*update: A few have asked how we found out about this – We got a random email from someone we don’t even know that they were shooting in the area and needed extras. We applied and were accepted. Lee’s application words were something to the effect of, “ruggedly handsome man, 6’2″, athletic build. Has a beautiful wife who would love to be a part too if needed.” When I talked with the lady to confirm, she asked if I was the beautiful wife with the athletic husband. I hope they weren’t sadly disappointed when we walked up…
Last night, Lee and I dropped our kids off at my parents house and headed out for an evening away. This, however, would not be the ordinary, boring, gogetsomedinnerthenseeamovie type of date. Oh no. We had something much more interesting and random set up. We drove to the set of a low budget film (veeeeery low budget) shooting in the St. Louis area and for the evening, we were peasants in Rome circa A.D.411. The shoot started at 8:00 last night. It ended at 3:30 in the morning. We’re tired. Let me tell you a little about what it’s like to be a movie star.

We arrive to the park where the shoot is to take place. It’s in an area of St. Louis that I would classify as slightly scary. We drive all the way to the back of this park, which was beautiful, and pull into a river overlook with a large monument built in honor of Louis and Clark. It’s an impressive structure and becomes the focal point of the funeral scene which we will shoot. We immediately get fitted for our costumes. We are “upper class” peasants. I know, I found that description a little random myself. Lee’s costume was actually really cool. I wish I had a picture but we weren’t aloud to bring cameras. He looked quite authentic. He even got to carry a sword, which he thought was super cool. I, however, looked like the wicked witch from the West on crack. The clothes themselves were not horrible, but the wig they put on me was horrendous. They oooh’d and aaah’d about how cool I looked, but I didn’t buy it. I looked really frightening. Next was makeup – there wasn’t much needed. They just dabbed foundation all over us to make us look tan and dirty.

Anyway, we were dressed and ready by 8:30. We started the actual filming at 11:00. Whew. This movie business is tough. There were a lot of interesting characters there. Many who were self professed “actors” and took it very seriously. There were a few children, who impressed the socks off me. They had awesome attitudes and were angels throughout the whole thing. I got to thinking of bringing my own kids on a shoot like this and shuddered at the horror of it.

The confirmation of my awful hair came when the director was placing us in different spots and looked at me and said, “Your hair is suspicious.” I replied (in my best Monica Gellar voice) “I Know!” Alas, no one told me to take the monstrosity off my head, so I found a piece of wire and tied it back a little, crudly taming the beast. Sigh. Finally, after all night of shooting and reshooting the same scene over and over, they called that’s a wrap and Lee and I jetted home and fell exhausted into bed. All in all our acting debut was fairly fun. I mean, the two of us really rocked our roles. We were stellar. We were filming the funeral of the king and let me tell you, we will move you to tears. It was worthy of an Oscar. Now all we have to do is sit back with a cold drink and wait for Speilberg to call…should be aaaaaaany minute now…

Friday morning: I pile the kids into the car and take them to Best Buy to get Lee the Tiger Woods Wii golf game. Taking three kids into Best Buy by yourself is not very fun. Of course, two seconds after we get in there, Tia has to go to the bathroom. I’m seriously questioning the potty training thing…Afterward we head to McDonalds for playgroup since it’s raining.

Saturday night: we go to the Chesterfield Aquatic Center, which is the greatest public swimming place I’ve found and I snap this picture of Landon. What a stud.

Incidentally, my baby is 6 months old today. Where does the time go? What a joy it’s been to have him these last 6 months – what a bigger joy it’s been to have him sleeping through the night this past month! Here is a picture of his mad sitting up skills!

