I looked down and saw this today in the mix and it made me chuckle:

Ashlyn (of course) instigated this, by pondering whether or not she could lick her own elbow while we were winding down dinner. Then Kenzie and Coby got into the act. Ashlyn swears that Kenzie has a Gene Simmons tongue, but I kind of think that Ashlyn was the closest to actually licking her own elbow. Ashlyn says that she is determined to accomplish this feat via lots and lots of practice.

Yes, my family is very strange.

So OC, was sleeping on my lap while we were talking. Apparently, Yoshi and I were laughing a lot (as we tend to do) and it annoyed OC so much he did this:

You should have seen the look he gave me as he got up off the couch though. LOL

Today, we had a hair salon trifecta! Ashlyn, Kenzie (my stepdaughter, for those of you who don’t already know that) and I went and spent half the morning and a good portion of the afternoon at the hair salon getting purtied up.

Kenzie had realllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllly long hair and decided for a really drastic change. In fact, she had 12 inches cut off and we’re going to be sending it in to Locks of Love. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the program, they make hair pieces for children who through some unfortunate disease or circumstance do not have hair, either permanently or temporarily (as with chemo). So not only did she get a fresh new look today, she did her good deed for the day by providing hair for another child who doesn’t have their own.

What’s that green spot to her right you ask? It’s tape! We finally got irritated enough with the builder, and it’s 2 weeks away from the one year warranty deadline to report issues. I sent them a certified letter, and voila! I have a squillion contractors swarming upon our home today “fixing” stuff.

So you could say, that today’s photo has a double meaning.

Ashlyn had her wisdom teeth extracted today, all of them. Here’s a nice picture of her in recovery just before she used her cell phone to communicate the above statement to me…

She was quite amusing to me, since she kept explaining how good she felt (through a mouth filled with gauze) and wrote that she felt like Angelina Jolie (I assume her lips were feeling plump – either that or she had delusions that she was going to go home to Brad Pitt. hehe). She even spelled out a few lyrics from James Brown’s “I Feel Good” in between moments of complete stupor. Yes, I saved those post-it note ramblings for posterity too.

She’s now on the couch, sleeping the drugs off and icing her jaws. Being 17, and a (if I do say so myself) not hideous looking kid, she was pretty concerned about how fat her cheeks looked. I think she looks pretty good for having four wisdom teeth removed and I have to say I’m quite proud of how she went into this day. I asked her if she was scared on the way in to the oral surgeon’s office and she replied that she wasn’t, that she’d be asleep and that it would stop her other teeth from hurting when she eats (as they had been lately). She held my hand as they put her under, and then wanted a hug when they brought me back to their recovery area.

Despite the discomfort I know this is causing her, I’d say she took it like a trooper.

Aren’t they cute!? They hatched when I was at work, but Ashlyn and Ken saw them. I snapped this picture several days later when I finally got to see them.

Side Note: NO, that is NOT our statue. Not that there’s anything wrong with that statue, say if you, dear reader have one in YOUR yard. I’m sure it’s lovely. ::looks around and whistles:: It’s just not to our tastes.

We took Xav to see some of the sights around Myrtle Beach. We went through the “Backstage Tour” at the site of the upcoming Hard Rock Theme park they are building here, to the beach and to have lunch at Damon’s Grill on the beachfront. We had a great meal outside and the weather cooperated by not being oppressively hot! Tonight…we see Pirates! Arrrrrrh!

We’ve been playing Everquest and World of Warcraft with Xav for about 7.5 years now and have never had the chance to meet face-to-face. He came out to visit us and arrived today! Here’s a picture of him and Ashlyn at the airport. Note the sign Ashlyn crafted to hold up at the gate!

Ken’s in Texas watching his daughter graduate Middle School today as the middle school valedictorian and picking the kids up to come live with us as well. They’re racing to get home so that he can get to spend some time with Xav as well before he leaves on Monday.

First… have a look at our new friend!

Second, look where she is!

Yes, that’s a flower bed in our yard. She hissed at Ashlyn when she walked by and noticed her. Apparently, our yard has become a duck maternity ward. Soon we’ll have little ducklings walking through our yard to the lake. Fun, fun! And a future picture of the day, I’m sure!