How to not clean your grill racks

Brian wanted to grill burgers Wednesday night.  So I thought I would surprise him with a nice clean grill.  First I tried to wipe them down and then decided to try a method I had heard about.  I put all the racks in the oven and turned on the self cleaning option.  BIG MISTAKE!! Within about 10 minutes my entire kitchen was filled with smoke and it kept coming.  I quickly pushed cancel.   It took about 10 additional minutes to stop.  Then when I could get it open smoke billowed out.  Soon the house was very smokey.  I was thankful the smoke alarms didn't go off, but I also wondered why they didn't go off.  Then the house and me smelled like I had been smoking boston butts for about 3 hours.  Lesson learned.

I went to a meeting tonight for OMMS football.  I can't believe my guy is old enough for jr high football.  Lots of practices, I sure hope he likes it.  I guess he will never know until he tries it.   I guess if I learned about baseball and basketball I can learn about football.  I hope he doesn't get smooshed.   Anybody want to buy car wash tickets?

Wompy Kid and the Raygun Administration

Lewis has started reading and I tried to see if he would be interested in reading Junie B. Jones.  He read a chapter and then was bored.  So I thought maybe he didn't have the attention span for a chapter book.  Then somehow he heard about "The Diary of the Wimpy Kid."  He told me "I want to read those Wompy Kid books."  So I let him take one to school on the bus, even though I thought it probably was not "appropriate" for a Kindergartener.  In fact in the school library  only lets 2nd or 3rd graders check them out.  He loved the first one, we couldn't find the 2nd and has read the 3rd too.  He was giving me the cheese touch last night.  The life of a 3rd kid.

We went to a great birthday party Saturday night for a couple of friends.  They had an eighties band called "The Raygun Administration." They played such awesome tunes.  We had a babysitter so we only stayed out until midnight.  We would have stayed up later for this band.  They were cuties like the Jonas Brothers, but sang all our favorites.  They did a hard rock version of "Straight Up" by Paula Abdul.  I was singing all the words and thinking I know this song, but what is it?  They sang Prince, Poison, Cyndi Lauper, Guns N Roses, and Billy Idol.  I couldn't believe how many of the words just came right back.  It was like old times.

I got a new pillow on the suggestion of "Ms Judy Anacker" at CASA.  It is a memory foam pillow without the contour.  The first night I slept on it I slept until 11:00 am (before you think I am a sloth, I was up until 12:00 trying to make sure the barely "pre" teens at my house were off to sleepy time).   Then during the rainy Saturday I took a two-hour nap.  Love my pillow!!

My guys worked on some projects for me around the house on Saturday and Sunday.  It was great.  Rob was my indentured servant because he left his cell phone in his pocket and I washed it.  When Clara discovered it, I took it apart and brought it back to life.  I let it sit in a bowl of rice over night and low and behold it started working.  It had a few bubbles on the background but I guess this phone was either designed for careless not quite teenagers or my front loader was not as hard on it.

Delta Dawn, What's that Flower You Have On?

I just watched the Madonna episode of Glee.  It was great.  The theme was that women are just as worthy of respect as men.   I think respect has to go both ways and many women are guilty of disrespecting men as well.  It made me think about my strong kids and wonder was I that strong?

I grew up with three sisters, I was the 2nd in line by 16 mths and then there were two sisters 5 and 7 years younger than me.  So a definitely girlish household.  We grew up in the country with a swimming pool in our backyard where we skinny dipped and wore no shoes.  In the summer we would see how long we could go with not brushing or washing our hair without our Mom noticing.  Imagine that with my crazy hair.

My dad taught us to shoot a rifle and have impeccable manners.  My dad would take my older sister and I "riding around" on Sunday afternoon and we would listen to Helen Reddy, "I am Woman", "You and Me Against the World" and "Delta Dawn"in the gold Tornado on my dad's eight track.   We also loved Neil Diamond "Forever in Blue Jeans".   I had a boy dog named Sue (my Dad loved Johnny Cash).  We went to the library every weekend and got new books   ( we didn't have cable but we would sometimes break into one of my Dad's law partner's apartment to watch it on those Sunday drives).  I learned to take care of my little sisters at an early age because we all chipped in.  My sisters were my best friends.  So we had a girly household but not your typical girly household.

Growing up in a very small town wasn't always easy.  I wasn't athletic and there was a premium on that where I grew up.  I was smart but guys didn't like smart girls that spoke their mind or it could have had something to do with their were only 11 or 13 boys in my grade out of a class of 40.  My parents sent us on trips to Europe.  One time my Mom went with me on the trip.The other time Kathleen and I went by ourselves to Europe and rode on a bus with people from all over the world (we saw 13 countries in 11 days, Kathleen was 18 and I was 19, no parents).  To say my parents were not overprotective nor  controlling was an understatement.

