Can you do me a favor??

It'll only take a few seconds... click here and vote for Jessica and Donovan at the bottom of the page. Jessica is a friend of mine from high school, and I would LOVE for her to win this free wedding. You can vote once per day, so keep coming back. THANKS!!!

Happy Birthday Gooter Booter

(Greg and his beautiful wife, Mandy)

Today is my brother Greg's 24th birthday - and I couldn't be more excited to rat him out in blog form. Afterall, Greg, you WERE my nemesis for MANY years. So, here we go.
My brothers Dan, Greg, Johnny and I were all in the kitchen fighting about the fact that I was (once again) responsible for cleaning all of the "misses" next to the toilet - which were obviously not my doing. Dan claimed that he used the basement bathroom, and Johnny claimed that he had great aim and that it HAD to be Greg. All eyes turned to Greg who tried several times to deny Johnny's accusations. He began getting nervous and sputtering out lame excuses until he finally yells, "IT'S NOT ME!!! I SIT!" The room broke into an immediate silence and all mouths dropped. Dan let out a big, "NOOOOOOO!" To which Johnny giggled and said, "Okay - it's my mess." And went upstairs to clean the floor.

While sitting round the dinner table Greg starts talking about how excited he is for summer. "I can't wait until it's warm outside - I'm so ready to wear those, um - what are they called? They're like pants, only shorter. You, know - those short pants? What are those called - short pants?" The rest of the family is sitting in silence HOPING that Greg would, just maybe, think about what he'd said, until Dan busts out with, "You mean, SHORTS?" To which Greg (relieved to have recieved some help) says, "Yeah - shorts. I can't wait to wear shorts."

We had a crawlspace in our old house that doubled as a toy room. While walking by one day my mother noticed an odd smell coming from it. She went in and sifted through toys and old boxes only to find a BUCKET full of urine. She called in Johnny and Greg to see who the heck had made the mess, and Greg fessed up. He said, "I was saving it so I could sell it to Todd (the neighborhood bully) as lemonade."

Okay, Greg - you've had your moments, but you're amazing at so many things. You're a talented photographer, a great bowling buddy, a self taught computer whiz, and most importantly - a great person to be around. I know I'll always be in a good mood when I'm with you - so thanks. I love you to pieces, pal.

Here's a copy of an IM Derek and I had last week...enjoy!

sideprojectrules (2:13:53 PM): by the way, the 28th is around the corner, you should call greg and remind him he has a birthday coming up.

makopp47 (2:15:46 PM): haha - I already made him put an alarm in his Iphone.

sideprojectrules (2:16:49 PM): that's good. i'd hate to have all the fun pass him by because no one called to remind him.

So what did YOU make last night?

There are a few things that my father is notorious for within our family. One of his most popular bloopers is the pairing of any colored (but usually red) flannel shirt with a pair of navy sweatpants. A fashion faux-pas that only the truly confident can pull off. I'm not really sure at what point my dad slipped that on and thought, "Yes, yes. This is PERFECT," but it stuck. It became his softball, yardwork, laundry, Saturday, traveling, camping outfit. Basically, it was either that - or a shirt and tie. The only other person I had known to flaunt a similar dress-code was my Uncle Dave - but his flannel was always replaced with a ribbed, mock-turtleneck of sorts. Within the first few weeks of dating Rob, a tire on my jeep went flat, and Rob came to the rescue. He showed up in, yes, a red flannel and navy blue sweatpants. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to run to him and hug him for the nostalgic moment, or run from him to avoid a very bizarre "am I dating my dad?" situation. Luckily - the outfut has not been revisited, and I think the flannel has since been donated to charity.

Cut to yesterday afternoon: Jude's week of horrid diarrhea comes to a head, and his diaper leaks. I change his pants, and continue making dinner. Everything is fine until Jude walks past, and I realize what I've dressed him in:


I don't know if I was just confused, or something in my subconscience took over, but either way - I'm scared.

This is the kind of dad that Rob is. Every single day. I don't think we could be any luckier. Oh, how I love this man.

Parenting Check

I need some feedback from all the moms out there. Everytime I go to see the pediatrician, he asks if I'm giving my kids flouride...to which I change the subject. He always writes me up a new prescription for it, so now I think I have six or seven sitting in my top drawer. I KNOW that all the dentists out there are big into flouride - because it's good for your teeth. I also know that all the purists out there are opposed because it's shown a lot of other negative effects on the body. In most states the tap water already has flouride in it - so supplements aren't neccesarry...but living in an area where our water is flouride free, I find myself at a bit of a loss.

