mini-camera dump

So, I have been curiously staring at these things for a while...

I back in and pull out of my driveway amazed at the fact that these beauties are growing in the trash (otherwise referred to as my lawn - or lack thereof). I don't know...they make me kinda...happy. I get so discouraged every time I look at my lack of curb appeal. When I bought my house, I was just happy to NOT see wood panelling, soiled carpet w/dogs running amuck, and wallpaper. I didn't care so much about the 50 million trees, but the upside is that I don't have to pay anyone to cut my grass. I gots nothing. I didn't realize how jacked up my sidewalk was until 2 months after I had moved. Oh the things that one can do with gravel and pavers...cover up huge monstrosities that could've easily been subtracted from the purchase price. Anyways, Choir Boy offered to help me with my yard again this summer...we'll see where that goes, if it goes anywhere at all. I got 5 bux on the fact that I'll probably be looking at the same mess again next winter, that is, if I don't scrounge up some money to get this forest cut down fast. In the meantime, I'll enjoy my 10 flowers. They may look kinda crazy, but they remind me that everything is not as bad as it seems.

What's wrong with this picture? Another adventure with the boy picking out his own clothes. I think that I'm raising another Kan.ye We.st. I must say, he got creativity honest. He has been without TV for about 3 weeks now and the pressure may be getting to him. At first, it was punishment but now, I allow him to have a few hours of it over the weekend. The original goal was to have him to take his homework as seriously as he does Ha.rry Pott.er and wrestling. I'm not sure of where I'm going with this. He DID learn not to use the word "bored" with me, b/c once I finished making a list of what he could do, he decided to hurry and pick up a book rather than suffer the consequences. I'm forcing him to use his imagination more...ya know, all of that stuff that games and TV rob our kids of. The downside is that he's in my face from the time we get home from work and school until he falls asleep. The upside is that I'm just enjoying the time that I spend with him reading these books that he got from the book fair, "The Adven.tures of Cap.tain Under.pants"...those are some funny a$$ books.

I hate that this picture is so small and fuzzy, but I just HAD to capture Goth Girl's "domin.atrix" rubber ducky. I was in the middle of a tour of her house when I spotted him on the corner of her humongous tub. Mayne, I was so tickled. Her and I are different but alike in many ways and I just LOVE her. Sadly, she'll leave me this year to move to Cali to pursue other career interests. I told her that I was happy for her...just sad for me. She was an integral part of Friend.ship February and I am going to miss that girl. It just goes to show that you get the most rare and great things from the most unlikely people.

Do you see that? It's a little dark, but that's my baby climbing this a-little-too-scary-for-mommy-foot wall. We were rolling through his school carnival last Saturday when he asked me if he could get on it. I said, "Really? But you're afraid of heights?" I took 2 steps and then wondered when he ever told me that he was afraid of heights. Never. There was the time when we got on a ride at King's Dom.inion and it went a little higher than we both expected...and I still have his nail marks in my arm from last year...but when we got off, I believe that he shouted that it was "Awesome!" I heard this inner voice (I'm not crazy) talkin' some ying yang about placing fears on my child, so I rolled out 6 tickets and it was on. I am so proud of him. In life, if he gets to accomplish the things that I never did and go farther than I ever could've imagined, then I have done my job.