A Little Post From Bobby

Too bad you didn't have those thick wavy locks in high school Allen, you'd have had all the chicks.
Oh no, not the evil eyebrow! It's been evil ever since I've known him.
You will eat the vanilla bean cheesecake Robert, or my name is not Matt Frey, Star Wars king!

Okay, so I want to describe my birthday with three little words: BEST BIRTHDAY EVER! What made this birthday so great Bobby, you may ask? Well, it all started with the surprise birthday party. Okay, it wasn't much of a surprise. Heather left her facebook page up. But I've never had a surprise party for my birthday. Yes, I know, I've been sorely overlooked for 33 years. But Heather made up for lost time.

So that was the first part. I got Borderlands for my birthday. Sweet, anything video games for my birthday is the greatest thing I could possibly get. I'm a game nerd, what can I say? Anyways, our friends Jen and Brian got me a giftcard to Gamestop. Double bonus! Well, that is it for the actual day of my birthday.

But the Birthday Extravaganza didn't stop there. My good friend Matt wasn't able to make it to my party, so he planned a little party of his own. Rob came into town from Vegas. He had scant little time to hang out, but he happened to have some time on a day I was off from work. Bonus! Me and Heather drove up to Northern Virginia to meet with Matt and Rob for dinner. When we got there, we hung out with Matt for a little bit then we went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. When I walked through the door there was another surprise waiting for me. It was one of my best friends of all time Allen. We hadn't talked for a long time, there's more to that story, but needless to say it was a great surprise. So Rob bought everyone dinner, which was awesome! Matt got me Final Fantasy XIII for the PS3 and Allen got me Blur for the PS3 as well. Blur is awesome, it's a multiplayer racer that plays like Mario Kart with Dodge Vipers and Camaros. It's great and it's a great game my kids like playing. Getting Final Fantasy for my birthday, well, that was another awesome thing too. I love getting video games for my birthday or holidays or what have you, but getting FF XIII was like a dream come true. Final Fantasy is a mainstay for me. So a bunch of things aligned this birthday. I got video games, I got Final Fantasy, I got a party, and more importantly, I got to see my friends whom I rarely get to see, and one I've not seen in years. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! I don't think I'll ever forget this one. Thanks to all my friends who made it happen and my beautiful wife! I usually hate birthdays, for me to be so stoked about one, you know that a lot of things had to come together. I'm so happy that I have so many people in my life who love me so much. I think this gets overlooked quite a bit by me. But thank you all so much, I love everyone of you.

Follow Me Here

I am going to admit something that may make many people angry - I do not like anything Twilight. I thought the books were poorly written and found the movies even worse, if that is possible. As an English teacher I can appreciate any books that stirred up that much interest in young readers. Teens who had never finished a novel read the entire series. I love that. I see nothing else of redeemable quality about the books. I can not even say that the heroine provides a good role model for my tween daughter.

SO... You have to jump here and read the post about the top five ways that Twilight has made my cousin's marriage better. Even if you love Twilight you will roll laughing!

First week of summer

Color me surprised. I thought I knew my boys pretty well, but they proved me wrong this week. Caleb has always been my rough and tumble kid. He likes to stay very active by riding his bike, throwing a ball with friends or just running around, literally. Seth is quiet. He likes to pretend, he likes to read and spend time on the computer. So, when I took them to their first day of scout camp on Monday - in record heat no less - I really thought Caleb would be thrilled and Seth would complain. I was so wrong! Seth made a new friend the first day and loved going. He never said one word about being too hot and went happily every morning. Caleb complained about the heat and didn't even go on Thursday, that was partly my idea. He woke up with bumps all over the inside of his arms and I was worried he had poison oak or ivy. It turned out it was just his eczema acting up from the heat. He did go today but got no badges since he missed a day - I'm not too happy about that. He seemed pleased when I picked him up though, of course we did get a break from the heat today, I think it was only 90. Seth went home with his new friend to play and Brooklyn has a birthday party tonight and has enjoyed the week without her brothers. I took Caleb for an ice cream treat for sticking it out and I think we've had a great end to a wonderful first week of summer. I hope for pictures next time. We've been too busy to think about it.

