.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Its a Small World!

This morning I turned on the TV just for the heck of it. And what did I see? The TODAY show was having a segment on Vacations From Hell. They said mentioned a Colorado family who had a nightmare vacation. Well, ends up we know the people. Eric Langner and family were featured on the show, so it was pretty cool and strange to see someone from little ol' Loma, CO on national TV!

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Nesting


Hooray for the closet!!

Please witness something seen only once every 97 leap years: a clean fridge!


The 'nesting' phase has officially kicked in, and for the past week I have been trying to get stuff done before the baby arrives. I have been shopping for birthdays and some Christmas things, and even wrapped the stuff! We have finished....yes, after a long three+ years....our closet! Wow! Who knew that you could actually find your clothes in a few brief moments without running upstairs, looking here and there and everywhere. We finished remodeling the big room upstairs, so now you can come visit and you won't have to smell remnants of the cat that once lived there. Let me rephrase that...we didn't have remnants of an actual cat upstairs, just the smell of a cat that apparently wasn't very well trained. Also as part of this nesting craziness, I have sewn two dresses for the baby, some PJ's for James, and a lot of other little kid things. And, my biggest accomplishment, besides the closet of course....drum roll, please....I cleaned out my fridge! Yes, folks, I managed to weed out all of the science experiments and mysterious items and give the fridge a long-overdue scrubbing. Now, I am not saying that I had fun. I am just saying I feel accomplished.

So now all thats left is, well, quite a bit. But hey, it doesn't all have to get done. With James I went through two weeks of nesting before he decided enough was enough and made his debut. Who knows? Anyone making bets yet on when Groves#2 will make her appearance?

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Little Boy's Little Boy




James has become quite his own man lately. He is very particular about what 'boots' and hats he wears. Above you can see some of his favorites. He may choose to wear the fireman's hat with the blue rain boots. Or maybe the safari hat and his nice dress shoes. Today on our way to Target, in fact, he wore two hats simultaneously. Decisions, decisions! He also likes to don the occasional pair of eye wear, as you can see. One of his wackiest ensembles to date included the glasses, the green safari hat and his blue boots. His trademark look is the cowboy boots (about 4 sizes too big) and his spiffy old-school Holtec hat. And, in case you are wondering, it has a straight brim and he wears it just a bit to the side. People at church ask if he is training to be a gansta'. Uh, no, he's just training to be himself, whatever that may be.

Better get going...New York is calling. They want him create his own line for the runway. But, alas, his mean old parents say he is too young for such thing. For now, if you are lucky maybe he will share with you a few of his favorite style tips.

Giant Nasty Bugs: A Science Lesson


We have been noticing annoying little holes dug up in our newly sown lawn lately. The holes are about 1/2 wide and the mounds are about 6 inches across. We immediately ruled out the possibility of miniature prairie dogs, and the holes were too small to be from rabbits. Hmmm...what could it be? Then, we noticed a giant nasty (dead) wasp laying on one of the mounds. After a little research, we found out that they are Cicada Killer Wasps. They kill Cicadas and drag them down into their burrows and eat them! Pretty weird, huh? We also happened to find a dead Cicada, so you can get an idea of what this wasp is capable of. Anyone want to come over and play in our yard?!

Tuesday, August 21, 2007


In response to the previous post, here is a list of questions to test your newfound understanding of hicks and rednecks.


Hick or Redneck? You decide….(Answers Below)

1. You shoot prairie dogs.

2. You have eaten the prairie dogs you kill OR taken them to the taxidermist OR both.

3. You own a goat.

4. You have installed smoke stacks and a cow-pusher on your Chevy S10 Pick-up.

5. You have ever played hide-and-seek in a cornfield.

6. Your pants are so tight that you have rendered yourself infertile and you had to rub dirt on your boots to make them look ‘broke-in.’

