Found

I have an all-new edition of Slices of Life coming your way tomorrow, but for today (while I'm choosing some pictures to use) I'm going to share with you two things I found on the Interweb this week.

First, if you know me at all, you know that this sign could have been printed specifically for me:

Second, I'd love for someone to explain to me how someone can resist eating an Oreo long enough to do this with it:

Because that is a complete mystery to me.

Surprise at the beach!

When we were at the beach week before last, we got the sweetest surprise from Grayson's family!

We were sitting around the den after supper one evening when all the kids (who'd been out on the deck working off some energy -- or so I thought) came in and yelled "Surprise!" I was sitting on the couch, and I saw Tiffany bringing a cake in to the dining area.

Now you might think I'd have caught on right then, but I didn't. I was completely oblivious to the fact that this was the beginning of our surprise baby shower ... that's me, above, sitting on the couch in a grey T-shirt and wet hair up in a bun. I thought that since Bill's birthday was coming up, it was a birthday party for Bill (we do a little celebration every year at the beach for him).

So they had to TELL me it was a baby shower for us, and I was like, "WHAT? Are you kidding? How wonderful!" And then I started thinking about how I had no makeup on, my wet hair was up in a bun and I was wearing a grey T-shirt that was doing me no favors. So I did the only thing I could do: I took the scrunci out of my hair while they set up the cake and brought out the gifts.

Once everything was in place and the family had come over to the den area, we began opening the gifts. The boys helped.

Can you see what this bib says? It's from our brother-in-law Gerry and says, "Are these people REALLY my relatives?"

Everyone knows what huge fans of Star Wars our family is, and Kim and Andrew gave us a Princess Leia onesie and cloth rattle. HAVE YOU EVER? So cute.

And I'm pretty sure our baby will be the only one at daycare sporting one of those Leia onesies.

The gifts were so generous, and each of them was something we don't already have. We got this great car seat handle cover from Heather and Adam, which will be the first one I've ever had. It's supposed to keep your arm from chafing when you're carrying the infant seat around for those first several months.

Isn't that fabric pattern adorable? I love it.

We actually received two of this next item, one from Tiffany and Gary and one from Patsy and Bill ... Patsy and Tiffany are mother and daughter and clearly think alike.

I'm totally fine with having two, though, because Nicholas is 6 years old and still likes his blue one (he doesn't carry it anywhere, but he likes for it to be nearby when he sleeps), and quite frankly we could've used an extra one since his is a little, um, faded these days.

We also received several REALLY cute outfits ...  Debbie and Gerry and Patsy and Bill were into the pink-and-chocolate look this year. Which is great, because so am I!

And our family friends who were on the trip with us, Cathie and Dave, gave us a beautiful gift of a necklace. The centerpiece is Grayson's and my combined monogram, and there's a charm for each of the boys' first initials.

PLUS, there's a question mark for the baby girl's first initial, since we still don't have a name for her. Isn't that sweet? Cathie said that once we decide on a name, we can swap the question mark out for the correct letter.

We were so blown away by everyone's generosity, and the surprise element was TRULY surprising! Such a sweet time celebrating a momentous event with and for our family. Thank you, everyone!

This set my head a'spinning

I'm very brand-loyal, even if I'm being loyal to a store brand. So when I saw this (Inspire Me Now), it almost sent me into a tailspin.

Truly. It messes with my head.

28 weeks

I mentioned the other day that I gained three pounds while on vacation ... well, that brought me back to within one pound of my pre-pregnancy weight. (I lost 10 and a half over the first four months, so I'm about to break even.)

Now typically I wouldn't have wasted much time talking about weight gain, because ... BLEH. But let me tell you, when I was at the OB for my "28-week" visit yesterday (at 30 weeks, but who's counting?), he praised my weight situation.

Do you know why? He said that the new guidelines for weight gain during pregnancy allow for seven to 14 pounds.

I'm sorry, WHAT?

When I started having kids eight years ago, it was 20 to 25 pounds. It's like now they're saying you're only supposed to gain the weight of the baby itself plus maybe the amniotic fluid.

[Blink. Blink.]

OH.

