400

This, my friends, is my 400th blog post. I originally wanted to celebrate this post with a blog-birthday-rewind party in which I revisited some of my favorite posts, etc...but that's because for some reason I was thinking that it was my 500th blog post. 400, just not as exciting. Not as deserving. I suppose I should give myself props anyway - after all, I can't say that I've done many cool things 400 times. So - hoorah for me!

To stick with the "not-quite" running theme of this post - here's a picture of my AWESOME birthday present. No, it's not the headband, nor the purse. It wasn't even dinner at the restaurant in the background, it was an iPhone.

I have held off on getting one for a long time because I knew that at some point I would qualify for the "upgrade discount." And as of Aug 1, I was eligible for an iPhone at a MUCH more reasonable price. Unfortunately, Rob is using the iPhone to take the picture. Sure wish I'd put that together when he snapped the shot.

Long Time Coming...

Words cannot express the absolute joy that this day brings to my little family. Although I haven't really mentioned it much on the blog, my husband has basically (with the exceptions of weekends) been gone for the past three years. He heads to work in the morning, and then goes directly to school. He generally gets home sometime between 9-10pm. But I am proud to announce that as of tonight (keeping fingers crossed that he passes all of his classes) he will be done.

It has taken a lot of hard work and sacrifices on his part, but I am so, so, SO unbelievably proud of him. When we first got married we both started working, and put off school indefinitely. But realizing the importance of a degree, Rob got himself back in the game and saw it all the way through.

My kids and I have missed him greatly, and I can't even begin to imagine what life will be like when he's home. Thank you to everyone that has helped keep me sane during those thirteen hour days, we wouldn't have made it through without you.

I love you so much, Rob, and know that everything you've done has been for us. Congratulations, babe, you're the best!

In true-proud-spouse fashion, here's a picture of Rob on (or around) his first day of school:

And here he is on his last...obviously VERY happy to have his picture taken:

I LOVE THIS FACE

...even when it's covered in sweet potatoes.

Good Sports

I love to go jogging in the mornings, but I don't have a jogging stroller for three. I bought this stroller used three summers ago, and it is an absolute piece of junk (the kids lovingly refer to it Mater). But it still works, and they still kind of fit - so I can't complain. These cute kids have been so good about squeezing in and enjoying the ride. I'm a lucky mom.

Here's the deal. I'm not crazy when it comes to insects. I don't have a lot of issues with them, for the most part they just annoy me. There is only one insect that sends me to the fetal position with any encounter, and we all know what that is. Currently there is one of the aforementioned insects of satan hiding in my couches. I'm a bit of a wreck over the mystery of the missing moth, but my biggest problem this summer seems to be with earwigs.

It all began when my sister-in-law, Sierra, started talking about the earwig problems they were having at her house. They were everywhere - she even found one in her salad. Blech. Once she mentioned it, I started noticing them in odd places at our house. I have found three crawling on my refrigerator. While in the shower the other day, I moved the shampoo bottle to find one hiding in the corner of my tub. I waited until I was done showering, then sent him down the drain. A few minutes later, while drying my hair, I watched him climb back out of the drain (who does that?!). Another day as I was grabbing my towel to dry off, I found one nesting in my towel. Yes - these are all gross, but I hit my ultimate "I've had it with bugs" point this morning.

In the midst of my "why is there a massive moth in my my house" freak out, I went outside to check on Ella who was sitting on the patio in her BUMBO chair. She turns to look at me and smiles with one eye awkwardly closed. When I got closer I realized that her eye was closed, because there was a huge earwig crawling on it.

As I was typing this, I had a terrible thought. What if MOTHS eat EARWIGS? I'd better Google that now, just to make sure I'm not setting myself up for many-a-sleepless night. What a quandary that would be.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

((As a side note - stay away from yahoo answers. When I googled, "What do moths eat?" the answer I got was, "Your sweater." I'm 90% convinced that some idiot wrote that, but the other 10% is checking my sweaters for the missing moth.))

When Does it End?

I wish that there was an opposite of the above picture. You know, like in the cartoons when the wimpy guy goes to show his muscles, but the skinny stick arm ends up bending under instead the muscle bubbling up? That's how I feel lately!

