My kids are funny. They are. They so totally rock and I love being with them. Alec is a lot like Sei. He’s very social and funny and sensitive. I love it. Last week he got to give a talk during church. When Tristan spoke last year we had the BIG DARE where we dared Tristan to use a Napoleon Dynamite quote during his talk. He is awesome and did it, of course. This time was Alec’s turn. He SOOOOOO did it. He even talked LIKE Napoleon. He started his talk with a (true) story. He said, “I went to scout camp this past week and it was pretty much the hottest week of my life. My lips got really chapped so I was digging thru my bag hoping my mom packed me chapstick. I found a ziplock bag that had this Napoleon quote written on it: CAN YOU BRING ME MY CHAPSTICK?… BUT MY LIPS HURT REAL BAD! “   It was rad and everyone laughed. So cool. I, of course, was the dork who wrote that on the ziplock that I packed his chapstick in. Yesssssssssssssssss.

And then today at church there was a special musical number this lady and her daughter were singing. The prelude music for it totally sounded like “The Rose” by Bette Midler. Sei leaned over and said, “I thought it was The Rose.” Then I look over at Alec and he’s doing his hands like a butterfly…. like at the end of this video (around 1:00). He had me rollin’…

How’d I get such rad kids???

I don’t know about y’all, but I LOVE the summer. I LOVE the heat. Right now Uprinting is wanting to find the best summer photo out there. They are offering $250 in prize money and (yes, there’s more!!) a free 16×20″ Gallery Wrapped Canvas Print!

I love Uprinting. They are a sponsor of this blog and of my Eazy Mealz blog. They are also the company that provided my awesome 16 x 20 print of Seiuli that I won a while back. It’s perfect!  UPrinting.com is a leading online provider of business cards, color brochures and mailing postcards.

This pic is one of my absolute favorite. We took it last summer. We’re going to be taking more awesome pics on our vacation in July, but this one…. Wow, I love my kiddos… all 7 of them.

So, we already discussed the cool video I discovered on my phone (my naked butt filmed by my 3 yr old…) so I thought I’d check out what else I had in my phone memory… There were quite a few pics I thought were funny… cute… weird…  No more butt-shots so that’s always a plus…

So, without further adieu I present to you: Random Pics from Tori’s Phone!! YAY!!!

This giveaway is now closed.

When I was younger I remember going to see the circus. I was amazed at the trapeze artists, a lil freaked out by the clowns and thought the animals were amazing!  And now… YAY- the circus is coming to town!!! I’m a little bummed I won’t be able to go opening nite because my family will be on vacation… but don’t let that stop YOUR family from going!! The best circus around: Ringling Brothers & Barnum Bailey Over the Top circus will be coming to Dallas/Fort Worth starting July 29.

** I have an awesome coupon code that you can use for four tickets for a cheap $44, any additional tickets are still priced at $11.  You can purchase your tickets at Ticket Master. The code is…. MOM! Yep, type in MOM and you get the discounted price.

Just for purchasing a ticket you are invited to the Animal Open House & Preshow. It begins at 6:00pm. During this time you can actually go down to the circus floor to meet the performers & animals and have a ton of circus fun!

But there’s MORE.  Yes- MORE. Because I am a Dallas Activator for Feld Entertainment  thru Mom Central, I get to host a super awesome giveaway. I have a Family 4 pack of tickets to opening night, Wednesday July 29, in Dallas! Is that not awesome?!?! So, if you live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area or will be in the area on opening nite then you  MUST enter this giveaway!!

I’ve made it super easy to enter. 

***For your main entry, just comment letting me know what you love about the circus and who you’d love to take if you win the 4-pack.***

For extra entries:

1. Subscribe to updates. It’s right up there in the rightside corner.
2. Link to this giveaway on Facebook.
3. Follow me on twitter and tweet this giveaway @swampbrat76. Comment here letting me know you tweeted @swampbrat76. **You can also RE-tweet this everyday and earn another entry.
4. Blog about this giveaway and link to this post.  This will earn you TWO entries. Make sure you leave me TWO comments with links to the post.
5. Email atleast 3 of your friends in the DFW area about this giveaway and include a link to this post. BCC or CC me a copy of the email at: Tori (at) swampbrat (.) net

**This giveaway will end Tuesday, July 21! If you win I will contact you via email and will need to hear back from you within 48 hours. If not I will have to pick another winner. The winner will need to bring a picture ID to pick up their tickets at the Ticket Will Call booth.

