Kindle me this...

I try to not get geeked up about too many things, but for Mother's Day I got a Kindle. To say the least, I was stoked. I have "casually" dropped hints ("Wow, it would REALLY be great if I had a Kindle." "Hey, you know what would be great to have right now? A Kindle." "Isabelle, tell your Dad to buy me a Kindle.")...see, casual...that a Kindle could, on occassion, be something good to have. Finally, the family came through. I'm also working on "casually" dropping the hint that I want an iPad 2, but I don't see that turning out the same. Oh well. Beggers can't be chosers.

At any rate, the Kindle is just as fantastic as I imagined it would be, and then some. I could honestly entertain myself for hours just from the sample downloads of stories, never mind actually getting the full thing. And my Kindle has the Wi-Fi 3G capabilities, so I can download a story anytime, anywhere, without having to plug in to my computer. A bookstore at my fingertips? Dangerous. Which leads me to my real point. (Hey, it only took two paragraphs to get here!)

I now view everything in Kindle purchases. (If I don't buy this coffee, I'm $4.35 closer to another book purchase. Sheesh.) If I just went stark raving crazy and purchased every book I came across that I wanted to read, we'd be poor in a week. I've got to find a way to just not click the "Buy" button at will. I haven't found anyting over $10, but I feel as though I'm fighting an uphill battle. You can only read one book at a time, I tell myself. LIES! The Kindle allows me to have something ridiculous like 3,000 books at the push of the button, any time I want them. I can change books ten times in an hour, and never have to leave the sofa. I'm telling you, this is brilliant.

And dangerous. And I probably need to set up an off-shore account for my Kindle purchases to hide them from Todd. Kindle = my new crack.



P.S. Thank you, family. I'm very happy with my new device.

Happy Mother's Day!

This is a slight bit belated but a huge Happy Mother's Day to all the fabulous moms that are sleep deprived, pulling out their hair, crying tears of joy (and sorrow), cheering, scolding, hugging, counting to 10 to find another dose of patience, washing uniforms in the middle of the night, packing team snacks, sitting at the family table doing homework, rocking a fussing baby in all hours of the night, watching another episode of (fill in the blank favorite movie or tv show), changing shirts (yet again) cause you were spit up on...all in the name of trying to raise the best kid(s) we can. As we all know, we will make mistakes; it's recognizing those mistakes and trying to do better the next time that's the best gift we can give our children. Take it one day at a time, but never underestimate the strength of your child and yourself.

For my mom and the three wonderful children that I am so blessed to have call me "Mom," I love you guys.

Fresh New Beats

You've heard, right? About the Beastie Boys releasing their first new album since Jesus walked the earth. (Okay, not that long, but feels like it.) It came out yesterday...check check check it out.


But, wait. What's this? Eddie Vedder is also releasing a solo album this month? Stop. Too much. Pearl Jam is my all-time favorite band (BB running a close second), so this is too much for my little near middle-aged heart.

It's the early nineties all over again. But with three kids. And a minivan. (Ouch)

Soccer Sunday

I have tried to resist posting much about soccer on here, as words cannot describe how much is played in our house. It's 7 days a week. No lie. No exaggeration. Today Isabelle is on her 6th straight day of soccer. See? Ridiculous. But today, well, today was a big day in our house.

SOPHIA SCORED HER FIRST GOAL!!!

(Here's a secret...it took Isabelle three seasons before she scored her first goal. And we all know how good she is now.)

So here is an extremely brief photo recap from an extremely proud mom. Even if I don't post about it here regularly, they are my superstars.

Happy Birthday Hudson!

His birthday was technically 13 days ago, but since we're still in the month of April, I consider this timely. That's the way time rolls in my world. Same month = on time.

My sweet little boy is now 3 years old. Stop. I can't even wrap my head around that idea. He was just born last year, right?

Hudson is the brightest light that burns in all our lives. He is deeply loved by all around him and has the sweetest soul. His sisters adore him and I could not imagine our lives without him. He brought a balance we did not have before, and made our family complete.

Happy Birthday, Big Man! Now show us all your Spiderman pose....

Happy Easter!

I have about 2 hours worth of laundry to go fold, but a few pictures from our wonderful Easter. I hope each of you had a very blessed day.

Uncle! (And American Pickers)

I can't believe it's been over a month since I've posted. I can't imagine why I haven't posted, since I've got nothing going on. Yeah, right. Can you say 24/7 insanity? I can. Cause it's my life. I cry Uncle, cause life is about to win this never ending battle. UNCLE!

I'll try to get my ass back in gear and catch everyone up, but for now we'll start where I left off...the coffee table.

First off, Greyhound Express should really be called The Pony Express. I'm pretty sure my coffee table could have walked to Seattle faster than Greyhound got it here. Holy shit, Dave. One month. One month, almost to the day, the table FINALLY arrived. We had honestly written the whole thing off and were looking for another one when the call came from the depot in Seattle, "Mrs. Mayne, we have a package here for you." I called Todd at work, in total shock. I expected it to be in pieces, but amazingly it had survived the rather long shipping process with little damage. However, now that my table is here, I give Greyhound Express the tall man salute and advise everyone to NEVER use them. Unless you're okay with your item showing up in the next calendar year. Cause that's possible.

But here's the table with the new rug and sofa. This is a quick pic I snapped on my iPhone, so I apologize for the quality. And the toys off to the side in the picture. That's how we roll.



But alas, our furniture adventures do not end there. Cause God help we learn anything. Let me start by saying we're slightly obsessed with American Pickers. Favorite show on TV. And that should probably tell you a little of what a dork I really am. But honestly, I have A LOT of picker in me (it's in my genes), and would do it constantly if allowed.

So after Hudson's birthday party the other night, we were driving through the neighborhood to go pick up chicken from Ezell's. (sidenote: YUMMMM!!!) Out of the corner of my eye, I catch a small bench/loveseat sitting on the curb ready to go out with the trash. Todd sees it at the same time I do, and says, "you saw that, right?" "Yes, I did. We're getting it on the way back." I love me some Ezell's, but I was distracted the entire time by thoughts that someone would beat me to picking this discarded and free item off someone's curb before I could get there. I am nothing if not classy.

So we got our chicken, gizzards, liver and fried okra (sidenote again: YUMMMM!!!) and headed back towards our awaiting treasure. Now, I won't ruin the goodness, and frankly I don't have a picture since we brought it home, but below is the shot of us cramming this thing in the back of the van in the dead of night with a car load of people. Sophia had to sit in the front seat with Grandad, while Isabelle and Todd sat in the middle of the van holding the legs of the bench so it wouldn't fall out the back.

Did we have a little American Picker giddiness going on? Hell yes, we did. All we needed were the television cameras. Mike and Frank better look out.