"Some days are just like that...

...even in Australia."

A day in the life of Brooks

Did you know that John McCain has a history of reaching across the isle? And that Barack Obama is going to cut taxes for 95% of Americans? BARF!!! Someone please tell me this will all be over soon.

Now on to more interesting things: A Day in the Life of Brooks. Or: Here are some things we do in a typical day.

Start by making your bed. (this is how B made his bed today)

Then get mad and throw all of Dad's clean, folded clothes on the floor.

Next, do some mopping.

Take a quick break to read to naked Cate.

Rinse the mop in your bathroom sink.

If it's Thursday, head to the library for story time.

If it's Friday, head to the other library for gymnastics.


Later, when Dad gets home, try to play a game of Cooties with him. If you can get him to stay awake.

On Tuesday, go to soccer with Aiden after dinner. While she is waiting for her turn to play, get all tangled up in the big nets with her.

Or just lay on the side and watch.

Before bed, beg and beg to sleep in Aiden's room, promising to "not fight". If the answer is no, find a friend or airplane to snuggle with anyway.

If the answer is yes, snuggle until you fall asleep and then at some point in the night make your way to Mom and Dad's bed with at least 2 blankets and one lamb in tow.

Add in where appropriate: throw a fit the size of China if you get frustrated, touch Cate as often as possible, run to console anyone who seems sad, tell everyone in the family repeatedly "I love you guys", spill at least 2 drinks, climb up on the counter and get food all over the couch, get out your train set and put it away 3 times, and make a mess in every room of the house.
Start the chaos all again in the morning.

A Quick Trip

Wow. Did we really spent 36 hours in New England this weekend? Our trip was fabulous, but terribly short. We arrived at midnight on Friday and were home by 5pm yesterday (Sunday). In that time, we were able to see so many great friends. A big thank you to Joelle for putting together a get together brunch for us. We loved seeing so many of our favorite people and catching up, even though it was so brief. As we were approaching Hartford from Atlanta, I woke up as the pilot told us we were ready to make our final descent and for a brief moment I felt like I was coming home. It was that distinct feeling of relief and comfort that you get when you return home. For the entire trip it felt like home. While we were visiting with friends at the park and the kids were running around playing I felt like I had never left and I tried to just soak it all up, to memorize everyone's faces and hugs. (thank you Suzanne for the birthday gift, Brooks thinks it's pretty cool).Thank you so much to all of you for that wonderful morning.
The wedding, too, was perfect. Anna looked gorgeous as usual and it was so fun to visit with dental school friends, introduce them to Cate (although I did feel a bit like a baby factory), and catch up. The reception was incredible, on the 17th floor of a fancy hotel. The ballroom was at least 2 stories tall with huge windows on 3 sides and gorgeous views of Providence. The band was terrific, the food was amazing, and everyone had a great time. Also, Cate got lots of attention and she was a dream.
We had a blast hanging out with Kyle, Hillary and Ben too, even though it was way too short. They made 3 trips to the airport for us, gave us a place to stay, and even went and got a Harry's pizza for us to eat when we got home from the reception. They also gave us a quick driving tour of the new Blue Back square which is RIGHT across the street from our old house. We are sad we don't live there now, with a Barnes and Noble, Janie and Jack, movie theatre, Ann Taylor, Crate & Barrel, REI, and more! Thanks guys, we really really really (times 1000) appreciate all you did for us. We had a great trip and now I just have to do 100 loads of laundry and all the other things that come with getting home from a trip.

This is the only picture I got of leaves. They are just beginning to change, I took it from the car.

I know it's hard to see, but they were far away and the church was dark. Beautiful ceremony.

Also blurry, I know, but a great shot anyway. The happy couple.

The beautiful bride. Isn't she amazing? And the dress.....Wow.



Cate meets Matt.

Cate meets Anna. I am thinking "PLEASE for once in your little life, please please don't spit up"

UConn friends, all dentists and some residents too.

Ben and Cate meet.


The essential Trader Joe's trip.

It was a wonderful, but really too short trip. Next time I will go longer so I can pick apples and go to Book Group!

Friday rundown

These are the roots the plumbers pulled out of my main sewer pipe. It took them a long time to figure out what the problem was. Apparently A/C condensation pipes don't usually hook up with the main sewer line. Also, this is a lot of roots. But it's all good now. No more poop in the garage.


The guys in the big vacuum truck came through the neighborhood yesterday. Obviously they haven't looked up at the trees recently. Because they are still GREEN!!! Hello. (picture taken from my window one minute ago)


Lastly, I love that they take anything in the garbage here. Check out the paint stash that the previous owners left under the stairs. Oh, but there's more too! I just filled the painty ones with cat litter and away they took it.

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Only in Alabama

There have been lots of things about living in Alabama that I have had to get used to this past year and a few months or whatever. (especially after living in New England for 4 years before this--can you say SLOW DRIVERS!??!!??!?!) One big thing is the obsession with college football. If you think you "got the idea" from my post about our trip to the Alabama game, you are so wrong. You see, college football is religion around here. Upon moving to Alabama you are asked 2 big questions--"do you want to come to our church?" and "who do you go for? "or "who are you for?" which means "Do you like/cheer for the University of Alabama or Auburn?"
Most people have at least one of these to demonstrate their loyalty: a flag outside their house, 2 flags on their cars, decals on their cars, bumper stickers on their cars, personalized license plates with something like "JJ4AU" on them, UA or AU license plates, 500 items of clothing from their school of choice, etc. Another example is our neighbor around the corner. He goes to every Alabama game in his huge crimson truck with his Directv satellite and tailgates all day before the game starts. Since Alabama was away this last weekend, he instead had all his kids, grandkids, and friends over to tailgate and party at his house. They had the Directv satellite set up in the driveway and the HUGE TV out there too. No joke.
This picture is an example of a true fan (please notice the two orange "T" flags in his windows). He was obviously on his way down to Auburn for the Auburn vs. Tennessee game last weekend. And he was going all out with his tailgating as you can see.

Happy Flower

When Aiden was the flower of the week, Lewis bought her some purple daisies and this is what one of them looked like.

Birthmarks

Aside from the obvious things like walking into poles and corners, stepping in gum and dog poop, and having unmanageable knotty hair, my kids might not seem much like me. Oh sure, people sometimes say that they look like me, but then they meet Lewis and the "I can't believe how much _____________ (fill in A, B or C here) looks like your husband." begins. One thing that they all got from Lewis is a big red birthmark on the back of their heads and necks. I am realizing that they are hard to see in these pictures for some reason even though they are really easy to see in real life. Also, they all have a blue line (vein) on their nose right between their eyes that is prominent. I can't tell you how many times people in the checkout line have said something about them getting into the blue markers. BUT it's not blue marker, it's a VEIN! Thank you for noticing though! I am not sure where they got it, but I think it's so cool that they all have it. In fact, when Cate was born it was one of the first things both Lewis and I looked for. And it wasn't there. But don't worry, because it is now so I can look forward to a few more years of strangers giving me their 2 cents!
A


B


(can I please add how annoying it is that Brooks learned to cross his eyes because now every time I take his picture--which he hates--he goes cross-eyed just because he knows I hate it)
C