7. You know precisely how to shimmy through or over a barbed wire fence without getting snagged.

8. You have a Confederate Flag bumper sticker on your truck.

9. You have chrome-lady mud flaps on your truck.

10. You have a “Where’s the Beef?” or “Sheep: 1 Million Coyotes Can’t Be Wrong” Bumper sticker on your truck.

11. You have a gun rack in your truck window.

12. You have a gun rack in the back window of your Buick Century.

13. You married your cousin.

Answers:

  1. Hick
  2. Redneck
  3. Well, it depends on where the goat lives. If it lives inside with your pet pot-bellied pig, you are definitely a redneck! If it lives out in the pasture, then you probably fall into the hick category.
  4. Redneck
  5. Hick
  6. IDIOT! (Redneck)
  7. Hick
  8. Redneck
  9. Redneck
  10. Hick
  11. Hick (Unless you live in the city-then Redneck for sure)
  12. Redneck
  13. Redneck

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Visitors!



Yesterday we had a visit from our friends Meg and Ryan. They were in NYC from CO and rode the train down for a day. We had so much fun seeing them and visiting. Meg is a childhood friend and the one responsible for 'this.' She set us up on a blind date way back in the day, when I was totally dragging my feet! (Obviously it worked out quite nicely!!) We went to South Street for a cheese steak at Jim's. We all practiced up on our 'I'll have a steak wit whiz' lines before going in, only to find that the guy on shift was actually almost friendly. They made up for that, though, with the cashier, who gave us the look of death. But, oh, are those cheese steaks good! After that, we went on a brief drive-by tour of the Independence Hall/Liberty Bell area followed by Jeff's famous Ghetto Tour. By then, Meg and Ryan were quite ready to go straight home to their town of two traffic lights and friendly people.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

On The Differences Between Hicks and Rednecks

Here it is after all this time: my long-awaited dissertation on the difference between hicks and rednecks. I have been formulating this speech for a long time, and now its finally here!

It is all too often that we, being from Colorado, are pegged for being rednecks. Most people are well-meaning, and don’t realize that it is rather a misuse of the term to apply it to us. In the past, I have tried to explain the difference between hicks and rednecks to various people, but it is a tough stereotype to sort through. I have resorted to telling people that when they are old enough, I will explain. Well, try telling that to someone older than yourself! So, here it is, folks: an essay on the differences between hicks and rednecks.

First, let me begin by saying that hicks and rednecks are not mutually exclusive. It is possible for one to be both a hick and a redneck at the same time, although one is not necessarily indicative of the other.

Geographically speaking, rednecks come from everywhere and hicks come from more rural areas of the country. It is not often, if ever, that one claims to be a hick from South Philly. However, it is more likely that there are a fair share of rednecks living in South Philly.

The best way to describe what makes a redneck is to describe the mentality which many rednecks have. Here are a few generalizations about the redneck breed. They can be known as backwards, uneducated and racist. Rednecks love Nascar, cheap beer and The Simpsons. In the interest of keeping this relatively short, just find a copy of the ubiquitous “You might be a redneck if…” daily calendars and read a few. You’ll get the idea really quick.

To further add to the confusion, there are subcategories within the redneck genre. The only one I will touch on is the ‘goat-roper,’ or ‘K-Mart Cowboy,’ as Jeff calls them. This brand of rednecks are wanna-be cowboys. They have usually procured their entire cowboy get-up from K-Mart, right down to the Rustler Jeans. They wear big belt buckles and let the end of their belts hang down to their knees. They fold their cowboy hats up like tacos and smash the back brim down so it lays flat against their back. They bend down the bill so low they have to tilt their head up to look at you. Guess that adds to their ‘cowboy’ appeal. I even saw one such chap who bleached a tobacco ring onto his back pants pocket. The only problem was that he used a little too much bleach and it dripped down, making his deception clear to see. To sum it all up, these fellows are all about the look, but if push came to shove they’d try to feed the south end of a northbound mule, as the old-timers say.