Happy Father’s Day to all you daddy’s out there, particularly the three that most affect my life. To my husband, who is such a great dad. God has so greatly equipped Lee with the goods for fatherhood! He loves playing with the kids, chasing them around endlessly while they squeal in both horror and delight. He reads with them, loves on them and cherishes them. He tells them over and over how much he loves them and how proud of them he is. He teaches them about who God is and His grace in their lives. He prays with them. He’s just a phenomenal dad. Today Tia had pink eye and could not go into the nursery at church, so she stayed with us. While we were in our small church class, she snuggled up on Lee’s lap and held her arms out for him to rub them. She looooooves it when you rub her arms. (There’s a good chance, she inherited that from me.) And Lee loooooves to oblige because when you rub her arms, she sits really still and leans back against you and it’s so sweet. I could see his face melting as he shared that special time with her. I’m grateful for him.
And of course, to my own dad, who spent his share of time rubbing my arms in church as I grew up (and who recently has started rubbing Tia’s arms for her – seriously, if you want to get on her good side, rub her arms!). How grateful I am for such a wonderful father who poured into me as a child, who was always there, cheering me on, building me up, laughing with me and loving on me. He is a man of honor – a man of God who loves my mom and has no problem showing emotion toward any of us. My dad is a giver and has given so much to so many over the years. What an example he is to me! My dad was my role model for what kind of husband to find and he was a most excellent model. He is still a voice of wisdom and grace in my life and in Lee’s life and I’m grateful for him every day!
And then there’s my father-in-law, another amazing man to whom I am indebted to as he himself raised three godly young men, his middle one being my dear husband. I love sitting and talking with Herb and listening to his wisdom and knoweldge. He is a blessing in my life.
And finally, a big Happy Birthday to my nephew Cade who turns eight today! Cade was born just four weeks before Lee and I got married, so he holds a special place in our hearts. What a fine young boy he is turning out to be – smart, helpful, funny and a sports nut! We love you Cade. Glad you had fun at your party! Enjoy the day everyone!

A new issue has recently cropped up with Sloan, which isn’t really fair because we haven’t fully broken him of his other issues. One behavioral problem at a time please! But he’s recently discovered the art of lying. For instance, the other day, when I asked who brought the baseball bat in the house, he told me the wind blew it in. Nice try, but not true.

So last night, after Russian school, he came out with a very sour look on his face. When I asked him what was wrong, he said his teacher, Miss Katya, was “bad” to him. Apparently, she had to get on to him for some reason, but he would not tell me why. Sloan does not handle other grown ups telling him no very well. He gets very offended, which is good in the sense that it usually shapes him up pretty quickly. But bad in the sense that he makes such a big deal about it that whoever told him no feels terrible about it. This is what our coversation went like in the car on the way home:

Me: Sloan, what happened?
S: Miss Katya got mad at me.
Me: Why? What did you do?
S: I didn’t do anything!
Me: Honey, Miss Katya would not get mad at you for nothing. What happened?
S: Nothing!
Me: Were you not paying attention.
S: I was paying attention. I was listening and everything.
Me: Were you not trying to speak in russian?
S: Yes! I said all my russian words and even sang the songs.
Me: Sloan, something must have happened. I need you to tell me.
S: Nothing happened. She was just bad to me.
Me: Sloan, either you tell me what happened or I’m calling Miss Katya to ask her.
S: Well, you might get mad.
Me: I’m not going to get mad. I just need the truth.
S: Well, I didn’t do anything. I didn’t push anybody.
Me: Ohhh. Who did you push?
S: No one. Not Bolya.
Me: Why did you push Bolya?
S: I didn’t!
Me: Are you telling the truth?
S: No. I pushed Bolya. But it was an accident! I was just playing.

Anyway, it went on and on like the the whole way home. I finally got the story out that he was being a little too wild and pushed Bolya and made him fall down and Miss Katya got on to him to calm down. We went through the same song and dance when we got home too as he explained it to Lee. Lee and I finally told him that we were not mad at him, just disappointed that he was not paying attention in class and we wanted to know if he learned a lesson. His answer: “Yeah – don’t push so hard.” Hmmm…close. How about don’t push at all. Anyway, we also told him that he needs to be truthful with us and have trust in us. So we’re now working on learning to tell the truth. One more life lesson for the little man!

