The Circus!

Well the Brannon family had a late night last night. We were livin' it up at the circus! The Shrine Circus was in town this week and since we haven't gone in about 5 years, we decided that it would be a good family night. It started at 7 so we left the house at 5:30 (ran a little late...suprise suprise) to give us time to eat and get to Fort Worth. Or rather get to Fort Worth and then eat.

Half way there my husband asks, "So do you know where we are going?". Ummmm, no. I thought you looked it up when you got the tickets. Nope. He was just going to try to remember how to get there from when we went the last time (note: THAT WAS 5 YEARS AGO!). Needless to say, we got lost. We found the right main street but apparently Fort Worth has an issue with actually posting directional signs on cross streets. We only passed it twice before we figured out where it was.

Since we were running late (and had not eaten yet) we dropped Blake off at Will Call and I went to go try to find a parking space along with half the population of the Metroplex. I was a little nervous about this (lots of cars and not really a great driver in the dark...can't see). So I turned down the main street and was going to circle the block but there were too many cars in the turn lane so I just turned down the street right across from the arena. Figured we could just walk a while. Anyway, about half a block down was a TEENY TINY parking space. Good thing: I don't have an SUV. Bad thing: it was a parallel parking space....the only part of the driving test I flunked and would probably still flunk today. (Memory flash of me and dad in the red station wagon practicing in Meeker's parking lot.) But guess what?!?! I did it. And I only had to go back and forth less than a dozen times! Of course the car parked behind me had no room to get out but since when is that my problem? Kidding....he had room to back up. I wouldn't be that mean. When we got to the arena (less than a two minute walk), with me still on a parking high, all Blake could say was that it took us a while. He just has no appreciation for the joy of the "Good Parking Space".

We got to our seats with time to spare (10 whole minutes). Blake went to go get us something to eat since we still hadn't had dinner. He came back 5 minutes later with a coke. Hmmmmm. Something seems wrong...perhaps the nachos and hot dogs are in his pockets. Try again...the coke was $3 and he "wasn't going to pay those prices". Luckily the kids were not starving. (Before you call CPS on me, I actually had food in my purse...eeeewwww. No really, Andrew likes to eat some breakfast and snacks at my office sometimes and I got tired of the granola bars and fruit snacks in my desk so that morning I had put them in my purse to take home and forgot about them. Good thing.) What a healthy meal for two growing children. I really don't think they minded. They both were too busy staring wide-eyed and slack-jawed at the performers. The tigers were first so that sucked them both right in. It was almost more fun to watch the kids then to watch the circus.

Andrew decided about half way thru that he wanted to go home and that he HATED the clowns. He laughed at what they did at first but during one of the skits there was a loud bang and from then on, he didn't like clowns. They were loud. For those of you who don't know, my little boy hates loud noises, from vacuum cleaners to fire drills, he just can't stand them. Oh, guess what the final act is? The Human Cannonball. That was fun. His head was buried in my chest with both his hands covering his ears and my hands on top of his. But if you ask him today, he will tell you that his favorite part was the clowns. Hmmmm.

Ally liked the "pretty girls" the best. She didn't really care what they did as long as they had the glittery outfits and long hair. Come to think of it, Blake liked them the best too. Wait a second.....

All in all, a pretty good night. Didn't get home til after 11:00 so, needless to say, both kids fell asleep on the drive home.

Snack Wrap-up

Just to let you know, snack when okay today. The only problem is that Thursdays snack mom already brought her snack and she choose apples. Now in what universe does apple begin with "L". Some moms are just no fun.

I'd like to thank my (insane) family for all the wonderful suggestions. I think you people had way too much fun with this. FYI--I'm bringing snack again in December--more fun! Okay, now that all the "L" madness is over, it's time to move on. Not that there is much to move on to. Pretty slow week at school so far. The phones were knocked out on Sunday and they were just turned back on this morning. Try running a school with no phone service. Not very easy to try to reach parents but it did make for a quiet day without the constant ringing.

See the neat table and chair? Let's just say that someone who works at a school that just had an auction saw this sitting in her office everyday after the person who bid on it decided they didn't want it. Not that this person has any need for a cute table and 4 chairs but some things are just too hard to pass up. I'm sure this fictitious person got a great deal on the cute table and chairs. Let's just say that this certain person is having to hide the cute table and chairs since a certain husband just won't understand the need for such a cute table and chairs. This certain person sure is sneaky! "Merry Christmas, honey. Have a cute table and chairs". Hmmm, may have to work on that. (Too cryptic or did everyone follow that?)

