Overheard this evening

from Ashlyn, our sweet, eight year old Pyxie girl:

"Whew! Loryn...you smell like poop. And not the good kind, either!".


I'll admit...I laughed so much. Leave it to Ash to say something like this. I, for one, never realized that there was a "good kind" of poop smell. Some poops definitely smell better than others (or, should I say, some are less offensive smelling than others), but I'm not sure where she got this particular bit of info.

*CLARIFICATION* I just asked Ashlyn what she meant earlier, when she said that. She informed me that there are "Golden Poops", (I'm capitalizing, because she made it sound like a proper noun situation) and those are the best kinds, and the one that Loryn had done was definitely not a Golden Poop (emphasis hers).

Well, boy do I feel like an idiot. I had no idea. ;-)



Ash also told her first "real" fib yesterday, about her long fingernails and the fact that her Dad had cut them for her (he hadn't...she bit her fingernails, because she didn't want us to cut them with clippers).

I don't think she lied to get out of trouble, or anything like that. She knows we don't care if she bites her nails (she used to do it all the time, because the sensory overload of the fingernail clippers was too much for her). I think she just had fun telling her story. When I found out that Dave hadn't cut her nails, she giggled and immediately said, "Oh, I forgot...it was Shelby". (?)


Also tonight, Tori told me "I can't wait till I'm 10!"...and a split second later, "When do you think I'll get my period?"!

Dear Gawd.

Happy Spring!

Happy Spring! Happy Easter! Happy EVERYTHING!

Cute pic, cute kids...

I shot this when the four girls were in the back of Big Daddy's truck, hanging out before we left Danville.

Go Shorty. It's my Birthday.

Actually, my birthday was the 9th. I turned 35.

I'm still filled with a feeling of wonder, that I can be so loved. Just a few of my goodies: Target gift cards, Starbucks gift cards, a new outfit, lots of beautiful cards and notes, dinners out, the first season of 30 Rock, ALSO Across the Universe.

What a gushy, love-y birthday...what more can a girl ask for?



Kewlest gift? A video Shelby made for me...see below. Pay special attention, Dan...also, anyone who knows Loryn, keep an eye out for her cameo.

Dave and the girls

So few pics of my husband and all four girlies together, but I thought this was a pretty good one. Everyone looks really happy.

They had a blast splashing around in the pool with Dave. Definitely one of the highlights of our vacation.

Books, Plants, Hair, and other BS

Shelby had a sleepover at her BFF's house Friday night. When I was leaving our house (Saturday evening, after Dave got home from work) to pick her up, I got a call on my cell. Apparently, the girls had decided to do a "double" sleepover. *sigh* After the assurance from BFF's Mom that, yes, in fact, that was Okey-Dokey with her (and her family), I decided to drive by Lowe's, to check out the garden stuff, before hitting Quizno's for dinner. (Quizno's was a no-brainer, for me, anyway...Dave had insisted that I play some WoW with him. And since I was forced to play WoW for a good coupla hours, there was no way I could possibly be expected to cook a real dinner)! ;-)


Anyhoo, I'll meet Shel and BFF Sunday at the Green Valley Book Fair. I've blogged about this place before, BTW...it's a book mecca! (That's what the lady with the big-dog Southern accent says on the commercials, anyway).


Oh, at Lowe's, I bought a red Peony (not Peyote, as Dave heard...did I mention that I think Big D has a hearing impairment?), and I might go back for a couple more...I'd like to find some pink ones to plant along one side of our fence.
















I also bought a Summer Nights Delphinium and a Blue Fortune Agastache. I hope we can get those planted tomorrow (or actually, later today). I tend to favor deep blues and purples in my garden. Yellow, too, and some dark reds and fuschia. But blue and purple make me very happy. I have an aunt who despises the color blue. She says it makes her nauseous. Weird, random factoid about my family...I've got a hundred of 'em.


























Let's see...what else?


I dyed my hair (again). Red (again)! I'm digging the new color, but I still want to cut my hair. I was hoping the new color would satisfy my hair wanderlust, but that ain't happening. My hair is just too long for my liking.