How Tired Would You Have To Be?

Lately, Ayden has been getting into trouble during nap time. He does not want to nap so he stays awake by getting into everything in the room he should be sleeping in. Today, he did get into something but then promptly fell asleep. It was Brooklyn's pink rain poncho! Caleb went to check on him and asked why he was on the floor and he said it was comfortable, then he fell back to sleep. Comfortable? The floor and plastic poncho are comfortable? Thanks for telling me that now kiddo, that knowledge would have saved me some money.

I apologize for the quality of this picture but it was too cute to pass up and the camera was doing weird stuff. The kids have played with the settings until I can not figure out what is wrong with them.

Monday Memories

Did you ever play with these?
Colorforms were one of my most favorite toys ever! I have no idea why but something about the new plastic smell, peeling the pictures off the black, slick sheet they came on and placing them on the little scene gave me all kinds of thrills. This provided hours of entertainment. Today a child might look at the colorform board and ask, but what does it do? That was the beauty. It didn't DO anything, it made my imagination do all the work. I created the story, the dialogue and took it wherever I wanted it to go. How many games can you say that about nowadays?

Do you know this man?

Well, you should. This is Robert Bruce Orr, aka Bobby. Yes, Bobby, even though he is a grown man, he likes the sobriquet and it suits him. This is my husband and today, on his birthday, I want to express to all who read my blog(well I know it's not that many but I can pretend) how amazing he is. Bobby is not the same man I married. He is immensely better than the man I married. His core, who he is, has not changed. The way he handles situations and the way he regards others has. I have always loved the word volatile and that describes Bobby. He was when I met him and he is now but he stops, he thinks, he considers those around him now. He is incredibly introspective; I love that about him. He learns from mistakes - his and others. He listens to me. I know how men joke about women babbling on. They joke about tuning us out. I admit, he does not hang on my every word ~ thank goodness. However, when it's a serious matter for any reason, he hears and remembers everything I say. That is amazing and wonderful to me. Bobby is a loving father. Just when I think he's tired and grumpy and has had it with the kids he will surprise me and do something amazing and kind. Anyone who has seen Bobby with his babies knows how much he loves them. He loves to get silly with them, tickle them and roll on the floor with them. He makes up funny names and songs about them. Bobby is not one to go out and do things, he is a bit of a homebody, but if the kids want a sleepover or a birthday party he is there in full force, entertaining them. I love that we can sit and have intelligent conversations with each other. I never tire of talking to Bobby and I love how he can make everyone laugh. Bobby is a hard worker. He may hate his job but he will do his best at it, no one can say he did not go above and beyond his duties. Is our life just a big love fest over here? Heck no. It's far from perfect but I love and respect my husband and I know he would do anything for us. I am so grateful to have him in our lives.

Memorial Day

Memorial Day was the first day Bobby and I had off together in months. It was so nice to have some time to spend as a family since he leaves for work just before I get home and goes to bed as I leave. We are strangers in the night... or early morning really. My friend from work, Jen, invited us over for a cookout and swim. The kids were extremely excited. This would be their first pool visit of the summer! Brooklyn invited a friend. Caleb and Seth dug out their suits that were too big for them last year and Ayden asked over and over again, "Are we going to the pool?" We all had a good time but had to hurry home so Bobby could get a nap before going in to work at 2am...

Ayden getting ready to leave:
Brooklyn and Caleb testing out the water:

Ayden, posing in his hip flotation device:

Brooklyn and her friend from school and church - best friends!

Seth loves the water.... now if I could get him to swim:

Monday Memories

Do any of you remember this:

I loved this cereal. Well, I loved the idea of this cereal. I love the color blue. I always wanted to eat blue things. Do you know how hard it is to find blue things to eat? When this commercial came on I was filled with anticipation. I loved Smurfs, I loved blue food, so what could be better? Well, most anything would be better I guess. As you can see from the picture there is hardly any blue. The blue that is there is more purplish black. The cereal was ok I guess. It tasted like crunch berries, if I remember correctly. I still find most new things are better to anticipate than try.