Fall is upon us... embrace it!

Entertainment at the Tuney house.

I can't say if this is sad (as in "has our social life degraded really far?) or funny (as in "Seriously??"). Really. We're stooping to a new level of entertainment at the Tuneberg house. We didn't adopt a pet or purchase a fancy schmancy new gaming system. What exactly did we do? We bought a Venus Flytrap. You know, like the one from the musical.... but much, much smaller. We brought it home yesterday and I haven't stopped laughing since. I have caught each member of this family staring at it wishing a little bug would fly and be caught. We have grandios visions of a big *snap!* taking place... but I doubt the real deal will match up. At any rate, it's entertaining to find my household of males staring at a plant. I shudder to think of the day we see it catch something...

Homecoming.

It was homecoming tonight for our guys. Big football game, lots of 'to do' around the whole event. We thought we'd make a family trek out of it, especially with Jackson's interest in playing... a 'big guy game under the lights' was just what we needed. So, we attended. Tyler posed for the requisite photo, grabbed some cold hard cash and split with his pals. This was expected. We're beyond hangin' when it's a large-scale social scene. Jackson got food and we were off!

All I can say is WOW. I admire my parents for schlepping to football games, dealing with shrieking girls, kids running everywhere and pure chaos. Who knew what they put up with. After tonight I also admire friends who have chosen a path to teach kids... maybe we got a glimpse of these kids letting their hair down but maybe, just maybe they're that squirrely in classrooms. If that's the case, please bless all the teachers across the land with much patience so they don't maim or permanently injure the children.

Kids say the darndest things.

Matt made a sandwich tonight... simply for the sake of craving and available ingredients. What was it? Peanut butter banana. Those of you who know me... are aware that I suffer a pretty serious aversion to food mixing. To clarify my freakish issue, I'm not afraid of foods, just the mixing of the foods before and as they go down the hatch.

So, with much ado at the dinner table I broke down and had a bite of the sandwich. When asked if I liked it, I had a completely crazy dialogue out of left field:
Tyler: Do you like it? Do you??
Me: Ummm, no. These flavors don't really go well together. I don't think so.
Tyler: Really? It's awesome.
Me: Uh yeah.
Tyler (thinking a long time before responding) says: I cannot believe it. Turning down peanut butter banana is the equivalant of slapping God in the face. Seriously, Mom!

I had no idea the allegiance Tyler lined up between peanut butter, bananas and the Big Guy. Maybe I should go pray for the sandwich.... or is it better to pray for me??

Training or DNA?

You decide. This is the magic of the smallest male in the house.

I personally believe this is DNA and built-in wiring at work, but could be pursuaded otherwise - when pigs fly.

'Member the MASH game?

I had inspiration to play again (thanks Jess!). Here are my results (click on the image to see bigger)!

Oh, that's why.

Jackson's been collecting rocks. And I do mean a lot of rocks. Rocks from the road, rocks from the yard, rocks from landscapes near and far. A lot of rocks. Rocks that end up in the washing machine making a TON of noise, rocks in shoes that make it hard to walk (but you need them 'cause you don't have pockets) and rocks in *hold your breath* my bed. Yes, my bed.

He also spends a lot of time describing rocks- he's studying up. He managed to score a few during a Science Museum visit on Saturday and carried them around... arranging, re-arranging and telling us stories about the rocks. As it goes, Jackson managed to get a VERY SPECIAL rock, as he described it to us:

"This one is granite and you can make counters from it. This one is quartz and sometimes you can make necklaces out of it. And this one, it's special. It's a confusement stone. You look at it and it makes you super confused."

I took one look and realized, he's right. I was definitely in a state of confusement.

Lunchtime dangers.

School's back in. That means uber petri-dish, kids sliming each other and (inevitably) good old fashioned sickness. So I wasn't completely surprised to recieve a call from the school nurse on Friday afternoon confirming Jackson had a temperature. Running about 101, he needed to come home. However, by the time I got to school it had returned to about 99. Hmm.. the nurse was perplexed but I decided to bring him home just in case- really thinking about other kids getting sick, etc.

So I notice he's suddely feeling 'much better' in the car on the way home. We arrive home and he's bopping around the house, happy as a clam and I'm thinking this is highly suspicious. As we dig into conversation I start to unravel the mystery.... Jackson was (in fact) not really sick in a traditional sense.

It turns out there was an 'eating contest' at lunch, whereby he packed in 6 garlic breadsticks, 13 carrots and a carton of milk. It's no wonder the kid's body was running a temp- it was REJECTING the full-fledged food assault!

Good times.

Game after game this fall... we're inside at hockey, we're outside (double) for football. I can only say: I love it. So, considering we have 8 gabillion photos of Tyler out in the world capturing his every thumb twitch by photo, it makes sense to get some of Jackson out here, too! These photos are from this week's game- Jackson played center (usually the guy in the middle of it all). You'll see:
- His fantastic 'hutting' skillz
- Blocking is fun...and is a lot like 'power hugging'
- Chatting with your peeps is best of all.
Enjoy.