When taking hicks into consideration, keep in mind the saying “You can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the girl.” Hicks are typically just your average country folks. They put their pants on one leg at a time. They come from small towns or farms or ranches. They are usually down-to-earth no-nonsense people. Hicks have the farm ‘mentality.’ For example, if a coyote is eating your sheep, you kill it. You don’t sit around and worry about the coyote’s feelings. You just shoot the darn thing and be thankful it didn’t eat any more of your livelihood. If your kids are hot in the summer, you tell them to go cool off in the cow tank. You let your kids handle farm animals without scrubbing them down with sanitizer afterward. You know that cow pies make excellent Frisbees when dry, and road apples make great objects to throw to unsuspecting friends. And, you know what road apples are. Hicks can range anywhere from the uneducated yokel to the rocket scientist living out in the sticks tinkering around with solar power and wind energy.

As you can see, there is are many fine distinctions between hicks and rednecks. While it is possible for one to be both a hick AND a redneck, all hicks are not rednecks and vice versa. So take note, East Coast friends, all this to say that we are hicks, NOT REDNECKS! There is a difference between the two, and we would rather not be shoved into the redneck category, thank you very much!

COMING SOON: Test your Hick VS. Redneck Knowledge with my "Hick or Redneck: You Decide" Questionairre


Friday, August 10, 2007

Lookey What I Did!!!


Thanks to Mom and Rach, my art room has been excavated and made useable again! And so, to celebrate, I spent James' nap time finishing up a few projects. Here is a dress I finished for the baby. Hooray! I feel so productive!

Anybody want some tomatoes?


Its that time of year already and I am picking handfuls of tomatoes, peppers and chilies nearly every day. No matter how many we eat or give away, we still have more and its just getting started! But, it does feel like quite the accomplishment to make something entirely from your own garden. And, its an excuse to play in the dirt! Now if only I could find someone who is interested in the beautiful bumper crop of weeds I have on my hands!

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Trying to Stay Cool



This week the weather has been so HOT and HUMID that the towels never dry and you feel like you are walking into a steam bath when you open the front door. Where is the dry, desert heat that I can handle? This stuff is just awful! Anyway, enough ranting from the pregnant lady. We have been trying to stay cool by staying inside, mostly.
As you can see, James has quite the fascination with shoes of any kind and likes to wear them around the house. Yesterday, we went swimming with Rachel and James loved the water! Other than that, we are staying inside in the relative comfort of our 80 degree living room.

Monday, August 06, 2007

The Bun In the Oven....


So here I am...getting huge! Only 6 weeks or so left to go!

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

More Cousin Fun!


James and Shelly

Tyler stopping for .00009 seconds to smile for the camera, before running back to the beach

Athan

Ah, the magic of homemade GAK!

Meg and Tyler

Some homeless bum digging thru our trash...or is that Shelly?! She got some special effects makeup at 5 Below and they had a great time transforming her into a bum. She ran around the neighborhood getting funny reactions from people. She completed her outfit by wearing Jeff's pants.

The kids kept us laughing while they were here. Here are a few funny things they said:
I was telling the kids as we were driving thru Trenton that we call NJ the armpit of America. Tyler said, "Who's armpit???" Then, as we were driving past the sewer plant, he got real excited and yells "Hey, I smell the armpit!" I can just imagine him telling his teacher he went to the armpit for vacation. Shelly was trying to feel the baby move, and the baby was all over the place. We were trying to figure out where she'd kick next, and Shelly said "Hey, its just like Whack-A-Mole!" One night for dinner, we told Tyler that he had to finish his dinner if he wanted a treat. He thought for a second and then said "If I only eat half my dinner can I get half a treat?" Smart kid, but no. They also enjoyed Water Ice, although Tyler kept asking if we were going to get Ice Water! Now that the kids are gone, James and I have been catching up on our lack of sleep.


And here is a recipe for homemade GAK, in case you are bored from reading this long and random post. Its lots of fun and easy to make:

In a bowl, dissolve 1 TBS. Borax in 1 C. warm water. In a different bowl, mix 1/4 C. white school glue and 1/4 C. water. Add food coloring if desired. Slowly pour glue mixture into Borax mixture and watch the glue turn into a cloud of Oobleck right before your eyes! Let it sit for a minute or two and then remove your GAK. Store in a ziplock bag with the air squeezed out.