Mongoose Mayhem

It's not the greatest lighting but that's what you get with ambiance! And we look a little tipsy, but what the heck?

Jim and I went to dinner recently at a new Italian place called Brio's. It's in a new shopping area (www.watters-creek.com) just down the road that is really nice. Lots of places to eat, shoppes, Borders books, upscale grocery, etc and you can walk around to everything or enjoy the water features by resting on the outdoor seating all over.

So, we had a nice dinner, split a bottle of wine, wandered around looking at all the other places, drifted through Borders books and eventually made our way to a movie.

Very nice!

Mike (front left) had some awesome form in his fencing class! Poor Evan looks like he's ready to turn and run ;)

Jimmy is resting off camera. He jammed his finger two week ago, playing football, and some times it bothers him. The doctor wants him to wear the splint for 3 weeks but you know kids - he doesn't remember where it fell off half the time. I'm sure I'll have to buy a new splint when he returns from Scout Camporee this weekend!

Yesterday the boys were so good that we enjoyed a treat on the Square, after I did some work at the new studio location.

This candy store is called Mom&Pop's and they have a huge wall of these canisters, as well as every flavor of popcorn you can imagine.

They also have big barrels of all the old school candy that every one in the past fifty years might have eaten at some point!

A few weeks ago, I found a roll of 35mm film in an old camera bag. Today, I picked it up and finally discovered what had been hidden away for the past several years!

One of them was a shot from a day when I painted up the boys' faces as tigers. This picture was taken while they were crawling behind the plants in the dining room

I love Mike's chubby little cheeks and Jimmy's sweet big-eyed expression. Such sweeties!!!

This is not the greatest pictures, but I liked this shot because both of the boys ended up in it - even though they were playing opposite positions (offense/defense).

It was a strange game. The refs didn't seem to know the rules (or last week's ref didn't LOL). It was FREEZING cold with the strong winds. I can't even remember if they won or not. I was too busy trying to decide on the hottest things I could eat/drink when it ended.

The boys are good together when they are on the same team ;)

Not much needed to say about this pic. We are just glad Libby is such a happy dog nowadays. No one can even tell she was paralyzed three months ago.

Someone pulled clothing from the dryer and left it open, allowing for a visitor. At first I was about to toss in a small load of Mike's new socks from the washer and turn it on again to freshen the whole load, but something caught me eye. Purrsephone!

Lucky cat. I'm not sure how long it would've taken me to realize I had not washed any tennis shoes recently...

Earlier this month, I went away to Aurora TX with a group of girlfriends for the weekend. Aurora isn't famous for much of anything BUT supposedly an alien craft crashed there in the last 1800's. They even made a cheesy movie about it in the 1980's.

I hiked the country roads (and past a trailer with loose Rottweiler on guard!) over to the cemetery and looked around for the alien's grave but there was no evidence to be found...it was a pretty place though. Nice and quiet.

Several boys in our homeschool group went on a field trip to the local fencing academy.

Jimmy fell in love with it and begged to join. Mike was also very interested so we decided to give it a go -they'll be starting lessons in the next few weeks.




Doesn't Jimmy totally pull off the look?








PS. The subject line is from one of our fave comedies "The Princess Bride". Here's a clip from the two sword fight scenes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3gfFVmw0kA&NR=1

Here he's found the six fingered man:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3W5GDkgf2w&feature=related

I'm still wondering who WOULD go swimming in this mucky overflow...

This was the group of friends that managed to meet up last minute, thanks to the gorgeous weather. We moms got to relax on blankets and talk, looking "moviestar incognito" since we all arrived in sunglasses and ball caps.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree - he gets this from his father. Poor ducks.

Another park day shot - I wonder what he was thinking about?

Snapped this pic at a nearby park. We met up with friends for some fun in the sun and "fort building" in the woods.

Jimmy and Mike are playing flag football, Hawkeyes, together this year. They are the two on the far right talking together.

Unfortunately, I forgot the zoom lens so this was the best photo from the game ;)

If you are a cat!

Jordan relaxing on a cold afternoon this past weekend.

But don't let this fool you...it could snow tomorrow :)