Blog Challenge: Laugh

This week, write about the last time you had a really good laugh. A belly laugh. A laugh that took your breath away. A laugh that starved you of oxygen and gave you a headache. A laugh where you tossed your head back and really let 'er rip.If you can't recall a time when you've laughed that hard, then figure out WHY NOT, and write about that.Laughter.It's good for the soul.If only it burned more calories.

The first event that comes to mind is the water balloon fight that took place on my patio 3 summers ago...We have a monthly get together with 2 families that live next door to us and 2 houses down from us. Between the three families there are 8 kids ranging in age from 13 to 16 months (however there were only 7 for this water balloon fight as Bennett was not yet with us).
It was September and the after dinner entertainment was going to be a water balloon fight. I spent the afternoon filling about 600 balloons assuming that the excitment would be over in about 10 minutes. I was sooooo wrong! For some reason these balloons did not want to break! The kids were throwing them with quite a vengence but they were bouncing off of each other, bouncing off the patio and all over the place. They would not break...this 10 minute water balloon fight lasted almost an hour. It was hilarious to watch the kids brace themselves to be soaked (you know the stance, back turned, knees slightly bent, shoulders up trying to hide), make that face (you know the one, sqinted eyes, all muscles tight) and have it not happen. Equally funny was the look of disappointment and surprise on the thrower's face. Then, they would finally let their guard down assuming that the balloon was not going to break and it would! Hysterical...I laughed my head off! Over and over again! With three boys in the house this is probably not the most recent time I have laughed like that but its the time I remember best...one of my most favorite memories!

Inspired by Beth...

A week or so ago my friend Beth wrote a poem on her blog about the daily frustrations of motherhood and how we long for them not to end. She brought me to tears at 9am and I thought that wasn't fair...to early for crying. Beth is usually good for a great laugh. Her poem was pretty much my life minus the Barbie, Polly Pocket and girly hair stuff. Although there is girly hair stuff all over my house because my baby is in the "empty every drawer and cabinet I can get into " phase right now. Anywho...she inspired me to write my own poem. I borrowed a couple lines word for word I think, thanks Beth! Here it is...

"Welcome to my toybox!"
is the greeting you will hear
Take a look and you will find
three little boys are near

There are so many toys 'round here
my boys, they're spoiled rotten
I'll just take pictures of this mess
to be sure its not forgotten

There's a hippo in my kitchen
a tiny man is in my shoe
Puzzle pieces on the stairs
Rescue Heros too

Building blocks of every kind
are everywhere, its true
Legos, Wedgits, Tinker Toys
just to name a few

Diego and his animal friends
are scattered all around
and everywhere you look you'll see
Little People can be found

Light sabers are glowing
a battle is ensuing
Bennett's eating crayons
he doesn't care what they are doing

Balls are rolling all around
Books are lying here and there
To find something where it belongs
is really very rare

Little planes are under foot
Boats are setting sail
Rocket ships are taking flight
The trains are off their rail

If I step on one more car
I'm going to swear, I fear
They're going to end up in toy jail
with all the sporting gear

There's laundry to do and dishes to wash
and errands to be run
The floor should be swept and probably mopped
but I'd miss all the fun

One day this house will be quiet
One day I'll get some rest
I'm sure I"ll look back and think to myself
"Those days, they were the best!"

I did take many picture that illustrate my poem and I can not wait to do the layout in my album! In my old age I presume I will need the reminder of my frustrations to help me miss my children just a tiny bit less!

The Big Picture

I bought myself a book today. I can't remember the last time I bought myself a book or even read a book above a 3rd grade comprehension level. This book, The Big Picture by Stacy Julian, is an awesome book! It was recommended by one of my friends on Scrapshare. She said it is changing the way she scraps...I second this! I can not wait to do it differently! I love to scrap but have fallen behind and have been paralyzed by the heaps of photos and memorabilia that have been piling up since early 2003. I can not put this book down. I don't really like to read much but I have gotten through the first 60 pages of this book since 4:00 this afternoon. I actually have another book on my list that I can't wait to buy...Clean & Simple Scrapbooking by Cathy Zielske. This too was recommended by a SS friend and Stacy Julian references her at least 3 times in this book...now I really have to have it. Not sure I've ever felt that way about a book before...

Not only am I eager to read but I am eager to scrap again. I think I'm gonna start with the tag project from the book and use all kinds of fun embellishments that I never would have put in one of my scrapbooks before. Brads, eyelets, ribbon, fancy paperclips...I'm not sure what else is out there. I've been such a CM purist for so long I haven't even paid attention to anything else. Did I say "eyelets"? Oh my! That means I have a pressing reason to buy a Crop-A-Dile! I think scrapping and spending money on scrapping stuff just got fun again!

I gotta get back to my book now...

6 Months Ago...

I was challenged to celebrate and write about my life as uneventful as it may be from day to day. Cowtown Stacy said "I have a life worth writing about. Celebrate it, 'cause so do you. Get to it! Be remarkable!"

She inspired me to start a blog but I am just now getting around to actually writing something. I have been pondering this first entry for 6 months...really, I'm terribly intimidated by the writing of the other women who's blogs I read. UGH! Part of me hopes that no one ever reads what I write and part of me is writing just for them. All of these other women I know through a message board, Scrapshare.com. I love being a part of this community and I truly feel that I know some of these women but I don't feel like I am letting them get to know me. I guess that my hope is that I will be able to write for myself as if no one is reading and let them in. I hope will be able to write without feeling intimidated, self conscious or afraid. Without worrying if I'm liked, approved of, agreed with, being entertaining, inspiring or even writing something worth reading. Wow, I sound like I have serious issues! Maybe I should just end this now, publish it and get my first entry out of the way!