I didn't even know I wanted this until I saw it

You may recall that I once said that we really need a room in our house dedicated to charging electronics. I'm relatively sure that Homes of the Future will have this feature. Music rooms, out. Charging rooms, in.

On a related note, over at Book of Joe, I was thrilled to see that someone has -- yet again -- invented something that I want in every room in my house.

The more our electronics collection grows, and the older the boys get, this type of outlet would help meet our ever-expanding need for more efficient ways to charge the batteries on all of our devices.

Click over to Book of Joe to get more information!

Uncomfortable truths, vol. 16

1. Words with Friends makes me feel like Pavlov's Dog. When I hear that chime alerting me that it's my turn to play a word, I want to stop whatever I'm doing and play RIGHT. THAT. SECOND. This is why I have to turn my phone to Silent while I'm at work. Otherwise I'd be totally distracted all day.

2. I know that restroom stalls don't actually LOOK like this, but this is how I FEEL like they look when I'm in them:

3. When I went to wash my face on our last morning at the beach, all of our linens had been loaded into the van. So I was left with just tap water and my hands. You know how those Dove ads have women splashing water onto their faces and then lathering up -- and it works? Well. I tried that. Water ran down my arms into my armpits. AND my eyes still felt glued shut after I was done. Personal hygiene FAIL.

4. You may have seen me Tweet this, but a few weeks ago when I passed my glucose tolerance test, I celebrated by having two raspberry frosted Pop-Tarts and a Coke Classic for breakfast a few days later.

5.  I gained three pounds while we were at the beach. "At the beach" = just six days, sports fans. While that is the LEAST I've ever gained during that week of glorious over-eating delicious meals prepared by other hands, it accounts for one-third of my total weight gain in this pregnancy. I'm sure there's something wrong with that, but I'm gonna ignore it because the food was so. darn. fabulous.

Cars 2: An informal review

On Sunday afternoon after we'd handled most of the unpacking/laundry from the beach, we took the boys to see Cars 2. All three of them have Cars 2 T-shirts, but only two of them wanted to wear theirs.

There was a lot of anticipation as we waited for the movie to begin. Luckily there were several trailers for upcoming movies that they want to see.

Jake perked up when the trailer for The Smurfs came on ... he hasn't seen the TV show, but he thinks the movie looks great!

Nicholas was most excited by the prospect of Spy Kids 4, which I have to admit looked like it will be pretty cute.

After we enjoyed the really cute Toy Story: Hawaiian Vacation short film, it was time for the main attraction.

The opening sequence was full of vehicles we'd never seen before. Jake was anxious to see some of our old favorites, but the first couple of scenes are all setups for the movie's plot, which is a spy caper. Finally we were treated to our first sight of Mater!

I'd read one parent's review that the movie was "violent" and "full of guns." I wouldn't characterize it that way, but it's definitely not the buddy flick that the original Cars was. Also, we are a family that is firmly entrenched in Star Wars, and even our 3-year-old can quote it chapter and verse. So I won't be the one to categorize THIS film as "violent."

However, there was a VERY not-so-subtle environmental message that played out by pitting Big Oil against Bio Fuel. I'm guessing that particular message was intended for adult viewers, because it's not something our boys picked up on, at least not in the political or environmental sense.

They just enjoyed the cars they've grown to know and love.

The trailers began at 12:50 and the movie didn't end until 4:15, so it was kind of a long time for Jake to remain engaged. For the last 30 minutes, he was in and out of his seat, just kind of restless. About 10 minutes before the credits rolled, he asked for my iPhone. I think they'd lost him at that point.

On the way out of the theatre, the boys talked again about how much they're looking forward to The Smurfs, which pleases me to no end because 1) It was one of my favorite shows growing up, and 2) I love Neil Patrick Harris. Doogie's in it!

Once we got outside, I asked who liked the movie:

Really? I asked again:

So it got three thumbs up from our crew, but I'd say it was a little long and the plot a little sophisticated for young children.

The beach: Friday

I'd intended to post about our last day on the beach on Saturday, but Friday night at the beach is always chaotic. Everyone's trying to pack up, we're emptying out the kitchen, cleaning out our coolers ... it's crazy. I uploaded the pictures for this post on Friday night, but they didn't finish uploading until 1 a.m., and I love you, Internet.

