Frag'n Friday

Fridays are a time to collect all those bits and pieces and random photos and throw them into one post and call it organized. Yeah, I am organized. Go see how other Friday Fragmenters are organized too!

*I always like to download my photos and find that "someone" (aka B) has been playing with my camera. Here is a shot of little dude after she set him up as a rapper.

*This summer has been the summer of "Life". I am referring to Life the game. This is how I will find B, K and cousin J many a day...

*I am very nervous to go to NYC for Blogher. Not because I am nervous about meeting people. I am nervous about getting lost in a city. I am not a city girl. I am a beach girl. So I am bringing a toddler leash so Melisa can keep track of me. I am thinking we will look something like this....

*When these roll into town....

it means either hurricane or sharks. Yup, the sharks are back. I wrote about their appearance last year here and here.

*B has been watching a lot of baking shows this summer. She decided to don her Chef coat and make a cake from scratch the other day. Thankfully, Cousin J showed up and became her sous-chef.

They went with a nautical theme....

*Bon Apetite! And happy weekend!

Beach'n It

I realized yesterday that I have an age chart for going to the beach. I knew you would want to see it....

Age birth-20: Go to the beach with family/neighborhood. Maybe sit a little apart from them, but basically mom makes lunch and you are close enough to hear neighborhood gossip. Sunscreen: Coppertone spf4.

21-30: Go with girlfriends or boyfriends depending on the day. Still go in water and make the occasional sandcastle. Bring beer. Also bring first aid kit, especially after friend has run in with seagull while trying to pee in the dunes. Sunscreen: Ban de Soleil spf 4.

30-43: Go to beach with kids. Run around. Don't bother to bring book. Bring enough food for the entire beach. Don't bother laying a towel on the sand because it will have footprints on it in no time. Spend a lot of time standing ankle deep in water watching kids "swim".

Sunscreen: Cheapest at spf 8.

43-?: Yesterday marks the first time I went to the beach BY MYSELF. Girls went off with their Dad. I had the choice of cleaning the house or reading my book on the beach working on my savage tan (um, spf 30). Beach won out. Very weird laying by myself, eavesdropping on beach neighbors, waiting for an umbrella to launch in the wind and watching 20 something boys play rugby in front of me.

This new stage may take awhile to get used to...

Blogher10: My Advice

Seems as if everybody is doing it, so I thought I would jump in with my 2 cents.

My thoughts on Blogher (basically some tips to make your life easier).

Last year was my first year at Blogher and it was held in the Windy City of Chicago. This year Blogher is heading to NYC. I learned a lot last year. Here are the top 6 things you need to know!

1. Do NOT worry about what you are wearing. Stressing out about what to wear takes up a lot of my time, especially when I am going into unknown territory (AKA a city with people I have never met face to face). During the day, anything goes. Shorts, skirts, pants, pretty much anything but bathing suits. Actually one girl wore nothing, but that was more of a statement than a mode of dress. Comfortable shoes (flip flops, sneakers, crocs etc) are important because even though you are in a hotel, you are walking and standing and walking some more. It's nice to have something a little dressier for night time for some of the parties.

2. There are many sponsored parties to go to, but basically you had to sign up for them in April or May. There are plenty other parties to go to that do not require a RSVP that Blogher sponsors. Bring a nicer outfit incase you score tickets to a premier party with a celebrity that's in the fashion business. That's what happened to Melisa with one S and me last year. We scored last minute tickets to the Nikon party with Carson Kressley!

3. That leads me to the next point of going with the flow. Have a schedule in mind, but be prepared to alter it. One of my best memories of last year was skipping a session and going on a walk around the city with Melisa, Liz and Heather.

4. SWAG. Last year, being a newbie, and being amazed that people were throwing products at me, I may have gotten a little overzealous in my quest for the most swag. I wound up mailing my clothes home and carrying my swag in my suitcase. Yes, I had a whole suitcase full. The swag is there and there is lots of it. There is no need to be grabby.

5. Don't be afraid to meet people! We all have one thing in common and that is blogging. So what if you have 50 followers and someone else may have over 1000!? Step up and say HI! Just try not to tackle your blog idol (they might be a little nervous and call security).

Yes, that is Vodka Mom!!!

6. Bring business cards. You will be trading with bloggers, but also they are handy to drop in sponsors give away buckets.

You can read more Blogher ideas here, here and here....

Sundays in My City

My oldest and dearest friend (from 1st grade!) came to the Cape this week with her 2 kids. They live in Indianapolis, so we had to show them some good'ole Cape Cod "country" living.

M took a ride on one of our horses...

B and C ham it up for the camera...

K and M are looking cool in their shades....

C was concentrating very hard on his sandcastle building...

