got on my nerves how Skipper would yell at poor Gilligan all the time. But the Professor was kind of cute...

I still can't find my pink Sox hat. I wore it while gardening a few weeks ago, noticed dirt on it, and immediately went and cleaned it with soap and water. I think it ended up looking as good as new. The problem is, I left it in a different place to dry, and can't remember where that place is. Must have been very different.

Speaking of different, I have been wear straw hats to work. (The only other choice is a pinkish tie dyish visor that says "WAIKIKI" that I bought on my honeymoon 14 years ago, or perhaps my pirate hat) I take the children outside to play in the afternoon, and at my age, sunscreen and a hat can make the difference between smooth or leathery skin in a few years. I was worried though that the big straw hats (one with a shoestring tie, the other with a scarf tie) made me look a tad eccentric. Then I remembered that I am looking for a PINK Sox hat. I am a tad eccentric. Oh well. At least the children like my hat. I think they think I'm wearing a costume.