My friend Robin is getting married in September. I am the maid of honor (again). Yes, I said maid because I refuse to be called matron- it’s too prisonguard, 300lb, mole sporting, grey haired evoking. Robin had been married previously and I was her maid of honor then, too. So I guess I did an ok job. Anyway, her future sisters-in-law did all the arrangements for the shower location (thanks Carolyn and Kathy) so I said I would do the invites. Here’s what I made. Apparently, Robin saw one of the invites (that’s why I am posting it now) and really, really liked it, so I am glad. Hey, if it wasn’t for her teaching me photoshop 7, I couldn’t have done a nice job on it.

Her bachelorette party will be early August in NYC, so I am excited about that too. Hopefully, I can lose a few pounds before the dress fitting. It’s been quite challenging to do so. And now with Graeme coming it will be a food fest here. Well, I figure I have til the almost end of Sept to lose 10 lbs. I hope…

We went to Sesame Place yesterday for the day. Pictures coming soon on that. I didn’t want to take my good camera (too worried between the heat, the water everywhere, and theft) so I just picked up 2 disposable waterproof cameras at Target before leaving. I cannot tell you how many times I snapped a picture and then looked at the back of the camera to see how it came out. Ahhh, yeah. Nothing there. Even Jack asked if he could see the pictures as he took the camera from me. I told him if he could figure out how to, he should let me know. And not being able to focus, change settings, zoom….maddening!! Can’t do the point and shoot thing anymore. Can. Not. Do. It. Even though the little cheapy disposable is about 1/10th of the bulk of the ‘real’ camera. I can’t wait to see how they turn out though. And everyone had a super, super time at Sesame. More on that soon.

and other new Timmy-isms from the last few days…

-whas sa matter, mommy?

-leave me lone

-bar be quuuuueeeee

-pree sun (that would be a capri sun to drink)

-a got a question

– i watch ummmmmmm….. (when you ask him what he wants to watch on tv)

Oh, this kid is killing me. He’s just so freakin cute (and sparkly).

I finally brought my camera to the beach and the country club this week to try to get some shots of the boys in the pool at both locations. I really dislike bringing my camera to the beach (the whole sand thing) but packing it in a cooler with a little refreezable ice pack in a ziplock does a lot to calm my nerves. Sorry about the harsh shadows, I used my telephoto lens on these, so I was waaay to far away for the fill flash to make any difference. Here are a few (kiddie pool is at the cc, big pool is at the beach).

And before you ask, I don’t know exactly what the deal is with Timmy’s goggles. He will NOT go in the pool without them, yet they are rarely actually covering his eyes. Maybe just a fashion statement?  "I have my goggles, mommy?"

So John has this friend named George. George is a big guy. Really big. (and his heart is even larger than he is by the way). He IS Mr. Incredible. He sounds like him. And looks like him.  A lot. Apparently, his ring tone on his cell is something from the Incredibles. Keep this all in mind.

John’s car broke on Thursday night. It starts but when you press on the gas, it sputters and dies. So, after a LONG time the towing company came and got it. Like more than 12hrs long- super duper emergency roadside assistance, Chrysler. And he had to pay out of pocket for the towing too. Fabulous. John has taken to calling the service dept at the Chrysler dealership the "no-service" or "lack-of-service department". Meanwhile, we still have no idea what is wrong with the car or when it might be ready. Again, awesome customer service. That’s sarcastic.

So in the meantime, he has no car -which is no good. Thankfully, my dad has an extra car. It’s a 1970’s convertible orange bug. The outside looks good, but the inside…not so much. The floor is kinda rotting out from rust (think Fred Flintstone car) and we are really uncertain how the drivers seat is still attached to anything. Don’t get me wrong, it works and we are thankful that my dad is letting John use it. He said it’s kinda like riding a lawnmower. John’s not exactly a small guy either so it’s really not a good fit. Literally.

So, one thing lead to another and George went with John and the boys to the Brooklyn Cyclones (minor league baseball) game tonight. Thankfully, George drove. Unfortunately for George, I had a lightbulb moment…do you remember the scene from the Incredibles when he is in his ‘everyday’ mode and driving home from work in that teeny, tiny car? Well….   (you can click on the images to see bigger)

And one more. Thanks, George for being such a good sport!!

I know there are a lot of people out there in the scrapbook world who talk against being "caught up", but really, I like being caught up. I guess it speaks to my type A nature. It makes me so crazy to be as behind as I am. Cause the thing is, even if I were caught up, I have all of these other picture related projects rolling around in my head that I feel like I can’t tackle till I have some of the "main" scrapbooking done, and that annoys me. I still have to scrap our Disney vacation from Feb which is easily a whole book in itself with the stay in Cinderella’s Castle, I owe my mom about 4 mini books, I have about 4 windows sitting around waiting to be filled up, plus a book of Me, and a few other minibooks that I have in mind.  Nevermind the fact that I take sooooo many pictures, there is no way I will ever truly catch up.

Anyway, I spent the last two nights upstairs in my scrapbook room, and really had some fun doing a few pages. I almost forgot how much I like scrapping since I have been so busy taking pictures! I am up to February, so only about 6 months (aaaagggghhhh!) behind. I will get there…

The first two layouts are 8.5×11, the second two are also 8.5×11 but landscape, and the last one is a double 12×12 layout. Hopefully back tommorrow with a few more if I can whip up some more creativity!