Express Yourself

I would like you to pick your mood. By picking a bird. Humor me puh-leeeeze!

1.  

Great day! Put together and productive. Can't wait to start another project!

2. 

Caffeine overload. Working on E but pumped full of adrenaline. Could probably go to the moon by jumping once. 

3.  

Sleepy head. Tired eyes and blanket in tow ready for a snugly nap. 

4.  

Road kill. Train wreck. Hit by a bus. All of your parts are missing because they are schmeared all over the highway and windshield of some unsuspecting minivan. 

I love teaching because you never know how many Loves will be creative. Or follow directions....

Shakin my tail feathers,

XOXO Summer

Veinte

I need someone to explain something to me. The Duggar family (19 and Counting) would 'like to try for another' to make their miniscule family a happy round number of TWENTY. 

 Dear friends. Are they trying to see how many kids they can cram into a conversion van? Do they ENJOY 38572390 daily loads of laundry? What about diapers? I KNOW for a fact how much we spend a month on diapers and let me tell ya it's not cheap. I'm guessing at least 4 of their kids are still within potty training age. Does pampers just SEND them semi truck loads each week? Cause I'm pretty sure we are close to that ourselves! 

And let's talk about food. They have a commercial sized kitchen. That's great. But once your kitchen expands to more than one Frigidaire, don't you think you should reconsider all the baby makin? 

How do they keep track of birthdays? Is it like a raffle drawing each month to see which kid's birthday they celebrate? How many cakes does it take to feed a family of a small football team??? 

 Don't even get me started on child birth. TWENTY TIMES. At home. I had somewhat easy, NUMB births at the hospital and there is no way I would do it again. Ever. And being pregnant for most of your life? Count me out. I don't think the poor woman has been able to wear normal clothes since she was 18! I would get sick of spandex and dresses. I guess having babies to her is like a log ride these days. They just shoot out of her with a gush of water! 

 Oh well. Clearly they are great parents and are fully capable of raising them and caring for them. Good for the Duggars! But for the record, if I ever have a notion to have more children, please some one sedate me and have my head checked...among other things! 

 TGIF, Ya'll! 

XOXO Summer

Wordless Wednesday

XOXO Summer

Holy Roller

My beloved aide is married to a great man. How do I know? Well, ya'll already know the ticket to my heart, soul, and very essence is through food. (I know, it's a miracle I'm not 438 pounds!) 

 The point of all of this is...this...Adam Myers is the co-owner of Burn BBQ and he lovingly supplied our starving staff with lunch on Patriot's Day this year. 

Describing this delightful dining experience is one almost beyond words. My only complaint is that I didn't eat it sooner! 

 I'll start from the beginnig of my plate. Does that make sense? Bear with me, ya'll. 

The coleslaw was crispy yet creamy. Pure delight in every bite. (OHMIWORD, I'm on FIRE today!) 

 There was a mix of peppers, onion, potatoes, and you guessed it, BACON. MELTED in my mouth. 

 The brisket was smokey, 'barbeque-y', and not fatty at all, which is fantastic because meat in itself grosses me out. Unless it's bacon. Or zero fat. Fatty meat is chewy and gross. But this brisket was faaaaaaar from it. I could not get enough in my mouth fast enough. 

 Baked beans were a marriage of ranch style beans and barbeque goodness. SWOON! 

 And now for the grand finale! I give you, the "FATTY".

 I have renamed this the Holy Roll. Behold the meaty goodness. It is a tube of smoked sausage wrapped in 'all the meats'-- think brisket-- and then wrapped in---wait for it, BACON. MY-LANTA! It was all I could do to keep the thing in my mouth and not dance for joy. 

Tighter pants and happier thoughts later, I am so so so glad Mr. Myers decided to upgrade his current tiny establishment to a much larger (with a bar!), bigger kitchen restaurant. The kitchen will be fantastically wiiiiide open so you can literally watch the boys do their BBQ-y magic. 

 Thank You Burn BBQ Co. for the life changing experience. I can't wait to visit you daily. Seriously. 

 18th and Boston is the new location-- ya'll have GOT to stop by when their move is complete! (Some time in the next few weeks!) 

 Fat and happy, 

XOXO Summer

Starbucks and Donuts

Having re-affirmed my faith recently, I have ignored the nagging feeling of GO TO CHURCH for too long. That being said, Bestie Red and Steph let me go with them!

 I grew up "not in church" solely because we grew up in an Islamic country far across the Atlantic...which wasn't as welcoming to the Christian culture as one might imagine. Sorta like being a turd in the punch bowl-- get my drift? 

And when we did go to church with my beloved Granddaddy every Sunday during the summers, it was a traditional service. I'm talking sit up straight, don't laugh, don't talk, don't chew gum, don't BREATHE. In fact I remember one time my Sister and I were taking communion and we were up at the altar and my mom made some weird noise while drinking her grape juice and we lost it. We could not stop laughing. I thought I was going to explode. Then we looked over at poor Granddaddy...and his look said it all...nedless to say, we missed out on Sunday afternoon cobbler that day...