Melissa with her kids at the Fish Pier...

Melissa and me not looking a day over 21...

Happy Sunday everyone!

My Beautiful Sister

Karen is due to have her first baby in 6 weeks or so,

Her belly is round and her face does glow.

She was showered with affection last weekend,

From near and far, her friends did attend.

One friend made cakes, 3 to be exact!

Didn't take long for those to be cracked!

Some friends made gifts,

some bought cute clothes,

Some bought necessities,

some, socks for baby toes.

Olives and
pink boots rounded out the day,

To bring it all home she needed a sleigh.

She will be a great mom, despite her doubts,

Provided she doesn't feed the baby brussels sprouts.

Karen, baby is so lucky to belong to you,

There is nothing that you will not be able to do.

You can always come here when you need a break,

I'll provide wine, the girls and baby will play patty-cake.

Love you :)

A Newbie at American Idol

The girls and I went and saw the American Idol Tour the other night in Mansfield, MA. It was amazing! Yup, I said it and I will say it again, it was amazing! Let me back up a bit first...

We had never watched a full season of AI until this past season. I had seen parts of it in previous years, but had never gotten hooked and quite frankly didn't like how Simon tooled on the participants. For whatever reason, we watched it this year. We became very attached to the contestants and cried and cheered right along with them. One of the contestants, Siobhan was from Cape Cod. Trust me when I say that the whole Cape was cheering for her! Store fronts had signs, people had signs in their yards and there were even bumper stickers!

Anyway, when we found out that the tour of the top 10 finishers was coming within an hour and a half of Cape Cod, we were psyched! The Comcast Center is an outdoor theater, with some seats under a roof and some out in the open and then a lawn section. The lawn section is by far the least expensive so I bought our tickets for there. Plus I figured if we could convince other people to go, we could all sit together on the lawn. My friends, Faith and Kelly bought lawn tix also and we met up in the parking lot and hung out.

Before we went in...

We got into the Comcast Center and headed for the lawn when some nice Comcast workers said, "All the lawn tickets can sit in the open air seats." We thought we won the lottery and headed down to the front row of the open air seats! Then another worker asked us if we wanted a free upgrade. Free upgrade? Faith and I must really be cynical because we actually hemmed and hawed over this. We grilled the girl on where the seats were, if she actually had 8 tickets to fit all of us, if the seats were obstructed and if she would take them if they were offered to her. We finally took them and all I can say is, "DO NOT EVER REFUSE FREE UPGRADES."

See the stage right behind them?!

We were 11 rows back from the stage on the side!!! Holy smokes! We could see the idols sweating. We kept telling the kids that they were so lucky and if they were where we were supposed to be on the lawn, we would be watching the show on the jumbotron tv.

I can so tell I am a mom, too. I felt as if I were the parent of those 10 Idols and I was so proud of them! They had come so far from their auditions to where they were on stage. Some of them were so comfortable on stage and talked to the audience, others were a bit more comfortable singing than engaging the audience.

Are we eagerly awaiting the next season? Oh yeah, we are hooked now. I'll be sure to keep you updated when K and B are old enough to audition for Idol. They already have their sites set on it.

Frag'n Friday

Welcome to another addition of Friday Fragments on a very humid summer day where procrastination is the word of the hour.

*I mentioned yesterday how small our shower was. Without even knowing that I had written a post on showering, K walked by me on her way to the shower and said, "I am going to shave my legs". I said, "Good luck with that". She came back 15 minutes later with her bathing suit on, her razor and shaving cream. "I think I am going to shave outside by the hose. That shower is WAY too small." Oh, yeah, the neighbors are talking now....

*What is the worst appliance not to have working for 3 weeks? I've not had a washing machine for that long before which I thought was bad, but not having refrigeration, takes the cake.

*I am listening to K, B and cousin J play the game Life right now. They have been on a Life marathon for the last 3 days and it is very amusing to listen to them. I love that they can laugh, argue, fix a problem and have fun just playing.

*My nephews now live 1/2 mile away and think my house is the "cool" house. It kind of cracks me up, but they love hanging here at any hour! My food bill might go up just a little...

*I ordered my business cards for Blogher. I am heading to NYC in less than 3 weeks and cannot wait. I am sorry for you who are reading this that cannot or are not going. It is so much more than a blog convention. I am just excited to hang with adult friends for 5 days and experience city life.

*Last night the girls and I went and had dinner with friends who we have only known for 4 years and only see once a year. I so wish they lived down here all the time, because I know that we would be great everyday friends. There were about 40 teens/preteens in the house (OK, there were about a dozen) and 4 of us adults, but we all had a great time! And they threatened to read my blog. Thanks for a great night, Michele, Steve and Kinzer!

