Dramatic flair to motivate you.

I have something REAAAALLLLYYYY FUN to announce!

Don't tell anyone, but I'm growing my hair out. That's not even my announcement, but it's related. Stay with me, people. The ONLY reason I would even consider a 'hair goal' is because of one thing.

Ninfa.

I met Ninfa years ago and my life has been forever changed. She is my hair spouse. I have mated for life. Like a lobster.

To be honest: there was once an unfortunate incident with a blond named Hannah, her trendy shiny scissors lured me from my loyalties. There will never be another story like that one for this girl. I. am. committed.

Ninfa knows my hair needs before I do. I have complete confidence in her and her mad skills. We have a long established agreement: I'm there to read magazines, she's there to do hair, and that includes the decision making. I love it.

So, yeah...

the announcement.

Are you ready?

(So exciting!)

Tonight while enjoying my pampering at Ninfa's, I asked her if she'd let me run a special to my friends if they wanted to try her skills. AND SHE SAID YES!!

PEOPLE! Peeeeepullllll!!! I didn't expect her to say yes.

this. is. your. chance.

Here's your deal: if you book your appointment by the end of September for an appointment in Sept, Oct, or Nov, you'll get to choose between two free treatments: a shine treatment or a deep conditioning.

Did you just pee?

It's priceless. (priceless in the sense {cents} that you AREN'T PAYING FOR IT even though it costs money)

So, yeah, call Strands Salon and when you book your life changing appointment with Ninfa, use promocode: KatieRocks. 314-725-1717.

One last thought to motivate you: (insert really dramatic voice) your hair cut/style is the accessory you wear EVERY DAY. Every day. Take it seriously.

Holy fun weekend, Batman!

(not pictured: Batman.)

P.S. Still a few days to guess the famous duo... (the p.s. before the post is the new trend, just so you know.) Click here to guess.


Russ's cousin, Joy, and my college friend, Julie, were both in town this weekend. We went straight up VIP. We got tickets to the Rams game (pre-season game, technically) Friday night, hit the zoo Saturday morning where I totally tattled on two families for petting the penguins, then Saturday night we got a great sitter and went to The Fabulous Fox to see Mary Poppins, followed of course, by Ted Drews. Joy works for Disney, so this was technically a work trip for her w/ us on the side like a great batch of cheese dip (also involved in the weekend)(don't worry, my dairy accountability friends, it was so processed there's little chance of dairy really being involved).




The highlight of the Rams game was when they announced "We'd like to thank Russell for supporting the Rams cheerleaders!"

Joy showing us her name in the program! She's so famous! And so hot, hello!


Not to name drop, but yeah, that's right, that's Mary freakin' Poppins. She's really nice, just so you know.

Ten years and four score ago...

we had our first anniversary. (Meaning: It's our 11 year anniversary this year! This weekend, actually! Woot-woot!)


(We got a free "one year session" with our photographer instead of an engagement shoot as part of our wedding package)
(The cake. A year later. Tasted gross and we threw it away after spitting out the first bite! Somewhat of a shock considering how good it was at the wedding.)


If you don't recognize the people in these pictures, that's okay. We kinda don't either. We went from our tiny apartment in our tiny college town to the big city! Our first STL apartment was a very spacious 540sq feet. Not sure how we made it out of there alive, actually.

Happy Anniversary, Russ! I love you!

The Wedding and Kevin Bacon.

I don't think I ever posted the craziness that is Eliot as ring bearer. He was excited to wear his tie, excited that there was a caterpillar on a chair, excited to play with his cars, but not too excited to walk down the aisle once everyone was staring at him. I ended up walking him down the aisle myself so as not to hold up the ceremony. Thankfully it was an extremely casually wedding/ wedding party and no one really cared.

After the meal, we had quite the dance party and Eliot turned into 100% crazy. He was trying his best shot as Kevin Bacon.




(air guitar shot)


I wish you could print these, cut them out and then staple the corner together to make a flip book. Whatever happened to those?

We all had a great time, Eliot just showed it a little more than the rest of us! =)

Contest! Go Go!!

Year 1:

Eliot was supposed to be a pea pod (didn't come home on time, blah blah). Charlie was a stinkin' cute carrot. Peas and Carrots. Minus the peas.