 I digress. I want Jesus. Church. Worship. And let me tell you, after one trip to LifeChurch.tv, I am HOOKED. Like a marlin on a deep sea line! (Can ya tell I'm excited?!) 

Last minute, irrational decision was to take the kiddos with me. But I'm glad I did. As soon as we walked in the doors I felt like the president of the United States (except people actually LIKED me). Everyone said hello and made me feel so welcome! Then I looked over to the right. 

Ya'll I almost squealed with delight! FREE Starbucks coffee (which I don't drink) but you also get FREE doughnut holes and water!!!!!! And candy! Can this really be church? God would want me to eat the doughnut holes I decided. It's my reward for waking up at 6:30 on a SUNDAY to get anywhere looking half decent with two semi-coherent toddlers! 

After drooling a little too long over the free goodies, I was whisked off to "LifeChurch.tv KIDS". And handed a Mommy packet that included curriculum! For two year olds! CRAZY! And it's all free!!!! SO, I get free doughnuts, child care, and a chance for adult time to praise Him?! Yes PUHLEEZE! 

Turtle went to the "Starry Night" room for littles and Bee was in The Ark ? I was too overwhelmed with happiness to remember... (I would like to interject with this little gem: After coming home, I went to change Turtle's diaper prior to laying him down and guess what? They already did it! God bless 'em! They even put a little sticker on the front of his diaper saying 'Lovingly changed at LifeChurch Kids!" Who came up with that?! Ha-larious!) 

I happily wander awestruck into the "sanctuary" which looked more like a concert/stadium. Instead of a pulpit and cross, there was a stage and fog lights. Fog lights. I haven't seen fog lights since I've been to a Nelly Concert. Then the real kicker-- there was a live band blasting ah-mazing music and one of the lead singers was stylishly dressed all the way down to her grunge boots! My Momma would have just had a hay-day with that one! I actually felt a tad overdressed...everyone around was wearing jeans INCLUDING the pastor. 

Let's tally up what I've learned: 

-free food -free, AMAZING child care 

-live music that's not boring

 -I can wear JEANS?! 

Then the pastor opened his mouth and it was life changing. That's all that needs to be said. I will be there every Sunday at 8:30. 

 After a quick hour, I left feeling refreshed, excited, and deaf (kids we a liiiiiitle loud in the car!) 

 Peace, Love, Jesus! 

XOXO Summer

Friday Five

1.  

Bacon maple bar. Word. 

2.  

Circle piggies from our farm unit. Couldn't you just SWOON over these??

3.  

This guy. 

4.  

This guy again. Clearly the floor is crooked??

5.  

Initial pendant from Sidder!

Happy Friday y'all! We were blessed with an early release day and a fantastic staff potluck!! 

Counting my blessings,

XOXO Summer

L-A

Names intrigue me. People fascinate me. Weird kid's names baffle me. The Pre-K 'squad' was talking on the playground today and we discussed bizarre kiddo's names.

 I truly have little room to talk about child names....my son's name is TWO letters different from my husbands' name...I stupuidly told Husby he could name our son if we ever had one...the man has like 4 sisters...the chances of us having a boy were so slim I never imagined our poor babe being named after his father. And having the same birthday date. And being an identical clone of him... 

 I digress. 

 Here were some names that were discussed. All I could do was shake my head and open my mouth. I was rendered speechless. Yes, document this, it's a big deal! 

*(I would also like to add at this point in time that NONE of these names listed are students at the school I work at!)*

 Etalie (Pronounced Italy). WOW.

Heavenly Angel...ironically she was more like Diablo according to the 'source'.

 Abcd...(Pronounced Ab-cee-dee). True story. 

 OH MY FAVORITE: Asslie. How would one pronounce that you ask? "Ash-lie". Clearly her parents were NOT hooked on phonics. 

 Xiomalise (Pronounced So-ma-lies...rhymies with tamales...) 

 L-A You read that right. L-A. Pronounce it as you see it. LA DASH A. I am not making this up. You can imagine my delight in this. 

 Brain. But wait! The parents meant to name him BRIAN. But they never got around to changing it. Ever. 

 Benjamin Dover. Innocent enough. Until you abbreviate Benjamin....to Ben. And his name is now Ben Dover. Read it out loud. Twice. 

Lemonjello and Orangejello. Another tragically true story. These parents had a bit of a fetish with jello. I'M SERIOUS.  And they pronounced them (La-mon-gel-o and Or-ahn-gel-o)

 And to think, I was worried my poor son would be teased because he was named after his daddy. (Not that there's anything wrong with it...it's jut not original or creative to copy a name in my opinion...but what do I know? I just had the baby. Clearly my part is done!) 

 Let's be honest, I'm scared to know what these 'educated' parents named their PETS. 

 Lord help us. 

 Peace, Love, Bingo was my name O! XOXO Shanequah