Month: August 2005

I love initials and I love new traditions. PPPPF is the latest Thurman tradition. We’ve only done it twice, but I suppose that makes it tradition, right?

PPPPF=Pepperoni and Pineapple Pizza Picnic Friday. I’m a little bummed that Friday isn’t Priday because that would just be cooler.

Anyway, here’s the Friday tradition. The boys and I go shopping at Trader Joe’s on Friday morning and we buy their yummy ready-to-bake pizza dough, gourmet pepperoni, delicious frozen pineapples, and the rest of our Trader Joe’s staples. On Friday nights we lay down a big quilt in the living room and have ourselves a little family picnic. It’s so fun. Connor loves it because it’s way less structured than our normal dinners. He’s up and down the whole time and I don’t even care because it’s PPPPF. He also loves to play on the blanket. After dinner, there’s only one dish to clean (the pizza stone), which makes Derek happy. I love it because it means I don’t have to clean up the scapping mess that is usually all over the table on Friday’s. PPPPF is a good tradition.

I have two favorite times of day with Logan. The first is in the morning. He wakes up to eat about 6:30 or 7:00, the house is all quiet, and it’s just us. Mommy and Logan time. After he eats, he burps (this kid can burp like a man) and then just nuzzles his head down on my shoulder for like 10 minutes. It is so sweet. He isn’t a super cuddly baby, so this is pretty special. Normally after he eats he is just full of energy, talking to me, ready to play. But every morning he turns into my little cuddle bug for just a little while.

My second favorite time of day is in the late afternoon/early evening. Connor is usually playing outside, dinner is started, and I typcially check my email and my blogs. Logan sits in the exersaucer and his fuzzheadedness is in full bloom because of the sun shining through the window. I just love this kid’s soft, fuzzy mohawk.

For the life of me, I cannot convince Connor that Derek doesn’t work on a yellow tractor. Even though we regularly go to Derek’s office and Connor see’s where he works, he still thinks he works on a yellow tractor. Cracks me up. Derek has started coming home for dinner and then going back to work. He’s busting his tail to graduate in October. Anyway, last night we watched Derek leave from the window and Connor exclaims “Daddy go to work on a yellow tractor!”. For the 500th time I remind him that, no, daddy in fact does not work on a yellow tractor. But it doesn’t matter. I think in his heart he believes that if he says it enough it will be true. And in the meantime, it’s pretty dang cute.

A bottle of wine + Scrabble + Three giddy people = FUN!

Life is just so ironic sometimes. My sister loves the beach more than any person I have ever met in my life. When she was out a few weeks ago we went to the beach a ton, but never had the perfect beach day. It was cloudy, it was cool, the waves weren’t too great for boogie boarding, and Logan was cranky. My sister stil had a good time laying out, relaxing, just being on vacation. But, in my opinion (which is all that matters on this blog since it’s mine) our days at the beach were not some of my favorites-mainly because Logan was a cranky pants the entire time.

My brother, Derek, the kids and I headed to the beach yesterday. I was honestly a little aprehensive about it. And I sure didn’t think it was a good sign when it took us an hour to drive the last 10 miles (don’t you just love Southern California?) We went to San Clemente, which is one of my favorite beaches, and I think it must be Logan and Connor’s favorite, too, because they were both great. We had such a fun day. We set up our stuff right by a swing set, so Connor was in heaven. Logan was so easy-he just chilled out, napped, swang a little, napped, and was never fussy. The waves were a little slow at first, but then they picked up and it ended up being some of the best boogie boarding I’ve done in a long time. Connor is pretty much terrified of the ocean so I didn’t have to worry about him running into the water-and even if he had the waves roll in really gently and it’s shallow for at least 100 feet. But, he’s seriously terrified. Patrick and I finally got him out in the water but he had a death grip on us the whole time. He would alternate between crying at the impending waves and squealing with delight as the washed around our knees. When we got out, he ran full speed back to our towel, and I could see the relief written all over his face that he was back on dry land.

The perfect beach day ended with some delish In & Out. I love California on days like we had yesterday. Since we are moving in just a few months I have found that I definately have a greater appreciation for everything good about Cali.

I have been a huge fan of Survivor since the very first season. The first and second season were definately the best. The first season just because it was so new and different and the second season was great becuase of Colby the eye candy and Elisabeth the nicest survivor ever (and Derek’s survivor girlfriend). Africa was okay because I loved Ethan. But after that they all just blend together and I can’t remember specifics. But even when I don’t like any of the people, I still watch. I just can’t stop.

The Outdoor Living Network is replaying season 1 of Survivor and it has really reminded me why I love this show so much. It is so refreshing to see the original. While the basic premise of the game hasn’t changed, so much is different. I love season one because it’s just about competition, who likes to be around who, and who works hard. There is very little talk of alliances and very little scheming. In fact, tonight after the immunity challenge there was absolutely no tv time given to how the vote was going to go. The tribes have just merged and tonight 7 of the 10 players had a vote cast against them. That never happens now because from the moment the game starts it’s all about forming alliances.

A few of my favorite orignal surviors include Greg, who is maybe the funniest survivor ever, and Colleen, the original Survivor sweetheart. Then of course there’s Rich and his gang-the founders of the almighty alliance.

Watching Survivor 1 tonight I remembered what is perhaps the pinnacle of my dorkiness. I auditioned for Survivor 3-it was the first season that I was old enough to audition. But, alas, I was not choosen. I guess I’m not controversial enough. Or not naked enough. Or just not hot enough. The game has changed so much that I really have no desire to be on it anymore. The scheming just isn’t for me. I loved when it was just about good physical competition, meeting some cool people, and just the world’s coolest camping trip with a million dollar pay off.

I love to laugh at myself, so in the spirit of some good ol’ laughter I busted out my audition tape. Then I thought “I have to blog about this.” So, for your viewing pleasure, here is my three minute Survivor audition tape

Two final thoughts…I still can’t believe they didn’t pick me. And if you didn’t think I was a dork before you most certainly will now!

As I watched Connor jumping in the pool to Derek this past weekend, I couldn’t help but think about faith. Connor has absolute 100% trust and faith that his daddy is going to catch him every single time. There isn’t a doubt in his mind. He doesn’t wonder if this will be the time his daddy will drop him. He doesn’t worry that he might get water in his nose. He doesn’t wonder if he will get hurt. He just jumps with reckless abandon. That’s the kind of faith I want to have in the Lord. All too often my faith gets clouded. I start thinking that I can control things. I start to get scared. I start to lose faith and wonder if God really has a place and a plan for me. I forget that no matter what, my Jesus will always catch me. He’s there with outstreched arms, just waiting for me to jump. Faith like a child. No worries, no stress. Just trusting.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do and he will direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

I’m obsessed with buying a house. Now that we are for sure moving to Houston and for sure buying our very first house, I just can’t stop looking at all the houses for sale online. I’ve spent the past 3 nights online looking at different areas to live, researching school districts, and comparing building a house vs. newer houses vs. older houses. Every night I tell Derek that I’ve found IT, the PERFECT house for us. But of course, we’re not going to Houston to look for a house for another month, so those probably won’t even be available then. But this is still really fun for me. I’m going to have my very own backyard, I won’t have to walk outside and down two flights of stairs to do the laundry, we will have a normal size refrigerator instead of a hobbit size one, my car will be parked close instead of in a parking lot, and I will have a built in dishwasher that doesn’t leak. Not to mention that we will probably almost triple our square footage, which means maybe a playroom, places for stuff that just clutters right now, a place for guests to sleep, and a good space for scrapbooking. My goal for this week is to officially get us prequalified for a loan. So exciting.