I loved being involved in college and "collecting people."  I enjoyed leadership roles and planned to go to law school after college because I majored in Communication (not the most practical choice) and had nothing else to do.  The week I took the LSAT prep course I started to fall in love with Brian.  At the time he was getting the "Limbaugh Letter" and I was cheering Al Gore on when he came to MSU.   He was the first man to love me just the way I was.  He was not threatened by my constant questions, he went to church every Sunday at college, and he loved it when I would argue with his friends.  So when it came time to actually apply to law school I knew I was going to marry Brian and I did not have any more interest in law school  My dad was very disappointed, he really wanted me to come practice law in my hometown.  We agreed to disagree and that was the first time I had to use my "I am Woman" traits with my Dad.

So when I really think about how I felt and acted growing up maybe my kids got some of their toughness from me, just not the athletic ability.   It is so important for us to empower our sons and daughters, and encourage them to be all God created them to be.  One of my best friends has a great saying, "You are just how God made you!"  Amen to that sister!

Roofs and such

I think I might be getting a new roof.  The road to the possible new roof has been a little bumpy.  I had someone come by and want to look at my roof.  He used some binoculars to look up there and said we had 3 spots, one from hail and two from wind.  Needless to say I was kind of distracted by my kids being home so I didn't really question his super vision.  I called my insurance company to file a claim per his instructions.    The roof guy was supposed to come by on my flower planting day  but didn't show until I was in the car  running that light and retrieving my keys.  So the next morning I did a little research on this company.  They wanted me to sign a contract stating I would sign all insurance checks over to them and they would keep any overage that the insurance paid.  Then I found they didn't have a BBB rating anymore because of unresolved complaints.  I had a friend that used them, got their new roof, and then had to have it redone because they had installed it incorrectly.  I thought I would give the company a chance by calling the rep and requesting an estimate before we signed a contract.  I asked about the BBB and the super vision.  All the guy said was "I would like the opportunity to sit down and tell you more about our company."  I said ok, after I get an estimate, he said he had to go but would call me back.  That was three days ago.

So now I have had 3 roofers give me estimates and one really inspect our roof.  The guy who climbed up there and looked said we had tons of damage on the roof and the gutters.   So the adjuster will have the final say but hopefully we  (I) have saved ourselves $10,000.  Great day at the ball parks today,  OMI, Heardmont and then Chelsea.  The first time Rob got up to bat Brian was coaching him the whole time.  He struck out.   Then I went over and told Brian not to open his mouth the next time Rob got up to bat and see what happens.  He did and Rob got a great hit to left field.  The other 2 times he got up the same thing.  So we have a new coaching technique at the plate.  Those who know how quiet Brian can be would not believe how much he talks when coaching the Fuller kids.  I think the peeps are distracted by the volume of words coming out of his normally word sparse mouth.

I got so ill with the kids this morning about them not putting up their clothes when I asked them.  Wasn't pretty but I think they got the picture.  I hate putting away clothes too, I guess it is a genetic trait.  Clara played two games today and she loved it.  She is a mysterious creature to me, I love how she is brave, tough, aggressive and kind at the same time.  My slim, tall, blond girl is very different from the plump, crazy curly black headed (in the days before mouse) and uncoordinated  girl I was.

I had lost my keys, but planted flowers anyway.

I got up bright and early this morning after a late night at the ballpark.  The Cubbies finished about 10:00.  I had gone walking before the game and had given my junk to a friend to watch while I walked and talked with Pam.  I was going to walk by myself and I saw Pam and got her to walk with me.  My friend Jennifer kept calling me  on my fancy Iphone and I could not hear her at all.  "Jennifer must be in a bad cell or something" we said.  After trying to call her back about 5 times I gave up.  After my walk I realized why I could not hear her.  I still had the headphones plugged in,Jenn could her everything we said , but we couldn't hear her yelling into the phone to try to get our attention.  Needless to say, I thought this was hilarious, so I was kind of distracted in retrieving all my junk from my friend who was watching it.  Fast forward to this morning, I could not find my keys anywhere.  I called my sweet hubby who was already downtown by 7:45 am and told him I could not find my keys.  He said "You didn't leave them at the ballpark did you?"  "Why would I take them to the ballpark?"  I said, "You drove us there."   Silly man.  He said he would come bring me his keys.  So he was back at home by 8:30.  I thought I would drop by the park and look at the field in case.  So I had dressed up a little for work and I ran back in my new cute flip flops to the field.  I had blisters by the first bridge.  As I was then walking, I realized how beautiful the day was.  Usually the park is loud with scooters, the crack of bats,  and the crazy mom's screaming.  It was quiet except for the birds and the stream.  I was struck by the God's presence in that moment.   I immediately let go of the stress of the lost keys.  I started to think, so what, I will just get new keys made.  It will take some of my mad money but that is alright.  God is in control.