Year 2:


The monkey and banana
Year 3:

One of my top 5 favorite Eliot pics! Do you see her desperation? Only more pronounced given his calm confidence. (that's not even close to what's really going on but man, it looks awesome!)

Lisa and I have chosen year 4. We're painfully aware that our opportunity to choose their costumes is drawing to a close so we were very particular this year. In honor of our last hoo-rah, we're hosting a contest to see who can guess the famous duo for the theme this year! The closest guess will get a fall-related basket of goodies that, trust me, YOU REALLY WANT!

The contest will last from today until August 31st at midnight. (How very official!) You may guess more than once. You may guess on our blog or Lisa's. Jake and Russ may not participate. Purchase is not required and rules are subject to change.

Fee Fi Six Seven

Dusk had fallen. Two men, each in their different uniforms, ascend quietly up to the first level approaching the enemy.

"FEE FI six seven" the Giant calls. The two men nod at one another as they nonverbally consent to pursue the beast, resisting the urge for self preservation. They're reminded of their risk as they look into the valley and see their fallen brothers. Those race cars ill prepared for the Troll{Giant} who ruined everything as he came shouting, "I'M GOING TO EAT YOU INSTEAD!!" mistaking them for the Three Billy Goats Gruff.

As the brave warriors approach, their blood turns cold as they hear "HA HA HA" from Goliath himself {Troll/Giant}. After a few meaningful, well practiced samurai moves, Goliath/Troll/Giant crashes and falls dead.

Batman looks at DuctTapeRussMohr as he asks "Daddy, you okay?"

"Yeah, I fine. Batman, you okay?"

"Yeah, I fine. Good job, Daddy!"

"Fanks"

*************************************************************************************

Eliot's imagination is the main source of entertainment around here lately. This scene occurred last night at the shelf behind me as I was cooking dinner. Eliot purchased a couple action figures and a hand full of cars (cuz we REALLY needed more cars, we were running low...) at a garage sale for $.75 Saturday. Somewhere between the sale and home, Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle) became a "bad guy". Once home, Batman paired up with DuctTapeRussMohr, apparently the last crime-fighting team the world will ever need.

What's that you ask? What's DuctTapeRussMohr? When Russ was a youth leader one of our students was going through what you might call a 'duct tape phase.' So, he made an action figure, complete with theme song, of Russ. This action figure even came with a duct tape backpack containing a duct tape microphone, bible and guitar. Now Eliot plays with it just like you would any other action figure, which is pretty cute.

On a similar note, many of you asked what really happened to E's nose. He was sitting at a cement picnic table and lost his footing. However, if you asked him, he would tell you that he was riding a motorcycle wearing roller skates that flipped in the sky.

And yes, he says, "FEE FI six seven". It's his little version of Fee Fi Fo Fum. You try not to eat him.

10 minute peek

...into Eliot's afternoon (courtesy of Eliot's photography skills):


Daddy's home!



The complete happy picture. Toys askew and Daddy holding a soccer ball.

Not the best angle, but it's early in teaching him the art of the self-portrait. He'll get there!

Follow up, please expedite.

Sunday at church, a friend asked what job I took. She's a faithful blogee (shout out Sharon M!). She asked if I was working at AmerenUE (our local Electrical company) which truly made me LOL*.

"Where are you working?" is the first question I've been hearing. "What about Arbonne?" is the second and "What happened to teaching?" being the third. While I would love to give you every detail of my new gainful employment, I also want to keep my mystery...it keeps ya coming back. Know that I don't work for AmerenUE but I did note that the firetruck driving by me this morning was for sure not using the 36volt rotating light because they don't make them. Also, please know that my Dad has never been so proud. Well, actually he's always proud of me(except for that mailbox incident), it's just that we have even more to talk about now.

What about Arbonne? Oh, no worries, I'm a lifer. I'd be crazy not to. I'm still making great money and heading to Cancun in just a couple months. I'll still be rockin' the home parties like it's 1999, only with better hair. No botanically-based worries, peeps. Come down off your aging skin ledges. We're just needing an extra financial push. My new "boss" is actually one of my most faithful clients.