Yesterday we went to the zoo with my friend Nicole and her boys. It was a blast and it wore us all out. Fun times. Today it’s off to the pool with Suzanne and tomorrow we’ll hang out with our lovely neighbors, Carol and Julie and their kiddos. Summertime and the livin’ in busy! But oh so fun. Because I don’t have too much interesting to share regarding kids, I’ll follow in Nicole’s footsteps and list a few things I’m not so crazy about and a few that I am. Dana from Mamalogues calls it a fling. So here goes:

Thing’s I’d like to fling:
– Landon spitting up on me right as I walk into the gym. And not just any old spit up. He yacked his prunes all down my white shirt – prunes he’d eaten two hours earlier. Nice. Luckily I had a tank top on underneath – a female wife beater. I was lovely.

– Sloan’s “quiet” rest time, which he’s supposed to be having right now. Everytime he drops one of his cars on the hard wood floor, it sounds like a gunshot through the house and sends waves of frustration up my spine. His idea of quiet and mine are very different. We’re working on a comprimise.

– The hole in our roof that’s been there since the ice storm of January 2007! Birds have nested in it and had babies now. But we just don’t want to shell out the money to get it fixed.

– People who pick their noses while driving their cars. Uhhh, I can still see you!

– The stench in our basement that I keep trying to ignore because whatever is causing it will probably cost money to fix.

Stuff I’d like to keep around:
– Landon’s wet, sloppy kisses and the way he thinks it’s funny to suck on my chin. Only when there aren’t regurgitated prunes in his mouth, that is.

– The way Tia is saying new words every day and it’s about the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard. My favorite is the way that she says Sloan’s name. “Hol.” When she says it she sounds like a little bird cooing. The other day Sloan spit at her and she placed a prissy hand on her hip and said, “Hol, don piss.” (translation: Sloan, don’t spit) Awesome!

– The pride on Sloan’s face when he manages to get himself going on his bike all by himself. Priceless.

– Ingrid Michaelson. I just love her coffee shop feel and her breezy voice. It makes me smile and bob my head like a fool.

– This tea. I drink it almost every night and a lot of mornings. It’s the best tea I’ve had in a long time and it makes me feel all girly and sophisticated, even if I’m sitting in my pajamas with psychotic bed head. It needs no additives. Simply add hot water and enjoy!

– My husband, who is just awesome and so much help around the house. Last night he could tell I was exhausted so he made dinner, then cleaned it up and helped get the house in order and pretty much did everything. He rocks! And babe, just so you know, Brad Pitt’s got nothin’ on you (wink).
Okay, those are the things I’d like to fling and the things I’m crazy about. What about you? Do share!

The pictures in this post will definately make their wedding video’s one day. I made attempt number two at finger painting this afternoon. We used the paints up. I’ll not be buying more. As they happily painted away, I decided to run inside and quickly throw a load of laundry into the dryer. This is the sight I found when I returned. I was not all that surprised really. I mean, seriously, leave two kids alone with finger paints and what do you think will happen? Anyway, they had fun and I got good pictures. And I’m also throwing in a picture of Landon because he’s just so yummy.

Tia had paint down to her toes, in her hair and in other places…I have a picture of Sloan in this same outfit. I need to find it and compare the two. This picture just makes me smile.

That was the phrase on a bracelet that I saw in Branson this weekend. What a fun weekend we had. Very relaxing with a bunch of fun thrown in. But visiting Branson is a trip. Right next to the bracelet mentioned in the title was another one that said Give Unto Others and Much Shall be Given To You. The dichotomy between those two phrases cracked me up.

Seriously, where else in the world would you be able to go to a movie theater and also shop for straw woven purses, tacky head scarves and other worthless and meaningless trinkets that likely litter a majority of the landfills in our state? Oh, and while there you can also hear a little history told by a creepy looking statue of an old man who speaks with a weird southern accent. And before you leave the theater, don’t forget to check your weight on a large scale which likely displays the number in letters bright enough for all to see – ummmm…I’ll pass thanks. And then, of course, you can sit on The Love Throne and measure your ability for affection. Good times.