Went to work and emailed my friend from the ballpark.  She said she would look in her bag when she got off work.  Had a great day with my little friends.  Shannon and I went down to the youth area and picked out some plants they were selling for missions.  I got two very large ferns and some knockout roses.  Shannon and I loaded up our cars after work.  I swung by Wal-mart and got some cute stuff.  One of them was a cute knit dress that smelled like fried chicken but hey it was $12.00.   Ran to get Clara at art and told the kids if they found the keys them would get $20.  I told them we would look after we planted our plants.  We all got out in the yard and hacked away at our rocky soil.  I mean I think they filled this one raised bed of ours with rocks and then added a little dirt.  Rob and I cut some unknown black wire, pretty bad me being a power company bride.  I got Rob to run it over to my neighbor and ask him what it was.  He said no worries it is just some old cable wire and that he had cut it too when he put in the sprinkler system.  We had a great time getting dirty, finding worms, and a bunch of rocks.

We had planted the two ferns and the knockout roses when I got a text that my friend had my keys!!!  Great news, we map quested their address and went to get them.  I thanked them and left a happy girl.  I ran a red light on the way home and laid on the horn because I thought the other person was running the red light.   How embarrassing, I pulled into the Publix parking lot to avoid being behind her anymore.  I took the kids to Krystals, a blast from the past.   We came home and watched Glee.  What a great day!!  God gave me just the perspective I needed to appreciate this beautiful day.

My dad showed one of his clients who is a jazz musician Five Vibe's video on you tube.  He doesn't even have a computer in his office, so it was on his iPhone.  The musician said they were pretty good, for beginners.  Rob was flattered but I was more flattered my Dad was proud enough to show Five Vibe off.  It takes a lot to impress Bob.

We almost missed Five Vibe

Had a great day Saturday.  Rob had a game at 9:00 and they won.  We then took Lewis to a birthday party which included an obstacle course.  I dropped him off, he was so excited.  One of the activities at the party was an obstacle course.  They had to go through a tunnel, climb a rock climbing wall, down a pole,  up a rope ladder and across the monkey bars.  I asked him if he was able to go across the monkey bars and he said yes, but I had to have a widdle help.   He explained that SOME kids were scared.  I knew Lewis had never gone across monkey bars or slid down a pole.

We went to Hamburger Heaven and there were some cute Phi Mus washing cars for the Children's Miracle Network.  Rob was sitting with some of his friends inside and I asked if they wanted to tell the cute girls that we would take a car wash.  They were up like a flash.   So funny they were picking out which ones they liked through the window.   We then chilled out at home before going to Lewis and Clara's games that were at 4:00.  Rob practiced with his band all afternoon and then we were going to meet him at the Expo after Clara's game.  He was texting me during Clara's game saying they were watching the competition.  He said they would be the 11th band and they were only on 4.  After the game we were gathering all of the kids gear up when Rob called and said they were on next.  My Mom, Brian, Clara, Lewis and I all flew to the car and sped off to the gig. Clara was crying because she was afraid she would miss it.  Momma started laughing and I yelled at her, "It won't be funny if we miss it."  Not one of my best moments, I know.  Then Brian dropped us off and we ran in very dramatically not stopping to pay our $2.00 each at the gate.  "We will come back and pay!!!"

We made it just in time.  Clara ran up to Rob to hug him and then remembered they were in public and gave him a mental hug. Clara and Lewis were full uniform, cleats and all (we had brought tennis shoes and had left them in the car) Rob and the other Five Vibers were loose and ready to go.  Rob had texted all his buddies that were there riding rides and eating deep fried Reeses ( I was eating one of those later) and asked they to come watch.  By that time we realized they had some stiff competition, there was one group who had their own CD and I thought the judges would be impressed by iron t-shirt!!  They performed great, the best they had ever done.  The group who won were middle schoolers, and an older brother of one of the Five Vibers was in it.  Rob said they were awesome, something to aspire to.  I was secretly glad the 21 year old soloist didn't win.

Here is the video

We stayed almost to closing and the kids met up with friends.  We had such a great time and Lewis even rode a pretty scary ride 5 times (kind of like the Mattahorn, MS fair reference).  I really did eat a deep fried Reeses, I probably won't again but it was a great one time treat.   Now Rob wants to learn to play the bass, to further develop the Vibe.

A Bunny story and the Five Vibe t-shirt

Once upon a time there were a bunny named Fluffy and a friend named Oreo.  They liked to eat grass , play kickball and eat carrots.  Then they got married.

