LuLu's 13th Birthday Party - pt 1

Yesterday Lu had the traditional sleepover birthday party for her 13th. For a craft project YaYa taught the girls how to make a folding origami book they then decorated with photos, quotes, and stickers. It was a big hit.

Thankful

LuLu's 13th birthday party by our count is the 46th birthday celebration we've had for the kids. A great day, thanks to those that stopped by for cake and laughs. Feeling appreciative for all the love ❤ in our life.- Lisa

LuLu's 13th Birthday Party - pt 3

Our gift to OJ was an Ipod. Her name was engraved on the back, along with her signature question: "Guess What?", the answer to which is *always* "chicken butt."

Spring Grades

Grades were posted for the spring semester, and one (a C+) is both a shock and the lowest grade I've earned since I suffered through a mandatory statistics class back in the '90's. I was fairly confident after the be-all-end-all final. That confidence, it seems, was misplaced.

Ninja Junie

The katana Junie won at the festival last weekend

The Birthday Blessing

Tying the ribbon for LuLu's birthday blessing

LOL

My mother-in-law, asking Lu about Great America: "Did you get to go on the Legal Team ride?" 

Lu: " ??? . . you mean The Justice League?" 

LOL

Happy Teen Years LuLu!

Happy Birthday to my newest teenager LuLu. She is, like all the newly minted teens I've known, quarrelsome and judgmental and quick to drama. She's also (and I might ruffle some feathers with this), the ideal person to pick to watch any movie or television show, a voracious reader, the kid who inherited my goofy sense of humor, the most social of my four, and whenever it's needed, a valued and trusted mini-mother to her siblings. She is beautiful, to be sure - recently joking that her career goal is to be a stripper and "make it rain" - but her intelligence is great, even if she does her best to sometimes pretend otherwise. I'm very happy she was born, and I love her more than lips can tell. Happy Birthday LuLu!

Great America

Lisa took the kids and Aiden, YaYa's boyfriend, to Great America with Trudy A. They were gone until ten o'clock and had a blast.

I've been trying to reach my folks for days with no luck. I spoke to my "Mom" on Facebook a couple days back, but I'm pretty sure I was being catfished. If you successfully contact them, have one of them give me a call.

Island 731 by Jeremy Robinson

I picked up this paperback from the library with low expectations, but this guy can write. He ain't Joseph Conrad or anything, but it's a well done Jurassic Park like action novel with better than average writing. Read it.

The Bees Under the Porch

In less grumpy news, there's a bee hive under our back porch. Not wasps or hornets, but big fat bumblebees. I have flatly refused calls to destroy it because, uh, #TheEarth. My mother-in-law law suggested I pay someone to move it but who has the money for that malarkey? It stays for now.

My Thoughts

I'm really sick to death of society bending over backwards for the 000.6% of the population who enjoy creating drama and inconveniencing everyone because it validates their meager existence. And for the record, this is NOT a reference to the current uproar over transgenders using the restroom. Take your personal drama - which we ALL have - and deal with it like a grown-up. I'm not your nanny, and neither is anyone else.

My hip is on fire and I'm fidgeting like mad in class

Super Kaa

I've completed the official rules for our dice game Super Kaa. Now to distribute them and foster interest for our long talked about tournament.

My Thoughts

I firmly believe that there is not a foot of ground on Earth accessible to man, or once accessible, that has not been fought over and sprinkled with human blood. I mention this only because I'm reading something and I don't buy "the area has bad mojo because a murder took place here centuries ago" motif. Ain't nowhere pristine.

So the Super Yahtzee game I play with friends has really morphed into a game of its own, distinct from Yahtzee's generic, non-trademarked roots, but certainly under its umbrella. To celebrate this diversity I stole the name of a game my kids invented and have played for eight years, and changed our game to "Rah". I even made a 100 pt category "Hu-Rah", like "hurrah." Alas, today at the bbq I found out from LuLu that their game is actually "Kaa", named after the Kipling snake from "The Jungle Book", and involves whipping their legs around on the trampoline and forcing others to jump or be knocked down. Hmm. "Hu-Kaa" certainly has its uses, but I'm not sure it's appropriate for our dice game.

Grandma on the Trampoline!!

At our Memorial Day barbeque my mother-in-law Jeanne Scorsone climbed up on the trampoline with the kids. It's a memory they'll have forever, and Lisa and I were very impressed!

The Memorial Day Barbeque

A great Memorial Day barbeque with friends and family (check out the video I shared). Everyone seemed to have a blast, and YaYa's friend stayed until almost ten.