*Have a great weekend! Mine consists of my sister's baby shower, a 4 year old birthday party and the American Idol Tour Concert! :)

Splish, Splash I Was Taking a Shower...

The girls and I have moved into a funky little house. It was like someone started with a square in the middle and then shot off bedrooms in 3 different directions. We like to say we have our own wings.

When my landlord showed me the place, I remember him making a point to say that there are no tubs. I said that wasn't a problem because we rarely took baths.

At least it wasn't a problem until I took my first shower.

Let's just say it is pretty snug in there.

When I bend my leg to bring up my foot to wash, my knee hits the door and the door flies open. If the soap drops out of my hand, I have to forget about retrieving it until after the shower. I cannot shave my legs. OK, I tried once, but I wound up laughing so hard at myself because it was fruitless! If I bend even a little, parts of me hit the walls.

This leads me to wonder who makes showers and why, unless you were living in an apartment in the middle of NYC or on an RV, would you make a shower this small? Make the toilet seat smaller or only put in one sink, but please just give me enough room to shave my legs, so I don't have to do it in the kiddie pool outside. I think the neighbors are beginning to talk...

Summertime Sillies

My body is plotting against me...

My refrigerator is also plotting against me....

The boxes of stuff to unpack seem to multiply like rabbits during the night....

So I gave up and took the girls out to dinner.

It was very nice and relaxing.

When we came home, they wanted to practice some dance thing, but needed to do it outside.

When I checked a few minutes later, this is what I saw...

Evidently they were "digesting for 5 minutes".

After 5 minutes, this is what I saw...

I love the summertime sillies!

Sundays in My City

When B and I were in Texas, we spent a few extra days in Houston with another jump rope mom (Kate) and her son, B and my nephew, J. We went to the Kemah Boardwalk and had a blast!

The waiter the night before had suggested we NOT go there.

Obviously he didn't have kids.

Ours had a BLAST! And we had fun watching!

Tara, I was thinking of a shot you took in Chicago when I took this of the Ferris Wheel!

The clouds in the AM were really cool and created rain showers in the afternoon that did not dampen our spirits, but actually cooled us off!

There was a double decker Merry-Go-Round with lots of elaborate animals.

B's favorite ride that she went on 8 TIMES!!!

She did not go for the ancient wooden roller coaster that was 5 feet from the ocean. It was more fun watching from the ground!

We definitely give Kemah Boardwalk a two thumbs up! Yee-Haw!

Galveston Wrap Up

We've been back from Texas for a week. The kids did a great job and had lots of fun (and a few tears). They work so hard to get to this point, that it is disappointing (to them) if their routines are not perfect. As parents, we are just so proud of them doing anything because to us, jump roping is near impossible.


Last time I posted about the team, I put flowers on them. I went more with the July theme this time and put fireworks on them.

Here is a video I put together of a bunch of different teams to give you an idea of what these kids do!

I had never used imovie before and WOW is it fun!!! Now I have to work on my videoing skills.

Poor Suzy....

Back from Texas, done with moving, survived the 4th of July weekend. Plenty to blog about and maybe even a little time to do it now. So sorry I have been absent from my blog and your blogs. I will try to redeem myself this month! :)

The nicest Mom on the team (other than me, lol) had quite a week in Texas. On the plane ride home, we had to actually document what went wrong during her week because even her husband wouldn't have believed it.

Here are the top 10 reasons why you want to think twice when traveling with Suzy and her 2 (adorable) kids...

10. Her plane was delayed in Chicago for 4 hours due to tornado warnings and thunderstorms.

9. When she got to the hotel, at 4 am, they had given away her room and she and her 2 kids had to sleep in a king size bed.

8. Picky eater kids wanted hot dogs. Went to a rest. for take out of hot dogs and there were none.

7. Kid number one spilled meal on hotel room floor complete with ketchup.

6. After a big meal the next day at the Rainforest Cafe, kid number 2 did too many twirls in the pool and puked in it.

5. Potential terrorist attack at hotel. (Somebody called in and said there was a bomb there.)

4. Kid number 1 gets stomach bug and pukes in the bushes, flower beds etc before getting to hotel room.

3. While getting dinner for kid number 2, a stray deaf dog jumps into car. Dog is lured out with french fry, owner called, dog returned home.

2. On the way to return rental car, a man in pjs informs us that power is out that's why gas pump isn't working. On the way out of gas station, pj man backs up his car and hits us. Thankfully no damage!

Man had actually pulled pjs up right before this picture. Mostly we had a view of boxers.

1. Kid number 2 gets stomach bug as plane is taking off. No time to use barf bag.

I haven't heard from her since we got back from Texas. She claims she was spending the next week at Disney, but after Texas, she may have just ended up in a psych ward somewhere.....