Lewis Fuller-age 6

Five Vibe's Tshirts

I have been trying to create a cool T-shirt for Rob's rock band. I picked these cool brown t-shirts but I didn't realize the iron on paper was clear not white. So when I tried to transfer red images onto them it didn't show up enough. So we have 2 brown tshirts with the faint logo of five vibe, What's your vibe?. I will try again with gray, should work better. The last iron paper I used was white, they have come a long way.

They practiced tonight and they are improving. I really am proud of them having enough guts to do this, I never would have in 6th grade. I will post a pic of the t-shirts and the band. Got an iphone yesterday and I love it so far. I haven't had much time to play with it though, one feature I am pumped about is the find your phone feature. I get on my laptop and press a button and it tells me exactly where my phone is with a GPS. Cool beans. I have a bunch of 12 year old boy apps on my phone now, because we all share the same itunes account. The Zippo Lighter app is one example. Lewis has the battery magic on his ipod touch and he is obsessed with it. He used to refuse to used it if it was less than 80%. I took away his itouch because he was so neurotic about it. Now that I have given it back he has broken the cycle, he still checks it but can deal if it is low.

Fun day with my preschoolers today, I just love getting to see so many smiling faces everyday. I had a kid tell me today that his Mom did not want him to play the Jump Start Preschool game. So I told him that was fine he could just sit in a chair and not do computer today. He stopped for a second and then said, "Oh I was wrong, my mom said I COULD play the Jump Start Preschool game." The little man wanted to play a different game but this old lady has been around the preschool block a few times.

Clara's team won their first game Tuesday night, whoo hoo, I was beginning to think we might not all season. My Mom is coming to visit tomorrow. I am so excited. Lewis drew a picture of him and Rob today. It is so funny, it is supposed to say "You want a piece of me?"

I plan to frame this and put it up in their bathroom. Appropriate with the pee and all.

Lewis's obsession with insects that bite

Lewis has asked me at least 25 questions about bees today.  He is scared of them.  He asked me all about how bees make honey. What do bees eat?    He asked me if bee babies are cute like baby alligators, I said I guess so.  He is using the trick of picturing these scary creatures as babies to make himself feel sympathy for them.

We had another practice for 5 Vibe (the girl shortened it) tonight.  The drummer was not there and Brian filled in as the drummer.  Who knew my hubby could play the drums like that?  He and his Mom told me he played drums in Jr. High but I was picturing a little snare drum not a drum set.  The girl got the boys organized and kept them moving, just what they needed.  They are sounding better all the time.

We bought Clara new catching equipment because the park equipment kept popping off on the legs.  So today in the game her new equipment kept coming open too.  Each time Clara would fix it.  Finally the ump said "Hey Coach can someone tighten them up a little bit?"  Thank you ump!!  All the dad's acted like they didn't know how to fix them, such a simple answer.  Then my catcher in pink equipment ( which she did not want, but it was on sale and the simple black ones were a cheap brand that didn't offer enough protection) was happy the rest of the game.

Just found "The Princess Bride" on TV. Love it so.  The man in black just told Andre the Giant to dream of large women.

We will be singing my favorite hymn tomorrow at church.  Christ the Lord is Risen Today!  I am so thankful for what my Lord has done for me.  Happy Easter.  Bock, Bock

Sweet Child of Mine is singing Sweet Child o Mine

I went to Rob's practice for the band he joined for the battle of the bands at the middle school expo.  He is the lead singer (there is a female lead singer too but she has strep throat) and some of his friends are guitars and drums.  One of the songs they are singing is Sweet Child O Mine.  It is so funny.  Tonight I couldn't stand it and jumped in to help out.  The old Baptist church choir days kicked in.  I was asking "Where is his sheet music, he needs sheet music!!"  So I downloaded it tonight.  Wanted Dead or Alive is the other one and it is a little easier.  They were saying he didn't really need it, that he could just listen to the ipod but my kind of musical past kicked in.  I have also promised I would design some T-shirts, their name is Five Vibe Republic (what the heck??).  Considering the performance is in a week they might have to be iron on.

So I went from not really caring to being a stage mom in about 5 minutes.  Kind of like Toddler and Tiaras.  Full day tomorrow of baseball, choir performance, and softball but we are having donuts for breakfast!!  We bought Clara this undershirt thing for pitching called Evoshield, it is way cool.  She wore it tonight and it hardens on her body and then you take it off and it hardens over night.  It is supposed to protect her from line drives to the chest or kidneys.  The cute 19 year old boy who was helping me with it was a little embarrassed when I asked "How long will she be able to wear it?" and he said "Ummm it actually last longer for boys than girls, as they develop......it becomes restricting and they have to get a larger size."  Too funny.

We tried to sing 99 red ballons too, weird lyrics by the way...something about software.....then the guitarist said "It is about war!"