guess what our neighbors gave us...

and my kids are ecstatic! 

i'm beyond thrilled to have a trampoline because my kids have been jumping on it every night after dinner and then crash into bed with nary a struggle.

sigh.

that truly is summer bliss.

this american life...

SO, once again the husband and i went to the annual {this american life LIVE show}.  we arrived 20 minutes early expecting to find a theater full of people (just like the last time we went) but we found ourselves to be the lone two souls in the room.  seriously.  the only ones.  made me kind of disappointed in the city i now live in.

the program started right on time and we were able to enjoy the show in the privacy of our own theater, until it was almost over the screen went blank.  what the what???  then people started to arrive.  HUH?  seems because i bought my tickets online, it gave the start time for the east coast.  not the west coast, which is a two hour difference.  sigh.  stupid buying tickets on line.  

so we had to watch the show all over again, but this time the theater was full with a decent amount of people.  which restored my love for this city.  

the show was awesome as always.  you can listen to it {HERE} if you'd like.  you should. if you don't want to listen to the whole of it, at least listen to {groundhog dayne}.  that was my favorite and it was hilarious.  

enjoy.  oh, and if you're not listening to {this american life} yet, what are you waiting for???

the phone on my camera is terrible.  but that is my husband sitting in a eerily empty theater.

oliver...

SO, a week ago yesterday we got a cat.  

my husband doesn't like having animals as pets.  not sure what else you would have as a pet but whatever.  

i talked him into it because the cat was being given away.  he is four years old, fully litter box trained, has all his shots and the lady was giving us along with the cat the litter box, food bowl, cat litter, food and cat toys.  pretty much everything you need to start having a pet.  nice set up i might say.

so oliver has been here a week and everyone (sans husband)  has fallen in love with him.  he is the most laid back, patient cat.  he came into our home and made it his.  he's had not a single accident (that alone is all i ever wanted) and except for one throwing up incident from eating to much, i couldn't have asked for a better pet.  

oh, and you know that your kids were desperate for a cat when your girls clean up cat vomit willingly without you even having to ask.  and have the floor be absolutely spotless with no sign of throw up anywhere.  yep, that's when you know your kids were serious about owning a pet.

welcome to our family oliver.

photo shoot cont...

SO, here is yet another picture i took the other night.  my kids are trained experts in modeling by now...

so funny. 

photo shoot...

SO, today i went out and took pictures of my kids in hopes of becoming a better photographer.  i am keen on starting up my own business doing this.  yes, i realize pretty much everyone now a days are a photographer and yes, i realize that they are probably ten times better, but i really hope to get to a professional standard.  

anyway, i just had to post a picture that i find hilarious.  wesley had a blast doing it. 

i'll get around to posting the other test shots within the next couple days. 

aladdin...

SO, elise decided that she wanted to be an actress this year and joined the drama club.  i was actually surprised by this because she hates to be the center of attention.  that's michelle's job.  but she stuck to it, went to every practice, tried out for major parts and participated eagerly.  

yes, that is my child we are talking about.  shocking, i know.

her drama club did the production of aladdin this year.  elise tried out for the genie and got the under-study roll.  (i was just proud of her that she was good enough to be considered for the under-study.) her real role for the play was a harem girl.  nice.  

the club literally spent half the school year practicing on this play.  they stayed after school 3 nights a week for 2 1/2 hours and went into school every morning 45 minutes early to prepare.  with all the blood, sweat and tears put into the thing, i hoped that it would be good.

and then the big night came.  i bought flowers and a card.  i dressed for the occasion.  i was actually excited.  

and then the play started.  and things went down hill quick.  

ok ok ok.  i know you all know how much i hate concerts and school functions in general but i really think i set myself up for failure on the expectations of brilliance. 

it wasn't.  brilliant, that is.

and here is why.

1. you could not here what anyone was saying for the life of you.

2. the girl who played jasmine portrayed the character as a major brat.  who would fall in love with a girl like the one she was playing?  um, no one.

3. the boy who played aladdin portrayed the character as a total dumb idiot.  which i guess, is why he fell in love with a total self-centered snot.

4. the genie was good. but it was annoying that you could not understanding what was going on because YOU COULD NOT HEAR THEM.

5. the set props were nil.  which would have been fine if you didn't see the teacher (not even dressed in black mind you) walking out on stage to pull down some curtains right in the middle of a scene.  what? why?

6. my daughter looking bored for pretty much the whole play.  huh.  that's just great.

but forgetting all the mentioned above, i do have to say i was very proud of elise for sticking to something from beginning to end. it's truly a first and for her to work so hard and put in all that effort to make this play possible, makes me impressed and hopeful that there's some work ethic in her after all.  even if it wasn't the best (or even mediocre.) she did it all herself.  and everyone starts out shaky in the beginning of trying something new. that knowledge alone made the night bearable. 

of course we now come to the obligatory pictures...

 aladdin and the narrators...

 elise singing when aladdin is arriving as prince ali

 what my other kids did while the play was on.  playing angry birds is a wonderful distraction when bored.

 she loved her flowers. 

i swear, why on earth do i look like a dear in head lights?  i haven't been impressed with pictures of myself lately.  blah.

end of school luau...

SO, last friday was the final school party.  since we hadn't been to any of the ones before i promised my kids we would go to this one. 

sigh...

have i mentioned how i hate school functions?  

i do.

a lot.

anyway, it helped that we invited our favorite friends to join us.  even if my friends seemed bored.  they entertained ME at least and that's all that really matters anyway.  right???

i will swallow my pride and admit that this was one fun end of school luau.  there was a d.j., games, food and face painting.  my kids certainly didn't have trouble falling asleep on that friday night.  RAD.

hula hula