I broke the stove yesterday. Well, technically, I broke-it-more. For the past several months the burners have been going out. As of yesterday we had two reliable burners: one large, and one small. Last night while trying to get one of the supposedly reliable burners to turn back on, I got really mad, shoved the burner into the socket - and broke part of the stove. Guess we're down to one. {$}

For the past few weeks we've been noticing little puddles of water coming from under our fridge. I assumed it was from melting ice that had fallen from the ice maker. Wrong - the fridge is leaking from somewhere underneath. Not a big deal...UNTIL the water comes out so profusely that the entire kitchen floor is soaked. {$$}

Last week one of our tubs was draining slowly. Then one day...it just stopped draining. I (being Rosie Riveter) read the DRAIN-O bottle, and it said that it worked on standing water; just pour in, and in a little while the standing water will will be gone. Nope. A few hours later when Rob got home from work, I showed him what I had done. At that point we were starting to notice a little bit of black stuff coming up from the drain along with a few small bubbles, so we let it sit. It wasn't until the next morning (when we remembered the DRAIN-O blunder) that we realized the black stuff coming out of the drain was actually the drain itself. The DRAIN-O had sat in there so long that it literally ate our drain. The worst part of all of this is that as I type this the DRAIN-O and water are still sitting in our tub. Rob's schedule has been so crazy that he hasn't had time to fix the problem yet. {$$$}
I thought the floating shampoo bottle was a nice touch. Guess we can add a new bottle of shampoo to the list as well. {$$$$}

***UPDATE***

To add serious insult to injury, after writing this post, I decided I was going to use a glass mason jar to bail out the tub. After about twenty minutes of dunk-dump-dunk-dump I was able to get a better look at the now ruined drain. It was closed. So I opened it - and watched the rest of the water go right down the drain. PLEASE tell me that wasn't the problem from the beginning!!

Ch-ch-ch-changes

The blonde hairapy was starting to grow out - so I decided it was time for me to go back to my natural color of crazy-bright-red. When I first saw it, I kind of chuckled to myself and thought, "Well, this is ought to be fun!"
I've shocked quite a few people but oddly enough, Rob LOVES it. He has complimented this color more than anything I've ever done. I guess this shouldn't be so much of a shock to me...afterall, he spent many of his childhood years dreaming of this redhead:

No. That's not a joke. But I suppose to be fair, I should add that I spent my days dreaming of the monkee on the left.

Oh Davy...{swoon}

She's telling Rob, "Uncle Jeff is crazy, but Aunt Jodi is nice and smart."

I'm pretty sure Rob is saying, "You're the smartest four year old I know."

Shut it Down

My friend Nels changed his facebook profile picture the other day. Friendship aborted.

My Newest Love

I've spent my week obsessed with THIS LITTLE MAN. Congratulations to Derek and Jessica on their new addition. Every time I have seen him I have forgotten my camera, so you'll have to visit Jessica's blog to see his sweet face. Welcome to the family Evan - we love you already!

Forty Five Minutes I'll Never Get Back

Why don't round brushes come with child-proof caps? And why do all little girls feel the need to use them like a curling iron?

Candid - - sort of

The other day I caught Maddie sharing her towel with Jude after swimming. I thought it was adorable.

She's 4

I love this girl because:

*She's unbelievably sweet

*She loves to cuddle

*She has an amazing memory

*She's so stinking cute

*She is always kind

*She is a dancing machine

*She has the cutest little voice

*She is a huge help

*She is so in love with Jude and Ella

*She makes me laugh all day, every day

Happy 4th Birthday Angel-face, I love you so much!

Here are a few Maddie flashbacks:

My 4th of Firsts

It was a wonderful weekend of family time, food, fireworks, and firsts.

I ran my fist 5K. And by 5K, I mean the one I mapped out the night before. No competition - no one to laugh at me - it was PERFECT. I even won.

I flew my first kite. Can you believe I'm almost 28, and have never flown a kite? Rob thought I was joking - but quickly realized I was being honest when he asked me to help him launch it. It took five minutes for me to understand what he meant by hold the kite on the sides and then let go when I say.

And finally, I hosted my first 4th of July party (okay - I had some family over). But we had lots and lots of yummy food, enjoyed a massive illegal fireworks display (on a neighbor's dime), played with water balloons, enjoyed good music and roasted smores in our new fire pit.

Hope you all had a fun filled fourth!

Off the Market

It's official. My brother Dan (who I've always lovingly referred to as Uncle George Clooney) has decided it's time to settle down. Yep, ladies - this man is taken. Last night, my darling twin brother proposed to his beautiful girlfriend. We couldn't be more excited for him. We've known Marissa for years (proof? Check out that picture that I posted a few weeks back of me 13 years ago) and she's absolutely the BEST GIRL for him. Not to mention the fact that I'm PRETTY sure their kids are going to come out looking like this:
Congratulations you two, I love you both!