But that's pushing it.

Friday morning we awoke to overcast skies and drizzle. As the morning wore on, the drizzle turned to intermittent downpours. The kids played inside relatively quietly. Several played on their Nintendo DSis, such as Jake and Coleman.

Nicholas did, too. The den was awash in the sounds of electronic pings.

The girls were nearby playing with pink things. One day I'm sure I'll know what all those pink things are called.

Around 11:00 there was a break in the rain, so we went out and set up our beach chairs. Looking to the right, we were the only people out there.

Looking to our left, it was us and one other family.

And did I complain enough about my camera woes when I was on vacation? If not, let me add one woe to the list: I have GOT to send my DSLR off to have the entire thing cleaned. Look at the sky in those two pictures above. Those aren't UFOs coming to take us all. That's crap inside my camera.

Friday did bring a little more excitement on the beach, as if almost losing Nathaniel wasn't enough for my heart to take earlier in the week. The kids found a jellyfish five feet from our encampment, and luckily they didn't step on it or touch it.

They decided to bury it in the sand so no one else would step on it, either.

The sky, meanwhile, was getting more menacing by the moment.

The family next to us showed us a baby shark that a fisherman had reeled in. Does it piss you off when fisherman fish with live bait right next to your kids in the ocean? It really pisses me off. Worms are one thing. But bloody fish heads and live bait attract things like sharks, and I think it's really irresponsible to do that while families are swimming right beside you.

Regardless of the threatening rain and chances of being eaten by sharks lured in by fishermen, we had fun on the beach for a little while on Friday morning.

My brother-in-law Gerry is always a good sport about letting the kids drench him repeatedly with salt water.

There are many things in life I'm a good sport about. This isn't one of them.

Thanks, Gerry, for taking one for the team.

Jake figured out what was going on.

And that kid wanted IN.

You don't have to tell him twice.

Give him a bucket and he's golden.

Gerry decided he needed just a little retaliation.

But he went easy on him, and soon afterward, the kids were all ganging up on him.

When we'd been out about 90 minutes, the rain began again, and it turned into a downpour. We dashed inside, and the kids watched a movie upstairs after lunch.

We made it back outside around 4:00 for another couple of hours, but that was it for our time on the beach on our last day. We thought the excitement was over for the week, but then. BUT THEN.

Two firetrucks appeared in our driveway, and we had no idea why. We saw the firefighter/paramedics fan out on either side of the house, then use the public-access boardwalks to get to the beach. We all walked out to the back porch to see what was going on.

Several houses up the beach, there was a large group of people pointing out to sea. The paramedics walked calmly but purposefully toward the group of people on the beach. We, of course, were all dying to know what was going on, but I was already getting a pit in my stomach. I was having flashbacks to when I thought Nathaniel was lost in the ocean.

Once the paramedics got to the group, there appeared to be a few minutes of discussion, then two guys with red flotation devices headed out into the water. At this point, I was virtually certain there was a missing swimmer or surfer. (The surf had been so rough that day because of the storms that we hadn't let our kids in the water at all except a couple of times with adults right beside them.)

The rescuers made it about 30 feet out, then just stopped where they were and scanned. They stayed there for about 10 minutes, then came back in. I had gone back inside once I saw them head out into the water, because I couldn't handle any more. I didn't want to see whether they came back towing someone, or no one.

We checked the news on TV and online later that night, but we never saw any reports of what happened ... and although we're all still curious, it's probably better for me not to know. Three adult men drowned during the week we were there; two a couple of miles north of us in Myrtle Beach in the ocean, and one a couple of miles south of us in Murrell's Inlet on the intracoastal waterway. I am so sad for those families who lost their fathers.

On a much less serious note, I was also really sad to say goodbye at the end of the week to our rental house of the last five summers, Smiles Away.

But next year we won't need an eight-bedroom house; we'll be downsizing to five or six. It's hard to say goodbye to a place that holds so many special memories for all of us, but financially it was a no-brainer. If you know of a great house with five or six bedrooms on the Atlantic Coast, north of Hilton Head, send me an e-mail or leave me a Comment with the info. We're on the hunt!