**For more chances to win, visit Brandy at Not So Average Mama. She’s hosting a circus giveaway as well!!

Liv likes my phone. She’s pretty handy with it too. She knows how to leave voice messages and take pics and apparently, so I’ve learned, she knows how to make videos too. She was looking at my phone this morning when she suddenly yelled “Eew! A booty!!” I was like, “Eh?” I took the phone in time to see a lil glimpse of a naked butt on the screen. I thought she must have filmed Sei or something because she likes to burst into the bathroom right as he’s getting in the shower. Um, no. Upon closer observation I figured out the big, wide, WHITE butt taking up the screen was mine. MY butt filmed for 6 SECONDS without my knowledge. SIX seconds y’all! WHEN did this happen? HOW did this happen?? I have no clue. I don’t even know WHY I was standing naked in my bathroom- with Liv. I have NO recollection of this incident. What if she sent it to someone? My big butt could be floating around the internet! It could star in the “Baby Got Back” remake video!! What do I do!?!!? Part of me is laughing and thinks it’s hilarious. Part of me is like, “Ew, is that what my butt looks like? Looks like I need to try some Phenphedrine! ” Another part is like “Cool, my legs aren’t at cottage cheesy as I thought…”  Such mixed emotions. I feel so violated.

Don’t forget to enter my blog header giveaway!! It ends tomorrow nite!!

This weekend we hung out a lot as a family. Taj wanted to see some ducks and feed them. We went in search of ducks at a local park. Unfortunately the ducks were no longer hangin out at their usual hot spot. So we improvised and fed the birds. I have this cool new Vado from Newbaby.com that I love to use. So, here I was, the innocent mamarazzi trying to film her sweet kiddos when we had a little… “Boys will be boys” incident…

So, Liv and Taj take baths together on occasion. Last nite they were bathing and I was in my room. Suddenly Taj screamed. I went running to the bathroom thinking someone was hurt. Taj had jumped out of the bath. “I’m never taking a bath with Livie again!!!”

I asked him why and this is what he told me:

….

….

….

Apparently she had somehow balanced herself into a straddle position with her feet on the sides of the tub and yep, peed right over his head into his hair, down his face… gross

This is normal. Right?

I think Liv may be ambidextrous. She writes her letters with her right hand, but she bats a baseball (like a pro!) with her left. It’s interesting. And all I can think is “That’s gonna be so rad!! She’ll be an ambidextrous point guard!!” See, in basketball for the most part people are right handed, so when a point guard brings the ball down the court the defender usually tries to force them to dribble left because they aren’t as comfortable. Well… Livie will be like on “The Princess Bride.” (start at 1:18)


She’ll start out dribbling with her left and they’ll force her right thinking it’s her “weak hand.” It won’t matter because she’ll be just as comfortable. And if she can shoot right and left… oh, my dream come true!! And with her fiesty, kickbutt personality I know she’ll be diving all over the court for the ball. I CANNOT wait!

So, that’s my exciting news of the day. I know… Crazy. Oh, and I’m hoping she’s a little more graceful on the court than she is in this video… (Thank you Newbaby.com for my new VADO this was filmed with!)

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There are 5 kids in my family. I always consider myself the middle child even though I am technically the 2nd child. “Why?” you ask. Well, because my brother, the 4th kid, wasn’t born until I was 10. That’s a long time to spend in the middle of 2 other girls. And then the 5th child wasn’t born until I was almost 18. So, yeah… I was the “middle child” long enough to get warped. This what I found off a birth order website regarding the middle child of 3:

* Has neither rights of oldest nor privileges of youngest.
* Feels life is unfair.
* Feels unloved, left out, “squeezed.”
* Feels doesn’t have place in family.
* Becomes discouraged and “problem child” or elevates self by pushing down other siblings.
* Is adaptable.
* Learns to deal with both oldest and youngest sibling.

And this is what is says for the 2nd child:

* Never has parents’ undivided attention.
* Always has sibling ahead who’s more advanced.
* Acts as if in race, trying to catch up or overtake first child. If first child is “good,” second may become “bad.” Develops abilities first child doesn’t exhibit. If first child successful, may feel uncertain of self and abilities.
* May be rebel.
* Often doesn’t like position.
* Feels “squeezed” if third child is born.
* May push down other siblings

Hmm…. yep. Sounds pretty right on to me. I’m not sure *why* it works out that way, but it does. Maybe it’s because back when I was born there weren’t cool things like camcorders so unlike with my little sister- my first 3 years aren’t all on tape!! And I think it may have been different if my older sister was a boy, etc… I think that makes a difference. You should go check out that site and see if it matches up with your birth order.

I don’t think anyone did anything to make me feel “squeezed” or turn me into a “rebel.” I was born with a rebellious streak, I think, but I don’t think that’s handed out just because I was the 2nd child. And I think that streak can be a blessing as much as it has been a curse. It’s a certain strength I have when I reign it in to do good. lol

I’ve written warped middle child stories in the past. Such as my “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia” post and my “Tattle Tail” story. There’s plenty more where that came from if you keep reading my blog… (say that like Napoleon.) I had another story planned and I just totally forgot it. I must be healing. haha