Cancer runs rampant in my husband's family - so I've spent the past few years minimalizing any extra toxins in my home (cleaners, shampoos, baby products,skin care, etc.). So, now that I consider myself somewhat-green, I don't know how to deal with the flouride issue. I mean, it's not like I'm spiking my kids' drinks with bleach or anything - but is flouride worth it? (Kris, I'm EXPECTING a huge response to this one).

Oh, and lets add a little fuel to the fire: I personally use flouride free toothpaste, and since switching over, have had zero cavities. Discuss amongst yourselves.

Who needs a Valentine...

When you can get a poem like THIS:

My dear Melissa, you are so sweet,
You make my heart go tweet, tweet, tweet

Everyday I see your smile,
I want to go the extra mile

To our two runts, you are the mother,
And compared to you there is no other.

Happy Valentines Day from your holiday Scrooge,
Maybe next year, we’ll try the Olympic Luge. (nothing rhymes with Scrooge)

Anyone else sensing a bankruptcy in Hallmark's future?

Valentine's Schmalentines

It's not that I don't love Valentine's Day, because I actually do. And I woke up to a gorgeous arrangement of red roses and irises (my favorite flower).

But let's be honest - it's just another day (at least for a stay at home mom). That fact hit me hard this morning. While I was chatting online with my husband, trying to figure out our plans for the day, Jude ran past me and into his room - or so I thought. I (about thirty seconds behind) went in his room to see what he was up to. Not a Jude in sight. That's when panic washed over me - and I ran to his favorite secret escape - the master bathroom. I knew that I hadn't been in there this morning - which usually meant two things - the toilet seat was still up, and the toilet had probably not been flushed from before Rob's shower. I heard giggling as I rounded the corner, then was met with a huge, proud grin - Jude was soaked. There's only so much a mother can do when her child gets into the toilet...it's happened before, it'll probably happen again. That was my take - before I saw the floating TV remote. Happy Valentine's.

Happy Birthday, DANNY!

For years I have been the "family birthday reminder." A position that LITERALLY consists of calling everyone (except the birthday boy/girl) and reminding them to call whoever's birthday it is. I am hereby resigning from that position, and will notify family members of birthdays through blog alone. Greg, you'd better follow daily - seeing as how you've already blamed me for missing two birthdays this year.
That being said, today is my older brother Dan's 28th birthday! Here are some things you may or may not know about Dan.
-Growing up, his nickname was Daniel Doodle. I KID you not. Ouch, Mom.

(Dan's trip to Utah last May)
-Dan is the only person I know that can convince you to buy a flaming bag of dog droppings. Not only can he sell it to you, but you would TRULY believe that you came out ahead in the deal. He is THAT good.

(Dan and his lovely girlfriend, Marissa)
-Dan and I were complete opposites in high school - he was class president, while I was skipping class at Einsteins. He was a year ahead of me in school, so I would ALWAYS enter a class and get, "Melissa Kopp...are you Dan's sister?" Then I would spend the rest of the semester letting them down! It was SO bad that one teacher (on the first day) said, "Are you Dan's sister?...you are? Well, I'm going to call you Dan, then." And she did. All semester. I still swear there was something more going on there, but Dan just blushes and changes the subject when I ask him about Miss whats-her-name!
-He calls me sis. (Which I adore)
-He will always back you up - no matter what, and will defend you to all ends.
Happy Birthday, Daniel Doodle - I love you so much!

A Thousand Words

Don't let these pictures fool you - I had a great time watching little Alice today. I should ALSO add that I only let her cry for a minute or two while getting these shots...but what can I say - this kid makes the BEST cry-face ever.

As Promised

Here are the pictures that I promised from Rob's birthday shin-dig. I, personally, had a fantastic time - so thanks, everybody. What I meant to say was that I cried all night because Stef wasn't there. It just wasn't the same without you, my friend. Here we are - sitting around, and missing you.

Princess Party

Maddie threw a tu-tu on Jude this morning, and they had themselves a princess party.The first picture gave me a bit of a "Brokeback Mountain" vibe. What - too soon?