see what happens when you say the "b" word...

it was the day after

hurricane irene 

made her big arrival.

the hoopla was over.

clean up was underway...

still a down day in the brookes abode,

as irene was making her way further up the east coast.

lo and behold,

a small gaggle of children where hanging around,

mulling about, whatever you want to call it.

then they said it.

they did.

they said the word.

"we are bored"

bored, i asked.

oh no they didn't...

this is when i went into full on 

used-to-be-a-teacher, now-stay-at-home-mom mode.

oh, really, i said.

okay divide into two teams,

get bike helmets on

and give me five minutes.

had two high schoolers upstairs crafting,

so i knew i had a sounding board.

operation scavenger hunt was

officially under way.

living in a gated golf community i knew

i had plenty of options.

here were the guidelines:

two teams of two.

on bikes.

no time limit.

i do think jack 

(the token boy of the group)

didn't know what hit him.

did i mention, jack was not used to speeding

on bicycles chasing down mundane objects,

on random fairways, 

after a storm

only to return sweaty, and hot

leaving him tired and spent?

here was the list

of items the high schoolers and i came up with.

sent them on their way with

one ziplock baggie,

one pencil

one post it note pad and 

one empty target plastic baggie.

away they went.

not only did we get a winner within 30 minutes,

but there was no further mention of boredom.

in fact, 

saw jack the next day to which he confessed

that he slept 12 hours that night thanks

to our little nieighborhood scavenger hunt.

i dare you to say you are bored again.

this mom's got lots up her sleeve.

how do you beat boredom in your hood?

headbands and feathers and jewels, oh my!

what do you get
when you add 

the weekend before school starts,

a wide open saturday,

and one trip to hobby lobby.

why,
new hair accessories,

of course.

check out what 

two of the three 

came up with.

 

 

 which is your fave?

anything fun your kids come up with

waiting for school to start up again?

10th, 8th and 8th:

 not fair.

why do they have to 

grow up on me like this.

can't wait to hear

all about their day.

will be waiting 

to hear the days highlights.

are you a crier on days like this?

or a celebrater?

maybe i am a little of both.

15, 13 and 13

are we the luckiest ever?

a sweet special someone 

delivered the most generous, wonderful

little surprise in the mail

that would be a $$ filled envelope marked for 

new-school-clothes-girls-only-shopping-spree

holy clothes-a-thon, batman!

is this for real?

after picking up our jaws off the ground

and one phone call graciously showering thanks

profusely we planned out our big day.

we knew we had to head to the big city.  

raleigh?

are you ready for us?

...away we went.

it was a day filled with dressing rooms,

budgeting, 

deciding and purchasing.  

it was a total group effort

and a perfect mix of 

forever 21 

and 

abercrombie and fitch

to name just a few.

oh what a day.

here is the final product:

you be the judge...

2011-2012

jack britt hs

john griffin ms

team brookes is in town

 

 

 

i guess i should thank my lucky stars
my kids still humour me
and let me take photos of them
prancing around the backyard
with their new digs on.

i'm sure someday,
they'll be embarrassed by their dear old mom.

but for now,
grateful for the girls i have.

so what'd you think?

hand made birthday card

 am i the luckiest mom in the world?

i have a build in hallmark factory

right in my own home.

i made one simple request:

needed a little birthday card 

for a dear friend.

this is what my sweet, talented 

daughter came up with.

i love it.

and i thank you for 

letting me share...

 

i would like 6 more of the same,

please.

 do i need to open up 

her own etsy account or what?

can you say car fund?

3 sisters sitting service: round two.

new neighborhood
+
3 teenage girls in the summer
+
not a whole lot on the social calendar

=

3 sisters sitting service...
round two.

see round one here

having already done this once,
we knew what we were doing.

only this time,
we jazzed it up a bit
with hand made pom poms.

here is the CEO of the company
herself
fast at work

thanks, aunt heathie,
for the pom pom maker.
madison is loving its quick results

we also
streamlined our
wording a bit.

straight to the point,
baby.

we made 50 of these badboys.

currently passing them out

beware if you are a

dog walker,
pool mom,
the least bit friendly with children in your vicinity...
pretty much anyone in the hood.

the girls already have high hopes on what
to do with their profits.
they have decided that their
current mode of transportation

(yes, the bikes they've had since
they were in 4th grade)


these are the ones

aren't cutting the
teenage vibe...

they've got their sights set on
the new and improved two wheeled version

hello beach cruiser.

perfect pick for
our relatively flat neighborhood.

i like their thinking
and i'm all about independent women.

would love to hear you ideas on putting
kids to work
come too much down time

wicked recap

where do i possibly start?

wicked.
june 18, 2011.


unbelievable.

before the show.
giddy with excitement.
can you tell?

must mention mary who did
all the ticket purchase organizing,
dinner reservations and all around
kennedy center tour guide.

thanks, mary.
you're the best.

we were lucky enough to
talk otay ranch heather into joining us for the day.

unfortunately we couldn't sit together.
but not to worry.

if you squint you can see heather in the row behind us...
on the other side of the theater.
squint really hard.

hi heather.

i'm not sure which was more thrilling for me.
the show...
or the venue.

kennedy center
was to die for.

would you spy those
grand chandeliers?

I know.

and forget about the draperies.
who's going to clean those?

famous bust of kennedy.
ginorm.

at every turn,
the kennedy center just got better and better.

one more...

this is what we did during intermission.
until mr. security officer had a chat with us.


mary watched over the seats
while heather and kristy sipped on peligrinos

*thank mary for letting us know
we could pre-order drinks before the
show ready for us at intermission.

we were total tourists,
snapping photos every chance we got.

roof top terrace.
amazing views of dc.

look how happy the girls were
at the view

wendy, kristy and heather
otay ranch reunited

so grateful that our little move
didn't derail our big wicked plans.

it was a great day.