Scratch that...my hair is too heavy, not "too long". Anyone who knows me IRL knows that my hair is pretty short. I will probably never, ever grow my hair long (sorry, hon). I just don't have the patience for it. I despise the "growing-out phase", where I hafta wear barrettes or headbands to keep my bangs out of my eyes and off my forehead.



Maybe I'll try a pixie cut:






My guess is that Shelby will hate it, she'll think I'm copying her hairstyle. As the oldest of four girls, she's very aware of others who try to steal her ideas. :-)

Hmmm...anything else?

Dave is (finally) on vacation! Yippee! Poor thing...he's worked so hard, and has really needed a break for a while now. Hopefully, after this week, he can go back to work refreshed, and work will be steady througout the summer. Dave is a finance and insurance manager for a car dealership...I don't know if I've ever mentioned exactly what he does before.

I should be packing for our mini-vacation, but I'm the Queen of procrastination. I'll post more about our plans later.

Let's see...cute stuff:

Ashlyn told me tonight that she'd like to make homemade chocolate chip cookies tomorrow, and that we could all do it "togever". Is that sweet, or what?

Tori is almost a level 30 on Maple Story. We just bought her (and Shel) Nexon cash cards ($25, each) so that her character and Shelby's character can get married (Tori has a boy character, Shelby has a girl character). The girls are pretty cute together, discussing Tori's tux and the ring she bought for Shelby. Tori said it was a small ring, but Shelby "really liked it". (Hell, they've got it more together than Dave and I did...we got married in a local councilman's office...I was pregnant and we did it on my lunch break, and Shelby carried dandelions from outside the office complex).

Saturday, June 30th was my parents' 18th wedding anniversary. My mom married Kenny 18 years ago...seems like forever. They're a good match. It feels weird, though, to think that this November, Dave and I will have been married 10 years. Me, 10...my MOM, 18? I told her today that I just married young, and she married when she was an ol' lady! She was in a good mood, though...she laughed.

More rambling nonsense later...

We Got a Wii!

Dave and I managed to find a Wii just in time for Ashlyn's Birthday.

And No, we don't normally splurge this big for one kid's birthday, but we had been trying to find a Wii since they first came out, with no luck.

Ashlyn hadn't been very helpful, either, as far as telling us what she wanted for her birthday...except that she'd like a Wii. *sheesh*

So fate stepped in, and I found one when I went grocery shopping one night. I called Dave to tell him, and he had just two words for me:

"DO IT!"

Ash proudly shows off her Yu-Gi-Oh cards.

Ashlyn's 8th Birthday, June 16

From left to right: Shelby, Ashlyn, Loryn (standing), Dave, and Tori.

June 18

Happy Autistic Pride Day, everybody!

Check out this site, Aspies for Freedom, which promotes the idea that Autism and Asperger's are not disabilities, and that there should be no attempt to "cure" anyone who's on the Autism spectrum.

Good, thoughtful reading.

Lolo turns 5!

Loryn (or Lolo, as she's affectionately known around here) turned 5 on Sunday, May 20. And what a great day she had! It was all about Bob the Builder, Thomas the Train, and Veggie Tales for her. In the pics below, she looks a little...well...underwhelmed. I think it was the opposite: she was just overwhelmed with all the toys, everyone chattering back and forth, trying to get her to smile, and all that. She had a lot of fun, even though the party was just a family affair: just us and Dave's Dad, Wade.

I do hope to one day give her a big birthday party, but at this point I don't think she'd be as happy. She's comfortable, and happier, here at home, with people who love and know her best.

Happy Mama Day

Shelby, Tori, and Ashlyn enjoy the garden hose!



Self-portrait, as we waited in traffic on Rt. 151 (due to a bad accident).




Lolo, happily traveling in her car seat.




Me and the girls, outside of my Mom's house in Danville.




My Mom and Dad, (Kay and Kenny), and Kenny's mom (Nana).