The Joy of Boys...

Baseball game did not go well for the little Orioles, after winning Tuesday 22-13, we lost last night 12-7.  A big bummer and it made for some unhappy coaches.
I was the official score keeper,  and I swear if one more parent asked me what the score was while a play was happening I was going to unleash the kracken.... 

Today in the aftermath of last nights loss,  school is out for a planning day. chaos is running wild in the house.  The craziness of what makes a boy a "boy" abounds.. 
Would I have it any other way? Some days, it is nice to have every thing quiet. But today, I enjoy the laughter. I enjoy all the noises of what come with having kids. I am happy knowing that our boys are smart, and healthy. Life is so simple, and carefree to them, thinking of that led me to this poem, not sure who actually wrote it as it was not credited to anyone, but I liked it and thought I would share:

 

Little Boys
Little boys come in all shapes and sizes, Shy and adventurous,

full of surprises, With misshapen halos and mischievous grins,

Small dirty faces, and sweet, sticky chins.

They'll keep you so busy,

and yet all the while Nothing can brighten the world like their smile.

And no greater treasure has brought homes more joy

Than a curious, active, and lovable boy!

 

 

-JUGM

My Productive Day

I must say I have been quite busy this morning. Did two loads of laundry, put all that up. Prepped the boys baseball uniforms for tonight's game. ( whatever will they do with out mom doing their uniforms when they hit the major leagues? ) 

Went through their closets and cleaned out clothes that are getting small. Then, Cleaned out and re-organized our linen closet. How many times in a year does one do that? I then opened up my scrap book closet and some horrible closet monster has got in there and disorganized the living daylights out of it. Before I start on that task, I thought I would take a break and do a blog post.

I have the ball rolling on my nieces wedding shower. Yesterday, my Sicilian friend ( aka "Sicily") with her newly acquired citizenship got together, and with "Big Baby" sitting on her lap she helped me make these awesome home made invitations:

Yes every thing is cut out by  hand, even that dress..  33 to be exact. I could have bought a cartridge for my die cut machine, but I would not use it a lot, so why spend the money.  And I got a used "You're Invited" stamp off eBay for $1.99. 
Okay, so I will let you all in on a little secret, another lady is giving my niece a "tea party" bridal shower, and she made "tea cups" as the invites...well the proverbial line was drawn in the sand, and I had to cross it.. I hope these look good. However, I still think they need something else.
Sicily said "No, they look pretty just the way we made them".
On the inside of course is all the "what, where, and RSVP stuff"

So now that I have shared my day with all of you good folks, it is back to the scrap book closet and the mess that monster made, then off to the cleaners, get the boys from school, come home fix a small dinner for them then off to baseball ! 

Have a good Thursday!

-JUGM

Airliner Mystery....

Thoughts on the mystery of the disappearance of the Malaysian Jet Airliner that vanished over the weekend?

Lots of speculation. Either something internally caught fire and it exploded, or it was a deliberate explosion... My guess is a deliberate act and North Korea is involved. Either way what happened to it has the world baffled, and it is playing out to be the mystery of the century.

My thoughts are with those victims and their families who don't know what the heck is going on and the anguish they must be feeling of  losing a loved one and then the "not knowing" . They are being fed so many conflicting stories from the media that it is hard to believe which one if any are correct.

-JUGM

Big Baby and U.S. Citizenship

One of my friends and neighbor is from Sicily, she moved here about 8 years ago after marrying her husband who was stationed in the navy at NAS Sigonella, Sicily. 
5 months ago they had their first child, a robust bouncing baby boy, who has more spare tires then the Michelin Man.  Therefore when talking about him on this blog he will be forever known as "Big Baby" .

I got asked to baby sit him today for a couple of hours so she could go to the immigration office to do her interview and test to become a citizen.  Not sure what they would ask she went over everything from the pilgrims all the way to current events.
Her husband had the day off originally, but was told he had to work, So I sent her out the door this morning with the big bundle of joy in my arms. She was very nervous but excited at the prospect of finally becoming a U.S Citizen.

Big Baby was a joy. All he wanted to do was be held,and I obliged. It has been seven years since I had a baby, so of course I was rusty on certain things-like some of these new advanced bottles they have out.   Senior called a few times to check on how I was doing but told me in no way was I to bring Big Baby home....   : (  

After about two hours, his mom called happy and excited that she had passed and was on her way to being a citizen, she brought back lunch and as we ate, she told me about the test taking :

FYI To become a citizen of the USA, a person gets asked one written question..hers was: " What month do we celebrate Presidents Day"?

Then, a person is asked 10 out of 100 possible verbal questions. They have to answer six correctly. Ones that she was asked today are these:

 "When is the 4th of July"?  ( no kidding)
" Who is the current President" ?
"Who is the current Vice President"?
"Where is the White House"?
"What ocean is on the east side of the United States"?
"What country is to the north of the United States"?

If you answer the first six questions correctly they do not ask the other four.

I  sat there, eating with Cheshire cat kind of grin on my face, her sarcasm expressed my thoughts. So much for all the studying..next she is to wait for a piece of mail to tell her when the ceremony is.
After lunch, and getting the inner knowledge of becoming a Citizen, I collected my things, gave the mom a hug, and squeezed Big Baby's overly chubby cheeks..he in turn said his "goodbye" with slobber.

-JUGM

They Actually Showed This...

Senior can testify how outraged I was as a parent,that a local school district showed a anti-heterosexual bullying video to high school students... 
It was a movie set in a world where the straight people are the minority, and had to endure bullying from gays. It was showed without parental knowledge at the school.

Parents were Peeved. They showed up in large numbers at the school districts board meeting last night demanding answers, and showing their out rage.

I as a parent was equally peeved. I was more upset at the fact that it was not just shown to the high school students, but the actors in the video were elementary aged kids, not adults or high school aged actors, but children. Children that are the same age as my two boys. It disgusted me.

Those parents, like myself are tired of the liberal agenda being shoved down our throats and forced upon our school aged kids. What happened to going to school for "reading, writing and arithmetic" ?

The  argument to the board was that government has taken God and moral values out of the national school system, then this should not be allowed as well.
 Good point- I agree ! 

READ ABOUT IT HERE

Begin the work week with a laugh

If your Monday is starting off like most of mine do...here is something to give you a laugh:

 

 

If this were my parents, this is exactly how their headstone would read..Senior could concur on that one:

 

And you can't go wrong with a good blonde joke:

My Current Read:

The narrator of this story is "Death" and he tells of a 9 year old German girl named "Leisel, who has been sent to live with foster parents. Her Foster father "Hans" is teaching her to read and write. She grows to love and treasure books so much that during the book burnings, by the Nazi's, she would steal a book.. 
I love this book because it gives you an insight on what life was like during one of the most dangerous times in world history--the Nazi occupation. It is very compelling.

This past November the movie was released in theatres and due out soon on DVD.