October!

I just went an entire month without a single post. I guess that means I've been busy! Here's a recap, for the record.

Jiro got to spend a week at the beach for Fall Break thanks to the incredibly generous and amazing Edwards family.



He went last year too. How lucky is he? Last year he got pretty homesick and I got a ton of late night "I can't sleep" texts. This year, I barely heard a peep. He had a great time.



We had to celebrate Warren's 49th (!!) birthday without him. Satchel and I took Warren to the Beauty Shop for a fancy brunch that included cake.



If you are thinking that Satchel looks huge in the picture, it's because he is. He's officially taller than both Warren and I (though only one of us will admit it) and his feet are definitely bigger. It's an amazing thing to watch your baby grow taller than you!



Wait, I thought I just said Satchel is taller?



Someone just got busted on his tippy toes!

Let's see, what else? I am still amazing the children with my culinary skills. I made potato soup for the first time and Satchel said it was better than Warren's. (Shhh!)



Satchel saved up enough money to buy a Swegway. It's pretty awesome.



It's actually making him want to leave the house, which is great.

Jiro has been learning to play bass now that he's in the band.



He's VERY shy about it.

On Halloween we had our very last Rock-n-Romp ever. Ever! It rained so hard that we almost cancelled, which would have been a first, but the awesome owners of Memphis Made let us move it inside. Good thing, since original DC founder, Debbie Lee, came all the way to Memphis for the show!



It ended up being really awesome, and it was great hanging out with Debbie! Mean ol' Satchel refused to attend.

After RnR, Warren and Jiro dressed up for Halloween and went to a party.



That's Jiro in the monkey mask. He's a Black Ops 2 character called Lui Calibre.



Guess who Warren was?



Alex from a Clockwork Orange!



I don't play Black Ops 2 and I haven't seen A Clockwork Orange, so I'm a little out of the loop on how awesome or not awesome these costumes are.

And that was October! At least what I can remember of it!

Blue Hair

I have always secretly wanted to dye my hair blue--like real blue, not old lady grey haired blue. So when Jiro started asking me about dying his hair blue I wasn't exactly opposed to it. I strung him along for a few weeks thinking he'd eventually drop the idea, but he didn't.

Having never actually dyed my own hair, I didn't feel qualified to do it myself at home. No way did I want to be the target if he hated it!

So, I enlisted the help of a professional, Ms. Holly Woods. She's at Paggio's, right by Warren's house. Here's the play by play...

Before.



During.




After.



He was SO happy. Holly did a great job.



When we went to get Satchel, I thought for sure he would want to get his done next. When I asked him he said, "Yeah. Can I dye it brown?"

Updatey Like

I feel like nothing is happening, but also that a lot is happening. A scroll through my phone pictures left me with the following updates:

Jiro played for idlewild this Spring. I think he only got to play in three games because of rain, rain, and more rain. He also missed one because of Rock-n-Romp and one because of a field trip. But, trust me, when he was there he was an absolute beast!



Speaking of field trips, Jiro went on his first ever out of town field trip to the Corvette factory & museum in Kentucky. He was SO excited. On the long bus ride, he filled his Instagram account with a gazillion selfies. It was cute.



We had some furniture rearranging in the apartment. Satchel slept on the floor on the new rug I got them for two or three weeks straight. I thought he just really liked the rug. He complained his bed was uncomfortable. Finally, he admitted that he didn't like sleeping on the top bunk. And finally, I realzied that just because beds can be bunks, they don't have to be. He was so happy to have his first ever bed on the floor.



Jiro is handling the change just fine.



There's been some cooking at the apartment, but not much. I still excel at breakfast and we have a few basic dinners we enjoy. Satchel tried his hand at making mashed potatoes from scratch.



And Jiro has helped make brownies and cookies, in addition to his Japanese candy kits.



Satchel's arm is still broken. He is on cast number 3. They change it every two weeks. Somehow I haven't gotten a photo.

School ends tomorrow. Both kids did well at the awards ceremonies. They prefer that I don't attend, and I don't argue. A friend sent this picture.