The man with the *mega* green thumb.

You'd never know by a look at his rugged, manly exterior but my Dad is a rock star when it comes to plants, gardens and flowers. Seriously. He grows crazy vegetables and flowers each year- much more than he personally needs so he can share them with others. Sooo... it was natural that when I dropped by the other night for a visit that we ventured 'out back' to check out this year's goods. Amazing- seriously amazing. As a nice cap to the evening, I caught this cute picture of him with his marigolds. And yes, I've termed them marigolds on steriods because NOBODY grows those flowers quite that big!

Heck Yeah!!

Two rounds with Rocky, anyone?

Oh the drama of it all. First he falls out of the hammock last weekend, starting the black eye. On Tuesday he decides doing a flip in the house (on flat carpet) is an oustanding idea. During the miracle fete, he re-injures the said black eye (again). Then, in the midst of a tied-up crazy second grade football game he pulls out a bloody (quite loose) front tooth. My Lord, Sylvester Stallone has NOTHING on this kid.

She's a rockstar.

I'm talking Auntie Mae, inherited (gladly) from Matt's side of the gang. She is 95 1/2 years old and still a rockstar every day, all day. Saucy, sassy and best dressed all describe her to a tee. She has been a part of our family since Matt and I met- and part of his family for so much longer.



Mae is a huge fan of MN sports, specifically the Vikings and Twins. As in - DON'T FREAKING CALL OR TALK WHEN THEY'RE ON. Seriously. She's a woman with standards and nothing will stand in the way of her and her men. She knows all their stats (I pray I have the wherewithall she does at 60, much less 95) and how many kids, where they lived, if they were recently divorced. You name it, she's on it.



So, we hooked her up. Thanks to a great friend, we secured killer seats at at Twins game, a goodie bag to make any sports fan green with envy, her name on the billboard and amazingly, that was just the beginning. The best part? Brad Radke signed a photo of her and a game ball. Some chicks have all the luck. :-) So, today- cheers to Maisy!

It ain't over yet.

We snuck in another day on and near the water today.... we hit the jet ski, the boys tubed, we ate/toured our way through Prescott Daze and Jackson took advantage of Auntie Dee's new hammock. What you can't see here? He wound up with rope burn from tangling in it and has a black eye after it trapped his arms as he was wriggling around in it... and landed on his head! Either way, he struck this pose before and after... so my conclusion is that the hammock was a hit. Literally.

Back to school!

Hi ho, hi ho. It's off to school they go. Here are a few snapshots of our cherubs on the first day.

You are my sunshine.

If you know me, you know I love sunflowers. I was so happy this spring when my Dad gave me the gift of giant sunflower seeds. I was thrilled. So, I went about caring for them, babying them and tending them. I planted them everywhere. Off the front porch, in my gardens, along the fence. And, because I wanted to see them when I arrived home I also planted them on the front corners of our driveway.

This flower has endured. Unfortunately my love did not protect all of my flowers. In fact, several met ill fates. Tyler mowed one day with reckless abandon, managing to manicure the lawn beautifully and wipe out a whole row of babies in one swoop. Another incident included a power-hungry young man with a weed whipper. The list goes on, with a wake of non-existent flowers.

The bright side of the story? Today's photo represents a lovely flower that is just starting to bloom, complete with a buddy dragon fly. It is a survivor and reminds my of my Dad constantly.

p.s. I know this post is ridiculous and makes me sound like a crazy old woman gardener. Know what? I doooonnnnn't care! *\O/*

Snipers!

Bleh! I'm ready to head home from the office. During a meeting today we noticed rooftop activity... in the form of snipers. Real live snipers with guns and gun tripods. All compliments of the locos who are all stirred up with the RNC in town.

I have seen more ugliness from this town since the politicians arrived- it's time for them to go home so our casserole-sharing state can return to it's roots of finding the best mushroom soup.

So we say goodbye, to the summer.

We kissed summer goodbye today with yet another water celebration. This time, the Red Wing waterpark. Packed with kids, families and interestingly- a lot of tattoos.

Naturally, this is time to reminisce on the days we jam-packed with activities to soak up the sun, summer and all it has to offer. I think this summer brought about change. Change in our kids. For Jackson, courage. Tyler, confidence. I wouldn't trade these days for anything and look forward to those yet to come. I say that yet take full exception: any day but tomorrow at 7 AM when I need to roll these amazing beings out of bed to be functional in their respective learning institutions.

It's strange to officially wind down the season we spend months and months waiting for, especially in Minnesota. The sun sets now too fast and the air is beginning to become slightly brisk in the mornings. From here on out, Carpe Diem! I think the best is yet to come as fall knocks at the door.