Boys in the Tub

And finally, one with the lighting the way I wanted it!

Big Night Out!

Hey everyone. This is Kerri from The Naptime Blog. I am guest posting here on Screamin John because I was the only one who took pictures of The Big Night Out. What was The Big Night Out? Well, as many of your know, SOMEONE had a birthday. I am not going to say who or how old that person was, but because there was a birthday there had to be a party. Now, this someone planned and hosted this whole event, so the least I could do is take pictures and blog about it.

The evening started around 6pm. We met at our host's house for a pre-Big Night Out drink and snacks:


And here were our lovely hosts! Great dress!


Now, I shipped my kids off to Grandma and Papa's for the evening. But everyone else's kids also gathered until their respectively babysitters were available. It was loud. Here are Brandon and George:


If you are new to this blog, try to guess which one is Brandon and which one is George! A quick snap of John. Again, note to self, next time we gather for a pre-Big Night Out cocktail, do it at the house with the fewest kids!


After we gathered, the adults loaded up into The Swaggerwagon for our trip to Greenville.

The activity that brought this evening to Big Night Out, instead of just a Night Out was the dance lessons. Again, this was the idea of our host and most of us were really excited about trying it. I got a few pictures of the dance lessons before I was reminded that they will sell us pictures of our evening as well.



We learned the rumba and salsa dancing. At this time I can't remember how to do either dance, but I do remember the lessons were fun!


After the dancing, we literally walked through a breezway to The Melting Pot, where again, our hosts had planned everything. We enjoyed A Night In France which was delicious!


Our host were extremely sneaky. Becky called earlier that afternoon about doing an extra birthday thing and found out that the whole dinner was already paid for. No arguing about the bill! Juilet knows I hate that, ;) but we did get her some chocolate strawberries...


Just thought this was a funny picture of Brandon:


After dinner, we got back into the swaggerwagon to go home. It was a great time and we look forward to our next round of birthdays in May.

Surprise!

[I'll blog this even though the majority of my audience lived it with me!]

Yesterday was my 40th birthday and it was not nearly as painful as it could have been because my family surprised me by coming for a visit!

First, on Monday morning, I drove home from the gym to see a strange car in the driveway and my mom and dad came out to greet me. Totally unexpected! Then, as we are walking into the other room talking and laughing, our big recliner spins around and my sister Jessica from England is there!! I screamed a very scary scream I was so surprised!

Then, the next day, Tuesday, my actual birthday, Jessica and I met my parents at the Olive Garden and my middle sister Jenny and my 1-year-old niece Danielle were at the table! This was also a surprise, but less so, because of some accidental slips that came up previously involving a baby car seat.

Anyway, we four girls spent the afternoon shopping for a "birthday outfit," an old family custom. Then after getting the kids to bed, friend-neighbor Becky came down and all the adults got to go to the Blue Heron for a nice child-free dinner. It was really cool to be able to go out with my folks, since usually they are sitting for us so we can go out.

Jessica, Jenny, and Danielle stayed at our house and we all reunited here this morning, before they all headed back to Dallas via Atlanta. Jessica flies back to England on Monday.
It's been the best birthday ever!

Christopher is one year old

Halloween decor

This year we decorated our house for Halloween. First, we carved a jack-o-lantern and lit it with a color changing LED night light...

Then we colored our porch lights with some gel that Tony had rolling around in the trunk of his car...

And we put a red gel on the light in our entry way. It had Christopher pretty freaked out...

The Berenstain Bears Visit Greenville

The boys and I drove up to Greenville on Sunday to have dinner with Tony on his break from tech. This weekend was Fall for Greenville, in which local restaurants sell samples of their food in tents along the downtown street. There are also kids' rides and live bands.
This time there was a special appearance by Mama and Sister Bear! Made my day!
I was so excited, I didn't even think about getting Christopher in the picture.


Here's the first attempt, where you can't even see John!

Phone

Evidently the cell phone gods are having a practical joke party with my phone number. A couple months ago, I got about 20 calls in a week from various staffpeople from a Nissan dealer in Vienna, Virginia, who were hot to sell "Alex" a new car.

This week, I am getting calls from "Grandma." I have traced the number to a rest home in Walhalla. The couple times I have answered, she immediately demands "Who is this?" I say "It's Juliet, you have the wrong number." I've stopped answering the number, now that I recognize it.

Am I a terrible person for not cultivating a beautiful and rewarding phone relationship with this lonely woman who stumbled on my number? I can live with that.

Maybe it's actually myself calling from 40 years in the future. I am coming up on the big 4-0.