The Michael Jackson Un-Tribute

Heard from my 10 year old:

So what's the big deal about Michael Jackson? It's not like he was Hannah Montana or anything...


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So we obviously have a little work to do with her musical education.

4th of July Recap

Watching the ever-so-exciting black snakes.



Miss P being Miss P.

The 4th of July was pretty fabulous around these parts! We bought a few sparklers and other small explosives to amuse three girls under the age of 10. That kept them busy until around 9:30 or so, when the neighbors starting setting off the equivalent of a military surge. I see no way that they could have spent less than $1,000. While I personally think that's a heck of a lot of money for something that's going up in smoke, I wasn't about to criticize while the lovely display was going on. Or off. Or whatever.

It was a cool evening, so the girls took blankets out to the playset tower and curled up to enjoy the show. The grown-ups enjoyed watching the girls, who ooohed and ahhhed at pretty much everything. Then again, I may have oohed and ahhed myself - as I said earlier, there was some serious cash spent on those fireworks.

I hope you had a terrific 4th of July, too! And while we celebrated our independence, I hope you remembered the people who continue to keep our country free.

5 Reasons I Love Andy Roddick

1. He's a Nebraska boy. Born in Omaha, Andy is a Cornhusker fan from way back... It's too bad his brother will be betraying the Big Red with his new position as tennis coach for Oklahoma! ;-)
2. He Twitters (@andyroddick). 'Nuff said.
3. 135mph+ serves. There's nothing like watching Andy power serve after serve straight at Roger Federer... and watching Federer flinch.
4. Dedication to Davis Cup. Not many top-ranked players would put in the time and effort required to compete in Davis Cup, but Andy (along with the Bryan Brothers and James Blake) has made the committment. I hate to see him out in 2009!
5. His sense of humor in post-match interviews.

And now? There's a reason #6: 4 1/2 hours on the grass courts of Wimbeldon.


You already know I'm a tennis fan. And an Andy Roddick fan. So you can imagine my excitement when Andy Roddick made the finals of Wimbeldon. I was a little less excited to see Roger Federer there, too, but I try to take what I can get when it comes to seeing Andy in the finals.

Sunday morning, I ignored the rest of my family for 4 1/2 hours while I watched Andy play the best tennis of his life. He showed skill and determination thoughout the match, but it was in the record-breaking 5th set that his need to win - his need for a return to the top of the tennis world - shined through.

Thank you, Andy. Thanks for playing your heart out. Thanks for being such a good sport in defeat. And thanks for promising that you'll be fighting to the top again soon. I'll be watching.

From @andyroddick on Twitter: thanks for all the support and well wishes!! it is very much appreciated and we will get out there and do it again soon! thank you!!!

(Andy photo via RoddickWatch)

Summertime

Summer is supposed to be a slower time. A time for lazy days by the pool. A time for ice cream and lemonade. A time for reading good books in the shade of a tall tree. A time for this mama to live in her pajamas in the mornings and not worry if a shower isn't on the agenda until afternoon naps are done.

Summer isn't working out like that.

So far, the oldest child has had band camp every morning at 9 a.m. Every. Stinkin'. Morning. Band camp is finally over (and you can thank me later for sparing you the agony of the band concert). Next up is track camp. We've had softball and tball games 2-3 nights a week, plus softball practices on top of that because our pitchers are getting their rear ends kicked. And evidently, when you're 10, you can no longer just hang out at home with your sisters and your mom. You must be on the phone constantly arranging play dates and discussing important fashion trends for upcoming sporting events. (The tshirts are tied in the back, not the side. And ponytails are sooooo yesterday... hair must be braided to fit neatly under the helmet.)

Then add in this silly little thing called work and the summertime livin' hasn't been all that easy so far. I looked at the calendar this morning and it's not going to be any better in July.

But life has been pretty good anyway. The little girls have spent hours outside playing on their new swingset. The 10 year old has been methodically working her way through the Harry Potter books, which serves the dual purpose of meeting her summer reading goals and getting her ready for our movie date on July 15th. We have a kiddie pool on the deck that has seen a lot of use, giving me a fun view of three wet monkeys splashing around while I sit at the counter pounding out articles for work. There's a lot to look forward to, including several weekends with family, the long-awaited Jonas Brothers concert, and an overnight at the Great Wolf Lodge waterpark (thanks to one of the husband's drug reps). July is going to be jam-packed, but I'm going to do my best to enjoy every minute.

Even if my bunny slippers aren't getting much attention.

The Rest of the Story

Last week, on Day 4 of the Great Family Staycation, the husband and I took Miss N to the history museum. We left the little ones at daycare, knowing that they wouldn't care to wander around the exhibits (or keep quiet while we looked around!). It was a gorgeous, sunny day and I'd been meaning to get a few pictures of Miss N. The grounds of the history museum are always pretty, so I decided to seize the opportunity. Here are a few more shots from that day.

We Have A Winner!

And the winner is...

JILL! Mama to the fabulous and spunky Layne Nhi. Here's her winning story:

We have a cute story about Layne Nhi. We were only home from Vietnam about 6 weeks with 7 year old Layne Nhi Anne when we decided to treat her to our local Pizza Hut buffet for lunch. Still only able to communicate through a few words and pointing to what she needed, she pointed to each of the foods from the buffet she wanted to try and I put it on her plate. We sat back down to eat and told her the names of each of the foods on her plate. Well, she repeated all of the foods, trying so hard to speak english like us... pizza, breadsticks, salad, and PEACHES. Well, we have 3 dogs, one of them with the name PEACHES. When we told her the name of the fruit she was about to eat was PEACHES, she dropped her fork and started to cry. It took us a minute to figure out what she was so upset about, and she said "con cho", Vietnamese for dog. She thought she was eating our dog PEACHES!! We had to leave Pizza Hut and go home to show her that our dog Peaches was ok, and try to explain that peaches was a name of fruit!!! Looking back we all three laugh about it, but poor kid thought we were feeding her the sweet dog!

Congratulations Jill! Please email me at mamainjammies@yahoo.com.

Sneak Peek