And teaching. Hmmmm. Great question. To be honest, I did interview for a full-time position. And I realized half way through the interview that based on my answers, I wouldn't hire me. The interview took place about 24 hours after deciding to go back to work and my head wasn't fully around the idea quite yet, and that became pretty obvious to everyone in the room. They already had a great candidate for the job vs. me telling them how much I loved being a stay-at-home mom. Hmmm. Shortly after that interview I was contacted by my new boss about this job. There was something about answering phones, processing orders, and sales reports that sounded nice compared to report cards, constantly grading papers while hoping to play with Eliot, parent/teacher conferences, etc. While this new position is important for the success of the company, I'm not ON DEMAND like I am while teaching. Teaching is amazing and rewarding but also drains me. I love it to a fault. I knew I couldn't give 100% to Eliot and Russ if I was bringing work home. So, that's how I ended up here, where I use the word "expedite" often and sit in wonderment at the drama that unfolds daily in the electrical world. You people have no idea.

Thanks for asking, thanks for reading and thanks for just being you. Now go hug a teacher, buy her/him a gift card to Panera just for the work they've already done for your kids before school even starts and the commitment they make to make sure your kid is about to have an amazing year.


* I do not support or encourage the use of LOL by people over 30. Please overlook. This was a first and a last momentary lack of discernment mainly there to make Sharon F and Melissa D feel special and loved.

It finally happened.

I'm a woman of my word. I started to eat Eliot's face right off, starting with his nose. Couldn't help it.

You can't handle the truth!

We've had a recent development here at Camp Mohr. Looking ahead to the goals we want to achieve and the fun stuff we want to be able to do, not to mention the incredible opportunity we both have to get crowns placed over decaying teeth, we've realized that our work-from-home income works for the day-to-day expenses but not the big stuff coming up. So, after 3 years of a more relaxed routine, I'm back at work full-time.

Yep, you read that right. I'm a full-time employee. Yikes.

I've exchanged sippy cups and playdates for carpools and headsets.

On one hand, I'm missing a WHOLE LOT of time with Eliot. Which sucks. By the time I get home I have roughly 2 hours to spend with my little man until he goes to bed. Let's just say there's been a lot of "No fanks, Mom". Apparently Eliot's not a fan of using the entire 2 hours for me to smother him with kisses. We're going to have to work on that.


On the other hand, there's also a little bit of a honeymoon phase going on. So far, it's only been a week, so I don't feel as though I've missed that much. I'm trying to figure out this whole new industry and that makes the hour hand move much quicker. I've never been away from "mom-mode" this long and let me just tell you, people, lunch hours are amazing. An hour. To myself. Everyday. And unlike teaching, that hour isn't for grading papers, calling parents back, or preparing for the afternoon/week, it's a straight-up hour to myself. It's downright sexy.

So, there you have it.


FAQs:

What am I doing?

Let's just say the electrical industry will never be the same. Look out.

Where's Eliot going now that I'm not home?

Russ works from home so it's guy time now! E starts pre-school next month for a few days a week so Russ will have more time to work.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have 39 more minutes of do-whatever-i-see-fit time!

My boys.

Last night Russ and I were on the laptops, watching tv, everything normal. We hear "MOM!" I assume Eliot has fallen out of his bed which is normally why he would be screaming in the middle of the night. When I walked into his room, however, he wasn't rolled up in his blanket on the floor as usual, he was sitting up in bed still asleep. I kind of giggled a little bit because I thought he was sleep talking, which if you remember, delights me.

So, giggling, I walked over to lay him back down. As I approached the bed, Eliot karate chopped his pillow and then fell into it. I wasn't sure if I really saw what I saw but then he started to sit back up, samurai chopping the air only to crash back into his pillow again. He definitely sliced into the wall one more time before I finally closed the door.

Upon returning to the living room and attempting to tell Russ what just happened, Russ explained that Eliot must have needed back-up.

I love my boys.

I'm noticing a theme...

Remember this post?

Well, here's round 2:


We're really hoping Eliot's personality starts to loosen up. We just can't get him to unwind and have any fun.

3-year-olds are fun!

Each day, Eliot's getting a bit more fun. And cute. And smart. We're due for an Eliot post soon. Need a "baby book" post so I don't forget all his little things in this season. But for now, you get Mohr time on the slide instead!