in case you hadn't heard

found it here

And because I'm such a big deal over here, I'm going to tell you a few things.

And you are going to think these things are pretty awesome (and not at all lame and you won't wonder why on earth I'm blogging about such things because I'm a big deal and the things I tell you are awesome).

Plus, I'm not a very big deal anywhere else so I figure while I've got you here (since you obviously think I'm a big deal too or else you'd be somewhere else) I might as well share.

Here goes.

I hate it when I go to punch the period on my phone and I punch the :) button instead. Then I send the text before I realized I punched the :) button. It irks me. I hate the :) thing. Then when it goes through as a text it looks like a smiling green alien head. Who thinks up this stuff?

I sent a text to my mom the other day telling her to text Dan something. I guess I didn't spell Dan correctly and my phone spelled Saab instead. I texted my mom and told her to ask Saab something. It was funny.

I ordered a side salad at Chick-fil-A a while back. Danny saw the little broccoli pieces and wanted to eat one. I gave it to him and he popped it right into his mouth. He loves broccoli so I wasn't surprised. Cooked broccoli (what he loves so dearly) and raw broccoli are two very different things. He spit it back out onto his hand and then dropped it back into my salad. Before I said anything to him Cate said, "Oooooo, broccoli!" and grabbed the piece that he had JUST SPIT OUT OF HIS MOUTH and ate it. I'm not even kidding. We're not going to be winning any awards for dinner time etiquette any time soon.

I do laundry almost every day. It's not really necessary but sometimes I just can't help myself. I like the sight of an empty dirty clothes hamper. Except ours isn't a hamper. It's a big drawer that my grandpa built next to the dryer. I really like it when it's empty.

My favorite house is for sale.

It's perfect and symmetrical and across the street from the big park. I need to go to an open house so I can see inside.

Cate wanted to make me some water cake in her pink kitchen one day. I'm pretty sure that was her way of justifying the use of real water in her toy kitchen (something that she knows I frown upon). She's a clever little baker.

There was a kid in the Danny and Cate's art class named Nixon. Another one named Finn. Jarrett was invited to a birthday party for a kid named Kodiak. What is up with these names? Don't their parents know that they're never going to find key chains or those tiny license plates for their bikes with their names on them? I had a hard enough time finding ones with Cathy instead of Kathy. I'm well aware that Cate might have a hard time too.

Sometimes when I feel like I have too much to do, too many responsibilities, too much to think about (you get the idea), I end up doing nothing instead. That usually doesn't make me feel better about all the stuff I have to do.

Danny mentioned the mini pepperoni that I bought a while back. He thought it was funny that I put the minis on a pizza for him and Cate and the regular size on a pizza for me and Dan. I reminded him that Dan put some of the minis on his salad. I said, "Isn't that funny?" Danny replied, "I know! He's the funniest dad ever!" Too cute.

I went to IKEA with Candis. I had some stuff I wanted to find for Cate's bedroom. I found a few of them. Look what I found for my dining room wall. Maybe two of them side by side.

And this little number made me miss being a teacher and having my own classroom to decorate.

A little red file cabinet. I want it. Someday...

Know what else makes me miss my classroom? School supplies for sale in July. I was in Target today and I heard a young girl complain to her mom, "Oh, no! School stuff already?" I smiled because it was kind of funny and because school stuff makes me happy.

Cate calls straight pretzels crazy pretzels. I guess straight instead of twisty is pretty crazy to a three-year-old.

I was teaching a lesson to the young women a few Sundays ago about overcoming opposition. I shared about when my kids drive me crazy. That was my example of opposition in my life. Sheesh. So now I feel like a crappy mom because I shared that my kids are a trial in my life. Isn't that lovely?

Dan's practicing his ukulele right now. Getting ready for camp. I'm most looking forward to his rendition of Goober Peas. That's a good one.

Sometimes when I'm craving chocolate late at night (and there's none in the house because I have no self control over such things anymore) I just click over to Pinterest and add to my Chocolate Goodness board. Yum. It's not as satisfying as a big chocolate brownie though.

My garden is growing. The zucchini plant is ginormous. I'm getting excited for the pear and cherry tomatoes to stop being tiny and green. My grandma always had pear tomatoes in her garden. That's why I wanted to plant them in mine.

July is not my favorite month.

We visited the family last night to celebrate a cousin turning 7. Danny practiced his moves with the 4-year-old cousin. They were swinging punches and doing what looked like ninja hand moves at each other on the deck. I went out to tell him to be careful and to knock it off. He said, "Mommy, we're just practicing our moves." Then he got smacked in the face (not by me) and the practicing was all done. Little boys are funny.

As soon as we got in the car to drive home (which takes a little over an hour), Cate said, "Are we there yet?" I asked Dan if she was kidding and he said yes. I'm starting to question the decision to road trip it back from Alabama in a few weeks. I might not make it home alive.

That's all for now.