Satchel got the Outstanding Student Award in Art and P.E. which cracks me up. At least the P.E. part. He is a pretty amazing little artist.

That's it for now. We are looking forward to a relaxing summer break. The boys only have a couple of camps this year, but they have three road trips. And lots of free ranging!

11

We are wrapping up birthday month over here! On the 29th, this little cutie turned 11.



He chose to start his day with a kolache from Donald's Donuts and some apple juice. (Notice the new 'do, inspired by Renaldo.)

His birthday party was the preceeding weekend. It started with a trip to the Rec Room with some of his best buddies.



I rented one of the livingroom areas so they could play Wii-U on the big screen.



Then I let them run wild for a bit.



(How many 11 year olds does it take to keep a ping pong in play?)

Then we procured pizza and I passed the baton to Warren, who hosted the sleepover. The next morning, Warren sent this: The official list of challenges.



(1. licking foot, 2. onion, 3. mio, 4. cat food, 5. licking Satsuki (the dog), 6. nice, relaxing mio)

In the morning they went on a donut run and then played soccer in the park.



Ok, fast forward back to the actual day. After mastering his math TCAPs, Warren took him out for a treat. Then he had soccer practice, and finally a family dinner at the restaurant of his choice: Outback. That's right. He really wanted a steak. And he inisted I take a photo. (That's my boy!)



His list of wants was very small this year, and his favorite present was his Real Madrid James (pronounced HOM-es).




He really is the sweetest kid there ever was, and I thank my lucky stars that I get to be his mom. Happy birthday, Jiro!

Four Eyes

Jiro told me he was having trouble seeing the board at school, and asked if he could have his eyes checked. (He then admitted he never turned in the paper work to have them checked at school.) Of course, I said yes.




Turns out he was indeed a bit nearsighted. So he has joined the ranks of those of us who need a little help seeing things clearly. Just when I thought he couldn't get any cuter...



And yes, I helped him pick out those frames.



Satchel is the last man standing.

Fairly Awesome

My boys LOVE the fair.

Last year they got grounded and didn't get to go, so this year it was ON. Satchel actually ended up going on Monday with his friend, Theo. Yes, the 12 year olds were dropped off and left to their own devices. Satchel reported having fun for awhile, and then puking in a trash can. He complained that he was so sick that he didn't want to eat any of Theo's delicious looking Fried Oreos! He did manage to spend all $42 dollars he had in his pocket though.

This is Satchel in 2012.



Clearly, rides aren't his thing.

Jiro was extremely bummed that Satchel did not want to go with us on Wednesday, but I promised him we would have fun without him. And we did.

Jiro's buddy Ray was there with his mom, Mad, and the two of them literally ran from ride to ride.





Mad, who had been there about 45 minutes already, was pretty nauseous and hesitant to ride any more rides, but we got her on a few. I was actually enjoying the rides, and practiced being calm and letting the scary flow over me. Mad coped by screaming and praying to Jesus.

By the time we got to Crazy Mouse, Mad drew the line. I ride Crazy Mouse every year and this year would be no different. By now we had met up with another friend, Lily. I tried to tell her how scary the ride was, but she didn't believe me. I think this $6 photo sold to Lily's dad by the Crazy Mouse operators sums it up perfectly.



We obviously needed a little sugar to keep going.




And I insisted on at least one selfie.



Jiro said, "Awkwaaaard."

Check out Lily's awesome fashion, surely fashioned at this year's Rock-n-Romp Camp.



I love the way the fair looks at night, but by dark I was ready to go.

Moby Dick (below) is reportedly what made Satchel puke.



Those extra high flying swings are my new favorite.



Jiro agreed to leave once he had some Fried Oreos and lemonade. He wanted Satchel to be jealous, although he's too sweet for that. He of course asked soon after if he could take some home to him.



My sweet boy also made sure to thank me about hundred times on the way home. Although he did say that in a perfect world we would have gone two days earlier (Peyton from "Jessie") or two days later (R4). Both boys have actually been making a play to return tonight for R4 (or is it R5?), but I'm just not ready for that.