Guess Who Advanced to State Yesterday?

WE DID!!

They did it! The area competition was in Fort Worth and the kids were the second band to play in preliminaries. I cried through the entire program. I am a complete and total wuss. Luckily the sun was in our eyes and I had on sunglasses. You think you won't be able to pick your kid out of a crowd, but you totally can. The first band started at 10:00 a.m. and we stayed till the lunch break at 12:00. Then we bailed and took the Littles out to eat. They had two more sections of bands and wouldn't announce finalists until 5:00. We went ahead and took the kids to see Beverly Hills Chihuahua, while the band went to eat pizza and back to the stadium to watch the rest of the bands.

We got back, headed into the stands and waited for the results. They announced us as the tenth out of ten bands going to finals. We were sweating it! Then the directors drew for marching order, we were the final band to march.

They were SO good! I managed not to cry this time.

The marching was over at 9:45 and they announced the state qualifiers at 10:00. Of twenty one bands, ten advanced to finals. Four bands qualified for state and we were fourth of four. The kids were upset. They're used to being number one. They've won three state championships in a row, but they have a super complicated program this year with a lot of difficulty and little fluff. The band director had said that this might be the year they didn't make it to state. So we lived to fight another day!

That one on the end is my kid! And he's brilliant!

We're off to San Antonio November 3rd and 4th. Now I just have to figure out how I'm gonna get there. I've got three kids to rent out, just in case anyone's short on chaos.

Say Hello to my Little Friend

The boys like to ride it like a go-cart.
(With no blades going of course.)

If It Weren't for Bad Luck, I'd Have No Luck at All...

It started with the washing machine about three weeks ago. The water didn't shut off as it was filling up and flooded the utility room, the hallway, and started into three of the kids bedrooms. (I'll be posting a three part series on the Neptune TL washing machine model number FAV6800MM in a few days, stay tuned) Then I lost a four hundred dollar check from the Texas Railroad Commission. Then I scraped the side of the Suburban. And finally, Friday while Peach and I mowed the front yard, my cell phone fell out of my pocket, unbeknownst to me, and fell into the belts that turn the mowing blades breaking both my cell phone and the mower. Yes, the new mower that Charlie considers the fifth child.

Charlie was able to get my cell phone out of the mower and put the belts back on successfully, but my cell phone was toast. You know, the expensive cell phone that I just had to have right now, instead of doing any research on it or waiting to see if I could get a deal on it. Luckily I have insurance, but the odds of the Fed-ex guy finding my neighborhood are slim.

When we got the check from the Railroad Commission, a rebate for purchasing the tankless water heaters, I wouldn't let Charlie deposit it in the bank because I said, "If we deposit it, we'll just spend it." Then I promptly lost it. You can imagine how thrilled he is with me right about know.

I'm wondering what the universe is trying to tell me. I'm feeling like I'm the singular drain on the economy. Although the freshman band-geek is doing his fair share.

Anybody got toothpicks?

I'm too old to have a teenager.

Last night we waited up till 2:00 in the morning for John to get home from a marching contest that we couldn't attend. I know my parents picked me up late at night after basketball games, but I don't remember much about it. I certainly don't remember them ever complaining. And the kids have the advantage of sleeping all the way home on the bus.

It's a gorgeous day today and we should be outside doing something in the yard, but I cannot drag my behind up out of this chair. I've been down to the park with Peach, drove to my Mom's to check out her new curtains, and played a couple of games of go-fish with the Little's and I feel like I could sleep standing up.

Melee' had a football game yesterday. Our school divided their team this year so we have Canton Green and Canton White, we played Green yesterday and had to drive 30 minutes to another town to do it. That's him on the ground. That's where he usually ends up after most plays. He did make it through the offinsive line on one play and made a show of going toward the quarterback. Of course the quarterback was long gone by then, but hey, baby steps.

I hope to sleep someday. And not behind the wheel of my car.

Just Call Me Miss Daisy

I wrecked the car today.

Well, wreck is a strong word. What I really did was scrape it.

There was this gate, see. Why do they feel the need to gate off the football practice field anyway? And if you're gonna gate off the practice field, why make it such a small entrance that only one car at a time can go through? How am I supposed to swing a giant suburban into a small single entrance while trying to avoid mudholes, mini-vans and a gaggle of 12 year olds playing grab-ass with a football? And how am I supposed to explain the twenty-four inch swath of yellow, red and reflctive paint that now decorate the passenger side of my car to my husband? No, nothing makes you feel like a sixteen year old quicker than having to try to explain what you were thinking when you didn't veer back to the left when you first heard the side of the car hit something. "I DON'T KNOW! MAYBE IT WAS THE GOLD WINDSTAR WAITING IN THE LEFT HAND LANE TO TAKE HER TURN GETTING OUT AFTER I FINISHED GOING IN!"

Nope, nothing makes you feel like a sixteen year old faster.

Except for that time last year when I was backing my Mom's Honda CRV out of the driveway and ran into that tree.

I'm an excellent driver.

I Gotta Smile to Keep from Crying

Can't even stop to catch my breath...so two things that made me laugh.

The other day I was watering the grass. *

* They came and sprayed hydromulch on the front yard about two weeks ago. The guy just surprised me one day and he said, "You don't have a sprinkler system?" And I said "No." like, is that gonna be a problem?, and he just looked at me like I was a jackass. I thought maybe he was having a bad day, but after spending the next day, doing NOTHING but moving sprinklers every fifteen to thirty minutes, ALL DAY LONG, I understood why I got the look.

So I was watering the grass, and Ace was using his scootering skills, up and down the driveway. And I thought I should let him help. (Because when you're running for Mother of the Year, you can't hog the sprinkler duties) So I yelled, "ACE! You want to take a turn with the sprayer?" And he dropped the scooter like it was a hot potato at the end of the driveway and came running toward me screaming, "IT'S MY PLEASURE!! IT'S MY PLEASUUURRE!!!"
OMG I love that child.

Wednesday night Charlie was helping John study for his biology test. (Things are not going well in biology, which means, a) he doesn't like the teacher henceforth b) getting him to do what she says is like pulling teeth.) So they were going over something he wasn't getting and Charlie was explaining it to him and John rolled his eyes and said "Dad, do you have to make me learn it? Can't I just memorize it, so I can get it on the test and then not worry about it any more."
OMG I am laughing, but I want to choke that child.

And if I was tech savy, I would load this commercial for you to watch (Robot Dance), because with my DVR I can rewind and watch it as many times as I want to.