What would I do without my dear family's help?!? You all have come up with the best suggestions. Lima beans? Liver? Lobster? What, no lard? Smarty pants. Yesterday I wandered the grocery store isles, up and down, looking for anything "L"ish. I'm sure I scared some people off with my constant muttering, "Llllllll, hmmmm, lllllllll." Anyway, after deciding on lemon bars and not finding any, I managed to find some Lemon Creme Cookies. Boring, I know but it will work. I wonder if any of the other mothers put this much effort into a pre-school snack?

Help!

Okay, instead of just e-mailing my family, I'm going to post this question. This next Tuesday, I'm in charge of snack for Andrew's class. They like the snack to match the letter of the week. They can get pretty creative though. Last time I brought snack, the letter was N but I forgot so I brought fruit snacks. Luckily they were Nemo fruit snacks so it worked. Well this time the letter is L. So far Blake has thought of lettuce and I thought of lemons. Neither one sounds very appealing to 4 year olds, I'm sure. Any suggestions out there? If not the poor children may get Lemon Lettuce Wraps. Mmmmmmmm.

Our Exciting Evening

Today was one of those "try to cram as much stuff into a few hours as humanly possible" days. I almost got everything done off my list -- all but two. Not bad. I was suppose to run by Sharla's church to get Alyssa fitted for her cheer uniform but I found out they may not have all the sizes until tomorrow. So I don't think that counts as not an errand not done. Right?

Anyway, after the kids and I got home from the library, we were all sitting in the living room chatting (okay, Blake was watching poker on TV--blah) and we started to smell something burning. I hadn't started dinner yet so it wasn't the stove (first thought). Could it be the air-conditioner? (No comment about having to turn that thing on in November....so wrong!) Could it be from outside? Where, oh where is this awful smell coming from???? "Hmmmm", says Michelle, "Is it the cat?" Hey! Guess what?! My cat smells like......not smoke......not something burning.......oh, no.......yes, he smells like skunk! Remember our cute little visitors who were living under our driveway. Well apparently, they are still there. We hadn't seen them in a while so we assumed they had left. Nope! I don't think he got a direct hit because he doesn't make your eyes water but he does have a definite odor to him. Can you give a cat a tomato juice bath? And if you can, do I have any volunteers? Dumb cat. Needless to say, he is sleeping in the garage tonight and is NOT leaving the house for the next few days until he learns that skunks are foes, not friends.

So enjoy a good laugh at our expense again. I am signing off now since Max has decided that he likes me and is laying on my mouse cord. Gag....choke.....gag......uuggghhh. Dumb cat.

I'm A Thief!

I "borrowed" this from a blog I read everyday that is written by a wonderful girl I knew at ACU, Sarah Stirman. Enjoy.


I probably don't like you today. You're either too cheerful or too grouchy. I think you're either too self-centered or too nosy. You were driving too fast or too slow. You don't do your share or you make the rest of us look bad. You either refused to talk to me or you interrupted my solitude. You add to the mess or you criticize my housekeeping skills by helping me clean.Chances are, I don't like you today. Don't take it personally -- I don't like myself too much today, either. But today is almost over (GLORY!) Tomorrow morning I will thank God for the promise of a new day, the coolness of a new season, and the never-ending well of His grace and mercy.

"Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassionsnever fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."Lamentations 3:22,23

Happy Halloween (a little late)

Hmmmm. Which one is my Blue Power Ranger? Cute, huh?!

Why I have not been posting....

1. This working thing is getting really old and draining.

2. Blake has been sick since he got back from Chicago.

3. Andrew has been sick for two weeks.

4. After constant hand washing to try to avoid being sick, my husband (between sneezes) kissed me goodbye in the morning and now I've been sick for two weeks.

5. Halloween. Candy, carnivals, pumpkin carving, candy, trick or treating, trunk or treating, candy, costumes, candy, candy, candy!!!

6. Being the good mom that I am, I sent my child to school with PINKEYE!!! Aaauuuuugggghhh. Not a bad case and after one day home and on special eyedrops (now that's another fun-filled story) he'll be back at school tomorrow.

7. The newness of blogging seems to have worn off. And not just for me mind you....I've been reading all those blogs out there that wait two weeks between postings...you know who you are. Okay so I'm not reading that many, but I glance at them every once in a while.

8. Do you realize that it's November already? How many weeks til Thanksgiving? Til Alyssa's birthday? Til Christmas? Stop the world, I want to get off!!!

9. I'm getting really old and my bedtime keeps getting earlier and earlier. So on that note, goodnight!