We also attended a show which was very fun. But you know you’re slightly out of place when the MC starts asking if anyone’s celebrating a special occasion and the guy sitting at your table says he’s there to celebrate his 80th birthday. He was followed by two people celebrating their 50th birthdays, one celebrating 55, and two couples celebrating 50 years of marriage. Barbara looked over at Becke and I with her eyebrows raised, wondering if we wanted her to announce our birthdays. We both hastily, and perhaps a little too loudly, said that’s okay. We’re good. The show did turn out to be good, though. I was a little worried at first because the MC was a ball of cheese who was apparently vying (sp?) for a Ryan Seacrest actalike trophy. We kept waiting for him to say, “This…is Ammmmericann Idol.”

The best part of the weekend was, naturally, the shopping. So many stores! And while I could have spent pretty much every penny we have, I was good and restrained myself, but thank God for birthday money! Shopping’s a lot more fun when you can actually leave with a bag in hand, rather than wallowing through each store lusting over items you’ll never get to own. Me likes to shop and really likes to buy!

To top off the great weekend, I came home and Lee had done several loads of laundry, changed the sheets on all the beds, done the dishes and ordered pizza for dinner. What a guy! Did it matter that the kids were playing outside in nothing but their underwear? No. It did not. At least they weren’t naked. We have more class than that. Just slightly more apparently. Seeing what a great job he did made me realize that I can, and probably should, go out of town more often. What a great bonding time for him and the kids. I’m just sayin’.

Anyway, it was a really fun weekend, although a little too short. It was nice to get away and have some girl time and do fun girly things and not feel rushed or guilty. Thanks Barbara and Becke for such a fun time!

One night a week, Sloan attends the Russian American school here in St. Louis. This is his second year at the school and I am just so proud of how well he is doing. He is by no means fluent in the language, but obviously that’s because he doesn’t hear it every day. I try to speak to him when I can, but my language skills are just not what they used to be. For those who don’t know, I minored in russian in college and have spent a fairly significant amount of time in Russian and Ukraine, both studying and travelling. The semester I studied there I was about 90% fluent. I would now put my flency at about 70%. I’m kind of like a dog. I understand pretty much all that’s said but I can’t speak that well. Anyway, when I found out a school was opening here in St. Louis, I though I’d enroll Sloan. He is doing great. He understands a lot – probably 70-75% of what they say, he can read short three-four letter words (he actually reads better in russian than in English because I work on it with him) and he knows a lot of songs. Tonight was their summer concert called Hello Summer! It was conducted in typical russian form – shove as many people into as tiny of a room you can and for two hours have different kids come up and do their thing. Super cute, but it was hotter than Hades in there so we left a little early. Sloan had a blast – Landon and Tia, not so much. The kids did little skits, recited poems and sang songs. Even Sloan’s teacher said at the end that she was so proud of how well he did. He is the only child in the whole program that doesn’t have at least one russian parent, so he’s at a major disadvantage. Anyway, here’s a couple of pictures. I got some cute video and tried to download it but blogger was being weird. Next week I’ll put it on YouTube and then post it so you can see his awesomeness! I’m off tomorrow to Branson for a girl’s weekend with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law. I’m looking forward to some R&R and retail therapy.

The kid beside Sloan was annoyed because Sloan was clapping and apparently it wasn’t a clapping song. He lept shushing Sloan, but Sloan was like whatever man, I feel the rhythm!This is Katya trying hard to entertain herself.

At the end was a puppet show and Sloan was the main character. That’s the video I tried to post. It’s a long story, but they all had a little part to sing and Sloan got to destroy the house at the end. Right up his alley!

And I don’t feel at all different than I did yesterday. My kids are still fighting, my house is still a mess, my hair still needs to be cut and colored, the laundry still needs to be put away…

Huh. I guess I am getting old. Ten years ago I believe I was thinking “WOOOHOOO! Just one more year till I can officially drink,” and “I wonder if Lee will propose to me this year,” and “How many papers do I have to write this week?” Oh, and “Daddy, can I have a little more money?” Hmmmm…Time’s a-changin’.

*ammendment: Ten years ago I had just met Lee and was quite smitten with him. He did not propose until the next year however. Sorry. Apparently when you get old your memory fades…